Hi Community members,
We are always selling, whether we realize it or not. Even beyond the business landscape and monetary transactions, we are often selling. Selling what, you might ask? You have probably heard of the saying "People buy from people" or "People buy because of the why" – they are both true, and yes, you are always selling yourself even if you don’t realize it. When customers make purchases, they are not only buying your product or service, but they are also subscribing to your knowledge, personality, and charisma and building upon the connection and rapport you had with one another.
In today’s post, I will share the most common qualities I’ve seen from salespeople and in the many articles and lists I’ve read. However, by no means are these written in stone and hold the same value for everyone. They may be prioritized differently across different industries and in other regions. As a matter of fact, I would like to turn this into a discussion and invite members to share your thoughts. What do you think are the most important qualities or traits a salesperson should have, especially in today’s increasingly virtual environment in 2020?
The Top 5 Qualities of a Salesperson
1. Understand your customers
A successful seller knows the buyer’s needs and potentially what is driving those needs without the buyer having to explain the situation. If you don’t understand your customers’ pain points or at least try to understand why they are looking to buy, it would be very difficult to close the sale or even continue the conversation.
2. Show empathy and be an active listener
Perhaps more necessary than ever during our current challenging times and evolving work landscape, displaying empathy and being an active listener can go a long way. You want to build trust with your prospects and customers and assure them that you have their best interest at heart.
3. Be persistent and resilient
Salespeople hear more “No’s” than “Yes’” and have to navigate through many objections as well. Learn how to turn those rejections into motivation and let them fuel you instead of deterring you from your goals. For instance, you can try taking each rejection as a personal challenge to succeed with the next customer.
4. Find subtle but powerful ways to sell
A great seller is also opportunistic and may be selling without the buyer realizing it. For example, you could be educating your prospects and sharing success stories, or something as simple as answering their questions. While these aren’t direct actions of selling, they are still incredible ways to demonstrate customer value and hopefully instill faith into your product or service as well.
5. Stay focused but be able to multitask
The sales reps who continue to hit their quota or get ahead of the curve are able to focus and ignore the noise. They are able to stay on top of their daily tasks and quarterly goals without being distracted by what their teammates may be doing (or not doing). Furthermore, they are also organized and know where to prioritize their time among following up with warm leads, reaching out to green accounts, logging notes in the CRM, and completing all the administrative paperwork.
Like I mentioned earlier, the above are the top traits that I think (and have experienced myself as a customer on the flip side) a successful sales professional has.
What about you? What qualities have you seen from your peers (or competitors) that would make a great seller?
Thank you, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Eva C.
