{"id":2256,"date":"2019-08-06T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-06T19:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/primaressource.enconstruction.website\/sales-skills-vs-sales-dna\/"},"modified":"2023-04-18T13:11:40","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T17:11:40","slug":"sales-skills-vs-sales-dna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.primaressource.com\/en\/sales-skills-vs-sales-dna\/","title":{"rendered":"Sales Skills vs. Sales DNA: Here Is What to Focus on"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SalesA few years ago, I had an interview with the vice-presidents of a large company in order to get my first position as a salesperson. It was an intimidating experience since I had never worked in sales before and the questions they asked were very technical. Fortunately, I had prepared myself properly.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, when one of them asked me if I had any experience in the sales industry, I knew very well that the time I spent preparing for the interview wasn’t going to help me answer that question.<\/p>\n

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Instinctively, I replied that yes, I had experience in this field. I told them that I had to sell a compressor and that to do so, I posted an online ad on Kijiji<\/em>. The result: no one ever contacted me. It made them laugh. I managed to get the job and 18 months later, I was promoted to the position of sales manager.<\/p>\n

You may be wondering how in the world did I get the job and was able to climb the ladder so quickly despite my obvious lack of sales experience (I couldn’t even sell a compressor on Kijiji<\/em>!!)? My answer for you is very simple: I continuously demonstrated, and this from the day of my interview with the company’s vice-presidents, that I have a strong sales DNA.<\/p>\n

Why is sales experience misleading?<\/h2>\n

It is easy to believe that experience is the fundamental element when recruiting for your sales team. Although having a lot of experience in your field is far from being detrimental, in sales, it does not mean much. Did you know that most sellers who receive a “low” or “unacceptable” performance rating have many years of sales experience behind them?<\/p>\n

Obviously, it goes without saying that having several years of experience generally allows a salesperson to develop better sales techniques. It is very possible that an experienced representative will find it easier to close, prospect or negotiate. However, in reality, this represents only a small portion of what really helps differentiate good and elite sellers.<\/p>\n

Therefore, just because a candidate has little or no experience does not mean that he or she does not have the necessary skills to be an elite salesperson, or at least that he or she will not be able to develop them. That is why I consider that sales DNA<\/a> takes precedence over sales experience and techniques.<\/p>\n

Here are some things you can observe in a candidate or within your team to see if he or she has a strong sales DNA:<\/p>\n