You may have a proven track record when it comes to driving sales growth, but have you thought strategically about how you would sell yourself as a top sales talent?
There is a range of key competencies and attributes that recruiters commonly look for when searching for their next top sales professional – from ‘soft’ skills, such as emotional intelligence, to more technical ‘hard’ skills. While it is important to specifically address these competencies, you should avoid the cookie-cutter approach to creating a sales profile or building a personal brand. Just as the sales landscape is increasingly diverse, it’s important to allow your own unique value and personality to shine through to prospective employers.
Soft skills
One of the big advantages of a career in sales is that it is heavily reliant on transferable soft skills that don’t limit you to working within a single industry and are not necessarily tied to a specific tertiary qualification.
Interpersonal skills such as rapport-building and establishing a connection with clients provide the foundation for successful sales outcomes. Related soft skills such as empathy and perceptiveness also come into play when demonstrating active listening and questioning, which are essential in any sales process of internalising and reflecting back client wants and needs.
It goes without saying that expert verbal, non-verbal, and written communication skills are critical when maintaining strong interpersonal relations. To borrow the words of the automotive sales luminary, Lee Iacocca, “The ability to communicate is everything.” No matter the industry, a successful sales pitch depends on succinctly packaging offerings, clearly communicating a value message, and succinctly articulating differentiation.
Character traits and behaviours are also thought of as soft skills when it comes to sales roles. Confidence, creativity, and problem-solving skills, for instance, are invaluable traits when presenting a compelling sales hook. Employers also look for individuals who are agile enough to go ‘off script’ during a pitch, and think outside the box when it comes to lead generation and networking.
Top sales candidates also have the discipline and organisational skills to follow different business model processes (e.g., B2B, B2C or D2C) and manage a customer relationship database (CRM) to increase sales growth.
Persistence, personal drive, and resilience are other desirable qualities in a sales candidate. Having a growth mindset is a must when it comes to transforming past ‘failures’ into learning opportunities. So too is resilience when facing inevitable objections and potential rejection.
Technical sales skills
Technical sales knowledge and abilities, the so-called ‘hard’ skills of the industry, tend to be much more context-dependent on different business operations, product expertise, and technology applications. That said, a candidate should demonstrate an understanding of relevant sales processes from prospecting to negotiating and closing.
Examples, examples, examples…
Remember—highlighting generic skills will only get you so far. To stand out from the crowd as an ideal candidate, use specific and relevant examples to support the demonstration of key competencies. For example, be prepared to discuss a sales process in a recent position and explain how you were able to ‘solve’ objections to close a deal.
If you are ready to take your sales career to the next level, reach out to Salexo, the industry recruitment specialist.
