Hard and Soft Skills I Use for Success (In Sales and Life)
The same skills that lead to success in sales can be applied to achieve our goals in life, because Sales Is Service and Life Is Sales.
We must prepare to win
A versatile set of hard and soft skills gives us the best chance to close the most deals, in life and in sales. We must be prepared for any situation, and be able to change our tactics and energy depending on who we are talking to and what their needs are. We never know when or what skill might come in useful. Whatever industry we are in or what we want out of life, take some time to figure out what areas we need to develop to achieve our goals. And commit to continuing to learn and grow—we are never done!
Hard skills
Technical and specific in nature, hard skills can be developed and learned over time as we gain experience and develop expertise. The exact set of hard skills might depend on one's industry, but we all share many in common. I admit I’m a bit of a hard skills and metrics nerd because I love using data to inform my decisions and actions. Managing time, tracking meetings, and interpreting numbers are super important and provide a solid foundation to start with.
Here are some examples of hard skills to master:
Track your activity and understand how much a dial, meeting, etc. are worth to you
Create a presentation of your product/service (everyone needs a good deck!)
Set prospecting goals and have a floor each day that you NEVER go below
Keep notes on every conversation and meeting so when you have a follow up meeting, you NEVER waste someone’s time
Look for objections, tease them out, and answer them - if you can’t, maybe you are not the right solution
Ask for the business if it is good for both parties - be a good closer
These skills can translate to your life as well. For example, I developed a tracking system to assess the current state of my couple. How many dates did we have, how often did we have non-logistical conversations, how was our diet, did we exercise together, etc. If you don’t track it, you can’t assess it and use the data to improve.
Soft skills
My first tip for the soft skills category is to know your why, your purpose. For salespeople, why do you sell? Do you want to help people? Are you about providing service to others? Relating this to life, know the why behind the decisions you make and the actions you take.
When our why is clear, it frees us up to perform at a higher level, to be our best selves, and to ultimately reach our true potential.
After you know your why and purpose, can you efficiently communicate it to others? Most call this an elevator pitch, as it consists of a couple of short sentences that quickly describe what you do and why it’s beneficial. When we deliver our elevator pitch in the right way, people ask follow-up questions, which is the goal.
For example, instead of using “I help people launch websites” as an elevator pitch, try using “I help people live out their dreams online” as a more engaging way to say it.
Once our why is clear and we have practiced our elevator pitch (have several versions by the way), we can move into the next phase of soft skills, which is developing rapport and relationships. In sales, building rapport is key to gaining trust, which helps us sell. In life, relationships are crucial to helping us get what we want, whether it’s booking a tee time, buying a house, or getting an interview.
Here are some examples of soft skills to master:
Easily relate to others and create rapport and trust
Be curious, ask good questions, and listen to the answer
Fully understand the present state, ask questions to obtain the future state, then help the prospect to develop pathways to get there
Understand yourself and your feelings, which will help you to understand others and have empathy - try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes
Style shift - change your style (energy, information you share, etc.) depending on the prospect’s style and personality
Share success stories and measurable results in order to create credibility
Build skills to build character
Being well-rounded and having a full grasp of hard and soft skills gives us the best chance of achieving success at work and at home.
A popular quote from the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu reads: “Your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your character.” With action, we can build skills that become habits, so I believe that skill development can truly lead to character development.
Maybe you possess some of these hard and soft skills already, or maybe not. Continue to hone the ones you have while trying to develop the ones you don’t, especially those that would most benefit you. Fight the urge to be static and comfortable. Take action and challenge yourself to grow, learn, and change.
Have FUN practicing!
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