what makes a good salesman

One of the most asked questions in the direct sales industry is: what makes a good salesman? It would seem to be an easy question to answer. Just go down to your local bookstore and you'll find stacks of books that claim to have all the answers. But in the real world of selling, what makes a good salesman is a little harder to answer.The reason for this is that there seems to be as many different ways to be successful at sales as there are sales people. On the surface, they all seem to be completely different. But if you look a little closer, you will notice some similarities. The following are some of the traits that all good salespeople share:1. The ability to quickly develop rapport wih their prospective customers. Without rapport, your prospects won't trust you enough to feel comfortable doing business with you. What makes a good salesman is either an innate ability to bond with people, or more likely, working hard to study and acquire this ability.2. A desire to truly help their customers. People can sense when the only thing you care about is your commission. What makes a good salesman is putting the customer's needs and desires first.3. The habit of asking questions to gather information before making a pitch. The average salesman will just start right in with every reason they can think of why someone might want their product and hope that the customer will pick up on something and decide to buy. What makes a good salesman is their knack for finding out what is most important to each individual customer and showing them a product that gives them exactly what they said they wanted.4. Sticking to a consistent, proven sales process. Good sales people don't just show up and "wing it". They know that even though they make some sales that way, in the long run their closing ration is much higher when they follow a step-by-step process that consistently results in more sales. What makes a good salesman is his discipline in sticking to that process every time.5. A never ending desire to learn more about how to sell more effectively. Most salespeople never take it upon themselves to further their own education in the profession of selling. What makes a good salesman is his drive to keep learning, keep improving even when he is already at the top of his game.Being successful at sales isn't really a big mystery. There are some basic fundamentals of interpersonal skills, selling techniques, attitudes and work habits that anyone can learn and apply. What makes a good salesman is simply learning and sticking to those basics.

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