What Makes a Great Salesperson?

Recognizing what makes a great salesperson is key to growing your team with motivated employees equipped to make an impact on your business. A strong sales team will drive your success and your profits, so it’s important to understand what to look for to build the best team for your goals. Read on to learn the key traits to look out for within your hires and sales team and what skills can be developed to further support their success.

Key Traits of Great Salespeople

While great salespeople can differ from one another in the unique skills they deliver, there are a few core traits you can keep in mind when evaluating the right people for your time. 

Confidence and Enthusiasm

Throughout every stage of the sales process, confidence is key. A great salesperson believes in their ability to carry out the deal. They’re enthusiastic about connecting with your customers about their needs—and how your business is equipped to serve them. When your sales team approaches each sale with a confident mindset, you can count on them to deliver better results. 

Effective Communication Skills

Sales conversations require strong communication skills that help your salespeople understand the challenges and goals of your customers, and then effectively showcase why your products or services provide the ideal solution. Sales revolve around communication, and if your salespeople struggle to speak to your prospects and make them feel understood, your growth will suffer. 

Resilience and Perseverance

The reality of sales is that not every sales attempt will be successful. A great salesperson knows how to handle a lost sale and persevere on the best path forward, whether that includes returning to a lost sale in the future when needs have changed or approaching the next opportunity with excitement and confidence. Not every opportunity will be a victory, but strong salespeople know that every opportunity is a chance to learn, grow, and try again. 

Adaptability to Change

When a salesperson is flexible and adaptable to the needs of their team and customers, they can modify their strategies based on what’s best for the deal. A strong salesperson understands that every deal is different and knows how to match their unique skills with an approach best suited to each customer's specific circumstances to achieve the best results.

Empathy and Understanding of Customer Needs

Your sales team may understand your offering, but do they understand the challenge it addresses from the seat of your customers? Empathy is critical to ensuring your prospects feel understood and to equip them with the confidence that your product really is the best solution to solve their challenges. The understanding your team has about customer pain points can also help them move through the tough conversations and overcome the roadblocks stalling the sale.

Goal-Oriented Mindset

When a salesperson carries ambition into everything they do, the impacts will echo through your business and growth. A goal-oriented mindset is critical to keeping your team motivated to push themselves and achieve more. Setting and achieving goals will instill confidence within your team about their skills and encourage them to stay focused on what they want to accomplish. 

Essential Skills for Sales Success

As you learn what makes a great salesperson and discover these traits within your team, you can evaluate their skill sets and find opportunities to expand their growth. Continued education and training can help cement these skills and equip your team with proven strategies to augment those skills and power their growth.

Consider these essential skills for sales success:

• Active Listening – Listening to what others are saying and putting in the effort to understand their perspectives is key, as is the ability to ask relevant follow-up questions to respond appropriately.
• Building Rapport and Relationships – Relationship-building is a prime skill for sales and can help transform your prospects into long-term customers who feel connected and supported by your salespeople.
• Negotiation Skills – Knowing how to assess the needs of all parties involved and negotiate to ensure your business growth is supported while your customers walk away feeling understood is an essential skill.
• Time Management and Prioritization – Without strong time management skills and the ability to appropriately prioritize tasks, your sales team may fall behind—and your growth will suffer.
• Product and Industry Knowledge – It’s important that your team understands your industry and stays up to date with its challenges and solutions so they can effectively discuss how your products and services can help.
• Team Collaboration and Communication – Sales is not a solo endeavor. The best salesperson knows how to collaborate and communicate with their fellow team members to reach the best results collectively.

Become a Better Salesperson with Specialized Training

Whether you’re a salesperson seeking to grow your skill set and accomplish more for your team, or you’re a business leader ready to take your employees to the next level, MP Solutions is here to help. We offer sales courses to grow motivated salespeople into accomplished leaders who better understand how to navigate their sales discussions successfully. 

As a member of the Sandler organization, our courses are backed by 50 years of research and tactics that instill you and your team with proven growth strategies. Our training also empowers attendees to grow alongside fellow sales leaders and to get personalized support from Rick McDermott and myself, successful sales leaders with decades of leadership and sales experience. We provide training for salespeople and their teams, sales managers, and even development for organizational leaders; all come backed with proven Sandler insight and methodology.  

Reach out today to learn more about our offerings and which course is the right starting point for you.