What Makes a Good Salesperson – the Best Personality Traits

A dynamic, driven salesperson is an asset to any sales team. Certain personality traits can make a salesperson near unstoppable. When you look at your own sales team – or applicants for sales job openings in your company – how closely do you pay attention to their personality traits? We think it’s about time you made personality a priority. Along with the values of your sales staff, specific personality traits can make or break great sales.

Dr. William Moulton Marston (1893-1947) was an American psychologist who developed the DISC assessment behavioral model used today by professionals like doctors, educators, employers and sales managers for personality analysis. DISC stands for Drive (or Dominance), Influence, Steadiness and Compliance (or Conscientiousness).

The DISC assessment questionnaire is often given to sales job applicants before hiring decisions are made. This assessment helps the sales manager determine if the potential employee has the kind of personality traits a high percentage of top sales performers display.

• Drive – The ego drive. The salesperson’s desire to overcome obstacles in order to achieve what they want.
• Influence – Your sales employee’s ability to communicate with others in a way that makes people comfortable and convinces them to act.
• Steadiness – The ability to adapt to the current conditions or environment, like having to sit at a desk in one location all day.
• Compliance – The salesperson’s relationship with the rules in place. Do they feel rules are set in stone or can they be manipulated to better suit a circumstance or get the sale?

Using DISC assessment tests can help sales managers determine the personality mix of their sales team. Knowing this information could help:

• Build better sales teams
• Resolve conflicts
• Create awareness that allows a salesperson or sales manager to adapt better to the needs of the job or the team
• Support healthier interactions

So what are some of the personality traits you’re looking for? You’re looking for a blend of a salespersons drive, influence, steadiness and compliance traits which allow them to communicate well with your company’s clients for better sales. The AHS Sales Hiring Course further discusses how to measure a sales applicant’s personality style. By analyzing DISC assessment graphs, you can successfully determine which applicants have the personality style like those of top sales performers.

Taking the extra steps to assess the personality traits of your salespeople can be the difference between hiring top sales performers and average sales performers. Your business could depend on it.