Sales Representative After more than twenty years in sales and marketing I suppose I have become somewhat of an expert in what it takes to succeed in this endeavor. It seems like yesterday that I was the young kid coming out of college looking for some sort of sage wisdom on what it would take to be a successful sales representative. Now, with the hair graying and the waist spreading I seem to be the person offering some sort of insight. I wasn’t your typical sales representative. When I say this, what I mean is I wasn’t entirely money motivated. I suppose a great deal of this was due to the fact that I had fell into the nascent biotech industry in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the late 1980’s. I felt that I was somehow a part of the research that was emerging at the time. It was revolutionary and I had the opportunity to spend my days with Nobel laureates searching for the cure for AIDS and cancer. It was bigger than me and I felt that I had a very small supporting part to play in the cast of this magical time. I saw myself as an educator of the most educated people I would ever know in my life. I was a resource. That’s when I realized the way I could differentiate myself from all the other sales representatives was by being a resource rather than a salesman. I’ve carried this lesson for many years. I found that the first thing I could do to differentiate myself as a sales representative was to learn the specific language of my customer base. This is incredibly important in a technical sales setting like biotechnology. By committing to constantly learning about the science I found I could begin to understand what value I could bring to their world. This not only opened doors, but kept them continuously open over the course of many years. My customers new I would not waste their time, that I understood their objectives and constraints, and I was constantly looking for new solutions to make their work more efficacious. To be an effective sales representative over the long-term, it is important to authentically care about the objectives of your customer base. A recent study indicates that the difference between mediocre performance, of being able to touch and motivate people, and outstanding performance is caring. When prospects sense you care, they respond accordingly. At the end of the day, being a sales representative comes down to being in relationship. In relationship with the customer, in relationship with one’s employer, and most importantly, in authentic relationship with one’s self. Deciding how you wish to show up each and every day, of how you wish to be, will determine the success you have in developing and effective relationship with the customer. So, as someone that was somewhat an antithesis of a sales representative, someone that wasn’t entirely money motivated, I found that by being in authentic relationship with myself as well as my customers I found remarkable success as a sales representative. Related Articles Sales Representative Jobs Sales Promotion