While all twelve of the attributes listed in this chapter impact sales performance, the first four attributes have the largest and most universal impact. Plus, these four attributes can be used as core determinants for Relationship Preference and Selling Style, which are defined in Relationship Preferences and Selling Styles.
Critical Attributes
Sales Drive: Does the individual enjoy presenting, persuading, negotiating, and motivating others? How much do they enjoy these activities?
An individual with a strong Sales Drive does not necessarily derive gratification solely from closing sales. They also enjoy performing the activities that make up the sales process.
It is entirely possible for an individual to have too much Sales Drive. Have you ever dealt with an excessively “pushy” salesperson? This type of salesperson seems to feel that a “win-lose” transaction is acceptable…as long as it is the customer who is on the “lose” side of the equation. Most of us don’t enjoy this type of sales experience very much.
Emotional Toughness: How rapidly does the individual rebound from rejection? Do they learn from their experiences and move on quickly? Or, do they suffer a sustained reduction in productivity?
Emotional Toughness is especially important when a sales job requires significant prospecting, as rejection is an unavoidable component of this activity. If a salesperson cannot rebound rapidly from rejection, they will have difficulty prospecting effectively.
Reasoning Ability: Does the individual ask good questions? Can they dissect answers and pick out the pieces that will help them advance the conversation toward a desired end result?
The Consultative Sales Style (discussed in Relationship Preferences and Selling Styles) requires a strong Reasoning Ability. The salespeople that use this style must be able to ask prospects and customers questions, dissect the answers to identify possible needs, relate the needs to potential solutions, and plan additional questions. All of this occurs “on the fly”, while the prospect or customer is still talking.
Service Drive: How friendly and agreeable is the individual? How interested are they in building relationships and helping others?
We expect salespeople to be friendly, cooperative, and agreeable. Service Drive must be a good thing, right? Yes…but only to a point. If a salesperson has too much Service Drive, they tend to “give away the store”. They are more concerned about being liked than they are about making sales or ensuring that they are managing mutually beneficial business relationships.
To be successful, salespeople need to be able to balance a customer’s needs with the salesperson’s own needs (to make sales) and their company’s needs (to make a profit). This type of win-win-win scenario is the only kind of business relationship that can survive over the long term.