It's just a question of style

ROBERT L JOLLES
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Bestselling Author and President, Jolles Associates, Inc

after fifteen years of being a sales trainer and conducting seminars, I am now ready to answer the most often asked question posed. “Can anybody sell?”
Now this question can be rephrased anyway you would like, such as, “Are you born a good salesperson?” or “Is the art of selling a natural skill?” but anyway you slice it, the question really remains the same, “Can anybody sell?” If I had a nickel for every time I was asked that question, well, let’s just say, I’d have a heck of a lot of nickels!
I’m not sure I knew the answer myself until I was fortunate enough to meet the greatest salesman who ever lived. No, it wasn’t many of the big shot authors and speakers, whose fraternity I too belong. Nope, it was a fellow named Ben Feldman.
You probably haven’t heard of him either, but you should have. 1979, while I was with the New York Life Insurance Company, Ben led the industry in sales. That is all the insurance companies, not just mine. Actually, it is unfair to say he led the industry - he dominated it. The top nine agents were all fairly close to each other. Ben Feldman tripled the next closest competitor.
I had never seen a picture of Ben, but I imagined what he looked like. Outgoing, tall, aggressive, big booming voice. Really, I guess I saw him as a collection of every stereotype I had been led to believe was necessary to be an effective salesperson. One day I had the rare pleasure of meeting this man, and in a way, he changed my life. Ben Feldman stood about 5’3”, somewhat overweight, had hair a little like Larry from the “Three Stooges,” and spoke with a heavy lisp. Not quite what I had expected. Within seconds, however, I was drawn to the unique style that Ben Feldman possessed. He had none of the more conventional strengths that we associate with his kind of success, yet he remained true to his style, made what he had his strengths, and was dominant in his field.
It was then and there I learned the most valuable lesson I would ever receive in my life regarding our own personal style: I could not be Ben Feldman; I could, however, focus on his technique or process and continue to ask myself, “How can I do that so it sounds like Rob Jolles?” What is my personal style? Rob’s strengths aren’t Ben’s strengths, but than again, Ben’s aren’t Rob’s either.

Too often salespeople feel that they must incorporate certain better-known strengths into their particular style

Too often salespeople feel that they must incorporate certain better-known strengths into their particular style. On more than one occasion, while working for Xerox, I was sent to Rochester to act as a speech coach for some of the Senior Vice Presidents. Unaware of their own personal strengths and style, they would want to incorporate other strengths, such as humor, which they simply did not possess. I always felt it was my job to uncover what they did well, and utilize it to the maximum degree possible.
Go for a golf lesson and you’ll understand what I mean, because you will see two different kinds of teachers. One will show you the way he hits it, put a bucket of balls in front of you, and work to get you to hit it the same way. The other will put a bucket of balls in front of you, ask you to hit for a while, and then step in to help. In case you want to know, what that second teacher is doing is studying your natural style.
Some golfers have longer arms, so are more flexible, and some have stronger left arms. I want the lesson from the second teacher, because what he’s doing is trying to blend his sound concept of technique, into your natural style.
Each of us possesses our own style. Ben Feldman should be an inspiration to us all. He basically possessed no obvious style attributes we associate with classic salespeople, yet he sold 1.6 billion dollars of insurance in his lifetime! The key to being a good salesperson is not only learning what your natural style is, but also committing to it and utilizing it as effectively as possible.
“Can anybody sell?” Absolutely! The key is, to separate style from technique. Sadly, often sales managers, and mentors who are meaning to help, preach more of their style then their technique. This is because many are what we call “unconscious competents” and truly cannot separate one from the other. They frequently try to coach by saying things like, “This is not a complicated business, just work hard and good things will happen.” That bit of help would be the equivalent of a baseball coach saying, “Swing hard and it will go over the fence.”
To add insult to injury, not being able to separate style from technique, the mentor then makes numerous style comments to “help” some more. This leaves many mistakenly trying to emulate the wrong things, be someone they are not, and leaving the field of selling with a disillusioned taste in their mouth.
In the summer of 1994 Ben Feldman passed away but not without leaving us a few final gifts. He left many process behaviors that are repeatable and effective when working with clients. However, in my mind, his greatest gift may have been one he never articulated. He taught us all that if you commit to your own personal style, and not worry about anyone else’s strengths or style, you can become as great as you want to be.

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Rob Jolles is a celebrated author whose most recent book, Customer Centered Selling, became a business bestseller. In his role as president of the international training corporation Jolles Associates, Inc., Mr. Jolles provides valuable, experience-based sales training to his clients-over 20 banks, a dozen brokerage houses and companies like AT&T, NASA, Toyota and Nortel. Jolles’s vast experience and energetic style allow him to present proven strategies for elevating the sales experience. The effective techniques he discusses can motivate any sales-oriented professional to increased success. Jolles Associates have tied up with Innovative Media for their Asia Pacific and Middle East foray and Jolles may be contacted at imedia@vsnl.com.