Drive, Motivation, Perseverance, Determination, Communication and Good Listening.
There are various profiles of salespeople, but the fundamental attributes among the most successful will never change. Let's discuss these in more details.
There are various profiles of salespeople, but the fundamental attributes among the most successful will never change. Let's discuss these in more details.
Drive
Drive is something you have within you that keeps you going, keeps you motivated. Your drive is your determination to succeed. It is the fire within. It comes from your background and experience.
You will notice that successful people who do not come from a rich family and have struggled long in life all have a strong drive. Why is that? They were not handed success on a silver platter, they had to fight to get to where they wanted to be for a better life.
A sales person who is driven will always aim to achieve their sales goals.
Motivation
Motivation is really the person's purpose inspiring them to build a drive to succeed. When you have a purpose, nothing can really stop you. Good motivation comes from within, but also when you are in good sales environment, with quality professionals, it will always develop your purpose (boosting your motivation).
Money matters, especially in sales, but sometimes, you earn big packages and are still unfulfilled in your job. Money cannot buy motivation or happiness although it always seems as if it might.
We are halfway through a book called " la vérité sur ce qui nous motive" by Daniel Pink. It is a very interesting book that comments on what really motivates us and the times we feel most successful and fulfilled. Concrete examples are taken from the world of business as it unveils the three key elements of motivation: autonomy, the desire to be good at what we do and the need to give meaning to our life (helping others).
As you consider your own purpose, try to build a bit higher than monetary reward for something that will provide a weighty and long-term fulfilment once you reach your goals.
Perseverance
"Persistence in doing something regardless of difficulty or delay in achieving success"(google definition). I love it! In sales perseverance is a must! When you are prospecting for new customers, lack of perseverance will cause you to give up before you even get the chance to get hold of your prospects.
According to recent statistics: 80% of sales require 12 calls to speak to someone. How will you get there with no perseverance?
Determination
"The quality of being determined, firmness of purpose " (a Google quote, we love Google). Ah! Determination...such a strong word. You need determination to persevere! Without that strong will, you will stop emailing your prospects after the 2nd email or the 5th call. You would not get anywhere near where you want to be.
Communication and Good listening
Even if you have great communication in Sales, we all know that talking less and listening more is the way to go! Prospects love when we care about their problems, it makes them feel valued because someone is willing to make a fuss over them to get them what they want. We believe efficient communication implies flexibility, sense of humour, tolerance.
*Flexibility - adapting your communication to the audience’s profile. Different markets or cultures will have different way of communicating, other language codes, that differ from one to another. Your job is to accommodate for all.
*Sense of humour - make your prospects smile with a genuine conversation that follows a secure structure. Don't be too salesy, it doesn’t build the rapport you think it will.
*Tolerance - sometimes you might come across a rude or hard prospect on the phone. Don't let them overwhelm you, they might bring their shields down if they realise their tone doesn’t spark a reaction from you.
It is all about capacity of adaptation!!!
There are more attributes, but you are on your way if you can begin working on these. They are connected to each other. At SalesTwin, we have these characteristics, they enable us to give the best of ourselves.
We put our customers first and always thrive in helping them achieve their sales and growth objectives. How do we do that? By providing dedicated sales and marketing services.
What other attributes are missing in this article? And why are they essential for a successful salesperson?