What makes an average salesperson a great one?

This is one of those issues that people differ on. Its a tough call and I leave it up to you to decide which side of the coin you come up on regarding this issue. One side argues there are natural born sales people who have a God given gift and then there is everyone else, certainly with other gifts just as important and valuable but not for sales. The other side argues average sales people can be trained to be excellent sales people .

I have always partially disagreed with the first position, acknowledging that there are definitely natural sales people who have real talent, but I also believe that sales technique can be learned, and an average salesperson can be taught to do an exceptional job, and over time and with training one can improve their sales  skills and perform well above average.

Its always nice to have an all star on your team, but a team filled with hard workers willing to learn and acquire skills can be extremely effective, thus I share with you some basic concepts that average sales people can be trained to do and will yield  exceptional sales results.

Principle one: Passion, it works extremely well. It is delivering the passion that is the issue. Emotion, excitement, in your voice, words demeanor, etc. demonstrating that the sales person personally and completely believes the sales rap, with exuberance, which if successfully demonstrated makes the story believable.

Simply stated, if the sales person believes the presentation and can demonstrate this indirectly through an emotional and passionate presentation, without simply stating the obvious,  then the sales target is far more likely to believe it also, the transfer value of this passionate belief is huge.

How does one do this? One way is to not have a sales script. Impromptu presentation that sounds unrehearsed and presented from ones personal experience is very helpful. using passionate language is another way the sales person can indirectly demonstrate their belief in the company, product or service or the salesperson.

Breaking away from the sales presentation and sharing a personal insight or a story about the company, the success of the product, a recent client success story etc,  is another way of creating credibility and demonstrating excitement and sells the story with passion, as it shares personal belief.

If the customer believes that the sales person believes hi pitch then it is far more likely the customer will believe it also and the sale will close. Story telling is a very powerful tool, use it. it is an awesome power tool and every one loves to be told a story.

Second strategy: Information…If the salesperson has more then basic information regarding the profile, needs, wants, desires etc of the potential customer, and bothers to figure out exactly how the product or service will help solve a problem the customer may have or help make his life better or easier, and if the sales person can ask enough questions getting important information to help assist him in designing the sales presentation around the needs of the customer then a close is in sight. This demonstrates care, concern, professionalism, effort, and can all be translated into one word… professionalism! A carefully crafted sales presentation around the facts of the client is very powerful and successful. This takes time but the results are worth the effort.

Third strategy: this is the most important tool of all, and the most effective way to create increased sales success….call volume. There is simply no getting away from the facts, in the end, the more calls one makes the more sales one makes….simple. Now if we make more calls and then add the above techniques, sales will sky rocket and average sales people will produce record breaking performances.

Fourth strategy: Selling with a long term vision, be prepared to create the relationship over time with many value added call backs furthering the mission one inch at a time till the mountain is moved. Professional tenacity and relationship building, hearing “no” eight or more times and eventually the sale will close. Follow up every sales call with a self serving thank you memo, furthering both the relationship and the sale…very valuable tool and strategy.

How do you support these training programs, with incentives of course, rewarding the type of success you want to achieve, tracking, monitoring progress and training…all big strategies with lots of implications, but this is the answer.

Yes a mediocre sales person can be trained to be  great sales person…it can be done. Call me if you need help 413-549-2966.