What Makes A Good Salesperson?

Companies that have worked with good salespeople are very happy to be working with them because they can make that company more effective. It makes everyone’s lives easier - on both sides of the sales process. Good salespeople can save companies time, money, and headaches. They can move the company forward because they introduced them to a solution to a pain or problem that they had. Good salespeople are seen as trusted advisors. Companies know they can rely on them to help them solve their problems.

Another issue a lot of Founders have with sales is that it has a reputation issue: It's looked down upon; it lacks prestige. Nobody grows up wanting to be a salesperson. Additionally, Founders are constantly bombarded by salespeople with unpersonalized cold emails, cold calls, and LinkedIn messages. They don’t want to be that person “bothering” prospects but they’re not sure what they should be doing.

Other reasons include a lack of confidence, fear of rejection, and, most times, a preference for building over selling. One thing I can guarantee is that once a non-sales Founder understands sales, realizes rejection is part of the game, and prioritizes more time towards selling, they will like sales a lot more than they previously did. And once they start closing deals, they may even love it.

Exercise: Make sure you’re blocking off time for sales each week on your calendar.

Block one hour per day to dedicate to prospecting. It’s usually a good idea to do this first thing in the morning to get it out of the way. If you push it off, it may never get done.