READ TIME – 5 MINUTES
Your success in sales relies on your ability to communicate effectively. ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐ค๐๐ซ๐๐ค๐ช๐จ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฉ? But you may be surprised at how often these communication skills get forgotten in the fast-paced environment that comes with working in sales.
Here are our ๐๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ด ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ that can take you from being just ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ salesperson to a ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐น๐ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐น๐๐.
1. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ A๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ L๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด
Too often, salespeople are waiting for their turn to talk or thinking about what to say next… ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ช๐ต, ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ! However, falling into this trap of passive listening could be costing you some key clients.
Instead, it’s important to take the time to ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ listen to the prospect and confirm you heard them correctly. One of our favourite ways to guarantee we do this is by asking a relevant follow-up question to further clarify your understanding of their situation. Which in return, helps build stronger relationships with prospects and can often aid future conversions.
Try it on your next sales call and you will likely see the difference in how the conversation flows.
2. ๐๐ฒ P๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐, N๐ผ๐ P๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด
We’ve included this in our top sales communication skills as it’s easy to confuse the two.
A salesperson must know the fine line between being persistent rather than pestering. Continuing to call, email or message your prospect, without understanding why they may not be responding is counterproductive.
Instead, ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ต ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต. Rather than resending the same email, which will likely end up hidden amongst the rest, be proactive and reach out to the prospect via Linkedin.ย
Create new copy with a striking headline and an easier call to action, ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ถ๐๐ฒ. Once the prospect is re-engaged and the relationship is reignited, you can return back to the original business objective.
3. ๐๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฑ M๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด A๐๐๐๐บ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐
It’s easy to fall into the same routine at work, especially if you have been in the role for a while. However, every prospect is different, so your usual sales routine mustn’t allow you to create assumptions.
This may lead to a prospect feeling that they have to interrupt the conversation and correct any assumptions you may have voiced *๐๐๐ ๐๐จ!*
Instead, don’t be afraid to ask questions and ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐. Whatever makes them unique, try to use this to your advantage.
4. ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ Y๐ผ๐๐ฟ T๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ V๐ผ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ
In the world of sales, your voice is one of the most important aspects of building a great first impression – We agree, it’s a shame you don’t get to make use of that great smile, but there’s a lot you can do to take advantage of your voice.
To build a strong rapport, listen to how your prospect speaks and ๐บ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐น๐. This will build a sense of familiarity and will make your call stand out, in comparison to the ordinary sales pitches they may be used to.ย
Try to match the formality, speed and word choice to those of your prospects and you might be surprised how much they open up to you- ๐ข ๐ค๐ณ๐ถ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ.
5. ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ B๐ฒ๐๐ P๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐
The old tale “๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐บ” that your parents may have drilled into you growing up, should be carried through with you into the sales world, as one of your top communication skills.
Exaggerating any information or giving out wrong facts, will only come back to bite you when you can’t follow through with those promises.
On top of this, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ between you and the prospect and if they believe what you are saying, you’re increasing the chances of that potential customer becoming a long-term partner.
6. ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ Y๐ผ๐๐ฟ C๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐
Take advantage of the power and knowledge that questions can provide and use them as a lead in your sales communication skills pitch.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ and truly caring about what their conversational counterpart has to say. This is particularly crucial during a sales call, to illustrate that you’re indeed fascinated and aren’t just another “๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ” – not to mention the potential information that questions can provide.
7. ๐จ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ W๐ต๐ฎ๐'๐ N๐ผ๐ Bein๐ด S๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฑ
Master the ability to be able to read between the lines.
Prospects sometimes don’t tell the whole truth and sometimes it can be hard to understand why. Perhaps your prospect is sold but they still have to work on persuading their manager to get on board, or maybe they’re talking to several companies to evaluate the options available to them.
Whatever the case, practice being able to spot when a prospect is excluding information and alter your approach where appropriate.
8. ๐ฃ๐๐ Y๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ P๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ S๐ต๐ผ๐ฒ๐
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ.
Our final step to add to your list of key communication skills, is being able to see things from the prospect’s point of view. Further demonstrating yourself as a likeable salesperson with excellent sales communication skills.
When you make it clear that you ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐, the empathy built can completely transform a sales call.
This will not only help you cater to their needs but also increase your chance of closing a deal-๐ข ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ-๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด.
๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐น๐ถ๐๐? ย ย
We would be interested to hear!
๐ก๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ?ย
Here at AvA-V, we have a variety of face-to-face & virtual training programmes, from ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ to ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ, that will assist and ensure your sales talent use their sales communication skills to deliver the results needed to ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐.ย
๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐? ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ