6 Success Commonalities

I have to share that when people say they are going to share the “secret to success” I am instantly on guard. Why? Because I’m sure it’s a scam.

There is no SECRET to success… yet there are traits that will make it easier to be successful:

• Personality
• Charisma
• A Love of Learning
• Positive Attitude

All those things make it EASIER to be successful in a sales career, but they aren’t the be all or end all.

Skills that can be learned and strengthened are also critical for sales success:

• Emotional Intelligence
• Toughness & Resilience
• Sales Process
• Listening & Questioning

Plus for every example of a successful salesperson that comes to mind, an alternate or opposing person pops into my head. Successful salespeople don’t all look or act the exact same way.

Which got me thinking about what commonalities I see in successful salespeople, so here is my list:

1. Work Ethic – you MUST be willing to put in the hard work, whatever is “hard” for you that you know must be done. Someone once told me that “successful salespeople do the things that unsuccessful salespeople fail to do.”
    
2. Positive Belief – this isn’t looking at the world through rose colored glasses – instead, this is the belief you personally can impact a positive outcome on your current situation.
    
3. Personal Responsibility – taking ownership of the inevitable sales cha cha, understanding that each step forward or backward is a result of choices you make. Plus, you can impact the changes before they happen through your behavior.
    
4. Stretch Mentality – perhaps this is about goal setting, but I think the stretch mentality encompasses more than that. It is about stretching beyond where you are now up to the next step beyond where you are today; mentally, physically, emotionally, etc.
    
5. Curiosity – the most successful salespeople I know are genuinely curious about LOTS of things, it extends into their work! Curiosity about their prospects, their business, their industry, and sales.
    
6. Courage – My Dad used to remind me that moving forward in the face of your fear is what courage is, not the lack of fear. It jumped out at me that a lot of sales success comes from doing things in spite of our fear.

Today let’s focus on strengthening our talents and using them to overcome our weaknesses.

Working toward creating the habits we need to ensure we work hard every day, believe in ourselves, take responsibility – for the good things as well as failures, STRETCH our minds, stay curious, and do the things that scare us.

In the pursuit of success,
Lynn
 
ps: when you’ve decided you or your team need assistance with the things that will make them successful, drop me a note and we’ll work together to create a training program to enhance their current skill sets, with coaching built in to turn their new skills into good sales habits.