Here is a comprehensive list I’ve used to develop my sales teams:
- Prospecting
- Outbound Calling Skills
- Email Prospecting
- Inbound Lead Prospecting
- Capitalizing on peak selling time and knowing the peak times
- Understands key prospecting insights
- Prospecting into inbound leads
- Developing Multi-touch & Multi-channel prospecting cadence
- Effective LinkedIn Prospecting
- Consultative & Solution Selling
- Account Strategy & Planning
- Sales Call Planning
- Account Research
- Preparation / 3×3
- Getting to Decision Makers (DM)
- Getting access to Authority / DM
- Working with Champions to access the Economic Buyer
- Getting around gatekeepers
- Relationship Building & Management
- Like, Trust, Rapport & Respect (LTRR)
- Maintaining a relationship
- Providing Insights to the Prospect
- Creating and Adding Value at Every Interaction
- Mutual and Joint Agreements & Expectation-Setting
- Ex: Sandler’s “Upfront Contract” & ANOT technique – Appreciate, Naturally, Obviously, Typically
- Setting on the purpose of a sales call, time, agenda, outcomes/next steps
- Active Listening (2:1 ratio, patience before replying, verbal affirmations)
- Sales Messaging
- Delivering the Elevator Pitch
- Unique Value Proposition
- Sales Differentiation
- Storytelling
- Initial Discovery & Exploratory Process
- Non-Invasive Exploratory Sales Questioning
- Getting the Prospect to Open Up
- Qualifying for Buyer Pain Points / Needs Analysis
- First Call Qualification & Outcome
- Detailed Qualification
- Deeper Pain, Problems and Challenges Qualification (ex: such as Sandler’s Pain 2 & 3)
- Authority: Decision Makers, Economic Buyers, Champions, Influencers, Detractors – Mapping the Organization
- Prioritization / Timeline for the decision
- Internal Decision-Making Process
- Money & Budget decision
- Effective Selling / Selling on Value and Solving Problems
- Connecting Value and the Solution to Specific Pain Points and Challenges
- Creating a Business Case
- Presenting
- Pitching
- Demonstrating
- Executive Presentations
- Creating a Buying Experience for the prospect – BX
- Follow-up skills
- Deal Execution
- Objections
- Uncovering concerns
- Objection prevention
- Responses & Effective Handling
- Complying, Redirection
- Reversing Questions (i.e. Sandler)
- Different frameworks – ERIC vs. Ledge/Disrupt/Ask (Jeb Blount) vs. Others
- Mutual Close Plans
- Creating a co-owned and joint Go-Live / Success Plan
- Selling Against the Competition
- Speaking positively about competition
- Overcoming competitive traps & RFPs
- Effective positioning
- Competitive intelligence & research
- Understanding competitive strengths
- Competitive battlecards
- Working with Proposals / RFPs
- Complex Deal Negotiations
- Pricing
- Closing
- Asking for the business
- Closing questions
- Developing a Sense Urgency
- Compelling Reason to Act
- Compelling Events
- Value drivers
Also:
- Internal Sales Rep Self-Management Skillset
- Following a Sales Process
- Opportunity Management
- Overall Pipeline Management
- Deal Reviews & Opportunity Troubleshooting
- Sales Forecasting / Forecasting Review
- Sales Tech knowledge (CRM, Sales Prospecting like Outreach, etc.)
- Territory Planning
- Quarterly Business Review self-assessment
- Finally – basic Excel skills to analyze their own sales metrics