There are many different opinions about whether or not someone can truly develop selling skills. Many believe that salespeople are born and that you either have the natural ability or you don’t.

I personally don’t agree with that. I see selling as a skill that can be developed and improved regardless of your personality or natural abilities. Here are a few reasons you can teach and learn selling skills.

1. There are clear do’s and don’ts.
Sales is not just about working the hardest and performing the highest level of activity. It is also about doing the right things. A prospect will not buy your product just because you tried really hard.

There are some straightforward things to do (and not do) that will impact a salesperson’s results. These can be taught to a salesperson (or learned) and can immediately improve the level of success.

2. A key to success is asking the right questions.
The best salesperson is the one that asks the best questions. Most salespeople either do not ask enough questions or do not ask enough.

Learning what questions to ask can easily fix this, and it will immediately improve a salesperson’s professional selling skills.

3. Being prepared for objections will improve results.
Objections are going to come up when talking with prospects. Most of the time, the same objections come up again and again and will only fall into a set of about 10 objections.

It is very easy and reasonable to make a list of the objections that can be anticipated and then create responses that have the best chance of keeping the conversation going. Building this list and becoming familiar with it is an example of how you can teach and learn professional selling skills.

Some Things You Do Need
Now, while I don’t believe that you have to have a particular personality to be a great salesperson, I do believe that you need certain qualities in order to be successful.

Competitiveness: You need to have some level of competitiveness and desire to fight and win when pursuing something that you want. This is something that might be more part of how someone is born, but you can work with someone to make them more competitive.

Motivation: You have to have a certain level of motivation and desire to succeed for yourself and for your company. If you aren’t motivated, you can develop sales skills, but you might not successfully use them as you have to be motivated.

Ability to learn: The reasons that I outlined that you can teach professional sales skills mention areas that require learning. If you do not have the ability to stop, digest new information and logic, and then incorporate new processes into how you operate, then it may be difficult for you to develop selling skills.