“Do what is right, not what is easy nor what is popular.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
It’s time to move out of your current profession, whether it be education, engineering, or economics and look for something new. You’ve been approached by sales people your entire career and had many email, phone call, and in person conversations with them. In fact, there are so many sales people calling on you it can be a little overwhelming! But, you’ve been offered a position in sales that looks like a good deal on paper. Should you do it?
This series is based on an older article that I have always kept in the back of my head. Called, “Seven Personality Traits of Top Salespeople“, it dispels many myths that people have about sales. My goal at Two Minute Tar Heel is to keep each article under 500 words, which is about two minutes of average reading speed. Starting yesterday and continuing for 7 (business) days, I will be briefly covering these traits of top salespeople:
- Modesty
- Conscientiousness
- Achievement Orientation
- Curiosity
- Lack of Gregariousness
- Lack of Discouragement
- Lack of Self-Consciousness
Trait #2 is Conscientiousness. I don’t think this should surprise anyone, conscientiousness is one of the core personality traits of most good people. How can you do a good job if you don’t care about the results?
From the article.
Conscientiousness. Eighty-five percent of top salespeople had high levels of conscientiousness, whereby they could be described as having a strong sense of duty and being responsible and reliable. These salespeople take their jobs very seriously and feel deeply responsible for the results.
Selling Style Impact: Account Control. The worst position for salespeople to be in is to have relinquished account control and to be operating at the direction of the customer, or worse yet, a competitor. Conversely, top salespeople take command of the sales cycle process in order to control their own destiny.
Seven Personality Traits of Top Salespeople by Steve W. Martin
June 27, 2011
There are several ways to look at conscientiousness. The first, is a sense of ownership over the quota. It’s easy to fall into victim-hood. Our products are old. These quotas are unobtainable. The competition discounts more than we do. The best sales people I have been around take the time to step back and look at the bigger picture. Where are the possibilities? What are our strengths? Then, they actually implement strategy instead of running around putting out fires.
The second is to be conscientious with your customers. You must always strive to give your customers what they need, not just what they want. Sometimes, this means walking away from a sale because you can’t offer what they need. I recall a conversation I had early in my career with Eric Loeffert. We were competing against a technology that we couldn’t match, but which people also usually didn’t need. I asked what he did when he ran into those customers that actually needed the technology. “I stick my hand out and tell them good luck with that product.” That is being conscientious to the customer and yourself. Don’t waste their time or yours.
Are you conscientous? Check back tomorrow to see if you meet the third Personality Trait of Top Sale People – Achievement Oriented.
Two Minute Tar Heel 