The Ethos of Sales

How does a person succeed in the world of sales? There are a lot of different things that add up to success, but one of them is your ethos - the way you look to and are perceived by others. Affecting this perception can greatly affect your chances of making a sale. To determine what you should do about this, you first need to know what kind of image you want to project to others. What industry are you trying to sell in? Each industry has its own culture, and consumers are often different as well. For instance, if you're target is primarily management at large companies (for instance, for a network related product or service or for consulting services) you're only going to sell by promoting your own professionalism. You can't come off as anything other than knowledgeable and good at business - they want to buy from someone who they can trust to succeed in that atmosphere. By contrast, if you are selling industrial products to the construction industry, that approach might cause you to fall flat on your face. If your main customers are tough, hardy construction foremen, they don't want to buy pipes or metal from someone who doesn't get their nails dirty. They want someone from the trenches, who knows about the way the business really works, and a guy in a suit won't do it for them. You'll have to figure out for yourself what people want in your own industry - when people buy from you, you're selling yourself just as much as the product.