What are the critical traits a sales person should have?

Absolutely...very well said.  A miser cannot be a good sales person...only a good buyer can canvass good selling...Its all about breaking through the if's and but's in the client's mind...once you've cracked that barrier, game, set and match is yours. Selling the first time around is not a big deal, fluke can take care of it..its the return of the client that seals the deal....

Thanks Alexander for answering. You gave frantastic points. They are really very crucial in sales.

Sales activities are best done by people who have a better knack, and like meeting people. This thing of Sales being a process, SFA tools, other ideating being made by either US books by HR or Sales failure persons or mostly CRM chor software only make organizations spend extensive money, man power, process writing to achieve nothing.

Three things always stand out in a sales person which make them a strong succes.  One: He must like   people and generally chatting, solving their issues across the table. When this skill is translated into a company for pushing their products, he automatically would be able to use this tool to provide a solution.

Two: He should be a guy who can never say NO to another guy and should also be somewhat profligate. In most instances, a Miser will never make a good sales guy. A measure of a successful sales person is one who always delivers, but is also the most hated person by the Accounts  department. Equally true is a good sales person should never work for a Miser corporation, as such companies can take away his confidence, his tongue and sales pitch, and destroy his style and personality.  Personally, to me, a salesperson is a flower you are sending to a client company, and no one has ever achieved success with a lady sending stale and withered roses. Ramdas rightly called them the negative   personalities, typically the tired looking guy who has just come out a long Quality Meeting :-)  (Hint: Don't kill ur salesperson enthusiam and energy by doing this).

Of course, no shortage of extremely stupid organizations in the IT line especially in India where turn around time for IT sales is higher like in Japan. Those organizations where Salesmen tikta nahin, uska maal bikta nahin.

Three: A plan or a plot is a MUST to make an entry. How and what is the first level contact with a target, next: finding out the decision making driver people within the organization, the Budget or what you can hit or touch the target. This is an art, a skill - best learnt through mentoring and your own hunger to make a kill. My Measure: Over 10 guys are now VP levels after bing around me as they learnt tricks and the art of plot-making that no book can ever provide.

If u have a man who can recognise and recruit diamonds, you can achieve exponential growth if there is a good delivery and capacity to expand, ELSE u are only spending money in running a parallel PARLIAMENT in your organization.

Probe, listen, identify need, find suitable solution.... ASK for the order... shut up! Of course persistence may work and resilience helps but that depends on the role the salesman plays.