Anthony Iannarino is consistently one of the best sales bloggers going today. Consistent both because he’s always thoughtful, and because he posts literally every day.
Anthony is also a great speaker, and I’m excited to hear him talk tomorrow via Webinar about The 4 Critical Skills for the Successful Modern Salesperson. As I prepped for my session with Dave Brock right afterward, I had a few questions for Anthony based on his content as well. Worth a quick read.
What are some skills that didn’t make your “list of four”, but were close?
Negotiation almost made the list. It’s a fundamental skill for salespeople. It’s too old to make the final four, but the twist is that it’s more and more difficult to capture some of the value that you create that it belongs front and center right now for most B2B sales organizations.
Collaboration almost made the list, too. I roll that up into one of my final four, but you’ll have to show up Wednesday to find out which one! (It’s a tease, I know! But I want you to show up!).
Are there skills you think might make this list in 2-3 years as the buyer continues to evolve?
I believe the skills that a professional salesperson needs will continue to trend in the direction they’ve been going for some time now. As the buyer evolves, I believe that salespeople are going to need to be more responsible for managing the outcomes they sell.
The balance is going to be to remain a salesperson while being even more consultative. I also believe the oldest factors will count for much more, things like trust, relationships, mind share.
How can sales teams use upcoming sales kick-off meetings for the New Year to train on new skills?
I speak at a lot of sales kickoff meeting and quarterly meetings. The best solution I have found for making any initiative stick it embed the outcomes you want in every session. If you are working on value propositions and, say, whiteboards, then combine them.
If you’re working on social selling and insight, make sure that both sessions require the salesforce to combine the ideas. It’s all about the application and execution in the real world when the force gets back to work Monday morning.
Check out more of Anthony tomorrow by registering here: The 4 Critical Skills for the Successful Modern Salesperson.
