Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Any skill can be learned and taught. A talent, on the other hand, can only be developed. (How, is also an interesting problem.)

If selling is a skills, then it can be learned. But if it`s a talent, then there shouldn`t be "Sales 101." Instead, there should be "Sales Workshops."

:-)
the other Craig

O.K. Deeper we go (smile). "Sales", or any other discipline, could be said to be made up by three general characteristics: Skills (as in selling skills), Knowledge (product and/or technique), and Attitude. Of the three, Attitude would be something most equated with "Talent" but does encompass a lot of other areas that are not likely to be something taught or learned. Skills can be taught. Whether or not they can be "learned" depends on the individual. Sales Workshops have the ability to teach a variety of new selling skills. However, until something we learn becomes "reflex", they do us little good. Hence, the old saying when we come out of a situation "Why didn`t I say "X"? I KNOW better than that". Practice does not make "perfect". It makes "permanent". Therefore, it benefits us to practice the right things (smile). Only through continuous practice do we truly learn (smile). I read that on the back of a Snapple bottle (smile)

Craig

 

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Craig M. Jamieson
Sales Results LLC
NetWorks! Boise
http://www.networksboise.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/craigjamieson

Let`s make a distinction between a class that teaches sales, and a workshop that *demonstrates* techniques. :-)

If I teach you that in all cases, 1+1=2, you don`t really need to internalize the theory. Nor do you need to know why, or see how it might relate to some other "habit" that you learn.

But if I demonstrate a set of things, like the = sign, it`s up to you to learn what it means through a cognitive leap....a leap of understandings, sort of like Aristotle`s "Eureka!" moment.

When we teach skills, we`re showing someone how to mimic a process. They don`t need to know what it means or why it works, nor, in many cases, do they care to know. But when we develop a talent, we`re stretching the boundaries of a person`s belief system as to what`s possible. At least that`s my view of it.

Sales rests on empathy. Yes, you can break it into a set of processes, or list the attributes associated with sales, but the bottom line is that a good sales person has that ability and talent to empathize (correctly) with their potential customer.

You can`t teach empathy. You can demonstrate it, judge when it is or isn`t present, and give examples of how to recognize it. In fact, people who use an analytic process to mimic empathy are also usually diagnosed as sociopaths, or the more popular word---psychopath.