What’s your type? Mine is sales successful.
Everybody talks about types of people, in order to try and figure them out.
Salespeople are all taught to mirror, model and type their prospective customers. Big mistake. My opinion: That’s total manipulation. Total joke. Total waste of time. The key word is harmonize. Not mirror or model. Harmonizing is sincere. The rest is manipulative. Get to know them as a person, not as a personality type.
But that’s not what I am writing about. Instead of “typing” customers and prospects, let’s talk about types of salespeople. What’s your type?
“Eh, wait a second Jeffrey,” you stammer. “I may not want to know what type I am.”
Too bad. This won’t hurt – it will help you see yourself the way others do.
At the top of my list is the “nonconformist and high performer.” You know the type. Makes all the sales. Breaks all the records. Breaks all the rules. Ruffles management. Does it his way. The boss doesn’t know how to handle him. Half the sales team loves him. Half the sales team hates him.
Then you have “conformist, compliant, high performer.” The model salesperson. She gets the job done, makes big sales, exceeds the sales plan and follows the rules. You wish you had a hundred people like this. In my experience, they’re predominantly women. Not to say that men are not conformist/compliant, but men tend to step outside the lines a lot more than women in the selling process.
Then you have “conformist, compliant nonproducer.” For whatever reason, he cannot make the goal. Darn nice guy. Everybody likes him. Customers love him. Only problem is, he can’t close a sale. Often referred to as “the visitor.”
Finally you have the “noncompliant nonperformer.” He whines about everything. Blames everybody else. Is an accident waiting to happen. Always the victim. The word responsibility is usually as painful to him as the word accountability.
Well, those are the big four. And obviously there are people who fall between each of these sales types. And their personality plays a role with respect to their aggressiveness, assertiveness, self-starting ability, enthusiasm and attitude. But all of these elements are part and parcel of their result – they “type” the person and their character – as well as their level of performance.
You would think a positive attitude would be part of every salesperson’s makeup. But you would be wrong. Many salespeople, especially seasoned salespeople, can be highly productive, yet somewhat cynical.
The reason I’m putting these descriptions in front of you for these types of salespeople, is for you to see yourself.
Your manager, co-workers, fellow salespeople and customers already see you. And they “type” you. They see the way you dress and how you act. They see your character, personality and style. They see how you perform. But rarely do you get to see or evaluate yourself.
So, I am asking you to do that now: How close to “compliant, competent, high performer” can you rate yourself?
I’m going to throw some other words at you: friendly, helpful, sincere, value-driven, truthful, ethical and grateful. These are areas of your personality and character that will lead you closer to sales success.
It’s not just a matter of making more sales. It’s a matter of building more relationships, so that one sale turns into many. It’s a matter of building your reputation, so when people talk about you behind your back, they say things you would like to hear to your face.
Sales success is not about your performance as of this moment. It’s about the strength of your character that will earn the success you desire – over time.
In my sales career, I’ve had many sales prima donnas that made big sales and broke all the rules. I fired every one of them – and every time I did, the rest of the team picked up the slack, and sales always increased.
You see, if you’re the leader (the boss, the owner, the entrepreneur), people are looking at your actions and will often judge your character as permission to evolve their own: “The boss did it. I don’t see anything wrong with me doing it.” Self-judgment is difficult. And if you ask someone else to judge you, they probably won’t be truthful for fear of hurting your feelings or their relationship with you.
So, what’s your type? What’s your character? What are you known as? Known for? If you can answer all those questions and are willing to expose yourself to the opportunities that your shortcomings reveal, then you are ready to take the quantum leap – to the type of salesperson that would make your mother, customers, boss and banker proud.
Jeffrey Gitomer, author of “The Little Red Book of Selling” and 11 other titles, is president of Charlotte, N.C.-based Buy Gitomer. He gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings and conducts Internet training programs on sales and customer service at Gitomer.com. He can be reached at salesman@gitomer.com.
