Ten Key Habits Successful Sales People Have Mastered

By Mike Jacoutot, Managing Partner

At Butler Street, we talk about the importance of positive habits all the time during our training sessions. There is not a training session that goes by that you won’t see the following quote from one of our Managing Partners:

“The difference between the successful person and the unsuccessful person is this: the successful person is in the habit of doing things the unsuccessful person doesn’t do.”

It is all about those three little words: in the habit. Here are the ten habits the most successful sales people have mastered.

Successful Habit #1: Always be in search of opportunities to create value

Like a squirrel foraging for food, successful sales people are regularly in the habit of looking at their existing customer base where they have been able to create value. Where can you replicate that value with other “like-minded” companies with similar challenges? Top sales people are always looking for ways to create value and this habit prevents the peaks and valleys that so many average sales people regularly experience.

Successful Habit #2: Pre-Call Planning: The Call Planning Worksheet

“A failure to plan is a plan to fail.” Most sales people hate to plan—they like to “do.” Successful sales people are in the habit of using a call planning worksheet for their client/prospect meetings. They take the time to research their contacts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. They look for common ground. They have a primary objective and secondary objective. They build out their questions and anticipate potential objections. Because they plan, they are able to do this in a very conversational way AND they do it in the customer’s operating reality. See #3.

Successful Habit #3: Always be in the client’s operating reality

I am in my operating reality. You are in yours. Your customer is in their operating reality. Successful sales people are in the habit of mentally positioning themselves on the other side of the desk and looking at customer challenges and opportunities through the customer’s eyes.

Successful Habit #4: Active Listening--seek to understand, before asking to be understood

Successful sales people understand that they were given two ears and one mouth and that they should be doing twice as much listening as talking. When was the last time you learned something while speaking? The most flattering thing you can do is to listen to someone. What you are actually saying to that person is “your thoughts are more important than mine.” Successful sales people are excellent listeners. They ask re-state the customer’s challenge and ask clarifying questions to check for understanding. They listen for underlying clues and hidden messages.

Successful Habit #5: Develop effective questioning skills

Successful sales people have mastered the “science” of effective questioning. Here are two types of questions designed to accomplish the same thing. Which one do you think the customer is more likely to respond to?

• “Can you tell me what problem or challenge you are experiencing?”

• “If you could wave a magic wand, and make any challenge or problem go away, what would it be?

The successful sales person would have chosen the magic wand question. It’s a softer approach to the same question.

Successful Habit #6: Find the ROI for your solution

In today’s ultra-competitive environment, the ability monetize your solution is critical. Successful sales people will monetize their solution using time, money, FTE, defect and other factors like opportunity cost. They use Excel to build financial models to legitimize their solution and make it easy for their customer to sell their solution internally.

Successful Habit #7: Develop strong presentation/speaking skills

Successful sales people have not only honed their speaking and presentation skills, they leverage #1-7 above and focus on creating value for the customer, not focusing on their own company, product or service. They start with the customer’s critical concerns and objectives, provide a chronological overview of their research efforts and show exactly what value they will create for the customer. They use “response checks” to check for understanding and ensure customer buy in.

Successful Habit #8: Master objection handling skills

Successful sales people do not fear client objections. They see it as a window into the client’s operating reality or simply a request for more information. They use proven, structured, repeatable methodologies for objection handling like LAER or I CAN to ensure they develop the skills to professionally and effectively handle customer objections.

Successful Habit #9: Be a continuous learner

Successful sales people invest in their own personal development. They know that they are in a highly competitive environment and face stiff competition everywhere they turn. They understand that being “good” is not a stationary place and that the world is in motion. Good can go bad in a hurry if you are not continually investing in your own personal development.

Successful Habit #10: Persevere

Customers are caught in the whirlwind of daily activities including meetings, conference calls and 100+ emails a day. The successful sales person knows it is up to them to persevere until they get a commitment. They leverage technology and multiple level relationships to find a way to stay “top of mind” to ensure they are in position to gain commitment to their solution. They pursue, pursue, pursue!

At Butler Street, we believe that being in the habit is one of the four cornerstones to success and is an integral part of our training programs. Whether a sales person or not. Everyone can benefit from developing the aforementioned habits. Want to learn more about how Butler Street can help your organization build the right habits to ensure success? Click on contact and let’s start the conversation.