FOCUS – 10 ESSENTIAL COGNITIVE SKILLS FOR SALES
What are Cognitive Skills
Dictionaries define the word ‘Cognitive’ as “being, or involving conscious intellectual activity. This includes thinking, reasoning, or remembering. So, cognitive skills are a set of mental abilities - brain-based skills - required for everything simple or complex we do in a day.
Do Cognitive Skills Matter for your Job?
Let’s say your phone rings, as you are reading this. If you choose to answer the call, research has shown that you’ll be using not less than 6 different brain-based skills
(1) Hear the ringtone (Perception) (2) Decide whether or not to answer (Decision making) (3) Swipe the screen to accept (Motor skill) (4) Say Hello and quickly switch to the language of the caller (Language) (5) Listen and sense the tone and mood of the caller (Emotional intelligence) (6) Have a meaningful conversation (Communication)
So, it’s not a surprise that 21st Century jobs demand cognitive skills of a depth and width not seen till now, as evidenced by a growing body of research:
- An Oxford University Press book “Cognitive Skills You Need for the 21st Century” by Prof Stephen K. Reed that draws on World Economic Forum’s reports on “Future of Jobs” identified brain-based skills spanning 6 areas - acquiring knowledge, organizing knowledge, reasoning, problem-solving, artificial intelligence and education as critical for future jobs
- More than a decade ago, the Harvard Business Review (Changing Face of Sales – HBR 2012) predicted: “Cognitive skills and capabilities include innovative problem solving; the ability to identify opportunities; the ability to work under pressure; and mental toughness and resilience. These cognitive skills are important in a consultative selling role…”
- An Association for Talent Development (ATD) blog post of 2021 on “Future-Skilling Your Workforce” quoting Conference Board, a global think-tank , lists out 10 different types of skills anchored in thinking, execution and mindset. This list includes skills like curiosity, resilience and problem solving, all falling in the cognitive domain
Why should Sales Professionals build their repertoire of Cognitive Skills?
Sales as we have known it is changing dramatically. The common perception that Sales is mostly about relationships, people, a little knowledge and great communication may not be valid any longer. The role of the Salesperson is getting transformed
Sales professionals now need to be increasingly capable of:
- Sharper and better thinking
- Offering insights and not just information to Customers
- Becoming reliable advisers who can guide customer’s choices better
- Understanding, using, communicating, and interpreting data
- Solving problems, analysing issues, visualizing possibilities, discussing insights, using logic and emotions together to build and communicate value
10 Essential Cognitive Skills for Sales
While research enumerates 22 cognitive skills for becoming future ready, 10 of them are essential skills that sales professionals would benefit by mastering on priority. Below is a listing:
I Analysis oriented skills – (1) Data Orientation & Data Affinity (2) Analytical thinking for innovation (3) Ability to identify opportunities
II Action oriented skills – (4) Organizing Knowledge (5) Problem Solving (6) Bias for action and execution (7) Technology use, monitoring and control
III Mindset oriented skills – (8) Digital Intelligence (9) Passion driven curiosity (10) Resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility
These skills can be eminently learnable. We need to keep our focus on What they are, How they make a difference, How to learn them in a good way, How to use them, How to make them part of us in a more effective way. This Special Issue of Mercuri Mail provides a quick glimpse of 3 of these Cognitive Skills.
“Sculpture is made by taking away while painting is made by adding”
– Michelangelo
Welcome to the 'New Mercuri Mail'.. The India Journal of Mercuri International!
This is the 'Go To Place Sales Newsletter and Journal' of the discerning Sales Community! Continuing its 35 year long tradition of sharing knowledge curated from the best of sales and management literature, here come interesting new features, all with an unwavering focus on making a difference!
Happy reading and reflecting!
Team Mercuri India
The India Journal of Mercuri International - SEP 2022
