What is a successful way to become a great salesman ?

Jahmeek,

Being a great salesperson means excelling at working with other people and listening to their problems and needs. That will help you understand why the product or service you're selling is good for them, and get them to buy it, leading to success. I've heard salespeople broker into two groups: Hunters and Farmers....

Hunters like bringing in new business. They are comfortable calling people they don't know, and enjoy the thrill of trying to 'close deals'. Investment bankers,

Farmers are good at managing relationships. They enjoy getting to know their clients well, and then growing the business relationship over time.

To become a great salesman, I think you need to figure out what your strength is, and then find the right job that will allow you to work in your comfort zone. Any company will teach you about their product and techniques for selling it. Becoming great at it will come from loving your job, always listening to your customers, and being determined to constantly improve.

Michael M.

Go sell things!

Sales is such a great skill to have, no matter what you do in the future. Salespeople will tell you that the best way to become a great salesperson is to just start selling. Only by "hitting the pavement," will you gain sales experience, which is what makes a great salesperson. You'll learn what it's like to get rejected by a lot of people, and about your own skills, as Michael M. explained in his answer.

One way to get started is to work in a store (known as retail) as a sales associate, another is to ask local salespeople for suggestions on how/where to get started.

Firstly, I'm not sure where you are in your career but my recommendation is to first start with customer service. There are some great companies out there where you need to be ready to help customers and will put you through training programs for that - you can also think retail here - that's the 1st skill set to learn.

From there, you must learn how to listen - not to what they're saying, but what they're not saying to really get at the root of a person's need. People buy emotionally not logically. If you can learn to listen - you're also on your way. A great salesman is someone who will talk far less that there person he's trying to sell to - get them to tell you why they need the product/service you're selling and then they'll buy!

Here are 4 things that I have seen the best salespeople I know excel at...

1. 
   

   Listening--In order to sell your product, you first have to understand what your potential customer needs. If you end up doing most of the talking when selling to someone, you're not asking enough or the right questions.

   
   


2. 
   

   Caring--You should never work in a sales role at a company where you truly don't care about the people you're selling to. You have to be personally invested in their personal or company's growth and you have to believe that what you're selling will help them.

   
   


3. 
   

   Polite persistence--In a sales job, you will certainly face a "no" more times than not. What matters most is whether or not you're able to brush that off your shoulder and either move on to the next opportunity or push back a little bit. The key here is to be very polite and respectful (you're almost always contact someone who is more experienced than you), while not backing down until until you have a reason why they are saying no.

   
   


4. 
   

   Honesty--If you are honest from the start, it sets you up for a trustworthy relationship with a client. Take a genuine interest in their well-being and never feel like you need to lie to close a deal.

   
   

Hope this is what you're looking for! Salespeople come in every variety--anyone with good work ethic can be successful.

The key to great salesmanship is to quit thinking like a salesman (woman). To be truly successful in sales, you have to be a teacher.

Customers want to learn. They want to learn about the product, learn about the company you work for, and they want to learn about you. By learning, they truly feel that they have someone who has product knowledge, is proud of their company, and is no longer a stranger. Customer by from people they trust.

Something that prepared me a ton for sales was getting involved in fundraising for different groups I belonged to in college. You learn how to be persistent, despite the fact that the majority of people you reach out to are not going to be willing or able to give. This teaches you how to communicate your cause (or in sales your product) to a different audience and customize your message accordingly. Additionally, make sure you know your product-- if you know how and why something works, you'll be much more convincing. The biggest things you need to be a great salesperson are good communication skills, persistence and an understanding of your product!

Sales is an ever change industry. Even you don't do direct sales you will always have a need to persuade people to your side on things. The best sales people listen and ask questions and dig deep to understand what the person's real problem is. The best advice I have in sales is don't be afraid to try new thing. Adjust your tactics, sometimes changing a simple thing can cause a great effect.

It is also important to read an learn more about your product your industry, new techniques and ways people are sold to. The one book that changed how I handle sales and everyone around me is Dales Carnegie's book "How to Make Friends and Influence People". It applies to so many area's of your life, including sales.

A few keys to becoming a great salesperson are: working very hard, being persistent and able to handle rejection gracefully, enjoying interacting with people, and seeking out advice from other salespeople in your industry who are successful. A few other things that are extremely important are listening skills and the ability to develop and maintain relationships.

Jahmeek, by asking this question, you are already on the right track. Sales, unlike school, is one aspect of life where it's ok to copy the answers off your neighbor...in this regard; you can study other good sales people, ask what they do, take and apply their techniques, and make them your own. If you get into sales, pay attention to those top people and find out what they do. You will eventually develop your own style that might be a combination of all of them, and combined with your skills and abilities, it might be the best combination of all when it's all said and done! Persistence and hard work pays off, as I've seen many examples of people that started off as very poor salespeople, barely hanging onto their job, continue to work at improving and eventually hit huge numbers and make great money and be among the most highly regarded salespeople at their company. There are a lot of great books and audio books on sales as well that can help you find your style. Most of all, you have to believe in what you are selling, or else it's just not going to work. If you don't truly believe something is better in some aspect and the best choice for a person, you won't be able to successfully convey that. I've heard sales referred to as a transfer of feeling from one individual to another. I have found that to be very true. Best of luck!

I'll outline the just a few attributes in bullet points(because salespeople don't like to read long paragraphs).

-You have to be personable. People have to like you. Master this and you'll do well in life in general, not just sales.

-You have to be adaptable. You must be able to chat with people, take objections and overcome those. You must understand that you can't win every sale/deal and be able to bounce back as quickly as possible.

-You have to understand the customer/client. You have to listen more than speak. Listen to what drives them, to what their needs are, and speak to those.

-You can't take things personally. Rejection is inevitable, just do your best to be consistent.

Sales is great, even if you don't stay in sales. Learning sales(from an entry level role out of college) taught me so much and I have utilized those skills regularly in my career path as well as personal life.

To be a great salesperson you need to believe in yourself and your ability to convince people and create value for the product you are selling. You need to be abreast of technology and what your competition is up to, it is all about being aware of your space. You've got to be patient while dealing with customers and let them know that they are important to you, listen up to them first and what they want before proposing your solution or offer. Be polite at all times even if the conversation is not going your way or the customer is being difficult to negotiate with. You have to understand your customers needs and look for that "buying signal" when you finally close the deal. Never be afraid to excel or take up challenges from your management and develop your own style of communication with your partners. Become your customer's "Trusted Advisor" and be in it for the long haul, you have to be transparent, honest and fair in all business dealings. You should also plan ahead and develop plans for the short and long term, Overall, just be confident and make sure to do the right thing always.

1 - Listening, focus on what you're customer is saying and try to understand why they need what they're asking for. The more you know about the why the more you'll be able to help solve their needs.

2 - Know how to leverage your resources. You're not alone, cultivate relationships to support you and your customers, training, technical support, operations, colleagues, executives... They can all help you hone your skills and deliver an amazing outcome to your customers.

3 - Be honest - If you're lucky your customer relationships will last a career but not if you're not honest. Take off the armor - You don't have to go into battle when you're trying to make a sale. The more real you are with your customers the more real they will be with you.

4 - Be prepared - Don't wing it, practice, practice, practice. Think about how you can add value to the meeting before you get in the room/call. Know who is going to be there and why/what they are about.

Know your stuff and and exude passion to your customers

Learn how to listen to what's really important to your customer. Dig deeper to understand WHY it's important to them. Only then can you start to help access how you can help them meet their goals.

I began selling at the age of 16. What made me successful at selling was understanding my customer base. Finding out the needs of my customer. I spoke to customers in easy to understand terminology. I was selling to customers and making a successful career. Customers appreciated my salesmanship and followed me wherever I went in my career. You should be able to understand your customers and find out how they can buy into the product you are presenting. You must also be sold on your own product. If you don’t trust your own product you will have a hard time selling it.

Become a great listener and take notes of what you are talking about. It will show attention to detail and allows you to use what you are told to help close the sale. Customers hate having to give them same info multiple times.

You need to know your product, know your competitors products, and how your product wins over the completion. Listening skills are also important so that you can understand your customers needs. You also need to be able to ask the questions that will give you the information you need from your customer to recommend the right products and/or solutions. Be prepared to lose sometimes but learn from that experience. Good luck!

Listening , Probing, Never-say-die attitude and Hard work

You need to enable yourself on the solution you are selling to be a trusted adviser

Hi
You have a lot of advices above. I would add that the best thing is to start from the beginning. What does it mean ?
Begin as a sales guy selling simple products in stores this is a hard job as people are not often interested in your products. So you have to be good in what you do. With the experience you will improve your skills and your approach. Experience in king in sales so do not hesitate to multiply experiences. And believe in yourself, in your are confident that you like SALES domain do not hear the bad advices. When I was young, a guy told me I will be a bad sales guy as I was too shy. 30 years later I feel really comfortable in my life, in my job selling products. I am very happy about my choice so listen to your heart if you feel this is your way for the future...

Learn about the products or services you're looking to sell; understand the capabilities of what you're selling. Understand the buyer's' needs, take a genuine interest in addressing the needs, and present facts of how your products or services and deliver to fulfill those needs.