{"id":235,"date":"2022-02-02T17:23:15","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T22:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/thepowerofselling\/?post_type=chapter&p=235"},"modified":"2022-06-20T17:00:28","modified_gmt":"2022-06-20T21:00:28","slug":"2-1-what-does-it-take-to-be-in-sales","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/thepowerofselling\/chapter\/2-1-what-does-it-take-to-be-in-sales\/","title":{"raw":"2.1. What Does It Take to Be in Sales?","rendered":"2.1. What Does It Take to Be in Sales?"},"content":{"raw":"When Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, delivered the commencement address at Stanford University in 2005, he told the story of how he and Steve Wozniak started the now $32 billion company in a garage in 1976. Jobs said, \u201cI was lucky\u2014I<\/em>\u00a0found out what I wanted to do early in life.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Jobs, 2005).\r\n\r\nHe left the Stanford graduates with some personal words of wisdom to think about as they prepared themselves for their careers:\u00a0\u201cYour work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven\u2019t found it yet, keep looking. Don\u2019t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you\u2019ll know when you find it<\/em>.\u201d (Jobs, 2005).\r\n\r\nTo be successful in sales, and in life, you must love what you do. If you are not passionate about your profession, you will never be the best. This chapter\u00a0 will help you determine whether a career in sales will excite you and make you want to leap out of bed every morning.\r\n

Are You Born to Sell?<\/h2>\r\nHow do you know if sales is your passion or the career of your dreams? The first step is taking this course where you will have an opportunity to learn about sales and put your knowledge to work in real-life situations. After reading this chapter, you will better understand the profession of selling. This chapter includes insights about which personal characteristics and talents are best suited to sales, which industries you might work in, and how you can be successful in the profession. Some people think that successful salespeople are those who have the \u201cgift of gab,\u201d but that\u2019s not really what makes salespeople effective. Although communication and relationship building are valuable skills, just being able to talk to people is not enough to be successful in sales. Consider the following points that make a salesperson successful and see if these are a good match to you and your skills: trust building, listening skills, questioning, willingness to learn, drive, positive attitude, risk taker, independence, passion, order taker, discipline, flexibility, and creating value.\r\n

Ability\u00a0to Build Trust<\/h3>\r\nIt never goes without saying that character\u2014the combination of your beliefs, tendencies, and actions that you take\u2014is the single defining trait for a salesperson (or any business person, for that matter) (Kahle, 2008). \u00a0Your character defines how you will conduct yourself, and it is the yardstick by which customers measure you. After all, your customers are spending their money based on what you say you will deliver; they have to trust you. If you ever break the trust for any reason, you will likely lose not only the sale, but you will most likely lose your reputation, and, ultimately, your livelihood. According to a survey by Forrester Research, trust and believability\u00a0<\/em>are so important in the buying and selling processes that 71 percent of buyers based their decisions on these traits (Bly, 2008) and 90% of companies say they will only buy from other companies that they trust (McConnachie, 2017).\r\n

Listening Skills<\/h3>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_26\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"351\"]\"Enterprise Enterprise logo[\/caption]\r\n\r\nContrary to popular belief, speaking is not the most important aspect of selling\u2014listening is, because \u201csalespeople are communicators, not manipulators.\u201d\u00a0 (Porter, 2008).\u00a0 It is interesting to note that many of the salespeople who are constantly talking are actually not successful. Those salespeople who have a genuine interest in listening learn precisely what the customers\u2019 needs, priorities, and opportunities are. Listening skills are the fundamental basis for forming a connection. \u201cListening builds relationships,\u201d according to Marjorie Brody,\u00a0author of\u00a0Help! Was That a Career-Limiting Move?\u00a0<\/em>She suggests a \u201csilent solution\u201d to many problems in the form of listening (Holland & Brody, 2005). The challenge for many people is that listening with undivided attention is hard to do. Psychologists say that we listen using only 25 percent of our brain (Atlas, 2010). \u00a0That means that the other 75 percent is thinking about a response or thinking about something else. Salespeople who take notes, refer to written material, and are intently aware of their nonverbal cues can be extremely successful because they see and hear things that people who are talking just cannot absorb (Atlas, 2010). \u00a0Andy Taylor, CEO of Enterprise care rental, says his salespeople are successful because \u201cthe people who are the most successful are the one who listed most closely to the customer. We follow the two ears, one mouth rule here<\/em>\u201d (10 questions for Andy Taylor, 2007, para 3).\r\n

The Ability to Ask the Right Questions<\/h3>\r\nEinstein said, \u201cIf I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on it, I would use the first fifty-five minutes to formulate the right question because as soon as I had identified the right question, I knew I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.\u201d (Michael, 2009). \u00a0This demonstrates the power of asking the\u00a0right\u00a0<\/em>questions. Those questions can only be asked when you listen and have the ability to connect. \u00a0(Question types are covered in a later chapter<\/em>.)\r\n

\u00a0The Willingness to Learn<\/h3>\r\nSalespeople must not only have product knowledge and understand the buying and selling process; they must also learn skills that will make them more effective and efficient as salespeople. Financial skills, negotiating skills, and even speed-reading courses were mentioned as additional training needs in sales (Tanner, 2008). It is important to note that besides constantly learning new skills, salespeople have to be students of the business. Skills and abilities are developed and fine-tuned over time, and experience plays a role in the learning process. Therefore, it makes sense that salespeople are not \u201cmade\u201d simply because they have the title just like a Doctor is not a doctor without 7 years of schooling or a teacher without 4 years of studying or a mechanic without their trades training.\u00a0 Harvard Business Review (2011) indicates that some people may be more \u201cnatural\u201d at sales but being successful in sales requires persistence, time, hard work, etc. (Martin, 2011). \u00a0If you are thinking about pursuing a career in sales, keep in mind that like other professions it takes time, training, and experience to be successful.\r\n

\u00a0The Drive to Succeed<\/h3>\r\nYou cannot be successful if you do not set goals. Great salespeople set goals for themselves, achieve them, and celebrate those achievements. They visualize what they want, then put together a plan to get it (Atlas, 2010). \u00a0The drive to succeed is important not only in sales, but also in life. Consider Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps. He set out to do something that no one else had ever done: win eight Olympic gold medals. It is instructive to look at his drive to succeed and what he did to prepare for and achieve his goals.\r\n

Resilience and a Positive Attitude<\/h3>\r\nIt is important to remember that you will hear \u201cno\u201d more frequently than you hear \u201cYes, I\u2019ll take it.\u201d That challenge, however, is offset by the thrill of victory when the sale is made and a relationship with the customer based on trust is built. You can only succeed when you go the extra mile, by investigating one\r\n\r\nmore lead, going back for the second sales call even when the first hasn\u2019t been successful, and trial closing even if you are not sure you can really get the sale (Kahle, 2016). It\u2019s the eternal optimism that pushes you, even when others might think there is no reason to pursue the sale. If you think you can make it happen, you should definitely be in sales.\r\n

The Willingness to Take Risks<\/h3>\r\nHas anyone ever told you, \u201cYou won\u2019t know until you try\u201d? That statement is especially true in sales. You can set yourself apart by taking smart business risks. Think about how you consider taking risks in everyday life and how they pay off. For example, let us say you are from a small town and you chose to go to a college in a big city because you wanted to experience something new. That was a risk; it took you outside your comfort zone, but if you had not taken the risk, you would have never known what life in a big city \u00a0\u00a0was like. Great salespeople go beyond the norm to explore and test the waters.\u00a0 Taking calculated risks will bring you closer to making or closing sales (note the emphasis on calculated\u2014risks that are studied a little before taking like calling an executive you have not yet met or making a presentation to a huge audience of potential customers) (Beals, 2017). Calculated risks are risks taken that limit potential losses\u00a0 and that can mean the difference between success and failure\u00a0\u00a0 as Entrepreneur magazine points out \u201ccalculated risk-takers might not play a game of roulette, because the odds are against them, yet they might be open to playing blackjack because it\u2019s possible in that game to tip the odds in your favour through strategic play<\/em>\u201d (Johannson, 2018, para 6).\r\n

The Ability to Ask for an Order<\/h3>\r\nIt may sound intuitive that successful salespeople should not be afraid to ask for a customer\u2019s order, but you would be surprised at how often it happens. Most customers\u00a0want\u00a0<\/em>you to ask for their order. \u201cWould you like fries with your hamburger?\u201d \u201cWhat can I get you for dessert?\u201d and \u201cWould you like to pay with credit or debit?\u201d are all examples of salespeople asking for the order. A large percentage of the time these salespeople are successful and meet their customers\u2019 needs at the same time. You reduce your chances of being successful if you do not ask for the order (Porter, 2008). \u00a0In other words, if\u00a0you\u00a0<\/em>do not ask for the order, someone else\u00a0will<\/em>.\r\n

Independence and Discipline<\/h3>\r\nMost sales positions require independence, self-motivation, and discipline. Although these traits may seem contradictory, they are actually complementary. Independence is especially important if you are calling on customers in person. It usually requires travel, either locally by car or by plane, which means that you have to be able to manage your time without being told what to do. In fact, it means that you set your schedule and do what you need to do to meet your sales goals but having this kind of independence requires discipline and self-discipline is considered essential for successful sales. \u00a0\u201cSelf-discipline is the difference between success and failure\u2026and in sales, it is what separates the great from the mediocre<\/em>\u201d according to\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Iannarino, a multi \u2013book writer on the success of sales (Kinni, 2017).\r\n

Flexibility<\/h3>\r\nAlong with the need for independence comes the importance of flexibility. Just as you are able to set your own schedule, you have to be flexible based on your customers\u2019 needs. Most sales positions are not nine- to-five jobs. That means you might be working nights or weekends, or you might be traveling out of town during the week or even long periods, especially if you are selling internationally. You have to be available when your customers want to buy. Before you cringe at the prospect of grueling hours and long flights, remember that this kind of schedule may also work to your advantage. You may have some weekdays off, which allow you to enjoy family, sports, or other outings that you might not otherwise have an opportunity to enjoy.\r\n

Passion<\/h3>\r\nIf you are not passionate about what you are selling, how do you expect your customers to believe in you and your product? You have to love what you do, believe in it, and feel passionately about it. Passion encompasses all the traits mentioned above; it is how they all come together. Passion is the element that sets you apart from other salespeople and makes your prospects and customers believe in you and your product or service. See why Selena Cuff, head of Heritage Link Brands, thinks passion is what makes a great salesperson. \u201cI look for passion for the product and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s something that you can fake. As a salesperson, you are up against a lot of no\u2019s, a lot of reasons people can\u2019t take the product, and you have to convince them. You can\u2019t do that in a slimy way. You can\u2019t fulfill that need if it\u2019s just about the money or meeting the numbers. Passion is what creates the ability to meet your customers\u2019 needs on the scene and get the sale.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(What makes a great salesperson, n.d.).\r\n\r\nMark Bozzini, CEO of Infinite Spirits, learned a powerful selling lesson early in his career. His job was to sell more bottles of wine than were sold the previous year, which seemed easy enough\u00a0 but when he called on a wine and spirits retailer, the storeowner told him that his products didn\u2019t sell and he would rather not have them on his shelves. So much for selling more bottles of wine. An average salesperson might become pushy, or even leave and seek a sale elsewhere but Bozzini, an intuitive and passionate salesperson, was determined to make the sale. He spent an hour rearranging the store display and asked the storeowner to give it a chance to see if the product sold better. The new display worked, and the storeowner became one of Bozzini\u2019s best customers. The moral of the story: always remember, \u201cthe customer doesn\u2019t care about your stuff. They care about their\u00a0<\/em>stuff.\u201d (Muoio, 2007). Bozzini showed passion, resilience, creativity and flexibility\u2014all traits that help salespeople with success.\r\n

Creating\u00a0Value<\/h3>\r\nThe role of a salesperson can be summed up in one sentence: \u201cSalespeople are value creators.\u201d (Tanner, 2008). To further describe what this means, think about a recent visit to the Apple Store. If you go to the store at virtually any hour, it is filled with customers. The salespeople are not just those that are pushing a product, hoping that you buy so that they make their sales quota. They are experts who know everything about the products in the store whether they be MacBooks, iPads, or iPhones. The salespeople engage you in dialogue, listen, and learn about what you are looking for. They ask questions like, \u201cWhat do you do with the photos you take? Do you like to make videos? Do you want to easily access the Web from your phone?\u201d No techno-talk, no slick sales pitches. They just want to know what is important to you so that they can let you try the product that not only fits your basic computing needs, but also blows you away. Apple and its sales team know that computers are complicated and can baffle even savvy users. To build trust and confidence with their customers, they developed the \u201cGenius Bar\u201d so that Apple users know that they can always to talk to an individual and find help with any problem or question they may have. In fact, Apple dedicates a section of their Web site to the Genius Bar and invites customers to make an appointment online to come to a store to talk to one of the \u201cresident Geniuses.\u201d Talk about creating value. As a result, Apple is able to charge a premium for its product and generate such demand that in some cases people are lined \u00a0up to buy their products, as was the case for the launch of the iPhone 11 Pro in 2019 (Van Boom, 2019).\r\n

What Will You Be Doing?<\/a><\/h2>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_121\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"756\"]\"Bar Fig. 2.1 Average salary of U.S. pharmaceutical sales representatives from 2016 to 2018 in U.S. dollars \u00a0[<\/span>Image Description<\/em><\/a>]<\/span>[\/caption]The life of a salesperson is never dull. You could be working with a single customer or with multiple customers. You might work in a corporate office, or you might work from your home. You might talk to customers via phone, live chat, instant message, and text, or you might meet with them in their office in your neighbourhood, your region, or anywhere around the world. You might be working on research to identify new customers, preparing a presentation for a new or existing customer, meeting with customers\u2019 face-to-face, following up to get contracts signed, or communicating inside your organization to be sure all goes well to deliver the product or service to the customer on time and on budget. On any given day, you might be working on any number of activities to support an existing customer or to approach, present, or close a new customer. Finally, sales jobs can be financially rewarding.\u00a0\u00a0 According to Indeed\u00a0\u00a0 job postings, sales\u00a0 executive jobs start around $62,000 a year\u00a0 whereas pharmaceutical representatives made an average of $130,00 in 2018 (Mikulic, 2019,\u00a0 a sales representatives\u00a0 for biotech or surgical devices made over $ 164,00.00\u00a0 (Medreps, 2019). <\/a>\r\n\r\n\"Bar\r\n
Figure 2.2: Average annual salary of top earners in the medical sales industry in the U.S. [Image Description<\/em><\/a>]<\/div>\r\n
\r\n

Image Descriptions<\/h2>\r\n<\/a>Figure 2.1 Image Description: Average salary of U.S. pharmaceutical representatives is a bar chart showing the average salaries from 2016 to 2018 in U.S. dollars.\u00a0 On the Y axis we see Annual salary in U.S. dollars from zero to 175,000.\u00a0 On the X axis we see each year (2016, 2017, 2018) each with three bars showing (in order) Base salary, Bonus\/commission, and Total compensation.\r\n\r\nFor 2016\r\n