What are the most critical skills in selling?

These skills, while very important, are more like pre-requisites than difference makers. I mean, yes salespeople need to be ethical and empathetic in all they do. Those who are not, won’t get very far in the long run anyway. The reason that these answers are all over the map lies in the framing of the question. The natural assumption when we hear “most critical skills in selling” tend to gravitate towards those skills that are foundational to selling. Said another way, these are the skills that most of us need just to be a satisfactory salesperson.

A better way to look at this question is in the context of selling excellence. The question becomes: What are the most critical (influential) skills in selling expertise? All of the previously mentioned skills are assumed to be part of the basis seller’s skill set. So what then separates the experts from the rest of the crowd?

In most domains, research on expert performance suggests that experts are experts because they perform the ordinary skills in an extraordinary way. When we look at selling at its core, we understand that communication skills represent the “it” of selling.

This raises the question: What aspects of communication separate experts from average performers? Answer: The Six Essentials of Persuasive Communication; Planning, Pausing and Silence, Presenting with Clarity, Attentiveness, Perceptiveness, and Responsiveness. The first three sub-skills are action-based, meaning they are behavioral tasks. The last three are reaction-based sub-skills that involve responding to the buyer’s message. Empirical research shows perceptual reaction skills to be most responsible for selling expertise (Boorom et al. 1998).

Let’s take a closer look at the Six Essentials:

1. Planning - This is not to be confused with general sales planning such as researching the prospect and putting together your product and pricing information. Expert performers also plan their thinking and mentally vet their impending communication before the performance. Visualizing and mental rehearsal techniques are excellent methods of communication planning.

2. Pausing and Silence - We all know that buyers are rightfully skeptical of the fast-talking seller who doesn’t listen to their concerns. But it’s amazing how many salespeople perpetuate this perception by…well talking to fast and not listening very well. Using pausing and silence creates the opportunities for buyers to voice their concern and absorb and understand the seller’s message. It’s a simple thing to do that makes a huge difference.

3. Presenting with clarity – Today’s salesperson must be able to present information that resonates with the buyer and endures the modern day monsoon of data overload that we all face on a daily basis. This can be accomplished by what I call: talking in pictures−the idea of using visual illustrations such as stories to create a compelling, memorable interaction. Succinct communication is another key to clarity. Using fewer, high impact words is always more effective than long rants that jump around too many subjects and confuse the buyer. Lastly, developing a central theme for each prospect is a powerful way to make a lasting impression of your sales message. Central themes are short descriptive phrases that get to the essence of your value proposition. Ideally, the expert seller comprises the theme from the words and messages of the buyer. The theme is then drilled in every communication touch point until the buyer starts to adopt it for themselves.

4. Attentiveness – More than listening, it’s active listening and the ability to identify the meaningful cues from the buyer. It involves empathy, genuineness and the skill of reading nonverbal messages. Understanding nonverbal communication in selling is likened to a sprinter athlete having fast muscle twitch. It relates to voice tone, body language and situation awareness. Because these are implicit skills, they’re often written off as a “knack” or attributed to experience. But you can improve your nonverbal detection ability by first noticing these signals during your routine sales calls. Mirroring and other nonverbal tools can be used to boost your nonverbal perceptual skills.

5. Perceptiveness – Once you have detected meaningful cues and messages, it’s now time to interpret them. The key to accurate and speedy interpretation is noticing patterns of the communication process. For example, most salespeople can vouch for the undesirable situation when a buyer rejects our sales proposition. We all say the same thing, “I knew the answer was “no” before she said it.” This is because we notice similar communication patterns from buyers through other experiences. Our “Spydey sense” tip us off that that the “no” is coming.

6. Responsiveness – A common myth held by many salespeople is the notion that buyers are the exclusive decision makers of the sales process. But a closer look reveals that salespeople also makes important decisions during interactions. These skills are largely intuitive, like an expert comedian who knows exactly when to hit the punch-line or when to abandon a bad joke. Adapting to the buyer’s situation is an important part of improving responsiveness. By understanding the buyer’s perspective, sellers can accurately respond to the implicit messages, thereby increasing the likelihood of achieving success.

These Six Essentials of Communication represent the “windows of expert advantage” helping sales professionals move their skills to the next level, more quickly.