8 Things Needed to Be a Successful Salesperson
8 Things Needed to Be a Successful Salesperson
Whether he peddles books, e-books, computer programs, car insurance, ice cream or sells furniture, is proficient along the following lines:
First, he knows his goods. No seller of goods, who is unfamiliar with them, can sell them to full advantage. There are a few expert salesmen who have closed large deals without an intimate knowledge of the goods they sell and who are woefully, and almost criminally, ignorant of their wares, yet are able to consummate larger sales than ninety per cent of thoroughly knowledgeable salesmen. These men are natural geniuses, preeminent traders, who seem to be able to sell anything at any time to anybody.
Secondly, the ability to describe or talk the goods. Many people with an intimate knowledge, both technical and broad, fail because they do not know how to communicate. It is obvious that all the knowledge in the world is worthless unless it is distributed. The person of knowledge, who can not communicate orally or in writing, is about as bad off in business as would be the person who can communicate but with nothing in back of it. The commercial value of what we know is dependent upon our distribution or use of it. If we do not know how to talk our wares, we cannot readily sell, and we have no right to be members of the selling craft.
Thirdly, a general knowledge of business principles. There are salesmen who can only sell goods, possessing no real business ability beyond that of selling. Some of them succeed moderately, but few of them become great salesmen. A general knowledge of business, or some ability to manipulate business, is essential to good salesmanship or to best salesmanship.
Fourthly, a working familiarity with the business methods and action of one's competitors. To successfully and continuously consummate trade, and to be able to overcome expected and unexpected obstacles, one must be familiar with the methods used by those in the same line of business.
Fifthly, the ability to talk something besides "shop." To do this requires a knowledge of things in general. Practically all successful salesmen are reservoirs of general information about business and of matters outside of business; and this information, always ready for immediate delivery, permits them to be both agreeable and profitable to their customers. It materially assists in making a good impression and builds the bond of trust that is crucial to present and future sales.
Sixthly, the ability to diagnose the customer, or, in the language of the street, "to size-up the other fellow." Unless one is able to do this, to some degree, at least, he cannot hope to be more than a mediocre success, online or fact to face; and he stands as little chance of winning the battle of trade as does the commanding officer of an army who meets his enemy without a knowledge of its strength or proportions.
While the ability to judge people in general and customers in particular, to diagnose and to size-up, is the one thing which stands between the great salesman and one of ordinary capacity, diagnosing is not the most important element of all. It is a necessary one, and no one can succeed without some of it. Those who possess it to a marked degree belong to the upper grade of the upper class, and those who have little of it are pretty close to the bottom.
Seventhly, good-nature. Comparatively few morose, over-dignified, cold, and chilly salesmen have amounted to anything. It is possible for them to sell goods when the buyer is as anxious to buy as the seller is to sell, but they are practically worthless at the initiative, and are seldom able to obtain or to hold any trade worth having. Some managers look upon good-nature as the most important requirement of all. Whether it is or not, it is a fact that without it great success is impossible.
Eighthly, that ability to play a double part, to interest and benefit the customer while being thoroughly faithful and profitable to the business one represents, including one's own. Salesmen holding permanent trade never forget the customer's interest, and yet they always work for the benefit of their own business.
Unless a salesman is both pleasing and profitable to the customer, he will not continue to do business, and will be forced out of business whether working as a car salesman or on the internet as an affiliate.
Of course, there are many other elements which contribute mightily to salesmanship, such as persistency, faithfulness, promptness, and the like, without which one may not hope to succeed at anything. Which is the most important of the eight points of selling? The answer is of little concern. The proficient salesman possesses them all, not in their fullness or perfection, because that is impossible. Most salesmen are strong in one direction and weak in others. They do not have selling balance. All of these attainments play leading parts on the stage of salesmanship, and their relative positions are of little consequence. They do not compete with one another.
Donald DonOmite Hammond has been a freelance webdesigner and programmer for over 10 years. He has done marketing of himself and his products as well as customers' products on their websites. DonOmite is the author of a popular e-book The Psychology Of Advertising
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