Are you a Creator or Fulfiller?

Let’s be honest, sales is hard, and nobody really plans to get into sales. For many of us, a career in sales was not our dream job. We didn’t stand up in front of our Grade 1 class and announce our intentions to be sales people. We all wanted to be astronauts, doctors, scientists, policeman or veterinarians.
A profession in sales often kinda just happens. We graduate school, don’t know what we want to do or be and get a job selling something.  Next thing we know, 30 years has passed.
Now that you are in sales, the question becomes what kind of sales person are you? Are you a

Creator or Fulfiller?

If I were to invite 100 sales people into a room and I were to say:

How many people would move to the left side? Maybe 5 to 10%? The reality is that most people are “fulfillers” who prefer jobs where interested people approach, call or email them &/or where they can work existing relationships. These roles are often in customer service, account managers, project managers & retail. This is not a bad thing. But it does demonstrate a preferred style of selling and a comfort zone. Looking more closely, fulfillers tend to:

For the small percentage of the sales population who are “creators” (like me), they tend to march to a different drum. They:

Why is this distinction important to know?

While both roles are critical for a company, being a “creator” is the single most important ingredient in how successful you will be in the prospecting & new business development function.
All the training in the world, coupled with great tools, an excellent presentation & a supportive manager is not likely to make you feel any more comfortable to pick up that phone and start reaching out to strangers in order to generate new business. So before you take on the role “prospecting” or a job that requires you to initiate contact with customers, ask yourself … what do you feel more comfortable doing … creating or fulfilling?

© 2016 by Darren Rabie. Co-Founder and President of Focus America, Darren Rabie is also a passionate speaker, writer and jokester, having enjoyed speaking at over 350 events, trade shows, associations & CEO groups throughout North America…with topics including “How to Turn Leads into Sales”, “Manufacturing a Sale”, and “The Science of Selling”. Daren has helped hundreds of owner-operated B2B companies make the transition to a structured, scalable and accountable sales organization. For more information, visit www.focus-america.com or contact Darren directly via email at drabie@focus-america.com