Become the Complete Package in Sales

I often see sales professionals perplexed as to why they just don't seem to posses the "Complete Package" as a salesperson. The truth is that when we all first start out our enthusiasm is at an all time high. I mean, come on, we have a new opportunity with an unlimited future, it's a no-brainer.

The problem is, to achieve our goals, we find that we are just a tad short in the product knowledge area. What happens during the course of our career is that, as our product knowledge grows, our enthusiasm starts to shrink. If you made a graph you could almost see one's knowledge going up like an elevator while the enthusiasm is going down. The shame of it all is no one has informed the salesperson that in order to become "The Perfect Weapon" one must maintain his or her enthusiasm just like a new person and let the knowledge catch up to the level of the enthusiasm. Then and only then are you the "Complete Package"!

It is ironic how often I see sales persons that have an abundance of enthusiasm only to lack product knowledge, and see another salesperson with tremendous product knowledge only to fall way short in the enthusiasm category. The veteran sales person that is operating with a 100 percent product knowledge and no enthusiasm is really only operating at 50 percent capacity.

The way I managed to reach and maintain a peak with both was to give back to the industry by helping others. Yes, by passing my knowledge on to others it not only kept me young, but because I was always working with young people eager to learn, it helped me maintain my enthusiasm, even more so when I heard from someone or saw the look on their young faces when something I showed them worked as planned. The enthusiasm the young persons injected in me because they were so excited about their accomplishment was definitely contagious. It didn't take me long to realize there was a lot of benefits from helping others.

Rate yourself...draw two straight lines on a piece of paper from north to south and label one enthusiasm and one product knowledge. See where you stand. I guarantee you will see your product knowledge coming up to your enthusiasm level and your enthusiasm level going to meet your knowledge level. I have given you not only the formula to find out where you stand but also the answer to how you get your enthusiasm to the top where it belongs.

Let the product knowledge chase the enthusiasm. I guarantee it will be worth the wait!

The Specialist

Charles Kettner, aka “The Specialist”, is a professional sales and management trainer and published author, having recently released “The Specialist” Sales and Management Bible. He resides with his family in Virginia Beach, VA, where he is the host of a daily radio show, The Specialist Radio Hour, dedicated to sales and management training.