How do I sharpen my marketing and sales skills?
Hi! Before anything else, I commend you for looking to hone your skills. That’s an essential aspect to improving in this field, and it’s a good attitude to have in any endeavor. Not “How do I do this” or “How do I get this result” but “How do I get better at this?” As long as that’s how you look at things, and you act upon that desire to improve, you will succeed.
Sales and marketing skills improve with practice and experience. Reading relevant stuff, taking tips from the experts, and getting inspired by the ones who are already doing well in in your market also helps a lot. Ultimately, it comes down to putting the hours in and getting experience.
Since I am not aware of what products and services you deal in, my suggestions will be a bit generic. I would suggest you do more research on the following points. Here are nine suggestions for you:
#1 Sell benefits of the product, not only its features.
#2 Get a good hold of your communication skills.
#3 Be an active listener to your customers.
#4 Give value to your customers. Over-deliver whenever possible.
#5 Research the market well, primarily top-performing competitors, before starting a marketing campaign for your product.
#6 Personalize your message. Before that, understand your product completely, and focus on building a long-term relationship with the customers.
#7 Be honest and look at things from the customer’s point of view.
#8 Try reading the customer’s psychology before pitching the product and plan your actions accordingly.
#9 Other than the formal marketing strategies by the company, make use of social media for creating awareness for your products.
By implementing the above suggestions, you can add new skills and get more sales. If you are already following the above suggestions, brush upon them. Make it a routine to try new things and challenge yourself.
To help salespeople, I have discussed the most common customer objections and their solutions in my post: 5 Deep-Seated Customer Doubts That Kill Your Sales (And How to Erase Them). You can read it through the link.
In conclusion, learning is a continuous process. One should always look forward to learning new skills in a challenging field like marketing. There are abundant online resources to learn those skills, but there’s no need to complicate things. Ultimately, the more you apply yourself and try new things, the better you get.
Please feel free to leave me a reply if you have any questions.
Good Luck!
Thanks,
Cleo