subject: There Are Good Sales People Then There Are Great Sales People - Difference? [print this page] Seeking the Best Sales Professionals Seeking the Best Sales Professionals
Because I staff sales and marketing professionals for a living, this is going to be one list of many in which I will discuss the traits of a good salesperson.
1. Hunter Mentality - Our clients come to us because they want to increase both their client numbers and subsequent revenue. As sales recruiters this is our job and what we do every day. There is a big difference between an account manager and a sales representative. Sales representatives are the ones who go out and hunt for business while the account managers are the ones who make those clients happy via solid customer service.
2. Job Stability - Our sales and marketing recruiters like to see job applicants who have stayed at their jobs for extended periods of time. Recruiting fees are not cheap and, if at all avoidable, we try to not have our clients pay the same fee to fill the same position 2x.
3. Contacts - Let's face it, these days nobody is going to get into a C-level executive via cold-calling a company with no contacts. Most companies, when you call into them, are not even on the continent. This does not mean that cold-calling is completely dead, but if you don't have contacts who can introduce you to people whom you can use to get into a company, you're not going to meet your numbers. A very good salesperson whom I know has an Excel sheet full of his contacts, keeps track of where they met and the last time they spoke (including the subject). He currently has thousands of contacts, and when they call, he makes them feel as if they are remembered. This is a great trick by a great salesman.
4. Ambition - I know I beat this one to death, but without ambition, talent means nothing.
5. Fresh Ideas - These days, the most creative companies win. Often, we get calls from firms who want 15 cold-callers whom they want to pay by the hour. Since we only do senior to executive level staffing, we don't place hourly paid sales professionals, but we know that one good business account manager can do a lot more business than 10 cold-callers. Good sales people are able to adapt to the changing landscape of sales and they do it very well.
6. Intelligence - Top sales representatives, in the opinion of our recruiters, are able to have meaningful conversations with C-level executives and are able to convey the benefits of their product or service in a clear, well thought out manner. Doing such makes the buyers feel more confident in their purchase as there are intelligent people backing it.
7. Honesty - If I had every dollar which has been taken from me by a quasi honest vendor, I'd be a lot more well off these days. If a sales person is not honest, they are not going to get too far in their career and this is not to mention that they are not going to have too many contacts. You can something is wrong in a resume where every six months there is a job change. Now, this is not to say these people are dishonest, though they had to do something to not be able to stay at a job for an extended period of time.
8. Good Writing Skills - I know somewhere in the bulk of articles in which we have written there are some grammatical mistakes. Though, a salesperson should be able to express his ideas via good writing. This is especially true if he or she is selling to a very highly educated bunch.
9. Constant Learning - The best sales people keep up with industry trends and do the proper research so the competition does not get a leg-up on them.
10. Reliability - The best sales people don't need to be told twice. Once they are given a task, they execute...end of story.
