The Personality of a Top Salesperson

Poor productivity and high turnover rates in the sales field are the direct results of faulty hiring practices. Studies reveal that more than 55% of sales personnel have no real ability to sell, and another 25% have the ability but are selling the wrong product or service. Productive salespeople hav...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nation's business 1983-12, Vol.71 (12), p.30
Main Authors: Greenberg, Jeanne, Greenberg, Herbert
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Hiring
Motivation
Personality
Personnel selection
Salespeople
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Poor productivity and high turnover rates in the sales field are the direct results of faulty hiring practices. Studies reveal that more than 55% of sales personnel have no real ability to sell, and another 25% have the ability but are selling the wrong product or service. Productive salespeople have certain characteristics in common: 1. the ability to sense accurately the reactions of others and to recognize the cues they provide, 2. the inner need to persuade another individual as a means of gaining personal gratification, and 3. the resilience to bounce back from rejection. Some sales situations require an ability to deal with complex ideas and concepts, while others require the ability to make quick judgments and analyses. The primary challenge in selecting sales personnel is that of matching functional requirements of the job to personality attributes of the individual. Sex, formal education, and experience tend to be invalid predictors of sales success.
ISSN:0028-047X
2169-8155