Mastering the skills to sell in a digital world

Selling is a delicate and fine art. It involves a lot of rejection, repetition and being told “no thanks” over and over again. Especially in our modern digital world where the choices for customers are endless.

Sales is not a career that suits everyone. It requires confidence, persistence and commitment. But, once you accept and get over the fear of rejection, you’ll find that, if mastered correctly, sales is a very rewarding and prosperous career choice.

The art of doing your homework

When it comes to selling - no matter what you’re selling - it’s vital you do your research on the person/company you’re selling to.

Understanding your prospective customer's products or services will stand you in good stead when it comes to positioning your product and how it’ll benefit them and their bottom line. Having a clear idea of their competitors, their pricing structures, their digital strategy and their customers will impress them and show that you have a vested interest in them as a business.

But it doesn't stop there. As well as understanding your customer’s business, you should constantly be developing your understanding of the industry as a whole. You can use this knowledge to shape talking points and be able to articulate them naturally and coherently. Knowing where the market is at right now and having ideas about where it’s going in the future will help you significantly.

Strong research skills involve the ability to locate, extract, organise, evaluate and use information effectively. It’s not just about reading hundreds of articles on a subject or attending seminars, it’s about finding the information that’s most relevant and extracting the bits you need to present your point across.

Your future customers will want to know that they're buying from someone who knows their stuff and the market, so doing your homework will ensure you do - as well as ensuring you’re never caught off guard with questions you can’t answer.

Maintaining an authoritative tone

Sales is fundamentally a matter of trust. Your tone sets the overall tone of the sales conversation and it must be one of confidence and authority. If you're speaking in uncertain terms with a nervous hesitation, unfortunately it’ll stand out like a fog horn.

Many salespeople also find themselves apologising before the customer has even spoken i.e. “I’m so sorry to bother you as I know you are busy, but…” but, this only sets you up for fall. It instantly shows the confidence in your pitch is lacking.

Contrary to some people’s beliefs, confidence is a soft skill that can be learned, practised and improved. Homing in on your own self-confidence and taking steps to improve it will give you an advantage over other sales people and lead to better success.

Positive thinking, practice, mindfulness and meditation are all useful ways to help improve or boost your confidence levels. This should be an important part of ongoing training for anyone working in a sales role.

Adding your personal touch

Another key skill involved in a sales-based career is relationship building. It’s establishing a bond with your customer, so they feel connected with you and able to trust you to manage their needs. In a digital world, personal connection is still key.

This often means listening, acknowledging, exploring and responding to your customer (LAER framework). Giving them sound and genuine advice, keeping in regular contact, being there when they need you and understanding their business needs in terms of things like flexible payment terms and tests and trials.

Relationship building is another soft skill that can be learned and improved over time. Training, practising, listening to others and asking for feedback are all ways to build relationship skills. Ultimately, as we know already, the customer comes first. So, you should always be willing and able to deliver on that concept.

Never stop learning and evolving

Here at Cademi, learning and evolving are hot topics. We believe that even the most established of salespeople should never become stagnant or complacent. There's always room for growth and development, no matter how experienced or successful you are.

The good news is that our platform can help you with all of the skills we've mentioned above and much more.

Cademi offers an extensive range of upskilling and training in the area of sales. There are sessions on improving your listening skills to ideas about prospecting mistakes to avoid and different types of closes and their effectiveness.

All our courses are delivered in bite-sized chunks and can be accessed on any device, from anywhere in the world.

For as little as £4.97pp a month, you can work on both your hard and soft skills to improve your overall performance, without spending hours of time in the boardroom listening to lengthy presentations.

To make a start, get in touch with a member of the Cademi team to see how the platform can work for you and your business.