Salespeople wear a number of hats. I believe the average salesperson should be persistent, approachable, communicative, and willing to learn. But don’t strive to be average. Be great—be successful. How do you become successful? There are five important qualities a successful salesperson should have, and they all start with the letter “C.” The following five C’s are why “sales success” should be spelled with 5 C’s instead of two:
- Consistency
Great salespeople are consistent. They don’t keep their prospects and clients waiting. Great salespeople follow up after a call immediately and keep their promises. Consistency also plays a major part in another part of the sales interaction—sales collateral. The collateral that a salesperson provides for his client should be consistent with the company’s branding, messaging, and the stage of the buyer’s journey that client is in. Consistency is the gateway to gaining a buyer’s trust. Trust in a rep encourages company and solution credibility, making it worth investing in.
- Creativity
I recently read a blog post about why creativity is such a powerful differentiator in sales. Creativity allows salespeople to stand out by providing unique value in each stage of the buyer’s journey. It offers sellers a variety of ways to communicate and interact with buyers. If harnessed correctly—through unique outreach, collateral, or other forms of engagement—creativity can lead to higher response rates, conversion rates, and most importantly, win rates. “What if I’m not very creative?” you ask? Do not fear! According to the blog post, we are all creative to some extent. Recognize your creativity by shifting your focus from strictly adhering to rules to adhering to the principles embedded in your company’s sales processes, focusing on acting on these principles, and having the courage to act on your creativity and learn from your failures.
- Customization
Customizing content is extremely important in retaining the customer’s interest and driving sales wins. According to Forrester Research, 78% of executive buyers claim salespeople don’t have relevant examples or case studies to share with buyers. An excellent salesperson has the ability to customize sales collateral based on buyer needs to ensure that the conversation is valuable to the client or prospect. By making this content applicable to the buyer’s use case, the seller is more likely to demonstrate value and close the deal.
- Confidence
Be confident. Confidence is essential for sales success because it invites trust and credibility, which reinforces the benefits of consistency. No one would be willing to buy from a salesperson that responds with tentative or questionable remarks such as, “I guess so,” or “I might be able to do that,” or the worst: “I’ll get back to you.” Having confidence encourages the buyer that the salesperson will be reliable, and the solution will be effective.
- Consultative
Finally, a spectacular salesperson is consultative. A successful salesperson does not show up to a meeting and simply extoll the wonderful features of the product he or she is selling. By being more concerned with the problems of the buyer and how to solve those problems with your product or service, you will have much more successful conversations.
All five of these Cs can be learned and practiced. If you make a conscious effort to exercise creativity, customization, consistency, confidence, and consultation, you will be able to connect more extensively with clients and prospects and discover where opportunities exist. You will be able to expand existing contracts and close more new deals. In other words, you will be more succcccessful!
