Selling is a core competency in the 21st century. Let’s explore what it takes to become a salesperson.
I learned Sales gradually, taught to me by great mentors, and through learning-by-doing. The foundation for an exceptional Sales Career is the right mindset.
Initially, I thought that a typical day as a Salesperson would consist of writing invoices. It’s not wrong, but also not wholly accurate. I had no clue how to write a quote and an invoice and what the process around that would be. As it turned out, everything I needed to know around quoting and invoicing filled a day of learning.
The more significant task is to adjust the mindset and beliefs when interacting with customers. We salespeople are not there to earn one big commission check after another but to help and guide the customer. It’s our job to induce decisions (“Do you want to move forward with us?”, “Does our offer sound compelling?”…). These decisions eventually will lead to revenue and commissions, but the main focus is on the customer and their needs and problems.
It’s one of the most exciting parts of the job, to have these great conversations where we can learn from our customers and help them to make their lives easier and better. What is their problem? What’s causing disruption that requires fixing? How can we be of assistance?

Once I understood this, conversations took a different path. Before customers would end up not buying, now with adjusted focus, I’m successfully helping them over to become a paid user of our product.

Does this pique your interest? What do you want to learn more about? Write it into the comments!