Is “Rockstar” Sales Talent Something Which Resides in Our Genes?

I’ve been a career sales professional for just north of 25 years. I got started selling at 17, and actually exposed to selling at a much younger age by my father who was the career salesperson. Now that I’m in my early 40’s I have been doing some thinking about...

"What exactly makes someone a sales “Rockstar”?"

Not saying that I am a Rockstar or anything like that, I’m just wondering what are the main attributes, you know, the underlying drivers which these Rockstars all share. What makes someone wake up each morning with the attitude of,

“I’m going out there and closing everything that I touch today!”

During my time, I’ve been both an individual contributor and have led teams – I enjoy aspects of both. My career has provided me with a truly mind-boggling number of opportunities to learn about various products (software, hardware, consumables), markets (domestic and international), channels (distribution, resellers, retail, direct) and verticals including healthcare, financial, insurance and legal just to name a few. I’ve worked with, developed, stood side-by-side with many Rockstars and watched as they sold.

It’s been amazingly and almost incredibly way too much fun to consider it work sometimes. The people whom I’ve met and companies which I have done business with are almost unbelievable. With all this, what is my own main skill(s), what’s the passion which drives me to want to keep doing this every single day?

It’s one thing; I really love selling!

Plain and simple, that’s it and there’s nothing else. Yes, there are many, “learned skills” which have helped me become better at selling but I believe that the cream of the crop, the top sales people have an inborn ability to sell at a higher level which cannot be duplicated or taught. My father is a career salesperson and before he retired I would say that he was a Rockstar and loved selling. So maybe it’s a trait, that like musical ability is something which is been bred into our genes over generations?

You can lay out page after page of great traits which most of top sales people possess; Always, time-management; Yes, superior product knowledge; Great social skills; Outstanding follow up, etc. etc. are what makes all sales people better but there is only one key factor which truly sets apart the Rockstars from being just good or even great sales people. That one thing that drives them to become better and better at their chosen career is a deep, and I mean deep love of selling. The chase is almost better to them than the close and as soon as it’s over the Rockstar must find their next conquest.

I know that there’s always an exception to any rule so disagree if you must but having been around 100’s, no make that 1,000’s upon 1,000’s of salespeople and when you walk into a business-related event it’s almost 100% that you can pick out the Rockstar salesperson. Try it out, the next time you attend the kickoff event for a conference pay attention and I’m quite sure that before the end of the night that it won’t be hard to pick out the Rockstars in the room.

Maybe I’m completely off my rocker and maybe I’m way off base in my ponderings. Who knows? I don’t have a PhD in advanced psychology but what I have had is the true honor of watching and learning from a few people who, in my opinion are the greatest and most successful salespeople that I’ve ever met. And you know what each of them have in common? Yep, you’ve got it, they love what they do.

So, in the end we’ve taught apes sign language, border collies to fetch by picture and horses to paint watercolors but I can assure you that there’s no monkey on the planet that can sell someone a banana. Right now you’re asking what weird animal tricks have to do with an inborn love of selling? Honestly, I have no idea but researching cool animal talents was a fun distraction for few minutes…