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Selling Is 90% "Understanding People"

Written by: Virden Thornton

Article Overview: It is the ability of a sales representative to understand and work with people, rather than technical skills or product knowledge that produces consistent sales success.

Selling Is 90% "Understanding People"

When Joe Gandolfo, a life insurance salesman was asked how he had sold over one billion dollars of life insurance in 1975, he said that all it takes is “understanding people.” Although Joe's response makes selling seem simple, his formula for success is one that can be recommended to you without hesitation, because it will work well for you as it does for insurance agents or for any sales representative for that matter.

In the insurance industry, as you may be aware, members of that profession get excited about someone who sells in excess of one million dollars in life insurance each year. In fact, they have an elite group of sales representatives they call the million dollar round table where individuals are recognized for their outstanding sales performance. To put Joe’s accomplishment into better perspective, it would take an average million dollar round table producer one thousand years to equal Joe Gandolfo’s production figures for 1975 alone.

Joe’s performance is almost unbelievable from any perspective. However, from his sales productivity, we see he is one of an elite group of superstars who have discovered the secrets to sales success. Therefore, when Joe suggests that it is the ability of a sales representative to understand and work with people, rather than technical skills or product knowledge that produce sales, you really should pay attention to what he has to say. Joe’s sales philosophy is simple if you don’t learn and use the techniques that will help you to get to know and understand your prospects, you will never be able to effectively use your product knowledge or skills of persuasion to produce a steady flow of sales.

In out Sales Success Strategies self-directed learning series , we explore some vital techniques that will help you to set the stage for getting to know people better. The first and most important step in the sales process is to build rapport with the people you serve. This is a vital step because if you fail to build trust, your prospective customers will never reveal enough about themselves to give you the inside track to help them meet their needs through the purchase of your products and/or services.

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Related Forum Posts
Top sales skills - Qualifying Fast to Avoid Wasting Sales Time Do you chase after your prospects until they tell you yes or no? Do you ever tell your prospects "No", as in "No, I am not going to sell to you"? There are many things in selling that you do not and will not be able to control. The one thing that you do have control over is your time and how you choose to use it. Motivating Prospects Qualifying goes beyond budget, authority, and need. You want to sell to prospects who *want* to buy from you. Finding prospects that need our products usually is not difficult. Finding those who really want our products though can be very hard if we wait for them to come to us. Selling to People Outside Your Comfort Zone Most salespeople who are "people persons", already think that they are good at this. Let me ask you a question. When you last lost a sale, how was your rapport with the key person who decided against you?
Re: Kevin's Case Study #10 - When to become an entrepreneur? - When the bug bite you. A lot of successful entrepreneurs started in their teens or at school. Selling sweets to fellow students or lemonade to firends in the neighbourhood.
Re: This is Marketing Warfare! - Hey GT, I guess this was from a while back, and it'll test your memory a bit but could you possibly elaborate on Unique Selling Proposition? Can you give us some examples of good USPs?
Blog pinging - Thanks Martin - yes, I do ping and it has been very effective. I'm currently on the first page of Google for Mastermind Group and on the second page for Selling to Small Business.
Business magazines - Fast Company is pretty good if you're into technology although it can be very on the edge. Entrepreneur has become one giant advertisement and I cancelled my subscription. Selling Power also has some useful content if you're looking at improving your sales skills / presentations.


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