Qualities Of A Good Salesperson

Qualities of a Good Salesperson Humble, Outgoing, Sincere, Honest, and Tenacious are the key traits of the best sales people. As a sales person - you must be humble. If you don't know an answer to a customers question, do imply that you do. However be honest, yet tenacious enough to find out the correct answer and provide a service to the customer. Tenacious also means not taking "no" for an answer, and overcoming obstacles that stop the customer from saying yes. All motives must be sincere and key to the customers needs.

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.

Qualities of an Effective Sales Person The sales team of a Company is its backbone. After all it is the sales person who is the face of the firm and interacts with prospective consumers. Whether we talk about door to door selling or over the counter sales, the sales person is always under pressure to meet rising sales targets. The sales presentation requires a sales man to be a friend, a guide, an advisor and sometimes a reformer to the customer. Here are a few qualities that define an effective sales person •

Goal Oriented - The driving force behind every Company is increased sales and high profits. Most Companies draw out expected sales targets for every year. The onus lies on the sales team to not only meet these targets but go beyond them. Every sales person must be goal

oriented and should work towards matching these sales figures. •

Confident - A sales person should be confident about the product he is selling as well as his own ability to successfully close a sale. Especially in the case of door to door selling, the sales person should be able to interact well with the prospective buyer, gain their trust, arouse an interest and eventually convince them to try a new product. Sales persons should be willing to handle all kinds of tense situations.

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Patient & Courteous - Convincing a prospective customer to buy a product is not an easy task. Selling is an art and requires patience. A sales person should be able to guide a customer through the entire process which begins with a prospective buyer's indifferent attitude towards a brand and ends with them placing an order. The sales person should be courteous and pleasant while taking a buyer through these stages.

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Team Player - A good sales executive must be a good team player as well. An ability to interact and devise good sales plans should come naturally to him.

Complete Product Knowledge - Every sales executive should be trained well. He should have complete product knowledge including benefits, uses and applications of each product. A good

background knowledge will help him to answer all types of questions raised by a prospective buyer.

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Pleasing Personality - A pleasing personality adds to a sales person's appeal. He/she should be pleasant to interact with and should know how to convince and persuade a customer to place an order.

If you are looking forward to a career in the sales field, make sure that you cultivate these qualities in you. All the best!

Qualities of a Good Salesperson This is an article I had just written at Helium. Being a salesperson before, and being a customer myself, I had learned what I want and how I want to be treated by salesperson. This is my views: How to become a good sales person A salesperson job is to sell. What he sells depend on which company he is working, and this is determined in turn by what his qualification and field of study involved. There are salespeople who sells medicines, cars, insurance, airconditioners, computers and many others. The word salespeople is a very general term. It can includes the sales executives in a clothing store, and it can also includes sales promoter who sells cosmetics in the shopping centres. Regardless of the title, as long as the person who sells a product or service to the consumers, they are regarded as salesperson.

How to be a good salesperson? In terms of priority, a salesperson is regarded as good if he has all these: 1. Honesty - do not hide any truths that is detrimental to customers and do not lie about products 2. Have Positive Attitude - Willing to work hard & Understand the need to have Good Product Knowledge 3. Respect Customers - Put customers in the first place 4. Professional 5. Proactive Any salesperson with this qualities have potential to be a good salesperson. Honesty is a basic trait and ingredients essential to anywhere you go. Not only in sales, but in any other business. People want to work with honest people, no tricks and no scams nor frauds. A salesman with the right mental mindset, can achieve anything he wants. If he has a positive attitude in anything, he is willing to accept any responsibilities given to him. A positive attitude means that the salesperson will not give up easily on his occupation when he meets failure. He is willing to work hard. He knows that to do well in sales, he needs good product knowledge. He need to persevere and have determination in order to succeed. Whether he speaks well or not is not a factor at all, if he is willing to learn. A positive person has no big obstacles in front of him if he wants to learn. The next thing which a good salesperson should do is to respect his customers, for that is his life blood. Without customers, there is no job for the salesperson. No matter what the customers say, they have their own reasons and

their own needs which is different from any other people and you. Do not answer back. Do not laugh at them. Listen to them. If you want to win in any arguments, you can never win your customers. Win your customers, listen and respect and advise, and they will respect you in return and you stand to win more customers when they refer more customers to you. You many not know too much on your products as a new salesperson, but honesty and the right attitude will touch your customers. If you really want to be a good salesperson, you should know your products very well, so that you can recommend anything to your customers at your finger tips. Being professional requires you to know your products well, at the finger tips and able to explain what the customers cannot understand. You must be able to put yourself in customers shoes, explain everything in layman's terms, in simple language, so that anyone would understand. Being professional also means that you need to observe confidentiality. That is very important. Many sales job like real estate agents and financial planners require clients to disclose their personal information. Put yourself in their shoes. Nobody would like to have their confidential information spread around. Being professional also means you know how to package yourself. You have high selfesteem and you take pride in your job. You sell because your customers have the needs or your customers insist on having it even after you had explained your reasons. Being professional, you are just like a doctor or a teacher. You educate, you analyse or 'diagnose' and next you recommend. The customers have the right to decide and choose. The job of all salesperson is to close a sale. Any salesperson

who cannot sell a single product is definitely not a good salesperson even if you have the rest of the four qualities listed above. A good salesperson must be proactive in order to have sales. To be proactive that means you must take the first step. You are in control of every situation. You are not a follower, but a leader. You lead and you guide. As a proactive salesperson, you have no fear. You cold call, you go canvassing and you talk to strangers. You talk to anyone who are potential prospects and you want them to be your customers in time to come. You follow-up on your business. You talk to them, call them as and when you are free or on special occasion. Not all salesperson are taught on code of ethics. In my opinion, any salesperson should be honest and always put themselves in the shoes of their customers. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This is quoted in the Gospels of Luke 6:31, and also in others. This is the Golden Rule, the ethic of reciprocity, which should be practiced by a sales person. A good sales person should obey this Golden Rule at all times. This is the basic rule to follow as it is the foundation any moral and ethics of the salesperson. With this golden rule couple with the listed five important qualities a good salesperson should have, a salesperson who practiced these will have potential to be good salesperson. If he is persistent in his effort and consistent in his activities, he could be a top salesperson too. A Successful Sales Person Is 1. Prompt 2. Hard working 3. Ethical 4. Always listening 5. Asking the right questions

6. Sincere 7. Creative 8. Full of empathy 9. Positive 10. Organized 11. Attentive to detail 12. Thoroughly prepared 13. Good humored 14. Focused 15. Resourceful 16. Informed about his products 17. Informed about his industry 18. Informed about his competitors 19. Thick skinned, resilient 20. Aggressive 21. Flexible 22. Quick thinking 23. Tough minded 24. Skilled in writing 25. Skilled in marketing 26. Skilled in math 27. Skilled in reading 28. Well rounded 29. Emotionally balanced 30. Self confident 31. Passionate about her work 32. Willing to take risks 33. Competitive 34. Patient 35. Practical 36. Persistent 37. A strategist 38. A tactician 39. Curious 40. Generous

Sales people always exhibit a number of good qualities and characteristics. They are able to master techniques that set them apart from other sales people. Once you are able to utilize your skills to their full extent, you will be able to capture more market share, make more money and take your ability to sell to the next level. Listening Skills 1. To be a good sales person, you have to be a good listener. Listening enables you to find out exactly what a customer's needs and wants are. Sometimes, you have to sift through everything a customer says to get to the root of her problem. Persistent 2. Good sales people are persistent. They never give up. They understand that you have to make 6 sales calls before you make a sale. Attitude 3. If you want to be a good sales person, then you have to have a good attitude. Sales is a tough business and you cannot allow yourself to become negative. You must stay up-tempo all the time. Customers will feed off your energy. Honest/Integrity 4. Good sales people are sincere and honest. They always have the customer's best interest at heart. They never falsify information to make a sale. Personable 5. In order to be a good sales person you must like people. Good sales people like to interact with people. They are

outgoing and personable and they get to know their customers and potential customers.

I have summarised the views of Mr. Lau and Andy about the qualities of a successful salesperson and sales manager in the table below. I have also included my view on this topic. Issues

Salesperson’s Views

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Qualities Of A Successfu l Salespers on

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Quick thinking Foresight Hardworkin g Determinat ion

Sales Manager’s Views •

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Positive and sincere attitud e Patienc e Diligenc e

My Views

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Personali ty Characte ristics (include appearan ce, conversa tional

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Good present ation skills

Comments:

habits and manneris ms) •

Andy passed for all the above qualities but lacked motivation to generate greater sales. •

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Qualities Of A Successfu l Sale Manager

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Responsibili ty Patience Firmness Good communicat ion skills

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Comments: Mr. Lau possessed all the above

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Foresig ht Patienc e Strong sense of respons ibility Ability to

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Personali ty Traits (include assertive ness, dependa bility, SelfManagem ent) Personal Motivati on to be successf ul

qualities except good communication skills.

forecas t and handle challen ges

Their views about the functions of a salesperson and sales manager are also recorded below. Similarly my views are also included. Issues

Salesperson’s Views

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Functions Of A Salesperso n

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Prospect new customers Make sales presentati ons Close sales Collect payment

Sales Manager’s Views •

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Prospect new customers Make sales presentati ons Close sales Collect

My View

Should convey the importance of informatio n collection function to Andy.

payment •

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Coordinati on Recruitme nt Training

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Sales

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Functions Of A Successful Sale Manager

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Collecting informatio n Motivatin g salespeopl e Product updating lines Negotiatin g prices with suppliers Making product orders Making sure salespeopl e adhere to company policies and rules Handling

3 broad functions: (i) formulate a strategic sales programme (ii) implement the program (iii) evaluate and control the programme

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customer feedback Forecastin g sales figures Setting sales target Working with other departme nts Sourcing for new products