We believe that to be a good salesperson we only need to be friendly, charismatic, outgoing and, basically, have a giant smile to make the buyer feel comfortable and special, but that's not all we need to become a successful salesperson.
All the qualities we mentioned above can be developed through courses or over time, or, if you were born with these qualities, you're already one step ahead. But that's not the only thing needed, because salespeople must also have certain habits so they can develop these traits more easily.
Here we share 11 key habits for being a good salesperson that, in our experience, have helped us a lot to improve our ability to close sales and, above all, to provide quality service to our customers.
How Can You Be an Exceptionally Good Sales Agent?
1. Identify Your Buyer Personas and Focus Your Attention on Them.
Clearly defining a buyer persona is essential to developing an effective sales process. Therefore, a sales agent who bases their activities on that ideal customer profile will also be effective. The best salespeople research their prospects to make sure they're a good fit for the company and rely on their buyer persona profile: they know exactly who they're targeting and why.
2. Use a Sales Process That Can Be Measured and Repeated
Traditional sales agents are guided by intuition; in contrast, top performers use an optimized process that helps them move as many prospects as possible from the connection stage to the close. Most never analyze their results, probably because they haven't properly monitored their actions. On the other hand, the best ones constantly review key metrics and adjust them as needed.
3. Know the Product or Service Perfectly
Being able to sell is only half the battle; understanding what you're selling is the other half (one that often doesn't get much attention). No one can sell something they don't know. If it's a product, use it in every possible way; if it's a service, try to get it and be a customer yourself first. Understanding it perfectly will help you resolve any question the prospect has, or even handle objections better.
4. Analyze the Customer's Buying Journey Objectively
The most effective sales agents don't consider a business ready to close a sale just because someone with influence suggests it. Even if your product or service has been recommended, that prospect needs to understand very well why it was recommended to them and the benefits they'll get from purchasing it.
5. Discover Shortcuts and Tricks
When a great salesperson finds a strategy or technique that works well, they use it all the time (until it stops being effective). This is a smart tactic: salespeople are always working against the clock, which means the more time they spend experimenting, the less time they have to close sales.
6. Practice Active Listening
The best sales agents are fully present in their conversations with prospects. That means they're not thinking about another deal, reading the newspaper online or sending funny memes to the rest of the team. Active listening may be one of the hardest skills to develop, since by nature we tend to believe that what we say is more important than what the prospect says.
7. Collaborate With the Marketing and Customer Service Teams
Good salespeople know that the information from the people who work in the marketing and customer service departments is important to their work. Marketing not only provides sales-qualified leads but also shares strategies that can help boost certain products or services, as well as messages relevant to the company's goals.
8. Trust the Product or Service You Sell
It's much easier to sell a product with passion if you truly trust its benefits. In fact, the most effective sales agents use that product and believe in the value it offers.
9. Be Highly Motivated
All sales leaders have a main reason that drives them to work hard every day. Maybe they want to buy their own home and, to achieve it, they need to hit at least 110% of their quota every month. Perhaps they're extremely competitive and always want to be among the top-performing leaders. Ask yourself what the main reason is that you want to succeed. If you can't answer that question right away, you need to find a source of motivation that keeps you growing. Did you know that salespeople can even earn more than a CEO?
10. Treat the Customer's Success as Your Own
Some sales agents stop working once prospects sign the contract. In contrast, the most respected salespeople tend to get in touch with their customers periodically to achieve a better result and strengthen trust.
11. Sleep Eight Hours Every Night
If you think sleeping five or six hours a day is enough for you, think again. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, most adults need to sleep between 7 and 8 hours every night. Otherwise, you could suffer from a series of disorders such as: inefficient decision-making, a greater tendency to make mistakes, attention deficit, fatigue, lack of motivation, restlessness, irritability, anxiety and symptoms of depression, among many others.
Conclusion
A successful salesperson must be able to recognize the consumer's needs, assess whether the product meets them and offer mutually beneficial alternatives. To do that, they must have in-depth knowledge of the items they sell, their practical uses and their customization options.
However, learning how to be a good salesperson doesn't come down to just that.
It also involves interpersonal skills, such as persuasion, negotiation, active listening, self-motivation and patience.
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