Most of us that are good at our jobs, hear people say “you’re a natural born salesman” pretty often. Outsiders often assume we were just born into sales. The general public thinks we get all these closes and product knowledge overnight. Like we were arrived on Earth with a birth certificate and some wordtracks to combat objections.
Natural born communicators make great salespeople, but being a good communicator is only the tip of the iceberg in sales. In order to be a badass salesman you need to practice your craft, learn from others, and continually search for the epic combination of words that unlock the minds and wallets of your prospects.
All of my life I’ve had people tell me I belong in sales. I’ve sold car washes, mortgages, homes, training, cars, consulting and much more. Each time I sold something new, my pipeline wasn’t full, there were no lay-downs, and I had to learn about the products I sold. Even me, a world renown sales trainer, had to be trained at each new job.
I think the best salespeople are people who are open-minded and willing to learn. Those of us who invest in ourselves. Those who read books. Those who attend seminars. Those who study their prospects and set out to solve problems. Those are the best salespeople.
There’s plenty of people working as waiters, who get offered a job in sales, due to their communication skills. We’ve all seen those same people go back to waiting, tail between their legs, because the sales world wasn’t very nice to them.
Sales isn’t about being a good talker. It’s about guiding the prospect down a path to a logical conclusion on why they should buy what you sell. The best salespeople will tell you “the less you talk, the more you make” so being a good talker is not a prerequisite in sales.
On my current sales team, I have several people who make 6 figures per year. Each of them were trained in the art of selling. We’ve seen plenty of natural born salesfolks get ran off. The best salesperson is one that is trainable, coachable and empathetic toward the problems their prospects face.
Next time someone asks you if great salespeople are born that way or trained, ask them if they think people just wake up one day and play professional sports. Like anything else, sales takes, effort, practice and doing the work. Sales is a life-long personal development course with a pay plan attached to it.
If you’re into becoming a better salesperson and earning more money, check out my sales training program Show Up and Close at www.buyshowupandclose.com this program has changed the game and income level for many salespeople across the world. Are you next?
