Sales People - That Strange Breed
What do you instantly think of when you hear the word ‘Salesman’?
Do you imagine the saleswoman in your favorite
dress and apparel store who has just now locked her eyes on you like a hunter looking down the rifle scope at the defenseless target with big eyes and fur?
Maybe you instantly see the man in the tasteless plaid jacket coming toward you within seconds of your arrival at the new car lot, or used cars. It doesn’t matter. New… Used… The imagery is the same.
The very thought of this salesman or saleswoman brings on the defense mechanism in your head that says…
“I’m not going to let this person talk me into anything, even though I know this is going to be a battle. I am not going to cave like I did before!”
After all, this is a salesman, someone who wants that sale and will do anything to get it! Relentless they are! They don’t care about the buyer. They just want their sale, and take their commission and spend it in glory.
Glory of the moments of out-smarting; out-talking; out-lasting their victim, time and time and time again.
How much of this way of looking at “the sales person” is the truth, and how much is a perception based on a few unhappy past experiences.
According to sales training specialist Grant Cardone, he states...
"Great salespeople are literally the engine of every economy in the world."
His list of 20 top characteristics of a great sales person include:
1. They don't think in terms of sales but rather of building business.
2. They build their businesses one customer at a time and then always leverage the last customer into more customers.
3. They listen more than they speak, getting an understanding of the customer's needs and then finding a solution.
4. They deliver more than they promise, and always promise a lot!
5. They invest their time in things (people) that positively affect their income and avoid spending time on things (people) that have no return.
6. They are always seeking new, better and faster ways to increase their sales efforts.
7. They're willing to invest in networking, community and relationships, knowing that the difference between a contact and a contract is the "R" that stands for “Relationship."
8. They're fanatical about selling.
9. They don't depend on marketplace economies for their outcomes and instead rely on their actions.
10. They surround themselves with overachievers and have little time for those who don't create opportunities.
11. They never accept good enough as good enough.
12. They don't see failed sales attempts as failures but as investments in the process.
13. They never give up on unsold clients, knowing that someday those clients will buy.
14. They squeeze hours out of minutes and weeks out of days.
15. They see problems as opportunities.
16. They invest in their education, development and personal motivation, knowing that these are the tools of a sales professional.
17. They invest in their careers, their businesses and their customers.
18. They hold themselves to performance standards that are higher than even their management teams do.
19. They don't need others to hold them accountable.
20. They are constantly in think, plan and prepare mode in order to continue to build their client base and keep their pipelines full.
How many of these qualities and characteristics would be desirable in any occupation? Not just sales, but any line of work where someone does not need others to hold them accountable; sees problems as opportunities; and they don’t depend on the current economy for their movement forward.
In reality, hasn’t everyone been a sales person at some time in their life?
Maybe that wasn’t the title given, but it was sales just the same.
I used to be a flight attendant for a major airline a number of years ago.
This was back when there were many airlines, all competing for the same market of travelers.
It was tough for an airline to survive due to the intense competition.
Every time I stepped onto an airplane, I became a front and center sales person for that airline.
I was selling that airline to the passengers so they would want to fly with the same airline again and again. Every time I assisted someone with the overhead compartment, or brought them a pillow, or served them food and a drink with a friendly smile and verbal greeting, I was a sales person.
Every time my supervisor showed me a copy of a “nice testimonial letter” written by one of my happy passengers who wanted to acknowledge my
“sales ability”, I thoroughly enjoyed knowing I sold that passenger!
Each time I buy a bag of Fresh Express Salad from the grocery, I can only imagine how many sales people were involved in that purchase from start to finish.
Food is such an important part of our life, and how does it get from the land of a grower, through a process of logistics, through the doors of the stores, to you.
Whether the title the sales person is using is
Sales Manager,
Sales Consultant,
Marketing Representative
Sales Rep
Inside Sales
Outside Sales
Manufacturer’s Rep
Product Specialist
Product Distributor
Managing Consultant
Product Consultant
Service Provider Manager
or anything else one can come up with to keep away the imagery of the person looking down the rifle scope toward the intended prey, the fact is sales people are everywhere, all around us, all the time,
doing something that keeps the
engines of commerce, services and products flowing.
Kudos to the determined salesman.
Louise Browne is a certified hypnotherapist
and Master Hypnotist, CMS-CHt,FIBH
