There is a direct relationship between your self-esteem, how much you like yourself and how well you do in sales. The most successful salespeople have the highest levels of self-esteem, while the least successful salespeople have the lowest levels of self-esteem and do not operate at their peak performance.

The starting point of peak performance in selling is for you to begin in a certain way. Each time you think the way a successful salesperson thinks, your level of self-esteem goes up. You like yourself more. You make more calls and better presentations. You make more sales and you make more money.

So what exactly makes a great salesperson? Like most jobs, there is a certain set of skills or criteria that makes one person more successful at a job than another and the sales department is no different.

For me, what is “most important” is the core. Not just being charismatic or compelling, but what lies in the very core of the salesperson. In sales that is analysis; divergent thinking, and tenacity.

Analysis:

An analysis is extremely critical because sales are about to solve a problem. Problem-solving requires the ability to take in lots of information, assess it, filter it, and craft perspectives, understandings, hypotheses, and assumptions. One must be able to assess what is happening in an account or to a client, understand the motives of the buyers and identify unseen opportunities, avoid pitfalls, and more. All of this requires strong analytical skills.

Divergent Thinking:

Once the analysis is done, solutions have to be created and this is where thinking differently comes on. When given the same information most people will come to the same conclusions and offer similar solutions, however, the creative salesperson offers different solutions. The creative salesperson offers solutions others don’t see. The sales department at Afrimash is made up of highly creative salespeople who differentiate themselves based on their solutions, approaches, and execution. They bring more benefits and value. Once there is a lead on a potential client, everyone goes into full action in bringing up the best way to satisfy that one customer.
At Afrimash, we realize that every customer is different, hence, there is no one size fits all sales models. This is why from the very first impression till the end, we anticipate and analyze the customer’s need and create ways of meeting them

The best salespeople don’t quit. They don’t give up. They keep their eyes on the goal, on that one customer and continue to pursue until they achieve their goal.

Tenacity:

At the end of the day, closing a sale can be hard. You might want to quit at some point. Selling will push you to give up. It will challenge your confidence, your sense of self, stamina, and will. The best salespeople don’t quit. They don’t give up. They keep their eyes on the goal, on that one customer and continue to pursue until they achieve their goal.

As the head of corporate sales at Afrimash Nigeria, I have learned that sales would continually test your core and that every day brings a new challenge and I have realized that:

• In sales there is no success without drive, without the determination to get to the top of the mountain, finishing the marathon, getting the last rep done.
• A salesperson who is poor at analyzing will miss opportunities. They will not understand the root of the problems. They will miss diagnosing a solution. Salespeople with poor analysis skills will have smaller pipelines, take longer to close deals and have a terrible win/loss ratio.

• Sales reps who aren’t creative will have a lower win/loss ratio, will compete on price, have a smaller pipeline, and won’t retain their customers as long.
• Sales reps who don’t have determination will not close more deals, or turn over more often, and will be less reliable in the end.

Without these four traits, nothing else matters. It doesn’t matter how well you listen if you can’t do anything with what you heard. It doesn’t matter how engaging you are if you have nothing creative to offer once you’ve engaged the client. It doesn’t matter how honest and trusting your clients see you if you quit because they don’t buy anything in the first 3 months. It doesn’t matter how well you can communicate if there is no substance to the communication.

So, in essence, being a good salesman not only helps you in closing more sales but also creates lasting and meaningful relationships that cannot be overlooked.