this seems more of a sales kind of article. Some professional things are not at all related to sales, this article is too much into sales side. for e.g - a s/w professional won't need - care, teaching, responsiveness..they are a different category all together.
Time has come to be very specific and specialized, even in sugestions....bad one..rediff.
RE:professionalism or sales!!1
by chetan joshi on Aug 13, 2007 05:47 PM Permalink
Right ! responsive :> to the thoughts knowledgeable :> as they won't have value else care about what they do :> as company invest into them teach you something :> innovation as they are developer
RE:RE:professionalism or sales!!1
by Abhijit Mallick on Aug 11, 2007 08:48 PM Permalink
Dear think again. Just relate it with s/w profession. You are also selling your knowledge, idea, experience to your clients.
RE:professionalism or sales!!1
by simha chalam on Aug 06, 2007 07:19 AM Permalink
Even I'd sugg -- to 'think again'. This applies to every professional, not sales in particular
RE:RE:Great Article for any professional
by Annapoorna TG Pandit on Aug 14, 2007 12:08 PM Permalink
I was in a company where a true professional meant who just makes it in time to company and after that does nothing. Just keep wasting time or drowsing!!!
RE:good professional
by satya pal on Aug 11, 2007 08:41 PM Permalink
THIS ARTICLE MUST BE TAUGHT TO M.B.A STUDENTS.IT IS NOT SELLING THE PRODUCT ONLY,BUT TO PROVIDE GOOD GUIDANCE.KNOWLEDGE BASED SALESMEN CAN SELL THE PRODUCT AND MAKE PERMANENT CUSTOMERS.LET INDIAN SALESMEN ALSO PRACTICE THIS ART.
RE:good professional
by Postwala on Aug 18, 2007 10:37 PM Permalink
Thatrs a reason the days of SAlesMANship have died, to day its always SAlles Analyst or professional.
Well written article but there is another side to it. A lot would however depend on the demeanour of the customer in addition to the responsiveness of the sales person. Pls recall the paragraph which says the author was checking out how much he was being upsold when the sales person suggested an alternate pair of shoes and when the author was told he had a particular type of feet. One nasty, i-know-what-u-r-upto, u dont have to comment on my feet, kind of glance from the customer would most certainly have turned off the sales person. Point is a receptive customer is needed to bring out professionalism in a sales person. This is especially true in all point of purchase interactions in Bharat. When u read the article, is'nt there a sense of above normal politeness that is different from the kind we see here??
RE:The other aspect
by Sanjay Jamdade on Aug 06, 2007 12:06 AM Permalink
I do see your point of view that the customer was also very receptive.
However I have a point to make, how do you know in advance whether the customer is receptive or not? So the best policy for a sales person is to 'presume' that the customer is receptive and go about business of selling, however one can expect to see unresponsive customers from time to time. Over a period of time you can 'smell' a good customer from a distance.
Secondly the so called 'unresponsive' customer also begins to become 'responsive'!
That's when the pleasure of being a sales' marketing person begins!
The article is reallly outstanding.i enjoyed reading it. I have understood the actual meaning of a Sales Professional..... what a Sales Professional needs??
Yes, this article may not be a reality in India as yet, but it is a wonderful lesson. I absolutely enjoyed reading it and I learnt a thing or two about how to be a better professional myself, though I am a Media person and not a shoe sales-person. These universal principles are applicable anywhere. Thank you dear author and thank you Rediff.
