Effective sales executives know that successful sales strategy, in combination with well-designed product and marketing strategies, make up an effective revenue generation strategy. All three of these components affect and enhance each other and must be aligned if an organization wishes to achieve sustainable revenue growth.

One critical factor in any sales strategy must be the sales force that carries it out. If an organization’s sales team is ineffective, it will be unable to reach its maximum revenue generating potential. Here are Jeff Rogers’, the CEO of OneAccord, 10 fundamental characteristics of successful salespeople…

Listen and ask questions effectively.
To be successful in sales today, salespeople can’t sell products; they must sell solutions to problems. And the only way to understand the problems prospects are facing and the solutions they are seeking is through effective questioning and careful listening.

Ask for and follow up on referrals.
Everyone is familiar with the 80-20 rule: 80% of sales tend to come from 20% of the sales force. The primary reason for this disturbingly familiar statistic is simple. 20% of salespeople are effectively following up on referrals; the other 80% aren’t.

Focus on a few top prospects.
Some prospects are easy to approach; some are easy sells. Because their time is limited, exceptional salespeople concentrate on the top prospects that offer greatest expected return.

Use coaches.
Good salespeople know that they can’t be successful without help. They search out people inside and outside their organization who are able to assist them in understanding the needs and requirements of their prospects.

Research prospects and organizations thoroughly.
Before initial meetings, outstanding salespeople understand their prospects’ industry, organization and situation; they may even have some idea about the problems a specific prospect is facing. The internet, past customers, and even other members of the sales team are all potential resources for this invaluable information.

Act as business consultants by helping prospects solve problems.
To quote Chuck Swindol, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Good salespeople show their prospects that they do care and that they do want to ease their pain by helping them solve problems any way they can.

Build relationships.
Strong relationships lead to satisfied customers, good referrals, and more sales.
Provide appropriate marketing messages. Like sales and products, marketing is a key component of any revenue generation strategy. Exceptional salespeople understand this and are able to effectively employ marketing messages in their sales by using killer arguments, key discriminators, ghosting discriminators, and case study analyses.

Recognize when a prospect is ready to buy.
Good salespeople always know where a buyer is in the selling cycle. Likewise, they only try to close a prospect when she is ready to buy.
Know how to close a sale effectively. Whether or not closing is the most important moment in the sales process, it is certainly a necessary one. Exceptional salespeople know when and how to close effectively.

There is a wide belief that exceptional salespeople are born with their skills; this is one of the business world’s most notorious myths. All 10 of the preceding characteristics of successful salespeople can be and in fact must be developed through training and practice. Any organization interested in revenue generation strategy must invest the time and effort necessary to train a highly successful sales team. But even this alone is not enough; only when the sales, marketing, and product strategies are properly aligned into an effective strategy of revenue generation, can an organization realize its true potential.

Jeff Rogers is co-founder of OneAccord Principals, which helps companies grow revenues with interim executives that can serve your organization on a project, interim, or permanent basis. He has been involved in both sales and management development for the last 25 years and has taught every aspect of selling: prospecting, presentation, closing, and answering objections. You can contact Jeff at Jeff.Rogers(at)OneAccordPartners.com.