There are good salespeople and there are great salespeople. For the most part they possess the same skills but here are 5 characteristics that all of the best salespeople I have worked with or trained have in common.

They WILL address the “elephant in the room”.

You know what I’m talking about. That underlying “something” that everyone is thinking, a previous problem, a new competitor, losing the last deal it can be anything that creates that uncomfortable vibe. The best salespeople are…  maybe not in these words but this is their approach “OK let’s get this out of the way before we start, I’m sure we will all feel more comfortable when we do”

They Display AWESOME judgement.

I often say that selling can be walking a tightrope between being diligent, tenacious even and cheesing people off! Intuitively knowing when and how to reach out to progress a sale… maybe as we have just mentioned understanding how to address the elephant in the room without pi55ing the prospects off.

They have the BACKBONE.

Too many sale are lost because skilled salespeople don’t have the judgement or the “backbone” to completely disagree with someone. They don’t like the confrontation. This doesn’t require someone to argue just (using judgement) look at things from an alternative perspective. This backbone also makes them more resilient.

Man they are incredibly NOSEY.

No they’re not really BUT they are just brilliant at “finding stuff out” and most importantly they can find out the things that can turn the conversation. They delve deeper and understand more.

They ALWAYS walk to the driver’s door.

It’s not always possible but the best of the best will always want to “drive” the sale. They don’t make good passengers. They know what they would like to happen next and they will skilfully be setting the agenda. Again they display amazing judgement to be able to do this without it feeling like pressure, the best do it brilliantly.

Conclusion

Have the courage and the judgement to have “interesting and sometimes challenging” conversations and the confidence to move things on…

You so often hear the expression “natural born salesperson” but maybe they have the characteristics needed to succeed. You are not born with these characteristics you develop them, we coach salespeople to develop them every day.

If you can think of more I will gladly add them to my list - I’m talking about what sets the best apart from the rest.