When exercising the managerial function in charge of a team of salespeople, and according to experiences and working circumstances with said collaborators, we are making successive analyzes and inevitable comparisons to take references that allow us to better understand the reasons that differentiate the best members from the rest of the group.
With the repetition of such analyzes over time, such conclusions provide us with valuable information that enriches and strengthens our criteria to achieve the best human resources in the performance of a key task for the success of any organization.
Although there are unique aspects that identify each business or activity such as its mission, its image, its philosophy, its products and / or services, sales management methodology, etc., there are also valuable common human aspects that can facilitate the formation of highly efficient and productive teams in the generation of results.
In order to facilitate the analysis of these key human aspects, and in order that they can be taken to the realm of reality itself, thus contributing to achieve them in each of the current and future members of the team itself in the important recruitment process and selection, a comparative analysis of the "profile traits" is presented below, grouping them into two large groups of sellers as described below:
Traditional salesperson: the vast majority of sales representatives who carry out their management with variable and uncertain results and with vices that produce consequences of dissatisfaction due to actions of malpractice in their activity.
Professional salesperson: a smaller but constantly growing number that produces consistently productive and quality results, continually improving and providing satisfaction to each person who contacts daily for their role as an ideal advisor to the organization they represent and the products and services it offers.
Next, we will share the analysis of the "profile traits" that best identify each of these different groups of salespeople, which will significantly contribute to identifying them and incorporating them into the recruitment and selection process that must be carried out in each team.
Profile Traits
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PROFILE TRAITS |
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Traditional seller |
Professional seller |
| You like to sell even if you want to access another administrative or desk position | He likes it very much and comes to love the profession |
| Lacks eagerness to learn, read and learn about their profession | Is motivated to learn permanently |
| Your main motivation is only your monthly income | His main motivation is to provide satisfaction to his current and potential clients, generating a high income for his successful performance |
| He is disorganized in his tasks and is reluctant to incorporate proven improvements in his management that modify his current state | He is organized and values everything that allows him to maximize his daily productive time |
| Lacks motivation in their improvement | You are motivated to continually improve yourself throughout your life |
| Acts in the sale out of necessity or due to other circumstances of the destination | Act in the profession because you have chosen it |
| Does not value the feelings and damages that it may cause in its interviewees (current and potential clients) | It takes into account the values and feelings of each interviewee and avoids affecting them due to possible errors in their management |
| It is not responsible for its good or low achievements and seeks to justify them by looking for "scapegoats", excuses and justifications. | He is responsible and always takes charge of his results, correcting his mistakes immediately so as not to incur them again |
| You waste your productive daily time and rely only on your intuition, your wonderful memory, and your "good luck." | Take advantage of every hour of the day in tasks that provide results, trusting and perfecting your work method and in the analysis of your registration |
| A closed sale is a completed deal | Each sale closed (or not) represents a solid link to develop for many years, thus reaping new business and customers. |
| It bases its sales strength on its natural qualities to seduce and convince others, even when it may not benefit them. | It bases its sales strength on the knowledge of its products or services and on those of its competition, in order to benefit its current and potential clients with its best advice |
| Every day he "goes out to see what happens", trusting in his good fortune | Every day he «goes out to make it happen» planning his daily activity so that he takes advantage of every minute with all the potential he has to achieve it |
| It reaches (or not) its objectives in the last days of each month | It reaches (or not) its objectives proportionally in each week of the month |
After sharing this analysis, it may be thought that all the traits corresponding to the "professional salesperson" are difficult to find in a person to be selected and incorporated into the team. Although this significantly reduces the universe of possibilities in the selection of the best sellers to incorporate, this important requirement should not be abandoned.
This situation is what leads us to consider that, since everything good that you want to achieve in life has a price, the difficulty that scarcity generates in the market is the cost that must be assumed if what you want is to have a a good team of professionals who provide quality, consistency and productivity in the generation of the sales results that they aspire to obtain throughout the year (nothing more and nothing less). And this is not only "non-negotiable" if the determination to materialize the desire for success in the business or activity being managed is firm.
Likewise, many of these profile traits can develop in those who lack them through actions that modify their attitudes and behaviors, gradually bringing them to the level of performance that they want to achieve in them.
Although it is not an easy task to produce it, it is an inherent aspect of the manager's ability who must achieve it through appropriate actions and through the adequate resources available, both internal and external.
Conclusions
The only reality in sales is what is appreciated in the field of facts and action, measured under the objective criterion of the results obtained over time.
After the analysis that we have shared, and if we really want to achieve a highly efficient and productive team of salespeople, we must assume that the aspect that leads to materialize this desire is only a consequence of the efficiency in which the recruitment and selection process has been carried out.
After that, the "tailor-made" training that is carried out will be very valuable because it will constitute a highly profitable investment if the required resources are provided to those who have the appropriate profile and are motivated to learn and improve, which is a direct consequence of the important previous stage.
Having completed this analysis, the final reflection is not on the author of this article but on those who are responsible for conducting the sales activity through their team of collaborators.
References:
(1) E-book «Keys to a successful sale»
(2) E-book «The Professional Sale»
© Copyright 2007, by Martín E. Heller
