A great product or service without a great sales team is like a Ferrari with an empty gas tank. And if you hire a sales team without first-rate customer-facing or client-facing skills, you’re filling your Ferrari up with Mountain Dew instead of premium unleaded.

This guide covers five critical sales skills you should measure with sales assessment testing to build a sales team that contributes to your company’s growth instead of tanking your numbers. 

Before You Hire a Sales Team

Whether you’re hiring one or multiple new sales reps, the hiring process can be a challenge. No matter how many members you have on your hiring team, finding the right people with the right skills (and actually getting them to apply for the job) is never as easy as you think it’s going to be.

Since it’s such a time-consuming process, and since making the wrong hire can be so costly (not just in terms of money, but time as well), it’s essential to make sure you make the right hires the first time. So before you hire a sales team, familiarize yourself with the following vital sales skills.

Hire a Sales Team with These 5 Customer-Facing Skills

To hit their numbers, salespeople need to have an arsenal of skills under their belt. Five of the most critical skills are:

1. Communication 

Salespeople with solid communication skills build relationships with their clients, and these good relationships lead to repeat customers and referrals. Good communication refers to more than just spoken communication. It also includes writing, presentations, and communicating through cold outreach.

Effective communicators will make sure customers fully understand the value your company has to offer.

2. Storytelling

Sales reps should be able to communicate clearly and concisely while also being authentic and engaging. No potential customer wants to listen to a monotone voice drone on and on without any enticing aspects. 

By hiring good storytellers, you’ll have a sales team that makes your company stand out, appeals to buyers’ emotions, and encourages action.

3. Active Listening 

Active listening is about staying in the moment. Instead of letting your mind wander while a customer or potential customer is speaking, the members of your sales team should concentrate on every word they’re saying. 

Great sales reps use eye contact, smiling at the right times, and mirroring to let people know they’re listening intently. They also take the time to repeat their understanding of what was said and ask for clarification when necessary.

When you hire a sales team of active listeners, your prospects and customers will trust them and, by extension, your brand. 

4. Presentation Skills 

Presentations combine communication and storytelling with strong visuals to convey information in a more compelling way than can be done on a piece of paper. Members of your sales team need to be confident and engaging. Otherwise, they’re going to put potential customers to sleep. 

Salespeople with excellent presentation skills will connect with their audience and persuade them to make a purchase.

5. Negotiation Skills 

Many people crack under the pressure of the negotiation process and end up offering a higher discount than necessary or lose the deal entirely. Sales reps should know how to keep a level head to make sound decisions when the heat is on.

If you hire a sales team with strong negotiation skills, you’ll get the most out of every deal.

Hire a Sales Team to Gas Up for Growth

If you’ve got a great company with a great offering, it’s time to gas her up with the right sales team. Look for people with the five essential sales skills above to fuel your business’s success. Then you can give them a sales assessment test to make sure you hire your most skilled applicants.