Professional sellers conduct themselves in such a way that buyers respect and trust them. Professional sellers work with buyers, they don’t sell to them.

Many surveys and studies have been conducted asking buyers what traits they value most in sellers. This information is invaluable for those who truly want to be toward the top of the sales profession.

The list below shows the traits buyers say they want to see in sellers. For some sellers, these come very naturally, while for others perhaps it’s a constant struggle to exhibit these traits.

Nearly all the traits can be summed up in one word — professional.

Are you a professional?

Traits Buyers Like

Honest. Buyers want sellers to be honest with them. Give your prospects credit for being intelligent people who know that no product or service is without faults. Be forthcoming with those faults and at all other times.

• More often than not, buyers will find out the truth — if they already haven’t figured it out.

Knowledgeable. Make it a goal to know your products and services — and how they address customer needs — far better than your potential buyers. You should know the industry which you serve better than any of your competitors.

• Most companies do not train their salespeople enough to meet these objectives, so you must constantly take the initiative to learn these
  No More Using Industry Statistics to Sell Business Opportunities
  In the past many business opportunity sellers would use industry specific statistics on their Web sites, brochures and even in videos, which they would mail to potential buyers. The Federal Trade Commission looked into this and found that many business opportunity sellers overused these figures to sell their wares.In the future this tactic of using industry statistics may become illegal and considered fraudulent due to a proposed rule that the Federal Trade Commission is considering which would govern business opportunities. In the rule business opportunity sellers would have to prove and have records to prove that the statistics they use are actual statistics of people who bought their particular business opportunity.Why is such a rule being considered by the Federal Trade Commission? Well, because there has been fraud in the past uniform of unsubstantiated earnings claims, which has damaged consumers. Below is an excerpt from the rule
  ave been conducted asking buyers what traits they value most in sellers. This information is invaluable for those who truly want to be toward the top of the sales profession.

  The list below shows the traits buyers say they want to see in sellers. For some sellers, these come very naturally, while for others perhaps it’s a constant struggle to exhibit these traits.

  Nearly all the traits can be summed up in one word — professional.

  Are you a professional?

  Traits Buyers Like

  Honest. Buyers want sellers to be honest with them. Give your prospects credit for being intelligent people who know that no product or service is without faults. Be forthcoming with those faults and at all other times.

  • More often than not, buyers will find out the truth — if they already haven’t figured it out.

  Knowledgeable. Make it a goal to know your products and services — and how they address customer needs — far better than your potential buyers. You should know the industry which you serve better than any of your competitors.

  • Most companies do not train their salespeople enough to meet these objectives, so you must constantly take the initiative to learn these
    What Has Matching Got To Do With Presenting?
    The secret to presenting to a potential client is "matching." Prior to presenting, you would have asked plenty of questions and uncovered the problems they want solved. The next step then is to present your solution and to do lots of matching.What do I mean by matching? Matching is where you make the connection between the problems a potential client wants solved and the features/characteristics of your service that solves those problems.Your solution has lots of features/characteristics and some are relevant to the potential client and some are not. You want to sort all your features and characteristics into two piles. Pile one consists of the features/characteristics they care about - as they solve the specific problems they have discussed with you. Pile two consists of the features/characteristics they will not care about - as they don't solve any of the problems they have discussed with you. Note that you can only do this sorting if yo
    rhaps it’s a constant struggle to exhibit these traits.

    Nearly all the traits can be summed up in one word — professional.

    Are you a professional?

    Traits Buyers Like

    Honest. Buyers want sellers to be honest with them. Give your prospects credit for being intelligent people who know that no product or service is without faults. Be forthcoming with those faults and at all other times.

    • More often than not, buyers will find out the truth — if they already haven’t figured it out.

    Knowledgeable. Make it a goal to know your products and services — and how they address customer needs — far better than your potential buyers. You should know the industry which you serve better than any of your competitors.

    • Most companies do not train their salespeople enough to meet these objectives, so you must constantly take the initiative to learn these
      Occupational Health and Safety - Stress and Workaholism at Work
      There has been a lot of hullabaloo recently about the problems facing Australia in retaining talented workers and the subsequent pressure placed on those remaining behind in the workplace.The incidence in stress claims is rising and is having an impact on the economy and enterprises in general.The incidences of people who work ‘day in day out’ who in many ways are closet workaholics is increasing.We are told that 1 in 5 Australians are suffering from some sort of mental illness and that 1 in 7 teenager’s at high-school suffer from depression. This comes from proven research but my guess is that it is probably higher, after all these subjects are still quite taboo in our society.Why be the richest and unhappiest person in the cemetery? Take a walk around the local cemetery sometimes and read the inscriptions – it’s actually quite interesting what you read.People are becoming crankier, less tolerant, and the workplace is rapidly
      nt people who know that no product or service is without faults. Be forthcoming with those faults and at all other times.
      • More often than not, buyers will find out the truth — if they already haven’t figured it out.

      Knowledgeable. Make it a goal to know your products and services — and how they address customer needs — far better than your potential buyers. You should know the industry which you serve better than any of your competitors.

      • Most companies do not train their salespeople enough to meet these objectives, so you must constantly take the initiative to learn these
        Actively Market Your Value
        "Bodacious" means to be bold, outstanding, and remarkable. Take those attributes to work and you're on your way to building a fulfilling, bodacious career. Does having a bodacious career sound exciting to you? It is! After starting as an $8 an hour customer service rep, I rose through the ranks of AOL, accepting four promotions and surviving over six layoffs to become the head of corporate training for 12,000 employees. Along the way I learned I needed to be bodacious to achieve the career I wanted. Out of that experience I created my "cheat sheet" of ten essential Bodacious Career Builders. Here's number four: Actively Market Your ValueOne day while I was driving north on the interstate to speak at Princeton University, a billboard suddenly caught my attention. Amongst all the other colorful billboards promoting products and services that to this day I can't remember, this billboard was white with some simple black lettering. In large l
        es — and how they address customer needs — far better than your potential buyers. You should know the industry which you serve better than any of your competitors.
        • Most companies do not train their salespeople enough to meet these objectives, so you must constantly take the initiative to learn these things on your own.

        Organized. For meetings with buyers, make sure you have a valid business reason and are properly prepared.

        • Whenever possible, provide a proposed agenda in writing to your buying counterparts. Do it several days before the meeting to allow them time for input/feedback.

        Punctual. Buyers expect sellers to be on time, even if they — the buyers — are not.

        • “My last appointment ran long” or “traffic was really bad” may be valid excuses on occasion, but there is no excuse for not letting the buyer know if you’ll be more than a few minutes late.
        Solution-oriented. “Think outside the box,” may be an overused phrase, but buyers want sellers who can provide creative ways to solve their problems.
        • Talk to your current customers to identify creative solutions they used in conjunction with your products or services that you can share with prospects.

        Prompt. Return calls and emails the same day whenever possible and always within 24 hours.

        • According to one expert, the current expected response time to an email is now four hours.

        Follow-through. Strive to always meet or ex