This week on LinkedIn one of my popular posts was about what I thought was the DNA or traits of a salesperson.
I covered three:
Must have a stable personality
Must have goal-setting ability
Must have independence
In this blog, I wanted to reach out to the rookies that are just starting and give them some heads up on a few ways to build success in your sales career.
Building Success Habits.
Everyone knows that when you begin a career in sales, you will probably be required to do a few things to be effective.
My advice first week:
Learn the product (90%)
Develop relationships with your key managers
Working with others that have BEARING on your success. IT, tech guys etc
Understanding your market and the needs of your customer
I read recently only 1% of salespeople who start in the profession self-learn. They rely on the company to provide that service. That’s not good.
Commitment to Growth.
Any salesperson I hire for my clients usually go through a sales assessment programme. We measure lots of things and then we report back to them in a 15 page report, tips on how to help them succeed.
Here are some tips that you can use right now:
Make a personal commitment to be successful
Set yourself high standards and create activity
Set daily and weekly goals for yourself
Plan- If you do not have a plan, stay in the car
Sit with your mentor or team manager weekly and review your results.
Outwork the competition
Learn to Listen.
Listen to hear, not to reply. Listening is one of the hardest things that you can master in the sales process.
If you learn to listen, you can deal with any client, even the more challenging ones.
If you listen to a client without even thinking about selling your product, the relationship with that person will develop faster.
Salespeople who listen become very effective, very quickly, for the simple reason that the client knows that they are being listened to.
Call Reluctance.
Prospecting and rejection are part of selling. Just know that every call is a chance to learn.
Look at your calling and prospecting as a chance to try out approaches, let people know that you are the new guy.
People like that, especially if you are introducing yourself to your existing customers.
Study your product at every opportunity. Product knowledge is the key to overcoming call reluctance.
These tips are just a few things to get you started.
Being new to this profession is fun, embrace it.
One final tip – you won’t have picked up the bad habits of the older veterans that you may be sitting beside right now, watch out and look for positive members of the team that can help you, not hinder you.
Check out my LinkedIn page and Youtube for heaps of free stuff.
Whatever career you decide to take in sales, it’s always good to get some help.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
Al Brown is one of New Zealand’s most well-known chefs. He has appeared on Australia’s MasterChef, a popular cooking show in this corner of the globe. In fact, it is Australia’s highest ranking non-sporting program of all time
Most chefs are famous for a ‘signature dish,’ the one dish they hang their hat on to be the best dish in their restaurants.
At Al’s former restaurant, Logan Brown, the ‘signature dish’ was (and in fact still is) Paua (abalone) Ravioli. Having sampled it several times I would have to agree. It is out of this world. When washed down with a Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, it might send you over the edge.
So, what does this have to do with sales /or small business?
In every business there is a ‘signature dish,’ something that makes that business unique over others. It is the one thing that sets them high above their competitors.
Have you asked yourself, “What is my signature dish?” What is the one promotion, one advertising plan, or one idea that you have used time and time again with the most success? What promotion, idea, program or plan has your media company used with great success?
At NRS Media, our ‘signature dishes’ are the Image Plus and Impact Plus programs. These ‘dishes’ sold millions of dollars for media companies all over the world.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
Today, all over the world, virtually every salesperson no matter what area they sell in, be it B2B, B2C whatever, makes a promise.
The promise can be a number of things:
Follow up a call.
Make sure the product was delivered at a specified time.
Make sure a proposal was sent on time.
The sad fact is that many salespeople all over the world break those promises and with those promises broken, those customers turn to five of their best business friends and say:
“Did I tell you about the bad service I got from XYZ salesperson?”
To be fair sometimes it’s hard to keep a promise, with so many deadlines to meet, sometimes it just won’t happen.
When this does happen, and it will, and it happens to me, I try and manage my clients’ expectations.
I think the first thing should not do is and hide, be upfront and tell your client you can’t do certain things.
In my experience most clients you deal with care, in fact most people generally care about who you and they want to do business with you.
I think what most clients are trying to figure out is, “Is this guy real?”
I have mentioned this before in previous articles and videos
“Can I trust this person?”
That really is the core to most people that are making salesperson voting decisions, or buying decisions, “Can I believe and trust this person?”
Making promises sets that question up in the mind of your clients.
Promise by all means, but be careful what you promise.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
I wonder sometimes whether our biggest strength as a business owner founder, eventually turns into our biggest weakness.
I know when I started NRS Media with my amazing partners Doug Gold and Brian Duffy, that at one point we were doing all of the work.
We did everything, sales, presentations, budgeting, sending out invoices, virtually 100% of everything.
Selling was easy.
I think we knew that we were pretty good at selling, and the combination of the three of us was pretty formidable.
We did have a hard time in those early days making that transition.
When we decided to grow the company and pass on that responsibility, we had a difficult time at the beginning and made a few bad hires.
Inbound leads might not be enough.
Why am I telling you this? It’s because I still see many people making wrong decisions with faulty beliefs, they want to be true.
We would all agree that businesses that only have inbound leads, don’t need salespeople, so they try for far too long to keep the inbound leads happening. It’s impossible.
The truth of the matter is this:
The world is always going to need salespeople.
It’s why I get on these videos every week.
I want to help people understand that we are all in sales, and we have to consider that someone in your business needs to wake up every day and figure out how to make the cash register ring or make that outbound call, because it’s vital to lasting success.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
What do I think is the DNA that makes a great salesperson?
I work very closely with an international sales assessment company based in the US and Canada.
They have measured literally hundreds of thousands of salespeople who work in the salary, and commission environment.
These people are in real estate, insurance, media, and such like.
I have personally used them for my salespeople and for my clients.
Any good salesperson can measure up well in their interview if they are worth their salt.
The challenge is to really know what makes up that person’s DNA when it comes to sales.
Here is what this assessment company believes makes up the DNA of a successful salesperson.
Performance = Talent x Habits x Opportunity.
These are considered the keys to performance when it comes to sales.
Let me explain each one with a tip or two thrown in.
Talent – Can this person actually do the job? Look at skills, education, and credentials. These should always be able to provide some insight into the applicant’s ability.
Habits – Will this applicant really work hard to realise their potential?
I have seen this time and time again where a potential salesperson has all the talent in the world, but if they are not willing to work hard enough to realise that and use that potential there is no way they are going to succeed in sales.
Check habit and work history. While any assessments are excellent and in my opinion are a must, don’t use them in isolation.
It’s important to weigh up the whole process.
Opportunity – This is the third and final trait or DNA that makes up a great salesperson.
Is this person in front of you, a good fit for your organisation?
Again I have been presented with a great salesperson but I know that while they might have all the habits and talent I have to ask the question.
“Do they fit my culture?“
Fitting into a culture helps them transition better, they feel part of the team.
This is often overlooked, and many companies have ended up with an unhappy salesperson and unhappy team.
As per my video.
If you would like a copy of this information, along with what I consider key character traits, that every salesperson should have.
Then feel free to direct message me on LinkedIn and I will send you a copy.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
