Are You a "Born" Salesperson?

Is good salesmanship a skill that can be learned, practiced and acquired through experience and hard work? The answer is probably a bit of both.

According to Jeffrey Gitomer and Ron Zemke, the authors of Knock Your Socks Off Selling (AMACOM Books 1999), "There are born salespeople. Salespeople so good their companies wish they could clone them. They are born all right—but not born of superior breeding or better genetic material or of parents determined to raise the world’s greatest salesperson. No, they are born of the careful and painstaking work and study it takes to master the science of selling. Born of a determination to be the best, to make every opportunity count, to master every aspect of the most challenging person-to-person craft in the world—selling.

Gitomer and Zemke believe that there are definite characteristics, skills and attitudes that successful salespeople share. To see how you rate, print out their "21 Characteristics of the ’Born’ Salesperson," then circle "yes" or "no" next to each. Then read on to find out how to interpret your score.

Total "yes" answers:

Scoring Instructions:

• Count up your "yeses."
• If you answered "Yes" to 15 or more, you are on your way to becoming one of those "born" salespeople.
• If you answered "Yes" to 10-14 characteristics, you are still in good shape, especially if you said yes to the characteristics of enthusiasm, self-confidence, perception, self-motivation and working to become more knowledgeable.
• If you answered "Yes" to fewer than 10, particularly if you said "No" to the characteristics of enthusiasm, self-confidence, perception, self-motivation and the enthusiasm for learning, you have a considerable journey in front of you. It is possible that you can become one of the "born" salespeople, but it is more likely your talents lie in another direction.

For more information about Knock Your Socks Off Selling and AMACOM’s extensive selection of sales-oriented books, click here.

Also consider the following AMA seminars:

• Fundamental Selling Techniques for the New or Prospective Salesperson, Level I
  
• Principles of Professional Selling, Level 2
  
• Value-added Selling