How to be a good salesperson?
20 March 2014
Read by 3465 persons
In the past, a salesperson had to believe in their product or service and know how to present it to their clients. Now that's not enough. So, what does it take to be a good salesperson?
Nowadays, to be a good salesperson, it is necessary to have or develop certain skills and particular character traits.
Here are the 5 qualities of a good salesperson.
First quality of a good salesperson: they are an educator
With market evolution, competition, and the internet, the sales function has definitely entered a new era.
We are now in a world of information. The winner is the one who possesses the information. The salesperson must now be able to provide information. Clients now need to know everything to make their decisions. They need advice. Being under pressure themselves, they have little time to train.
The company's service must, of course, be of extremely high quality. If the service is not in perpetual progress, the company is in a bad position. But usually, if the salesperson wants to escape the price objection, they must now be a man of information and advice, who knows how to evolve and train their clients. The advisory role is now the key to tackling the sales function.
The only solution for a salesperson is to remain attentive to the market by visiting their clients and always learning new methods and tricks from them, which they must be quick to note down. They also constantly develop new approaches to the profession for their clients.
Second quality of a good salesperson: they are a personal advisor and a friend
The time when the salesperson visited their clients to talk endlessly about their product is definitely over. Now, it's the client who speaks. The salesperson is the one who listens.
Production is now streamlined, and quantity is no longer a problem. Low-end products seem to attack all layers of production. Customers are now hunting for non-quality. It is now treated without pity.
When a salesperson is unable to advise their client and help them evolve, they no longer stand out from other salespeople working in their sector. If they do the same thing as them, the client has no particular reason to remain their client.
Today, few people have time to think. The salesperson has acquired the advisory function. They must therefore listen and analyze in order to advise their client. Their listening is vital for their client. Is the salesperson able to listen to and advise their client? Is the salesperson really comfortable and able to help their client progress?
For this, they must have the right sales techniques, which are more a commercial know-how and savoir-faire than techniques per se.
Work represents more than a third of our lifetime. Friends are at work. What your clients miss most right now is true and sincere communication that allows them to put their feet up and take stock. They need to be able to make decisions as they would with a friend.
When a salesperson is not a friend to their clients, they work for a salary, and their priority is not to take care of their clients and help their business prosper. They are not a reliable collaborator. Their mistakes constantly need to be corrected.
If the environment and the people you meet are not people you would naturally be friends with, you have two options:
1. You must learn to appreciate the environment by completely understanding it. This means that you must understand the important rules that make it successful. It is important not to underestimate this approach. (Well-trained, a salesperson can quickly fill this gap).
2. Look for a field in which you feel confident and that you enjoy.
Third quality of a good salesperson: they are a recognized expert
The time when the salesperson would visit their client for a regular courtesy visit is also over. The salesperson who is not a recognized expert by their client must quickly find their added value and train to provide a requested contribution.
Without this position and mutual respect that every client should have for a recognized expert, the trip becomes very costly.
Recently, I met a salesperson whom his clients avoided bothering for order matters: "I didn't want to bother you, I sent the order directly to your secretary."
Another salesperson we had trained specialized in hygiene and safety issues. Before being a salesperson, he was an engineer in these fields. He perfectly knew the ways of thinking and acting of the actors in these fields. He had become an information center on the purchase and resale of businesses in his sector. His communications to his clients were listened to and appreciated. Needless to say, he made a lot of sales.
Another salesperson advised their clients on market trends and how to increase their turnover.
A salesperson can waste a lot of time trying to sell without real efficiency. The expert position is vital to sell more effectively. By becoming a recognized expert, the salesperson no longer "sells" but advises, and their sales argumentation then resembles advisory work.
Fourth quality of a good salesperson: they have recognized and irreproachable honesty
Have you ever tried to lie to a friend while trying to sell them something? Have you exaggerated your claims to someone who was counting on you? What effect did this have on your relationship with them? Do they still trust you?
A good salesperson is honest. Integrity comes from the word whole. When you don't say what you think, you are only half of yourself, especially regarding your sales results.
The client must be able to rely on the advice and information of their salesperson/friend.
Fifth quality of a good salesperson: they are an excellent team player
In the company, they are part of a team. Clients have become more and more demanding in their operating methods. The pressures generated by the economic environment have become too enormous to allow for inefficiency. If their company has problems, they are their problems, and they must contribute to their resolution.
The salesperson is more than ever the ambassador of the company. When their company fails to satisfy their client, it is they who have failed. If they have the misfortune of saying it's "the fault of their company or such and such service" but not their own, then their days are numbered with their client.
The salesperson is now the transmission belt between their company and their clients. They must be able to modify both to obtain an agreement between these two entities in order to obtain the best mutual development. In addition to being part of their company, they are also part of the client's company.
To become a good salesperson, you must assimilate each of these elements until it becomes totally natural. Specific exercises exist to acquire the competence and techniques of the best salespeople.
Eric Ianna
Certitude-management.com
Posted online March 20, 2014.
Nowadays, to be a good salesperson, it is necessary to have or develop certain skills and particular character traits.
Here are the 5 qualities of a good salesperson.
First quality of a good salesperson: they are an educator
With market evolution, competition, and the internet, the sales function has definitely entered a new era.
We are now in a world of information. The winner is the one who possesses the information. The salesperson must now be able to provide information. Clients now need to know everything to make their decisions. They need advice. Being under pressure themselves, they have little time to train.
The company's service must, of course, be of extremely high quality. If the service is not in perpetual progress, the company is in a bad position. But usually, if the salesperson wants to escape the price objection, they must now be a man of information and advice, who knows how to evolve and train their clients. The advisory role is now the key to tackling the sales function.
The only solution for a salesperson is to remain attentive to the market by visiting their clients and always learning new methods and tricks from them, which they must be quick to note down. They also constantly develop new approaches to the profession for their clients.
Second quality of a good salesperson: they are a personal advisor and a friend
The time when the salesperson visited their clients to talk endlessly about their product is definitely over. Now, it's the client who speaks. The salesperson is the one who listens.
Production is now streamlined, and quantity is no longer a problem. Low-end products seem to attack all layers of production. Customers are now hunting for non-quality. It is now treated without pity.
When a salesperson is unable to advise their client and help them evolve, they no longer stand out from other salespeople working in their sector. If they do the same thing as them, the client has no particular reason to remain their client.
Today, few people have time to think. The salesperson has acquired the advisory function. They must therefore listen and analyze in order to advise their client. Their listening is vital for their client. Is the salesperson able to listen to and advise their client? Is the salesperson really comfortable and able to help their client progress?
For this, they must have the right sales techniques, which are more a commercial know-how and savoir-faire than techniques per se.
Work represents more than a third of our lifetime. Friends are at work. What your clients miss most right now is true and sincere communication that allows them to put their feet up and take stock. They need to be able to make decisions as they would with a friend.
When a salesperson is not a friend to their clients, they work for a salary, and their priority is not to take care of their clients and help their business prosper. They are not a reliable collaborator. Their mistakes constantly need to be corrected.
If the environment and the people you meet are not people you would naturally be friends with, you have two options:
1. You must learn to appreciate the environment by completely understanding it. This means that you must understand the important rules that make it successful. It is important not to underestimate this approach. (Well-trained, a salesperson can quickly fill this gap).
2. Look for a field in which you feel confident and that you enjoy.
Third quality of a good salesperson: they are a recognized expert
The time when the salesperson would visit their client for a regular courtesy visit is also over. The salesperson who is not a recognized expert by their client must quickly find their added value and train to provide a requested contribution.
Without this position and mutual respect that every client should have for a recognized expert, the trip becomes very costly.
Recently, I met a salesperson whom his clients avoided bothering for order matters: "I didn't want to bother you, I sent the order directly to your secretary."
Another salesperson we had trained specialized in hygiene and safety issues. Before being a salesperson, he was an engineer in these fields. He perfectly knew the ways of thinking and acting of the actors in these fields. He had become an information center on the purchase and resale of businesses in his sector. His communications to his clients were listened to and appreciated. Needless to say, he made a lot of sales.
Another salesperson advised their clients on market trends and how to increase their turnover.
A salesperson can waste a lot of time trying to sell without real efficiency. The expert position is vital to sell more effectively. By becoming a recognized expert, the salesperson no longer "sells" but advises, and their sales argumentation then resembles advisory work.
Fourth quality of a good salesperson: they have recognized and irreproachable honesty
Have you ever tried to lie to a friend while trying to sell them something? Have you exaggerated your claims to someone who was counting on you? What effect did this have on your relationship with them? Do they still trust you?
A good salesperson is honest. Integrity comes from the word whole. When you don't say what you think, you are only half of yourself, especially regarding your sales results.
The client must be able to rely on the advice and information of their salesperson/friend.
Fifth quality of a good salesperson: they are an excellent team player
In the company, they are part of a team. Clients have become more and more demanding in their operating methods. The pressures generated by the economic environment have become too enormous to allow for inefficiency. If their company has problems, they are their problems, and they must contribute to their resolution.
The salesperson is more than ever the ambassador of the company. When their company fails to satisfy their client, it is they who have failed. If they have the misfortune of saying it's "the fault of their company or such and such service" but not their own, then their days are numbered with their client.
The salesperson is now the transmission belt between their company and their clients. They must be able to modify both to obtain an agreement between these two entities in order to obtain the best mutual development. In addition to being part of their company, they are also part of the client's company.
To become a good salesperson, you must assimilate each of these elements until it becomes totally natural. Specific exercises exist to acquire the competence and techniques of the best salespeople.
Eric Ianna
Certitude-management.com
Posted online March 20, 2014.
