Do You Know What a Good Sales Person Look Like?

Identifying a good sales person may be harder than you think.

To the inexperienced business owner, hiring a sales person may seem like an easy task. People who possess that natural ability to talk to others, have a friendly and positive disposition, and retain a large network of colleagues seem to fit what you might think is a solid profile for success. In reality, those characteristics are secondary and lie below the surface of a successful sales person.

We have offered what we think are three of the most important characteristics of the successful salesperson.

A Good Sales Person is: Meticulous with the Details

Successful salespeople know that information is gold. Knowing as much as possible about a prospect creates a connection that otherwise never comes to fruition. Information gathering, and proper filing of that information in a CRM, means your salespeople (and you) have the potential to data sort, profile, and target specific leads without wasting time. It may be tedious for someone to enter all the information they have gathered about a lead into the computer. Success hinges on you knowing a lead has a particular leadership role in  a certain Chamber or Board of Directors. Targeting your customer base with your branded messages specific to their needs increases the chance of success over a generic message to everyone on your call or email list.

A Good Sales Person is: Motivated by Goals and Bonuses

Salespeople know that they get paid on performance and are willing to work hard. Setting realistic, challenging goals for salespeople sets expectations for the company and gives the sales force something to strive for. Competition is good and you can use it to motivate people to reach their goals. Sometimes though, a little push of a bonus for extra effort can inspire your salespeople to work just a little harder and achieve results beyond the original goal. When you set these bonus goals, you will see who your real salespeople are. Your team then knows that higher goals are possible to reach. There are rewards those who are willing to work for it.

If your sales force does not stay self motivated, it is your responsibility to motivate them. According to Forbes, that can be a full time job. This is the reason many businesses decide to hire a Sales Director. Keeping a sales person motivated involves constantly pulling him back into focus. Office environments, personal issues, finances, illness, and other items such as a slow sales season can drain a person and tempt their focus away to something more pleasant. You will have to bring them back to their goals and why they want to reach them. You will also need to provide an environment that encourages focus and motivation on a continual basis.

A Good Sales Person displays: Consistent Persistence

Salespeople know that the sale is rarely made on the first attempt. They learn to read people and develop the skill of estimating the frequency of follow up needed to keep the conversation going. This does not mean that every lead gets the same amount of follow up. The successful salesperson has learned when a no is a no, when a no is a maybe, when a maybe is a no, and when a maybe might be a yes. The ability to pick up the clues needed is based on the ongoing communications between him and the lead. Words, phrases, response time, and questions from the lead are all data that give clues to the trained salesperson.

Not ready to hire a sales force? No problem. Get to know Chameleon Group. We take control of your lead generation and data collection, saving you time and money. Your leads are being handled by a professional, trained sales person. To get more information about how it works, contact us.

Phone: 800.773.9182

Email: sales@chameleonsales.com