3 Essential Skills for Sales Reps

I played varsity basketball in high school. One game in particular, I had a great game. Lots of points, assists, and tons of steals. But then I missed several of the layups following those steals. Missing one layup as a varsity player is bad enough, but missing several was something that didn’t happen very often. My dad was so worried I would be embarrassed by how many I had missed. He didn’t say much on the way home, and finally he asked, “Well? How do you think it went?”

I replied, “I think I played great! Don’t you?”

My dad readily agreed and only much later did he tell me how relieved he was that I wasn’t upset and had thought to himself, “This girl is destined for sales. She sure has thick skin.”

It’s not that I was happy that I’d missed those shots. It’s just that I thought the rest of my play outweighed the bad parts. And that’s what we have to do in sales. We MUST have thick skin so that when we lose a deal, we can keep going. When someone is rude to us on the phone, we pick up the phone to make the next call. When we don’t have the best year, we double down and come back stronger than ever.

These aren’t the ONLY important qualities of a good salesperson, but it would be really hard to succeed if you’re weak in any of these:

1. Expert Listening (I’ve written about this a lot. Luckily this skill can be taught and if you need guidance on this, scroll through my old posts)

2. Funnel Management (This skill can also be taught. Don’t be afraid to ask for guidance from your manager but DON’T underestimate the importance).

3. Thick Skin (Harder to be taught, but can be acquired through practice and patience. Or you can be one of the lucky ones and be born with it.)

What other important qualities do you think great salespeople need?

What do you think? Share with me in the comments!

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