Did you know that Top-Performing Sellers are 2.4x more likely to meet their sales goals? In a competitive sales environment, understanding and improving your selling skills can make the difference between hitting your targets and falling short.
But how do you know which skills to focus on? That's where RAIN Group's free Selling Skills Self-Assessment comes in.
Let's take a closer look at this powerful tool and how it can help you elevate your sales game across every stage of the selling process.
The Importance of Skills Across the Sales Cycle
When it comes to improving sales skills there is no silver bullet. Top-Performing Sellers excel at every stage of the sales cycle. They're adept at:
- Driving value: Resonating with buyers, differentiating from competitors, and substantiating that they can deliver results
- Prospecting: Identifying potential buyers, creating interest, and converting into qualified sales meetings (when applicable)
- Needs discovery: Uncovering and shaping buyer needs by leading a thorough and effective process
- Solution crafting: Developing compelling solutions that address buyer challenges, communicating ROI, and making a strong differentiation case
- Presenting: Communicating value, highlighting results, and presenting persuasively
- Winning: Overcoming objections, driving urgency, outselling the competition, and closing deals
Our assessment evaluates your sales skills across each area, providing a comprehensive view of your strengths and areas for improvement throughout the entire selling process.
The Foundation: The Top-Performing Seller Model
The assessment is built on the foundation of the Top-Performing Seller Model, developed through extensive research by the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research.
This model has been statistically validated to correlate with top performance in consultative selling. By comparing your skills to those of top performers, you can be sure you're measuring what truly matters in sales success.
What the Assessment Measures
Our individual sales skills assessment focuses on two key areas that are crucial for sales success.
1. Core Consultative Selling Skills
These are the foundational skills every seller needs to master. They form the backbone of effective sales interactions and include:
- Creating and communicating value to buyers
- Developing a strong prospecting approach (when applicable)
- Conducting thorough needs discovery
- Crafting compelling solutions and demonstrating ROI
- Presenting persuasive value propositions
- Winning deals against tough competition
These core skills are essential for building strong relationships with buyers, understanding their needs, and effectively positioning your solutions.
2. Advanced Consultative Selling Skills
Also known as Insight Selling, these advanced skills set top performers apart. They include:
- Inspiring buyers with new ideas and perspectives
- Collaborating deeply with buyers throughout the buying process
- Influencing buyer thinking about their challenges and potential solutions
- Driving change within buyer organizations
- Becoming a trusted advisor that buyers turn to for strategic guidance
These advanced skills enable sellers to not just respond to buyer needs, but to actively shape those needs and drive the sales process forward.
By assessing both core and advanced skills, you receive a comprehensive view of your selling capabilities. It helps you identify not only where you stand with essential selling techniques, but also how well-positioned you are to excel in more complex, strategic sales situations.
Walking Through the Assessment
Taking the assessment is straightforward and user-friendly. When you begin, you'll see an introduction page explaining the process:
You'll then be presented with a series of statements about your selling skills and asked to rate your proficiency. Here's an example of what a question might look like:
As you progress through the assessment, you'll see how far along you are:
After answering all the questions, you'll provide your email and immediately receive a link to download the report PDF with your personalized results:
Pro tip: Be honest in your responses. The more accurate your input, the more valuable your results will be.
Understanding Your Results: A Sample Report Breakdown
Let's break down what you can expect in your free personalized assessment report.
Overall Results
You'll see how you stack up against RAIN Group's Top Performer benchmark across key areas of the sales cycle.
Core Consultative Selling Skills
The report dives deep into each core skill area. For example, let's look at the Value section:
This graph shows how you compare to Top Performers in driving value with your customers. Similar breakdowns are provided for:
- Achieving the Outcome of Value
- Prospecting
- Driving and Discovering Need
- Solution Crafting and Impact (ROI)
- Presenting and New Reality (Value Case)
- Winning
Advanced Consultative Selling Skills
The report also analyzes your advanced skills, crucial for taking your sales performance to the next level.
How to Interpret Your Gaps
Any gaps between your score and the Top Performer benchmark represent opportunities for improvement. The report provides insights into what these gaps mean for your sales performance and offers targeted resources to help you close them.
Taking Action on Your Results
For each skill area, the report offers recommended resources to help you improve. These might include articles, toolkits, or online learning programs.
Why Take the Assessment
Our research shows that sellers who excel in the capabilities measured by this assessment are almost twice as likely to become Top Performers. By identifying and working on your skill gaps, you're taking a proven path to sales success.
Next Steps
Ready to uncover your sales strengths and areas for improvement? Take the free sales skills assessment today. It only takes about 10 minutes, and you'll receive your personalized report immediately.
After completing the assessment, you'll have a clear roadmap for your sales skill development. And remember, this is just the start. RAIN Group offers a wide range of resources and training options to help you on your journey to sales excellence.
In the world of sales, continuous improvement is key to staying ahead. Our free sales skills assessment gives you the insights you need to focus your development efforts where they'll have the most impact. Don't leave your sales success to chance–take the assessment today and start your journey to becoming a top performer.
