Career News 24/7: The Cynical Girl: Great Sales People

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Cynical Girl: Great Sales People

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 03:45 AM PST

I constantly bag on ‘sales professionals’ on this blog but I really only mean to bag on the bad ones. You know who I’m talking about. The ladies and gentlemen who affect a certain ‘Tony Robbins‘ persona.

Barf.

I’ve worked in some very competitive industries — technology, HR, chemical, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, insurance — and I work with sales people in my current job. I’ve learned that the best sales professionals are just amazing human beings. It’s as simple as that.

They dominate in all aspects of their lives. Health. Relationships. Work. Everything these people do is pretty fantastic.
They wake up early and go to bed late. Sleep is great and important but life is too exciting to sleep until 10.
They are motivated by a generosity of spirit. The greatest saleswoman I know is also the most giving person in the world. She volunteers. She loves animals and children. She finds a way to apply her natural abilities to her charitable endeavors.
Easy doesn’t interest them. Repeat business is great — but a ‘sure thing’ is boring.

The best sales people I know are thoughtful, intelligent human beings who are good at their jobs and just about everything else they do. No cheese. No schlock. They really don’t try to sell anything. They just solve problems.

I know this sounds silly but I’ve tried to learn a few quiet, simple lessons from sales people…

…although I am very interested in easy. After all, I’m still a Human Resources lady.