Welcome to SRG Insights where we answer your questions about sales,
sales management, and sales training. You know, we often get the question,
"What makes up the mindset of a top performing sales professional?
What are those characteristics that help them stand out or that make them
more effective?" And we've really identified five key areas that I think
really lend themselves and contribute to somebody excelling and really exceeding
expectations as a sales performance…as sales professional. I'd like to break
those down for you. The first area is what I'll
call curiosity. This is the mindset of the investigative journalist. In my mind,
the best reps have that innate curiosity about the customers, about their industry,
about the business. They really want to find out what makes
things tick, find out what's going on within their customers,
and try to understand how to help make them better. So that's the
investigative journalist. The second mindset is really that
of a go-giver. And I really like that concept of the go-giver.
There's a book by the same name. That's the idea that you're there first
to add value without expecting something immediately in return.
And sometimes this is difficult, especially for a new rep to think about,
"Wow, I'm putting all this effort forward, I'm providing all of this additional
content or this additional value and I'm not getting a sale out of it."
But that go-giver growth mindset is one that will pay dividends in the future that
you generally want to help your customer, and as a result, you'll become
more effective. The third area is really the mindset of a consultant.
In my experience, the best salespeople are ones who understand the
customer's problem, take the time to really understand the pain,
the impact that the problem is having on the organization, and how they can help
solve it and then they can develop a solution that's really aligned much like a
consultant would do in a consulting engagement. Often times,
consultants make great salespeople when they make that transition because they've
already understood how to ask those questions and how to really dig in and
learn about the problems so that they can find unique ways to find it.
So I think that consulting mindset is very important. The fourth area is really
around listening. And I guess I'd call this the mindset of a counselor.
So, often times, salespeople get a bad rap because they do all the talking,
they're showing up and throwing up or they want to get through their pitch deck.
You know, the classic identification of an extrovert is that salesperson who's trying
to pitch you or convince you. And actually, I think that's a thing
of the past. And research suggests that that's not necessarily the most successful
personality type. Those who can learn to ask great questions and then shut up long
enough to understand what the customer's getting at, I think is really going
to help position that salesperson for success. Again, the counselor is there
to help understand the issues and ask questions, but not to do all the talking
or provide all the answers. And I think it's very critical to how the
salesperson approaches their customers. You know, Dale Carnegie said almost 100
years ago that, "People will like you a lot more if you're interested in them
than if you try to get them interested in you." And I think that's a key takeaway
from that thought. And also Stephen Covey who said, "Seek first to understand and
then be understood." And that's one of the principles,
one of those habits that's really stuck with me. So that idea of listening and
being that counselor, I think, is critical to a successful salesperson.
And the final area is really around grit and tenacity. I guess I'd call this the
mindset of a hockey player. And the reason I use that is we've had a
client who actually used that as one of their hiring screening profiles that they
looked for hockey players who had been successful, that knew how to get in there
and practice, and work hard, and play hard, and even mix it up or fight
for the game if necessary. I think at the end of the day,
sales takes tenacity, and hustle, and sometimes pretty thick skin
to be successful. We want those reps who are willing to take on that challenge,
who actually rise to that challenge and that occasion. And I'd look for those who
have a history of excelling under difficult circumstances,
may not necessarily be in hockey, but in those situations where they've had
to demonstrate that grit, that passion, that perseverance
towards longer-term goals. I think if we can look
at those opportunities, we can use behavioral-based interviewing
as a way of looking for evidence that they've demonstrated those characteristics
in the past and then within our sales teams, I think we can really look to train
and create a culture that reinforces and rewards those behaviors.
I think if you make it a priority and celebrate the successes when you see
those traits, you'll be setting yourself up for success with a high-performing
sales team.
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