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Have you ever walked into a retail store where the salesperson was extremely rude and sounded annoyed when you asked about a product they were selling? Or you received a cold call from a salesperson trying to sell you something over the phone and they were just rambling in your ear not allowing you to get in a word edge wise? Or you wanted to return or exchange something and the salesperson gave you a hard time even though you had a legitimate complaint?

Many salespeople are inexperienced, not qualified to be in sales or are simply in the wrong profession.

So what does it take to be a great salesperson? In part, it starts with some fundamental traits.

To quickly determine if you have the qualities or personality traits to become a great salesperson, answer Yes or No to the following questions:

1) Are you goal-oriented?
2) Do you act on what you say you will do?
3) Do you genuinely care about your customers & their needs?
4) Are you a good listener?
5) Are you good with people?
6) Are you confident & have a desire to succeed?
7) Do you have a willingness to learn from failure and move past it?
8) Are you generally an optimistic & enthusiastic person?
9) Do you take responsibility in the face of problems?
10) Are you persistent?

Scoring: Give yourself a 1 for each question you answer with a Yes.

Evaluation:

Score of 10 ' You definitely have the qualities to become a great salesperson.

Score of 7- 9 ' You could become a great salesperson with some modifications. Remember, you can't change someone who doesn't want to be changed. You have to want to change yourself.

Score of 5-6 - You need to evaluate whether sales is a good career choice for you as you definitely will be challenged with the personality traits you currently possess. This is not to say that you couldn't become a good salesperson but the lack of these traits will hold you back from realizing your full sales potential.

Score of 4 and below ' Just pointing out the obvious. Why are you in sales OR even considering a career in sales? It's time to reconsider another career.

Copyright 2006. ShapeYourVision'