What makes a good salesperson?

Posted on August 8, 2014 in Uncategorized

By Anna Cunnane

Based on a presentation by Hannah Wroblewski – UK Digital Sales Executive at PenguinRandom House

Hannah Wroblewski has built her career at PenguinRandomHouse

This year the SYP has begun a new mentor scheme aimed at young publishers in the early stages of their careers.  The scheme matches up participants with mentors in their area of interest from marketing and design to editorial and sales and more, to offer advice and guidance on how to progress within publishing.

Last week the sales mentor group met with Hannah Wroblewski – UK Digital Sales Executive at PenguinRandom House. Hannah began her career with Random House on their graduate scheme and spent some time in each area of the business which made her ideally placed to give us an insight into how to get ahead in publishing.

What is a salesperson?

The first thing Hannah asked us to think about was what makes somebody a salesperson. We quickly realised that our definition was much wider than a stereotypical version of a grifter or somebody who tricks people into buying things they don’t want. In fact, we concluded there was a lot of creativity involved in selling whether it’s tailoring your product and approach to your customer or finding new ways to catch the attention of a jaded consumer.

What experiences are of value to you?

Hannah also asked us to recall where we might have already acquired selling skills in our previous experiences. We discussed how in many areas of our lives we are all salespeople; for example when communicating with people at work or in our studies we use many of the same techniques to get our point of view across or in a job interview when we are selling our skills and experience to potential employers. As consumers too, we are used to being sold to and know what does and doesn’t make us want to buy a product. We can look at how brands operate and consider why some are more successful than others in reaching us. We can put all these skills to good use in our jobs in publishing but particularly in sales.

Understanding the customer

A keep part of selling successfully is to anticipate your customer’s needs. By working out the kind of books a buyer is usually interested in you can avoid wasting your and their time by showing them titles they won’t want.  Looking at their current selection that they offer to their customers also helps you to tailor the tone and style of your pitch. Knowledge about the buyer and their likes and dislikes will increase your credibility and help you to build the long term relationships that will lead to increased sales in the future.

Hannah also covered some of the major differences between digital and physical sales. She emphasised that although some of logistical challenges of physical sales are no longer present with digital getting your books noticed on online storefronts could be even more difficult.

Thank you to Hannah for a great presentation and to find out more about the scheme go to http://thesyp.org.uk/london/mentor-scheme/

Anna Cunnane is Commissioning Editor for the SYP. She works as a Sales Assistant in UK and Export Sales for Kyle Books. She can be found on Twitter @MollyBloom1989