The Blog @ Atlas

Myths about good salespeople

I’ll start by saying the CEO is the best salesperson a company has. That’s the case for the first 5 customers - or the first 500 customers.

I’m in sales. A portion of our business is based on our ability to sell concepts/widgets on behalf of our clients - and teach them how to do so. We talk to a ton of entrepreneurs - and it’s still shocking to me the profile that entrepreneurs have of the people to whom they will trust their livelihood. It seems there are 3 fundamental misconceptions about good salespeople:

1) They are great at talking/pitching…

No. What really makes a good pitch is understanding your audience and how that audience measures success. The best salespeople in the world are great at asking questions and LISTENING for gold in the answers. Beware the salesperson who shows up in a meeting and takes up anywhere near 50% of the time. The worst thing you can do in a meeting is to ’show up and throw up’. Even moderately skilled salespeople know this - however I see startup CEOs do it all the time. Spend time with the other human beings in the room, and learn what great result of the meeting would be.

2) Great Rolodex is required…

Nonsense. While world-class salespeople do have a powerful rolodex…that does not mean that having a rolodex makes someone a great salesperson. The purpose of a rolodex is to get a meeting and leave some level of trust within the target organization. It will NOT get a million dollar check cut. The product needs to solve a serious problem for the target - otherwise the best contacts at the company aren’t going to get you the deal. So look for a sales resource that can understand choosing the right targets, and choreographing the nuance of an enterprise sale.

3) Dial-for-dollars.

What?..really? You’re going to trust the future of your company to someone because their inexpensive and is willing to call strangers?

Yes - willingness to get on the phone / on a plane / on email is a must. However I would rather call 5 people and have all 5 of them buy, then I would call 100, create 15 conversations, where 3 of them buy. Choose someone who can identify who it is that is losing sleep tonight (the actual individual who is losing sleep - not just the industry or company) because they don’t have what it is you sell. Find out how to get in front of them so that they realize it solves their problem. And then get on the phone.