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A born salesperson
Written by: Alvah ParkerArticle Overview: For seven years I sold equipment and network services for AT&T. I even won several awards and twice was selected to the Council of Leaders, an honor given to the top 3% of the sales force. I am however not a typical sales type. Employers who use the DISC behavioral assessment would screen me out as a candidate for a sales position.
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A born salesperson
For seven years I sold equipment and network services for AT&T. I even won several awards and twice was selected to the Council of Leaders, an honor given to the top 3% of the sales force. I am however not a typical sales type. Employers who use the DISC behavioral assessment would screen me out as a candidate for a sales position.
I love using the DISC as an assessment tool in my coaching practice. For those not familiar with it, it scores people on four factors, Dominance (how you handle problems and challenges), Influence (how you interact with other people), Steadiness (how you handle a steady pace and work environment), and Compliance (how you respond to rules and procedures set by others.)
Traditional salespeople are high in both the Dominance (D) factor and the Influence (I) factor. They love to solve a problem or go for a goal and at the same time they enjoy being with people and interacting with them. It certainly makes sense. So why was I different?
First when you use the DISC assessment you get two scores. One shows how you are naturally and the other how you have adapted. (In the work environment almost everyone adapts a bit.) I knew that the sales arena required someone outgoing and quota focused. I truly wanted to succeed so I became goal oriented and extroverted to meet the need I saw existed.
Adapting to that extent is tiring however. I did this for seven years and did it well. But when the opportunity arose to be a Quality Manager focused on improving processes within the sales environment I jumped at the chance.
What a relief to have a job that allowed me to be the natural me. As a seasoned sales professional I was in a unique position to help the sales force to define its processes. The reason for the confusion was that everyone was doing things differently!
As a Quality Manager I was focused on “the way things work” as well as helping people get the sale closed faster. It was a job I thoroughly enjoyed and was very good at. It also allowed me to use my practical and persistent side - something that was appreciated by management and employees.
How was I able to perform so well at a sales job using a style foreign to me? I really wanted to succeed. I was a single mother with two young children and they were my motivation. I knew that with sales commissions I could provide them with the kind of life I wanted for them. You can do almost anything you want with motivation. I also created a “teaching” model for the sales process that helped me adapt more easily. It was however so much easier for me when I found a job that suited the real me!
Employers often use the DISC as a screening mechanism for particular jobs. Managers can decide what behavioral style would be best for a particular job and screen candidates accordingly.
I have mixed feelings about people doing that. On the one hand I would never have had the wonderful sales experience I had at AT&T if they had used the DISC as a screening device for me. (AT&T would have lost a great performer too!) On the other hand it is always better to work from your strengths so matching the behavioral style of the person to the job works best for both employer and employee.
CAN TWO SALESPEOPLE REALLY BE THAT DIFFERENT?
Survival of the Fittest on the Sales Force
Are You A Born Salesperson
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The death of the sales call?
Article Tags: behavioral assessment, sales position, salesperson, success, top performer, typical sales
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About the Author: Alvah Parker RSS for Alvah's articles - Visit Alvah's website  Click here to visit Alvah's website   Ten Ways To Display Passion For The Job Seeker Is Your Personal Brand What You Believe It Is 10 Ideas To Help You Create A Vision Of Your Ideal Work life Ten Ways for Small Businesses to Cut Costs A World of Possibility |
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Re: Does birth order influence the desire to start a business?
- I am the eldest in a polygamous family. In Africa where I come from, we are allowed to marry many wives. My mother is the first wife among six others. I am the first born and I am into business and all my other 22 siblings are business people too apart from the second born who is in the Police Force.
Re: Does birth order influence the desire to start a business?
- [quote="ideasuniversity":2rddqi21]I am the eldest in a polygamous family. In Africa where I come from, we are allowed to marry many wives. My mother is the first wife among six others. I am the first born and I am into business and all my other 22 siblings are business people too apart from the second born who is in the Police Force.[/quote:2rddqi21]
Of your siblings - how many are girls and how many boys? Are girls allowed to be businesspeople, or must they stay at home?
Re: Recoverable/Non-Recoverable Sales Draw
- Hi Peter,
While I don't have any experience with Non-Recoverable sales draw salary, I'd say if your salesperson isn't meeting your expectations, you can either let him go or re-negotiate his contract to be straight commission. So how many quarters has this person been under performing?
Hiring introverts vs. extroverts
- Hi Kevin - interesting topic!
Thinking back over my career as an entrepreneur and the people I've brought on, most of them have been introverts. The exception usually comes with the sales function (but not always). It's generally hard to be a good salesperson if you are an introvert.
Re: Does birth order influence the desire to start a business?
- [quote="OmnivoreInk":3odx68dy][quote="ideasuniversity":3odx68dy]I am the eldest in a polygamous family. In Africa where I come from, we are allowed to marry many wives. My mother is the first wife among six others. I am the first born and I am into business and all my other 22 siblings are business people too apart from the second born who is in the Police Force.[/quote:3odx68dy]
Of your siblings - how many are girls and how many boys? Are girls allowed to be businesspeople, or must they stay at home?[/quote:3odx68dy]
We have 8 girls and all are business people.
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