The 10 Skills All Successful Sales Hunters Possess

Self-starters. The last thing you want in a hunter is someone you have to push to do their job. By nature, hunters should possess an inherent desire to hit the phones (or the pavement) to drum up new business. That doesn’t mean you don’t need to manage them. It just means they don’t need incentive to hunt.

Unafraid to put themselves out there. Great hunters want to meet new people, ask for referrals, call a prospect on their cell phone and send email calendar invites. These activities are arrows in their quiver and they’re not afraid to use them.

Web and social savvy. In today’s world, social media and the internet are critical to identifying and researching potential prospects. Great sales hunters understand this and use these tools effectively to find prospects and proactively engage them.

Willing to supply their own leads. The best sales hunters have their own plan for executing the activities that will generate the leads they need. If your business has a well-designed and consistently implemented lead generation strategy, that’s even better—but great hunters still fill in the gaps if that stream of leads isn’t robust enough for their needs.

Disciplined. Excellent hunters self-monitor key metrics and hold themselves accountable to uncovering and working qualified prospects. When hunters do those things, it’s easier for them to know where to focus their energy.

Unwilling to take no for an answer the first time. When great sales hunters reach a prospect, their goal is to extend the conversation long enough to establish a relationship. This is because they know that the longer they talk, the better their chances are of scheduling a follow-up call and, possibly, turning a “no” into a “yes.”

Great listeners. Contrary to the previous point, most sales reps talk too much. Top sales hunters, on the other hand, know when to be quiet and listen because it will allow them to learn enough about the prospect to get in the door and make an appropriate recommendation.

Inquisitive and insightful. Skilled hunters also have a keen ability to ask smart, insightful questions. These queries make prospects think about their situation, needs and criteria, which almost always leaves a lasting impression.

Progressive qualifiers. The best hunters progressively qualify sales prospects throughout the sales process, rather than asking all their qualification questions in one meeting and never re-qualifying that the opportunity has changed. This improves their closing ratio.

Comfortable with the unknown. In sales hunting, you never know how deep a prospect may want to take a conversation. To accommodate this, great hunter sales reps embrace the unknown and are capable of carrying a conversation long enough to line up the next appointment or get the right person on the phone.