Friday, November 13, 2009

Are you a true sales hunter?

One of the most sought after positions in sales is the sales hunter. This is the person who will open and close sales day in and day out irrespective of the length of the sales cycle. This person is not afraid of rejection, thrives on making new deals, loves the hunt and is not deterred by bad news.

Here are some characteristics needed to be successful as a hunter:

1. A strong desire to win- this goes hand in hand with competitiveness.

2. An ability to say “next”- this means that you don’t wallow in the losses but you can analyze them, learn from them and move on.

3. A positive attitude- I have yet to meet a great hunter who is not positive. Through my 14 years managing sales people and now as a sales recruiter; this is one underlying theme with good hunters; no matter what they are naturally positive people.

4. Energetic- hunters have energy. They are up for the task leave people scratching their head saying “where does it all come from?”

5. Goal oriented- Many hunters are goal oriented and you will hear it when they speak about where they want to be when their x age or how much money they want to make this year.

6. A desire to be better- good hunters read books, attend courses and ask a lot of questions of other top performers.

7. Motivated- whether they are motivated by outside influences or self-motivated; the fact remains that they are motivated.

8. Knowledge of their numbers- they generally know how they have performed, know what it takes to repeat it and the different steps to get there.

9. Absence of fear- I have not seen many hunters who are fearful of failing. In fact what I have seen is that they do what it takes to succeed.

10. No blaming or excuses- great hunters don’t blame others and don’t offer excuses.


Some of these behaviors can be learned and others are innate. One thing is for sure is that you put more on your side by having most if not all of these traits.

Happy selling

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