When people ask me to describe a perfect salesman I use the following words of my good friend Gary, Spangler’s ex-president, a U.S.-based company.
“The earnings potential of a career in sales is great, but great sales people are few.
The great sales people I have known over the years have some things in common. They know their product. They really believe in their product, and their company. They are confident, but not arrogant. They are knowledgeable, but not know-it-alls. They don’t bluff their way through, if they don’t know, they admit it, and bring the ones who do. They are motivated, but not pushy. They are self-disciplined. They set goals. They manage their time well. They do their homework and research the needs of their clients. They don’t come off as a peddler, but as a consultant. They genuinely want to help their clients, and make them successful. They under-promise, and over-deliver. They do what they say they will do. They have good attention to detail. They make things happen within their own company to meet customer needs. They know how to sell not only their customers, but they sell inside their own company to insure that their customers are taken care of by the inside support people. They worry less about the size of the order, and more about meeting the needs of the customer, and thereby penetrating deeper and deeper into the clients company. If you get in front of the right clients, you will make enough sales, and the dollars will take care of themselves. They create reasons to get in front of their clients, again, and again. They solve their customers problems. They stand behind their product. They make a friend of their clients. They don’t compromise their principles to make a sale. They convince their clients when they buy from them they are not just getting their product, but getting them. They make their clients believe that one of the biggest differentiations between them and their competition is them and what value-added they bring to the client.
They are successful, because they will not accept anything less.”
