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Are you a salesperson who has gone from poor to great? I'd love to hear your story!

by dreamer123
3 replies
Are top salespeople born or made?

I would love to hear stories of members of this excellent forum who have transformed themselves from being poor or average salespeople into top high performing ones.

I look forward to the stories.
#great #hear #love #poor #salesperson #story
  • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
    Originally Posted by dreamer123 View Post

    Are top salespeople born or made?

    I would love to hear stories of members of this excellent forum who have transformed themselves from being poor or average salespeople into top high performing ones.

    I look forward to the stories.
    I don't think there is any such thing as a "born" salesman.

    Some are born with extra smarts or charisma ... but that doesn't
    equal being great at sales.

    As with anything in life, to be great it takes years of continuous practice.

    All of the great salespeople i know have a few things in common, one of them
    is the ability to accept failure with out allowing it to effect their learned fundamentals.

    ( When I say failure, I don't mean how to handle the "no's ... I mean attempting new
    techniques or adapting old ones for new situations .... most greats try
    new stuff as often as possible. Most of it fails. Learning how to fail properly
    is just as much a learned skill as sales is)


    They also know that there is always more to learn and they are acutely
    aware of their own personal short comings when it comes to their craft.

    I have been selling for more then 20 years. I started out when I was in college.
    I had nothing. Selling allowed me grow as a person and it provided me the
    momentum and skill I needed to run my own business.
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    Selling Ain't for Sissies!
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnVH
      I first learnt selling when I took up my first job at a major IT company a couple of decades ago. They had a top-notch sales training program.

      I found selling very, very uncomfortable in the beginning. I decided that I was just not a natural salesperson, if there is such a creature.

      But the thing is, I hung in there because I realized that selling is truly the foundation of all business.

      And since I had dreams of running my own business one day, I had no choice but to learn to become good at it.

      Selling is just a skill, like other elements of business. You do get better at it as you continue to work at it.

      Best,
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      • Profile picture of the author aross
        Originally Posted by JohnVH View Post

        I first learnt selling when I took up my first job at a major IT company a couple of decades ago. They had a top-notch sales training program.

        I found selling very, very uncomfortable in the beginning. I decided that I was just not a natural salesperson, if there is such a creature.

        But the thing is, I hung in there because I realized that selling is truly the foundation of all business.

        And since I had dreams of running my own business one day, I had no choice but to learn to become good at it.

        Selling is just a skill, like other elements of business. You do get better at it as you continue to work at it.

        Best,
        Read my mind. I never thought I would be good at it, but here I am selling $400 cleanings and people eager to pay up... sometimes Im like wait not everyone can get a person to open their wallets, its my talent and something I have grown to appreciate.

        I started selling out of necessity. My husband is a disabled Iraq vet. We went from having a secure military paycheck to nothing. The last thing I wanted to do what clean houses! Somehow it seemed like all I would be good at was cleaning people toilets. Fortunately the military taught us to deal with all kinds of changes including starting over again.

        I figured if I was going to clean toilets I better get good at it so I can charge more. Slowly I learned about managing my business, financial, legal aspects, etc. I was thrilled when I hired my 1st employee! Forward to now the business runs smoothly, I have a staff of 7 full timers and 2 part timers. I work only when my kids are at school and I have the freedom to take off when I need to. The business runs itself so well that I find myself with nothing to do sometimes, and being the busy person that I like to be, this is when I started doing cleaning business consulting on the side. I would help people interested in starting a cleaning business at the local small business development center. My director was actually the one whom planted the seed "you should make a website and make money online with all the knowledge you know about cleaning businesses..." It grew like a wild weed and now I have a place online where I monetize from my knowledge while helping others know the right steps to starting AND managing a cleaning business.

        I do admit I am still learning the whole selling online world, which is why I am here, to absorb the knowledge of the warrior forum gods. The ONLY reason why I am comfortable selling my knowledge is because I have tried it all, been there done that. I teach what has made me a success as well as what has set me back in the past in hopes people will realize starting a cleaning business is the easy part, but managing it and turning a profit is only for the ones with knowledge.
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