Top Sales Trainer Asks: Can Someone Who Says: "I'm Not A Salesperson!" Become A Good One?

"He has the gift of gab; he should be in sales!"believe the following statement to be true:
"People really like her; she'd make a great"I'm not a salesperson!"
salesperson!"To get people to try, to handle a modicum of
"He's the funniest guy I know; a natural for selling!"rejection, to get some good orders under their belt,
Have you ever wondered how people get into thethey cannot be burdened with negative core beliefs
sales field?about this occupation.
Clearly, some are born into it. The President of theIf they dislike salespeople, or even feel in any way
local car dealership has his son working as the salesturned off by the negative stereotype of
manager of one of the divisions.salespeople, there may be little hope for their
For those two, and for many others, you might saydevelopment.
selling is in the genes.Which means there are two types that can succeed:
If you're a people-person, others notice, and they(1) People that are positively predisposed toward
encourage you with the sorts of lines that openedselling, i.e. they think they might be good at it, though
this article.they haven't tried, yet; and (2) People that are
But can anybody else become a good salesperson?neutral about it; that are willing to have an open
Must you be extroverted, outgoing, someone whomind, accept and implement instruction, and not
doesn't mind shaking hands and smiling into the eyesdisable themselves with negative beliefs about the
of strangers?process.
You can.To date, few sales recruiters and trainers have
If I didn't believe this, I wouldn't have written thescreened applicants based on their ATTITUDES
best-selling book, "Selling Skills For Thetoward selling, itself. Instead, they've focused on
Non-Salesperson," or "Telemarketing ForSKILLS.
Non-Telemarketers."With a bad attitude, skills-training isn't likely to be
But it's not easy converting ardent non-salespeopleaccepted or to stick, whether you're dealing with
into top achievers, especially if they say or simplyveterans or with fresh recruits.