The Top Ten Attributes of the Star Salesperson

Always, always keep your thoughts positive. Avoid the negative people in your office who are jealous of others, who gossip and put people down, who are angry that their life is not going down the path they want it to. These are all negative thoughts and the actions of individuals who don’t take responsibility for their own circumstance. These people will act like parasites and suck out the positivity from others. If you are working with people like these, ask to move desks. If you can’t move desks and get away from these people, move jobs!

People like this are self fulfilling prophecies and will only try to drag you down with them.

Too many times have we heard sales people use the same old lines:

* ‘This area is a salesperson’s graveyard.’
* ‘This database has been hammered.’
* ‘Everyone’s on holiday this month.’
* ‘No-one’s returning my calls.’
* ‘If I had a better company car, my customers would take me more seriously.’
* ‘All receptionists are just rude. None of them will help me.’

The Chameleon knows that their life and success is in nobody’s hands except their own. If you’re not happy in your job, move. It is truly that simple, because if you are a star salesperson and want to move, you can! Companies all over are crying out for top salespeople. The only thing you have to have when moving companies is belief in the product you are selling: You.

This shouldn’t be a problem because who knows you better than you…..?

Chameleons accept that whatever situation they are in, it is purely down to them and don’t consider situations that they have no control over. Overall, they have an unshakeable belief that they will succeed.

This brings us onto number 2:

2. Confidence and Strength

Chameleons believe in themselves firstly and radiate confidence and strength. The old adage is true:

‘If you don’t believe in yourself, who else will?’

The biggest battles are always, always within.

Confidence comes from the thinking that you know you will be successful and strength comes from set backs. The sales profession is a mirror of life: It is simply what you make it. It is a game of ups and downs.

Those that learn to overcome the downs and gain knowledge from them will succeed. Those that let the downs consume them will never win. It’s much like having an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. Just make sure that you always feed the angel and starve the devil, because in 95% of cases, all other people will want to do is let your devil feed from their banquet of negativity.

Chameleons have presence around people. They have a good, strong, positive posture and align this with positive body language. They look people in the eye and never deal in lies.

Chameleons are not normal. In fact, the biggest insult to a Chameleon would be to call them normal. They are different from the masses because they actually welcome criticism! Sounds daft, right? No, because only by criticism can the Chameleon learn. They take on board what they could have done better and always make it happen next time. They also realise that criticism is just an opinion, and everyone has one!

Here at Hillrich, in the many businesses we’ve worked in and with, we learned more from those companies who do things badly, than from those that do things well.

If you are not sure if this is you, ask someone you trust to evaluate you and provide some suggestions for improvement. This will in a way, be a form of criticism and will help you in taking steps to becoming a Chameleon.

3. Enthusiasm

If you have no enthusiasm for what you are selling, move and sell something you love. Only with pure enthusiasm can anyone sell successfully.

Enthusiasm is like a fantastic virus – it is infectious! It travels through the air and makes people believe. The difference between prospects going with you or a competitor will on some level, be your enthusiasm for your product.

As we stated before, ‘If you don’t believe, who else will?’ This is the same for your product. If you don’t believe in it, your prospects certainly won’t.

4. A Genuine Interest in Others

Chameleons are truly interested in and enthusiastic about other people. They want to know what makes others tick and they can do to make other people’s lives better.

In order to be a success in sales, you must have this, because sales is NOT a product business. It is a PEOPLE business and those who don’t have an interest in others but pretend to have are immediately transparent.

Chameleons know how to make other people feel important and this is not by being sycophantic. By being interested in that person you make them feel important to you. They will open up to you, allow you to get to know them which in turn will help you determine how to help them and thus serve them better.

5. Persistence

Already if you have read this far, then you have some level of persistence!

It is said that one definition of a fool is someone who continues to do the same thing but expects a different result every time.

Persistence is linked into the positive attitude. Persistence is a result of not getting beat by finding different and more appropriate ways of overcoming a problem.

Thus, the persistence of a Chameleon, coupled with a positive attitude, confidence and strength, enthusiasm and a genuine interest in others will result in success.

6. Empathy

If you can genuinely empathise with people, you will connect with them quicker. Empathising with someone is really the process of putting yourself in his or her shoes. By doing so, you can begin to understand what issues and problems they may face and thus, what the solutions are to those issues. Selling a product or service is just about helping someone solve his or her problems. If you can keep this in focus, you will succeed.

By being sincere with those that you encounter, you will create strong bonds that will last. These bonds will result in you turning prospects into customers. From here, your customers will invite you into their network, resulting in quality referrals.

When selling, Chameleons always think not of the immediate sale, but of a long-term relationship that will follow them to whatever position in whatever company they hold in the future.

7. Goals Focussed

If you’re serious about becoming successful in life and sales, you’ve got to set yourself realistic goals and put them in writing. Chameleons know exactly what they are striving for, both short and long-term. They know when this will be achieved and the results this will bring. It is really a job and personal ‘to-do list’.

Procrastination is to be avoided at all costs.

If you can see where you’re heading, it’s likely you’ll get there and seeing progress through your goals will add emphasis to your mission, on a day-to-day and month-to-month basis.

8. A love of proving others wrong

Chameleons love it when someone tells them that they’ll ‘never make that sale’, or ‘that prospect will never become a customer’, or ‘even Mr. X can’t get in there so you’ll never do it.’

Proving the doubters wrong is what drives a Chameleon.

9. Not afraid of rejection

Anyone in sales who is afraid of rejection is in the wrong profession. Chameleons dislike rejection, but don’t fear it, as no matter how good you are, you will always face rejection. Facing rejection allows you to learn and go back in with another game plan, more appropriate to that particular prospect.

Putting it bluntly, it is terminal to those in sales who fear rejection.

‘Show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser.’

Chameleons severely dislike losing, but at the same, are gracious in defeat. Nobody wins all the time, but winners are defined by how they deal with defeat.

10. Regular Investment in Themselves

All successful individuals recognise that they have achieved it by lifelong learning. They don’t rely on their employers to send them on training courses, they rely on themselves.

This investment could be in the form of business books, seminars, television programmes or simply sourcing material on the web.

As the eight times gold medal winning swimmer of the Beijing Olympics, USA’s Michael Phelps said, “I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and you put the work and time into it. I think your mind really controls everything….The solution is inside you.”

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