A sale is the pinnacle activity involved in selling products or services in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity & a Successful sales person is who does the task efficiently.
The stereotype of the Salesperson brings to mind the door-to-door salesman equipped with the leather briefcase and slick image. Today’s salespeople range from all industries including real estate, computer and software, books, and even frozen food! The qualities, however, of effective salespeople remains the same. There are some key personality traits and characteristics that make, or break, the salesperson in action. The word ‘persuasion’ seems to have a unique and peculiar meaning that suggests conquering and winning over another person. People have this image of a master persuader about a sales person, doing everything he can to sell something people do not really need or want.
Connect & communicate well with the customers
One of main goals of a good salesperson is to build a very good rapport with customers. Customer may be introverts or extroverts, but sales person needs to be an extrovert and an outgoing personality to move with the customers and influence them to make the purchasing decisions.He should also have good listening skills to hear the voices of the customers to understand their needs in a best way. The sales person should listen the customers with lots of empathy.The ability to accurately sense the reactions of other people and to recognize the clues and cues they provide allows you to relate effectively to them.If you can relate with them empathy, you can build trust and influence them with a personal touch.
The best sales people ask their clients and prospects plenty of quality questions to fully determine their situation and buying needs. They know that the most effective way to present their product or service is to uncover their customer’s goals, objectives, concerns and hesitations. This allows them to effectively discuss the features and benefits of their product and service that most relate to each customer. Since the customer’s interest is important, your intention to sell is only secondary. A good salesperson would exert every effort to make the customer feel comfortable in talking and expressing his needs and interests. You should wait for the right time. Only when the customer is ready and asks for it, then you can open up the topic on selling so as not to jeopardize your customer’s confidence in you.
Know your priorities
Being a salesperson engaged in personal selling gets you face to face with your customer. Professionalism dictates that you must not take things personally when customers decline your offer. Good salespersons are trained to be stone hearted when issues get too personal for them. As a salesperson, you have to maintain composure and concentrate on your customer’s priorities.
Be motivated
The way to achieve consistent sales success is all about the art of influence and persuasion.At times, selling can be very stressful, demanding and paved with many obstacles. Having motivation in sales will enable you to maintain a positive outlook when faces with such obstacles and ultimately overcome them. Obstacles loom in front of us on a regular basis. But it’s what you do when faced with these barriers that will determine your level of success. It was Brian Tracy who once said that a person will face the most challenging obstacle just before they achieve their goal. The most successful people in any industry have learned to face the obstacles that get in their way. They look for new solutions. They are tenacious. They refuse to give up.
Be passionate
Successful sales person do not blame internal problems, the economy, tough competitors, or anything else if they fail to meet their sales quotas. They know that their actions alone will determine their results and they do what is necessary. Successful sales people are passionate too. They love their company and they exude this pride when talking about their products and services. The more passionate you are about your career, the greater the chance you will succeed. The reason for this is simple—when you love what you do you are going to put more effort into your work. When you are passionate about the products or services you sell, your enthusiasm will shine brightly in every conversation. If you aren’t genuinely excited about selling your particular product or service, give serious consideration to making a change. You are not doing yourself, your company or your customers any favors by continuing to represent something you can’t get excited about.
Work Hard
Most people want to be successful but they aren’t prepared to work hard to achieve it. Sales superstars don’ t wait for business to come to them; they go after it. They usually start work earlier than their coworkers and stay later than everyone else. They make more calls, prospect more consistently, talk to more people, and give more sales presentations than their coworkers. Also nowadays any sales role requires a very strong organizational skills. A successful sales person needs to bounce the balls here and there and do this in a highly organized way.You need to plan for meetings, travels, customer appointments, making power point presentations, and answer the questions by the VP of marketing.You have to stay tuned to many activities at once. The modern marketing world demands a sales person to be a techno savvy person too.
Today’s business world is more competitive than ever before and most sales people think that price is the only motivating buying factor. Successful sales people recognize that price is a factor in every sale but it is seldom the primary reason someone chooses a particular product or supplier. They know that a well-informed buyer will usually base much of her decision on the value proposition presented by the sales person. They know how to create this value with each customer, prospect, or buyer they encounter.
Products seldom sell themselves. Sales is a key component of any successful business. Learning and practicing needs satisfaction sales techniques can make the sales process as enjoyable as it is profitable.