THE FOUR KINDS OF SALES PEOPLE
By Chuck Mache
John Wiley, 198 pages, $27.99
SPIRITUAL SELLING
More Report on Business Stories
By Joe Nunziata
John Wiley, 222 pages, $27.99
A list of what's required to be successful in selling might include: cold calling; overcoming objections; long, focused hours; dealing with rejection; constant change; developing product expertise; gaining trust; finding the client need; withstanding competitive threats; working with unpredictable customers; and constant learning.
If you made a list of what struggling salespeople hate to do, Chuck Mache says it would identical.
"Most successful salespeople learn to love to do the difficult things that most people hate to do," the sales consultant says in The Four Kinds of Salespeople.
That leads him to divide the more than 13 million salespeople in North America into four types. While most such schemas focus on the sales approach, personalities, or communication styles, he illuminates how willing salespeople are to do the tough stuff required to be effective.
"It provides salespeople an opportunity to pause from the daily tasks of selling to look in the mirror, get honest, determine exactly who they are, and what they are really after in their sales careers, and, most importantly, how to get it," Mr. Mache says. "Clarity - honest clarity - can take you places."
The four types of salespeople are:
The Performers
These individuals are consistently breaking sales records, with enthusiasm and great drama, drawing attention to their inestimable value to the company. They are chameleons, able to adapt to the different prospects they deal with and meet the prospects' needs.
But performers are less effective back in the office, where they don't want to adapt to anybody else's needs, seeing those desires or rules as obstacles to success and a signal they aren't fully appreciated.
"Performers have large egos and at times it will appear that they are out of control. In fact, they sometimes are. This usually occurs within their organization and is ignited when there is a change or mix-up that threatens their immediate sales success," Mr. Mache writes.
Performers need to learn empathy toward colleagues, controlling their ego and getting off the emotional roller coaster that their lives otherwise become as they routinely follow the high of new sales conquests with emotional outbursts over everyday office routines.
The Professionals
These are skilled communicators, very organized and analytical in their approach. They are even-tempered, logical, quietly competitive, patient, internally passionate, and have controlled egos. They are top producers, in line with the more visible performers. But they hold back, afraid to take risks, such as declining to call back on that former client who declared six months ago he would never do business with the company again, but might have a different perspective today. They are full of self-sabotaging thoughts that keep them from achieving higher levels. They need to concern themselves less with failure and stop playing it safe, reaching for more.
The Caretakers
Inside these individuals may be a tremendous producer but, unfortunately, caretakers are stuck in their comfort zone. They are a bundle of self-limiting excuses for why they can't sell more - no point, for example, trying to work hard on Monday mornings, because nobody buys then - and, as a result, they are inconsistent producers or consistently mediocre producers. Caretakers won't do the difficult things, hate change, and are passive-aggressive, going along when they really disagree. They need to ditch the excuses and negative self-talk, and commit to excelling.
The Searchers
These individuals are uncertain what they want to be in life and entered sales thinking it might be the answer. They believe sales is much easier than it really is and won't do the tough things required to be successful because it would be too painful. They can't handle rejection, and are consumed with fear in their new career. They need assistance in finding a more appropriate career.
Mr. Mache uses a fable style to illustrate his ideas, taking an example of each type in turn and having that individual overcome their personal sales crisis during an unexpected incident at a neighbourhood gas station - coached by the wise owner, Steve, who helps them understand the flaws in their makeup that must be remolded. It's easy to read, and helpful in understanding where sales can go wrong.
In Spiritual Selling, consultant Joe Nunziata argues that if you are flailing or failing in sales, the reason lies within. You need to develop your spiritual side, clearing your chakras, the subtle energy channels that run through your body, and deal with unconscious guilt and fear. You also must change your beliefs about money so that you accept you have unlimited possibilities and resources; this abundance approach will allow you, through what has been called the law of attraction, to attract what you need in life.
The first seven chapters elaborate on those themes, looking within for success, and then the next six are more conventional, dealing with issues, such as branding yourself and creating effective sales funnels, with the final chapter drawing it all together in a package. This approach won't appeal to everyone, but for those intrigued by spirituality, it may unlock the secret to success for them, as it did for the author.
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