Firstly, I must thank Cucent Sivasubramanian for inviting me to contribute a short article here. Given our long time professional association, I readily grabbed the opportunity to be here.
Let me start by saying that I am not a sales guy myself, but here I am sharing some perspectives about sales guys from an HR perspective.
Having worked in various industries Pharma, ITES, Farm Input and also being an academician I have been closely associated professionally or personally with sale people.
I have been closely observing several sales professionals across various industries. I noticed that successful sales superstars have some x-factor in them. More specifically, I could capture 10 habits of sales superstars.
They know the product and they believe in the product
They try to see product from customer /consumer perspective and showcase the value - how it exactly helps the user
They communicate with a touch of genuineness and invest in building trust
They present themselves as "humbly confident" and not overbearing or imposing themselves
They demonstrate patient listening and not in a hurry; their aggression to close the sale is more subtle.
They use data and facts wherever they can to create a need for the product or to show the benefits of their product to the consumer
They think on their feet and closely read the mind of the consumer to anticipate their needs, apprehensions and dynamically address them.
They inculcate strong personality to cope with several rejections or accepting "NO" and stay optimistic
They engage with people even after a NO or rejection ; they see it as a "deferred sale" and not as a permanently lost sale.
Finally, super sales guys are very organized in their work ; they record things for future use, they manage their time very well; they maintain trackers of various contacts, leads and follow up actions.
There are many other selling skills that are also essential. But I found the above list of habits as key differentiators for Super Stars in the sales profession.
Dr .Raj is an HR professional with 33 years of work experience. He is the CEO of HR Footprints (www.hrfootprints.com) which advises organizations on leveraging HR capabilities to drive business growth.
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