Sales persons suffer bad press.  They are the butt of countless jokes.  Did you hear the one about the used car/insurance/travelling salesman? And current affairs programs just love pillorying them. Why? Because there is more than a grain of truth, some might say an entire crop, behind this derision; but you don’t have to be the one who adds to the experience.

Sales people give service or should they?.  

All sales people should ask themselves, “Why do I do this job?” If the answer is just for the money they won’t last very long at it, probably won’t be very successful at it, certainly won’t enjoy it, and the sooner they leave to find something they do like, the better for them, and their customers, if they have any left.

If you do not enjoy and are not motivated in your work, you do yourself, your product and your employer a disservice.  You are, by and large, wasting your time.

Again we come back to attitude.  It is your challenge. What motivates you? Are you passionate about your business and products? When clients walk through your door they’re in control, they can just as easily walk out again.  They need a warm, welcoming manner, a sincere greeting, not overenthusiastic - genuine - customers spot fake sincerity three blocks away.  In other words be yourself who you will be if you want to be there and believe in your product. It is your challenge. Customers expect that you the sales person will then help them, have a level of expertise to provide them with a service. They want sales people who support their friendly greeting with a demonstrated capacity to listen and profound product knowledge.

Be quick to listen is sound advice. Listen actively.  Allow customers to explain what they need and then apply what librarians term reference questioning to elicit as much information as needed to fill gaps and define options.

Sales people must have product size, colour, model, price range etc at their fingertips. It is one of your challenges to provide this service. Lack of product knowledge will kill a sale as quick as anything and product knowledge is so easy to acquire, possibly the easiest part of your job if you’re motivated.