If you take a good look at all the successful entrepreneurs and business owners throughout history, you’ll notice that they have some similar defining characteristics.

This may seem like nothing more than coincidence, but the truth is that without those traits, they may not have achieved the success that they have now—and that has even made some of them household names. So in this blog post, we’ll discuss the top ten qualities that will make you a more effective salesperson.

Without further ado, let’s get right into it!

You Value Time

Time is an important resource because it’s something we can never get back. This is true for both you and your customers; that is why it’s absolutely essential that you don’t waste a single second of your prospects’ time when you’re making a sales pitch.

Train yourself to get straight to the point. Everything you say should be substantial and value-adding. Don’t add unnecessary fluff and end up lengthening the time you spend making the pitch—and possibly boring your customers. Let your potential clients know that you mean business because that is exactly what you are there for.

You Know How to Build a Connection

To leave a lasting impression on your clients, it’s important to first grab their attention.

You can do that by building rapport with them. Ask questions or add in a couple of jokes and/or anecdotes to warm up potential clients to you. This helps keep their attention, while also lightening the mood and making them more open to the sale—and to doing repeat business.

Strengthening your client relationship can make all the difference. Just be sure not to stray too far from your point and keep the conversation on the product or service you’re selling.

You Are Resilient

As a salesperson, you will not close 100% of your deals. Even the best salesperson in history has never done that.

But don’t let that stop you from pursuing greatness. What you can do is to learn from each of your shortcomings and find the knowledge and new skills embedded in each failure. That way, you can continue to make progress and emerge as a more well-rounded individual and salesperson each time.

You Can Stay Focused

Effective salespeople know how to tune out all their pending tasks and other distractions and just put their heads down and do what needs to be done. Sales is a busy and hectic profession, but constantly hopping from task to task could just waste your time and risk the quality of your output—and that’s certainly not going to help you advance your career.

Train yourself to block out all distractions so you can remain focused on the task at hand. More work done equals more results.

You Are Always Honest

It’s very easy to sense when someone is being dishonest or holding something back, and that can ruin the mood pretty quickly.

Make it a point to always be truthful when dealing with people. Answer all questions accurately, and be honest enough to say when you are unsure about something, instead of pretending to know the right answer. Trust me, your clients will appreciate that more than any bluster.

You Can Stay On Top of Everything

As a salesperson, there are times when you’ll have to juggle many responsibilities at once, so you’ll need to find ways to stay on top of everything and avoid getting overwhelmed even during your most hectic weeks.

One way to do so is to keep all your upcoming meetings and deadlines organized. Exactly how you choose to do so is up to you, but it’s helpful to include progress charts and ways to sort each task by urgency. And, of course, you need to have the commitment to faithfully update your master calendar, so you don’t overlook anything important.

You Are Confident

Confidence is something that not everyone is born with, but it can be developed over time. 

There are many ways to boost your confidence as a salesperson. Some examples are to always come prepared and to believe in what you are selling. If you are confident in your product’s ability to solve a specific problem and have done the research, people will notice.

You Can Hold Yourself Accountable

It is inevitable that you will make mistakes throughout your career. But if you’re constantly shifting blame to other people, all you’re doing is hindering your growth and potential to thrive in this industry.

Accept that there will always be times when you fall short. These things are all part of the learning process. Hold yourself accountable so that you can keep improving and growing as a salesperson.

You Can Make Adjustments On The Fly

The ability to plan ahead is extremely important. But in life, things don’t always go as planned.

Sales can be unpredictable. When you’re confronted with a situation you didn’t think to prepare for, you should have the confidence and good judgment needed to adapt. Remain flexible enough to make adjustments, so you can still find ways to succeed despite any obstacles that get in your way. 

You Are Passionate

“If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” – Marc Anthony

Being passionate about what you do is what will keep you going. You can do things over and over again even if they don’t always go your way without losing your motivation and drive to succeed.

Use your passion to fuel your pursuit of greatness as a salesperson—and who knows? You may one day find yourself among the people you used to look up to.

As a salesperson, your role is to communicate the value your product or service can bring to customers. Having the perfect solution for their pain points is only half the battle; you need to make your customers understand exactly how they could benefit from your offerings and why they need it.

Throughout your sales career, you are sure to encounter people who will doubt you. While it is easy to get frazzled or defensive when dealing with client objections, a good sales professional rises to the occasion and can win over even the most reluctant buyers. The good news is that anyone can hone this skill with enough practice and determination!

If you’re looking for some valuable insights on how to handle customer objections, this blog is perfect for you. Ready to learn? Let’s dive in!

Get to the heart of the objection

Most salespeople tend to immediately address their prospect’s concern without identifying its root causes. Throwing out solutions right off the bat can make the customer feel like you’re being dismissive or just out to make a sale. Trying to learn more allows you to fully grasp the issue and shows your customers that you genuinely care about what they have to say. You can do this by listening intently and asking direct but open-ended questions. 

When you have a deeper understanding, you can come up with better solutions for your client. If the issue is the price, circle back to the unique selling points of your product or service and make them realize that they are getting their money’s worth. If you hear that there’s a cheaper version of your product or service elsewhere, politely inquire who your competition is. Be firm with your price to avoid destroying the integrity of your offering, and then emphasize its quality. Never disparage your competitors, as this can be a turnoff.

If a client mentions that your product or service does not offer a specific feature that they need, you can opt to customize your offering or be honest about its limitations. And if they decide not to buy, don’t be disheartened; it only means that they were not your target market after all.

Think of objections as questions

Selling a product or service is not easy. Hearing objections even after giving it your all can hurt your pride. But taking things personally puts all your efforts to waste and doesn’t help you win any business.

Instead of viewing an objection as a personal failure, view it as a question from a buyer who wants to make a more well-informed decision. By keeping a helpful and positive attitude and responding professionally, you can gain customers’ commitment and build trust.

Bring up the objections before your client does

When dealing with a sales objection, the last thing you want is to be caught off guard and not have the right answers. But what can you do to avoid this and keep the upper hand throughout the entire sales process? Plan ahead!

Conducting market research is the key to discovering common hesitations of buyers and formulating responses in advance. During your pitch, you can mention some of these common objections, and then follow up with your solutions and counters. By anticipating your buyers’ needs, you show them that you truly know and understand them well.

Share testimonials from satisfied buyers

Sharing stories about other customers with the same apprehensions during the negotiation stage is a great way to ease your prospects’ concerns and assuage doubts about your offerings. Let them know how others did not regret proceeding with their purchase despite their objections. Knowing that people have tested your product or service and were satisfied with its value establishes credibility for your brand, which helps convince new buyers that it’s a less risky purchase. You can also share any available case studies so that they’ll feel more confident about doing business with you.

Final words

Voila! We have just discussed some ways you can deal with buyer objections to secure new business. I hope these insights help you successfully close more deals! Remember that your buyers can see right through poorly handled objections. If you can’t address their concerns with confidence, you could miss out on some excellent sales opportunities!

Putting up your own business takes a huge leap of faith. But despite the risks involved, many continue to take their chances to fulfill their passion or gain financial freedom. And as an entrepreneur, you get to call the shots and live life on your own terms—things that most employees can only dream of.

But make no mistake; this career path is not as easy or laid-back as others might believe. The day-to-day vitality of your business rests on your shoulders. And with the tight economy and competitive market of today, making a viable business can be incredibly challenging. You need to constantly find ways to boost the ultimate source of your company’s revenue—your sales!

With that said, here are the 6 key reasons why every business owner should start with a strong sales background.

1. You become a customer-centric leader

What is the guiding principle of every salesperson?

Putting your customers at the heart of everything you do! If you make this your mindset, you are in a better position to implement strategies that improve their experience with your business and simplify the customer journey. This helps increase brand loyalty and customer retention.

2. You build valuable business relationships

Sales are all about making the right connections with the right people. When you devote time to expanding your network, you get to meet investors, suppliers, wholesalers, customers, and even competitors! There are many benefits to having such expansive connections. You can acquire important industry knowledge and establish business relationships that may prove quite valuable later on.

3. You develop a strong work ethic 

Salespeople are required to generate a steady sales volume and meet revenue goals. This takes a tremendous amount of hard work, self-discipline, and willpower. Entrepreneurs experienced with sales are able to apply their enthusiasm and drive to lead their business to success.

4. You become an independent thinker

Sales representatives often make judgment calls on how to best deal with their clients. They also have some freedom to decide how they use their time to produce results. This kind of training can be beneficial to entrepreneurs as their job requires them to constantly make critical decisions, often under a lot of pressure!

5. You develop creativity 

Salespeople have to stand out to get the attention of their target audience, so they know the importance of presenting their offerings creatively. Entrepreneurs need to think outside the box, too, as they create new ideas and strategies for their business.

6. You can raise capital for your business

You need funds to launch a company and to run it until it reaches a positive cash flow. When you are in sales, the income opportunities are endless and you can use your earnings as a source of business capital.

Conclusion 

There you have it! We’ve rounded up the top reasons why a career in sales is the foundation of successful entrepreneurship. Ultimately, closing deals is what makes the company thrive. Knowing how it is done is important for every business owner, and sales experience can give you this and so much more.

The New Sales Era is filled with opportunities. But like sales, the world of social media can seem quite daunting. The beauty of this unknown territory is that the driver’s seat is not controlled by corporate standards, respectability politics, or monolithic views of success. This new era of sales allows anyone to dream beyond barriers and take advantage of  the alternative routes towards success.

In order for such ideas to go beyond the dream state, a niche must be found. According to Google the term niche is, “a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of service or product”. Finding your niche is a top priority in marketing; without a niche, the spectrum of desirable clients becomes too broad.

Feeling like the market is oversaturated is yet another symptom of not having a niche. The key characteristics of developing a sustainable niche includes passion and a problem in need of solving.

Developing a niche provides clarity for both the consumer and producer. On the production side, this unparalleled vision allows engagement to increase in addition to any other statistics. On the consumer’s end, understanding a specific niche gives them the ability to invest in something that resonates with them.

Overall, finding your niche is an essential part of marketing to any audience. With this in mind, operating in the New Sales Era allows a mere dream to become a full fledged opportunity to succeed on your own terms.

When people think about Diversity in a sales professional’s team they immediately assume hiring of people with different nationalities, or color. However, this is not the only case. Diversity in sales professionals could also be hiring employees with various characteristics that the public can relate to and share different kinds of characteristics that draw them to the influence of the sales professional. This could be ethnicity, age, gender, and the list can go on. Increasing diversity in your sales team is a great tactic to boost your sales. 

Here are 3 reasons why you should prioritise having a sales team.

1. Buyers Favor more Diversity

Buyers feel at ease in an environment that is more inclusive. It gives them the comfort to connect with a salesperson that they can relate to.  The relatability creates an immediate level of trust in the team selling the product or service. The most positive benefit of this is that after feeling that connection with your sales team, the customers will come back in the future. They will feel that this is a place where I am made to feel welcome and where people relate to me.

2. Diversity Builds an Invincible Team

Statistically, according to the ‘Harvard Business Review’, companies with diverse teams increase the revenue of the company. Your sales team is the face of the company. A boost in sales means a boost in revenue. Therefore the more diverse your team is, the more approachable they will be to diverse customers, allowing growth. As buyers are diverse, a diverse sales team can better connect with them. And that is why a sale happens, because there is a connection between the customer and the salesperson. The connection refers to the salesperson relating to the customer and the customer responding positively in the sense that they want to support the business that the salesperson is part of.

3. An Inclusive Work Environment

Most people say a lot to do with sales has got to do with the customer and the salesperson. However, if behind the scenes the work environment of your company is inclusive, your sales team will feel comfortable at work. They will all feel valued. When a sales team feels valued and appreciated, they reflect that positive attitude to the customers. This creates an energy of positivity which customers respond well to. An inclusive environment will make your sales team feel respected and therefore they will come to work with a positive attitude and be more willing to make some sales. A motivated team is a successful team. And a successful team makes successful sales.

We are living in a world where diversity is expected in all industries. Sales is a very important part of life because a salesperson’s job is to represent the company, relate to the customers, and sell them what they need. That is why it is important that your sales team reflect the diversity of the world.

Finding the most qualified candidates for any job can be a daunting task.

There are so many factors that go into finding great talent for any organization and these factors should not be overlooked. There are plenty of qualified candidates out there, you just have to know how to attract them to you. The process recruiters take in the hopes of finding the best and brightest talent is crucial.

It is imperative that recruiters have a passion and believe in the greatness of the organization for which they are recruiting talent. It will be this passion that will attract equally passionate candidates. Recruiters should ask tough questions in order to dig deep and make sure the needs of the organization are understood as well as the needs of the prospective candidates. The key to acquiring the best talent is listening and being perceptive to not only the company but also to the talent’s needs and ultimate goals.

Here are some more tips and tricks to playing matchmaker between company and job seekers.

Understand the needs and culture of the company

Company culture has become more distinct in the past couple of decades. Different companies have different values and those values are a direct reflection of the company culture that is created. Likewise, the values of the job seeker should align with the company’s values to create a cohesive environment. A perfect example of a distinct company culture is Google.

While many people would love to work in an environment that has ping pong tables, not every job seeker’s personality will fit Google’s dynamic. Just like a marriage, happiness is created when values align. Recruiters are the matchmakers that bring together a perfect union between employer and employee. The first step in finding the right candidate is understanding and being able to capture the essence of the company so that prospective candidates can see if it will be the right fit for them.

Bring Some Creativity to your Job Descriptions

Write a unique job description that gets the right talent excited about the opportunity. Think of the job description as a sales tactic. You want to stand out! Your organization is unique, unlike any other, and you want to convey that to your potential new hires. It is the creativity that will gravitate the best talent to your organization. Challenge yourself to be better, do more. Assess unconscious bias in your job descriptions. Creating job descriptions that are inclusive of all talents and backgrounds will attract a variety of talents, making the pool of applicants that much more diverse. Having a diverse group of applicants will ensure that you are bringing in the best of the best. Take ownership of creating a diverse environment.

The job description really sells the position and the right candidates will gravitate towards job descriptions that get them pumped up about applying for the job. It also makes them feel like they would be a perfect fit into the company culture. Creative and effective job descriptions are impactful, unique to the company and highlight specific results. They convey the impact that the role has on the company, and most importantly, the impact that the new hire will have on the company.

Descriptive and powerful job descriptions will excite the perfect candidates and they will be enthusiastic about taking on those challenges. Job descriptions that use a casual, relatable tone gives the job seeker a sense of comfort. Great job descriptions tell a complete story about the company which will let the candidate visualize how they might fit into the role. Talk about the company’s goals, mission, and values. This will help the candidate see if they will be a great fit for the company and if the company is a great fit for them.

Create Relationships with Different Colleges and Universities

Colleges and Universities are a great resource for finding fresh and great talent for your company. These soon to be college graduates are looking for careers and you are looking for smart, eager talent. Universities host career fairs frequently and those career fairs are a great opportunity to attract top talent and really sell your company to job seekers.

Contact universities and colleges in your area to set up a partnership with them and make your company known on campus. Building these relationships will also allow you to tap into other resources such as the school newspaper, website, events, and campus organizations. Most importantly, build a reciprocal relationship with colleges. Give more than you take. Become a resource for your local college; help students prepare for interviews, invite them to company events.

Make the students feel like you are an awesome resource to learn from, even if they don’t end up at your company. The relationships you build with the students will show that your company is an ally and not just a company that they only see at job fairs. Partnerships are more effective than one-way relationships. Think of some creative ideas that will allow your company to be a leading resource for students to learn about the workforce.

Utilize referrals from current employees

Your employees can be a great source for talent acquisition. Your employees may have a great network of friends, former colleagues, old college roommates and other people that they think might fit into the company culture. Your existing employees already know the company very well and they may know people who will be a great asset to the team. Employee referrals also lend a hand in boosting job retention rates as the employees feel a sense of trust from their employer.

Interviews are for Building Relationships

Phone interviews are great for connecting with people on a personable level. We are all just people right. The candidate will be nervous, ease their nerves by showing that you are a person too and not just the gateway to their employment. Break the ice, tell jokes. Challenge yourself to connect with people so that they will be comfortable enough to really open up to you.

Once they are open and comfortable, their real personalities are more likely to come out. When their personality comes out, their greatness will show. That is how you find the best talent. You may overlook great people because you came off as too serious or daunting. The phone interview allows you to further dive into whether the candidates will be able to fulfill the job description, has the correct salary expectations, and has values and personality that align with the company’s. Challenge yourself to go the extra mile to make the candidates feel like they could belong at your company.

The onsite interview is arguably the most crucial part of the process. It is your chance to show the candidates the culture of your company. Be creative, think of ways to really make your company stand out. Make the candidate feel like you need them a little bit more than they need you. Think of an interview as a relationship builder as opposed to a test. If candidates feel like they are taking a test, then it will be difficult for them to really bring out their personalities. The best candidates will shine through. Establish what you are looking for in a candidate before they come in and make them feel comfortable enough to connect. Give them the opportunity to shine.

Provide serious and fun questions that will allow you to assess whether the candidate will be a great fit for the company culture. You will get the information you need in order to make your decision. Yes, it is important to know what college they went to and their relevant experiences but it is also important to know if they have any fun hobbies or if they have any creative talents.

The candidates have made it this far for a reason, go deeper. Give them the opportunity to show you more than just who they are on paper. Make sure to ask your candidates similar questions. Having a standardized set of questions will guarantee that you will be able to compare your candidates based on the same standards but also allow for some flexibility.

Different candidates will give you different vibes. Let the conversation flow naturally but also be fair with the line of questioning so that each candidate has the same opportunity to connect with you and the company. Keep an open mind when it comes to candidates, you never know what diamond in the ruff you may find. Good luck!

Keep COVID in Mind

We are living in unprecedented times and we have to consider how that might affect the interview and job acquisition process. Consider going virtual for interviews to give the applicants peace of mind. If virtual interviews are used for the interview, try to find fun and creative ways to engage with the applicant.

We have all had to change the way we do life, be sure to make these virtual interviews personable enough that it feels that it is happening in person. If the position requires on-site interviews, use all precautions to make the interviewer safe and comfortable. Following the CDC guidelines shows the applicants that the company puts the safety, health, and well-being of their cohort first.