Have you ever heard of a "natural-born salesperson" ? The enterprising kid who organizes the neighborhood car wash grows up sell derivatives to hedge funds. She's described as a "natural-born salesperson".
That's not fair. She worked hard at it, probably since age six.
I listened to a training presentation by Greg Frost today, President of Frost Mortgage in Albuquerque. Greg recounted a funny story in his presentation and expanded upon it at the cocktail hour, sponsored by American Brokers Conduit. Let me start off by saying that I relate to Greg Frost. He's an old-school originator and the first billion dollar producer. We chuckled over a beer about our "first sales managers".
Graduates of Catholic grade schools have an unfair advantage; we were trained in sales early in life.
Now, some of you will relate to this. Your parents spent money to send you to Our Lady of the Lakes School and bought you the uniforms and textbooks. What did we do on our first day of Catholic grade school?
The boxes showed up. Boxes filed with candy bars...the product.
Sister Mary got up and talked about how tasty the candy was...product knowledge. Sister Brigid told us to knock on all of our neighbor's doors and ask for their support...the sales plan. Sister Margaret invited two children to "rehearse" what we would say...role playing. Finally, Monsignor Sharkey came in and had us say a prayer for the children trapped in the Godless world of Communism...the compelling reason.
Sister Brigid was my first sales manager. She was very effective in her tactics. I was a pretty competitive child and wanted so much to win the trip to Dorney Park but had some stiff competition. Her name was Analisa Salvatore. She was a tiger and Sister Brigid knew how to work our impressionable minds.
"Mr. Brady, please stand up and tell the class how many candy bars you sold last night." (I was six so I was afforded the courtesy of the title)
"Five, Sister Brigid"
Sister Brigid continued to poll the room, saving Analisa Salvatore for last. Now mind you, I grew to despise Analisa. Not only was she beautiful, pigtails flowing in the breeze, she was smart. Apparently, she was pretty darned successful, also.
"I sold eleven candy bars, Sister Brigid !"
Analisa went on, in detail, about her tireless prospecting, practiced pitch in front of the mirror, and superior closing skills, complete with a flip book about the starving children in Africa.
My point is this. There is no such thing as a natural-born salesperson. Sales takes training and practice. Products change. Pricing changes. Marketing strategies fail. Consumer tastes evolve. It is imperative that you train yourself in the art of salesmanship, over and over again.
Training isn't enough. You have to implement the skills you learn and perfect them with rote repetition. I sold five candy bars my first day of Catholic grade school but visited some fifteen or twenty houses. You'll never sell everybody, no matter how good you are. But each no, when analyzed, brings you closer and closer to the next yes.
Not everybody can be Analisa Salvatore...but we can certainly model her success.
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