13 key traits of a great salesperson

Consumer behavior has been changing rapidly, especially due to the progress of the internet. 

With a quick cell phone search pretty much anyone can access valuable information about a product they want to purchase. 

Therefore, as a salesperson you need to be prepared to lead customers across the purchase journey. 

If you already work or want to work with sales, this post will provide you with 13 indispensable skills that every sales professional needs to develop in order to be successful and sell a lot! 

Check out the topics we’ll be covering in this content: 

#1. Set personal goals and conduct an ongoing self-evaluation 

Feedback from your leadership is important, but in order to reach high performance selling, one must have their own performance monitoring mechanisms. 

Setting personal goals and objectives is critical for your growth. 

This is how you begin to prepare for your planning, a topic that we’ll address below. 

In addition, having clear goals will help you stay focused and to visualize the final objective of a certain activity. 

When we talk about goals, most people think about something long term. But in addition to annual and monthly goals, it’s also very important to set your weekly and daily goals. 

These personal goals serve both as a means to define priorities and as a means of consultation and reference. 

It’s also important that these goals have deadlines and that you make the effort to achieve them! This is directly linked to your personal motivation. 

#2. Make a plan 

High performance selling professionals are able to make the most of their time! In order to do so, it’s necessary to create a work plan, i.e., plan your daily tasks, be organized and define your actions. 

In order to start your week in a structured manner, have a weekly moment where you can plan your activities, analyze your pending issues, and your personal and professional projects that need to be completed. 

Pick a day of the week for this planning and devote 30 minutes to structuring your following week. I personally prefer to do this on Sundays, which are usually quieter days. 

Clear the pending issues from your mind and write them down on your daily planner. Use this as a time organizer.

And remember that this weekly planning can be changed, if necessary, as the week progresses. 

#3. Use your autonomy 

Autonomy is nothing more than being able to do your tasks freely and efficiently, have the knowledge to make decisions and thus, propose and find solutions for your business. 

This doesn’t mean that you can go over the head of your manager or other company superiors, quite the contrary. 

Below, we’ve listed 7 important characteristics of professionals with autonomy: 

1. They know how far they can go 
2. They are solution-oriented
3. They choose the best practices to make their work easier 
4. They fell free to talk to their leaders
5. They are productive and committed 
6. They always look to develop new skills 
7. They reinvent themselves 

#4. Have a sense of urgency 

To get started on this topic, we’ll show you what a sense of urgency is not: 

• Leaving everything to the last minute because you work well under pressure 
• Skipping planned steps because planning is not that important for you
• Making decisions without a second thought because it always works out in the end. 

Proactive people have a unique sense of urgency, because they can perceive the demands before being asked. It’s not, however, to avoid planning and making last-minute decisions on a frequent basis. 

Having a sense of urgency is about recognizing the need to solve pending issues as fast as possible so that you are available for future sales. 

It means optimizing your time, prioritizing what is important and being able to do more in less time! 

#5. Take care of your emotional intelligence 

We all have two different types of intelligence: rational and emotional. 

Emotional intelligence is nothing more than how people deal with their own emotions and the emotions of those around them. 

High performance sellers need to be able to control their emotions. 

Consequently, they’ll feel more secure in providing quality service, creating relationships and thus, being more efficient and increasing their performance. 

Keep in mind: negative emotions hinder attention and concentration, affecting one’s cognitive ability. 

#6. Keep up to date 

Sales professionals should never base their work only on achieving their goals, because they are a consequence of their performance. And their performance also depends on keeping up to date with the market in which they are inserted. 

In order to keep up to date, you can: 

• Search for new sales and approaching tools 
• Follow market trends 
• Follow the changes in your target audience’s profile 
• Understand your company’s business and areas 
• Know your competition; 
• Identify and be prepared for what can jeopardize your sales. 

Training, information and knowledge are the basis for your success – having talent and believing that this is enough, isn’t enough. 

The market is constantly undergoing changes, so you constantly need to seek training. 

Insecurity is a very common feeling among salespeople who don’t have enough knowledge or skills, and this can be a huge obstacle when negotiating with customers. 

#7. Be an expert in your product/service 

You need to be the best in your segment! 

Show your customer that you truly understand the market and the product/service you’re selling. Know the benefits and improvement points of your product. 

Show results, tell inspiring stories, provide relevant information and demonstrate real solutions to your audience. This will provide credibility and reliability. 

Tip: Deliver your product’s greatest benefit in the sales copy you use in your sales pages, emails, etc. 

#8. Know how to listen and communicate 

Unlike the conventional sales style that communicates through ready-made pitches, consultative sales start from a very important skill, which is: knowing how to listen. 

Asking relevant questions and truly understanding your customers’ pain is key for working your argument with the focus on solving a real problem. 

You need to create relationships and demonstrate that you truly care about your customers. 

How you communicate says a lot about you. Therefore, be articulate, know how to talk and write in a clear, objective and correct manner, both with your customers and with your work partners. 

In addition, it’s important to remember that communication isn’t only what you say. Pay attention to your body language and posture. 

#9. Know how to negotiate 

Keep something in mind: The customer will always bargain. 

Therefore, you need to be creative and know how to use your arguments well in a negotiation. 

Try to clearly present the benefits of your product/service and find effective solutions for your client in order to break any objections. 

It’s important that you be able to adapt your approach according to what your customer will ask without losing your pace. But don’t worry, anyone can develop the ability to negotiate by studying and practicing! 

Also, read our post with the top 5 sales objections and how to counter them.

#10. Create connections 

The sales environment is highly competitive, but also susceptible to creating many connections, considering that you are in contact with many people. 

Establishing healthy and trustworthy relationships with coworkers and customers, suppliers and/or friends is critical for creating good business opportunities. 

#11. Prospect 

Providing customer service, negotiating and closing sales isn’t enough. 

High performance sellers are always searching for new business possibilities. Therefore, it’s important to keep an eye on opportunities and keep prospecting for new customers. 

When you participate in fairs, lectures, courses and other events that favor networking, try to meet new people and show interest in their business. 

Establish quality connections with your network. Quality is more important than quantity. Think about it! 

#12. Follow up 

Many sales professionals make the mistake of thinking that their work ends the moment their consumer makes the purchase. 

Following up is important to find out if your customer is satisfied after the purchase. 

Through this follow up, you’ll learn, among other things, if they are using your product, what the customer’s experience is like and you can show them that you care. 

This detail is very important in order to maintain a relationship with your customers and ensure that they are involved with your brand and will purchase products/services. 

#13. Take a break 

Don’t forget that resting is also important, okay?

Whenever you notice that you have many accumulated tasks and you aren’t delivering as much as you want, allow yourself a break. 

Excess can block your productivity and creativity. 

Get a cup of coffee, drink some water, exchange ideas with a coworker and listen to music. Allow your mind to organize the confusing ideas and then get back to work! 

Never forget to take care of yourself, all right? 

Well, did you enjoy our tips? I hope they can help you reach high performance selling in no time! 

In order to improve your skills even further, make sure you also read our post with 4 sales strategies for digital products.