Soft Skills in Sales

How do some salespeople come off as crazy, in your face lunatics, but when Prof. Sweet imitates a sales conversation he manages to sell you without even trying? The answer has to do with soft skills. Soft skills in business are a set of skills that are not strictly related to the job you have or the product you sell. Some examples include presentation, eye contact, relationality, humor, etc. Hard skills rely on your knowledge of the job you have, like a computer technician has the hard skills of knowing how to program in many different coding languages, being able to run diagnostics and replace faulty parts, among many others. His soft skills are how he interacts with who he is servicing or with his team. Is he an amiable person? Does he show up to the jobsite on time? Can he resolve interpersonal conflict or client conflict? Those challenges are tests of your soft skills. In sales, your biggest soft skill to practice is problem solving. Prof. Sweet tells us this constantly. Sales should be consultative, not just about getting the other person to buy your product. When he shows examples or role plays with a lass member, he is constantly using critical thinking, being adaptable, and helping you solve your problem. The best way to practice soft skills is to get out and do stuff! Sure, there are ways to study ideation and analytical thinking, but more often than not, soft skills are perfected in networking and interaction with others, especially in an unfamiliar area. For extroverts, this is easy! We love to go out to every new person and talk and talk and talk. However, you shouldn’t be talking all the time! Listening is a soft skill too. introverts, this is where you shine. Hearing and understanding problems or finding needs by asking quality questions is one of the greatest soft skills a salesperson (or non-sales seller) can have.