Episode 11
Soft Skills Matter When You're Building an Elite Sales Team
Summary
Building a successful sales team requires more than just technical know-how. It also requires a deep understanding of important soft skills. Curiosity is key, as it allows sellers to ask important questions without being salesy. Adaptability is crucial in an ever-changing industry, enabling sales reps to quickly adjust their strategies. Learning agility is essential for absorbing and applying new information effectively. Lastly, resilience is a determining factor for long-term success, as resilient sales reps view setbacks as lessons and bounce back quickly. Developing these soft skills leads to high-performing sales teams and lasting client connections.
Take Aways
Curiosity allows sellers to ask important questions without sounding salesy or cringy.
Adaptability enables sales reps to quickly adjust their strategies to fit clients' new directions.
Learning agility involves continuously learning and applying new information in sales situations.
Resilience is crucial for viewing lost deals as lessons and bouncing back with new plans.
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BEST Intro
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Transcript
First, let's talk about curiosity. A seller who is naturally curious tends to have a way of asking the really important questions without coming across as overly salesy or cringey. Their questions, body language and tone flow from their natural curiosity rather than being scripted. The authenticity and genuine curiosity are received well by prospects, and that often leads to important revelations from prospects.
that reveal their priorities and where your product fits in.
Next is adaptability. In an industry where things change quickly, surprises are the rule. One minute you're getting ready for a big pitch, and the next your client tells you that they're changing their business plan.
ble can quickly change their [:And you can probably also think of a salesperson who would throw their hands up and say it's too late for marketing to add this to the deck, so we just won't be able to include it this time. An adaptable salesperson is willing to do what needs to be done without always having to rely on others.
Then we have the skill of learning agility. This skill is about being able to absorb and apply new information in sales situations. Some sellers are great at learning facts and being able to share them with you, but have trouble applying what they learned in future sales meetings.
Some are great at applying the things that they learn, but they don't have the drive to continuously learn and get better. The best candidates have both. They're always on the lookout for new ways of doing things and skilled at applying what they've learned.
[:By noticing and developing these soft skills, like curiosity, adaptability, learning agility, and resilience, we can make our sales team much more effective. These skills are what make both high performing sales teams and long lasting connections with clients, which leads to consistent success in B2B sales.
