Success in sales relies on a combination of hard skills, such as market research, and critical soft skills, including emotional intelligence, confidence, and empathy. Sales professionals should adapt their approaches, listen actively, and maintain humility to effectively connect with prospects and build trust. By focusing on relationships rather than just closing deals, salespeople can enhance their effectiveness and reduce friction in the sales process.

1. Must Have
Soft Skills
for Success
in Sales
Erin
Scholtes

2. Hard skills and soft skills feed off each other. Hard
skills are quantifiable, like market research skills and
outreach strategies. Soft skills are unquantifiable
abilities that allow you to benefit from your hard skills.
Hard skills help people land jobs, and soft skills will
enable them to warm up to prospects.
A great salesperson is emotionally intelligent. They
can perceive the prospects’ energy and adjust the
appearance and pitch of their product or service. They
can read signs of intent or lack thereof and modify
their tact accordingly. A salesperson's situational
awareness helps them know when to push or hold
back.

3. Sales professionals should use emotional intelligence to observe their prospects and
react to certain words. When talking to a prospect, listen to understand—not to
respond. It will help you catch nonverbal cues and tailor your response accordingly.
Another must-have skill is confidence. Confidence can come from knowing your
solution works or from past success. Encourage sales prospects to listen to sales
pitches—project confidence by clearly and concisely describing the solutions. Avoid
gestures and nonverbal cues that signal timidity, such as avoiding eye contact. Push
back without being defensive or aggressive.

4. Sales professionals will face several challenges,
such ascatching prospects at inopportune times.
Therefore, try a different approach if a particular
prospect does not respond to your usual pitch,
requiring adaptability. Keeping an open mind allows
sales professionalsto adapt to various sales or
prospecting tactics.
Some sales professionals aim to execute quick sales
and move on. However, those who focuson
relationships can win more often. Empathy is key to
building rapportand connecting with a prospect. It
also enhancestrust, a critical factor for sales. To
develop empathy, always treat every prospect as a
human being, not just a number to “close.” Also, put
yourself in their shoes.

6. Next, you won’t always have all the answers to all your prospects’ questions. Sales
prospects will have objections that sales professionals didn't anticipate. That’s where
humility comes in handy. Successful salespeople know it’s okay to admit you don’t
know some things. To be humble is to be vulnerable, which can inspire trust.
Admitting you do not know something is a way to portray humility. Do not evade tough
questions or be defensive. Don't just say you don’t know, either. Promise to find out.
Also, if you lose a sale because of an avoidable mistake, own it.

7. Lastly, a sales and marketing course
may equip you with hard skills like
market research, audience
segmentation, and targeting.
Without people skills, you’ll struggle
to connect with your customers.
Soft skills help reduce sales friction
by making you relatable.