Listen to the customers
The gift of the gab may in fact be working against sales staff
THERE are many people employed as salespeople in Australia but top talent is in short supply.
People who are self-aware, easily build rapport, like to listen and can handle the knock-backs are in high demand from employers – and do not always require a university degree.
A five-year study of 22,000 salespeople by business consultants SG Partners reveals 74% lack skills in building rapport, 87% do not know how to effectively ask questions, and 95% talk too much.
SG Partners managing director Michael Lang says his company screens about 1000 salespeople a year but only about 250 of those are worth recruiting.
“The average salesperson out there likes to talk more than listen, they like to tell people how great they are and to project their beliefs on to others,” Mr Lang says.
“Great salespeople want to find out even more about the person in front of them – what makes them tick, how they make decisions, how to inspire them, how to be the trusted adviser, how to demonstrate they care.
“It’s one of the hardest jobs in any organisation because you are being paid to go out and get rejected so you’ve got to be comfortable with that. (Ask yourself ) ‘do I suffer from rejection?’. If so, either change or you shouldn’t get into selling.”
There are about 1.08 million sales workers across
Australia, including 87,700 sales representatives, Australia Bureau of Statistics data shows.
Paul Avey, senior vicepresident of a mining equipment company, says he looks for salespeople who are goals-focused, resilient, able to think strategically, and comfortable meeting customers away from the office.
Mr Avey says they are very hard to find.
“If you can find a technical person with the emotional intelligence to match, that’s sensational,” he says.
“You can train the technical side of people later on, it’s harder to train the emotional intelligence.
“The number one thing I would be looking for is the soft skills, like building up trusted adviser status.
“If people have got the university degrees and qualifications, that’s a positive because if you
have that background it’s easier to build up that relationship and strike up conversation with customers ... but it is not a prerequisite.”
Salesman Daniel Fois says sales is about relationship management, strategic planning and finding markets for company products and services.
Mr Fois, who studied industrial design at university and is now a key account manager for a mining equipment company, began his career in the automotive industry but took up a sales role in 2002.
“I was passionate about networking and listening to customers and working out their needs.”
Fois says the best salespeople are genuine.
“Communicate clearly and try to find a common ground, and understand their interests, personal beliefs, principles,” he says.