I was just on a social media site and a lady was contemplating going into sales and was asking what kind of sales is best.
One of the responses was , “Well, there are 3 types of sales people – openers, closers and servicers. THE most important thing you can do is figure which one you are and then find a product or service that needs that kind of salesperson. You’ll improve your chances of success by 1,000% if you do it that way.”
This response really got me thinking.
I personally never thought of selling in this way. I always thought sales included ALL the above; openers, closers, and servicers.
But the more I’ve sat and thought about it the more I could see how that could work.
Let’s look at each:
OPENERS : This salesperson could be a car salesman, that meets and greets and figures out which vehicle his prospect really wants. Then has a sales manager close the deal. Or, this could be someone who works a booth at a trade show or a table in a mall and gets prospects to sign up for more information or free trial. Then that same company has designated salespeople that do the follow-ups to close the sale. Or could be a phone prospector or cold caller whose job is to find prospects that ‘might’ be interested in the product or services from their company. Then turns those ‘leads’ over to someone else to close.
CLOSERS : Ever been to a ‘free’ dinner or free night stay at a resort property in exchange for listening to a presentation? And after the warm-up and presentation a ‘special’ person is brought in to pressure you to buy….they’re THE CLOSER. Or how about that scenario where you are hesitant to buy a product such as a big screen t.v. or furniture and you just can’t make up your mind? Who do they bring in? THE CLOSER. He or She has ALL the answers to counter your objections to get you to purchase. Today. Right NOW. Or the ‘sales manager’ for a car dealership, R.V. lot, or a boat dealership. The sales manager doesn’t hear you say ‘NO’, he’s taught to ignore your negatives and to just keep pushing, cajoling, talking, promising, telling you anything just so you will say YES. In their eyes it’s a “buy or die“ mentality. Yikes!
SERVICERS : This is a salesperson who is more comfortable with seeing and helping the same companies or persons on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. They “wear well’’ and are easy on the eyes to their customers. They smile a lot, can schmooze and fit-in with just about anybody, but their strong suit is not selling. Someone like a route salesman for a bread or cookie company, where they call on the same grocery store daily. They make sure the shelves are stocked, old inventory is rotated out, and occasionally tries to get the store manager to try a new item or two.
Let me be clear here, there is absolutely nothing wrong or lessening meant when I made examples of certain types of salesmen for the 3 different types of salespeople.
I’m a firm believer in a good honest salesman, that is trying to feed their family and create a career position for themselves. A days pay for a days work. I was just making examples to try and explain the 3 types of salespeople that I read about.
Personally, I’ve always gravitated to be a ‘full service” type of professional salesperson, who enjoyed doing ALL 3 stages of selling. I love to prospect and be an OPENER. I really loved being a CLOSER, as that was satisfying to me. And I especially enjoyed SERVICING my new and existing customers, as I knew that THEY were happy, and I could always call on them again for additional sales when the time was right.
The article I read certainly got me thinking, what kind of salesperson am I?
So, let me ask you, WHAT KIND OF SALESPERSON ARE YOU?
Hope you enjoyed this post and got a little something out of it.
Questions and comments are always welcomed and appreciated.
See ya on the next one.
Orvel