Art vs. Science of Selling
All sales people live on the spectrum of Art <—————> Science.
The art of a seller is stereotyped through the flashy salesman who rolls out of their sports car in fancy clothes, flips the keys to the valet and drops in as the man of the hour. The artful seller is likely someone who you want to have a cocktail with and enjoy some box seats at the ball game. When taken to the extremes, the seller that is all art and no science is usually overly reliant on the relationship and might be the first to be caught flatfooted by a more prepared and skillful competitor OR bewildered when their ‘big deal’ never closes.
The scientific seller stereotype is a process driven, meticulously scrupulous and focused on every single quantifiable aspect of solving their customers pain point and detailed to the max. The scientific seller likely isn’t running off to happy hours to meet clients or flying across the country to see a potential customer until they are near certain a deal is imminent. When taken to the extreme, an overtly scientific seller might not be nimble enough to roll with the punches, read the situation and adapt. Overly scientific sellers might grow frustrated when their prospective client opts to work with the competitor that took them out to a special event and handled the relationship with more interpersonal care.
The sweet spot of a seller is in the middle (or some combination of the art & science). The most impressive sales people I’ve ever known are the perfect mix between trustworthy, fun, engaging, dynamic, curious, organized, emotionally intelligent, and resourceful. If you want to be a highly successful seller, you need to be both process and detailed oriented while remaining extremely likable and someone your customers come to trust.
The science of selling may come naturally to some but it’s a skill that can be taught. Although ‘science’ is not usually synonymous with ‘sales,’ the ‘science of sales’ is a learned skill and one that can be studied and improved over time. The science of selling is like chess mixed with party planning. Without the interpersonal art however, you’ll be stuck behind the desk wondering how your competitor came in and price matched at the 11th hour to beat you and now touting the new press release of their newfound partnership.
The art of selling can also be taught but it’s a bit more intuitive due to the inter-personal nature of it. It’s rare that you take someone who truly doesn’t have the art of sales and turn them into an ‘artful seller.’ The art is an instinct, a second-nature and usually an X factor when used appropriately. Try to let it be your sole crutch without some science and you’ll be left playing checkers.
As a salesperson your job is to identify your weaknesses and plug those holes while always playing into your strengths. As a sales leader, you’re always sizing up your team for who has the art and science in their approach and calibrating your strategy around the unique skills of each member. As a hiring manager you’re looking to identify key traits of your recruits that exhibit their ability to learn the science and who is light enough on their feet to do the artful dance of adaptability.
At Xeal we have people on our team who sit all along the spectrum. That’s the beauty of sales and team formation - no two people are ever alike and the results also reflect the scatterplot. We have people on our team who know their pipeline like the back of their hand and can tell you the exact date and timeline of their deals and when it will close. We have people on our team who are charismatic, funny, easy to talk to and light up the conference hall. When you put them all in one room though, it’s a glorious thing to watch as the art and the science meet to build a go-to-market that’s out there every day influencing an industry.