Exploring essential sales skills for entrepreneurial success

Using the sales literature as a departure point, this study begins with the identification of broad sales skills and then focuses on their categorisation and measure along the lines of three dimensions, namely conceptual, interpersonal, and technical. A survey was developed around 110 skills representing 28 themes or skills clusters with the guidance of a Canadian division of a multinational company. Management, sales management, sales support and sale personnel were asked to rate the importance of each skill on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 'not important' to 'very important'. A tally of the skills ratings ranged from above 'somewhat important' to 'very important' with a mean of 4.27 over 5. Thematic scales were developed with the Cronbach alpha to identify robustness and reliability, followed by validity tests of convergent and discriminant analysis. There were 89 skills listed in the range of 'important' to 'very important' with the other 21 being in the 'somewhat important' to 'important range'. Beyond hard and soft skills needed, the focus on specific skills may vary by market and type of sales. This in itself is key to training.