UNDERSTANDING THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SELLING
One way to understand the “state-of-the-art” of salesmanship is to compare it with other fields, such as music.
There are many people who can play by ear – they can’t read notes. To one with a casual interest in music, there is little difference in the sounds produced by a professional musician and one who plays by ear. This is because the natural musician seldom attempts to play an intricate composition. As long as the musician sticks to their particular kind of music, all is well. But, then their repertoire is quite limited and their capacity to teach another person is practically zero.
The first step in acquiring musical knowledge is to obtain an instrument and select a teacher. The first act of the teacher may very well be to prescribe a book of exercises. The teacher will explain the lesson plan, and has the student return for constructive criticism and then advance to more difficult material. It will take several years and many lessons for the student to acquire musical competence.
By contrast, it is assumed that anyone can become a salesperson by self-declaration. All they need is a product and a territory.
Cecil Edge’s training method, “UNDERSTANDING THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SELLING”, takes the position that there is a body of knowledge about selling that can be acquired by a new salesperson. Included are practice exercises similar to those used in teaching music. The level of skill that can be attained is a function of the aptitude, determination and application of the trainee and the quality of the instruction.
In music, there are several elements to be mastered such as reading notes, keeping time, finger dexterity, etc. There are specific exercises for developing those skills.
“UNDERSTANDING THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SELLING” makes it possible to do the same for selling. Each unit deals with a separate skill or a specialized body of knowledge. These can be acquired individually and merged at the point of sale.
The contents of this method have stood the test of time.* Those who have practiced and mastered the material have advanced to sales trainers and sales managers.
There is nothing wrong with playing by ear. But those who want to advance themselves and contribute to the field of music will have to learn to read notes… the same is true in the field of selling.