I have been a salesman pretty much all my life. All of us have been. Sometimes I was even called a salesman; at other times I was merely selling myself, my services, or other aspects of a primary business. I have sold down-the-street in tough markets at times of depressed sales. Later, as a an area manager calling on dealers and branches to help them recruit and train, I taught others what I had learned. I have sold in many different geographies. I have never been the most flashy, nor even the most organized. I have seldom been the safest bet.
I have never matched the theoretical ideal sales profile. But I have often been the stand-out among my group of sales peers. My approach was necessarily different. I was not born gregarious, nor particularly social. I not good-looking. I did have a gift for words once it was found. I learned that words are often all we have. They can be powerful. I have also been blessed with a quiet tenacity. I feel that this quality more than anything else, is the quality that makes for extraordinary salesmen.
For a time, after retiring from the mainstream business world, I consulted with businesses of many types, to help them implement programs of the types that I had used. I found a great deal of my knowledge is adaptable to virtually any type of sales. The information that I have to offer can also be used for those involved in marketing and presenting, to positive ends. Indeed, many of the techniques that helped me succeed in sales, are really acts of marketing. Sometimes it takes a lot of marketing to lead up to those few moments we cal sales.
Although much of my experience is with tangible such as computerized office equipment, many other products have been intangibles, such as software, concepts, ideas, and methods. Early-on in my career, I held a life insurance and securities license. I excelled in that job too. But since I have always tended to be a kind of gadget-guy, I found the rapidly changing technology offered in office imaging--from calculators and computers, to cameras and printing equipment, to color copiers and connected printer--were more to my liking. Even though I will often pose precise examples using copier and other tangibles within this blog, you will find that most are adaptable to any type of sales. I favorprinciples over lists or unyielding formats. Principles are universally true.
Although lacking prestige, copier sales success has become the benchmark for today's selling methods. If you can make it selling copiers savvy recruiters feel that you can sell anything. Many sales managers consider successful copier sales as a suitable background, if not a prerequisite, for employment. One such industry is the medical and pharmaceutical industry. In a sense, copier sales is really not very hard to do, once you get past the initial obstafcles. And you can make a fortune if you do it well. Ask Ross Perrot.
People have paid mightily for just this sort of information, which I now post here for free. I simply felt that recounting some of these things could help other salesmen get a jump on their careers. I wish I had had such a tool to help me when I was beginning. This is the mission of my Sales Gladiator weblog. As I produce several other blogs, I will necessarily get to this one as I can. I will also try to answer any serious questions, which are submitted via the comments feature. I will also moderate and post any comments that I feel will help you. You may wish to subscribe to this blogs feed.
Best Regards, PapaD
