We have covered a lot of ground in this blog series, discussing how your sales team can up their game and sell more effectively. We have looked at what sales coaching is and how it can help your business, the benefits of sales coaching to UK businesses, 10 ways to improve your sales skills quickly, 15 common sales mistakes and how to avoid them, how to train your team to make more profits and how to motivate your staff to sell so that outcomes are improved.
This time, we are moving on to look at the key personality traits that comprise a stellar salesperson. A good salesperson possesses certain personality traits and qualities. We’ll look at ten essential traits of a skilled salesperson. The importance of having a strong personality to be a good salesperson cannot be overstated. We will explore what’s behind a successful salesperson and narrow down the key characteristics.
Why is it important to find out the top salesperson traits?
These points can be used as a roadmap to help your people sell more and win bigger deals.
There's no doubt that being a successful salesperson takes hard work but understanding your personality traits can help you determine if a career in sales is right for you. Furthermore, finding out what personality traits make a good salesperson can allow you to get the most out of your team.
Some people are born with the skills that make them perfect for sales, while others can be taught how to sell. Either way, great salespeople have certain traits that enable them to excel at their job; The Sales Coach Network can help to improve a team’s skills and personality traits when it comes to selling. Download our brochure today to find out more.
According to Business News Daily, there are four sales personality styles…
Assertive: goal-orientated, competitive, decisive, impatient, controlling, loud; more likely to speak in sentences than in questions.
Amiable: patient, friendly, open to challenges, calm, informal; often good listeners who ask many questions and seek strong personal relationships.
Expressive: people-pleasing, convicted, colourful, persuasive, outgoing, creative, spontaneous, intuitive, loyal, enthusiastic; likely to speak in sentences instead of questions and seek strong personal relationships.
Analytic: impersonal, fact-driven, formal, serious, direct, patient, prepared; likely to ask many questions and not seek personal sales relationships.
Top 10 traits of a salesperson
1. Honesty
Being honest is fundamental when it comes to sales. You are looking to build trust, and this is not possible if any form of deceit creeps in. From the outset, ensure that you are communicating clearly and openly with your client. They should know that they can count on you for an honest assessment. “A successful salesperson will not fib to close a deal, because he or she knows that you’ve not only burned that bridge, but all the potential other bridges that lead from your contact to their contacts. Better to miss out on a deal and maintain your honesty, integrity and network.” So says Ollie Smith, founder of ExpertSure.
2. Good Communicator
Communicate openly from the word go. If you don’t believe in your product, you aren’t going to make a customer believe in it either. The key to this is establishing a strong line of communication between you and them. Confidence is key, as we’ll explore further below. Anything is possible if you are able to engage in open communication with your prospect; it ensures that you are singing from the same hymn sheet.
3. Good Listener
Listening is integral to understanding the needs and wants of each specific customer. This seems very simple but is often overlooked – especially by charismatic staff prone to getting carried away with what they’d like to get across. This can be where those who fall into sales excel. For everyone else, it is a skill that needs to be nurtured over time. The best salespeople have top quality listening skills. They listen to what the customers’ needs are to help them navigate their options and provide the most pertinent solution.
4. Approachable
If you want people on your side, you need to be able to get along with them. While this doesn’t come naturally to everyone, being positive and approachable is a good jumping off point. You should be energised by the social side of work, with your product being your favourite topic of conversation. Great salespeople get along with everyone and enjoy dealing with people. It is important for this attitude to be drummed into your team.
5. Confidence
Confidence is where a sale begins: confidence in your product, coupled with the confidence to sell it effectively. Everything else starts to slot into place if you can make a confident approach in your early dealings with a client. And if you can remain confident throughout the process, you are likely to see it through to the close. The Brooks Group sets it out clearly – to build confidence you will want to focus and build upon strength areas, replace negative energy with positive influences, learn from others’ success, master the fundamentals, keep an open mind and become an expert on the subject.
6. Empathy
Empathy goes hand in hand with good salesmanship. Remember, sympathy is all about feeling for people, but empathy is all about feeling with people. You will want to have a thorough understanding of your client’s situation and need and be able to predict what their pain points are going to be. Empathy means you can imagine yourself in someone else’s position and understand their outlook. It’s the capacity to feel what another person is going through from within their frame of reference. How important is this for completing a sale? Very.
7. Adaptability
If you can be a bit of a chameleon on your sales journey, it will not go unrewarded. Adaptability is a critical trait that you should be looking for and cultivating. In a constantly changing marketplace, an adaptable salesperson makes a difference to the longevity and prosperity of an entire sales organisation. If your sales structure is adaptive, your organisation can react quickly to product and market changes. And change is guaranteed! By being adaptable, you are being prepared.
8. Positiveness
Call it positiveness, call it positivity, whatever you call it, it’s a sales essential. You should always be able to see the upside of what you are selling and seek out positives in your dealings with your client too. They are bound to have their doubts about investing in your service, so why not put them at ease with a healthy dose of optimism. Maintaining a positive mental attitude about your life in sales will help you stay dedicated to your work even when times get tough, which they inevitably will.
9. Determination
If at first you don’t succeed…persevere! To persevere is to persist in a state of enterprise despite opposition or discouragement. If you can achieve this, the results will be clear to see. It’s not going to be easy to take that sale over the line; your determination and dedication will play a significant role.
10. Good Sense of Humour
It’s not all doom and gloom. It can be a great idea to keep things light and entertaining wherever possible. A dose of humour will enable your client to see you more authentically, and it will persuade them to do business with you. The disarming nature of humour means that your prospect is likely to drop their guard and view you in a fresh light. Be sure to take advantage of such an opportunity.
At The Sales Coach Network, we know how to nurture and develop the key personality traits that will help you to shine in sales. Download our brochure today to find out more, or why not book a call? We look forward to hearing from you.
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