What Does It Mean To Make A Sale?
The brilliant outgoing sales person always seems to make that important sale. A common perception is that introverts are wallflowers at parties while extroverts are out there in the middle of everything. In business, that sales person must be an extrovert because he has no problem with putting himself out there. Whether it’s making new connections to sell to, delivering brilliant pitches or leading the karaoke in the evening. Then, we have the developers who are happiest, we are told, when a pizza is slipped under the door. They don’t get disturbed and don’t need to actually talk to people. Each to their own if that’s to be believed.
Horribly stereotypical, but that’s how we classify people. We need to allocate a type so that we have a reference of some description. That reference comes from the research carried out over the years. However, each and every one of us is unique. So, at best it is a broad indication of behaviour, at worst it is a mis-classification. Some people live with that their whole life. It can be a self-limiting belief. ‘I am not wired correctly so I can’t make that sale’. Wrong, making a sale is about building a relationship with those interested in what you do.
Who Makes The Sale?
In larger companies we have sales, sales support and consultants not to mention the layers of management. Very often the sales person leading the process relies on the other roles to close the deal. The developer explains the product build. The consultant explains why it meets a need. The successful close is because of the mix of types, not in spite of them. It’s important to remember that most of these profiling methods and classification systems are about a person’s preferred behaviour. It is not a cast iron prediction of behaviour
As a new business owner you perform all the roles. Some are more palatable to you than others. Your preferred behaviour sits somewhere between that all out sales person and the booking keeping tasks. We have our comfort zone yet each function needs addressing. There’s no book keeping needed without those sales. Pick the role you are most comfortable with, identify with it. Let the developer or consultant in you take the lead if sales is not your thing. Create the conversation from your comfort zone. That’s more likely to close the sale because you are naturally playing to your strengths. Introvert or extrovert typing doesn’t really come into it, it’s about your approach.
If you’re not at all sure of what your approach should be, why don’t you talk to us? We can help give clarity on the way to develop your business, whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert. We have both as mentors.
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