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8 Important Qualities of Successful Salespeople

Updated Feb, 2024

The performance of your sales department depends on the kind of people working within it. 

For that reason, you should hire the right salespeople from the start. Here are some essential qualities to look out for in sales representatives:

Successful Salespeople Are Goal-driven

Goal-driven people are motivated to set specific target objectives and meet them. They will, therefore, work harder to make sure they achieve the goals they set.

Sales are mainly a numbers game. It requires people within the sales department to achieve set sales targets in the set periods. So, you need to find sales reps that are goal-driven. They will thrive in an environment that requires them to set goals and attempt to achieve them.

Successful Salespeople Are Teachable

A teachable person is one that is an apt student. Not everyone is eager to learn, which can work against your sales department.

Studies show that 46% of sales reps did not intend to go into the sales profession. For your sales team to be successful, you must ensure that you hire teachable people. They may not have the necessary selling skills when you hire them, but they can be very successful if they are trainable.

Successful Salespeople Are Active Listeners

Active listeners are people who listen will all their senses. They will concentrate on what is being said, understand and remember it, and respond in ways that make the speaker feel someone is paying attention. They will also show empathy. 

Active listening is an acquired skill.

Studies show 92% of all customer interactions happen via phone, yet 85% of customers feel dissatisfied with their phone experience. So, while many customers are doing their fair share of talking, they are not feeling heard. And that means sales reps are not doing a good enough job of listening to what their prospects are saying.

Successful Salespeople Are Organized

People who are organized are people who can plan their work so that they can accomplish their goals. Such people can structure schedules and focus on many different tasks by efficiently dividing their time and energy, so everything gets done when it should.

Being organized is an essential quality for a salesperson because there is more to selling than most people think. Such tasks include:

  • Finding the right prospects to sell to
  • Nurturing leads
  • Contacting prospects via phone, social media, and email
  • Visit local neighborhoods to promote company products and services.
  • Attend trade shows
  • Attend networking events
  • Demonstrating how products work etc.

It pays to bring onboard salespeople who are organized. Organized sales reps can better keep track of everything they need to do to sell and have the best chance of getting things done on time. 

Successful Salespeople Are Accountable

A sales rep who is accountable is one who owns up to their responsibilities. Such a person can be relied upon to do their part and owns up to their mistakes.

One of the significant benefits of having a sales process is that it helps everyone know what they need to do and when to do it. But for it to work effectively, each sales rep must own the tasks they are given. They must do those tasks and complete the set milestones so the prospect can be moved to the next stage of the sales cycle.

Successful people Are Assertive

An assertive person is self-assured without necessarily being overly aggressive. Being decisive is an essential quality for every salesperson looking to deal with prospects. That’s because they will be dealing with challenging tasks such as cold calling. 

Successful Salespeople Are Social

Very successful salespeople possess some degree of sociability or gregariousness. Sociable people are friendly and can comfortably engage in relationships that involve other people.

Social selling involves developing relationships as part of the sales process, both offline and online. Salespeople can use platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, offline networking events, etc., so long as it helps them achieve their purpose.

Successful Salespeople Are Adaptable

Adaptable people are flexible. They can adjust to the situation in which they find themselves and continue to perform effectively.  Adaptability is a quality that a successful salesperson must have because prospects will always throw them several curveballs.

According to one HubSpot report, different prospects want different things at each stage of the sales process:

  • Nearly 60% of buyers want to discuss pricing during the first call
  • More than 50% of prospects want a demonstration of how a product works during the first call
  • 25% of buyers want to discuss budget, authority, and timeline contrary to what many salespeople expect

Sales processes must be based on a buyer’s journey to be effective. That means if your sales representatives find themselves confronting a buyer that does not behave as others do, they can adapt to the challenge and meet them at their point of need. 

It’s all about the prospect and what they need at each stage, even when it doesn’t make sense to the salesperson. For that reason, you need to hire salespeople who are flexible and can adjust to what each prospect wants.