SalesScore

Does your sales team solve customer problems or just take orders? High performing sales professionals should be problem solvers who not only solve problems, but also know how to find problems worth solving.

Complex products or services require problem solving at the highest level. However, companies selling simple commodity products can also benefit from hiring sales reps with some level of problem solving skills.

Discovering a customer’s “pain” has become standard language in the sales world. Yet, the discovery or process of uncovering pain still seems elusive to many sales professionals. Why? Because they are not natural problem solvers.

When we think of problem solvers, we tend to envision people like engineers or inventors. Was Thomas Edison a problem solver? You bet he was. Do you think he was also an accomplished sales professional? My guess is he probably was. Successful inventor/entrepreneurs must “sell” ideas that solve problems.

So, what traits do Problem Solvers have that make them stand out from the rest?  According to Devine Sales Assessment, there are five behaviors that Problem Solvers possess . . . creativity, listening, emotional composure, planning, and learning.

How would you rate your sales team on these behaviors? If they rate low, then you probably have sales reps that struggle with problem solving.

Unfortunately, problem solving alone does not make a great sales person. There are many contributing factors. However, If your product or service is complex, you need sales reps who are natural problem solvers.

In the DISC assessment world, a person with high D and High C behaviors tend to have a nice mix of assertive and problem solving behaviors. Yet, not all High D, High C people are good sales people, nor have any interest in selling.

In summary, if a member of your sales team is struggling even though they seem to have the ambition to succeed, then problem solving ability may be the missing ingredient.

If you would like to learn more on how to evaluate sales professionals to identify those with Problem Solving capabilities, click here