Sitting in my weekly Rotary lunch meeting this week, I was asked a question by a very experienced business professional. I had been discussing sales training progress with a client sitting at the table, when she interrupted and asked,
“Can you really teach someone to sell? I mean, aren’t people just either able to sell or not?”
That’s an excellent question, and the answer is very often misunderstood.
The answer is no, you can’t teach someone to sell. You can, however, reconnect them to their natural born sales ability, because we are all born with the innate ability to sell.
Most people think that only a select few have natural born sales ability, but the evidence just does not support that. Anyone can sell, but even more than that, everyone has successfully sold in their past. What the select few have, is the ability to instinctually deconstruct the sales process, and be aware of the psychological elements of the buyer/seller dance. The rest of us need training to reconnect to our sales instincts.
I have a 7 year old at home, and he proves this concept almost every day. When he wants ice cream, or an extra 30 minutes on the iPad, he will use every negotiating technique from the most advanced sales trainings. The alternative option, the higher authority, the prior historical precedent, and every other classic negotiating approach are all used by my 7 year old in the pursuit of dessert or more video gaming time.
Were you any different when you were 7? My guess is that if I asked your parents, they could fill several volumes with stories of your childhood persistence in negotiating. Our adult mind takes all that away as we grow older, and become more concerned with what others think of us. Our need to be liked by others becomes an obstacle to persistence, and to negotiating efficiently. A 7 year old who wants ice cream doesn’t worry about being “cool”. He just keeps asking again, in different ways, until he either wins or loses the negotiation.
I am not advocating that you start negotiating like a 7 year old does. Throwing a tantrum isn’t really all that effective in the adult world. I am suggesting that inside you, however, are all the instincts of that 7 year old. The fearless persistence, the constant observing of the other party, and the single mindedness of you objective are little gifts the 7 year old has left for you to find.
There is no “sales personality”. I know plenty of introverts who sell successfully. I know analytical and impulsive sales people who get amazing sales results. Every single one of them successfully negotiated their way into a later bedtime, borrowing the car keys, or getting a candy bar bought for them at the supermarket. So did you. Everyone has sold.
If you chose sales as a profession, you have to borrow from that 7 year old inside you and be able to suspend your need to be liked. You still need to be likeable, please don’t read this as a license to be a jerk. Your need to be liked in the abstract interferes with the mindset of a proper sales negotiation. That is the freedom the 7 year old has.
Not only everyone can sell, but everyone HAS sold. Hence, we are all natural born sales people.
Sitting in a lunch meeting the other week, I was asked a question by a very experienced business professional. I had been discussing sales training progress with a client sitting at the table, when she interrupted and asked,
“Can you really teach someone to sell? I mean, aren’t people just either able to sell or not?”
That’s an excellent question, and the answer is very often misunderstood.
The answer is no, you can’t teach someone to sell. You can, however, reconnect them to their natural born sales ability, because we are all born with the innate ability to sell.
Most people think that only a select few have natural born sales ability, but the evidence just does not support that. Anyone can sell, but even more than that, everyone has successfully sold in their past. What the select few have, is the ability to instinctually deconstruct the sales process, and be aware of the psychological elements of the buyer/seller dance. The rest of us need training to reconnect to our sales instincts.
I have an 11 year old at home, and he proves this concept almost every day. When he wants ice cream, or an extra 30 minutes on the iPad, he will use every negotiating technique from the most advanced sales trainings. The alternative option, the higher authority, the prior historical precedent, and every other classic negotiating approach are all used by my kid in the pursuit of dessert or more video gaming time.
Were you any different when you were a kid? My guess is that if I asked your parents, they could fill several volumes with stories of your childhood persistence in negotiating. Our adult mind takes all that away as we grow older, and become more concerned with what others think of us. Our need to be liked by others becomes an obstacle to persistence, and to negotiating efficiently. A kid who wants ice cream doesn’t worry about being “cool”. He just keeps asking again, in different ways, until he either wins or loses the negotiation.
I am not advocating that you start negotiating like a 7 year old does. Throwing a tantrum isn’t really all that effective in the adult world. I am suggesting that inside you, however, are all the instincts of that 7 year old. The fearless persistence, the constant observing of the other party, and the single mindedness of you objective are little gifts the 7 year old has left for you to find.
There is no “sales personality”. I know plenty of introverts who sell successfully. I know analytical and impulsive sales people who get amazing sales results. Every single one of them successfully negotiated their way into a later bedtime, borrowing the car keys, or getting a candy bar bought for them at the supermarket. So did you. Everyone has sold.
If you chose sales as a profession, you have to borrow from that 7 year old inside you and be able to suspend your need to be liked. You still need to be likeable, please don’t read this as a license to be a jerk. Your need to be liked in the abstract interferes with the mindset of a proper sales negotiation. That is the freedom the 7 year old has.
Not only everyone can sell, but everyone HAS sold. Hence, we are all natural born sales people.