Here is a post from a course I teach to prospective salespeople. Properly grounding newbies is important to starting them on the path to success. You may find parts of this useful when you begin to train new salespeople.

Why Become a Salesperson – Part Two

Here are some sales duties and responsibilities common to most organizations. Starting your new salespeople out with an understanding of these will help.

A. Deportment and Timeliness: You must be on time, all the time. Nothing upsets a manager more than a salesperson who is late to meetings, shifts or appointments. Managers instill discipline into the functioning of any sales department. They will not tolerate tardiness. If ever events make timeliness impossible, in this age of cellular communications there is simply no excuse for failing to keep your manager informed of your situation.

Your parents probably taught you always to act with courtesy and respect. This mindset is where you need to “come from” at all times when dealing with customers, superiors and other salespeople. There will be times when this will be difficult. You may encounter customers or associates who do not reciprocate your efforts, and emotions can become intense, especially in the midst of a transaction.

Salespeople are generally a bit more ego-driven than the population at large. This typically results in competition between salespeople and the establishment some sort of a “pecking-order.” Often the business exacerbates these aspects of group dynamics by pitting teams or individuals against one another for bonuses in sales contests. Without trying to avoid normal social interaction and the natural relationships you may need to become a more effective salesperson, you should avoid the jabs and jibes that can cause friction with your fellow salespeople. Definitely avoid the external and internal forces that might cause you to settle into any particular place in a “pecking-order.” The last thing you ever want to do is become satisfied by being number two – or in the “middle of the pack” of a group, even though doing so may feel perfectly natural. Be on guard to coach yourself out of this tendency.

B. Selling Skills and Product Knowledge:  Understanding people and working well with people is far more important to success than product knowledge. However, product knowledge is critical to success as well. Product knowledge includes a thorough understanding of the business, its history, policies, procedures, and guarantees. A good salesperson spends a portion of every working day acquiring and refreshing knowledge of the various products he sells. Salespeople use imagination to turn that knowledge into product benefits that they can describe vividly to customers enhancing desire. Even more importantly, salespeople spend a portion of the day learning about fresh inventory and its features and benefits.

The good salesperson practices the craft of selling every day one-on-one with real prospects and through imagination and role-playing. Of these two methods of practice, the latter method allows a salesperson with a good imagination to grow and improve far more quickly. Good salespeople are always conscious that the competition is not so much other products, but other salespeople. They hold the attitude that while it might be acceptable occasionally to lose a customer to a different product; they must never lose a customer to a better salesperson. They are acutely aware that small differences in competencies can make a huge difference in results. Just as a wide receiver that runs a 40 yard dash in 4.1 seconds almost always has a step on the defensive back who can only run 40 yards in 4.3 seconds. The good salesperson commits to being on the winning side of all competencies.

C.  Teamwork and Roles: Do not be afraid to tell everyone, especially your customers, that you are new to sales. Surprisingly you will find that being new and somewhat ignorant can be a real advantage. In fact, you want to maintain that fresh, virgin, outsider’s outlook for as long as you possibly can. You may be part of a sales team or crew with whom you will share a shift. You probably will NOT be expected or allowed to determine what price is acceptable for any particular product. Nevertheless, in most sales positions you will have a critical role to play in determining price. You will part of a team. Each member of your team can help you achieve your goals – of more sales and more income. You will be asked to perform a number of simple tasks: greeting customers, acquiring the name, address and telephone number of each customer, helping customers select the right product, teaching them to appreciate the features and benefits of that product, allowing them to experience the product via a demonstration, introducing the terms of an acceptable the transaction, and/or introducing customers to another salesman or your supervisor if at any point in time you reach an impasse and cannot proceed.  You will learn to complete a variety of forms and documents. You will come to understand that each of these is an important part of the process of creating a sale. Very quickly, you will learn your place, your role, and you will meet with success.

Then, a couple of months later, just when you begin to think you understand how everything is supposed to work, you will begin to struggle. This is a critical time in nearly every salesperson’s career when new salespeople begin unilaterally to qualify customers’ desire or capacity to buy, take shortcuts in the selling process, and to stop seeking the help and support they sought from managers and teammates when they were rank beginners. Knowing that this phenomenon will occur may help you to avoid it or mitigate its effects. You must never get to the point that when you hear, “I’m not buying today,” you fail to hear, “I’m …buying….” Always remember that the phrase “…not… today” is just a temporary objection waiting to be overcome by a real salesperson. Never let yourself get in so deep a rut that you feel you must proceed to your objective (a profitable sale) in a purely linear fashion. Always remain flexible enough to accommodate your customer as you guide them through the steps of a sale. Always be willing to seek and listen to the guidance of your managers.

D. Marketing Responsibility: Salespeople are not clerks. Clerks typically receive an hourly wage. Salespeople have an opportunity to make much more on commission, and must do much more as well. Salespeople do not simply help customers and answer customers’ questions. They are an integral part of a dealership’s overall marketing effort. Each month salespeople commit to produce a portion of a business’ sales goal. You must cause prospective customers to become actual customers at a higher frequency than they would have otherwise. To achieve your portion of your business’ sales goal you must work – continuously – to produce more opportunities for sales. Far too many people, who have experience as “sales clerks” in other fields, think that, if there is no customer physically present, it is permitted or even expected that they do nothing. This is not an acceptable attitude in a salesperson, and it will not produce the kind of success you expect for yourself. 

A big part of every salesperson’s day must be spent staying in contact with prospective customers who have not yet purchased, following up with customers who have purchased and “adopting orphan-owners” (customers sold by salespeople who no longer work for your business). It will surprise many people to learn that on average nationally the typical auto salesperson only gets to assist 50 prospective customers each month, even when self-generated sales prospects are included, with an overall closing ratio of approximately 20%. Whatever the business, there will be a limit on the number of sales opportunities generated by the business’ location, advertising, promotion etc. This illustrates how critical the capacity to produce one’s own opportunities is to success. Later we will discuss a daily routine that you should make your own, and use to keep yourself on task throughout each day. You should make yourself accountable throughout each working day in much the same manner auto technicians or doctors are accountable for their time in tenths of an hour. Set a little clock in your head that goes off automatically whenever you find yourself with free time that asks, “What should I be doing right now to generate my next sale?”

E.  Dress for Success: You will represent yourself, your employer and, to a certain extent, the manufacturer of the products you sell. You must dress the part. There are quite a few businesses where polo shirts and khaki trousers or skirts are the “uniform of the day.” However, most still require adherence to a dress code called semi-formal business attire. Business suits or blazers with ties or scarves over woolen trousers or skirts are common. Dressing this way simply commands instant respect from prospective customers. I have called on hundreds of dealers and known many successful salespeople who dressed casually. Salespeople in one Georgia Ford dealership wore cowboy boots and casual shirts or even jeans. Their objective was to dress like their customers thereby putting them at ease. However, years of experience have taught me that even in such a business the salesperson that sets himself or herself apart by “dressing up” gives and gets more respect from customers. That respect definitely translates into higher earnings. I strongly suggest reading “Dress for Success.” It contains valuable insights on selecting, wearing and caring for a wardrobe that will make you money. Just as important as the effect dressing well will have on your customers is the effect it will have on you. You will feel like a million bucks, as if you are dressed and ready to sell, and consequently you will be. Dressing well is an important daily part of “putting on your game face.”

You need not possess an extremely varied business wardrobe at the outset. At the very least you should have two good quality blue blazers, a few khaki and gray tropical worsted wool trousers, a selection of oxford cloth dress shirts and a few tasteful ties. Good brown and black leather dress shoes and black dress socks complete the ensemble. Suggested business attire for women is very similar except that scarves or tasteful necklaces take the place of a man’s tie and practical low wide-heeled shoes replace a man’s wingtips. Women must also take care to avoid clothing that is too tight, low cut or sensually suggestive.

More to come in future posts …