Sales has changed drastically over the years. Most sales professionals aren’t the slick, over the top personalities that we stereotypically think of in movies and shows. However, there are many traits that salespeople have needed in order to be successful. They need to be outgoing, confident, social, charismatic, and versatile, among many others. The future of sales is starting to demand a different skillset from its shining stars, and ones that might be contradictory to their nature.
Most of the salespeople I know don’t enjoy the preparatory work: business planning, organizing, preparing for calls, doing follow up, keeping notes, and anything done while sitting behind a computer. They would rather be in the field, calling on customers or prospects, attending events, networking, and presenting. They thrive on interpersonal contact and tend to be quite extroverted. But it seems the future of sales is changing yet again.
Take a look at this report from LinkedIn Sales Solutions, Global State of Sales 2022. The insights and information contained may be helpful for both salespeople and leaders to expand and refine skills needed to address the changing nature of sales. And then reach out if you would like to learn more about training sessions to help your team adapt and excel in the new world of sales.
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