Marks
of Excellence
There are all
kinds of characteristics that make up a high-performing
sales professional. Many of them can be learned and integrated
into your daily routines or simply into the way you live your life.
Listed below is a list of six character traits that one should take
on to improve one’s chances of sales
excellence. These are the tell-tale marks of the high-performing
sales professional. While they are not all-encompassing and there
is much more to being a success
in sales, following these Six Marks of Excellence will
enable you to get on and stay on the right road:
·
Know What You Sell –
How can you possibly sell to your client effectively if you’re not
familiar with your firm’s product or service? Successful
sales start with strong product knowledge. When a sales
professional knows the ins and outs of their products or services,
they are better equipped to answer questions, provide accurate and
specific recommendations and deliver exactly what the customer
needs. Build up your personal product or service knowledge by
taking available training, reading up on your company’s materials
and web page and by having a good grasp on what your company sells
and why they sell it.
·
Strive to be Number One –
Great sales reps hate it when other reps are outselling them. They
check departmental numbers, quota attainment and sales rankings
to see where they stand. They love to blow out their numbers to
get their commission but also to know that they were ahead of the
pack. Develop a competitive
hunger to sell more than anyone else.
·
First Impression, Best Impression
– We’ve talked about this before… the first
impression you make on a customer may very well stick with you
for the remainder of your relationship with that company.
Look your best and have your “A” game ready for your first customer
meeting. Make sure you are prepared and are friendly and easy to
talk to. Adapt to your customer’s
personality so as to not turn off a possible long-term customer
before you really hit your stride.
·
Keep on Fighting Through
the Tough Times – One of the best compliments our sales
reps get is, “thank you for your perseverance,”
or “I appreciate that you stayed on top of me when I was hard to
reach.” Perseverance is critical in sales. Great sales reps have
to be able to deal with thousands of unreturned
calls, unread e-mails and rejection. It’s the nature of the
game. To succeed in sales, you have to keep plugging away as it
may just take one more call or one more visit to make the sale.
Don’t guess which one is the one. Perseverance pays off.
·
Attitude Really Is Everything
– This is in line with perseverance.
To succeed in sales, you have to have a good
attitude. Even when you have a bad day (or month), you have
to know that the next offers a fresh start. Keep you personal troubles
out of the office and stay focused on the task at hand.
·
Be Customer-Centric
– In order to build and maintain a long-term relationship with your
customers, you need to become focused on providing exceptional customer
service. This should always be the case, particularly after
the sale when some sales reps end up missing in action. Build up
a relationship as your customer’s advocate. Seek to meet their
needs and help them during every phase of the relationship. This
will lead to better experiences, positive word of mouth and follow-up
business.
Reality will eventually teach you that
there are more than six to incorporate into what you do but these
six traits are indeed crucial.
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