10 Timeless (And 5 Surprising) Traits Of A Great Sales Person

Every business needs salespeople. And every business wants successful salespeople. Turns out professionals who are good in a sales role share key traits—but, some of those traits may surprise you. It has been common sales management lore that 80 percent of sales are made by only 20 percent of the sales force. What’s the reason for this? According to research, 55 percent of people in the sales profession shouldn’t be, but another 20-25 percent could find success if they were selling a different product or service because they have the critical traits to be great at sales. Here are the 10 timeless (and 5 surprising) traits of a great salesperson.

Timeless Traits of a Great Salesperson

Responsible

Generally, great salespeople take their role to achieve goals and sales targets as a serious responsibility for the overall health of an organization. Responsibility helps them keep going even when faced with lots of nos.

Focused

Great salespeople don’t let distractions get in the way of achieving their sales goals. They are attentive to the task at hand—get those contracts signed! They are also able to stay organized and know what steps to take to make success happen.

Competitive

Successful salespeople are ethically competitive. Competitiveness drives them to beat out other people and businesses vying to win the same contract. Without that desire to beat out the competition a salesperson will falter. 

Confident

It’s important to have confidence in the product or service you’re selling. If you don’t believe in it, there’s a limit to how long you can fake enthusiasm before your client suspects you’re selling them up a river.

Tenacious

They know the fortune is in the follow-up and will nurture their leads as long as it takes to make the sale. They won’t stop at one phone call, email or text. They find a variety of ways to keep in front of their prospects with useful information until that day that they finally become a paying customer.

Curious

To get ahead of the competition, it’s important to differentiate your products and services from others who are offering similar solutions. Curious salespeople are hungry for information and knowledge. When they seek to understand their prospects, the knowledge they uncover can often lead the way to how to differentiate.

Resilient

Sales is a numbers game and it likely will take multiple interactions with the same contact or several contacts at each organization until they become customers. In the face of obstacles and setbacks, great salespeople keep moving forward and never give up.

Positive

Successful salespeople are glass half-full people. Their energy and enthusiasm is contagious. People enjoy being around them because they are positive and keep conversations friendly and fun.

Great listeners

It’s never about you in sales, it’s about your customers. Salespeople who are great listeners also make great salespeople. They know they should ask questions and allow their customers to be in the limelight rather than assume it for themselves.

Multitaskers

With prospects in every stage of the sales funnel, salespeople must be adept at multitasking and organization. They need to be able to switch effectively from one customer’s needs to another without missing a beat.

Surprising Traits of a Great Salesperson

Team player

Seems counterintuitive, right? But great salespeople know that they need buy-in from a team of people at the prospect organization from tech advisors to management to finance. Those that become a thriving member of the team are also those who build the trust and knowledge necessary to recommend the right products and solutions that make them a successful salesperson.

Modesty

The stereotypes imply that salespeople are egotistical, but in one study, 91 percent of the top salespeople had medium to high scores of modesty and it was those that exhibited bravado that alienated more customers than they landed.

Limited gregariousness

Although salespeople do need to interact with people, they don’t have to be the most gregarious person around in order to be a successful salesperson. And, in some cases top sales performers were less gregarious than below average sales performers.

Empathy

Cold-hearted sales people who only have their own interests in mind will ultimately be left out in the cold. Those that listen, identify with their customers and determine the best products or services that work for their customers’ needs will find success.

Subtle

Again, this one bucks most salespeople stereotypes, but the best salespeople never appear like they are selling something. They are consultants and educators to demonstrate why they should be trusted and why customers should have faith in their recommendations. And, yes, the ultimate objective is to make a sale, but great salespeople allow the process to play out and never steamroll it.

What do you think I left off of either list? Please share your experiences with great salespeople in the comments.

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