6 qualities all top salespeople share

What separates successful sales people from everyone else? Is it their people skills? Their determination?

Leadership Management Australia (LMA) has been at the forefront of people development for over four decades, in that time we have spotted six qualities successful salespeople all share. These qualities are either missing or not completely developed in people who are not yet considered top level salespeople.

1. Focus

All top salespeople have an unswerving singleness of purpose. They are 100% committed to their chosen pursuit. The reason for this is they have an unbridled enthusiasm for what they do. They absolutely love it.

They do not even consider work as work, it is play to them. Their vocation is actually their vacation. This enables them to be macro-thinkers or big-picture seers. In other words, they are able to see long-term, see the total picture, and they do not get bogged down in details.

2. Integrity

Top salespeople understand that success in business comes from establishing trust with prospects and clients. This trust only comes if the person believes totally in what they do. Top performers, almost to a fault, are congruent in their words, beliefs and actions. They use their own products. They are their own best client. They walk the talk. They do what they say they will do.

3. Service

This could also be called win-win relationships. Top salespeople understand that for future success, it is absolutely critical that their clients are happy. To do this, top performers do three things:

• They study their clients’ businesses – Top salespeople learn the language, they learn the problems, they learn the challenges, they learn the competitors, and they learn the dynamics. They know their clients’ businesses almost as well as the client.
• Top salespeople are masters at asking questions to find out if and how they can help prospective clients. Top performers understand that the client will show them what they need and how they want to buy, if they only ask the right questions.
• Top salespeople under-promise and over-deliver. They make sure that everything they commit to is done and then some. Their goal is not a satisfied client, but an absolutely excited, happy, thrilled and over­joyed client.

4. Relationships

Top salespeople understand that they are not selling products, they are creating relationships. Top salespeople know in their hearts that their success is determined by the quality of these relationships. Consequently, they network, they seek referrals and they constantly build up their relationships. They turn clients into centres of influence who become ambassadors for their business. They measure their success not by their bank accounts but by the size of their client and prospect list.

5. Work smarter not harder

Top salespeople understand that it takes a lot of hard work to succeed at anything. They also work very smart. But they understand that they cannot rationalise hard work away just by saying they are going to work smarter. Top salespeople develop and follow a system. They also keep very detailed and accurate records and statistics on their activities and results. Top performers pay the price.

6. Continuous Improvement

Top salespeople are never totally satisfied with their performance. They are always looking for ways to constantly invest in themselves. They study their industry. They always set goals to beat their best. They are always working on ways to improve the system – not to change the system, but to improve it, to optimise it, to maximise it, to multiply it. Top salespeople are a lot like ducks; they look very calm and smooth on the surface, but underneath they are paddling like the world is coming to an end.

Take the time to look at these six qualities and rank yourself from one to ten on each. Find out what qualities are missing or lacking and set a goal to improve in these areas.

Make a decision now to be a top salesperson. Make a decision now to fully commit to your dreams, goals and aspirations.