subject: Characteristics Of Effective Salespeople [print this page] By now, you may be wondering if you have the qualities needed in a sales career. Dont be disillusioned by the clich that a salesperson is born, not made. You can be an effective salesperson if you are willing to develop the following traits and skills.
Good communication skills. Effective salespeople have excellent listening and speaking skills. When listening, they are even able to read between the lines in order to better understand their customers. Knowing proper grammar and having a pleasant voice with clear diction further contribute to a salespersons ability to interact well with customers. For instance, he should know how to make an appeal for his cheap bookmarks product to attract customers to buy it.
Good interpersonal skills. Effective salespeople know how to get along with different people. They can deal with customers who are demanding as well as with those who are reserved. They know what to say and how to say it. In particular, they are tactful. They can say something negative in a way that does not offend others.
Customers often have legitimate problems, and creative salespeople can solve them. They know how to ask the right questions to determine customer needs and develop appropriate solutions. This builds strong business relationships.
Solid technical skills. Good math and computer skills, coupled with product knowledge provide the foundation for a salespersons career. Professional salespeople are experts in their filed. They read industry trade papers and keep up with current trends affecting their customers. To develop product knowledge, they study their companys products as well as the competition. For instance, an entrepreneur running a printing company that doesnt know how to print bookmarks or how to operate the printing machine is an ineffective printing entrepreneur.
Todays salespeople are also skillful computer users. They need to be because many now use hi-tech computers to stay in touch with their companies. This gives them access to up-to-date inventory of their products for instance (the number of bookmarks sold for the day, for example) and customer account information and many other things.
Positive attitude and self confidence. In sales, maintaining a positive attitude is essential to success. A positive attitude involves learning from your mistakes and looking for something useful in all situations. Generally, people with high-esteem and self-confidence are secure enough to accept rejection from lost sales, and immediately bounce back from any error made.
Goal orientation. Being motivated and ambitious is necessary in sales because many selling situations require salespeople to find new customers and generate new business. Being goal-oriented helps keep effective salespeople focused and striving hard to achieve success for their business.
Persistence is often necessary in sales. Some customers require more attention and more frequent calls before a sale can be made. Effective salespeople do not give up easily when confronted with customers of this sort. Rather they view such situations as challenges and persist until they are successful.
Empathy. It is the essence of customer oriented selling. Empathetic salespersons are able to see things from customers viewpoint. For example, such salesperson might say, I can understand why you feel that way. If I were in your situation, I would feel the same. But the salesperson must be sincere when saying this. Customers are astute and can tell when salespeople dont mean what they say and are only after the profit. When customers sense that you have their best interests at heart, they let go and begin really listening to what you have to say.
Enthusiasm. All successful salespeople are enthusiastic about the products they sell. To be enthusiastic, you must believe in the products you sell and the company you represent. If you cannot convince yourself that the product you are selling is worthwhile or useful, you will not be able to convince your customers. Your lack of enthusiasm will come through. This means you must select products and represent companies that you believe in so your enthusiasm will come naturally.
You must possess all of these characteristics to be effective salesperson that makes any business successful.
