Marketing is one of the most vital parts of any business. Without a productive marketing team, new clients won’t come in, and revenue streams will slow down. While advertising is crucial to a business’s success, the team is only as good as every individual member. Any marketing professional working on a larger team should be skilled, and the following five strengths should be part of their repertoire.

1. Negotiation

The first skill every marketing professional should have is negotiation. Marketing requires teamwork. Unfortunately, teams don’t always get along as well as they should. In order to get the product out on time, successful marketing professionals need to learn to negotiate. Compromising with someone can produce a successful ad campaign and bring revenue for the whole company. Even for professionals who are good at compromising, a refresher course in negotiation training can help them reach new successes. A majority of negotiation comes from listening. While this seems simple enough, many people these days talk more than they listen. When marketers learn to listen, they open themselves to better business practices and the potential for more successful campaigns.

2. Communication

The second skill every marketing professional needs is communication. Marketing is a very people-oriented field. Without a certain level of communication, the marketing team will fall apart and the campaign will never get off the ground. As such, every person involved in this field should know how to effectively communicate with both peers and clients. If there’s a project expectation, marketers should be able to communicate with each other to accomplish it with no issues. Communication and negotiation go hand in hand. When marketing teams can talk without ego and self getting in the way, it makes a way for successful negotiation, and a beautiful campaign can come from it.

3. Detail Management

The third skill that every marketing professional should have is detail management. Many ad campaigns are detail-oriented. Without a certain level of attention to detail, campaigns can’t succeed. While most marketing teams consist of multiple people, that’s no excuse for some not to pay attention to the minutiae. When every team member is paying attention to the fine print, there’s a much higher measure of success for every ad campaign. Every marketing professional should learn to see the details in their work for both individual and corporate success.

4. Customer Service

The fourth skill every marketer should have is customer service. Because marketing is so people-oriented, it’s vital for marketing professionals to know how to deal with people. There will be days when a campaign produces an angry client. Some of these clients will have justified anger, some will be up in arms for no reason. Whatever their complaint, the marketing team will play a part in resolving it. Without knowledge of customer service practices, they could inflame the situation and prolong the customers’ outrage. Rather than dealing with a potentially explosive problem, learning the basics of customer service will help marketing professionals avoid these issues entirely, or resolve them if necessary.

5. Critical Thinking

Finally, every marketing professional should have a measure of critical thinking. Critical thinking and common sense are some of the most-ignored tenets of business nowadays. When it comes to marketing, critical thinking skills will help the team make solid business decisions that benefit the whole company. All too often, companies launch an ad campaign that’s insensitive or nonsensical because the people behind it didn’t take a second look. These errors cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to fix and risk alienating customers entirely. Rather than dealing with bad publicity, every marketing professional should put on their critical thinking caps at work. Taking a critical eye to their work can prevent costly issues down the line.

In summary, being a successful marketing professional requires many diverse skills. While many of these skills are taught in school, there’s nothing wrong with refresher courses on the basics. With these five particular talents in mind, marketers can help every ad campaign hit right on target.