I want to make a commitment to bettering myself as a salesperson, if only a little at a time.  I have time to do some reading or whatever it takes, but I need to know what skill(s) I should concentrate on first.  What is the most important skill in order to become great at selling?

 Eli,

You're opening a big can of worms here ... there are many skills ... questioning skills, listening skills, presenting skills, closing skills, product knowledge, prospecting skills, positioning, pre-call planning, etc.  I would suggest the most important skill(s) is asking targeted questions and listening.  When you break sales down to a common denominator it's all about asking the right questions to determine the pain your prospect(s) are experiencing and then presenting your product or service as a solution to help them solve their pain in such a way that they can see, hear and feel the solution. 

I would sugges the book Sales Techiques by Bill Brooks as a good read about a simple selling process.  It covers all aspects of his selling system designed to keep you, the sales professional, in control of the sale.

Good luck,

Steve

 Hi Steve and Eli,

  That was all very good advice. There are many aspects to a successful sale presentation. Building rapport with your customers early on is critical, if not the most important step. No matter how good your product is or how good of a closer you may be, without that early connection, people will think twice about buying from you. You need to build trust and rapport early in the presentation, and—by accomplishing this--everything seems to go much easier for you from there.

   Try reading a book by Michael Brooks called INSTANT RAPPORT. In it, he discusses three ways people comprehend the information you're providing them and how you can make it more easily accessible for them. Also try an article called BEYOND WORDS which you can read at Remodeling Magazine.com. I'm partial to the article because I wrote it.

   Note: I'm a new subscriber and this is a great site. Keep up the good work.

Joey DeMicco

In my 12 years as a saleperson and sales manager, I've found that of the many skills that are important to sales, the two that have made the most difference for me and my teams are questioning skill, and networking.  Questions are the lifeblood of your sales process, and there's no more effective form of self-advertising in the world than a strong network of contacts and business "friends".

Questioning, Listening & Presenting skills is what matters here. These 3 are the basic & the most essential required skills for a sales person.

The most important selling skills are those that are the most practical, used the most frequently and the most immediately beneficial.

Easy question - #1 skill is listening. Brevity is good as well.

 Agree on listening and brevity.

If you want to expand it a little, I'd say "discovery" and the ability to link your offering directly to the prospect's business issues in a compelling way is huge.

I have been selling for over twenty years and in my opinion the biggest thing you can bring to the table is being value orienterd. Instead of consentrating on "making the sale" concentrate on providing value to your customer. I realize that is pretty vauge but once I started to really try help my customers by providing value of some kind my sales went throught the roof. I also would recommend you read every book, website and blog you can find.

Rob