Sales Stars are Made NOT Born

I recently asked Sales Machine readers whether sales pros are born or made. In the poll, 54 percent of readers said "made", but in my comments I came down (like 46% of the readers) on the side of "born." I felt that selling required a certain inherent personality and that sales skill is mostly a genetic gift.

Turns out I was completely wrong.

In a new book, The Genius in All of Us, author David Shenk explains that pretty much everything we've been told about genetics and IQ is wrong. Turns out that talent comes from practice and focus and genetics is largely irrelevant. The book cites two unrelated bodies of learning that prove this point, with extreme credibility.

The first body of research is epigenetics, which is the study of gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence. Apparently, it's now known that genetic instructions are activated and deactivated by the environment, making the environment as important, and probably more important, than the underlying DNA.

The second body of research is based upon studies applying the behavior of exceptional individuals upon ordinary people. It turns out that "average" people can be trained to do extraordinary tasks, like remembering 80 digit numbers in perfect order, simply by practice and focus. In fact, most so-called "natural geniuses" are not the product of genetics but of relentless practice.

In other words, Mozart was not born a musical genius. Instead, he was immersed in music from a very early age (by his father) and continued to practice hours a day throughout his childhood and early adult years. While the basic DNA was there, Mozart's was not much better than anybody else's; it was the practice that made him into genius.

This does not mean, however, that sales managers should assume that they can take random folk off the street and use sales training to turn them into sales stars. While that would work theoretically, in practice the environment will have already molded those people's personality. You'd want to start with somebody who was already in the ballpark, rather than spend weeks and months activating and deactivating their DNA.

Still, I find it encouraging to know that probably most people who are moderately successful in sales have the potential, with training, focus and practice, to become the equal of any sales star in their industry.

READERS: What do you think?