The document provides suggested development activities to improve sales skills including being prepared for client questions, identifying buying obstacles, remaining open to new information, examining past decisions, practicing public speaking, engaging in quick conversations, developing standard responses to common objections, and learning to keep responses concise.

1. Sharp
Suggested Development Activities
• Ensure that you are prepared for client questions and challenges
• Don’t unduly delay a decision by getting caught in the detail. Ask yourself if the information is likely to really
change your decision.
• Take time to identify the client’s buying obstacles so that you can create a strong and convincing argument
• Be open to the possibility of changing decisions or solutions when new information becomes available. Remain
open to alternate ways of achieving your objectives.
• Examine what went right or wrong after a decision has been implemented.
• Consider public speaking groups such as Toastmasters International, where you are forced to give short
impromptu speeches on random topics.
• Practice engaging in quick, witty repartee in social situations, especially with friends
• Get someone you trust to fire questions at you so that you can practice coming up with quick responses. The key
initially is to be fast, rather than worrying about the content of your response.
• Look up random words in the dictionary and come up with short anecdotes on the topics.
• Be willing to learn some standard responses initially that you can reel off – most witty people have a store of
these at their disposal. In the sales context this also applies. Really spend time thinking about the objections or
comments that prospects might come up with and then supplement this list with some of the things they do say.
Think of strong responses for all of these.
• Learn to keep your responses short sometimes – sometimes a great response loses its impact because people
don’t how to put a full stop on the end and leave a silence.
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