Why sales should be the first skill you embrace

How do you open doors for yourself personally and professionally? Learn sales skills says Hemali Patel, Engagement Manager in the Entrepreneurship Institute.

DEFINITION

Sell [with object]: Give or hand over (something) in exchange for money.

Sales or selling often makes us think of activities and people associated with the exchange of goods and services (coffee cups and gym memberships), market places (Amazon), advertising (sponsored Instagram posts) or even someone from The Wolf of Wall Street (cue image of a greedy and deceptive person). The end goal is to make money, right?

The definition above aptly describes what we perceive the process of selling to be: convincing someone to give you cash, bank details, bitcoins (other cryptocurrencies available) etc. Our past experiences of hard sales – where you sometimes feel backed into a corner – have led us to think negatively of this vital skill.

However, there are soft sales skills which are more discreet, considerate and empathetic.

DEFINITION Sell: Persuade someone of the merits of.

Be the reason for (something) being bought. OR Cause (someone) to become enthusiastic about.

Money is not always the motivation. Take these everyday scenarios: 1. Job and promotion interviews. 2. Proposing a new project, direction or activity to peers, colleagues or managers. 3. Convincing your mates to go to the cinema instead of bowling (or even getting them out of the house in the first place!). 4. Getting people to like you: your first, second, third dates… meeting the parents – you see where I am going with this? Selling is ingrained in everything we do. Think of sales as the application of psychology and data, in various capacities and measures, to market yourself, your projects or your business.

THE BENEFITS TO YOU

• Feel more confident and comfortable stepping into unfamiliar situations. • Become more resilient to setbacks and rejection. • Learn how to forward plan and pre-empt questions and responses. • Develop empathy and an awareness of other people’s positions, making you more considerate. • Practise how to communicate clearly and only share information that is relevant. Cut out the jargon and fluff! • Learn to use persuasive language – which is great when networking. • Become more mindful of other people’s behaviours (read up on Neuro-linguistic

Programming, NLP). • It’s easier to spot other salespeople – you’ll never get trapped again!

Selling is an art form. You must learn and practise it. At first, you may not be very good or successful, but eventually it will come naturally, and you won’t even know you’re doing it.

Sales skills for starters

• Put yourself in the other person’s position.

• Understand the value of your offer to them.

• Make others feel comfortable around you. Building trust is super important!

• Be mindful that their decision is not solely based on you or your proposition.

• Don’t take rejection personally. Reflect and learn from it.

TAKE ACTION!

Participate in our selling workshop, part of our Seven Skills programme being offered this year. www.kcl.ac.uk/ entrepreneurship-institute

Check out the Sales Society for year-round events and training to nurture your selling skills. Facebook: KCLSales www.kclsales.com

RECOMMENDED READING

Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed www.matthewsyed.co.uk/ books