Are you wondering whether you should make a job change or not? Stay calm and go through the 5 basic questions before you decide to change job.
1. Are you happy with your job?
“Do what you love and you’ll never work another day in your life”. If you are not happy with your current job, ask yourself what you expect in the next opportunity. It’s not good if you just look for a short-term escape which will bring unhappiness for you again. Give yourself some reasonable motivations for a job change such as a new experience, a higher position or promotion opportunities.
2. What are your skills?
Do you have the feeling of being stuck in the same position in your current job? There is likely a problem which you should figure out before you change job. It is better to really understand your capability and capacity and whether it matches your dream job. It is never too late for you to upgrade your level and learn new skills to become a qualified candidate for a new position.
3. Do you have work-life balance?
Do you have it in your current job or are you looking for it when you change jobs? The contentment in both your work and private life is important and drives you to success. Separating your work and your personal life will help you work productively and have a healthy lifestyle. You should ask some questions about company culture and work-life balance. Planning each work day in advance and focusing when you come in will help you be more productive at work. Leave work in the office behind you and enjoy the contentment in your personal life.
4. Are you ready to get out of your comfort zone?
Think about new challenges you will face when you make a job change decision which will force you out of your comfort zone. Stepping out of your comfort zone can be a little daunting but can have huge benefits. Learning something new and improving your skills will give you a sense of satisfaction and achievement and may give you a different outlook on your current job or look towards a different direction.
5. What is your plan for a job change?
No one can answer this question better than you. Who do you want to be in the future? What do you want to achieve in your career path? What is the working environment like? Is salary the most important to you in your career? You should consider your value before making the move.
March 2019
William Clement Stone once said that “Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman, not the attitude of the prospect.” – This can be true when we examine both the salesperson and the customer’s attitude. But, let’s focus on the salesperson, what are the sales skills needed to be a successful salesperson?
Sales skills can be divided into different areas: hard skills and soft skills. The first ones are the ones directly related to the job and can be developed and learned with training and practice. Under the hard skills, we can have for example the ability to find new opportunities, qualifying the leads, doing demonstrations and so on. Hard skills are for sure important but they are not enough for you to be as a successful salesperson if you don’t combine them with the soft skills.
Soft skills or People skills are the glue that holds things together, they are all about human interaction and they play a huge part when it comes to human-to-human communication.
So, what are the most 5 important soft skills included in a successful salesperson?
1. Communication
The ability to communicate is the base of every successful salesperson, it’s all about empathy, transparency, honesty and the ability to interact and engage over the phone, via email and most importantly, face-to-face.
2. People Management
This can seem easy but it’s not. Working in sales, every day you interact with different people from different backgrounds. The sales process involves different steps and different people. Managing people through this process is critical. It is important for you to have listening capabilities to value the teamwork and the collaboration.
3. Business Management
Understanding how to help business succeed is a must. A successful salesperson needs to have the ability to bring the most value to their prospects and customers.
4. Time Management
This is a must-have skill and understanding how to prioritize and manage your own time is essential to succeed.
5. Leadership
Leadership isn’t management. Leadership is a force which manages organisational procedures and coordinates the employees to achieve the company’s objectives and having effective leadership is necessary. A good leader has the ability to influence people towards the attainment of organisational goals.
Learning the techniques and strategies for being a successful salesperson is only half of the equation. You need soft skills and people skills to drive to success and these are skills that can’t be taught, but they can be developed.
To truly excel at sales, don’t forget about the soft skills. Develop them and they’ll turn you into a true asset to you and your company.
Would you like to discuss further on sales roles? Please feel free to reach out to me at federica.brungiu@e-frontiers.ie.
July 2019
Federica Brungiu
