The 5 Traits of Great Sales People
As a professional speaker, I get to speak to some great teams, and it’s a real pleasure to present to people that are excited to be at an event or conference and last week was no exception.
I like to take the opportunity to mix and mingle with the attendees over lunch before my session if I can, and as the event was an awards ceremony for the company’s top sales achievers, it was a real opportunity for me to learn from them.
What are the secrets to being a top achiever in the real estate industry, which in anyone’s books, is a tough job to do when the market is buoyant never mind a bit flat?
As I mingled and chatted over lunch, it became apparent.
Take or find action
“It’s no use sitting in the staff room drinking coffee with your colleagues, you need to get out and meet new people all of the time” was one comment. “If you want a coffee, get out and get one, you never know who you might bump into”. I am a huge believer in that.
Wear a smile
I know it was an awards ceremony, but each and every person had a big smile, a smile that was genuine. The power of a smile is tremendous, it does wonders for the soul and is easily passed on. Making other people feel good is a sure fire way to be remembered.
Dress the part
Given the group were the best of the best, they all dressed appropriately; there was no competition for the most expensive flashy “salesy” suit. Dressing “just a little bit better” is all you need to aim for.
Focus on the end point
If your goal is to deliver $250m worth of settled transactions, monitor and plot every single transaction that gets you to that goal. I think it was Tom Peters that said “What gets measured gets done”. I bet each and every one of those top achievers had a totalizer stuck to their wall somewhere that they filled in after each sale.
Create a buzz
Awards aside, from the buzz it was obvious they loved their job. Many had been with the company for more than 10 years, some more than 20, and you don’t usually hang around that long if you’re not happy!
There is no rocket science, it always comes down to the same things: building relationships with others, doing the hard graft, measuring your success and having a little fun while you are doing it. Well-done guys, Cheers!
Are you a top achiever in sales? What do you put your success down to?
Linda Coles is the author of “Learn marketing with social media in 7 days” (Wiley) and is an author, speaker and trainer on building relationships. She lives in New Zealand on a fig orchard. You can get a free sample of a chapter of her book by registering for her newsletter.
Professional Make up Artist
10 年5 five great points ! " Dress the part" so true !!
RV Product Specialist
10 年Also key in the overall mix here is to be able to exhibit these traits in an environment that will welcome and nurture your success. Creating a buzz, building successful teams, reaching the top level of sales within your group time and again can sometimes be met with resentment or be perceived as a threat to someone elses career interests. Political agendas most often stifle optimum productivity but when the organization is large enough, politically mediated decisions can be masked. Companies evolve having shed much of their best talent and that creates a more secure environment for the less talented people at the top! Sales are not what they could be and customer satisfaction is not what it should be but that may not be the primary concern. If you begin to find that your success is being thwarted, you may wish to reassess the corporate culture you are working in.