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Success in sales is dependent upon your ability to differentiate your product or service in a crowded field. More important still is your ability to differentiate yourself as a salesperson. This is accomplished first by possessing and developing the ten foundational success skills, and then by developing your own personal brand. Read More

Closing is the first skill or attribute a salesperson must possess. Not because they need to be able to close a deal, but because they need to obtain the commitment to open the possibility of working together, which is the first and most critical commitment the salesperson must obtain. Great salespeople obtain commitments that move the deal through the sales and buying process. Read More

Influence isn’t tactical. Influence is the sum of all of the foundational attributes that make you someone worth listening to in the first place. The best salespeople possess the ability to influence and persuade others, because they are people who create trust. That trust builds relationships and it helps build results. These are the keys to influence. Read More

Great salespeople have the ability to speak well and to convey their ideas and their solutions. This ability in great salespeople is never exercised until they have exercised the even greater communication skill of listening first. Great salespeople listen to understand, and they know that it conveys the even more important communication that they care. Read More

Great salespeople have the ability to create high-level rapport with their prospects and their clients. Great salespeople have the ability to connect on a very human level. This rapport is built upon the salesperson’s empathy and their emotional intelligence. These attributes combine to generate trust and confidence, and they are the foundation of long-term relationships. Read More

Sales is about creating positive outcomes for others. In order to create these positive outcomes for others, the salesperson has to have both the desire and the ability to do so. Caring is the desire to create these outcomes, and the force underlying the actions they take to ensure that the outcomes are achieved for their clients. Read More

An open and public discussion with David Brock on competitiveness in salespeople. This is the third of my postings on competitiveness and a response to David’s second post on the same topic. We disagree and we do so without being disagreeable. Read More

Determination is an essential attribute of great salespeople, allowing them to succeed where others fail. It provides the salesperson with an immunity to the word “no.” Determination allows the professional salesperson to persist in their efforts to acquire new clients and to succeed in delivering the outcomes they have promised. Read More

The role of the professional salespeople continues to change, and it continues to require more critical thinking and creativity. In order to succeed in sales, professional salespeople need to be resourceful, and they need to bring their creativity, their imagination, and their ability to identify and manage resources to bear on their prospect and customer’s challenges and opportunities. Read More

Initiative is the ability to take action proactively. It means taking action before the action is required or necessary. Being a professional in sales requires many attributes, and Initiative is high on that list. It is a defining attribute of professionalism, and it creates opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t exist. Read More