Are Good Sales People Made or Born?

by Dave Kahle

I field this question, in one form or other, in almost every seminar I do.  Just heard it again yesterday in relationship to the competency of building relationships.  The questioner opined that building relationships was a natural talent.  You either had it or you didn’t.

     One of the things I’ve learned over the years is this:  On some issues, the person’s opinion says more about that person than it does the subject of his thoughts.  I’ve found that to be true in regards to the question “Are sales people made or born?”

     Those sales people who have learned on their own, who have never been trained in the best practices of the best sales people, have a tendency to hold that sales people are born.  After all, no one taught them.  So the degree of success that they have attained must have been a result of natural talent.

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     On the other hand, those sales people who were nurtured in a company that trained and developed them hold the opposite opinion.  They saw that there are best ways of doing almost every thing a sales person does, and that most people in their training class were able to learn to do those things.  So from their perspective, sales people are made, not born.

So where do I fit on this issue?

First, it helps if you have a basic set of personality characteristics and aptitudes to begin with.  Some people are just not suited to the job of the sales person.  That’s why we recommend pre-hire aptitude assessments – to measure the aptitude of the individual for a sales position.  But, just because someone has the aptitude does not make him/her a good sales person.  And it is unreasonable to think that most sales people are going to learn the best practices on their own.  

     They must be educated in the best practices of the profession.

     That’s where the “making” of a good sales person comes in.  It is an unfortunate truth that the overwhelming majority of  ... READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE.

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