Two Types of Sales People

I have worked with hundreds of sales people, both as employees in previous management jobs and now as independent contractors selling merchant services.  Many books are out there about the different types of sales people.  Some compare them to types of animals or different personality types.  Today I want to talk about the two sales approaches into which every sales person with whom I have ever worked can be identified.

1.  Trust Builder – The trust builder is the sales person who everyone likes.  This type immediately connects with potential clients and relates to them.  The trust builder often talks about how easily he or she is able to turn someone around who is not interested to get a “connection.”

This sales person has a major strength in the ability to build trust with total strangers.  However, there is also a weakness which can be debilitating.  The trust builder does not want to risk the trust and relationships built up over time in order to close the sale.

2.  Risk Taker – The risk taker has the exact opposite strength and weakness.  The risk taker is always closing the sale.  This type takes pride in catchy closing lines and loves to tell sales stories and set records.

The risk taker’s weakness is often not building up any trust with the client before trying to close the sale, which makes the appearance of being pushy rather than professional.  The extreme of this type of sales person is the stereotypical used car salesman.  (I happen to know several very professional used car salesman, so no disrespect meant!)

The key to your sales approach is to identify which of these two types you tend towards.  Then work to enhance your sales skills to overcome the weaknesses and compound the strengths inherent to your sales approach.

If you are a trust builder, force yourself to ask for the business on every visit before you leave.  If you can do that, the odds are you will be a top producer.  If you are a risk taker, force yourself to do some small talk and relate to your prospects by focusing on their needs rather than what you want to sell them.  If you can accomplish this along with your tenacity to close the sale, you will be a top producer as well.

I hope this short post will help you identify your sales approach and how to maximize results!