Sales Skill Competency Model & Course Library

Sales Skill Competency Model & Course Library

s Key and Competency Model There are 33 key sales skills in the MoneyBall Sales Competency Model. Each of these skills can be examined individually, or grouped into one of four larger categories, which we call competencies. In the graphics that follow, individual skills are colored-coded based on these larger competencies. Actively Managing Sales Processes Active Learning Developmental Needs Measurable Results Management of Financial Resources Monitoring Performance Performance Gaps Setting Appropriate Goals Time Management Using Sales Tools Effectively Using Technology Effectively Sales Tactics Articulating Value Propositions Negotiation Quick Qualification Reaching the Decision Maker Using Sales Processes Emotional and Interpersonal Skills Building Rapport Quickly Emotional Intelligence Focus on Behavior Generating Trust Handling Stress Making Effective Presentations Persuasion Managing People Resources Setting Clear Expectations Service Orientation Strategic and Value-Oriented Thinking Complex Problem Solving Critical Thinking Developing Meaningful Alternatives Focus on Value Creation Customer Needs Judgment and Decision Making Problem Definition Win-Win Alternatives Actively Managing Sales Processes: The 10 skills in this competency group are related to monitoring and organizing sales efforts. Emotional and Interpersonal Skills: The 10 skills in this competency group are related to managing emotions and working successfully with people. Sales Tactics: The 5 skills in this competency group represent crucial short-term tactics that help sales reps close deals. Strategic and Value-Oriented Thinking: The 8 skills in this competency group represent longer-term tactics for creating customer value and building a strategically-oriented organization. 1

Active Learning Developmental Needs The ability to understand the implications of new information to current and future problem-solving and decision-making The ability to identify the skills, knowledge and behaviors that are required for improving employee ability to meet performance requirements for a current or future job. Make learning a habit Understanding how people learn and how to leverage it Knowing how you learn and how to improve it Aligning goals Motivation for sales managers Measurable Results Management of Financial Resources Monitoring Performance Performance Gaps Setting Appropriate Goals The ability to generate quantifiable outcomes and to document these outcomes against required standards. The ability to determine how money will be spent to achieve agreed outcomes, and the accounting for those expenditures. The ability to consistently monitor performance through reviews measuring progress against standards and identifying unacceptable performance. The ability to accurately assess the difference between what is happening and what should be happening. The ability to establish individual and group goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound, and that support business objectives. Setting smart goals Personal performance planning Aligning goals Strategic business decisions Tactical business decisions Break even analysis Understanding markets Communicating your accomplishments Implementing a strategy and getting buy-in Failure as a learning opportunity Maximizing your team s territory performance Performance planning for your team Unpacking performance reporting Lifetime customer value Growing the business Understanding your manager s expectations Time Management The ability to employ practices and processes that exercise control over, and prioritize the amount of time spent on specific activities, tasks, projects or goals. Organization/ when and how to prioritize tasks to build selling effectiveness Creating action plans Evaluating action plans 2

Using Sales Tools Effectively Using Technology Effectively Building Rapport Quickly Emotional Intelligence Focus on Behavior Generating Trust Handling Stress The ability to employ both computerized and traditional methods for sales tracking, forecasting, customer collaboration, promotion and sales planning to support goal achievement. The ability to use information and communication technologies that facilitate interactions between salespeople and actual or potential customers. The ability to make another person feel that they are on the same wavelength, or in synch with you very early in the sales process. The ability to identify, assess and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups The ability to provide value-neutral feedback that is focused only on changing behavior that negatively affects performance. The ability to gain the willingness of another party to voluntarily rely on your actions. The ability to perform well in situations in which the demands placed on you could exceed your professional, social or emotional resources. The difference between customer relationships and CRM systems Sales forecasting Spreadsheet tricks that will make your job easier Choosing the right communication channel Using cloud applications to improve your sales process Salesforce tips and tricks Using linkedin to find warm leads Fun with google: alerts, docs, drive, reader Conversation tips and tricks Building rapport via email Intercultural communication Building rapport on the phone Emotional Intelligence Building alliances Responding to the emotional intelligence of others Giving and receiving feedback When clients behave badly Creating trust with your team and coworkers Rebuilding trust Building alliances Work/life balance for sales people Staying organized to reduce stress Expressing expectations and needs Making Effective Presentations The ability to present information in a concise, compelling and engaging manner that allows another party to have greater understanding of the subject matter. Sales presentations: styles, situations Effective virtual presentations No more death by powerpoint: creating decks that close deals Persuasion The ability to influence beliefs, intentions, attitudes and behaviors of others using written or spoken words to convey information, reasoning, and/or feelings. Creating a sense of urgency with customers Overcoming emotional objections or notions Writing emails that get the right response 3

Managing People Resources Setting Clear Expectations The ability to lead, motivate, inspire and encourage individuals and groups, and help them achieve their goals. The ability to clearly communicate the actions and behaviors that will support successful performance and goal achievement. Encouraging your team Choosing the right sales people Building team connections Addressing performance issues Communicating expectations Handling unmet expectations Handling unrealistic expectations Service Orientation Articulating Value Propositions Negotiation Quick Qualification Reaching the Decision Maker Using Sales Processes The ability to listen to the customer and understand customer needs for the purpose of providing a high degree of customer satisfaction. The ability to communicate a promise that will materially improve the potential customer s situation through a specific set of benefits that induces a desire to buy. The ability to create a dialogue between two or more parties to reach common understanding, resolve differences, or gain an advantage, and produce agreement on a course of action. The ability to rapidly determine whether a potential customer has the motivation, needs, buying authority and budget to make a buying decision. The ability to make contact with the person who ultimately decides if a purchase is made or not. The ability to effectively use established techniques and procedures that move a potential customer from an initial interaction through sales closing. Value as seen by customers Managing customer relationships Creating and maintaining customer loyalty Competitive advantage Pricing Creating Value Propositions Articulating and expressing value propositions. Recognizing when to negotiate The difference between integrative and distributive bargaining, when to use them, and how to use them. Building trust in negotiations Influences of gender and culture on negotiation strategies Question techniques Lightning qualifying technique possible customers Gaining access to key decision makers How a client s business model changes your sales approach Understanding company org charts to reach the right people Prospecting and identifying leads Qualifying leads Pre-approach doing customer research (presenting the solution to the customer) The approach (the approach and assessing customer needs) Gaining commitment closing the sale Follow-up 4

Complex Problem Solving Critical Thinking Developing Meaningful Alternatives Focus on Value Creation Customer Needs Judgment and Decision Making Problem Definition Win-Win Alternatives The ability to identify problems and review related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions. The ability to use logic and reasoning to identify the strengths & weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. The ability to identify and communicate various approaches to a problem or situation that are potentially acceptable to all parties. The ability to respond to customer needs for particular product benefits and features, terms and conditions, and speed of solution availability such that the benefits received exceed the cost to acquire. The ability to identify a potential customer s interests, motivations and use requirements for products and services that are available for you to sell. The ability to consider the relative costs and benefits of potential actions and to choose the best alternative. The ability to identify the underlying causes of a situation in need of correction. The ability to find alternatives or solutions to challenges that are beneficial to all parties. Teasing out correlation and causation in sales objections and pitches Dealing with fallacious reasoning Being reasonable with unreasonable people Saying more with less Honing your critical thinking skills Deductive and inductive reasoning for sales Evaluating and utilizing evidence in sales presentations Active listening Harnessing the power of a brainstorm Successful team development Customer needs diagnosis Meeting objections products or services (sales objections- why do they occur and what do they look like) Meeting objections price or value (overcoming sales objections) Value-based pricing Customer price sensitivity and how to exploit it Customer needs assessment Using client income statements to inform your approach How firms make and lose money Cost/benefit analysis Managing risk Overcoming analysis paralysis Levers that drive sales and profitability Customer need assessment The difference between customer wants and needs Organizing your message Solution selling Taking the external environment into account Encouraging transparent communication 5