Soft Skills in Sales Leadership

When hiring for sales positions, I rarely paid attention to formal education, the school attended, the degree obtained, or any other name dropping. What I was looking for was relevant experience and Soft Skills. Soft skills defined as desirable qualities that do not depend on acquired knowledge. So soft skills are a combination of many things. People skills, social skills, communication skills, character or personality traits, attitudes, social intelligence, and emotional intelligence. They enable people to navigate their environment, to work well with others, to perform well and to achieve their goals. The word soft is obviously the opposite of hard and it implies subjective, fuzzy and unreliable. Because of their subjectivity, soft skills are hardly assessed and never fully mastered. Also, the vagueness explains why soft skills are not always clearly understood by employers and employees. My personal list of top top soft skills relevant for sales and sales leadership is the following, not in any order of communication, problem solving, creativity, adaptability, self motivation, teamwork, decisiveness, inspiration, positivity, vulnerability, honesty, trustworthiness, delegation, and all the interpersonal skills like empathy, humor, patience, tolerance or listening skills. According to Forbes, 94% of recruiters believe that top notch soft skills outweigh experience when it comes to promotion to leadership position. You may be a computer wiz or a rocket scientist. To be successful, you need more than just expertise in your given specialty. In fact, according to the national association of Colleges and Employers, when participating employers were asked to name the attributes they seek in candidates, they gave their highest score to the following three written communication skills 82%, problem solving skills 81% and ability to work in a team 79%. Interestingly, technical skills and computer skills, often considered among the most important skills an applicant can possess in today's high tech job market, rank quite low by comparison. The results make it clear that employers are paying much closer attention to soft SK skills in the workplace than they did in years past. Contact us to find out how interim or fractional sales leaders can help.