What makes great salespeople great? The common misconceptions about salespeople can be tough to overcome because they are ingrained in our culture. It helps to see what successful salespeople look like. Most great salespeople aren’t all that slick on the surface, but they are great at discovering and solving problems. What makes them different?
I think there are 12 traits that make a successful salesperson here, which are 4 from my book.
Beliefs, Traits, and Habits of the Best Salespeople:
Desire. The desire to be successful is the number one feature of excellent salespeople. Folks with a strong drive to succeed have built upon a history of success.
They may have been good at sports or bringing up a family.
They know what it means to care deeply about the goal and go for it.
Desire leads them to discover everything they can about their product and competitors’ products. Their knowledge is one of their strongest assets.
Motivated salespeople will compete against themselves, not others. They strive to beat their last target, cultivate additional clients, and achieve business.
2. Self Belief. Effective business people have a very strong self-belief. When they experience rejection, they understand that it is situational. A single loss does little or damages their core self-esteem.
Instead of getting down on themselves, people with high self-esteem draw on all their knowledge and past mistakes to correct their course and move on.
A salesperson can achieve strong self-belief by developing a passion for their product or service. If you can turn your passion for your business into a core belief, you can sell your product to anyone. That is a sales mindset guarantee.
3. Persistence. Persistent folks do not give up easily, if ever. They see problems not as dead ends but as surmountable obstacles. How many rejections can you weather?
Numbers coming out of the Dartnell Corp. in the United States show that a sale in today’s market often goes through only after the tenth “No.” You read that right. The tenth “No.” We are up against a tough economic environment, and unless we are persistent and believe in what we sell, we will give up after about the third time someone tells us “No.”
Learn when to back off and not overplay the persistence card, but do not ever roll over and give up. In this brave new world where the power is increasingly in the hands of the buyer, we must create marketing and sales strategies to overcome our reluctance to try one more time.
4. Purpose. Many great salespeople find greater purpose in their work than simply completing the job. They might want to help their clients, fellow workers, and teammates build a great business environment to work in, or they may find value in training others by passing on their knowledge to employees.
Motivations can be as basic as feeding the family, affording that extra vacation, or getting the kids through college.
To folks invested in these outcomes, money and success are by-products of their efforts.
This is an important distinction, for finding meaning in your work will keep you balanced in your business. Work cannot be your sole purpose.
We hear many stories about business people burning out by dedicating themselves solely to their businesses, day in and day out. In the long run, this approach provides diminishing returns. Remember why you are working so hard.
Take The Sales Mindset Challenge here and discover how you rate your sales mindset. You might be surprised. It’s a simple list of questions that rate your beliefs and traits. Have fun.
Good Selling.
PLUS: WHENEVER YOU’RE READY…
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