Qualities of a Good Salesperson

Personality

A good sales person is not afraid to talk to anyone who may have an interest in what he/she is selling. Listening and controlling the conversation by asking intelligent, thought provoking, interesting questions that are open ended and gather information is another key trait to successful selling. Also, eye contact, standing straight and smiling are important for an effective impression towards someone who is spending their hard earned money.

There is a misunderstanding that a good salesperson has 'the gift of the gab' where as most trained sales people will have heard the saying 'You have one mouth and two ears, use them in that proportion'. A good sales person is a listener. They ask plenty of questions, and make notes of the answers. These notes (mental or written) help them find a suitable product or service for the potential customer. A successful sale is when the customer agrees with that solution.

The price

Many salespeople are unable to sell to their potential owing to their own misunderstanding of their potential customers' needs. They are able to listen to the answers, but misunderstand that the customer doesn't have the same goals as they. Many sales people worry about the price of their goods compared to the competition. Customers, unlike the sales people, are unaware of the prices of non commodity goods and are willing to pay what they believe is a fair price (usually slightly below the market price) for these goods. It is only when a sales person, or a third party introduces doubt into the mind of the customer, that price becomes an issue.

Ethic

Many successful salespeople have a deep understanding of human behaviour and are able to use these skills to their advantage. They are aware that, although there is a process for successfully completing a sale, customers fall into a range of different personality types. For instance, a sales person would have to deal with a teacher in a totally different manner to how they would deal with a businessperson. This is because the two sets of people have a different outlook on life and would therefore have different qualities which would be important to them. This is the reason they chose different career paths in the first place!

Most of the top sales people are very good at managing themselves and having a good work ethic. They understand that if they do not do the work, think creatively and use their skills to their potential, they will not hit their targets and earn the income they seek. Those who do blame outside forces are usually the ones who do not have a long career in sales.

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