If you want to start selling like a pro, you need to upgrade your soft skills. Simple, right? Well, yes – if you know what your soft skills are and how to utilise them to succeed in the long run. Read on to find out how to sharpen your soft skills and get more sales as a result.
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5 Ways to Upgrade Your Soft Skills
Before we dive into the ways to upgrade your soft skills, let’s first take a look at what exact these skills look like.
What are soft skills?
According to Cambridge University, soft skills are “people’s abilities to communicate with each other and work well together.” Yes, soft skills can be taught and improved but they’re not as obvious as hard skills (which are clearly defined and measured).
The most important soft skills include:
- Communication: The ability to clearly and effectively articulate information, and most importantly, listen
- Emotional intelligence: Also known as EQ, emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise and be conscious of one’s own emotions, as well as those of others
- Teamwork: The ability to work well in a group or a team
- Adaptability: The ability to adapt to change
- Growth mindset: Believing that our most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work, according to Carol Dweck, who coined the term
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How to upgrade your soft skills
- Communicate often
As one of the most important soft skills, effective communication is crucial and beneficial to everyone involved. Develop and improve relationships with people around you by communicating face-to-face, via email or Slack, in meetings and group discussions. Think about how you are communicating – Is your message clear? What does your body language say? Are you being open and friendly? Since soft skills can be developed and improved, exercise this skill by thinking about opportunities on how to get better at it.
- Ask for, and be opten to feedback
Asking for, and receiving feedback from mentors, colleagues and friends you trust is an important aspect of upgrading your soft skills. When you open yourself to feedback, you will be better equipped to receive constructive criticism and gain valuable insight into areas of your life you might not have considered.
- Step outside of your comfort zone
Being comfortable is something most of us prefer. We would rather stay cuddled up in our comfort zone than take on something that scares us. But stepping outside of that zone is exactly what we need to upgrade our soft skills. So, open up your mind and take on something new. You might just find that you actually enjoy it!
- Build (positive) relationships
What do your work relationships look like? Are they positive, or is it not something you’re really interested in? Building positive relationships is key to upgrading your soft skills. Try and find ways to connect with your employees or colleagues – like engaging in deeper conversations, and really being interested in what’s going on in their personal lives. This way you will not only have better relationships with the people you work with, but you will also be more open to learn from them.
- Acquire a leadership role
If you want to become a successful entrepreneur, you need to be able to take on a leadership role. This is a great way to get experience and to upgrade your soft skills overall. For example, share your knowledge and ideas with the people you work with, and lead these discussions.
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Once you’ve actively started working on upgrading your soft skills, you will be more equipped to start selling like a pro. For example, you will be able to start listening to what your customers want and need, you will have more confidence stating your price, you will truly believe in your skills and be optimistic, and you will be more comfortable to be consistent.