ChicExecs Senior VP of Elevate, Lydia Vargo, shares her ideas on what makes a good salesperson on Forbes blog. Here is an excerpt for your enjoyment:
Whether you’re trying to boost your own skills or hire great salespeople for your team, I recommend looking for these characteristics. You can hone your sales skills by cultivating these five qualities.
1. They’re Competitive
Salespeople don’t typically want to show up to work, stare at their computer for eight hours, and then go home. They live and breathe selling; it’s almost like a high. They’re often energized by the idea of outdoing themselves, their fellow salespeople and their competitors.
2. They Listen
When you think about “sales,” you might picture a slick-haired, smooth-talking car salesman. He won’t take no for an answer, and he’s just running his mouth without listening to the customer.
Actually, this stereotype is for bad salespeople. Good salespeople shouldn’t treat client calls as a chance to pontificate; they should treat them as equitable conversations. You should still lead the call, but you need to give the customer time to respond.
3. They’re Resilient
Sales can be a tough gig. One month you might be riding high on a wave of closings and commissions. The next, no one returns your phone calls and you experience a dry spell.
The best salespeople are resilient. They don’t love rejection (who does?), but they can accept hearing no a million times without despairing. Let rejection and failure motivate you. Rather than seeing failure as a character flaw, use it as fuel.
4. They’re Confident
Confidence is the currency of sales. A good salesperson comes off as confident, in control and informative — even if, deep down they are filled with insecurity.
It’s all about how you present yourself to prospects. Does your voice tremble when you talk, or is it engaging and bright? Even if you don’t feel confident, presenting yourself that way will bring trust and security to your pitch.
5. They’re Honest
Sales is not about tricking people into buying a subpar product. That’s not only dishonest and wrong, but it’s also just bad business. I have always hated expressions like “She can sell water to a whale!” People often mean this as a compliment, but to a true salesperson, it can be quite the opposite. Why? Because water is the last thing that a whale needs. Good salespeople should be honest from the start and should only want to sell you something that you need for your personal and professional success. And yes, that means being honest — even if being honest means losing a sale.
Read Lydia full article here.
