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Glendale, AZ - 5 Elements of a Good Sales Team Member | Business Coaching News

SYNOPSIS: Master Business Coach Dan Creed shares his strategy for building a successful sales team in his talk, emphasizing the five core elements he looks for when hiring and scaling the sales team.

Building a Sales Team: Insights from Dan Creed

BY: Danny Creed, Danny Creed
Glendale, AZ - 5 Elements of a Good Sales Team Member | Business Coaching News
In a recent talk on 'Straight Talk on Business,' Master Business Coach Dan Creed shared his wisdom on building a strong sales team. Drawing from his extensive experience and anecdotal evidence, Dan Creed outlined five crucial attributes he looks for when assembling a powerhouse sales team.

Pride and Confidence

First and foremost, Creed looks for pride and confidence in his salespeople. These traits, he argues, are visible even before a potential hire speaks. They examine whether candidates dress appropriately, take pride in their achievements, and exude confidence in their ability to lead in sales.

Active Listening

The second attribute on the list is active listening, a rapidly fading art in the business world. The ability to ask questions and truly listen to understand, rather than just to respond, can set a great salesperson apart from the rest.

Work Ethic

Work ethic is the third crucial trait. Creed values those ready to work tirelessly to achieve their goals over those who may feel entitled. He often probes a candidate's past experiences, particularly their willingness to work on a straight commission basis, to gauge their work ethic.

Avid Learner

The fourth trait is a constant desire to learn. Dan Creed believes irrespective of age, background, or experience, the best salespeople are those who never stop learning. He often asks potential hires about the latest business book they've read or listened to as a measure of this attribute.

Likability

Finally, Business Coach Dan Creed looks for likability. Despite its subjective nature, quickly connecting and forming a positive impression is vital in sales. He recommends trusting your gut feeling when assessing a candidate's likability. Dan Creed admits hiring for sales roles is not an exact science, and mistakes can be costly. However, adhering to his checklist of these five fundamental traits significantly improves the odds of making a successful hire. For more expert advice from Dan Creed, visit his website for personal and professional development resources. [csc_video src="https://cityscoop.us/phoenixaz-businesscoaching/blogs.dir/883/files/2023/06/videouser_883_10807_20230602194747.mp4"] Hi, this is Master Business Coach Dan Creed, and welcome to Straight Talk on Business.  I keep this monstrous file of idea notes for writing articles and blogs. I see articles that touch me. I research things that intrigue me and even quotes or jokes that are pinned to someone's wall. We've all seen that.  I found that sometime recently, I found time to dig through these files. You see, my news had temporarily disappeared. I needed to submit an article, and I had no idea what I was going to write about.  And then, to my rescue, came Mr. Harvey McKay. I've been reading Mr. McKay’s books and articles for years. I've saved one of these articles where he told a story. And I'd like to share it with you.  The story is about a small business owner who is really struggling to generate sales. She decided to hire a sales consultant to give her some help from an outside viewpoint. After she got all over all her plans and problems, the business owner took the consultant to a map on the wall where she had stuck brightly colored pins where she had a salesperson. Now, she asked for a starter. “What's the first thing we should do?” “Well,” replied the consultant, “the first thing is to take those pins out of the map and stick them in your salespeople.” You know, sometimes that's exactly what's needed. However, building a great sales team requires some vision and planning. I've hired hundreds of salespeople, and through the ancient, tried, and true scientific method of trial and error, I've come up with five foundational elements that I always look for in a great sales team member. If I'm hiring, these are the basic criteria that I use before going to any additional steps moving forward.  The first thing I look for is pride and confidence. These are elements that you can see in a person before they ever open their mouth. You can see it, and you can sense it. When the person walks in the room, do they dress appropriately? Are they proud of their accomplishments so far? And are they confident that they can be a sales leader for you?  The second thing I look for is: are they an active listener? Listening is such an art, and it's quickly becoming the lost art of business. Everyone wants to tell, and most listen only to find an opening. So then they can tell. Find someone who's going to ask questions and actively listening for understanding, listening, for understanding— and then they move to the top of my list.  The third thing I look for is work ethic. It doesn't take too many questions to find out if they have a work ethic or not. I'd rather hire somebody that would work their tail off to achieve their goals than I would somebody who felt the least bit empowered. A powerful question in here is, have you ever sold on straight commission? Even if the job isn't a straight commission gig, the men and women who have done it and survived are always solid players for you.  The fourth thing I look for is: are they a learner? No matter if the applicant is fresh out of school or a grizzled veteran. I will look for people who are avid and constant learners, no matter their age, their background, or their experience. A great question here is, what was the last business book you read or listened to? The fifth thing I look for is, are they naturally likable? Whether we admit it or not, some people are naturally likable, and some people aren't. And likability is a key factor in selling anything from an idea to a product or service. So, train yourself to do a scan and ask yourself at first impression: Do I get a good vibe from this person, or do I feel something else? Look, we can't always get it right when hiring a salesperson; sometimes, a mistake can cost us big when we add up the time and energy and the value of training, frustrated staff, and sometimes lost business.  Look, it's time to improve your odds when hiring new sales leaders. There are certainly other factors. But when I follow this simple checklist as my initial test, I seldom make a mistake in hiring.  Thanks for joining us on Straight Talk on Business. I'm business coach Dan Creed. And if you need help with your personal or professional development, go to my website, and we'll talk more.

“Best Business Coach in Phoenix, AZ”

Top Rated Local Business Coach / Advisor / Consultant / Firm

Maricopa County : Phoenix, Scottsdale, Glendale, Tempe, AZ

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“Best Business Coach in Phoenix, AZ”

Top Rated Local Business Coach / Advisor / Consultant / Firm

Maricopa County : Phoenix, Scottsdale, Glendale, Tempe, AZ

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BIO: Danny Creed is in his 16th year as a certified business and executive coach. He has over 15,000 logged coaching hours and is a noted business turnaround expert. He's a best-selling author, international keynote, and workshop speaker. His unique understanding of his clients is due to his own 15 business startups. He is the seven-time winner of the FocalPoint International Business Coach of the year

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