Are successful sales people made or born? It is the eternal question: the sales manager’s version of nature versus nurture.
Since I spend most of my time teaching sales people how to become better at their jobs, I’m 100 percent in the “made” camp. There are best practices in the sales profession, and outstanding sales people do many of the same things. A sales person can, and should be, taught those best practices so they know how to do the job well.
Much of my practices consist of identifying and teaching the best practices to sales people. I’m a believer in the notion that sales is a proactive profession – that you must first act, and then your actions get reactions. A good sales person acts in the right way. His or her behavior is ultimately what determines his degree of success.
Thus, I believe that anyone can be taught the principles, processes and practices of effective sales.