16 Sales Team Leader Skills for Your Career and Resume

A sales team leader is responsible for managing and motivating a team of salespeople. This job requires a mix of interpersonal and technical skills, as well as knowledge of the sales process. If you’re interested in becoming a sales team leader, it’s important to understand what skills are necessary for success in this role.

Conflict Management

Conflict management is the ability to diffuse tension between team members and customers. As a sales leader, you may need to step in when an employee has a disagreement with a customer or if two employees have differing opinions on how to handle a situation. Your conflict management skills can help your team resolve issues quickly and maintain positive relationships with customers.

Customer Service

Customer service skills are important for sales team leaders because they can help you provide a positive experience to your customers. Customer service involves providing information about products, answering questions and resolving issues that may arise during the purchasing process. You can use customer service skills when training your team members so they know how to interact with customers in a helpful way.

Product Demonstrations

Demonstrating products is an important skill for a sales team leader to have. You can use this skill when training new employees or when you’re working with customers directly. Demonstrations help your team members and customers understand how the product works, what it does and why they should buy it. This helps them make informed decisions about their purchases and ensures that everyone understands the product’s features.

Leadership

Leadership skills are important for a sales team leader because they allow you to motivate and guide your team. You can use leadership skills when assigning tasks, providing feedback or resolving conflicts between members of your team. Strong leadership skills also help you develop the rest of your team’s skills so that everyone on your team is able to perform their job well.

Building Relationships

A leader who can build relationships with their team members is someone who can help the group work together. This person might be able to encourage employees to get along and support one another, which can make them more effective as a team. They may also be skilled at resolving conflicts between coworkers or helping team members resolve disagreements themselves.

Telephone Etiquette

Telephone etiquette is the ability to be respectful and professional when speaking on the phone. As a sales team leader, you may need to communicate with clients over the phone about their orders or other business-related topics. It’s important to answer calls promptly, greet callers by name and listen carefully to ensure you understand any questions they may have.

Generating Leads

Generating leads is the process of finding potential customers and introducing them to your company. As a sales team leader, you can help your employees generate leads by providing them with resources that teach them how to find potential clients. You can also encourage your team members to reach out to their own connections for referrals and introductions. This ensures they have a steady stream of new prospects to contact.

Motivation

Motivation is the ability to encourage and inspire others. As a sales team leader, you can motivate your team by providing them with clear goals and encouraging them when they achieve those goals. You can also help your team find ways to be motivated on their own, such as setting personal goals or working toward career advancement.

Closing Sales

Closing sales is the process of convincing a customer to buy a product or service. As a team leader, you can use your closing skills to help your team members close deals and increase their revenue. You can also use your closing skills to convince customers to try new products or services that your company offers. For example, if one of your employees recommends a certain type of car insurance, you can persuade customers to purchase it by explaining its benefits.

Upselling

Upselling is the process of suggesting an additional product or service to a customer. For example, if you’re selling someone a car, you might suggest they upgrade their tires for better performance. This can help increase your company’s revenue and also make customers happier by providing them with products that meet their needs.

Communication

Communication is the ability to convey information clearly and concisely. As a sales team leader, you may need to communicate with your team members about their performance or other topics that affect them. You can use communication skills when giving feedback on an employee’s work or discussing company goals for the year. Strong communication also allows you to relay information to clients effectively so they understand what you are saying and why it is important.

Handling Objections

Objections are the reasons a customer might give for not buying your product. For example, if a customer says they don’t have enough money to buy what you’re selling, that’s an objection. Handling objections well can help you close more sales because it shows customers you understand their needs and can address them. Your team members may ask you to help them handle objections, so it’s important to be able to do this yourself as a manager.

Organization

Organization is the ability to keep track of multiple tasks and responsibilities. As a sales team leader, you may have many projects or goals for your team that require attention at any given time. Having strong organizational skills can help you manage these tasks effectively so that everyone on your team knows what they need to do and when it needs to be done by. This can also help ensure that all necessary information is available to your team members if someone leaves their position.

Product Knowledge

Product knowledge is a crucial skill for sales team leaders to have, as it allows them to provide their teams with the information they need to sell effectively. This includes knowing how each product works and what features are available on different models. It also means understanding the products’ benefits and how they can help customers achieve their goals.

Decision-Making

A sales team leader needs to be able to make decisions quickly and confidently. You may need to decide on the best way to approach a customer, which product to recommend or how to handle an issue that arises during a sale. Your ability to make quick and informed choices can help you lead your team effectively.

You also need to be able to evaluate the success of your decision-making process. For example, if you offer a discount to a customer who is hesitant to buy, you might ask yourself whether they would have purchased without the discount. If so, then it was likely a good decision to give them a discount.

Prospecting

Prospecting is the ability to find new clients and customers. As a sales team leader, you may need to prospect for leads or prospects yourself. This means finding people who might be interested in your company’s products or services. You can then pass these leads on to your sales team so they can contact them directly.

How Can I Learn These Sales Team Leader Skills?

There are a few ways that you can learn the necessary skills to be a successful sales team leader. Many of these skills can be learned through on-the-job training, or through taking sales-related courses offered by community colleges or online learning platforms. However, some of the most important skills, such as conflict management, leadership, and decision-making, can often only be learned through experience. If you have the opportunity to work with and learn from a more experienced sales team leader, take advantage of that opportunity to gain as much knowledge and insight as possible.