Superstar or slouch? Study reveals what sets top salespeople apart
March 16, 2010 by Bob HillPosted in: New Research, sales management, Sales meeting ideas, Special Report - Sales & Marketing, training
New research has uncovered the one trait most sales superstars share — and several others that differentiate the top producers from the bottom feeders.
The study, conducted by Psychology of Sales Reluctance authors George Dudley and Sharon Goodson, was based on interviews with over 1,000 sales execs across multiple industries.
It found the one common trait almost all of today’s sales superstars share is an innate willingness to prospect consistently, whether by traditional means or new outlets — like social networking and online forums.
The study also found these four key differences between top-producing salespeople and low performers:
- Low performers often fear their cold calls will be seen as pushy or intrusive, while top performers assume their calls are welcome because they have info that can help the prospect’s business.
- Low performers generally feel there are only certain hours of the day when cold calls should be made, while high performers feel any time is the right time.
- Low performers blame poor results on non-receptive prospects, bad leads or poor market conditions, while top performers look at their own performance and key metrics to determine what needs adjusting.
- New hires who get a job based on prior experience often don’t live up to expectations because they’re unwilling to learn a new system, while those who show a genuine enthusiasm about learning the new process tend to perform at a higher level.
What are some other things you think separate top salespeople from the rest of the pack? Let us know in the Comments Box below.
Source: “The Psychology of Sales Reluctance” by George Dudley and Sharon Goodson (Behavioral Science Research Press, 2009)
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Tags: closing, performance, recruiting, results, study, survey
March 19th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
(2). A cold call received at “any time of the day” would be very intrusive to me.
March 22nd, 2010 at 6:09 pm
I agree with Essie. Things have changed (duh — no $). Too much sales are calling cold — as a manufacturer and buyer (and not a marketer), I really HATE it! Marketing is a whole new subject since the downturn. Learn from it, understand that your customer no longer has $ to buy anything. They have to make a return-on-investment. Why should they buy from you . . . . . ? No offense to marketing and sales personnel, but customer service sucks nowadays and everyone has learned this in 2010! BTW businessbrief.com — your comment engine also sucks!
March 22nd, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Great salespeople never quit, they find ways to overcome obstacles.
They don’t give up at the 1st sign of rejection.
They create value that customers recognize.
Top performers gain trust and build relationships with customers.
They know how to network well.
March 22nd, 2010 at 6:47 pm
Great article. I believe the use of the term Cold Calling is outdated and prehistoric. That term draws fear and retribution from salespeople and managers alike. It is a lot like the terms “swamp” and “jungle” that have been dropped for “wetlands” and “rain forest”. By changing the name we change the view and therefore change our process. A better and more widely used term today is “prospecting”. This word leaves the bad connotation out. Cold Calling indicates I need to pick up a phone book and start with the “A’s” and stop when I get done with the Z’s. Prospecting suggests “I will be drilling for oil where oil has already been found in the past”. Prospecting also includes many other current communication avenues (i.e. email, text, previous clients, and a host of new applications). With an open mind we can all get a different and more positive view of the task at hand. Keep the articles coming, I learn something every time I read them.
March 23rd, 2010 at 8:22 am
Essie, have you been in sales before? Without prospecting as the article suggests, it’s often difficult to establish new contacts, idenfity opportunities, and ultimately achieve sales goals. I’m mindful that a cold call is an interruption to your day, but if the salesperson is professional, understands something about your business, and can add value to your organization, would you still not be open to a cold call? If not, I would welcome any other alternatives that you might suggest.
March 24th, 2010 at 11:06 am
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The trouble with salespeople today is the lack of work, plain and simple. Here you all are responding negatively to someone that is stating clear facts, that will help you. I have sold, manged, owned businesses, and the fact is salespeople need to work, cold calling is not selling its having a conversation with someone else to be used again in the future. Prospecting is a daily activity which only breeds success. My advice to you negative people is to leave the sales profession now. Leave it to the Top Performers because they “get it”, and obviously many of you don’t.
March 24th, 2010 at 6:12 pm
Essie, quick question… If you owned a company and had a sales force how would you expect them to create new business to put food on your plate aside form prospecting?
Prospecting is an art that needs to be tweaked everyday that you are working. Nothing works the same way everyday. Thinking outside the box and being creative every minute of everyday is the only way to further your career. Prospects wake up on the wrong side of the cave every now and then and you need to be able to use your art to overcome their objections, show them the benefits and create a true interest for your service or product.
March 25th, 2010 at 10:06 am
To put things back on track, I will jump in and say that persistence in a bad market or when they are first starting a new market is a trait all successful sales people seem to have. Some of my best sales jobs took more than 12 months of dedicated prospecting to generate any results. In bad markets, the weaker sales people give up and prospects always remember who kept talking to them in the hard times.
I do B2B sales and I always know that if I can do my job well in that initial contact, where Essie’s feelings are very common, I can overcome that preconditioned idea that many gatekeepers have that cold calls are all just a waste of time, if not a near criminal activity. The key is to quickly relay useful information about how you are going to really help them today. I always believe my clients will always look back fondly to that day that for some reason they listened to me. I know that will rarely happen since I am good at this first contact and they quickly forgot how we first came into contact. It couldn’t have been a cold since they all hate cold callers
March 25th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Our website and other social sites has helped reduce the need for cold calling. I receive for my terrtory at least 15 leads a week that I get to call and tell our story. Each one of those “Prospecting calls” are fun and make my job more enjoyable. People are educating themselves more via the Internet, and we need to make sure that we are communicating the right message to the right people.
March 27th, 2010 at 1:57 am
For Essie: How can anytime be intrusive?
and BE: I could not have said it better myself!
Get real people, get professional, or as BE says, get out!