So are you cut out for sales? Do you fit the magical profile?  Or should you rather hang up your…, whatever a sales person would hang-up?  Your attaché case of brushes or your cheesy grin.  Whatever.  Should you rather change your day job?  Barry Farber, Author of “12 Cliches” dispels this self-defeating myth in his first chapter.
I found it encouraging to read that there is no single personality-profile for the best sales person. Extroverts give energy but introverts listen better.  Analysts can recite the research behind the specifications and Drivers can push for a signature, but Amiables create deep trust.  So forget what everyone else is like.  You do not have to become someone you are not.  You have the perfect profile for you so let’s get on with it.  The key is to know your business and to have a belief in what you do.  The route is to build on your best qualities and develop trust in your abilities.  Now isn’t that a great message?
And guess what else. You may not think you are in sales we all have to sell something.  Even if you are buried deep in the back-office, if you can sell, you can stand out.  So what differentiates good sales people?  What will make the difference to your sales record?  Barry Farber lists five points to consider:

  • Develop the right attitude: Scratch below the surface of anyone who has done well and you will find stories of how they have overcome struggles and hardships.  So today look at yourself and decide to stop looking for what you are not or do don’t have. “You don’t need special circumstances to build something special”.
  • Avoid cynics and pessimists: Give them a wide berth.  They smile condescendingly and say “Well isn’t that nice – who will you call when you are down and out”.  A friend of mine was taught by Leon Schuster and she heard the head-master (as they were in those days) of the school shouting at him, “You will come back to me on your knees begging for your job back” but he fixed his eye on his dream and became an icon in South Africa.
  • Use rejection as rocket fuel: When you are criticised first ask does this person have the credibility to evaluate me?  Do they know my true capabilities?  Then say “I will show you…”
  • Build strong relationships: We all prefer to business with people we like, trust and respect.  People may take your product but they are buying you.  So prove yourself worthy of trust and respect.
  • Trust yourself: In sales you are going to face a LOT of rejection.  And we all have this little voice telling us how unworthy or inept we are.  Overcome this voice!  Deal with it! (Now there’s a topic for a posting).  We as clients are not looking for perfection.  We are looking for relationships with real people who are serious about business but don’t take themselves too seriously.