<p><strong>From the book Discover Your Sales Strengths</strong></p>
<p>We know from research that sales success stems from patterns of thought&sbquo; feeling&sbquo; and behavior that explain&sbquo;</p>
<p>Our motivation&sbquo;</p>
<p>The way we build relationships&sbquo;</p>
<p>The way we gain commitments&sbquo;</p>
<p>The structure we need to get our work done&sbquo; and</p>
<p>Our ability to understand and solve customers&rsquo; needs.</p>
<p>These are the five critical dimensions of fit for a sales role. In selection we don't use themes; rather&sbquo; we look at very discrete role-specific behaviors that can be narrowly defined and that are very specific to a particular sales role. StrengthsFinder themes are much broader than these role-specific behaviors&sbquo; however&sbquo; and cannot always be easily categorized.</p>
<p><strong>Motivation</strong></p>
<p>We are going to look first at motivation because it is the most Important dimension. The best salespeople we have studied are simply much more motivated than most of the population. And while simply being highly motivated isn't enough to be a good salesperson&sbquo; it is absolutely important to have enough motivation. Even before you read this book or took your StrengthsFinder interview&sbquo; you probably had a good idea of how strongly motivated you are. But your StrengthsFinder results can help you understand your particular motivation and how it applies to fit. Our studies suggest that 40 percent at salespeople&rsquo;s success stems directly from being in a situation in which their motivational needs are a good match. That's roughly twice as important as any of the other dimensions of fit.</p>
<p><strong>Building Relationships</strong></p>
<p>Although skills and knowledge are crucial to strengths building&sbquo; you must first possess the natural talent for the ability. Smiling&sbquo; or asking probing questions to override your inherent patterns when it comes to reacting to human beings. Since a good part of your success in sales rests on the productive relationships you can create&sbquo; understanding your talents in this area is critical.</p>
<p>If you naturally develop deep relationships with customers for only fifteen minutes and then never see them again&sbquo; you t are squandering a valuable talent.</p>
<p><strong>Gaining Commitments</strong></p>
<p>Customer Commitment = (Content + Relationship) x Asking</p>
<p>In order to gain customer commitment&sbquo; we have to provide some information that is relevant to the customer's needs. This is the content part of the equation. A customer's willingness to accept information is heavily influenced by her relationship with a salesperson. In essence we tend to accept Information more readily from someone if we have a positive relationship with. This combination of information and relationship is what primes the pump for a customer purchase. But in most cases&sbquo; more is required in order to turn that agreement into a purchase. That "more" takes the form of asking. Some sales books like to use the expression "closing."</p>
<p><strong>Structure</strong></p>
<p>We all don't work equally well in the same structure. Some people can work at home&sbquo; and some people need the surroundings of an office to be productive. When we look at sales jobs&sbquo; we find many different structural components. Some sales representatives are required to check in to an office every day and to check back in at the end of the day. Others may work primarily from an office and visit customers only when specific appointments are set.</p>
<p><strong>Solving Customer Problems</strong></p>
<p>The last dimension of fit involves recognizing and solving customer problems. These talents can be enor mously helpful when customers have complicated problems that need to be addressed. Most sales roles do not have these requirements to a great degree.</p>
<p>Lately it has become fashionable for many companies to refer to their salespeople as advisers&sbquo; consultants&sbquo; or business specialists as a way to elevate their stature in the eyes of their customers. Since customers all want to deal with vice presidents&sbquo; we will just call all of our sales reps vice presidents&sbquo; or so the thinking goes.</p>
<p>However&sbquo; when we look at the day-to-day activities &middot; of many of these jobs&sbquo; they are more involved in selling routine solutions for routine problems. There is nothing wrong with that. Most large businesses have become large because they have figured out a common solution that will help a majority of customers. Most of these products still need to be sold&sbquo; but often do not require considerable problem solving. So&sbquo; if you&rsquo;re looking to improve your fit in a way that uses thinking themes&sbquo; be careful of taking a job just because of a title. Financial advisers&sbquo; for example&sbquo; can find themselves spending a lot more time on cold calls than on giving financial aid.</p>
<p><em>Copyright &copy; 2003 by the Gallup Organization</em></p>