Becoming a sales professional is the key to unlocking your potential. Cover photo by rawpixel.com, CC0
“Life is pretty much a selling job. Whether we succeed or fail is largely a matter of how well we motivate the human beings with whom we deal to buy us and what we have to offer.” – Zig Ziglar
Before we talk more about you earning a very high compensation and retiring at the age of 45, we need to make one thing absolutely clear. There is one particular trait that is more directly correlated to your success than any other characteristic. This one thing is the underlying ingredient that will enable you to become powerful and wealthy. This one thing is a common trait shared by all movers and shakers who lead industries and shape our culture.
This one trait is the mindset that you are a sales professional.
No matter what your job is, being able to sell yourself, your company, your service, your product, or your idea to others is far more important than your looks, that diploma hanging on the wall behind you, the nice car parked in your garage, your job title, your skillset, anything. Have you noticed that I say sales professional instead of saleswoman or salesman? There is a distinction between a salesperson, who thinks of her work as just a job, and a sales professional, who views her work as a calling and a ladder to greatness.
Why Sales Employees Can’t Seem to “Pass Go”
What impressions do you form about a businesses when you walk in the front door and are ignored by the staff? They look at you and then go back to whatever non-vital task they were doing. You ring the bell, they eventually saunter over to you, they don’t give you a greeting, and they just ask, “yeah?” You probably think 1. “I wish I wasn’t here,” 2. the staff doesn’t care about you, 3. the service you’re about to buy is going to be mediocre at best, and 4. you’re not planning on returning to this business or making any referrals.
You’ve just interacted with a business that employs salespeople, not sales professionals. Many jobs have a customer service or sales role as part of the job requirement. However, these employees receive little to no training in customer service, they are paid a set hourly wage that doesn’t change regardless of how hard they work, and they receive no coaching or feedback from management.
These salespeople may want to improve their situation, want to earn more money, and have dreams of owning their own business. But like a student who wants to learn to become an engineer and eventually build her own engineering company, these salespeople must learn to become sales professionals before they can become successful business leaders. To break out of this cycle of mediocrity and grow to their full potential, they must learn and begin practicing to be sales professionals.
What are the Traits of a Sales Professional?
Contrast the lives of the above salespeople with some of the lives of high performance sales professionals and business leaders you know. What enables those high-earning sales professionals to grow their business so much faster than everyone else?
Servant Attitude
The foundational trait of a sales professional is a servant attitude. These people put the needs of the customer before their own. They believe that their primary duty is to help their clients reach their goals through the services and products they offer. These professionals would rather make no sale at all than to sell a product or service that doesn’t meet the exact needs of the customer.
They value relationships with their clients and know that its easier to get repeat business and referrals from a satisfied buyer than to try to continually find new clients through costly and labor-intensive marketing. The professional knows that if the clients are happy, then the sales professional will also be profitable and happy.
Refined Communication Skills
Once a person has the right foundational mindset, the second trait of a sales professional is communication. These are the people who get up from behind their desk and open the front door for customers before the customers even set foot inside the business. They greet their customers and spend time asking about what the customer needs. They explain the product or service, demonstrate how it works, and offer to help set it up for the customer after its purchase. They follow up with customers after the sale to ensure that the customer is satisfied, and they ask for referrals from the customer’s friends and family.
Think of cell phone stores whose employees, rather than hand you a box with a new phone inside and say, “come back in two years for an upgrade,” turn the new phone on, get it running with your email accounts and apps, transfer your contacts, and have the new phone ready to go before you leave the store. They then put their own phone number into your phone and let you know that you can call with any questions. Two weeks later, they call you and ask how you’re liking the new phone. Twenty-three months later, they call you again to let you know that you’re eligible for an upgrade if you have your eye on the newest phone. Guess who these customers are likely to buy their next phone from?
Competence
The third trait of a sales professional is competence. Knowledge is perishable, and sales professionals know that it takes constant learning to stay on top of their game. They know that the greatest way to grow their business is to improve their knowledge of how to connect with clients. They spend money to attend training seminars to improve their mindset, efficiency, and sales methods, listen to podcasts to learn about how others have achieved success, and read books at bedtime about how they can improve their interpersonal skills.
Even though I’ve been a sales professional for almost two decades, I still reviewed a good number of articles and books prior to writing this one article. There are many finer points of being a sales professional that I had forgotten. Your time is valuable, and I want the articles you read on Power and Purpose to be efficient and informative.
How You Can Rule the World as a Sales Professional
Re-read Zig Ziglar’s quote at the top of the article. His quote does not just apply to sales and business, it applies to every aspect of our personal lives: finding a spouse, motivating your kids to achieve their own success, connecting with new friends, negotiating a better price for the services and products you buy, and everything else.
The more you move through life with the mindset of a sales professional, the more luck, opportunities, and open doors you will find. You will be the one chosen for a promotion. You will be the one that scores that business deal that puts you on the map. You will become the business leader, gatekeeper, and powerbroker that others look to for leadership. And you will live the lifestyle of freedom, peace, power, and purpose that you desire.