Sales as a career can be exciting for people who enjoy exploring unconventional arenas. If you get gratification on achieving targets, are competitive, like roles that appreciate performance, and have strong persuasion abilities, then ‘sales’ can be a rewarding career for you.
Pursuing a career in sales can give you a work-life balance, better networking opportunities, a whooping income, opportunities to travel, and recognition. While a salesperson is expected to be in an ‘Always be Selling’ mode, there is an altogether different hack that can make them excel in the profession. And surprisingly, the hack is ‘teaching.’
Teaching ‘sales’ can be one of the best ways to master the art of selling. Learn how!
Teaching is a learning process. It incorporates understanding, conceptualising, research, and explanation skills. The best way to master a field of study is by teaching that subject, as no other method will make you thorough in that area the way teaching does.
Let’s check how teaching sales can make you a better salesperson and what both professions have in common.
Sales is almost like teaching. It involves educating and persuading your target audience about the product through your acquired knowledge. To persuade and sell, you must be well aware of the product, and the best way to do this is by teaching someone.
Good sales require a good understanding of the product. One has to be ready to answer any queries a prospect might ask. And, nothing clears your concepts as teaching. It will make you comfortable with all the facts and features of the product/service you are selling.
Salespeople need to constantly keep themselves updated with the latest trends and techniques in the industry and about the products’ features. Teaching self or someone else can help them instil an ever-learning attitude which is crucial for those opting for sales as a career.
In both ‘sales’ and ‘teaching,’ one needs to spend a considerable amount of time ‘understanding the audience.’ While it is the ‘customer’ in the former case, in the latter, it is the ‘student’ who matters. In either case, as a teacher or a salesperson, one must be aware of the ‘hook’ that would engage a customer’s or a student’s attention.
Teaching about sales happens in a team. Collaboration is an essential part of any salesperson’s day. Whenever a sales rep stumbles upon a new project, the best they can do is teach the team about the product first. This would help them memorise everything about the product or the client in a go. Hence, ‘teaching’ can be used as a strategy to discuss new products and clients and understand them better.
Sales is all about building good relations and trust. According to a survey, 50% of salespeople put relationship building as their favourite deal-related activity. And this is something common in both the ‘teaching’ as well as the ‘sales’ profession. While teachers have to gain the trust of their pupils, salespeople must take their customers’ confidence to be in the long run. Teaching is also a good way to build trust among the team members.
Salespeople often have to work within a team. They have to educate and inspire the team members to close targets. Communicating with fellow salespeople is an essential exchange that facilitates professional growth. Sharing your techniques and experiences and learning from their’s helps you be better prepared for the next round.
A good sales strategy incorporates in-depth research about the product, client, or market. For both ‘teaching’ and ‘sales,’ research is an important prerequisite. Before approaching a client, good research and explaining your team members about the product will help you enhance your performance and win the deal. According to a survey, even when salespeople are not actively selling, 33% are still researching.
Like students in a classroom come with multiple intelligence levels, every customer is different in their own way. What may work for one might not work for another. A salesperson must cater to the needs of the customers individually. Using the same approach for all might lead to complete failure.
Teaching helps people develop a good level of patience that you need to solve all the queries calmly. Similarly, a salesperson must attend to all the concerns of the client without losing their temper.
Salespeople are very good at educating prospects. This is the reason why ‘teaching’ makes a background for ‘sales.’ Also, when you are into sales profile, using teaching as a hack to educate yourself and your team has multiple benefits. Teaching your sales team about a client or their product clears many doubts, gives you an opportunity to prepare for an interaction with the client, and also builds confidence.
There is more to a sales career than using such hacks to become a good salesperson; acquiring a well-structured training program is one.
We at Juno School of Business have well-crafted training programs designed to suit the aspirations of people willing to make a career in sales. In our comprehensive eight-week interactive online program, we equip you with skills and strategies that can help you make a successful career in sales. Take a step ahead and apply now!
Talk to our counsellor and understand our courses better