Nine Competencies of the Complete Sales Professional

Have you ever tried to explain to someone what you actually do as part of the sales profession? I'm talking about what you do, not what your company does or what your value proposition is, but what YOU do day in and day out as a sales professional?

To be a complete sales professional, your daily activities should be in support of creating customer satisfaction and loyalty. What are these daily activities?

My Ph.D. research analyzed the activities and tasks performed by hundreds of sales professionals. I found that these tasks can be grouped into nine areas. The key to being a complete (i.e. superstar) sales professional is to understand and master the following 9 "Selling Knowledge Areas":

1. Personal Management ? keep your personal life in check. Stay healthy. Set goals, make plans for your future. Keep your finances in order. Find stress-reducers.

2. Business Knowledge Management ? If you're selling to the CFO or the CEO you better understand the business of economics, business transactions, negotiations, and the return they will get on their investment.

3. Product Knowledge Management ? We all get trained on this and the key is to understand the product(s) being sold, how to position the product(s), and how to imbed the product(s) into the buying organization. Unfortunately, many companies only train their sales professionals on this one knowledge area when they should be training on all nine.

4. Selling Skills Management -- The best Sales Professionals seek out continuous comprehensive training and education to support their sales process. You should also be able to initiate, plan, and execute a sales process in order for your product or service to be assimilated into the buying organization. There are many systems out there to choose from.

5. Opportunity Management ? Complete sales professionals understand how to identify, manage, develop, and close the right sales opportunities. To do this, they're experts at opportunity planning, territory management, opportunity development, and closing.

6. Relationship Management ? Becoming a trusted advisor to the buyer only happens when the sales professional is successful at building relationships, communicating, distributing information, and influencing others ethically through collaborative dialogue. Building relationships within your own organization is just as critical. Make sure that you take the time to forge relationships with your support teams, delivery teams, management or any other party that is involved in your sales process.

7. Customer Management ? Complete Sales Professionals continue their relationship after the sale. Providing top-notch service to buyers ensures repeat business and a solid sales reputation.

8. Time Management ? Understanding the crucial elements of managing personal time to achieve ones goals and objectives. Great sales professionals understand that they must define the right tasks for the day or month, prioritize them, schedule them and execute.

9. Technology Management ? Complete sales professionals utilize technology in order to maximize personal and organizational effectiveness.

There are many people that wonder why sales professionals are "harried," have short attention spans, are always too busy, or seem a "little flustered". Perhaps by identifying and understanding the 9 Selling Knowledge Areas, there is a newfound understanding why!

So the question is, what can you do today to become better in each of the 9 areas? Which are you the strongest in? Or in which area are you the weakest? Make plans to improve in each area every single day.

Brian is the Chairman and Founder of the the United Professional Sales Association (UPSA). UPSA is a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington DC that has addressed the concerns and challenges of individual sales professionals. Brian has authored the world's first universal selling standards and open-source selling framework for free distribution. This 'Compendium of Professional Selling' containing the commonly accepted and universally functional knowledge that all sales professionals possess. The open-source selling standards have been downloaded in 16 countries by over 300 people. Over 30 people have made contributions.

Because UPSA is not owned by one person or any company, it is a member organization and guardian of the global standard of entry into the sales profession.

Find out about the membership organization and understand the processes and framework of professional selling at the UPSA Website at http://www.upsa-intl.org. Find out more about Brian at: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert_bio=Brian _Lambert

---

Survival On The Road! A Resource For The On The Road Sales Professional

It makes no difference if you are a Saleswomen, a... Read More

Increase Your Influence, Increase Your Sales

Selling is everyone's lifeblood whether they realize it or not.... Read More

Keep Sales Simple

For those of us working in the exciting world of... Read More

Do You Know the Emotion Behind the Objection?

Prospects have many reasons (you might think excuses) for not... Read More

Equal Chance of Winning The Sale? Bah!

Are you going to win this deal? With just less... Read More

Quit Talking and Listen! Give Clients and Prospects Your Undivided Attention

I have found that the best sales people are the... Read More

Really WINNING Over Customers

Three qualities are needed to sell anything in life. They... Read More

Its All in the Questions

Contrary to many of the books on how to be... Read More

7 Steps to Selling Artwork

Selling arwork is easy when you follow a road map.... Read More

The Choice between Yes and Yes: A Psychological Revelation

Three year old Kara was throwing a tantrum. She didn't... Read More

Top 5 Characteristics of Great Salespeople

I am a big believer that great salespeople generally realize... Read More

Top Ten No Money Promotion Ways That Create New Clients and Fast Sales

Better than offline promotion such as press releases, talks, or... Read More

Getting Them to Buy: The Two Most Important Pieces to the Sales Pitch

Why are some sales pitches more persuasive than others? Are... Read More

The #1 Lead Generation System of Top Sales People

Developing an abundant supply of targeted referrals is the number... Read More

Instant Rapport: The Key to Sales Success

Did you ever meet someone with whom you just clicked?... Read More

How to Make Training and Development a Power Agent for Change

Does this sound familiar? With high expectations, you sent your... Read More

Stop Selling! for the Million Dollar Contract

During the introduction of the "Stop Selling!" philosophy, we typically... Read More

Selling Yourself - Its Not About You

I recently found myself suffering from a lousy cold; all... Read More

Prep Your Customer

When I first moved to Seattle, I worked for 9... Read More

Sales Performance and Motivation: How to Get Your Edge Back

Performance and motivation are like chocolate & peanut butter; the... Read More

Three Ways To Get A Prospect To Say Yes To Your Offer

Here are three proven ways that will increase your sales:1.... Read More

How to Sound Just Like a Salesperson

Prospect - "So now that I've told you what we... Read More

Growing Sales Through Creating Connections

Your mission as a business owner is to develop a... Read More

Assumptions ? The Hidden Sales Killer

Assumptions can kill a sale. In my sales training workshops,... Read More

Better Listening Skills = More Sales

Today's business environment is intrinsically tied together by ongoing information... Read More

The Dos and Donts of an Elevator Pitch

The dreaded question: "What exactly does your company do?" It's... Read More

Customers Want You to Ask for the Money

Many years ago, I was the one starting a small... Read More

10 Expressions to Avoid in Sales Communication

Keeping up with what words are in and out isn't... Read More

12 Sure-Fire Steps To Improve Your Retail Sales

The purpose of any business is to bring in customers,... Read More

Sales Marketing: 10 Sales Marketing Tricks To Explode Your Profits

Sales marketing online is an art that you must keep... Read More

A Stupid Question

This is a stupid question but it has to be... Read More

In Sales The Biggest Rolodex Wins

How many names do you have in your business Rolodex?... Read More

The Myth of the Natural Born Sales Wonder

When I researched the field of using personality inventories to... Read More