What qualities differentiate sales champions from others working in a sales department? While many sales people will share certain qualities with sales champions, few will have developed all of the qualities that sales champions share before becoming sales champions themselves. Most sales champions share the following seven qualities, which other sales people can look to and use as a guide for increasing their achievements in sales.

1. Sales Champions Are Energetic

Energy is one of the key sales qualities because energy denotes passion and enthusiasm, which help attract and convert sales prospects. An energetic attitude helps sales champions make the selling process interactive and engaging for prospects and clients, leading to greater conversion rates and high sales numbers.

2. Sales Champions Have Drive

Drive is difficult to measure, but it is commonly agreed that drive is one of the qualities that individuals must have to succeed in a selling role. Sales champions have a strong drive to succeed as they know that each experience has the ability to influence their career trajectory. This drive extends to the personal worldviews of sales champions; top performers tend to rate at least part of their personal success on their success in sales, which helps keep sales champions focused on their goals.

3. Sales Champions Love the Product and the Process

Loving the products that they sell and the sales process as a whole allows sales champions to exude confidence and expertise, both of which are qualities that prospects look for in those with whom they choose to do business. The passion for what they represent helps sales champions educate and inform sales prospects, even when prospects have challenging questions or issues. Sales champions also love the process of selling and know the process inside and out, which supports their overall success.

4. Sales Champions Are Always Learning

There is no one perfect approach to sales. Sales champions know this, and are constantly seeking out new ways of doing things, learning about their prospects, and engaging with novel approaches to sales to gain an edge. The desire for knowledge also ensures that sales champions are constantly adding to their industry and market expertise, which helps sales champions find new sales opportunities before the competition.

5. Sales Champions Are Masters of Prioritization

Sales champions often say that the ability to prioritize is one of the reasons for their success. Moreover, sales champions are clear on what their priorities are, and base their rationale for prioritization on hard numbers that can contribute to their success. This is a major reason why a sales champion can end the day with better results than many others are able to post.

6. Sales Champions Aren’t Stymied by Setbacks

Setbacks can happen to anyone in sales, even sales champions. One of the qualities that sales champions share that allows them to move forward is the ability to overcome setbacks. What one sales person might view as an obstacle, the sales champion tends to view as an opportunity to do better and push forward. Sales champions also are not held back by negativity; if anything, sales champions use positivity to overcome any negativity that could influence their sales opportunities.

7. Sales Champions Are Highly Empathetic

Empathy and likability are important qualities for sales champions to have, because people want to do business with people to whom they can relate. While it is possible for a sales person who is not as charismatic to post great sales numbers, you will rarely find sales champions who do not have a knack for becoming immediately likable to almost anyone they meet. The relational quality of empathy is the foundation for how sales champions consistently manage to do this.

No matter the industry, sales champions tend to share the above seven qualities in common. Hiring managers and sales people looking to advance can learn from these seven qualities that sales champions use to drive success.