20 Key Strengths & Characteristics in Sales & of a Sales Rep

There are a plethora of key strengths successful salespeople know how to utilize. Without these incredible strengths, their efficiency, happiness, ability to connect with clients, and ability to achieve success, in general, are negatively impacted.

You can rarely become an amazing sales representative without acknowledging and growing upon your strengths. However, many struggles with finding these innate and acquired abilities.

Contrary to what you may think, effective sales reps don’t always invest thousands of dollars for a strengths coach in order to unlock their potential. There are much simpler and more efficient ways to unlock your strengths.

In this article, we will highlight these strength-finding strategies and why it is important to know your sales strengths.

Why Are Strengths Of Strengths In Sales Important & Their Benefits

Knowing your strengths offers many benefits that salespeople should be aware of. If you are a salesperson, you know that gaining any competitive advantage can be the difference between acquiring much-desired customer referrals and being left behind by the competition.

As such, knowing your strengths can give you immense power and confidence in the workplace.

In addition to this, the following benefits can also be acquired by knowing your strengths:

• Meeting and surpassing your goals, as well as setting clearer and more personalized goals
• Gaining more potential clients through a positive reputation
• Building stronger bonds with your clientele and your coworkers
• Potentially getting a raise and achieving more than you thought possible in your career
• Maintaining passion and confidence in your abilities
• Becoming better at making decisions that maximize your success
• Improving your communication abilities
• Overcoming some of your major weaknesses in sales, such as being afraid of cold calling
• Know how to better present yourself to an interviewer and acquire jobs you truly desire

List of 20 Strengths In Sales & Marketing (Described In Details)

Organizational Abilities

The organization is a necessary skill in almost every industry. However, it is especially important to salespeople. Knowing how to manage your time and keep your workplace tidy can ensure you maximize productivity. It will help you stay focused and eliminate some frustration from your work.

Business Communication

As a salesperson, communication is a key part of your job. Whether you are having conversations with clients or speaking to your boss, knowing how to properly communicate is crucial. If you do not have communication skills, you risk dropping your client retention rate and getting a bad reputation at work.

Motivation

If you are motivated, you are far more likely to achieve your goals. Motivation is useful when you just start your job. It can keep you going during hard times. However, motivation is best utilized in combination with discipline. Doing this can ensure you stay motivated and focused for the long term, not to just achieve short-term outcomes.

Confidence

Having confidence can boost your motivation, communication abilities, and many of your other strengths. This is so because if you do not have the confidence to show your strengths, no one will know you have them. Being confident can also help you attract potential clients and sell more products.

Adaptability

The workplace is constantly changing. Without adaptability, you will soon be behind the rest of your colleagues in the way you approach problems. Being adaptable can ensure you keep up with the high speed of sales work. It provides you can maintain your productivity, too.

Reacting To Objections

No salesperson is going to always get what they desire. You need to know how to react to objections or unpleasant and difficult questions. Reacting in a professional manner will ensure your clients feel comfortable with you. It solidifies the idea that you are an expert in their mind.

Presentation Skills

Throughout your sales career, you will likely give hundreds or even thousands of presentations. They will be in front of clients, managers, and potential business partners.

Knowing how to adapt your presentations and stay professional is crucial in these scenarios. Maintaining a calm tone and keeping your focus will also improve your presentation skills.

Negotiation Abilities

If you want to get the best deal when it comes to money questions, negotiation skills are necessary. If you constantly negotiate well, you will ensure you get the best financial deals.

This can set you apart from the competition and give you a competitive advantage. A good negotiator can help create a great relationship between the client and the manager.

Referral Marketing

When you are a salesperson, getting new clients is almost always on your mind. This is why identifying potential leads in any way typically brings a smile to a marketer’s face. Referral marketing is a great way to acquire clients and relatively quickly convert leads into sales.

Curiosity

Some of the best intellectuals in every industry list curiosity as one of their main strengths. Curiosity allows you to better explore unique options for your clients.

It gets you comfortable with trying new things and being more adventurous as a marketer. This can help you maintain passion and energy in your work.

Being Willing to Listen

You may think that communicating and speaking are key to sales. It is, but being able to listen is also key to being a successful salesperson. It will help you build a great relationship with your clients. And, it will ensure that you can find the best option for every unique individual you deal with in sales.

Problem-solving

The unfortunate reality of any work is that you will encounter some issues. By knowing how to solve these problems, you can ensure that you are back on track as soon as possible. It can help you boost your productivity and efficiency. Over the long term, this will help your career.

Creativity

Many salespeople are using the same old tactics that individuals decades ago were. If you have some creative strategies for selling company products, you will naturally stand out from the crowd.

Those who use creativity are typically also more entertaining as salespeople and build stronger bonds with their clients.

Integrity

Integrity: it’s the right thing to do, and it helps you as a salesperson. When you are someone who constantly makes the most ethical decisions, you will get a quality reputation at your organization.

In addition, those who do not take responsibility for their actions are more likely to suffer legal consequences, something everyone wants to avoid.

Teamwork

Most salespeople work with teams. Even if they do not work together on everything, having great teamwork skills can help you maintain good relationships with coworkers and ensure that you have connections.

Having connections at work ensures you have support when you need help, saving you time and boosting your positivity.

Products Knowledge

Being in direct sales means you truly have to know what your products are and why your customers need them. When you have familiarity with the products you are selling, you seem more like an expert.

It can also ensure that you connect with clients and truly communicate the benefits of purchasing the items you are selling.

Emotional Intelligence

Having emotional intelligence will ensure that you properly communicate and connect with your clients. Emotional intelligence allows you to understand the client’s thoughts processes and feelings.

You can then adjust your selling style to best meet your client’s emotional and intellectual needs. Empathic salespeople almost always retain more clients too.

Having a Growth Mindset

No salesperson will start their job being perfect. There is always room for improvement. As such, there are two ways to view your imperfection: using a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. If you use a growth mindset, you can stay positive and be open to learning more.

Cold Calling Skills

This is a very niche strength, but many individuals believe that cold-calling skills (or bravery in general) are key to being a great salesperson. Being willing to be rejected is another strength that is included in the ability to cold call. Plus, effective communication is also involved.

Staying Focused

Imagine you have lots of emails to answer every single day, dozens of clients, and additional responsibilities. The urge to doze off and do something unproductive is strong. Those who can stay focused are able to keep their productivity levels high and achieve more than others.

How To Identify & Master Your Strengths At Workplace As A Sales Person

If you have the goal of finding out your key strengths, you may be wondering: how difficult is this process? There are some rumors that strengths can only be acquired through hours of research, taking a plethora of tests through a psychologist, or hiring a personal analyst.

However, this is not the case at all! You find your strengths simply and within less than 30 minutes. If you are looking for the most efficient way to get your strength list, the best way to do this is through an online strength test. One such assessment is the HIGH5 test.

This assessment will provide you with a comprehensive list of strengths within a single sitting. The questions are simple and straightforward. Anyone can take the test and almost instantly get crucial insights into their strengths.

There are some other strength tests, such as the MBTI, also available online. In addition to this, you could also perform a self-analysis of your strengths. To do this, look back at your past successes.

Think about times you overcame difficult times in sales. Then, notice which strengths and environmental factors contributed to your success. If you notice a pattern, you have likely found one of your strengths. This strategy is less efficient and takes more effort, though.

What Are Weaknesses Of A Sales Person

As with any individual, even the most effective salespeople have some weaknesses. The key is to be aware of these weaknesses and to do your best to minimize them. In general, weaknesses are anything that holds you back in the workplace. They make you less motivated, decrease your positivity, make you irrational, and so on.

Aggressive salespeople likely struggle with keeping their emotions under control and empathizing with others. Those who crumble under pressure and in difficult conversations could struggle with confidence, for example. Your weaknesses are unique to you, just like your strengths.

How to Improve Sales Weaknesses Into Strengths

Usually, people focus on their weaknesses when trying to improve their sales abilities. The best way to become a better salesperson, though, is by maximizing your strengths. Nonetheless, there are a few steps you can take to ensure your weaknesses are minimized.

For example, you can change your environment. Some individuals are easily distracted when working in offices. You can transfer to a more peaceful area, limit distractions, or ask your employer for an online work opportunity if it is available.

You could even change the job or career you are in. If you know you want to be a salesperson, but currently struggle with cold calling, you can find a job that allows you to focus on email. Or, if you know you don’t have the best memory, you can work with a company that has a limited number of products they sell.

Finally, you can look for support from others. Ask a coworker or partner you trust to give you some input on their personal sales journey. Note some of their individual weaknesses and how they overcame them. Then, you can try using some of the same strategies yourself.

How To Highlight Sales Strengths In Resume & Job Interview

There are a few options for you to highlight your strengths in interviews or your resume. However, there is a general rule you should keep in mind: saying you have strength is not the same as truly having it.

Many candidates know the importance of strengths and include a huge list of strengths in their resumes. However, this sometimes has the opposite of the desired effect: making yourself look pompous, not energized.

Instead, give examples of using a certain strength along with the list. Or, try including your strengths within prior job descriptions. Additionally, you could have quotes from prior clients, mentors, and employers mentioning your strengths. During an interview, the same is true.

Should not only tell the interviewer your strengths, but also give some proof that you truly have the strength. Mention specific details, like statistical improvements that show your team got more productive under your leadership.

Ensure you do not oversell yourself, but also, do not be afraid to tell the interviewer you have strength if you can prove it.

Strengths In Sales FAQs

What is your strength in sales best answer?

The best answer to this question is the most honest one! You have to ensure that whatever strength you choose to say you have, you can prove you truly have it. It is best if you have specific examples and statistics to support your claim, too.

Another thing you can do to ensure you choose the best strength for maximized job opportunities is to look at the employer’s job listing. See if there are strengths listed there, and ensure you have them, in addition, to mentioning them during the interview.

Such strengths could include communication, organization, product knowledge, efficiency, and so on.

What are the 3 most important things in sales?

There are a plethora of strengths that can help you become a better salesperson, gain more business opportunities, and enjoy your job more. As such, it is difficult to narrow down the list to just 3 important things. In general, though, being adaptable is crucial in strengths.

You will constantly hear new ideas, techniques, and complaints and must be able to adapt to them. Communication is also key in sales. You will be speaking to clients, bosses, partners, coworkers, and more.

Being able to effectively communicate can make or break your job experience. Finally, having confidence is also necessary as a salesperson. Confident salespeople are generally more motivated, and dedicated, and can sell more products. They are seen as experts as opposed to insecure individuals.