Three Essential Sales Competencies

Posted on 11/07/2024 in Selling Skills

Written by Bill McCormick

Based on a poll with sales professionals who attended our workshops the past two years, we've identified three essential sales competencies:

  • Growing Your Business: Don't overlook that growth pertains to two things: 1) selling more to existing customers; and 2) winning new accounts. What can you do to grow your existing business and improve retention? How do you gain access to a new prospect and convince them to change to your product or service? If you as the sales professional aren't focusing on growth, who is?
  • Handling Objections: Every salesperson encounters objections. What distinguishes the best sales professionals is that they have effective responses to likely objections such as "I'm happy with my current provider/supplier" and "Your price is too high."
  • Negotiating Win/Win Agreements: Most of our clients have seen that their customer base has evolved toward fewer and larger accounts.  And, because large accounts expect to negotiate favorable terms and conditions, sales professionals need to be good negotiators. For example, how can you reach agreements that are mutually beneficial for you and the customer? How can you avoid making the common mistake of conceding too much, too soon?

Done well, each of the above three competencies will help you to protect and grow your business. If you would like to improve in any or all of the above three competencies, we're excited to announce that Peak Selling is launching a series of three sales training workshops in 2025. Each session is just two hours long and will be taught virtually.  The workshops will be: 1) Handling Objections; 2) Negotiating Win/Win Agreements; and 3) Growing Your Business.

If you'd like more information about the specific topics and pricing, and also receive early access about the Q1 workshop dates, please reach out by email or provide your contact information by clicking on 2025 Workshops