Have you ever walked into a retail store where the salesperson was extremely rude and sounded annoyed when you asked about a product they were selling? Or you received a cold call from a salesperson trying to sell you something over the phone and they were just rambling in your ear not allowing you to get in a word edge wise? Or you wanted to return or exchange something and the salesperson gave you a hard time even though you had a legitimate complaint?
Many salespeople are inexperienced, not qualified to be in sales or are simply in the wrong profession.
So what does it take to be a great salesperson? In part, it starts with some fundamental traits.
To quickly determine if you have the qualities or personality traits to become a great salesperson, answer Yes or No to the following questions: 1) Are you goal-oriented? 2) Do you act on what you say you will do? 3) Do you genuinely care about your customers & their needs? 4) Are you a good listener? 5) Are you good with people? 6) Are you confident & have a desire to succeed? 7) Do you have a willingness to learn from failure and move past it? 8) Are you generally an optimistic & enthusiastic person? 9) Do you take responsibility in the face of problems? 10) Are you persistent?
Scoring: Give yourself a 1 for each question you answer with a Yes.
Evaluation: Score of 10 – You definitely have the qualities to become a great salesperson. Score of 7- 9 – You could become a great salesperson with some modifications. Remember, you can’t change someone who doesn’t want to be changed. You have to want to change yourself. Score of 5-6 - You need to evaluate whether sales is a good career choice for you as you definitely will be challenged with the personality traits you currently possess. This is not to say that you couldn’t become a good salesperson but the lack of these traits will hold you back from realizing your full sales potential. Score of 4 and below – Just pointing out the obvious. Why are you in sales OR even considering a career in sales? It’s time to reconsider another career.
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