“He has the gift of gab; he should be in sales!”

“People really like her; she’d make a great salesperson!”

“He’s the funniest guy I know; a natural for selling!”

Have you ever wondered how people get into the sales field?

Clearly, some are born into it. The President of the local car dealership has his son working as the sales manager of one of the divisions.

For those two, and for many others, you might say selling is in the genes.

If you’re a people-person, others notice, and they encourage you with the sorts of lines that opened this article.

But can anybody else become a good salesperson?

Must you be extroverted, outgoing, someone who doesn’t mind shaking hands and smiling into the eyes of strangers?

You can.

If I didn’t believe this, I wouldn’t have written the best-selling book, “Selling Skills For The Non-Salesperson,” or “Telemarketing For Non-Telemarketers.”

But it’s not easy converting ardent non-salespeople into top achievers, especially if they say or simply believe the following statement to be true:

“I’m not a salesperson!”

To get people to try, to handle a modicum of rejection, to get some good orders under their belt, they cannot be burdened with negative core beliefs about this occupation.

If they dislike salespeople, or even feel in any way turned off by the negative stereotype of salespeople, there may be little hope for their development.

Which means there are two types that can succeed: (1) People that are positively predisposed toward selling, i.e. they think they might be good at it, though they haven’t tried, yet; and (2) People that are neutral about it; that are willing to have an open mind, accept and implement instruction, and not disable themselves with negative beliefs about the process.