Personality is at the core of everyone. It’s immutable, unchangeable, and informs every decision and interaction.
And research suggests that personality plays a key role in the traits that make salespeople irresistible.
Of course, not every salesperson has the exact same personality. Everyone is an individual and will have individual selling styles – however, this combination of traits that makes salespeople irresistible is a great indicator of whether a person has ‘what it takes’ to close.
Here are 10 traits that make salespeople irresistible:
1. Great salespeople are disciplined.
A huge aspect of selling is following up. Unfortunately, follow-ups can be time-consuming, boring, and often feel fruitless. It can be hard to see the forest for the trees when you’re knee deep in follow-up emails.
That being said, it is still a key to success as a salesperson.
While the rest of these traits that make salespeople irresistible might be natural or learned, the art of the follow up is purely one of discipline. And like any muscle, discipline can be trained and improved with work and persistence.
2. Great salespeople don’t get embarrassed easily.
The word ‘no’ is a salesperson’s constant companion. The fact of the matter is that hearing ‘no’ will happen more often than hearing ‘yes’. This is especially true for cold leads.
The ability to hear ‘no’ and keep going – aka resilience – is a salesperson’s best friend. Rolling with the punches is essential to doing this job and doing it well.
In fact, research has shown that of the top-performing salespeople surveyed, only 5% noted that they get embarrassed easily. That kind of resilience makes it easy to push past the no’s to get to a yes.
3. Great salespeople are extroverted.
Extroverted doesn’t mean that they’re outgoing. An extroverted person derives energy and passion from the people around them.
While introverts recharge by spending time alone, extroverts feed off of the enthusiasm and emotions of the people around them.
Great salespeople likely come home buzzing from a conference or networking event and can hardly sleep.
Good salespeople can use this power to tune into customers and really connect with them. For lack of a better word, one of the traits that make salespeople irresistible is being a ‘people person’.
It’s an ephemeral term but one most people know instinctively. It’s not just being extroverted, but also picking up on small social cues, remembering details and facts about other people, and being a thoughtful conversation partner.
4. Great salespeople are focused.
There needs to be a drive to truly perform at the highest levels of sales. It is not just showing up to work and putting in time, but targeting that time thoughtfully.
Top salespeople devote, on average, 6 hours a day to revenue-producing work. In contrast, average salespeople only devote 2 hours.
Not only are top salespeople focused on their work, but they’re focused on the outcome for every single task.
They’re asking, “Is this going to get me a sale?” It can be easy to get caught up in ‘busy work’ that feels productive but are dead ends. It is just as important to know when to say ‘no’ to work as it is to know when to say ‘yes’.
Top salespeople have this skill sharpened to a razor fine point.
5. Great salespeople are respectful.
While this one might sound like it’s coming from left field, respect is one of the key traits that make salespeople irresistible. Making it to meetings early and following up in a timely manner are rolled up into this idea of respect.
Respecting customers and their time goes a long way to building a foundation of earned trust.
Baseline: it is important to treat every customer like she matters because she does! Salespeople do not have the room to play ‘hard to get’.
They need to be easy to get. After all, if it is already hard to close a sale, imagine how much harder it is to close a sale with a disgruntled customer that’s been left waiting for 15 minutes.
6. Great salespeople are competitive.
Top salespeople are the same people that say, “Want to make a friendly wager?” They look for competition in everything and thrive when they’re competing against their friends or co-workers.
In fact, most top salespeople did sports in school. There appears to be a correlation between sports and success in sales.
Sports teach resilience, how to handle emotional disappointments, how to bounce back from losses, and how to prepare for future success.
These are all critical skills for salespeople to know and employ as well.
7. Great salespeople are organized.
Call it multitasking if you must, but it goes deeper than just patting your head and rubbing your stomach. Good salespeople have a lot of balls up in the air at once.
Great salespeople keep them up without fumbling. Being organized is key to closing the deal, because selling is following up, contacting new leads, setting and attending meetings, answering questions, and adding value.
8. Great salespeople are active listeners.
If you’re like me, you probably picture a top-performing salesperson as a smooth talker. The truth is that the highest performers are good talkers, but they’re better listeners. Just like with speaking, listening is a skill to be cultivated.
Within a customer’s words are the keys to unlock a sale. The customer gives away her pain points, her wants, and needs and it’s up to the salesperson to excavate these gems from the rocks around them.
Salespeople should be letting the customer do most of the talking and asking the right questions.
The most effective salespeople ask twice as many questions as average salespeople. Questions should be targeted to get into the deep roots of a customer’s problem, to find ways to offer additional value and to connect on a personal level.
9. Great salespeople are constantly learning.
Sales and sale tactics are constantly evolving. So is technology and customer needs. It cannot be overlooked that another trait that makes salespeople irresistible is that they are life-long learners.
Great salespeople can learn from a mentor, company-sponsored conferences, the wealth of information on the Internet, and even their customers.
10. Great salespeople love selling.
At the end of the day, a great salesperson needs to love selling. If you hate your job, it shines through. The same is true (maybe even more so) for selling.
Great salespeople will come to work energized, excited for the tasks on the schedule, and ready to hunt down new leads. Great salespeople are great because they’re doing what they love.
Are there any traits that make salespeople irresistible that we forgot to mention? Let us know in the comments!
