The document is a professional development guide for salespeople, compiled from insights of various sales experts. It emphasizes the importance of mastering sales strategies, understanding products and clients, and continuously refining skills such as data analysis and effective communication. Additionally, it recommends resources like books, blogs, classes, and conferences to aid in professional growth and encourages ongoing learning and innovation.

1. How to Be
a Better
Sales
Professional
Professional
Development Guides
from

2. We know you want to
BE AWESOME
at your job!

3. So, we picked the
brains of a team of sales
experts to find out how
they've gotten so good.
Ekaterina Steube
Sales Associate at
The Muse
Catherine Van Hersh
Head of Sales for Chartio
Fernando Campos
Director of Sales &
Business Development
for Anyperk
Ellen Huerta
Former Senior Account
Manager at Google,
Founder of Mend

4. And compiled it all into the
ULTIMATE GUIDE TO
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
FOR SALESPEOPLE.

5. Are you ready for it?
it'll be a HUGE help to your career.
(And only take a little time to flip through.)
Whether you’re just getting started
or you’re ready to move to the top,

6. First, we’ll talk about the skills you need.
And then we’ll give you the resources
to make it happen.
Let's get started.

7. So what skills does one
need to develop to be
a superstar salesperson?

8. Well, there are
the obvious ones.

9. You definitely
need to know
e v e r y t h i n g
you can about
S ALE S
STRATEGIES.

10. There are no silver bullets in sales,
and becoming as educated as
possible in methodology is
important in forming the style
that works best for you and your
product or service.

11. You should also know
everything you can about
what you're selling.

12. If you've just begun a career in sales,
learn the ins and outs of what you're
selling. One of the best ways is to
use it yourself if possible. Even if
you're comfortable working with
clients, you won't get very far if you
don't have a strong foundation as a
product expert. When you understand
both your product and your client,
"sales" becomes "consulting" and you
become a "partner," not a "vendor."

13. But there are
other skills that
people tend to
overlook.

14. Salespeople have to
understand how to
effectively analyze
DATA.

15. You must:
Use numbers
to prove your
product
Analyze the
effectiveness of
sales strategies
Understand personal
performance data

16. "What gets measured gets done"—
I've always loved this quote
because it really talks about the
power of data. Measure everything
you can, and test new approaches
to optimize your strategy.

17. You also
must have
pretty solid
RESEARCH
SKILLS.

18. You’ll often need to
learn about new clients
and industries at the
drop of a hat.

19. The most important reading I do pertains
to my customer. What are the business
challenges my customer is facing, and how
can my service solve those problems?
Ultimately this feeds into a larger goal of
better understanding how to grow into
new markets and create new
opportunities for Chartio.

20. Having excellent
PRESENTATION skills
is a must for pitching.

21. Being comfortable
with speaking to
groups of 1 to 100
Knowing how to
tell a compelling
story
Designing decks
that help—and don’t
hurt—your pitch

22. At Google, my team had the fortune of
@avinash reviewing one of our client
presentations, and he ripped them to
shreds for being too cluttered. It was a
little jarring at the time, but what he told
us was true and I'll never forget it: If you
really know your stuff, you don't need
slides (except in some cases, like when
data must be displayed). Slides often
end up being a crutch to the presenter
and a distraction to the listener.

23. And while you
have to know
how to talk well,
perhaps more
important is the
ability to
LISTEN.

24. It's so important to ask questions and really listen
to your client: what their goals are, what keeps
them up at night, how they make money, what
they're really happy about. If you don't understand
these things, you can't offer the right solution.
When I first started at Google, I would often dive
right into my presentation when I met with clients.
I quickly learned to let them kick off meetings. I
would ask my clients several open-ended
questions, and their answers always helped
inform the rest of our conversation.

25. No matter what, you
always have to keep
LEARNING &
INNOVATING.

26. Don't get complacent. I have seen
some very talented salespeople fail
because they thought they already
knew it all. Keep developing your
skills, keep practicing, and keep asking
for advice. Most importantly, don't be
afraid to try out something new that
no one in your company is doing yet.
You need to make your own
niche to get ahead.

27. Now that we're on the
same page about what skills
you need, let's talk about
how to get there.

28. We asked our experts what resources
have been helpful along the way,
and pulled together an
official RESOURCE GUIDE
for your sales development.

29. BOOKS TO READ
Predictable Revenue
teaches you how to
build a system to scale
a sales team quickly
and has tons of creative
strategies that are easy
to test and implement.

30. BLOGS & MAGAZINES TO READ

31. Instead of sales focused literature,
I read a lot around current affairs.
You never know who the next
person you will meet is, or what
their interests might be, so I like
to be prepared. Whether you like
it or not, keeping up to date with
sporting events is also key.

32. CONFERENCES TO ATTEND
It's important to be inspired and
surround yourself with creative
thinkers. SXSW is a great way to
network and learn more about
how others are taking their
business to market.

33. CLASSES TO TAKE
Sales & Leadership
SPIN Selling
CEO Summit Videos
HBR IdeaCast
I took a SPIN selling class earlier
this year, which illustrates the
difference between implicit and
explicit client needs.

34. CLASSES TO TAKE
Persuasion & Presentation
Sales and Persuasion Skills for Start-ups
Storytelling for Business
Pitch Perfect­—Powerful Presentation Skills

35. Sometimes just sitting down once a
month with the other salespeople in
your company and swapping tips and
ideas is the best kind of workshop.

36. EXPERTS TO FOLLOW
Kevin is an expert in inside
sales, and frankly, a guy I look
up to. He knows his craft better
than anyone I know.

37. Now—it's time to go
out into the world
and get better at
rocking your career!
(We know you can do it.)

38. And, if you want a little more help along the way?
Keep up with for the advice
you need to build the career you've
always dreamed of.
Get Career
Advice
Browse
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Classes
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