On the Sales Side

In my first column for Sanitary Maintenance I wrote about a few of the characteristics it takes to be successful in the selling business. I started with desire, organization, imagination, enthusiasm and persistence, among others. Let’s finish off the subject with a few that are just as important:

Attitude: We all agree that salespeople must have a positive attitude. Some of us may have known those who didn’t. Their selling careers were pretty short or at least their success at selling was short-lived.

Attitudes are like habits that have been with us for a long time. Warren Buffet once said, “The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.” Negative thinkers always find the hole in the doughnut. They think the glass is half empty and they always think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Some claim they are being “realistic,” but I think “realistic” is often a code word for negative. There are at least two sides to every issue. The positive thinker just looks at the positive side and takes advantage of it.

How’s your attitude? If it’s positive, terrific. If it’s not positive, what are you going to do about it?

Commitment: If you are committed 100 percent to reaching your goals, your success is almost certain.

Goal Setting: We could write an entire book on this subject (more than one person has), but we’ll keep this brief. “A goal is dream with a deadline; a goal without a deadline is only a wish.” Set doable goals with leeway. Unrealistic goals can be discouraging. Put a time frame on your goals, keep track of your progress and take corrective actions as indicated by your own review.

Honesty and Integrity: These are two main cornerstones to building a successful sales career. Self-honesty is the most important. With self-honesty you’ll be honest in everything you do. Integrity is doing the right thing even if no one is looking.

Competitiveness: When your competitor beats you it should juice you up and make you try harder the next time. Each time, be a competitor.

Courage: Courage is the opposite of fear. There are a lot of good people who go into the selling business and fear has ruined many of their careers. Get rid of your fears. How? With self-honesty. Just ask yourself what you are fearful of? Is it fear of failure? Our trouble with fear of failure is that while we are trying to avoid failure we are also avoiding the opportunity for success.

Believe this: there is no such thing as failure. It is simply one step in the learning process, and when you learn something there is no failure.

Curiosity: I don’t believe that curiosity killed the cat, I believe it made him a tiger and no one recognized him anymore. Curiosity is a major trait in successful people because it leads to our next characteristic:

Knowledge: Someone once said “Knowledge is power,” and then someone added, “Knowledge properly used is power.” These are two great quotes that prove knowledge can lead you to success.

Product knowledge, industry knowledge, and selling skills are three areas that are an absolute must for salespeople to have in their sales bag. With knowledge we gain the next characteristic:

Confidence: Tom Peters wrote in one of his books, “Confidence is probably the most effective sales tool you have in your sales case.”

Without knowledge of a product, service or system, a sales rep is very fearful of discussing that subject in front of customers. So it doesn’t get discussed, shown, demoed, or even hinted at. The result of no demo or discussion is, obviously, no sale.

It’s the old “egg on your face” syndrome. “I don’t want to look bad in front of my customers or prospects, so I just won’t bring up our fantastic new widget until I learn more about it.” Before your next call, your competitor not only has come in with something similar, but also written the order and closed the door on you. All because of lack of knowledge.

We’ve heard people say, “He/she is a born salesperson.” And maybe some people are born with a few of these characteristics to one degree or another, but most of us have to acquire them. Acquire them by studying, hard work, listening, learning from experience and by practice. We aren’t born with the talent it takes to be successful in any profession, so it’s up to you where you go from here and what you do to improve and develop these characteristics to use to your advantage.

There are, of course, other characteristics required to be successful in the selling business, such as promptness, flexibility and good conditioning, both mental and physical. I have tried to cover some of these characteristics, but would still like to hear your ideas about what you think it takes to be successful in this terrific profession of selling.

Maurice Dixon managed two major Midwest janitorial supply distributors for many years. Currently he operates Dixon & Associates and conducts training and selling skill seminars. He also consults with janitorial supply companies on their sales and marketing plans.

To share your selling ideas, fax: (414) 228-1134, contact Mr. Dixon at (877) 379-3566 or e-mail Seiche Sanders.