Undoubtedly sales are the lifeline of any organization and a cure for most of its problems. Most of the startups die a premature death due to lack of sales and not marketing, contrary to what many would believe. Taking this forward, having a great sales manager is essential to building a successful business.
Having said that, finding a great salesperson is fraught with risk, as few know about the secret traits that make a good salesperson. Many people with the gift of gab masquerade as a salesperson; however, if you dig a bit deeper, the veil gets lifted. From my experience of starting an insurance sales company at the age of 19 in Slovenia, and building it up to the number one position in five years, I can say with conviction that a successful salesperson has unique traits. I believe these qualities and not the education background or fluency in English differentiate the good from the not so good ones. Now, I am going to spill the beans and tell you about the traits of a successful salesperson.
Great Sales Managers Have Undaunted integrity
A good sales manager must be able to lead the team in an exemplary fashion; his personal behavior must be above board all the times. Most of the sales people join as trainees or cadets at a very young age. They are highly susceptible to their manager?s behaviors and unconsciously adapt it. They do so because for them the sales manager is the role model and most of them aspire to be there. A good sales manager must depict honesty, sincerity, and truthfulness in dealing with people so that his behavior inspires his team in the right way.
Great Sales Managers Have Unflinching Consistency
Elbert Hubbard, the famous American writer, says it very well, ?Self-discipline is the ability to do what you should do when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.? Good sales managers loathe procrastination and prefer to do things rather than looking for excuses for not doing it. By using the power of self-discipline, great sales managers cultivate a mindset wherein they are controlled and ruled by their deliberate choices rather than by external circumstances, emotions or other?s whims and fancies. A good sales manager would instill the virtues of self-discipline in the team thereby making them singularly focused on generating leads and following the process to convert them to billing dollars.
Great Sales Managers Have Solid Conviction
Great sales manager do not feel the urge to defend their conviction and in the same spirit display the openness to accept contrary or others? point of view, without slipping into the judgmental mode. Good sales manager have a strong conviction in what they want to achieve and script an action plan to achieve it in full, without getting swayed or distracted by other?s opinion. If you want to build a great sales team, go and fund a sales leader with an ?I must get it? mindset.
Great Sales Managers Have Emotional Maturity
Sales environment tend to be stressful; pressure tends to build up quickly and to top it up the billing counter resets to zero at the start of every financial year. When novice sales managers encounter stressful selling situations, their emotions come to the forefront and start running the sales meeting instead of using a combination of influence and selling skills to turn the tide.
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Good sales managers have the emotional maturity to deal with sudden changes, uncontrollable circumstances and unexpected demands from customers, without losing their composure. Sales managers with emotional maturity tend to achieve their objectives faster than those who lack it, and at the same time, it helps them in building a great relationship with customers and their internal sales team.
By using these tips, I hope you will be able to find a good sales manager. In case you need any help or guidance in refining your sales process, don?t hesitate to contact me for help. I have coached hundreds of successful executives on sales and my company; Platformax is packaging these sweet little secrets in artificial intelligence software, thereby making it easier for people to close sales.
Sr?an Mahmutovi?