You might notice that sometimes, regardless in professional or personal setting, you might have met someone who's very charming, outspoken and could sweep you off your feet with their eloquence.
Then you would ask them what is their professional background and it wouldn't surprise you, that they work in the sales field.
Personally, I started off my career in sales (retail & business developer) and indeed it wasn't easy, but over the years it has helped me to get to my desired position, which is where I am today (a MBB consultant alumni & producer in a unicorn start up).
I have also networked with many sales professionals during my career journey and many are considered successful in various way. However 1 thing in common among all of us is that, what have helped us to reach this stage were neither our educational background nor our job portfolio but rather, it is our attitude.
In this article I am going to discuss 2 of the most important attributes of a sales person that have allowed us to get whatever we want in life and I am going to illustrate it using the 2 sales jobs (B2B & B2C) that I had in the past.
The science of probability
My very first office job/internship journey started in Swapcard, a dynamic French start-up which provides an event & matchmaking application powered by AI. We had the challenge of tapping into a completely new market (the US) & so being a young business developer, selling a B2B product which was not fully developed (back then) was very challenging. One of the obstacle that I did not foresee coming into this job was the amount of pressure that we would have when we did not make any sales. One month has passed, followed by the second month, still no sales and it was particularly depressing when your peers (even those working in different market/product) made sales. Some were lucky that they got an inbound lead or that 1 cold call that they made, they got someone who are in need of our product.
However one thing that differentiate me, being from Asian culture, I believe in hard-work and doing our best in whatever we do. Hence with the failure that I faced, on my 3rd month I was even more determined and motivated to source for more leads, to make more cold calls and to convert my prospects to client. We were told that we should make at least 10 cold call and that week I made 100.
Sure enough out of that 100 leads, 10 was converted into prospect and once the momentum kicked off, I ended up making the biggest sales that quater in the company. From this lesson, it made me believe that in life there is such thing as luck but you can increase your chances by trying even more!
In the sales pipeline if i made 10 cold calls, the conversion rate can go like this:
So by trying 10x harder, it will also increase your chances like this:
This is thus why I believe that hard work can increase dumb luck to a large extend. It also thought me that in life, if you want something you just have to be persistent and kept trying.
At times you will fail and get rejected, but then try again, try much much more and you will succeed eventually.
Of course, it is important to adjust your strategy accordingly and you can collect data and cross check the success rate for each strategy (example changing sales pitch or method of contact).
Believing in the product
One of the my first student job was working as a sales assistant in Lush and I couldn't be more thankful for all the skills they have thought me for B2C sales. Lush projects a caring, kind-spirited, family vibe when dealing with customers and I'm sure you can sell anything later on, if you have ever worked in Lush. Here, you would learn how to approach the customer in a friendly manner, engage in conversation to learn about their daily life and from their story, recommend the proper product.
If you have been to Lush, you may agree with me that sometimes you might have gone home with products you (think you) don't need, felt slightly guilty for all the money you have spent, but ended up loving the product because it suits you and eventually come back to buy some more.
However, a little secret behind this is that, it is in fact part of the sales technique because when we make sales, we have to ensure that you would love the product because we don't want you to regret your purchase or return the product. We want your loyalty! And so how does Lush train the Lushies to do this? By making us believe in the product.
In Lush we have our "We believe" pledge and we often personify product to have human sentiment. We often uses the 'selling experience' method to our customer because in our heart we believe that it is indeed a good product that would give a higher marginal utility than its dollar value.
We also believe that fact that the product is made sustainably and ensures them that the entire usage of our bath bomb you would give you an unforgettable & magical night during your honeymoon.
From here I learnt that so long as you are passionate about the value and potential of your product, and that you can transfer this aspects to your client you can sell anything!
So what is the 1 thing that sales people are best at selling? Themselves.
In order to get whatever you want in life you have to have faith in yourself and a vision of how far you can reach. As long as you can convince your future employer, your investors or your potential spouse what you are capable of and what you can contribute to them, I can guarantee, you would be able to get anything you want in life.
From these 2 example, we then know that everybody could fail and be rejected but when that happen then just try harder and try more!
Secondly, if you are not going to believe in your product deeply, your client won't and nobody will either, so you have to be truly passionate about your product.
I am very thankful that one of my early sales job came from 2 of the great companies which has trained me well where I was able to apply the skills I learnt in other job function and shape they way I think & act. So thank you Swapcard & Lush!
In conclusion I believe the science of probability and believing a product are the reason why sales people managed to get whatever they want in life.
PS: Of course there are other important character of a sales person like being adaptable, susceptible to rejection, being able to pick up opportunity through story, etc, that make a sales person successful, but we will keep these for another article!
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