Successful salespeople are invaluable in business today. Because every employee or owner – regardless of their role whether they know it or not, is a ‘ salesperson’ representing their company.

The customer is at the core of every transaction or interaction, whether internal or external.

If the customer is not at the heart of your reason for being in business – driving process, procedure and purpose – then it is highly unlikely you will be successful or remain viable.

If you, your company or business want to be highly successful and achieve your true potential, there are some core values-based activities that if followed will go a long way in making dreams and visions come true.

Mutual exchange of value

Selling and representing a business culminates in the mutual exchange of value. This is the foundation of every business. We should sell how customers want to buy.

The four traits of highly successful salespeople are not ingrained. Neither are people born with them. You can gain them through experiential learning, study and experience. They can be equally unlearned over time which is the enemy of the long-standing sales professional.

1. Be Clear About Your Goals

  • Writing down your goals is much more effective than simply having them in your head. There is proof that written goals have a much better chance of being achieved.
  • Written goals cannot be as easily changed as your thoughts about the things you want. Over time the mind tends to move the goalposts and as we all know, it is much harder to hit a moving target.

2. Develop A High Achievement Drive

  • Write down your goals to make them seem more possible and easier – working towards a purpose, not just an aimless journey.
  • Go where you are afraid to go.
  • Ask what you are afraid to ask.
  • Do what you are afraid to do.
  • Do ‘ one ‘ of the above every day – do what other less successful people are unwilling, unable or incapable of doing.
  • Attitude beats aptitude – always.

3. Nurture Healthy Emotional Intelligence

  • Your moods and emotions greatly influence your activity – understand how this affects your ability and actions in achieving your goals.
  • Be aware of how your emotional state affects others and in a selling situation comes through in body language and clarity of thoughts, expressions and conversation.
  • Stop doubting your abilities. When experiencing negative thoughts or a situation that has not gone to your liking, say STOP. STOP doubting your abilities.

4. Fine Tune Your Social Skills

  • Highly successful salespeople have an engaging way with people. They are open, encourage two-way talk and interchange, they are plausible, likeable, pleasant, and above all genuine and honest.
  • They have a good manner and ability to interact well in person, on the phone, email, text and in writing.
  • In conversation, they say what they mean and mean what they say – being straight up, reliable.
  • They always do what they say they will – trustworthy.
  • Their seeming confidence is not arrogance but strong self-belief.
  • All successful salespeople are extroverts – wrong!
  • It’s easy to wrongly regard introverts as poor communicators, especially in sales. Whereas they simply converse on a different level. Understanding the difference between personality types is essential when selling to the wider community.

To learn more about the personality types of your team or how to improve their selling, talk to us. We can introduce you to the REACH ecosystem of resources to transform the potential of your people into performance.

 

By Trevor Clark

salespeople