TED Magazine - February 2017

of the most valuable tools that separates them from the herd. Yet, it is a selling skill that is easily studied and applied. (Albert Einstein is quoted to have said: “I have no special talents. I am only pas- sionately curious.”) To improve one’s CQ, a sales rep must continually seek new information, ana- lyze data, notice incongruities, and ident- ify market trends. While today’s Internet world is making buyers better informed, it also exposes them to multiple options and confusing and contradictory facts and statistics. Such circumstances are fer- tile ground for curious, question-based, yet conscientious professional sales reps. Martin writes, “An active presence drives a salesperson to ask customers difficult and uncomfortable questions to close gaps in information. Top salespeople want to know if they can win the busi- ness, and they want to know the truth as soon as possible.” Problem resolutions do not have a his- tory of “moments of exploding revela- tions.” The characteristic that drives the process is curiosity. Although curious people are prone to asking many questions, they do so with forethought, patience, a pursuit to learn, and the self-discipline to focus on relevant data and facts. Additionally, a curious mind depends on vigilance and resistance to accumulating extra- neous factoids or rushing to judgment. Finally, Chamorro- Premuzic emphasizes the value of using one’s own educa- tion and wisdom: “Knowledge and expertise, much like experience, translate complex situations into familiar ones, so CQ is the ultimate tool to produce simple solutions for complex problems.”
To Buy or to Build As noted, sales traits and characteristics have multiple ori- gins: Some arrive at birth, some are unconsciously infused from peers, and some are intentionally learned in the class- room or at the office. Is there a best way? For product knowledge, Floyd said, “One of the best ways I have found is to travel with the manufacturer rep to make joint calls. That way the sales rep can observe the vendor present the product and get some hands-on experi- ence. Eventually, after some role-playing and coaching by the vendor, the salesperson can actually make a presenta- tion to the end-user. “In regard to selling skills,” Floyd continued, “our vice president of outside sales travels with our outside territory reps. He monitors them on sales calls and then
gives them hints for improvement as they travel together.” As mentioned earlier, Attardi believes that product focus is first and foremost for distributors and that too little on- going attention is given to training the sales force on the necessary skills required to effectively address and under- stand every customer’s unique needs. “If they spent more time on the skill sets, then it would improve a lot in the attitude side because confidence is closely tied to attitude,” he said. “Some distributors, when hiring salespeople, think that they are already skilled and don’t need any training. To me, that’s the biggest fal- lacy in hiring anybody. The world is changing; the skill sets are changing too—and rapidly.” In terms of sales skills development, Cohen perceives distributors to be a mixed bag. “There will always be a need to hire experienced people,” he said. “But it’s sometimes hard to recruit people from another organization and have them unlearn that culture, and then relearn the new cul- ture. Some hire trainees right out of college with the right aptitude and innate sales characteristics and train them ‘their way,’ putting them through a one- to two-year train- ing rotation, along with a mentoring component. Some combination of the two—hiring experienced candidates and ‘growing your own’—is ideal.” ;
Thomas is an independent freelance writer and marketing con-
sultant. He can be reached at gary@gltworkshops.com.