Characteristics of Top Performing Sales Professionals

As you might imagine, I am often asked by sales leaders anxious to recruit the best salespeople they can afford, just what is it that makes a consistently top performer; what are their characteristics, where are their strengths and what differentiates them?

However, there is a great danger that the term “characteristics” risks ambiguity because, in reality, we need to consider three equally important aspects, which are: What they do (how they work,) the skills that they have developed and finally, their personal traits.

I feel that this is far too much to digest in just one article, so I will begin with what they do and then follow-up with two further pieces.

So What Is It That Top 5% Players Do? They …

Position themselves with the real decision-makers and avoid those without ‘approval power.’ They are able to first identify and then access the formal decision-making unit.

 Not only get the order but a satisfied customer, repeat sales, enthusiastic reference sites and constantly increase sales penetration within their accounts. They operate in “me only territory.”

Know how to minimize the uncertainties of a cold call on a new account, by careful planning and rigorous opportunity assessment.

Recognize when to treat an old account as a new prospect and keep the relationship fresh, alive and maintaining profitability. They constantly strive to "earn the right."

Never entertain business they do not want because they understand that it takes just as long to work an unprofitable opportunity through the sales funnel, only to lose it at the death, as it does a profitable one. They trust their own judgement but also rely heavily on objective assessment.

Readily identify and know how to communicate with the four different buying influencers present in every sale because they are “commercially multi-lingual.”

Understand how to prevent sales from being sabotaged by an internal enemy. They insulate themselves by developing strong allies within, which enables them to recognize fail-safe signals that indicate when a sale is in jeopardy. This comes from experience but also information supplied by their allies.

Are rigorous in tracking account progress and are able to accurately forecast future sales because they use proven methodology, which allows them to weight every opportunity in the pipeline. I should also add that their pipelines are not pregnant with unrealistic opportunities.

Avoid ‘dry-months’ by allocating time wisely to their critical selling tasks i.e. Prospecting for new business, covering the bases with existing opportunities and finally closing the best few. They are exceptional at monitoring CCT (Customer Contact Time) as a percentage of TWT (Total Working Time)

Are focused on political activity: We can, of course, question the legitimacy of commercial politics but we cannot deny their existence. The sales professional who fails to recognize the importance that politics play in virtually every complex sale will almost certainly consign themselves to a career at Level 1. No one ever said that we must take part in the political game, but recognizing that a game is being played, whether we like or not, is essential  — what we understand, we can manage.

Don’t get carried away with the “latest shiny bright thing” For example, they have probably correctly translated and interpreted what sales enablement really is many years ago and have adopted and adapted what is relevant to their personal requirements.

Equally, they have never been fooled into believing that anything connected with social media could possibly be a panacea; rather they use it as merely another weapon in their armoury. They position themselves appropriately on the most beneficial platforms, which provide maximum visibility and opportunities to interact with their clients and prospects. They are totally familiar with the hunter/farmer metaphor but they have moved on to a new metaphor, the fisherman.

These then are just a few reflections on the modus operandi of the very best sales professionals that I have coached, trained, mentored and witnessed over the past many years. It isn't exhaustive by any means and you may well have some thoughts of your own to add to this list?

Next time, I want to share my thoughts on the personal traits this very select group of people possess.

I am the CEO of Top Sales World and the editor of Top Sales Magazine. TSW is a unique, international online community dedicated exclusively to the profession of sales, bringing together the industry’s best-known sales experts to provide information in the form of how-to-guides, articles, webinars, podcasts and so much more. Have you discovered TSW yet?