People often remark that I'm pretty lucky. Luck is only important in so far as getting the chance to sell yourself at the right moment. After that, you've got to have talent and know how to use it. - Frank Sinatra
A question Sales managers often ask themselves is how to identify the person with right talent and intelligence to make a successful sales team. The person sitting in front them could be some who sells himself or herself really well, but does that person have the ability to sell what the company has to offer? It’s a thought provoking question as to makes a successful sales Person?
1. Talent to sell
2. Intelligence to sell
3. Know how to sell which is basically the product/service know how, improved by way of trainings
4. He/she is just a born sales person who can sell any given thing at any time
These questions lead us to much debated topic IF GREAT SALES PEOPLE ARE BORN OR MADE
What is sales an art or science?
The objective of science is to use available data and confirm a certain activity and establish a theory which can be used in future to predict the course of path of the same activity and record it as a pattern. Science in sales can be the pattern of a person to follow a process and do the job in a certain defined manner like carrying questionnaires, knowing the history if the client, collecting competition information on the client and plan on how to convince the client to use the product or service
Art is an objective in itself. When you create an art it is simply to complete the purpose of defining the art with no future purpose to exhibit and with no data to confirm. Thus if sales considered an art then style of functioning works on assessing the customer mindset and working in accordance and providing solutions simply on the basis of an effective guess work how much it might suit the customer
As per many experts and some very successful sales people about 80 – 90% of sales depends on science and only 10-20% on art
Why is the above inference required for our topic?
People who use science as a method of sales are typically left brained which means a process flow is the key to success for these people. A designated flow of activity helps these people reach their agenda, which is not completely based on factors such as relationships or waiting for a turn around on the basis of consultative selling. Their SOP is to use proofs and tried and tested methodology to gain success.
People who use art as a method of sales are right brained. They believe in creativity, getting to the root of customers intentions and being priority for the customer rather than just being an option even if the option is an important one. They will believe in maintaining relationship and effective communications with customer even if the turn-around of sales is slow or even if there is no scope of sales. These people are born not made.
General analysis:
Putting to gather the above inferences one can gather that a large number of people who use sales as a science are those who are trained on it, people who refer back to their notes, people who have learnt things with experience, people who follow a protocol and a process, these people are made not born. Those who act on impulse and whose reason success factor is more random than consistent are born that way because these are inherent qualities.
Hence on the basis of the analysis that good sales people can be made not necessarily born it is important to identify those qualities which have and those that they need to have to make them successful. However there are few qualities that needs to be there not to categorize them as born sales people but good to great sales people.
Inborn Qualities one needs to have to become a good sales person:
1. Fearless:
People who are scared of ranks, competition, short comings of their own product or service, failure can never become a great sales person. This is not a quality one can be trained on, however with repeated learning this quality can be changed over a period of time
2. Perseverance:
A go-getter attitude is an essential element of sales, as most conversion takes a large amount of time. People who are inconsistent and characteristically lazy will take a lot of time to adapt to staying glued to an account until it is won over.
3. Discipline:
Sale’s is a lot about data, timeliness and cleanliness of basic effort. When past data and record is not maintained it leads to probing all over again which is a waste of time or working on the basis of incorrect information. Delay in turnaround to customer and improper solutions leads to loss of accounts
4. Ability to learn:
Sales is an ever changing environment, there are new things to learn in terms of technology and techniques. People with old schools thoughts who believe more in seniority and experience find it difficult to move ahead with the people who are open to learning and expanding the horizon of their knowledge.
5. Work hard Work smart:
Some people work hard, the others work smart. People who can combine both do wonders in sales. The intelligence to distinguish between both is inborn, and no one can be taught how to do so. But to have will make a difference in the way sales is done
Qualities one needs to be trained on to become a good sales person:
1. Communication Skills:
Sometimes in spite of saying the right things, people do not get the expected results simply because it’s not said the right way. People can never be taught what to say, but it’s possible to train people on how to say it. Sales sometime works on image and how people perceive the sales person as that person is the face of the company. Hence working on vocabulary, tone and right language, a good impression can be made right from the start
2. Negotiation skill:
Negotiation is skill that needs to be developed over a period of time. People even in day to day life do not want to negotiate because it’s awkward to do so. However when it’s done the right way at the right time it leads to win –win situations. Customer are smart and they bargain to the end, what cards the sales person should play can be sharpened with regular training and role plays.
3. Networking skill:
All kinds of people, introverts, extroverts and ambiverts work in a sales team. Does this mean that one has a better method of networking than the other? Networking is not necessarily related to socializing. The right person to network with comes with a certain amount of knowledge that can be adopted from other people. This does not really need class room sessions but this can be learnt from other people over a period of time.
4. Decisions making:
Right and wrong decisions are based on situations, but before that the ability to make a decision is important in the first place. There are options to either stall the decision making process to transfer the responsibility to another person. However decision making is a skill that comes with ON THE JOB TRAINING and repeated occurrences even if not immediately or on a text book method
5. Sales Closure:
Bringing a sale to closure is combination of all above processed when one is good in all or some of the above closure is an easy process? Closure of sale repeatedly demarcates one as an effective and successful sales person. Closure can make a great topic for training but including the cause and effect theories and technical know-hows.
Conclusion:
Thus on the basis of the above theories we can conclude that with the presence of certain important qualities a good sales can be made. Class room Trainings and on the job trainings contribute a lot into making a good sales person. In the absence of the above inborn qualities it will be very difficult to create a sales person. The truth being in the absence of these inborn qualities it might be difficult to achieve success in any job.
