15 Essential Traits of Highly Successful Salespeople by Bhaswati Bhattacharyya / Dec 28, 2020

25042 14

The most successful salespeople think and act differently than your average sales rep. What are
the qualities of a good sales person? In this article, we list all the traits so you can learn how to
be good at sales. What sets them apart? They’ve discovered the traits that guarantee selling
success, and work incessantly to cultivate those traits in themselves. We’re going to share with
you their secret sauce. We’re going to tell you the top 10 traits of successful salespeople — and
how you can use them to upgrade from a good salesperson to a great one. The Top 15 Traits
and Qualities of a Good Sales Person There’s nothing special or magical about the traits of top
salespeople. They’re simple traits — some may even seem obvious — but simple doesn’t mean
everyone has them. We’re going to fix that. The first step is identifying the problem. So, let’s
look at what traits you need to launch your sales career, and turn you into a sales wizard. Here
they are: Upbeat Passionate Creative Empathetic Accountable Well Prepared Tech-Savvy Highly
Engaged Goal Oriented Relationship Driven Hungry to Succeed Competitive Multitasking
Curious Good Listener Now let’s dig in.

Success Trait #1:

Upbeat You’re going to hear a lot of “no” in sales. Unfortunately, there’s no way around this.
Hearing negative responses on a regular basis can be extremely disheartening. But for successful
people, “no” doesn’t mean the end. “No” doesn’t always mean no forever, it just means not right
now. Successful salespeople face setbacks with a positive attitude, they learn from them, and
always look for an opportunity. They come out of the most difficult of situations stronger than
before.

Success Trait #2:

Passionate Being passionate about your job means more than working to meet a quota.
Salespeople who are truly passionate work towards achieving bigger goals, such as personal
excellence and building long-lasting relationships. Being passionate about the right things will
have long-term benefits that will continuously pay back during your entire career. Top
salespeople are passionate about growing their careers, and making sure they always bring their
A-game. However,  they are primarily focused on impacting people’s lives, and they work
towards that goal every day.

Success Trait #3:

Creative Creativity is important in sales. You may not think so, because creativity is often
associated with writers and artists, but it’s true. The top performers in sales look at things
differently. Their creative thinking and analytical skills enable them to offer solutions that others
just don’t see. They are resourceful, making the best out of whatever they have. If you want to
be the best, you need to be a creative problem solver who can come up with new and novel
ways to help your customers — and by extension, your company as well.

1|Page
Success Trait #4:

Empathetic Empathy and compassion are prerequisites to excellent customer service.

Empathetic salespeople listen intently to what affects people, and then provide them to express
their thoughts and concerns. The best salespeople will put themselves in other people’s shoes —
with no judgment or ulterior motives — to truly understand the other person. This tells them
how best to help their clients. You should always keep your customer’s success front-of-mind If
you truly care for your prospects, customers, and colleagues, it will show, and you will reap the
rewards that trust will bring.

Success Trait #5:

Accountable Accountability is important. Whether you’re taking credit for a success or a failure,
you need to take responsibility for your actions. The best salespeople take complete
ownership over their work, and they do it with dignity and respect. Highly effective salespeople
know how to take full responsibility for their actions and do not blame other people or external
influences that can affect results. If something goes wrong, they take it upon themselves to find
out why and fix it. If something goes great, they find out why and cultivate it. Successful
salespeople don’t pass the buck.

Success Trait #6:

Well-Prepared Impressing clients and persuading them to spend money is no cakewalk. Closing

a deal requires a tremendous amount of research, confidence, and a flawless execution. There
are a lot of ways to get it wrong, and only one sure fire way to impress — be prepared. Highly
successful salespeople use every resource at their disposal to research and prepare for every call,
meeting, and deal. They know all about their product, every potential objection, and they know
exactly what they are going to pitch before they ever walk into the meeting room. They do NOT
go on-and-on about products and services without offering something of value in easy-to-
understand, jargon-free, talk. Every presentation is tailor made and meticulously prepared for.
There’s no excuse for getting this one wrong. It simply boils down to doing the work.

Success Trait #7:

Tech-Savvy Technology is an important aspect of Sales, and every year it gets a bigger role.
CRMs, automation tools, AI, and every other innovation, past and future, have changed the way
sales is done on a daily basis. In today’s sales world, if you’re not on the cutting edge, you’re
behind. Winning salespeople stay updated on the latest market trends, products, and
technology. They use any and all kinds of sales tools available to be more efficient and more
successful. The most successful salespeople are ahead of the game for a reason — they invest
time in their tools.

Success Trait #8:

2|Page
Highly Engaged Being engaged is important. You need to be active and present every day at
your company. You need to love being a part of the organization you represent. Top
salespeople love their job and the people they work with. They believe in their product, which
means they can sell with complete conviction. They are active and plugged in to their
organization. They participate in assessments, surveys, and training programs. They take
advantage of every resource their company provides. If you do this, your organization will also
invest in you. When a company recognizes it has a superstar, they won’t risk losing you. So be
plugged in.

Success Trait #9:

Goal-Oriented The ability to set (and stick to) personal and professional goals is a common trait
of the most successful salespeople. I think most salespeople are goal-oriented. That’s likely part
of the reason you ended up in sales in the first place. Top sales pros take it to another level.
They don’t just have a vague goal or direction. They know exactly what they want to accomplish
(and by when), and they will plan everything around these targets. The best salespeople also set
ambitious goals — ambitious but achievable. Successful salespeople set long-term goals that
help them grow as an individual and as a professional. Reaching these goals requires patience,
planning, and a long-term vision. If you don’t know where you’re going, how are you going to
get there?

Success Trait #10:

Relationship-Driven Sales is all about relationships. The best salespeople know the importance
of building trust, and ensuring satisfaction with every deal. They also know these things can take
time, which is why they follow up with prospects and clients regularly over time, not only when
they’re trying to close a deal. The key here is authenticity. The relationship needs to be
authentic, not simply transactional. There will be wins and losses, but the most successful
salespeople never say goodbye to clients. They continue to help and support those they’ve
already sold to, and reach out to people who have said no in the past. The most effective
salespeople know relationships are what drives sales, and they are personally driven by forming
these long-term relationships.

Success Trait #11:

Hungry to Succeed One who is hungry for growth doesn’t require motivation and training. He
just needs an opportunity… Hunger is an intense desire or craving for something or, in this case,
good sales. Hunger equals ambition. When you’re ambitious, you’ll exploit each and every
selling opportunity you manage to lay your hands on. Successful salespeople are gauged by the
number of sales they are able to score in a day, week, month or year. All well-performing
salespeople are hungry to make more and more sales to raise the bar even higher. Ambition is
a good sale behavior that drives your sales locomotive to a higher sales town. Also, these folks
have an urge to sell that goes beyond money. I believe they have a personal ego that can only

3|Page
be stroked and satisfied with high numbers. That’s why they continue to push sales regardless of
how many noes they get, obstacles they face and competition encountered on the way.

Success Trait #12:

Competitive Salespeople who succeed are competitive. Being competitive is all about having the
desire to be more successful than others. And that’s one of the common drives among well-
performing salespeople. In short, they’re competitive. And they just don’t want to get better at
what they do, but they also want to be the best. When you’re a thirsty salesman looking to
outperform other people in the industry, it goes without saying your numbers will pretty much
be impressive. Don’t get me wrong, competitiveness doesn’t mean being jealous. Instead, it’s all
about being willing and ready to work the extra mile to knock out your competition.

Success Trait #13:

Multitasking Most people have a negative view of multitasking. I don’t blame you. Often,
multitasking is linked to shoddy work and messing things up. But, successful salespeople have
mastered the art of multitasking. They can juggle between getting more leads and closing on
promising leads. This means that they are constantly juggling between answering emails,
making phone calls, and following up on potential clients. Most successful salespeople are
excellent multitaskers. They utilize every minute in working towards closing a sale. And we all
know that time isn’t the main thing, it’s the only thing.

Success Trait #14:

Curiosity When reps take the role of a curious student rather than an informed expert, buyers
are much more likely to engage. Another important quality of a good salesperson is curiosity.
Curiosity killed the cat, but in this case, it makes a successful salesman. Basically, curiosity is the
desire to always learn something. Being curious about products and clients is only the start. 
Successful salespeople are also curious about their competition, the latest market trends, what is
happening in the industry and their latest clients’ preferences. The one sales newsletter you
need Every Tuesday, we send the latest sales hacks, revenue strategies, and outreach techniques
that work.

Continue reading at https://www.saleshacker.com/common-traits-successful-sales-

people/ | Sales Hacker

4|Page