Yet beneath this ‘makeover’ of communication choices that selling has undergone, deep down the anatomy of professional salespeople has not changed much.
Google's home page logo recently reminded us that some 115 years ago a new kind of ray ( the X ray) was discovered by Wilhelm Rontgen
. He produced the first X ray photograph of part of the human body - his wife's hand.So let's study the 'anatomy '21st Century salesperson with a quasi X ray analysis and study the various parts.
Salespeople combine many roles and satisfy many needs. To understand your full responsibility you need to look at your job and from three different perspectives.
• Your customers’ perspective
• Your company’s
• Your own
The Customers’ perspective:
To be fully effective in opening, building, maintaining and servicing an account there are four different roles as a customer will expect to see demonstrated. Selling style is often a balance between building relationships and obtaining commitments from customers.
1. Overseer Part: ( Passive and reactive sales style likely to be low on building commitment and low on building relationships) This profile is likely to be expressed by being
Efficient
Well Organised
Keeps promises
Utilises resources
2. Diplomat Part: ( a more ‘political’ sales style high on building relationships but lower on getting commitment) This aspect is likely to be seen in action by a salesperson who
develops relationships
active listener
trustworthy
credible
3. Promoter Part ( Proactive sales style high on obtaining commitments low on building relationships) This style is likely to express skills in a salesperson who is
persuasive
confident
able to motivate
builds commitment
believes in their offer
The Professional Sales Consultant Part (4) is able to blend the Overseer, Promoter and Diplomat roles where they are best suited. You will need to spend most of your time in a sales consultant role as trusted advisor, need satisfier and problem solver.
There will be times when you need to use the other parts to carry out a particular role of the total sales function. The true professional has the sensitivity and flexibility to be able to utilise the right part at the right time for the right person.
But remember that you must always aim to move back into the full sales consultant role as soon as one of the others has served its purpose.
Your Company’s viewpoint:
If your customers are happy then your manager is likely to be happy also. But there are other roles you need to complete your responsibility to your own organisation:
These are if you like the aspects of the role which could be described as being a Professional Business Manager. There are three further parts to consider here.
Your Researcher Part
Obtains feedback information on
Market
Customers
Competitors
Public relations Officer
Projects:
Image of company
Network market
Network relationships
Planner Part
Organises:
The development of territory and accounts
Strategy in Place
Goals Task Prioritisation
( Slide of First choice ( out of top 5) of what buyers like in salespeople with whom they do business- from 2010 Buyers' Views of salespeople Click for free summary of the TACK Buyers' Views Research 2010 research.)The final part of the jigsaw skeleton has to be your role as a responsible Self Manager. Your personal success depends largely on your own efforts. To ensure success you will need to be a:
Hard Worker Part
Effort and ability
Goal focused
Honest
Self directed
Optimist Part
Positive
Enthusiastic
Expect success
Relish challenges
Realist Part
Assess
Review
Do right tasks
Eliminate Weakness
The intermixing of the 'parts'- Hard worker, Optimist and Realist can be summed up as having the right mental attitude to the job of selling.
What the above shows is that to keep the complex and wonderful 'machine' that is your sales anatomy in good working order you need to keep it fit for purpose and revitalised.
You might find this link useful from to help you keep your sales anatomy in good working order.
Click for Tack's Interactive Course selector.
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