21 Attributes of Extraordinarily Effective Salespeople (Attributes 15-21)

Here they are! The final seven of the 21 Attributes of Extraordinarily Effective Salespeople. I hope you’ve found the others helpful, and that you’ll see the value in developing these final seven attributes in yourself and your salespeople. Also, make sure to read the simple implementation suggestion I have at the end.

Attributes 15-21: Extraordinarily effective salespeople…

15. See opportunity, but aren’t opportunists
Extraordinarily effective salespeople have deep and broad vision. They don’t always color within the lines. They see opportunity, but never do they take advantage of another.

16. Are team players
As a salesperson, you’re on a sales team. You’re on your company’s team. And you’re on your clients’ teams. Play as a team player on all your teams and you’ll succeed.

17. Use slow times wisely
The typical salesperson kicks back when the prod of the boss or a client’s need isn’t sharply felt. Learn to use slow times wisely—whether that’s 5 minutes or 5 weeks—to be productively advancing your sales efforts and your clients’ needs.

18. Are goal-driven
External forces are a convenient excuse for poor performance. Driving to meet one’s goals in spite of hurdles and unforeseen obstacles is a hallmark of an effective salesperson. Set long-term goals, break them down into mid-term and short-term goals, then live by them.

19. Know their audiences in detail
Most salespeople offer what they have as-is to as large an audience as possible, hoping to hook a few prospects. Effective salespeople know who they are looking for, find them, then get to know them better to meet their most exacting needs.

20. Engage in ongoing training
The most successful salespeople are those who balance a get-to-it attitude with a lifetime student mentality. Always learning and never acting will take you nowhere. Acting without ongoing training will only take you so far. Do both and see yourself becoming the best salesperson you can possibly be over and over.

21. Finish
Finish reading this paragraph. Finish your follow-up calls for today. Finish those letters for this week’s direct mail campaign. Help your client finish his due diligence and decision-making process so he can finish his transaction with you this month. Extraordinarily effective salespeople are finishers. Execution, perseverance, and the ability to finish are all necessary to excel!

There they are, 21 attributes I’ve observed in successful salesperson after successful salesperson. To help you implement these and make them part of who you are and how you sell, follow this simple plan:

Write each of the 21 attributes on a small card—something that will fit in your shirt pocket. Each business day, put one of those cards in your pocket and make a point of pulling it out and looking at it a number of times during the day. Focus on developing that attribute that day. If you do this every business day, you’ll rotate through the cards once each month.

Some attributes will become second nature quickly. Others will take more time to develop. If you’re consistent with this approach, you’ll see improvement month after month.

Here’s to your extraordinary sales success!

Bryan Waldon Pope

21 Attributes of Extraordinarily Effective Salespeople (Attributes 8-14)

I hope you enjoyed the first seven of the 21 Attributes of Extraordinarily Effective Salespeople I shared last week. Here are the next seven. Next week I’ll share the final seven along with a simple way to make all 21 of these attributes a natural part of how you and your sales team consistently get the sales you pursue.

Attributes 8-14: Extraordinarily effective salespeople…

8. Talk about money with ease
If discussing the financial side of the deal makes you uneasy, it will make your prospect uneasy. Offer outstanding value. Always know you’re giving your prospect a superior deal.

9. Never have to “close” a sale
If getting the sale means putting your prospect through a pre-determined closing routine, do him and yourself a favor and find a different career. True salespeople naturally move to a mutually beneficial conclusion.

10. Use systems
If every prospecting campaign, every phone call, every meeting, and every contact record require that you pause to figure out what to do (or what to do next), you’ll never be everything you can be as a salesperson. Create and use systems to maximize your effectiveness.

11. Only work with decision-makers
You’ve either already learned this one, will learn it soon, or will change careers. Wasting your time with non-decision-makers becomes laborious and terribly distracting very quickly. Find out who has the authority to make a purchasing decision, then only work with that person.

12. See themselves as successful
To a large extent, other people see you the way you see yourself. If you look in the mirror and you see someone who can’t bring home the bacon, your prospects will see that same person. See it...believe it...be it!

13. Are seen as experts, not salespeople
Everyone dislikes salespeople. That may come off strong, but it's true. At the same time, they love people who have solutions to their needs. Be seen as an expert and watch your sales soar.

14. Don’t let a client buy more or less than they need
A typical salesperson is happy to just make a sale, regardless of the fit for the client. An extraordinary salesperson won’t let his client go without anything he needs, and will never allow his client to overspend, even if he’s willing to.

Here’s to your extraordinary sales success!

Bryan Waldon Pope

21 Attributes of Extraordinarily Effective Salespeople (Attributes 1-7)

I had an interesting conversation recently with a business owner I’ve known for 25 years or so who has been a long-time follower of MSI. He told me it seemed the direction of many of my monthly topics had turned to sales, and he didn’t feel they applied to him because he doesn’t have a sales team. He is in a business with a physical location that serves consumers in the general population. Most people who do business with him find him through special offers by direct mail or word-of-mouth. I was surprised he felt the way he did.

We’re all in the sales game whether we know it or not. If we understand this fact, we can execute our sales activities that much better. Marketing involves attracting, converting, and retaining clients. The conversion portion of this process is where the sale happens. So whether we have dedicated salespeople who bear that title doesn’t determine whether we have salespeople in our businesses. We all do. How well they handle this function will determine whether we consistently grow and succeed.

Over the decades I’ve been a salesman and worked with clients’ salespeople, I’ve identified 21 attributes that are consistently prominent among those who are successful. They hold true with the person standing at a counter in the front lobby, the employee stocking shelves, cashiers, and other personnel just as much as they do with full-time inside or outside salespeople.

Today I’ll share the first seven of the 21 attributes with you. As you receive all 21 over the next couple of weeks, take time to review them and examine your own situation. Where are you strong? Where do you have room to improve? After I’ve shared all 21 attributes, I’ll share a method for making them part of how you and your staff do business.

Here are the first seven of the 21 attributes.

Extraordinarily effective salespeople:

1. Ask questions
No one likes to buy from a pre-programmed know-it-all sales presentation machine.

2. Listen
After you’ve asked meaningful questions, process the responses with sincerity.

3. Focus on the needs of the client
If anything comes ahead of the client’s need, your insincerity will shine through and your career as a salesperson will be short-lived.

4. Know when to stop talking
When you realize there isn’t a match between what you have to offer and what the client needs, or when the client has made a purchasing decision, be heads-up enough to realize it and simply stop talking.

5. Walk away from unproductive deals
If there is no foreseeable positive outcome (regardless of what that means in a given situation), be wise enough to walk away.

6. Only think in terms of mutual benefit
If the deal is good for you, but bad for the client, be ethical enough to correct the situation. If the deal is good for the client, but bad for you, be wise enough to correct the situation.

7. Help decision-makers look like heroes
If the fit is right, don’t let the decision-maker miss out on the opportunity to look good. If the fit is wrong, don’t let the decision-maker misstep and look bad. Help decision-makers look like heroes and you’ll always have insider advocates.

I’ll share the next seven attributes with you next week.

Here’s to your extraordinary sales success!

Bryan Waldon Pope