The Engineer as Salesman

From Robert McMurry, an industrial psychologist, and his 1961 Harvard Business Review article - - "The Mystique of Super-Salesmanship."

Key points:

• Salesmanship is as primitive today as it was 100 years ago.
• The most complex of the super-salesmans are the ones that sell the intangibles - - from advertising to engineering services to educational services - - a service that is in the prospect's imagination.
• A good salesman does three things - - seduces the prospect, provides logical justification, and finally applies pressure to close.  Basically -- seduction, rationalization, and closing.  Very important - - all three things require three very different skill sets.
• Great salesmen all have an important instinct - - "the wooing instinct."  They have a compulsive need to win and hold the affection of others.
• The wooer is "characterized by the conviction that he is really unloved and unwanted" so must use every means at his disposal - - charm, flattery, even deception - - to win others over.
• They have high levels of empathy - - the process of understanding another person's feelings and then sharing them. 
• "Wooing in a sales context is as difficult to teach as wooing in a boudoir."  One cannot make John Calvin into Don Juan.
• Five lesser characteristics -- boundless energy and optimism; plenty of self-confidence in order to brush off rejection; a "chronic hunger for money"; self-discipline and a capacity for hard work; and finally a "state of mind which regards each rejection or obstacle as a challenge."
• Big problem for companies -- all of these traits are hard to find in one individual.
• Too often the focus becomes the procedural aspects of selling - - the end result are legions of highly trained actors that lack the wooing ingredient.

This is from Philip Delves Broughton's tremendous new book --  The Art of the Sale: Learning from the Masters About the Business of Life - -

"Here lies the challenge in finding good salespeople.  You need excellent empathizers who aren't so empathetic they can't close a sale.  And you need people with strong ego needs who can still take a moment to figure out what another person wants.  They must be aggressive enough to close, but not so aggressive they put people off.  Too much empathy and you'll be a nice guy finishing last.  Too much ego drive and you'll be scorching earth everywhere you go.  Not enough of either and you shouldn't be in sales at all.  It's a miracle anyone can do this job."