Sales Selection Focus - Top 10 Characteristics of a Good Salesperson
Posted by Cabot Jaffee on Fri, Sep 09, 2011 @ 10:27 AM
Everyone knows that having effective sales people is critical to business success. There’s no doubt high performing salespeople are more likely to help you make quantum leaps in your business.
So the question is “what does an effective salesperson look like?” What are the characteristics of a high performing salesperson? And once you determine what those characteristics are for your company, how do you find them? Let me share some information with you.
High performing sales people:
1. Have an affinity for people – they connect with people quickly and positively
2. Have an action orientation– they have an assertive, get it done mentality
3. Are results oriented – they make and take no excuses
4. Are goal oriented – they focus on specific outcomes
5. Take pride in their work – they care about the quality of what they deliver
6. Are organized – they have a system of order in everything they do
7. Pay attention to detail – they see the benefit in getting the details right the first time
8. Have a high degree of integrity – they have a strong base of values such as honesty and sincerity
9. Are tenacious – they overcome obstacles with perseverance
10. Are willing and able to learn – they have a general interest in always getting better
So now that we’ve identified some needed characteristics for effective sales people, how do we acquire them? No competitor can hurt you more than you selecting the wrong people. What does selecting the right people really do for you? Selecting the right people will:
- Increase your market visibility
- Strengthen your company
- Assist in the retention of existing salespeople
- Increase your bottom line
- Increase your competitive advantage
- Put more dollars in your pocket
- Drive new growth and capture market share
How do you make better “hiring” decisions?
- Improve your processes
- Streamline your systems
- Utilize technology
- Utilize “good information” regarding all aspects of an individual
Proven, time tested, scientific, validated assessments are a critical factor to making sure you hire the right people. While many interviewers think they know within the first 5 minutes whether a candidate will be successful or not, they are wrong. Both scientific research and the legal system have proven over the years that most interviews are relatively ineffective at predicting performance on the job. In our next blog, I will discuss the different types of assessments that have proven to be successful for predicting the future performance of sales people. In the meantime see our previous blog on 8 Key Criteria for a Successful Sales Assessment.