This ability to identify great sales people did not come over night and came through trial and error with many different types of sales professionals.  What we have discovered over our years of sales recruiting and management experience is that you have to hire individuals with that “sales DNA”.  Great sales people with that “sales DNA” all exude the following 4 critical sales characteristics:

Positive Attitude

This in our opinion is the most important characteristic that a sales professional must posses.  Sales is not an easy profession and comes with a lot of rejection.  If a sales professional does not have a positive attitude they are bound for mediocrity if not worst.

Ability to Ask Great Questions

Amazing sales professionals have a knack for asking great questions.  They have an uncanny ability to ask questions that get individuals to open up and talk freely about their issues which allows the sales professional the ability to figure out how his/her product can solve their issues.

Listening

This goes hand and hand with asking great questions.  One can ask the best questions in the world, but if that individual is not a great listener he/she will not full understand what their prospects issues are and in turn may not come up with a solution that fully solves their issues.

Great Product Knowledge

Finally great sales professionals have a tremendous grasp on their companies product knowledge and how it applies to every scenario a prospective client may through at them.

As you are looking to hire your next sales professional, concentrate on uncovering whether or not they are strong in the above characteristic areas.

Happy Selling!

Most business owners do not factor in the importance of sales staffing when they originally opened their business. Sales staffing usually becomes and afterthought once the business owner realizes that he or she needs someone to sell their product. And most of these business owners naively assume that since their product or service is so great that they will not need to put that much effort into selling it. That is a huge mistake. Your sales staff can make or break your business and you must pay just as much attention to sales staffing as you do to product development if you want your business to be successful.

Many people are currently without jobs and looking for any type of job that they can possibly find which means that you will have to be even more careful when it comes to staffing your sales department. You want to find a sales team that has a demonstrated track record of success. The high number of people that are unemployed means that you should be able to find a number of sales professionals that are applying for a spot on your sales team, but you will have to go through each application with a fine tooth comb and make sure that your interviews are thorough enough so that you can be certain that you are hiring someone that will be an incredible asset to your business.

Also, make sure that you conduct thorough background checks and that you verify all claims made on a resume. Even though you may have not foreseen the challenges that lie in sales staffing, it does not mean that you can neglect these responsibilities. If you take your time and put in all of the effort that is required, you will find an excellent sales staff that will have as much enthusiasm for your products or services as you do and will have no problem selling them.