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esearch
indicates the very best salespeople
are not only motivated, but also "smart" in five
particular ways that have a huge impact on their success. When
we say, "smart", we are not referring to normal
intelligence (I.Q.). In fact, general intelligence has little
correlation to sales success. Yet, the best salespeople
possess a unique type of intellect that leads to both sales
success as well as high achievement. Following is a breakdown
of the unique characteristics that separate the best
salespeople from the rest.
CONCEPT
ASTUTENESS
This is an
individual's ability to work effectively with logic,
rational thinking, finance and numbers (numbers, after all,
are simply concepts). Best practice organizations are
focused on helping their clients increase sales, decrease
costs, and achieve competitive advantage (all concepts).
Salespeople who understand how to translate what they sell
in a way that impacts the profitability of a company are
typically the best performing salespeople since they
understand how to quantify their value. Conceptual ability
can be almost impossible to teach and is often a
"natural gift".
INTERPERSONAL
INTELLIGENCE
Top
salespeople do not take rejection personally. By this, we
mean that they do not take a "no" personally, nor
will they become defensive at rejection. Therefore, they
will continue to prospect for new business in the face of
adversity. This is one important way that salespeople are
emotionally intelligent. In essence, this is a measure of
the "thickness of one's skin".
WORD
INVENTORY
This is an
individual's ability to learn in a verbal environment, speak
clearly and compellingly, as well as understand exactly what
a prospect or customer is conveying. Furthermore, since
business executives possess one of the highest vocabularies
of all professions, it is imperative that a salesperson
scores above threshold in this area. This also indicates how
effective a salesperson will be at adapting to new
challenges, sorting out best opportunities, and creating a
logical success plan.
IDEA
GENERATION
This is an
individual's ability to come up with creative solutions to
problems quickly. People who score high in this area can
typically get "outside the nine dots" swiftly.
Often, this leads to "on the spot" ideas that gain
minor customer commitments that advance the selling cycle
forward.
EXPRESSIVE
SPONTANEITY
People who
score high in this aptitude have a tendency to be
"quick on their feet". They also have a strong
need to express themselves. This aptitude is most correlated
to the influence competency, a critical competence found in
the highest performing salespeople.
MOTIVATION
Clearly, top
salespeople are highly motivated. That is, they are
predisposed to take on those activities that predictably
produce high sales. High achievement drive is the critical
intrinsic drive that fuels individual initiative. What may
surprise some is that motivation is often a function of
talent. For instance, someone naturally talented at selling
is much more likely to be motivated to sell. And, the more
positive the selling results, the more individual confidence
increases, leading to accelerated sales productivity and
performance. In effect, "talent" actually is the
spark plug to increased motivation levels - not necessarily
the reverse.
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