2. Respectful
Prospective clients are being asked to suspend what they’re doing to listen to a sales pitch; a great sales person knows to respect their time and attention and not take for granted that the client will be receptive to a sales call. If a prospective client declines to listen to a sales pitch, it’s important for sales teams to respect that as well; nothing is won by antagonizing a prospective customer.
3. Good Listener
Being able to listen to the client and effectively communicate with them is a quality of a great sales person. This goes hand in hand with being respectful; each client has unique concerns and needs that should be addressed, and the client will feel much more trusting and therefore willing to purchase if they feel like they’re being listened to.
4. Passionate
If it sounds like you hate your job when you’re giving your pitch, the customer can tell, and it’s not going to incentivize them to purchase your product or service. Prospective clients respond to enthusiasm and passion for what you’re selling and for what you do; it makes them feel like it’s something they can get excited about too. The best sales people have passion for their trade, and it shows.
5. Resourceful
Great sales people know when to switch gears and try something else if a sales call isn’t going their way. Having a single tactic and sticking to it isn’t an efficient way of making a sale; true salesmanship is about tailored sales calls to individual people and having enough intuition—and being resourceful enough—to know how to deliver it differently.
6. Subtle
Being blunt and over-assertive won’t get you anywhere in sales; successful sales people understand the art of subtlety and how to wield it. Fostering an environment where people feel more like they are having a conversation than that they are a faceless prospective sale leads to higher sales numbers and better relationships with future clients.
7. Competitive
Good sales people also care about their numbers; they want to perform well and are constantly angling to perform their best and reach higher and higher sales quotas. A sales person that is content to meet the minimum requirement is not going to have huge successes selling. A great sales person constantly pushes himself or herself further. An effective way of encouraging this attitude towards selling is through creating incentive programsfor employees.
8. Optimistic
Cynicism and negativity don’t play well with potential clients; as mentioned earlier, they want to be able to get excited about what the person’s selling, and feel like they’ve made a positive decision should they decide to make a purchase. Optimism and an upbeat attitude are a common thread among successful sales people.
9. Empathetic
Prospective clients want to feel understood; they want to get a sense that the person they’re talking to actually cares about them and is invested in their wellbeing.Empathy is consistently one of the most important characteristics of people who are successful at selling. It’s a quality that allows the sales person to foster an actual connection with the clients—a connection that can grow and last a long time.
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