If you’re a salesperson, and you are hungry for greater success, it’s important that you improve your soft skills to a point where they are equal to or greater than your product knowledge, says Jeffrey Gitomer (gitomer.com). Soft sales skills can be taught one of three ways:
1. In-house training. Company trainers that may also include best salespeople, and outside courseware trained in-house.
2. Outside training. Should be presented by someone who can sell an off-the-shelf solution with the intention that the salesperson will learn general sales, or a system of selling, or a customized sales process where specific aspects of the product and customer are taught.
3. Voice of customer training. Voice of the customer training is when an existing customer tells their story or use of a product (what their history is), why they bought it, what their experience has been, how they felt about it after purchase, and why they would recommend it.
“I’m not talking about learning some old-world, find-the pain, manipulative sales process,” Gitomer emphasizes. “In today’s selling, ‘making a sales pitch’ and ‘closing the sale’ are pretty much over.
