Successfully hiring strong salespeople involves many facets, but I want to focus on a particularly important item. Sales requires a fine-tuned blend of self-esteem and empathetic outlook to be effective.
First, let’s define these terms for the context in which we are using them:
Self-Esteem – The ability of a person to realize and appreciate their own unique self-worth. They base these feelings on internal factors as opposed to external ones.Empathetic Outlook – This is the ability to perceive and understand the feelings and attitudes of others – to place oneself in-the-shoes of another and to be able to view a situation from their perspective.
Each of these two aptitudes impacts the other and therefore the delta between them must be measured. For almost all sales positions, it is imperative to have a stronger empathetic outlook than self-esteem.
These salespeople are able to read the nonverbal cues of others to understand communication at a deeper level. They also do not overvalue their personal needs in comparison to the prospect’s needs. They have the ability to focus on the prospect’s strategy, needs and “hot buttons” when qualifying an opportunity. These salespeople are also able to suppress their egos to accomplish their goal of closing the deal.
There are articles available that discuss strong egos, strong drives, strong empathy, strong everything when it comes to spotting successful salespeople. Be careful following the broad brushstrokes defining these traits as needed in great quantity. The relationship between the aptitudes is the key determinant for selecting the strongest salesperson.