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Super Salespeople Are neither handsome nor eloquent Their valuable asset is Possessing successful methods

It is easy to be a salesperson; any company welcomes applicants for sales positions. But being a super salesperson is not easy. A US survey shows that super salespeople achieve 300 times the performance of average salespeople. In many companies, 80% of results come from 20% of salespeople. These 20% are not necessarily handsome or eloquent; the only commonality is that they all possess methods for success, though their methods differ, they share commonalities.

1. Affirm yourself. The most important element of sales activities is the salesperson. Salespeople must accept themselves, affirm themselves, and like themselves. If you dislike yourself, expecting customers to like you is too much to ask. Hong Kong sales guru Feng Liangnu said it well: “The secret weapon of a successful salesperson is to like yourself with the greatest love.”

2. Cultivate good habits. Some people habitually make at least 50 business calls a day, while others make fewer than 3; some set their off-work time at 9 PM, while others think of going home at 5:30; some plan tomorrow’s schedule every night, while others never know what to do this morning... People form habits unconsciously, and unconsciously they either build or hinder themselves—this is the power of habit.

Everyone is a slave to habit; a good habit benefits you for a lifetime. If you are a salesperson, ask yourself: What “successful habits” do you have?

3. Work with a plan. Who are your customers? Where do they live? What do they do? What are their hobbies? How do you approach them? If you are a salesperson, evaluate yourself first, choose an industry or region, understand its trends or characteristics, and make yourself share common topics or traits with target customers.

Japanese sales master Ozaki Tadafumi went to sell encyclopedias to a surgeon whom colleagues had failed to persuade. He first researched the doctor: his mother ran a bathhouse, and the doctor had a private interest in ferns. During the visit, as expected, the doctor immediately showed him the door, but Ozaki’s remark, “I came after washing thoroughly at your mother’s place, so I should be qualified to talk with you,” won the doctor’s favor. During the conversation, Ozaki presented the encyclopedia volume that included ferns, and he had even predetermined which page to open. Such planned cultivation naturally led to another order.

4. Possess professional knowledge. Salespeople should have knowledge about products, business, and related matters. “How do I use this function?” “Do you provide installation services?” If you cannot provide complete or immediate answers to inquiries, saying “I’ll check and get back to you,” “Let me have the manager explain,” or “I’m not sure about this” immediately reduces your value.

5. Build a customer base. A novice salesperson visited a super salesperson. Just then a business call came in; she immediately pulled out the customer’s file from the cabinet behind her, which contained complete records of the customer and every service interaction. When asked why her performance was so good, she opened the file cabinet and said to the novice, “With these 600 customers, how can I not do well?”

Mastering 20 million people is a fantasy, but mastering 200 people is not impossible. Through networking, knowing 1,000 people always offers more opportunities than knowing just 10. From acquaintances to customers, customers can generate more customers, gradually building your own customer base, and performance will naturally grow.

6. Persevere. After one rejection, 5 out of 10 salespeople stop; after a second rejection, 2 more drop out; after a third rejection, only one remains to make a fourth attempt—and by then, he has no competitors.

An insurance company general manager used the “50-15-1” principle to motivate salespeople to persevere. The “50-15-1” means that out of every 50 business calls, only 15 people are willing to talk, and out of those 15, only 1 will buy a policy. Without perseverance, how can you achieve good results?

Successful salespeople are those who fail repeatedly but keep fighting. They do not believe in failure; they see success as a stage, and failure as just an incorrect approach on the road to success. From temporary failure, they learn to change methods and improve. Continuous improvement, continuous refinement, and starting over again and again lead to a good final outcome. A business expert said well: “A portion of effort brings a portion of wealth; without effort, wealth does not come.”

7. Do the right thing. Salespeople sell products or services, which is doing the right thing, but whether it is done correctly is debatable. Women buy cosmetics not for the chemical ingredients but for youth and beauty; they apply for credit cards not for the plastic card but for convenience and pride. Do you understand what youth and beauty mean to her, and what convenience and pride mean to him?

8. Learn from strengths. Everyone’s strengths differ. Usually, people only appreciate their own strengths and overlook others’ merits. To become strong, the fastest way is to learn from the strong; similarly, to become a super salesperson, learning from others’ strengths is the fastest method. A US super salesperson once answered an inquirer: “Many are surprised that, despite achieving sales success 30 years ago, I still search for new sales publications. But I believe that, like experts in other fields, unless I keep up with the latest literature, I cannot maintain my best performance.”

9. Positive thinking mode. Discouragement, depression, hesitation, setbacks, lack of confidence, hopelessness, impossibility, failure, regression, waiting for opportunities, uselessness... Pack these negative emotions and throw them in the trash. Remember, no one can defeat you except yourself. Taiwan martial arts novelist Gu Long said well in one of his novels: “A matter often has many sides; if you always think of the bad side, you are abusing yourself. So even when you encounter blows, you should look on the bright side and try to capture the light.” Emerson said: “The measure of mental health is the disposition to see the bright side everywhere.”

10. Good personal image. What is the first impression you give? A person with a neat appearance easily wins trust and favor. Psychologists conducted an influence experiment: they arranged for one person in a neat suit and another in oil-stained work clothes to cross the road when there was no red light and no traffic. The neatly dressed person clearly had more followers, while the one in work clothes had few or none. So “clothes make the man” is indeed true.

Moreover, in modern industrial and commercial society, everyone bears some pressure and thus tires of it, seeking happiness and ease. What customers hate most is salespeople who pester them, transferring their own performance pressure onto customers. Super salespeople, in contrast, are spreaders of joy and hope; pressure-free selling is the best personal image.

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