We have previously defined the main roles in tech sales. Each position has its peculiarities, but they all share a common denominator.
Today, we’ve discussed skills in sales with Maria Aranda, SDR Manager at 3D Click. She shares what skills she considers most relevant to succeed in the world of sales.
When listing the skills that I consider the most critical to develop in sales, the first ones that come to mind, as you’ll imagine, are “resistance to rejection, persistence, perseverance, optimism, self-improvement… ”.
These skills are essential to be able to stand firm in a career where the objectives are clear, decisive, and most often ambitious.
But we cannot forget other qualities that are also necessary to succeed in this sector –
- Strategic mind to be able to find different paths that reach the objective
- Adaptable to change
- Conflict resolution
- Analysis of data
- Technical and social skills
Let’s go into more detail –
Technical skills
When hiring sales profiles in the SaaS world, I consider it vital that the candidates have a deep knowledge and interest in technology. Not only to be able to understand the product and the culture that you are trying to sell, but also to be able to detect and understand the deficiencies and needs that your potential clients seek to solve.
On the other hand, CRMs have become the work tool for the sales department. They become your agenda, your protocol and even the way to feed the company’s database.
Sometimes, the lack of interest in fully exploiting these type of tools leads to a lack of agility in the team’s daily tasks, and provides confusing/unrealistic data for global business analysis.
Social skills
The world of sales is a complex world full of challenges. Social skills will help you to connect with the protagonist of the conversation (the potential client), whilst strategically leading its direction.
We usually picture the traditional salesperson as a lonely person surrounded by potential clients. Well, my experience tells me that teamwork has been underestimated all this time. The support that a salesperson receives, both from their leader and their colleagues, is essential to survive so many “no’s” and so few “yes’s”. Teamwork means that lessons are learned faster, individual skills are enhanced, and a personal and professional alignment is produced, which becomes the engine of the department.
In order to develop all these skills as an SDR and to be able to enjoy this career/development in the world of sales, I should also highlight that it is essential to believe in the product and to believe in yourself.
Find out more SDR tips. Here’s a list of the top 8 tips we’ve collected from superstar SDRs.
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