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Sales Articles > Are you a Natural Born Salesperson? - by Todd Cohen

Are you a Natural Born Salesperson?
by Todd Cohen

A question that I have discussed for years is whether sales people are born or made. In other words, is there such a thing as a natural born sales person? This is a term that has been bandied about for years and I think that a case can be made for both sides of the argument. I have also written in my recent whitepaper, "The Sales Success Triad", that to be a great sales person, one needs an innate desire to sell. Is this innate desire created or natural?

So, what is the answer? Candidly, I have no idea. Further to the point, neither does anyone else! It is a great topic that makes for great debate though. I mentioned above that I am pretty sure that there is not anyone who has the actual answer, but there are certainly many strong opinions on the topic.

Rather than come down on one side or another right now, I will relate a few stories from my background that might shed some light on this question.

When I was at Xerox many years ago, I had a team member who was an amazing sales person. She was tenacious, aggressive and closed a high percentage of her deals. She was the top producer in her group month after month. Her background? She had a Masters degree in Opera from The Julliard School! Can you think of a more unrelated background for a great sales person to come from? This begs the question-where did she get her aptitude for sales? This instance certainly lends itself to the belief that she might have had some natural ability that could be shaped into sales capability with great training. Conversely, she could have had no ability and was just receptive to training and then anyone could be.

I think of my own background as a selling professional. I have written in my blog about traveling with my father who was a wedding photographer. I spent countless hours with him going to see prospective brides and listening silently to his sales pitch. If I had not had all of that exposure would I be the sales professional I am today? I often wonder if I had a father who was a scientist and I spent hours listening to him talk about some scientific topic, would I have been a scientist? I honestly do not know, but I think you get the point.

It would seem to me that in both cases, there might have been some basic wiring for a sales temperament and it was surfaced and shaped in one’s early years through excellent training and mentorship. Here is what I do know for sure: I think anyone who wants to be a great sales person can be one if they committee to training and education. It’s more than a personality type or a level of aggressiveness. There are many types of sales people-and since I have said many times that "everyone is in sales", then perhaps we are all natural sales people!

I want to know what you think!

Good Selling

-Todd

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