Salespeople Have Spoken: Hillary, The Donald… or Hulk Hogan?

A few weeks ago we put out a survey and were blown away that 2,000 people took the quiz. It’s not surprising that we had such a great response, but it was shocking to realize that thousands of you needed to take our quiz to find out who you really are. Why else would you answer a questionnaire called, “What Type of Salesperson are You”?

Well, we thank you for doing so, because now we have some insightful stats about our readers now that the salespeople have spoken.

1. How do you make sales happen?

55% – It’s all about relationships
32% – Hard work
8% – I’m just really good
5% – It’s like magic

Yeah, yeah, yeah, hard work and relationship building will definitely make you successful at sales. The surprising part is that 13% of you are resting on your laurels and think your magic of “just being good at it” will get you by. Unfortunately, you’ve got to be constantly honing your skills if you want to stay in the sales game. So congratulations to the other 87% of you who have a real chance at keeping your jobs next year.

2. If you had to choose, are you most like…

32% – The Donald
26% – Bernie Sanders
22% – Hillary Clinton
21% – Hulk Hogan

This one leaves me sort of speechless. One quality that makes a sales rep great is being able to easily adapt into new roles and confidently wear many hats. How can you not pick Hulk Hogan? He is a man of many talents – actor, wrestler, bassist, sex tape extraordinaire. This guy has proven that he can sell to anyone!

3. When you get an extra big commission check, what happens?

49% – Vacation with the family
26% – Party time
19% – The latest, coolest gadget
6% – Charity donation

In a commission based sales role, you measure your success by the money you make. Spending that bonus check shows how you like to celebrate your successes. It may be surprising, but sales reps do have hearts – almost half of you said you’d use your extra cash to get some quality time with the family. Good answer, good answer. But, I am left to wonder what Hulk Hogan’s response would have been…

4. What’s your favorite sales movie?

41% – The Pursuit of Happyness
23% – Boiler Room
18% – Tommy Boy
16% – Glengarry Glen Ross
2% – Eraserhead

Remember when Will Smith’s character invests his life savings into a sales career and ends up homeless? Yeah, that happens in The Pursuit of Happyness, making it not my favorite sales movie. We all know it ends fine, but in case you forgot to read our top picks, I think Glengarry Glen Ross takes the cake here.

5. What is your favorite way to reach a customer?

54% – In person
27% – On the phone
10% – Email
3% – Text
1% – Snapchat

This was a trick question. In sales, we shouldn’t be thinking of how we want to reach the customer, but instead, of how the customer wants to be reached. Every sale and every prospect is unique. It’s imperative to ask your clients how they would like you to communicate with them, and then make that your favorite way to reach out.

6. What do you like the most about sales?

30% – The money
25% – The excitement of it
23% – Helping customers
13% – Meeting new people
3% – I wish I had another job

Choosing a career based on the possible income you can make isn’t something to apologize for. I’m glad 30 percent of you were honest that you like to make money. For those of you that want to be rolling in the dough, we’ve got your back. Here at Spiro, we’ve developed a personal sales assistant that is designed to help salespeople make more money. Try Spiro!

Survey Says…

A big thank you to all 2,000 of you who participated in our quiz. And for the rest of you, it’s not too late to find out “What Type of Salesperson” you are.