Things Every Salesperson Should Know How to Do

Every salesperson should be able to make a cold call, shake hands like a professional, tell a good story, smile when stepping into a room, plan a sales call, improvise under pressure, connect with people, write an email, write a proposal, resolve other people’s concerns, ask good questions, listen without interrupting, be kind and enlist the help of a gatekeeper, change a tire, shine shoes, entertain clients and prospects, travel with only a carry-on bag, help others discover something about themselves, persist without being a nuisance, take excellent notes, follow up on meetings, ask for commitments, keep commitments, run a meeting, avoid certain meetings, create new opportunities, discern when someone is hiding the truth from them, know enough jokes to entertain a small crowd for an hour, make other people feel good about themselves, help people make difficult changes, cite from enough books to be conversational, have an awareness of current events, be able to avoid conversations about politics, religion, and sex, research their dream clients, control their own attitude and state, negotiate with others and groups of others, play the role of diplomat, know who is playing in the championship game, write a LinkedIn profile, synthesize what they have researched and learned, use a CRM, speak to Executive Leaders, collect past due invoices while retaining the client, delegate tasks to their team, have difficult conversations, ask for a referral, share the right insight with the right person at the right time, leave a compelling voicemail, program their smart phone, create a spreadsheet and a pivot table, calculate the gross profit on a deal, send a thank you note, apologize, manage expectations, speak truth with power, know when to walk away from a bad deal, ask for the business, control the process, make good decisions under pressure, bring their executive leadership team into a deal, and know where to get a good cup of coffee.