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Your deals stall. Buyers ghost after discovery. Discounts fly out every Q4. You can define “consultative selling” in your sleep, and it hasn’t helped.
Sales skills are observable behaviors that move buyers from “maybe” to a confident decision. They split into soft skills (listening, communication, empathy, negotiation) and hard skills (CRM management, financial literacy, analytics, tool fluency). Both become trainable once you define “good” as something visible on a recorded call — not a personality trait.
The gap between self-perception and reality is stark. Salesloft’s 2025 survey found 73% of sellers rate themselves strong in risk detection, yet only 44% of managers agree (Salesloft, 2025). Meanwhile, 61% of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free experience, and 73% avoid irrelevant outreach (Gartner, 2025). You don’t need more definitions. You need a practice loop and a scoring method.
This guide is a training system, not a glossary:
- A self-assessment (rep + manager version) to expose gaps
- A drill library with 10-minute exercises per skill
- Scorecards defining observable “good”
- A 30-day training plan (15 min/day)
- Resume bullet templates translating skills into proof
Soft skills vs hard skills: what's trainable and how to measure it
| Soft Skills | Hard Skills | |
|---|---|---|
|
Examples |
Active listening, tone, negotiation, storytelling |
CRM discipline, pipeline math, ROI modeling, prompt engineering
|
|
Build with |
Drills, roleplay, call review |
Repetition, templates, tool practice |
|
Measure with |
Talk ratio, buyer corrections, next-step conversion |
Forecast accuracy, data completeness, stage compliance |
|
Common trap |
“I’m naturally empathetic” (untested) |
“I know the CRM” (fields empty) |
Both categories become trainable when “good” is a behavior you can observe on a recording.
The 2026 buyer reality: sensemaking replaces persuasion
Buyers don’t want convincing. They want help making a decision they can defend internally. Sensemaking — organizing conflicting information, mapping trade-offs, aligning stakeholders — is the rep’s core job now.
| Persuade (old) | Enable buying (new) |
|---|---|
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Pitch features |
Build a Decision Map (options, trade-offs, risks) |
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Overcome objections |
Validate and quantify the objection |
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“Follow up” to stay top of mind |
Send a decision memo the champion forwards |
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Push for close |
Co-create mutual action plan with owners |
Discovery becomes hypothesis testing. Follow-ups deliver champion-ready assets (decision memo, ROI summary, risk comparison) — not “just checking in.”
The top 12 sales skills ranked by deal impact
These 12 important sales skills are ordered by impact on deal outcomes. Each includes a 10-minute drill and scorecard metric.
| Skill | Why now | 10-min drill | Scorecard |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1. Sensemaking + buyer enablement |
61% prefer rep-free; reduce confusion, don’t pitch |
One-page Decision Map for next deal
|
Buyer leaves with fewer options, not more info |
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2. Relevance research |
73% avoid irrelevant outreach |
3 angles: business model, KPI, trigger event |
Outreach names a real business pressure |
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3. Discovery (hypothesis testing)
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Scripted questions = interrogation
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3 hypotheses + 5 disconfirming questions
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Buyer corrections + quantified impacts captured
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4. Active listening |
Top reps listen ~57% (Gong) |
Last-word mirror + 3-second pause |
Talk ratio <45%, clarifying Qs asked |
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5. Communication + next-step control |
Vague follow-ups kill deals |
10-second recap: problem, impact, next step, owner |
Every call ends with date + deliverable + owner |
|
6. Risk detection + disqualification |
Largest self-assessment gap (Salesloft) |
Deal pre-mortem: 5 stall reasons, 1 question each |
Stakeholder map current, mutual action plan confirmed |
|
7. Sales negotiation skills |
Unilateral discounts destroy margin |
Give-get ladder: 5 to trade, 5 to get back |
Zero concessions without receiving value |
|
8. Financial literacy |
CFOs gate B2B deals |
ROI in 7 min: problem cost × duration vs solution |
ROI in buyer’s language, assumptions validated |
|
9. Presentation (live + async) |
Async video replaces meetings |
60-second value video: who, problem, proof, CTA |
Clear arc, single CTA, no feature dump |
|
10. Multi-channel prospecting |
VM doubles email reply (Gong); top quartile 13.3% vs 5.4% avg |
20-second voicemail earning email attention |
Max 2 VMs per sequence |
|
11. Sales operations skills |
Bad data = bad forecasts |
CRM sprint: fix next-steps, close reasons, stages |
Forecast accuracy, field completeness |
|
12. Prompt engineering |
AI for research/roleplay; humans for last mile |
Objection roleplay with AI, rewrite in your voice |
Output usable without sounding AI-generated |
Start here: Risk detection + next-step control — biggest perception-reality gap, immediate forecast improvement.
The Sales Skills Gym: how to actually improve sales skills
Sales skills training fails when it delivers definitions without practice. Symptoms: stalled deals with no next step, “no decision” losses outnumbering competitive losses, ghosting after discovery, reflexive discounting.
The practice loop
- Assess — Evidence-only scoring (4–5 requires a timestamp, email, or deal note)
- Drill — 10–15 min exercise before your first call
- Apply — Use the skill on one live call
- Review — Mark moments on the recording. tl;dv’s meeting recordings handle this automatically: recorded, transcribed, searchable
- Score — Rate using the skill’s scorecard (1–5)
- Repeat — Same skill for a full week before switching
Minimum cadence: one 10-min drill/day + one call review/week.
For managers: tl;dv’s coaching features let you tag moments across calls, score patterns, and assign drills without attending every meeting. CRM integrations push fields automatically. GDPR and SOC2 compliant.
Sales skills assessment test (self + manager version)
Score in two columns. The delta reveals where growth lives.
Proof rule: 4–5 only with evidence (call timestamp, email, deal note). No evidence = cap at 3.
| Skill | Self (1–5) | Manager (1–5) | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
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Relevance research |
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Discovery (hypotheses tested) |
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Active listening (talk ratio <45%) |
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Communication (specific next steps) |
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Risk detection (pre-mortems run) |
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Negotiation (give-get documented) |
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Financial literacy (ROI in buyer language) |
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Presentation (narrative, single CTA) |
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Multi-channel execution |
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CRM hygiene |
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Sensemaking (decision asset delivered) |
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Prompt discipline (human voice applied) |
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Pick your 2 lowest scores (use manager scores — they’re more accurate). Run the drill daily for one week, then re-assess.
30-day sales skills training plan
One skill per week. One drill per day. One call review per week.
Week 1: Relevance research + discovery
Day | Drill (10 min) |
Mon | 3 relevance angles for top target account |
Tue | 3 hypotheses about prospect’s top problem |
Wed | 5 disconfirming questions for those hypotheses |
Thu | Hypothesis-first discovery on a live call |
Fri | Review recording: buyer corrections, quantified impacts, next steps |
Target | 2+ buyer corrections + 1 quantified impact per discovery call |
Week 2: Listening + communication
Day | Drill (10 min) |
Mon | Last-word mirror + 3-second pause practice |
Tue | 10-second recap drill |
Wed | Review call — count premature pitches |
Thu | Live call: listen ratio + locked next step |
Fri | Score talk ratio, clarifying questions, next-step specificity |
Target | Talk ratio <45%. Every call ends with date + deliverable + owner |
Week 3: Risk detection + negotiation
Day | Drill (10 min) |
Mon | Deal pre-mortem on top 3 deals |
Tue | One diagnostic question per stall reason |
Wed | Give-get ladder: 5 to offer, 5 to require |
Thu | 2+ risk questions on a live call |
Fri | Review: risks uncovered? Stakeholder map updated? |
Target | Stakeholder maps current for top 5 deals. Mutual action plans for 2+ |
Week 4: Presentation + multi-channel + ops
Day | Drill (10 min) |
Mon | Record 60-second async value video |
Tue | Write + record 20-second voicemail |
Wed | CRM hygiene sprint |
Thu | Send video; leave voicemail before follow-up email |
Fri | Score video, voicemail, CRM accuracy |
Target | 1 video sent, 1 voicemail tested, zero stale next-step dates |
Short on time? Week 2 alone fixes the most call-level mistakes.
Drill library: sales skills and techniques in detail
Each module below expands the master table with detailed instructions, scorecards, and resume-ready bullets.
Sensemaking + buyer enablement
Drill — Decision Map in 10 min: Pick an active deal. List buyer’s options (including “do nothing”). For each: one trade-off, one risk, one next step, one owner. Format as a one-page sendable document.
Score: Map exists and current · Buyer references your materials internally · Champion articulates your value without help
Resume: “Created decision frameworks for 6–10 stakeholder committees, reducing decision cycle by [X] days.”
Relevance research
Drill — 3 relevance angles: For one account, find: business model pressure, KPI under stress, recent trigger event (last 90 days). Write one sentence per angle.
AI prompts: “Summarize [company]’s last earnings call — what pressures did the CEO flag?” · “List 3 KPIs a [title] at [company type] is measured on this quarter.”
Resume: “Achieved [X]% reply rate via trigger-event research across 200+ accounts.”
Discovery (hypothesis-first)
Drill: Write 3 hypotheses about a prospect’s problems. For each, write a disconfirming question: “Companies like yours typically deal with [X]. Is that what you see, or is the real issue elsewhere?”
Score: Buyer corrections captured (more = better) · Quantified impact obtained · Next step with date and owner
Resume: “Led hypothesis-driven discovery across 150+ opportunities, achieving [X]% Stage 1-to-2 conversion.”
Active listening
Gong’s analysis of 326,000+ B2B calls: optimal ratio is 43:57 (talk:listen). Average reps talk 60–65%.
Drill: Wait 3 seconds after the buyer finishes. Mirror their last 2–3 words as a question (“…struggling with onboarding?”), then wait.
| Curious (4–5) | Defensive (1–2) |
|---|---|
|
“What does ‘slow’ mean in your context?” |
“It’s not slow once configured.” |
|
“Who else is affected?” |
“Let me show you the dashboard.” |
Resume: “Maintained <40% talk ratio across 200+ discovery calls, contributing to [X]% higher Stage 2 conversion.”
Sales communication skills
Drill — 10-second recap: State: “Problem is [X]. Costs [Y]. Next: [who] does [what] by [when].” Compare to what you actually said. tl;dv’s AI meeting minutes auto-generate recaps for comparison — the gap reveals where communication gets fuzzy.
Resume: “Implemented structured recaps achieving [X]% next-step completion across 300+ opportunities.”
Risk detection + disqualification
The biggest self-assessment gap in sales (Salesloft). The fix is evidence, not confidence.
Drill — Deal pre-mortem: 5 specific stall reasons for your top deal. One question per risk.
| Risk | Question |
|---|---|
|
Champion strength |
“How will you present this to [decision maker]?” |
|
Timeline |
“What happens if not approved by [date]?” |
|
Budget |
“Budget allocated, or new line item?” |
|
Procurement |
“What does your procurement process look like?” |
Resume: “Reduced pipeline inflation [X]% through deal pre-mortems and evidence-based disqualification.”
Sales negotiation skills
Drill — Give-get ladder: 5 concessions you can offer (extended terms, onboarding, early access). 5 things you need (multi-year, exec sponsor, case study, faster timeline). Match into pairs. Practice aloud.
| They asked | You offered | You asked back | Agreed? |
|---|---|---|---|
|
15% discount |
10% on annual |
2-year + case study |
Yes |
|
Free implementation |
Standard + training |
Exec sponsor on kickoff |
Pending |
Resume: “Maintained [X]% list price across 40+ enterprise negotiations via concession trading.”
Financial literacy (B2B business acumen)
Drill — ROI in 7 min: Problem cost/month × 12 = annual cost of inaction. Solution + implementation = total cost. ROI = (savings − cost) ÷ cost. Payback = cost ÷ monthly savings.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
|
Monthly problem cost |
$ |
|
Annual inaction cost (×12) |
$ |
|
Total solution cost |
$ |
|
Simple ROI |
(Savings − cost) ÷ cost |
|
Payback |
Cost ÷ monthly savings |
HBS and Warwick Business School emphasize financial acumen as a core commercial skill.
Resume: “Built ROI models for 25+ enterprise deals, reducing CFO objections by [X]%.”
Sales presentation skills (live + async)
91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool (Wyzowl, 2026), with growing 1:1 sales use.
Drill — 60-second value video: “Hi [name], made this because [problem]. Here’s what [company] did: [15-sec proof]. If relevant, [CTA].” Cut past 60 seconds.
Drill — Problem-first demo: 3 bullets: problem, product “aha,” outcome. Demo those moments only; everything else is Q&A. Turn best demos into shareable clips with tl;dv recordings.
Resume: “Developed problem-first demo framework, improving demo-to-proposal rate by [X]%.”
Multi-channel prospecting
Gong: voicemail doubles email reply (2.73% → 5.87%), but 3+ VMs drops to 2.2% — below baseline. Top-quartile connect rate: 13.3% vs 5.4% average. Direct mail to house lists: 161% ROI (ANA); prospect lists: 34%.
Drill: Write a 20-second voicemail: name, one relevant reason, tease the email. Record 3 takes.
Sequence: Day 1: Call → VM → Email | Day 3: LinkedIn (value, not pitch) | Day 5: Call → VM #2 (max) → New angle | Day 8: Proof email | Day 12+: Direct mail (high-value only)
Resume: “Built multi-channel sequence achieving [X]% connect rate across 500+ prospects/quarter.”
Sales operations skills
Drill — CRM sprint (15 min): Fix stale next-step dates. Verify last 5 close reasons. Confirm stage criteria for top 5 deals. tl;dv integrations auto-populate fields from call data.
Stage | Exit criteria |
Qualified | ICP confirmed, problem acknowledged, next meeting booked |
Discovery done | Problem quantified, stakeholders mapped, timeline discussed |
Evaluation | Champion ID’d, tech validation scheduled, budget confirmed |
Proposal | Delivered, mutual action plan, procurement mapped |
Negotiation | Terms reviewed, legal engaged, close date confirmed |
Resume: “Maintained [X]% CRM accuracy, forecast precision within [X]%.”
Prompt engineering for sales
Drill — Objection roleplay: “You’re a skeptical VP of Ops at a $200M manufacturer. Push back on ROI, timeline, resources. Score each response 1–5 on specificity, empathy, next-step control.”
Use case | Prompt | Check |
Research | “Summarize [company]’s earnings. List 3 pressures.” | Source linked, current |
Roleplay | “Act as skeptical [persona]. Score my responses.” | 3+ rounds completed |
“3-sentence email to [persona] about [trigger].” | Rewritten in your voice |
The human last mile: Read AI drafts aloud. If it sounds like a LinkedIn thought-leader post, it needs more you. Buyer backlash against AI-generated outreach is growing.
Resume: “Developed AI research workflows reducing pre-call prep by [X]%.”
Role-based skill priorities
SDR / sales development representative skills
Priority | Key metric | Weekly drill |
Relevance research | Reply rate | 3 angles per target |
Multi-channel prospecting | Connect rate | Voicemail-as-ad drill |
Discovery handoff | Stage 1→2 conversion | Hypothesis-first questions |
Active listening | Talk ratio | Last-word mirror |
CRM hygiene | Data completeness | 15-min Friday sprint |
Sales representative skills (AE / sales rep)
Priority | Key metric | Weekly drill |
Sensemaking | Win rate, cycle length | Decision Map per deal |
Discovery | Stage conversion | 3 hypotheses + disconfirming Qs |
Risk detection | Forecast accuracy | Pre-mortem top 5 deals |
Negotiation | Discount rate | Give-get ladder |
Financial literacy | CFO engagement | ROI in 7 min per proposal |
Sales manager skills (leadership + coaching)
Priority | Key metric | Weekly drill |
Coaching execution | Rep improvement 30/60/90 | 2 calls → tag → score → assign drill |
Assessment discipline | Gap closure rate | Monthly assessments, self vs manager |
Pipeline risk inspection | Forecast accuracy | Top 10 deals with risk checklist |
Team pattern analysis | Team weakness trends | Conversational intelligence cross-call review |
tl;dv coaching enables this at scale: multi-meeting patterns, playbook adherence, AI performance scoring.
Sales operations skills (ops role)
Priority | Key metric | Weekly drill |
Data quality | Field completeness | Weekly core-field audit |
Process design | Stage conversion consistency | Map one process/quarter |
Tool admin | Integration accuracy | Monthly integration audit |
Reporting | Dashboard accuracy | Rebuild one report/month |
Sales engineer skills
Priority | Key metric | Weekly drill |
Technical discovery | POC success rate | 3 constraint Qs before demo |
Demo architecture | Demo-to-proposal rate | Problem-first outline (3 bullets) |
Technical objection handling | Resolution rate | Roleplay top 5 objections |
Security/procurement prep | Review cycle speed | Pre-build top 10 security answers |
Sales associate skills
Priority | Key metric | Weekly drill |
Product fluency | Upsell rate | Quiz 5 products daily |
Needs discovery | Satisfaction, return rate | 3 questions before recommending |
Objection validation | Conversion rate | Acknowledge before responding |
Next-step clarity | Follow-up rate | “Based on what you told me, here’s my recommendation and why” |
Sales associate skills transfer directly to every other sales role — needs discovery, objection handling, and next-step control are universal.
Sales skills for resume and CV
Listing “negotiation” means nothing. Proving you maintained 94% list price across 40 deals means everything.
The proof formula
Skill → Evidence → Metric → Tool → Outcome
“Executed hypothesis-driven discovery (skill) across 150+ enterprise opportunities (evidence), achieving 62% Stage 1-to-2 conversion (metric) using Salesforce + Gong (tool), contributing to $2.1M pipeline (outcome).”
Resume bullets by role
SDR: “Generated [X] qualified meetings/month via multi-channel outreach (phone, email, LinkedIn, voicemail), achieving [X]% reply rate vs [Y]% team average.”
AE: “Managed $[X]M pipeline across [X] enterprise accounts, maintaining [X]% forecast accuracy through weekly pre-mortems and evidence-based stage management.”
Sales manager: “Coached [X] AEs using call review and behavioral scorecards, improving win rate from [X]% to [X]% in [timeframe].”
Sales ops: “Designed CRM quality standards achieving [X]% field completeness, enabling forecasts within [X]% of actual revenue.”
Sales engineer: “Led technical discovery for [X]+ enterprise opportunities, achieving [X]% POC-to-close rate via problem-first methodology.”
Sales associate: “Achieved [X]% above-target conversion through structured needs discovery and recommendation framework.”
Transferable sales skills
- Communication → stakeholder management, executive reporting
- Negotiation → vendor management, contract review
- Discovery → requirements gathering, user research
- Pipeline discipline → project management, forecasting
- Financial literacy → business analysis, budget management
ATS checklist
- Do: Specific numbers, tool names (Salesforce, HubSpot, Gong, tl;dv, Outreach)
- Don’t: Vague adjectives without outcomes (“excellent communicator” → “structured recaps achieving [X]% completion rate”)
How to choose sales skills training
What works: Practice with feedback (roleplay, call review). Observable scorecards. Real recordings for coaching. Training matched to your sales motion — enterprise software sales skills training needs a different curriculum than retail or inside sales.
Red flags: Script worship (frameworks beat scripts). Theory without drills. “Always Be Closing” tactics. One-size-fits-all programs.
Highest-ROI approach: Build an internal best-calls library from your team’s recordings. Tag skill moments. Coach from real examples. Score with behavioral scorecards. Track 30/60/90-day improvement. Sales skills development training works best continuous, not quarterly.
Tools like tl;dv make this automatic: record, transcribe, and index every call for coaching.
Pick one skill. Run one drill. Today.
- Assess (10 min)
- Pick your weakest skill
- Run the drill (10 min)
- Review one call clip (10 min)
- Re-score in 7 days
The hardest part is Step 4: getting the footage. Most reps skip review because finding the right moment in a 45-minute recording feels like work.
Try tl;dv free to record and transcribe calls automatically, get AI summaries, and build a searchable game-tape library. Use coaching workflows to score calls, track improvement, and share best moments. Your calls are already happening — start learning from them.
