AMA: Fastly Senior Director, Global Sales Enablement, Andrew Zinger on Sales Soft and Hard Skills

The best sales candidates often share several key traits and skills that set them apart. As a hiring manager, you can identify high-potential candidates by looking for the following common characteristics: 1) Strong Communication skills Clarity and Persuasion: Top candidates can clearly and confidently articulate ideas, products, and value propositions. Active Listening: They listen carefully to customer needs and feedback, showing empathy and understanding. 2) Adaptability Handling Rejection: T ...Read More

The lost successful leaders I have worked with all seem to be able to have a healthy mix of the following: Must Have Sales Strategy Development: For CRO's, its imperative that they have the ability to work with their partners in enablement to design and implement effective sales strategies that align with company goals, including setting KPIs, sales targets, and go-to-market plans. These strategies need to be clearly communicated and must be repeatable, measurable and scalable across regions Dat ...Read More

For me personally, its having a strong foundation of soft skills. You can learn new products, new industries and about new personas you'll sell into. However, having emotional intelligence, curiosity, empathy and drive needs to be a part of your DNA almost. I have seen this often when trying to transition a sales organization from a 'vendor like' selling motion, where they sell 'licenses', to a more 'consultative like' selling motion that is there to partner with customers to solve their challen ...Read More

Great question. I will frame my answer with what I see is the biggest transition most sales organizations are looking to make in today's economic climate - trying to move away from 'vendor-like sales' to a more 'consultative / trusted advisor' sales organization. Where i see the most vital ingredients to do that include the following: To be successful in sales going forward, professionals need a blend of both hard and soft skills to navigate the evolving landscape. Here are the most important on ...Read More

Let me answer this from the perspective of one of my key cross-functional partners—Product Marketing (PMM). When we first sit down with PMM teams, they usually have a lot of information they think will be helpful for sellers regarding a new product launch or initiative. However, much of it tends to be 'fluff'—nice-to-have details that often overshadow what sellers actually need. I always ask PMM to think like our sales teams and focus on two key questions: "What's in it for the seller?"—Essentia ...Read More