There are many jobs and industries where a certain college or university degree is an essential requirement. Some jobs require specific knowledge in order to perform a role.

The beauty of sales is that you don’t necessarily need a fancy education to succeed. Sales is very much about performance and experience. Sure, there is still a lot of important information you will need to be successful. But the act of engaging customers and working through the sales process is one of the best ways to perfect your craft.

It can be argued there are some sales skills that are more important than any college degree. Here we highlight sales skills that can be more important than educational background:

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1. Experience

Salespeople learn most by doing. The more experience you have working in sales, the more success you usually have. No matter how many times you read about sales best practices, you can’t fully understand them, and many sales situations, until you put them into practice. There is no substitute for experience.

2. Relationship building

If you don’t have trust, you will struggle to close deals. Salespeople who have vast networks of people are typically more successful. When you can successfully network, you become better at meeting people, engaging with them, and building trusting relationships.

3. Using sales technology

There have never been more sales tools at your disposal. CRMs, customer engagement tools, sales process software, and many other technologies can help sales teams better engage and manage customers. Sales professionals who have intimate knowledge of how these tools work and how to leverage them can be more efficient and have more sales success.

4. Clear communications

Being a strong and clear communicator is a key success factor in sales. You need to know how to explain complex concepts in simple terms. You need to have the ability to communicate with many different types of people using different tools – phone, email, instant messaging, social media, face to face.

You also need to be a great listener. The better you can understand your customers, their perspectives and needs, the better you will be able to create a sales solution that is ideal for their situation.

5. Persistence/Work ethic

Having a strong work ethic and a desire to be successful is one of the most important traits a salesperson can possess. Rejection is a big part of the sales process. Those who don’t take it personally and are persistent in their approach will be more successful in sales.

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