5 Types of Salespeople - How to Decide which is Best for Your Sales Team
There is really no "one-size-fits-all" type of sales-person but if you are a small business, you'll want to look for the type of sales-person who demonstrates a little bit of all the different talents from all of the different types listed in this article. Truthfully, there is really only one type of sales-person, and that is one who can make a sale happen by asking for the order. Unfortunately, only less that five percent of all the people who call themselves salespeople know how to "ask for the order". The good news is that there are sales support personnel that have there own unique way of presenting products or services that can often result in a sale. These people are acknowledged by the sales industry as salespeople in their own right, but they are not highly trained or skilled in actually asking for the order.
You may be thinking that you only want to hire those that have the ability to ask for the order, but in reality, it is very difficult to single them out on an interview, even when you know what you are looking for. The reason for this is because all people in sales consider themselves to be able to ask for the order. So, if they are directed a question like, "Are you able to ask for the order?", everyone of them will most likely all say, "yes", even though they may only be assuming that making a presentation to a customer is "asking" for the order
So, with this in mind, let’s take a look at the five basic types of sales people for your sales team.
Relates to Emotional Buyers
The type of sales-person that can relate well to the emotional buyer refers to a keen ability to recognize the emotional connection that the buyer has with the product or service being sold. Some people are propelled to buy a product that is "new" to the market or in some way appeals to their emotional or even social status by buying your product. Usually these types of salespeople are strong closers but not always. Some examples of emotional type products are automobiles, fine jewelry, specialty or custom clothing, and the latest high technology products or services.
Ability to Educate or Instruct
There are salespeople that are excellent teachers. They can sit down with a potential client and explain in a very simple and easy to understand manner a very complicated product or service. Even though your sales staff will know and understand what they sell, only a few of them will be able to simmer the information down in simple terms so as not to confuse the customer. Products like these are usually high priced for the most part. Examples of products that would be a good match for this type of sales-person would be some major appliances, computers and related peripherals, computer software, insurance,financial investments, and education related sales.
Able to Consult or Analyze Data
Being able to analyze data or assess certain problem situations that are of a detailed or technical nature may require a sales-person who has ability or special training like this. Salespeople such as these have often had special education in a particular field or industry or other expert knowledge of the product. Companies that sell products like telecommunications network equipment, business consulting services, custom built machinery for manufacturing and custom business software or services are a good match for these types of salespeople.
Retail Order Takers - Information Exchangers
This type of sales-person is best suited for selling strictly in a retail environment...usually in a store location. They are great at presenting features, answering general usage questions, making benefit and price comparisons with competitors and offering related merchandise. They are usually a wealth of information for the retail shopper who needs to have their questions answered and want only minimal guidance on what they should purchase. Some may consider them to be more of a clerk than a sales-person, but never-the-less, a sales person like this can write a lot of orders for customer who pretty much know what they are looking for with the exception of needing a bit more information here and there.
The 24 Hour Automated Sales-person
There is a type of sales-person that can be available to your business twenty-four hours of every single day. They never take a vacation, holiday or sick day and their punctuality is perfect. This sales-person is really the often overlooked "sales" website. There are many products and services that can be sold almost completely online...regardless of how technical they are, how high their price is or how distant the location of the customer. Only you can decide if what you sell can be sold completely through the use of an automated sales website. If this is the case, the website must be so designed that it can answer almost every possible question that your potential customer will have as well as excellent visuals. A sales website such as this is what I call a "sales soldier" because it must be the most dependable and untiring sales person that you have ever known. The "sales soldier" is there at his post every minute of every day and he is also the most knowledgeable and easy to get along with sales-person that exists. He does not falter in his ability to repeatedly walk each of your customers through the complete sales process from greeting to closing without a problem.
Source: http://sales.about.com/od/hiringsalespeople/a/salespersontype.htm
