People that are good at building relationships tend to be good at sales.

Why? Because we tend to prefer to buy things from people we like.  It’s possible to bulldoze your way to a sale.  You might get someone to buy from you with a cutthroat, aggressive sales strategy, but probably only once.  I’m not going to go back to someone who is overly aggressive.  I will go back, again and again, to someone I like.  My wife and I buy our car and home owner’s insurance from a family friend.  I know for a fact we could get cheaper insurance (my wife has checked).  We don’t, and it’s certainly not because they bulldozed their way into our lives and we’re too passive to change.  It’s because we have a relationship with the people involved, and we’d rather preserve that relationship than save a few bucks each month.  That’s effective selling.

People who believe in what they’re selling tend to be good at sales.

Frank, open, honest recommendations based on something a sales person actually believes is an effective way to sell something.  Don’t sell Coke if you drink Pepsi.  Don’t drive a Chevy if you drive a Honda.  Don’t sell pharmaceuticals that you don’t believe actually work. Sell something you’re convinced works and you won’t need to rely on your acting skills to convince your customers.

Good sales people are knowledgeable about their products.

A good friend of mine spent time in management at Best Buy.  Now he works at a commission based sales job (which he’s great at, btw – he was born to sell).  I remember casually asking him about this or that product in the section of the store he was a manager in.  Even after he didn’t work there anymore, he could still compare the merits of one product to another.  He kept up with the latest features in the latest products, even after he ceased to work there.  You need to know why what you’re selling is better than what the other guy (or gal) is selling (that’s the essential question, isn’t it?).

Good salespeople are good communicators.

When I say good communicators, I don’t mean they’re good at communicating with people that think like them.  I’m excellent at communicating with people who think like I do.  Most people are.  Great communicators are good at gauging what type of person they’re dealing with, and tailoring their communications to that persons needs.  This is a skill that will help you in any walk of life, this is usually present in the best sales people.