When it comes to lead generation and sales, soft skills are just as important as hard skills. In fact, some would argue that soft skills are more important since they’re what allows you to build relationships with potential customers and clients.

If you’re looking to improve your crucial skills, here are 5 soft skills you should focus on.

Improve your communication

If the objective is to improve your lead generation skills, one of the most important things you can do is work on your communication skills. To help boost communication confidence, consider understanding negotiation types, body language, and value conflict examples. You may also want to sharpen your public speaking skills, practice active listening techniques, or tailor communications based on the intended audience. Whether you’re communicating with potential customers, clients, or colleagues, being able to clearly and effectively communicate is essential to success. There are a few key things you can do to improve your communication skills:

Be clear and concise in your communication. When you’re communicating with someone, make sure that you’re getting your point across clearly and concisely. Don’t try to include too much information at once, or you’ll risk overwhelming the other person and confusing them. Instead, focus on conveying one key message at a time.
Listen actively. Effective communication with someone requires you to be a good listener. Pay attention to what the other person is saying, and try to understand their perspective. This will help you better respond to their needs and wants.
Use nonverbal cues. In addition to the words you use, your nonverbal cues – such as your body language and facial expressions – can also convey a lot of information. Make sure that your nonverbal cues are consistent with the message you’re trying to communicate.
Improve your writing. You can improve your writing in a variety of ways, including reading more (and writing more). You can also incorporate word games like Scrabble into your daily routine, which relies on verbal intelligence and vocabulary to excel at. Scrabble can take some experience to get good at, so if you’re struggling, there are many word unscrambler tools on internet which help you arrange letters into winning combinations.
Avoid making assumptions. When you’re communicating with someone, it’s important to avoid making assumptions about what they know or don’t know. Instead, ask questions to clarify any misunderstandings.
Be patient. Communication can be challenging, and it may take some time to get your point across. Be patient, and allow the other person the time they need to understand what you’re saying.
Practice, practice, practice. Like with anything else, the more you practice communication, the better you’ll become at it. Make a conscious effort to improve your communication skills, and you’ll see a difference in your ability to generate leads and close sales.

Relationship building

If you want to be successful when it comes to find and closing leads, it’s important to build strong relationships with potential customers, clients, and colleagues. Strong relationships are built on trust, respect, and communication. There are a few key things you can do to build strong relationships:

Be genuine. When you’re interacting with someone, be genuine in your interest in them and their needs. People can tell when you’re not being sincere, and it will damage your relationship.
Be honest. It’s important to be honest with the people you’re interacting with. Don’t try to hide your true intentions – people will see through it and it will damage your relationship.
Be helpful. When you’re interacting with someone, try to be helpful and offer assistance when you can. People will appreciate your help, and it will strengthen your relationship.
Be a good listener. To build strong relationships, you need to be a good listener. Pay attention to what the other person is saying, and try to understand their perspective. This will help you better connect with them.
Show interest. When you’re talking to someone, show interest in what they’re saying. Ask questions, and make sure that you’re engaged in the conversation. This will help to build a stronger relationship.

Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to be aware and understand your own emotions and the emotions of others. It’s an important soft skill because it can help you better understand and connect with potential customers and clients. There are a few key things you can do to improve your emotional intelligence:

Be self-aware. Being emotionally intelligent requires you to be aware of your own emotions. Pay attention to how you’re feeling, and why you’re feeling that way. This will help you better understand and control your emotions.
Be aware of others’ emotions. In addition to being aware of your own emotions, you also need to be aware of the emotions of others. Pay attention to nonverbal cues, such as body language and facial expressions, to better understand how someone is feeling.
Be empathetic. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. When you’re interacting with someone, try to put yourself in their shoes and understand how they’re feeling. This will help you better connect with them.
Be able to regulate your emotions. It’s important to be able to control your emotions, especially during difficult conversations or situations. Take a step back and take a deep breath when you can sense you are getting too emotional. This will help you stay calm and maintain control.
Be able to manage stress. Stress is a normal part of life, but it can be detrimental to your emotional intelligence. Learning how to manage stress will help you better cope with difficult situations and maintain your emotional composure.

Critical thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze information and make decisions based on logic and reason. It’s an important soft skill for anything related to sales or lead generation, as it can help you better assess customer needs and make informed decisions. There are a few key things you can do to improve your critical thinking skills:

Be open-minded. To think critically, you need to be open-minded and willing to consider all sides of an issue. Don’t let your personal biases or opinions cloud your judgment – instead, objectively consider all the evidence before making a decision.
Be analytical. When you’re faced with a decision, take the time to analyze all the available information. Break down the pros and cons, and weigh all the options before making a choice.
Be inquisitive. Making informed decisions means allowing yourself to be inquisitive and ask questions. When you’re presented with information, don’t be afraid to ask for clarification or more details. This will help you better understand the situation and make a more informed decision.
Be systematic. When you’re making a decision, it’s important to be systematic and methodical in your thinking. Follow a step-by-step process to ensure that you’re considering all the relevant information before coming to a conclusion.
Be rational. It’s important to be rational and logical in your thinking. When you’re making a decision, don’t let emotions or personal biases cloud your judgment. Instead, base your decision on logic and reasoning.

Negotiation

Negotiation is the process of trying to reach an agreement between two or more parties. It’s a crucial soft skill for improving your ability to sell your products and services because it plays a fundamental role in helping you better understand customer needs and reach mutually beneficial agreements. There are a few key things you can do to improve your negotiation skills:

Be assertive. If you want be a successful negotiator, you need to be assertive and stand up for what you want. Don’t be afraid to speak up and state your case – doing so will help you better advocate for your needs.
Be collaborative. While it’s important to be assertive, you also need to be collaborative and willing to compromise. Try to find common ground and reach a mutually beneficial agreement.
Be prepared. Before you enter into a negotiation, it’s important to be prepared. Know what you want to achieve and have a clear idea of your bottom line. This will help you better negotiate from a position of strength.
Be persuasive. Negotiation is relies on an ability to persuade and convince. You need to make a strong case for why your proposal is in the best interest of both parties.

Conclusion

Developing strong emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and negotiation skills can help you better generate leads and close sales. In summation, those looking to improve their ability to generate leads and close sales should focus on developing the important soft skills covered in this article. Together, they enable you to build and nurture the kinds of customer relationships that will convert into not just one-time sales, but referrals, repeat business and long-lasting, mutually beneficial business.

Five Ways To Spot Future Leaders

Amongst a Crowd

When the business world moves at a fast pace, particularly during the turbulent times we are currently experiencing, taking the time to identify future leaders can prove difficult. In a large organization with a rich pool of potential candidates, pinpointing the individuals with leadership potential is especially difficult.

But devoting time to both identifying and nurturing future leaders is crucial. Fostering the talent within your own organization is both more cost-effective and less time-consuming in the long run than recruiting from outside the organization. You cannot risk losing your talent pool to competitors.

So, how do you spot those with leadership potential efficiently? Of course, those looking to progress in their career will need to demonstrate measurable skills like qualifications, knowledge and experience. On the other hand, those three qualities do not necessarily make for a good leader. You cannot focus on these alone.

5 soft skills you should be looking out for

Aside from measurable qualities, there are certain soft skills that will alert you to those who may become excellent leaders in the future.

Soft skills are those skills that are non technical but affect the way in which a person works. Soft skills make someone efficient, effective and productive in their work. Different roles require different soft skills.

To identify tomorrow’s efficient, effective and productive managers, you can be looking out for people in junior positions demonstrating the right soft skills right now.

Here are some behaviors that will help you find the talent you need to start nurturing now.

1. They demonstrate a natural rapport with colleagues.

Leaders should be likable, friendly and approachable. They should demonstrate a consistently positive attitude. Therefore, look out for junior colleagues who are universally liked and respected in the office. Their ability to gain rapport with almost anyone will make them an excellent candidate.

Remember to look at the most outgoing, confident people; but also look beyond the extroverts in the office. There may be others out there who are gaining the trust and admiration of others without shouting it out. These quieter people can hold just as much sway and influence as their noisier colleagues, perhaps more so. They may be perceived to be more approachable too, should times get tough.

2. They show conviction.

A strong set of core values and a sense of purpose are more soft skills to look out for.

Seek out people working with confidence and purpose, no matter what role they currently fill. They make sure their work has meaning and that they actively seek to contribute to the community within your organization. They focus their energy and attention on tasks that matter.

Conviction and purpose help a leader overcome resistance or obstacles. They can help an organization through tough and uncertain times.

3. Future leaders are lifelong learners.

Those with potential leadership qualities are always looking to invest in themselves and learn new skills. They are not afraid to admit when there is a gap in their knowledge or skill set. They will also take time to bridge this gap.

Future leaders seek opportunities to learn. Their personal development is important to them, both in their career and outside of it. They dedicate time to learning new hard skills, seek out the right professional development workshops, and aspire to gain qualifications. They show an awareness of their own soft skills and look to develop those, too.

4. Future leaders are not afraid to show vulnerability.

Unfortunately, vulnerability can seem like a negative, and not all team members will want to admit to it. However, vulnerability is something we all possess and it can be a really positive thing.

When a person acknowledges and accepts their vulnerability, they are demonstrating self-awareness. This is a good trait that helps people develop honesty, openness and empathy with others. A person who attempts to maintain a facade of perfection and invincibility cannot expect to gain the trust of others.

A person who acknowledges their own vulnerability can accept it in their colleagues, too. They know that no human is perfect. This makes an ideal person to establish and inspire a culture of honesty and respect. This is certainly a leadership quality you’ll want to nurture.

5. They communicate well.

It almost goes without saying that a leader must be an effective communicator. They must inspire confidence in their team, their superiors and the organization’s stakeholders. Being able to communicate clearly is a huge part of this.

Communication is definitely a skill that can be polished through excellent training and more experience. However, look out for the people in your organization who show signs of talent in this area. They can initiate conversations, hold other people’s attention and express their thoughts clearly. It is also important to pay attention to the ability to communicate through the written word.

The action plan on finding future leaders

Spotting potential leaders isn’t a quick and easy formulaic activity. Subtle observation, and lots of it over time, is key here. Above are some easy-to-spot qualities that should help reveal the talent to focus on.

Remember that this is a hugely advantageous use of your time. The time you invest in nurturing the leadership abilities of junior colleagues will be repaid down the line and reap countless rewards.

By starting now, you can maximize potential and minimize the risk of losing great people to other organizations.

The next step is to consider how you will nurture the talent you find. This is something that business coaching services can help with.

They will help you:

Identify a colleague’s leadership strengths and their areas for development.
Develop a personalized leadership development plan for each person in the program.
Coach that person to ensure they realize their potential.
Improve their knowledge of leadership, their ability to lead, and hone their leadership style, too.
Help identify the right position for the right person within your organization.

Professional coaches are ideally placed to boost your organization’s productivity and positivity by improving the quality of leadership. They can help you build a positive, organized, collaborative and driven team with the next generation of excellent leaders at the helm.

AUTHOR BIO

Salma El-Shurafa is an experienced Executive Coach and founder of The Pathway Project. She is a Professional Certified Coach by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach from The Coaches Training Institute (CTI) and a graduate of CTI’s Co-Active Leadership program.

effective communications keys to business success productive managers soft skills

5 Soft Skills To Improve For Better Lead Generation And Sales