Strong Sales Rep Skills Include Developing an Awesome Memory

Most everyone has a trick to remember stuff. It may be notes and alarms on your smart phone, taking copious photos or writing ‘notes-​to-​self’ throughout the day. Among sales rep skills, a strong memory is a powerful asset that pays rewards time and again.

Maybe you retain enough information to follow a conversation or presume you know the thrust of a proposal. But with a high stakes deal on the line how do assure your recall is up to the task?

Longhand Note-​Taking is a Recommended Sales Rep Skill

Jeff Haden contributed his thoughts to an Inc​.com article that explored ways to improve memory, recall and retention. He begins with a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied that evaluated various memory-​boosting strategies.

As it turns out, those who wrote notes by hand scored highest on subsequent comprehension and recall tests. This is primarily attributed to the notetaker’s more involved comprehension of the messenger’s content and context while transcribing. Those who merely photographed slides or even took verbatim recordings had lower scores.

Apparently, the process of picture-​taking or even writing verbatim is disengaged and fails at any genuine attempt to understand. Therefore, writing notes in your own words using the presenter’s thoughts will give you an entirely new sales rep skill.

Retaining What You Learn Requires an Extra Effort

Haden doesn’t stop here. And neither should you! Good B2B sales reps learn; great B2B sales reps RETAIN!

Knowledge is useful only if you do something to make it useful.

Unorganized random facts are just that. They tend to distract and dampen any effort of progress toward a cogent argument. A top sales rep skill is to connect something you know, so that the material is no longer in isolation.

In my previous article, there are tactics for retention of information centered on retrieving key facts or seeking a unique feature. However, Harvard posted “5 Tips to Retain What you Learn” in a multi-​layered essay that deserves your attention. Among the strategies listed, here’s a sampling of two retention techniques you can use today.

Input > Process > Output

The below steps are simple in concept but more challenging in practice:

• The goal is to take in material and make it, personally, more meaningful.
• Know yourself. The processing of material is unique to you. Determine if you are a visual, auditory, reading, or kinesthetic learner?
• Once digested and reviewed, recalling the information through common pathways will make the material immediately accessible and logical.

Practice spaced repetition

Think of it as a rehearsal for an approaching performance. Review what you’ve learned at certain intervals. This will reinforce the concepts in your mind and deepen those neural pathways.

Additionally, realize that complex material needs LONGER TIME BETWEEN repetition. It’s as if the material needs time to soak in.

Examples of Note-​Taking Methods for Memory Retention

Evidently, the act of writing notes creates a connection between the hand and brain that encodes information for recall. Subsequently, it helps solidify knowledge in long-​term memory. Meetgeek​.ai offers ten types of note-​taking, here are three methods for your review:

The Cornell method

This method divides the page into sections for notes, cues and summaries. It encourages active review and summarization, which reinforces learning.

The Outline method

Organizing information hierarchically helps visualize relationships between concepts, making it easier to remember the overall structure of the material.

Mind mapping

This visual technique can enhance memory by creating associations between ideas, which is particularly effective for visual learners.

Regardless of your learning style you can develop an awesome memory. Recalling details about your clients, their needs, their interests, and their families is an intimate way to gain trust. When personalizing your pitch and building relationships, a strong recall of important details is a top sales rep skill.

Photo by Lara Jameson on Pexels​.com