7 characteristics of a successful salesperson

Is it only about selling with noble purpose?

Salespeople who sell with a sense of purpose sold best. The real power salespeople are those that had what a company termed a ‘noble purpose’ – they wanted to make a real difference to their clients and were not focused solely on profit.

Never focus on the money, have other goals that will help you generate the success to receive the financial rewards.

But how does this translate into the characteristics of a successful salesperson?

Customers buy the solution to a problem not the product

When someone buys a hammer, they don’t necessarily want the hammer; rather, they need a nail in a wall. They have a wall, a picture, and a nail. The problem they have is getting the nail in the wall: the hammer is the solution to that problem.

Customers buy from someone they like and trust

Having established that people buy a solution to their problem, the next step is to understand that, no matter the solution, people buy from people. A person will deal with someone they like and trust. If this doesn’t exist, the sale will fall through no matter how good the product.

The 7 characteristics of a successful salesperson

A customer moves through three phases of attachment during the sales process.

First, he or she makes a rapid assessment of the salesperson’s character. They must conclude that they both like and trust the salesperson before they will listen further. At this point, they will listen to the salesperson’s solution to the problem.

Without the personality traits that create like and trust, a salesperson will never reach full potential. However, the salesperson must also have the character that leads them to succeed.

Here are seven characteristics that we have identified as key to success:

1.     Disciplined

A successful salesperson maintains his or her discipline at every stage. Cold calls are made diligently, leads are comprehensively qualified, and sales meetings are followed up. When they promise to do something, they follow through.

2.     Charismatic

A captivating conversation starts with product and service knowledge but continues with an easy and engaging manner. Difficult concepts are explained in simple language, and the salesperson is able to listen and ask questions, answer inquiries and concerns.

3.     Motivation

Salespersons must be motivated to succeed. They should have belief in the product, the company’s values, and, most importantly, the motivation to ensure that the customer’s needs are satisfied – and that includes ongoing needs (which lead to upselling opportunities).

4.     Lazily energetic!

The best salespeople are rarely ever the busiest. They economize their time, rather than using busy schedules as a status symbol. They have well-honed skills to ensure that their cold call success is high (we will look at cold calling in a few weeks) and they are potent closers. In other words, they look for simple but comprehensive solutions.

5.     Accept responsibility

The salesperson must accept responsibility for the sale. Ideally, they should not seek excuses for a poor sale or deflect positive feedback from a success. This acceptance of responsibility creates tremendous power to find selling solutions. Salespeople who take responsibility build trust with customers.

6.     Resilience

Even the very best salespeople face rejection and learn that it is part of the job. However, while resilient to rejection, the best salespeople can ask themselves why they were rejected without feeling judged. With the responsibility for rejection identified, the salesperson can take action to learn and improve.

7.     Emotional Intelligence

Salespeople who have strong emotional intelligence have highly developed skills to identify and manage both their own emotions and those of others. They understand how to recognize what customers feel, how they are likely to react and are able to communicate effectively and with empathy. These qualities that help to build the trust that is necessary for high-performance sales.

Summing up

Customers need to feel confident not only about the product but also the salesperson. Salespeople who think less about the money and more about the customer are those that have the greatest sales numbers.

The characteristics of a successful salesperson that we’ve highlighted above will provide a path to high-performance sales. They will propel your organization to increased revenues, higher margins, and greater profitability.

At The Power Within Coaching, we work with sales teams and salespeople to increase their mind-set, emotional intelligence and improve the characteristics that smooth the path to exponentially increase sales.

Contact The Power Within today to discover how our mind-set & Integrity Selling will propel your sales team to the next level.

If you or your team are ready for the next big jump in sales & leadership development:

Simply inbox me here on LinkedIn briefly detailing your current position & hurdles you are facing. I will then happily arrange a FREE strategy call with you, after which you are free to choose the best course of action.

The only thing you have to lose is the FEAR OF FAILURE. So, inbox me, and let's get started.

James Fleming