If you want to accelerate your career in the sales industry, there’s no getting around it: you need to know how to sell. But what does that really mean? As a sales professional, you need to master the art of sales — understand the sales process from start to finish and know how to apply pressure at each stage to close the deal.

You also need to be able to read people and understand their needs so that you can tailor your pitch accordingly. And, of course, you need to be able to handle rejection — because, in sales, there’s no such thing as a sure thing. No matter what your sales position is — even if you just started in sales or are already a sales manager — what’s important is you are armed with the knowledge and skills to be well on your way to a successful career in sales.

In this post, you’ll learn how improving your sales skills can help take your career to the next level. Know the ins and outs of successful sales and how to accelerate your sales career!

Build relationships with effective communication

Many sales training courses will teach you how to be a high-performing sales talent. But to be truly successful in sales, you must learn how to develop the skills you acquire, especially with proper communication.

1. Persuasion

Ideas are a dime a dozen — it’s all about how you present them that counts. If you’re the type of person who just goes with the flow, your great ideas will be swept away along with the dud ones. You need to find ways to improve and develop your social selling skills to get anyone to listen to you.

One of the skills needed for an effective sales strategy is to learn the art of persuasion. By then, you’ll be able to get your ideas accepted, whether it’s by your sales team or your company. After all, persuasion is what helps people make decisions — whether it’s getting a customer to buy a product or convincing your boss to give you a raise.

This means that when you master persuasion, you master a piece of “managing up” for those that you interact with. Sales persuasion externally helps you close deals and progress to the next step within your deal flow. Internally, it allows your ideas to be clearly articulated and received by those who hold the keys to your financial growth. Persuading someone of your ideas (including your raise, bonus, promotion, etc.) will allow you to better align what you want (or need) with what that person believes.

Don’t forget that persuasion isn’t just about logic and facts — emotions and motivation play a big role in decision-making as well. So if you want to make sure your next great idea gets incorporated into your company goals, start honing your persuasive skills today — and meet that quota!

2. Project and People Management

You might think that your great sales pitch is all you need to make a sale or get things moving, but in reality, people are probably too busy to work on what you need. Proper project and people management are crucial for getting things actioned. People can’t just buy when they are persuaded; management is needed. You need to build relationships with every salesperson in your sales organization, as well as with your customers.

The same goes for your ideas, needs, and desires. Effectively allocating responsibility, creating work-back plans, establishing next steps, etc. all make a sale (or motion for a change) a success. Persuasion is one thing, but if the path forward, responsibility, and immediate next steps are not clear, then that persuasion will fall flat. 

Just because we become convinced of something doesn’t mean we’re going to act or prioritize it. Pairing a proper focus on project management with your persuasion skills will not only convince people of your motion for change, but it will show them exactly how they can action this newfound belief as well. Ideas without action complete nothing; they lead to nowhere.

So next time you’ve got a great idea, remember that it takes more than just convincing someone—you need to be able to manage the project and the people involved to make it a sales success.

Structure brings clarity to sales and your career growth

Whether in sales or simply managing projects—work-back plans are critical in a more digital world. People don’t care about your project; they care about theirs. So how do you make yours their priority?

This is usually not taught in a sales training program. If you want people to get on board with your idea, project, or sale, it’s important to have a clear structure and timeline in place. By laying out the steps needed to reach your sales goal, you can help people see the path to success and give them a roadmap for getting there.

Of course, some steps will be easier than others, but if you do some upfront work to set the course, you’ll be in good shape. Once you’ve got the steps mapped out, add them to the calendar and apply dates to each one. This will help keep everyone on track and make it easier to hit those milestones.

Structure brings clarity. Clarity reduces the amount of thinking required to take action. If you’ve already persuaded someone that the idea is important, then they will be not only motivated but more likely to action the information because they already know what to do.

How to add structure for sales and career work-back plans:

If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in the routine of making the same small talk with each person you meet, you know how important it is to add structure to your conversation. The same is true when prospecting for new sales and managing your career path! Small talk can only get you so far, and if you’re not careful, you may find yourself in a rut. To avoid this, try adding these two elements to your next important conversations:

1. Proper questioning (constant qualification)

In order to set the course for a project, you constantly need the right information to push to the next stage. Your prospects will typically not know how to best buy YOUR product or service or build an internal business case for it either. The most successful salespeople will guide prospects through the process, and the best way to do this is through qualification. Because you are the guide, the information you gather from the prospect will help inform the course of the project. The best part about this is that you’ll have the prospect talking more.

The same goes for your career success. How can others build the career path for you? When in reality, you are the only one who knows what you want. Also, consider that people are busy with their days and their own desires. So, in order to enter into important conversations that impact your career, you need to be intentional with the questions that you ask them to guide the other to the goal you desire.

So, How do you best get information? Ask questions. Not just any questions, though, but ones that specifically uncover information relevant to your path. Don’t assume anything. And remember… having the others come to conclusions themselves will allow them to more easily incorporate the new idea into their mind. Questions are your superpower!

Without information about their situation, problems, the implications of those problems, and what your path would solve, you cannot add structure.

2. Put the information into place (temporarily)

“You said X was important to you, and Y would improve that.” So how do we get to Y? This is where you bring in your expertise and guidance as a salesperson.

“Typically, it takes ____ to implement. You want results by ______. Therefore, we need to do something by ______.”

Set the goal posts. Find the North Star. Now you can work back.

“It takes ___ for contracting. It takes ___ for demoing. It takes ____ for internal buy-in.”

Great—add dates to these. Keep in mind that the more people you engage, the harder it is to coordinate.

At this point, you will have all of the appropriate information that you can map to these specific stages. You want to break down the ultimate end goal into smaller milestones. This simplifies the process and makes it clear how to go from 0 to 100 by going from 0 to 1, then 1 to 2, and so on.

With a goal in mind, you’ll be able to steer the conversation in a productive direction. And with a plan, you’ll have a roadmap to follow, ensuring that you cover all the important topics. By adding just a bit of structure to your sales calls and career conversations, you can keep the conversation flowing down the river that brings you (and the other) to your ultimate goal (which, at this point, will be a shared goal too). 

Accountability drives action in sales and your career

It’s important to have a clear idea of who is responsible for what. Otherwise, things can quickly start to fall through the cracks. That’s why, before embarking on any new venture, it’s essential to have a frank discussion with your sales prospects, sales and marketing team, management, or whomever you need to influence about who should be doing what. Once everyone is on the same page, it will be much easier to stay organized and ensure that projects are completed on time and on budget.

So next time you’re feeling overwhelmed by a new project or initiative, remember to take a step back and identify which tasks should be assigned to which team members. Doing so, it’ll help you improve your sales experience, plus a much better client experience!

After persuading and giving structure to a project, applying accountability is the final piece – the cherry on top. You’ve guided them to incorporate the new idea as something important. You’ve also given them a clear path forward based on the structure. Now that you’ve attributed accountability to the pieces of the puzzle, people know exactly what they are working on and when they themselves are accountable for getting it done.

How to drive accountability:

It’s no secret that every sales job is not easy. Salespeople, including sales representatives and SDRs (Sales Development Representatives), have it tough these days. They’re constantly fighting for attention in a world where everyone is constantly bombarded with messages and offers. It can be difficult to stand out from the crowd and get people to take notice. One way to help salespeople be more successful is to create social contracts.

By setting clear expectations and holding each other accountable, salespeople and those looking to accelerate their careers can work together more effectively to close deals and move forward in their careers. Additionally, social contracts can help build trust between salespeople and really between two individuals, leading to more successful relationships. So if you’re not already using social contracts to drive accountability, you’re missing out on a big opportunity. Here are 2 ways to drive accountability:

1. Establish individual importance

Now it’s time to apply this guidance to the individual and help them make the decisions to move forward. As we know, people are only motivated to act through things THEY care about.

Although you’re the guide, and although the answers may seem simple, you need to have the prospect physically say words akin to “this would solve X” or “I need to do X.” You can suggest, but if they don’t agree and literally say that they need or will do things, then they won’t adhere to it.

This is where the questions come into play. You can ask guided questions to help people realize the solutions and/or the idea that you’re trying to get across. When you give people the “aha” moment, they are able to incorporate the new idea into their worldview. If you simply told them the information, it wouldn’t have been their idea that they thought of, now would it? So your questions guide them to this goal.

2. Assign responsibility + attach dates

Now’s your chance. You just had the prospect tell you what they need/want and what to do to get there. Ask them, “Great, so is it reasonable that we can work towards this date: ________ together?”

If yes, then you can have them lay out what they are going to do and when they are going to do it.

The key piece here is that although they have something to work towards if you don’t ask, “When will you bring this up with your manager/finance department?” then you’ll hit the previously stated date and have no new info or progress.

Applying this to your career means that you have the initial conversation where you implement the new idea, then you set the structure for the project, then you establish the importance of the new motion for the individual, and now you can have actionable next steps of action X to be completed by date Y.

Conclusion

Persuasion + project management = a successful sale or new motion for someone

The structure provides clarity. Clarity increases the likelihood of action. Action requires personal responsibility and accountability.  Asking the right questions to:

• Persuade
• Provide structure + clarity
• Drive responsibility and accountability
• Apply specifics to when this accountability is required

… will make the motion for change so clear, simple, and yet comprehensive that it is now difficult not to take action. If you follow these steps, you leave little room for objection, error, or confusion on what’s next. 

People act based on 3 things:

1. When they are personally motivated (ie. when persuaded)
2. When they understand the outcome (large-scale structure)
3. When they understand how to move forward in the most efficient way possible (clarity + responsibility)

So how can you use this? 

Well, in your next sales call, use the right questions to persuade, guide, provide clarity, and drive personal accountability. In your career, you can do the same with your manager, your peers, and those who have the power to impact your career.

Get out there and take action. Be intentional with your interactions. Aim to empower action and create forward motion. Then you’ll see success.

BD Paths’ Takeaway

Having a plan is important, and executing that plan is even more important, but properly managing other people with that plan is the most important. Whether you’re applying for jobs, negotiating a promotion, a manager (of any kind), or pitching ideas, sales skills are at the core. 

Even teaching and keeping people engaged in a presentation requires sales skills. You are always persuading and managing people and projects. Remember that influence is power. YOU are the arbiter of your destiny. Take ACTION today!