Six Types Of Staff People That Sell Well
Your staff is your most valuable (and expensive!) sales tool. The energy they bring and the training they receive directly correlates to the practice bottom line. Sales skills can be learned but some people have skill sets that directly lend themselves to the sales process.
1. People that are outgoing, friendly, and assertive
These people tend to be much luckier with case acceptance. Thats because these traits are more prone to case acceptance than their opposites. Of course outgoing gets more response than introverted! Assertive is a particularly interesting personality trait. It is a person who is balanced between passive and aggressive (both of which tend to turn people off in the sales process). Assertive people treat people with respect but also demand respect for themselves. Its a great trait for cutting through BS and getting into a frank and open discussion. Many practices we work with have staff that are low energy but have a huge knowledge of the processes which make the practice run. This is a really lame person to be interacting with patients. Take an outgoing, friendly, assertive person over the other employee every day of the week.
2. People with product knowledge
People that know a lot about something, people who have vast product knowledge can sell things a very, very high level. You should be fascinated by what youre selling. It should excite you because excitement is contagious. Woven into the fabric of your practice should be a common sentiment that we need to know everything about what we provide. People should talk about what they do, they should be in love with it, they should have it done on themselves because it inspires so much confidence in the buyer.
3. People that engage
Barbara Walters is a classic example of the engaging interviewer. She is great at creating immediate rapport and then becoming interested in the other person. Great listener and great questioner are earmarks of the engaging personality. It comes down to being interested and interesting. The more you can find that kind of empathy in people within your practice, the better off you are. The person who quickly engages someone and then asks the right questions is a trainable skill and a valuable skill. So look for this in your staff, encourage it. Use peoples names. Create rapport. People dont buy stuff from people they dont like.
4. People that can deal with objections
Objections to treatment are not a rejection of the salesperson. This is true, yet, just get a aggressive price objection and see if you dont take it personally! Some deal with objections much better than others. They just know the prospect isnt ready - yet. The prospect need more info. The prospect is negotiating. People that are good at sales dont hear objections. They dont think to themselves, Oh thats a problem. They think this person just doesnt understand yet. This is a learned trait. Good scripting and training makes it much easier to deal with objections to treatment.
5. People that are likable
Likable is a very important trait in sales. Doesnt matter how smart you are if people dont like you. Hopefully youre smart AND likable but Id ALWAYS take the latter for a sales position. When youre looking at staff look for friendly and fun. Its all about connecting with people.
6. People that BELIEVE
The best sales people are people who believe in what you do. You cant be a good dentist with bad teeth. If you have a staff member that doesnt believe in plastic surgery, thats the worst salesperson in the world to sell plastic surgery. Your staff should honestly believe you are changing lives at the practice. Its impossible to sell something you dont believe in. Your staff should be a walking billboard for your work. They should have great teeth. They should look amazing. If they dont, start fixing it, TODAY. This is an investment in your practice. When people really believe theyre going to be naturally amazing at sales.
