Mary Rae Floresca | Negosentro.com
In the sales industry, you meet different kinds of customers as well as salespeople. If you are part of a sales team, take note of the types of effective salespeople. Which one are you?
Based on Harvard’s Business Review (HBR), there are only 9.1 % of client meetings that result in a sale and only 1 in 250 salespeople are consistently effective. Clearly, the sales industry is quite competitive. It is hard to hit to target, but at times, when you get lucky, it would be easy.
Before getting into the highly effective salespeople, OpenView Ventures’ laid out the types of salespeople that are suggested for more improvement.
The first poorly effective salesperson is the “Technician.” He perceives that Sales is easy and is process-oriented. This one has a trouble in “connecting the dots,” meaning having a hard time to understand the relationship between him and the client. Second is the “Caretaker” or the “sleeping professional.” there would be times that he could close sales, but at times, he can’t close any deals. His performance is inconsistent. He is stuck in the comfort zone and doesn’t want to be more aggressive.
Now, below are three kinds of salespeople that are effective. All of them has areas to be improved but based on HBR, these salespeople are so far consistently effective.
1. Experts
The “experts” are most likely the mentors of a sales team and the owner. One who is well-rounded in all areas of sales that can has all the skills to close a deal. To be an “expert”, you must be able to correctly build relationships towards your client that ends up into sale. For new clients, you must be able to have that persuading skills but not being too pushy. An expert effective salesperson knows when to weigh how he can approach a client and strategizes how to close a deal.
2. Closers
“Closers” are the smooth-talkers. They have a good grasp of style that can flawlessly present his product to a client. Clearly, closers are extroverts, and have the enough confidence on himself. He is aggressive to be able to catch the attention of the customer. This kind of personality must as well accept why he could not close a deal, and improve on other ways. Sometimes being confident and an extrovert isn’t enough to make a sale.
3. Consultants
Lastly, the “Consultants” are good listeners, who are effective communicators. This type doesn’t mindlessly blab about the product he is selling. Since he is a good listener, he is good in problem solving skills but does not quite push sales to full-potential. Consultative sales professionals are not daring risk-takers unlike the closers. That’s why they need to be more patient and aggressive.
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