The Skills that Make a Sales Entrepreneur
Most B2B sales people at heart are entrepreneurs. Paraphrasing from the Business Dictionary, we can define salespeople as entrepreneurs who have capacity and willingness to develop, organize, and manage customer focused ventures with some risk in order to profitable for the customer, the sales organization and for him/herself.
My hero of competency and human behavior research is Dr. Bill Bonnstetter, the founder of TTI Success Insights out of Phoenix, Arizona. Recently Bill passed away from cancer but has left a legacy of significance in my life on helping me understand myself and others to be a world class sales entrepreneur.
Bill wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review on “The Skills that Make an Entrepreneur.” He determined that successful entrepreneurs (and I believe successful B2B sales people) have 5 key personal traits that give them a competitive edge in their marketplace. They are:
- The Ability to Persuade
- Leadership of Others
- Personal Accountability
- Goal Orientation
- Interpersonal Skills
An entrepreneurial salesperson persuades and leads customers to mutually beneficial decision, has strong self leadership to be personally accountable, focuses on achieving and exceeding goals, and is an interpersonal networker across relationships and cultures.
I encourage you to read Bill’s short article on the skills that make entrepreneur by clicking on the link below. He explains in greater detail how these key traits help you to sell more as an entrepreneur.
As you read this article, think “Sales Entrepreneur” and reflect on how these skills can help you be more successful in sales.
[su_button url="https://hbr.org/2012/12/new-research-the-skills-that-m" target="blank" style="flat" background="#0066cc" size="4" radius="2" icon="icon: long-arrow-right"]Read "The Skills that Make an Entrepreneur" by Dr. Bill Bonnstetter[/su_button]
If you need coaching or help sharpening these any of sales entrepreneur skills, contact me directly for personalized sales entrepreneur coaching.
Remember this week, “You are a successful sales entrepreneur.” Have a great week being successful in the marketplace.