When most people are asked to describe salespeople, what words come to mind? in his book sell is human, Daniel Pink researched on that very question. Of the 25 words most often used to describe sales, it was the words “aggressive, disgusting, difficult, tough, and ugh.” Those are not very positive words and quite discouraging if your work involves any kind of sale.

Throughout the book, Pink manages to argue that everyone is involved in sales of some kind/is human. Sales involves moving people, it involves some degree of persuasion. EVERYONE who wants to help people tries to move people in a beneficial direction. Sales can be very positive for people; the idea or service we sell can dramatically improve their lives. Or it can be negative, uprooting them and leaving them worse off than we found them. (If you are involved in this second type of selling, then please leave and go elsewhere; what follows is not for you and will not benefit you. However, if you are part of the human majority and want sales are a win-win, then read on).

Pink highlights Tammy Darvish, vice president of DARCARS Automotive Group, one of the largest car dealers on the East Coast. She started out in sales, as the owner’s daughter, and quickly became a top salesperson. Her company has an increasingly popular policy of hiring people with no previous sales experience. They do this because they don’t want salespeople bringing unproductive sales techniques into the DARCARS environment. Like many great companies do, they want to train them according to their values ​​and principles.

Do you know what are the two traits they look for the most? The first makes sense and so does the second, but based on the way most of us think about sales, the second probably surprises you; he made me

1. Perseverance. Yes, I have that. Perseverance is one of those traits that is essential to anyone’s long-term success. In any field, if you want to be good or great, you must be willing to keep going, not give up, conquer discouragement, and stay positive. Especially in sales, because sales always lead to a certain rejection.

two. Empathy. If you asked most sales-oriented companies what traits they look for and want to develop in salespeople, would empathy come to mind? Probably not. But when you think about it, it makes sense for win-win sales. If you really care about the person you’re talking to, you want to help them, and you want to do what’s best for them. Darvish said, “You can’t train someone to care.” For her, the best salespeople are those who ask themselves: “What decision would I make if that was my own mother sitting there trying to get service or buy a car?”

I agree with Darvish and Pink that empathy is a great and necessary trait to move people. Where I disagree with Darvish is that you can’t train people to care. I believe that caring and empathy are very easy to learn and train IF the person wants to learn. Whether it’s worth a company taking the time to train someone on this trait is another matter, but just reading that “empathy and mom” quote reminds me to think that way today and probably for a while. Since what we think about most changes behavior, thinking about caring and empathy can help me behave that way more often. It will work for you too.

If you want to improve your ability to motivate people, becoming a long-term goer and thinking about what’s best for the people you’re involved with are great foundations to build on.

Will you carry on? Will you mind?