Talents

Have you ever taken the time to think about your talents?  Those things often referred to as your God given gifts.  Maybe you're fully aware of them, if so great, but many of us are not.  Possibly you're thinking why would it matter or you don't believe that you have any talents.  Everyone does have areas of natural strength, sometimes they just aren't recognized or they are buried deep inside us.  What difference could it possibly make in our lives if we were more aware of our talents?

Here are some examples of talents that may be of value to a Professional Sales Person if recognized and properly applied in the business world.

Attention to detail makes it easier for us to see things of significance that might be otherwise looked over.

Ability to organize will enable us to present ideas and thoughts in a logical manner.

If we can educate others easily; convey ideas and thoughts pleasantly it puts the client at ease with our products or services.

Naturally friendly, very likable allows us to build trust with people and puts them at ease with us.

Seeing things through to completion means that you can work independently with little or no supervision.

Sincere and sensitive to the needs of others makes it easy for you to empathize and uncover the client's personal or business related needs.

Excellent listening skills help you to really hear and understand what you are being told.

Drive and determination gives you staying power, permits you to ignore trivial issues and focus on the bigger picture easier.

Being great with numbers and calculations gives you an edge when understanding cost savings (cost benefit analysis), justification and productivity gains.

You are able to make more contacts, network with people easily, and have no problem making cold calls if by nature you are somewhat of a social butterfly.

These are just a few examples of talents.

An exercise that can be helpful to identify your talents is writing down every personal and business accomplishment that you have ever achieved.  What are you truly, naturally and effortlessly good at, what things do you enjoy doing and what talents are connected to those activities?

Having full awareness of your gifts empowers you and allows you to start working on developing these areas of natural ability to put them to work in your favor.  Focusing on talents and understanding how they are connected to the skill boxes of your chosen profession makes it much easier for you to significantly enhance your performance and overcome many personal weaknesses.

This line of thinking is often contrary to what you learn in the business world.  In many instances performance reviews and coaching sessions focus on our "soft spots" recognized areas of weakness those things that you do poorly.  Unfortunately we are all too aware of our own faults and the last thing that we need is constant reinforcement of them.  When a major league baseball team signs up a new pitcher, they know what his strengths are.  They contracted him to do what he is known for and has a reputation for being exceptional at.  If he throws the best fastball in the league and has a unique or peculiar way of throwing the ball they don't start trying to make him conform to what is considered the norm.  They also don't ask him to spend the majority of his time focusing on and practicing his knuckle ball.  What they want him to do is what he does best and they will encourage him to spend the majority of his practice time focusing on his talent and natural ability.

"Hidden talent counts for nothing." - Nero