Nary a day goes by that we are not assessing a salesperson for one of our clients. This activity gives us the opportunity to measure different traits in a wide variety of salespeople in many diverse markets.
There is one trait pattern we always dissect and that is a salesperson’s self-esteem vs. their empathy towards others. At the risk of going too deep, the issue is how much does the salesperson value themselves vs. others. Here is why it is important – a salesperson who greatly overvalues himself will often appear condescending, or even cocky, to prospects when placed into a long sales cycle.
But if you have a high-rejection, short-term sales cycle, this overshifted self-esteem can be quite useful. These salespeople tend to be almost bulletproof. Rejection hardly phases them. Their strong view of themselves allows them to keep moving through calls without overreacting to a hang up.
If your sale requires voluminous call prospecting, this strong ego-driven sales style can be most advantageous.