Heart of Matter

Some Assembly Required

You don't get the perfect salesperson by throwing together whatever's handy. Lean in close, and we'll give you a peek at the manual.

August 1, 2001

URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/42496

Look! It's a man! It's a woman! No, it's Supersalesperson-that individual who leaps sales quotas with a single bound, stops customer complaints faster than a speeding bullet and is more powerful than 10 salespeople put together. Of Messianic stature, Supersalesperson is the deliverer of the capitalist's promised land and the paradigm against whom all are judged.

Alas, this superhero is but a fancy. Yet at rare moments we see a glimmer of Supersalesperson inside those who, by luck and pluck, possess a generous portion of the qualities we attribute to the fantastically great. They may flow, as does the sales pitch. We see them radiate from an employee's open eyes and in the head tilted toward us, listening ever so closely. But when all is said and done, the power of greatness comes not from sight, speech or attentiveness. Rather, it emanates from the mind and heart, giving the salesperson an insatiable appetite to learn. And it's this appetite that feeds the remaining characteristics, ultimately shaping success.

Mind Over Matter

Sales superiority starts in the mind. "The supersalesperson possesses a propensity for personal growth," says Rick Sapio, founder and CEO of Mutuals.com Inc., a New York City holdings company that sells mutual funds to investors. Sales superheroes hunger for knowledge about themselves, their customers and their products-as well as the products and services of competitors, adds Sapio, a former broker.

"They're achievement-oriented," agrees Sean Magennis, founder and CEO of Thomas International USA Inc., a sales and marketing consulting company in Dallas. Every sale has a learning objective-determining what was done well or poorly." Failure becomes an opportunity to learn. Instead of blocking failure, supersalespeople...