Sales Skills and Soft Skills For Marketing & Negotiation

Soft Skills or Communication skills allow you to understand and be understood by others. These can include but are not limited to effectively communicating ideas to others, actively listening in conversations, giving and receiving critical feedback and public speaking.

What are Soft Skills or  Communication skills?

Communication skills are the abilities you use when giving and receiving different kinds of information. Some examples include communicating new ideas, feelings or even an update on your project. Communication skills involve listening, speaking, observing and empathising. It is also helpful to understand the differences in how to communicate through face-to-face interactions, phone conversations and digital communications like email and social media.

Sales skills are the characteristics and competencies sales representatives depend on to support customers in making purchases and resolving issues. Effective sales people acknowledge that creating a successful buyer experience uses many interpersonal skills, is more than a consumer's satisfaction with their purchase, and deals with overall brand engagement. Customers seek quality interaction and a fulfilling buying experience. Skilled sales people provide this service using a combination of techniques and knowledge to identify customer needs and connect with them individually. A positive buying experience influences brand loyalty with customers, improves the likelihood that existing customers will refer new ones, and helps meet sales goals.

• Salespeople need to have empathy and ability to really understand a customer’s needs.

• The skill to engage comfortable with a customer at their level and on their terms.

• Ability to add value to the customer at every stage of the process, leaving aside self-interest.

• Skilled at active listening along with asking discovery questions to uncover business challenges.

• The salesperson can create a vision for the value that their product will bring to the customer.

• Can build rapport, tell stories and sell their personality, because even in this digital world, people still buy people.

• Business acumen, the salesperson has a genuine interest in how business works.

• They are trained to know that sales negotiation is a process not an event, so they constantly use the 3Ps of selling – Prepare, Probe, and Propose.

• Is credible and understands how to build credibility and add value to a customer’s life.

• Has the sales skill to pinpoint, quantify and communicate clearly the value their proposed solution will bring to the customers business.