When it comes to sales, top sales performers have certain qualities that make them successful. Being a top performer in sales isn’t easy. By definition, not everyone can be at the peak of the game; most will struggle just to hit their quota. Still, that doesn’t mean you can’t take steps to boost your sales performance by learning from the best. Whether you want to make money online, on the phone, or in-store, these sales skills will help you up your sales game.
Top Sales Performer
The top sales performer is the person who sells the most products or services within a certain period of time. This person is usually rewarded with commissions, bonuses, and other incentives.
What makes a good salesperson?
A good salesperson is more than just a pitchman – they’re an enthusiastic individual with the resilience to take the time to get to know their customers, show empathy, and deal confidently with their product. They also know how to handle rejection and learn from both their successes and failures.
Successful salespeople know how to deal with both their successes and losses.
Here are some characteristics of a good salesperson.
Delightful
A great first impression is key to beginning any professional relationship on the right foot. As a salesperson, you should always aim to look put-together and approachable. First impressions matter, so make sure you’re making the best one possible!
Enthusiastic
When it comes to being a successful salesperson, it’s all about putting in the hard work – even when things get tough. Having the motivation to see a task through to completion is a key indicator of passion, which is essential for anyone in sales.
Analytical
As a salesperson, it is important to be friendly to your potential customers. However, you also need to let them know that you are prepared and ready to do business. Customers want to work with salespeople who they can depend on, who are driven by facts, and who will ask the right questions to get the answers they need. By being all of these things, you will build a strong relationship with your customers that can lead to successful deals.
Resilient
Sales numbers may ebb and flow, but that’s no reason to get discouraged. A good salesperson will take a step back, reassess their strategy, and then get back to work.
Attentive
A good salesperson understands that every customer has unique needs. By actively listening, you can better understand what those needs are, and tailor your pitch accordingly.
A Salesperson Must Be Thorough
A salesperson must be knowledgeable about what they are selling in order to be successful. Customers will view a salesperson as more reputable if they can demonstrate their expertise on the product or service.
Empathic Connecting to Your Customers’ Emotions
By connecting with your customers’ emotions and understanding what they really desire, you can provide them with new solutions to meet their needs.
Confident in Your Product Or Service
If you’re confident in your product or service, your customers will be too. The same goes for how confident you are in yourself.
Adaptable
The sales industry is always changing, and the best sales reps are adaptable. They are able to change up their strategy or manage their schedule accordingly.
Committed
Successful salespeople don’t give up. They understand that it’s a difficult job, but those who are hungry for success will strive for it.
To become the best at sales, you must not only understand the qualities that make up a great salesperson, but you also need to develop and practice those traits.
Become the best salesman you can be with these tips.
Best practices for top sales performers
1. Try to see everything from the perspective of your customer.
Most sales reps spend most of their time thinking about what customers want, but sales pros take this thought process even further.
Top salespeople always take the time to understand a prospect’s priorities, needs, and pain points. This enables them to better customize their pitch and product to fit that prospect. This level of personalization is what separates the best from the rest.
This personal treatment is what gives the top salespeople the ability to provide their customers with exactly what they need, making them feel taken care of and like they are being treated well.
2 Believe in your Product
A genuine passion for a product is contagious and impossible to feign.
When salespeople believe in their product, they can reframe their entire sales approach by focusing not on selling, but on solving their clients’ issues.
This consultative approach puts your prospect more at ease because it feels like you’re working with them rather than trying to make a sale.
1. Understanding who your ideal customers are is (far) more important than having the best products.2. Having a great product is not (nearly) as important (as) knowing who your customers are.
Every salesman should believe in the usefulness of his products once he has identified his ideal customers.
3 Stop Beggaring Lukewarm Leads to Buy
A good salesman knows his product is for certain people and is honest enough to admit it.
A truly great salesperson will know when to walk away from a prospect who isn’t a good fit.
Forcing your leads to purchase your product may net you a quick commission, but in the long term, it could hurt your reputation as a salesperson.
Instead of trying to close a lukewarm lead, you should focus on finding more new, highly qualified ones or nurturing your current relationships with them.
4. Ask the right questions
A sales rep who is a top seller will be more focused on having conversations than on selling.
Top sales reps will have a number of great questions to ask their prospects, so they’ll always have something to say.
Rather than pitching your product or service, try having a conversation with your customers. This will allow you to organically uncover their needs, and allow you to tailor a sales pitch that speaks directly to them.
5. Become an expert on your product.
After a salesperson has figured out his customers’ needs and concerns and has determined the best solution, he then draws on his expertise to relay that information to the customer.
A salesperson’s main goal is to sell their product or service and to do that, they need to understand how that service/product will benefit their customers. They also need to have a few facts to back up their claims.
This seems like an obvious tip, but it can’t be understated. Having product knowledge on-hand is incredibly important, so there’s no reason for a salesperson to let this slip.
6 Build Trust
A smart salesman knows that trust is the foundation of any sale.
Rather than approaching each potential client as someone to sell to, try viewing them as people you can help. This shift in perspective will help you build rapport and trust.
A star salesperson will leverage his expertise in an industry by participating in online discussions, either on forums or on social media. By doing so, he will establish himself as an authoritative figure in his industry and build trust with potential customers.
A sales expert will leverage his or her knowledge by participating in online conversations and participating in local networking. By commenting and answering in industry-specific forums and discussions, a salesperson can position themselves as an industry authority, driving highly qualified leads to their doorstep.
While average salespeople are content to hide behind anonymity, sales pros work hard to establish themselves as experts in their field.
7. Ditch your script.
The slideshow and script are general and written with no one in particular as the target.
A good sales script will cover all of the relevant points, but a great salesperson will know how to tailor his selling approach and language to the client.
Top performing salespeople know that clients don’t like listening to long, boring, and repetitive sales pitch. Instead, they focus on engaging with their clients on a more personal level.
8. Don’t waste your customer’s time.
Nothing says “amateur” more than wasting time on irrelevant information that the customer doesn’t need to know.
Good salespeople know not to go over information with potential clients that they know beforehand.
A good sales person will always put their clients first. They will make sure that their meetings are productive and that their client’s concerns are addressed.
9 Be Tenacious When Prospects Have Oppositions
A top performing salesperson knows how to handle customer concerns. Instead of panicking, he calmly asks questions in order to get to the bottom of the issue.
Being pushy and obnoxious does not equal being assertive. When a customer raises an issue with your price, it’s usually more about their trust with you than the actual price of your offer.
Great salespeople know that an objection is an opportunity to learn more about the client and, instead of getting defensive, they take a step back, reevaluate their strategy, and provide more relevant information.
10. Enjoy the process.
Of all the traits that separate top salespeople from everyone else, the most important one is their passion for selling. This passion allows them to enjoy the process, and it’s what separates them from the rest of the pack.
Of all the sales skills that are most important for sales success, this is the one that cannot be learned.
Top salespeople know that the key to closing more sales is by building trust and being seen as an expert in their respective field.
Traits like competitiveness, optimism and achievement are all critical to being a successful salesperson.
Most salespeople are not aware if they have the personality trait of persistence, so it’s a good idea to test for this during the hiring process.
Conclusion
If you want to be a top sales performer, then you need to master these essential sales skills. With the right mix of rapport-building, objection-handling, and product knowledge, you’ll be well on your way to success!
Need Help Automating Your Sales Prospecting Process?
LeadFuze gives you all the data you need to find ideal leads, including full contact information.
Go through a variety of filters to zero in on the leads you want to reach. This is crazy specific, but you could find all the people that match the following:
- A company in the Financial Services or Banking industry
- Who have more than 10 employees
- That spend money on Adwords
- Who use Hubspot
- Who currently have job openings for marketing help
- With the role of HR Manager
- That has only been in this role for less than 1 year
Want to help contribute to future articles? Have data-backed and tactical advice to share? I’d love to hear from you!
We have over 60,000 monthly readers that would love to see it! Contact us and let's discuss your ideas!
