Are You a Sales Professional or an Order Taker?

The note that follows comes from one the head of one of the biggest software companies in the United States. It contains a message every sales professional needs to understanding.

“Results are the only things that count. We are perfectly willing to pay a salesperson $100,000 a year if they deliver the goods; we are willing to pay $250,000 a year if that person delivers, and a person’s earnings from $10,000 a month up to almost anything is in their own hands.”

99% of all company heads of companies that have sales people on staff, reflect this very sentiment. Most will even attest that they believe a person’s power to earn is one they impose on themselves.

So as a person who is just starting out, or perhaps an established sales professional, how do you begin to sell? That is after all the main goal of your position. Along with it is a need to increase the sales you have.

I’ll be upfront with you right now, in that I am not offering theories. Instead, the methods provided are ones that come from people who are actually successful in sales, although they do come from different industries in North America.

In truth, each sales professional is working far more than your average sales person, because they are better at their job. The following is their findings on what produces actual results for a person.

Are You a Sales Professional or Glorified Order Taker?

To get things started, let’s look at someone who is an order taker. Not because they are someone who should be shamed or looked down upon. But because this is necessary to understand things a bit better.

Chris is an order taker for a company. He decides to visit Jones, Brown, Robinson, Smith and James. None of them is interested in buying. When he opens his portfolio for Harrison, Harrison decides to buy.

The thing is, Chris didn’t sell a thing. Harrison was already looking to order. He simply waited for Chris to arrive and then placed his order. This made everything easy for Chris, but it didn’t deliver actual results. The situation was in his favor, sort of, like he went to an apple tree with a collector and allowed the apples to fall into it. With many people filling the role of an order taker, it works.

While order taking works, it isn’t what needs to be focused on. Instead, it is important to look at a person who sells. What is it that drives the person and helps them to make an impact? A salesperson is someone who needs to specialize a situation. These are people who listen and even when a person doesn’t want to buy, they can sell the product. They don’t wait for thinking, they take action.

Why does this work? The sales professionals helps a person to see they want what is being offered. It isn’t just a matter of a need. Even if the item is the furthest thing from their mind, this sales professional guides them in the direction to make the purchase and to feel like it was their decision to ultimately buy a product or service.

This is unlike the order taker who accepts a no at face value. While the order taker is someone who is necessary for collecting the easy sales, you need to have a sales professional to really build up a business.

So what you need to ask yourself today is, do you want to be a sales professional or are you content as an order taker?

Gregg Swanson is a sales performance consultant and business coach. He owns Warrior Mind Coach and specializes in the development of mental strength for peak sales performance.  You can pick-up your complementary report, “The Most Critical Step in Sales” by going HERE.