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It’s Only Common Sense: Searching for Greatness—7 Character Traits That Will Make You Unforgettable

Yes, I know that the world of sales is more difficult today than ever before. We all know that the competition is stiffer and that it is much harder to get a prospect’s attention. But there is hope. Some things never change–and that includes the type of person you are. Your character and integrity are completely personal—and here is the best part—completely in your control. The high road is always there, and it is your choice whether you take it or not. The choice to be an upstanding person and have character that will be admired is yours. No matter what happens around you, if you maintain a steady compass direction toward goodness, you will be the winner in the end.

Here are seven character traits of an unforgettable salesperson.

1. Integrity: Integrity governs everything you do. It is the litmus test of character. A person with integrity will always do and say the right thing even if it hurts their chances of winning the order.
2. Generosity: A person who is generous will always have friends. Being generous involves sharing ideas, knowledge, and time.
3. Honesty: Honesty is a given. This should be easy, but of course, it is not. There will often be times when your honesty will be tested. You may be tempted to tell your customer that the boards were late because the material did not arrive on time when the truth is your team forgot to put the order into work when they first received it. Ouch! That sure hurts, but your honesty in a situation like that will pay off by contributing validity to your over integrity. And your customer will learn to trust you in both good and bad situations.
4. Kindness: Kindness is not always easy, but it is always important. What being kind to someone does for your own self-worth will pay dividends. A great salesperson is kind to everyone they meet, especially their competition.
5.  Helpfulness: Helpfulness is a given. As a salesperson, you are paid to be helpful to your customers. It should be second nature to you to be helpful, but do not limit being helpful to just your customers; also remember your support staff back at the office. A great team member is helpful to everyone as part of their mission to make the entire team successful.
6. Openness: Openness means not even thinking about lying. It means being without guile, always telling the truth and painting a complete picture of the situation without leaving anything out that might be selfishly beneficially to your cause. Being open with people will make them trust you, which is exactly what a good salesperson is trying to do.
7. Forgiveness: I love to forgive; it is so satisfying. As I have said a number of times, do something good for someone who did you wrong; it completely freaks them out! And harboring resentment and holding a grudge against someone is like drinking poison, hoping that it will hurt the other person; it’s counterproductive.

And here’s one more "always": always under promise and over deliver. An eighth characteristic is credibility. This one will come naturally if you have the other seven. If you adhere to all of the above traits, you will earn the attribute of being credible, which is the most important attribute to have as a salesperson.

There are times you will get discouraged, and it will seem like you are losing business or losing a battle to someone who is cheating, but you will always prevail in the end. As my kind mentor, the late, great Lou Cardillo told me one day when I had lost a significant amount of business to another company whose CEO had taken the buyer of that business and his wife to a nice jaunt in the Caribbean, “Hang in there, Danny. Remember that cream always rises to the top.”

It’s only common sense.

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group.