 Sales
Moves Best Practices
Sales is a Noble Profession
Are You Noble
Enough?
By Jeffrey Gitomer
I delivered two public seminars in the past two weeks,
with a combined audience of more than 1,800 people.
Salespeople.
Either their company paid, or they paid, to come to an
event with the hope of learning to better their skills;
to secure more customers; to keep their existing
customers loyal; to figure out new strategies, or some
other form of making the sale, including overcoming
economic conditions; or to just plain get out of a rut.
Both audiences consisted of people of all ages, with all
types of experience, at all levels of competence, with
one basic common goal: to learn more to earn more.
That’s one of the characteristics of a great
salesperson: continuous learning. Student forever.
I was racking my brain to think what other job exists
where this type of activity takes place. You could make
a case for professional development and specific career
knowledge for doctors, lawyers, accountants, and
architects. But even they are dependent on sales,
marketing, or some form of practice development in order
to increase their business.
And so, I asked myself the question: Why do people get
into sales? What characteristics do they have that sets
them apart? And I thought that it might be an
interesting exercise for anyone contemplating sales to
answer the question, and for anyone in sales to reaffirm
or answer the question: “Why is sales for me?”
Sales is economic freedom and challenge. If you’re on
commission or some form of bonus, you’re ostensibly free
to go out and create your own economic environment,
based on your performance.
Sales has no economic barriers. If you’re in a
commission-structured job, the more you sell, the more
you earn. If you’re in a bonus-structured job, the more
you sell, the more you earn. You create your own pay.
One of the early attractions to me when I first got into
sales was that income was only limited by my ability to
perform or succeed. I didn’t have to wait until it was
time for a raise; I could give myself one by simply
going out and making more sales.
But sales is a much bigger opportunity than money. Great
salespeople have character, and characteristics
possessed by few others. Here are the highlights:
Presentation skills. Speaking in a compelling manner.
Persuading others to your point of view. Overcoming
barriers. In short, getting your way.
People skills. Salespeople
must learn to interact with customers, coworkers,
executives, and anybody else in their field, in a manner
that is relationship building.
Networking skills.
Salespeople have social and tactical skills to help them
turn business time and social time into strategic
alliances, connections, and leads.
Questioning skills.
Salespeople know that asking is more powerful than
telling.
Listening skills.
Salespeople have antennas that are always alert to
information, buying signals, buying motives, or other
elements of how to make the sale that come only come
from the person buying. Great salespeople are also great
note takers.
Salespeople are always
seeking to improve their skills. They don’t just come to
my seminars, they read and listen to self-improvement
information all the time.
Personal development skills.
Salespeople have a positive attitude. They achieve their
goals and seek to master the other intangible aspects of
the mental and physical elements needed to win at the
game of sales.
The ability to achieve a
goal. The opportunity to win prizes, win awards, earn
recognition, travel, and in general enjoy more freedom
than most other jobs in a company
Creativity skills.
Salespeople have to prepare with creativity, demonstrate
with creativity, respond with creativity, sell with
creativity, and use creativity to build relationships.
Moxie. Salespeople have
self-confidence, self-belief, determination, and
persistence. Moxie is the added ingredient needed to
transfer beliefs and confidence, and moxie is the
unspoken swagger needed to complete the sale.
Likability. People buy from
people they like, believe in, have confidence in, and
trust. Like starts the ball rolling towards trust.
And, oh yeah, they have sales skills.
But there’s risk involved in selling. You have to
perform. Often you’re presented with quotas, sales
plans, or other forms of forced achievement. You also
have a boss - someone who you may or may not totally
love or respect.
The challenges are multifaceted, which I believe is part
of the attraction. It takes intelligence, personal
dedication, continuous education, and the ability to
self-start. Often salespeople are working remotely.
They’re in a car or on a plane, by themselves, with the
challenge, or the pressure, to perform. And they do. Or
they die a sales death.
I’ve often quoted the great Red Motley, who in 1946
said, “Nothing happens until a sale is made.” This is
yet another reason why people decide on a career in
selling. It’s the spark. Or the pressure to light the
fire. It’s the challenge, and it’s the euphoric feeling
you get when you know the sale is yours.
A bonus for great salespeople: unemployment does not
exist. There are always openings for people who know how
to sell. Salespeople also have unlimited opportunity to
grow in any organization. Leadership positions and
executive positions abound for the man or woman who can
sell.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Little Red Book
of Selling and The Little Red Book of Sales Answers.
President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives
seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts
Internet training programs on sales and customer service
at
www.trainone.com. He can be reached at 704/333-1112
or e-mail to
salesman@gitomer.com
© 2007 All Rights Reserved - Don't even think about
reproducing this document without
written permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy
Gitomer . 704/333-1112
www.gitomer.com
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