The Important Characteristics All Good Salespeople Need

The Important Characteristics All Good Salespeople Need Did you know that one of the hardest departments for any entrepreneur to hire for is sales? There are lots of company owners out there who struggle to bring on highly experienced and knowledgeable salespeople into their sales team, no matter how attractive the salaries and perks of the job are. Unfortunately, as working in sales is such a fast-moving role and they need to be hitting their targets from day one, you can’t really afford to bring on any weak team members. So, what should you do when you are bringing the wrong type of people on board? Well, maybe you need to change the boxes you are trying to tick. Rather than looking for people who have heaps of experience and lots of qualifications behind them, perhaps you should start looking for some sales employees who have certain characteristics and personality traits. Some recent studies have shown that the best sales experts all share certain characteristics, all of which you will benefit from when you bring them into your sales team. Here are the ones you need to look out for. Politeness The traditional stereotype of a salesperson that I’m sure most of us think about is a very brash individual who won’t stop at anything until they’ve sealed the deal. This stereotype might have been reinforced into our minds through the portrayal of salespeople on TV shows and in movies, but is that really the case in real life? Well, in actual fact, it is thought that being polite and following certain etiquette can help you sell a lot more rather than pushing for a hard sell. You can look here for more information about what etiquette works best when trying to sell. So, next time you are recruiting new employees for your sales department, it’s a good idea to try and assess their politeness at the interview stage. Empathy Having plenty of empathy is also useful in the world of sales as it means that your employees will be able to relate to the customers and clients they speak to and will know exactly how they are feeling. They can then use their best judgement to figure out how to go about selling the product or service to this individual. Not only that though, but people with a lot of empathy can make customers feel at ease and well respected. To ensure that someone has enough empathy, look out for their listening skills. Emphatic people are great listeners and can quickly establish a good rapport with a customer by making them feel at ease. Responsibility Everyone in your sales team needs to be extremely responsible as well. Those who are will always take the blame for any difficult situations that they cause they won’t try to pass the book just to get out of something. Not only that, though, but they will also be responsible for their own work so will endeavor to get their tasks done to the highest standard. So, as you can see, responsible salespeople will always give 100% in any situation and will do everything that they can to make a sale, but using methods that won’t negatively affect the customer or client. Focus No matter what a salesperson is doing, whether they are on a long sales call or need to take part in a lengthy meeting, it is always necessary that they stay on the ball and completely focused on the task in hand. This ability to self-motivate can help improve their performance when talking to customers and clients, but it also means that they are able to organize themselves and figure out exactly what needs to be done next. Plus, they will be a lot more likely to try and figure out solutions on their own rather than always coming to you or their manager for the answers that they need. A Positive Outlook Things don’t always go to plan in the world of sales. Leads can often be very difficult to follow up, and you might find that some sales fall through at the very last minute. It can be all too easy to end up frustrated and stressed about it all! For this reason, it is important that everyone in your sales team is very positive and has a good outlook on their work.They should be able to keep hold of their positivity, even when the going gets tough, so that a negative mood isnt passed around the whole team. You will find that people who tend to be more optimistic than pessimistic will be a lot more driven to achieve all of their goals and targets as well. Goal Driven Salespeople will work a lot better if they love working towards goals and targets. Everyone who you hire should be persistent in their work and always trying to push themselves in the right direction. A competitive streak will also help as well, as they will love to see just how better than their co-workers they can be! In fact, lots of sales teams often find that setting themselves mini competitions can help to keep everyone highly motivated. However, make sure that you hire people who always put the team before themselves. All of these goals should be beneficial for the company as a whole, and any personal ego should be left at the office door. Modesty I’ve already mentioned that the team should be put before any individuals, and this is why modesty should be a main personality trait of all of your sales employees as well. You will find that any salespeople who have little modesty will be very ostentatious and full of bravado. As a result, they could alienate all of the customers and clients who they talk to, which could make it incredibly difficult to make a sale. So, now you know all the various characteristics that your salespeople need, it should be a lot easier to hire for your sales department. Once you fill the team with these kinds of people, your sales should steadily increase!