MoneyWatch

Is Sales an Art or a Science?

By Geoffrey James

Updated on: April 26, 2010 / 9:35 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

There are two basic ways of thinking when it comes to selling:

Mindset #1: Selling is primarily an Art. The sales rep creatively assesses a situation, adapts to the customer and the customer's preferences, builds rapport, influences outcomes, etc., using skills similar to that of a great performer: an athlete or an actor.

Mindset #2: Selling is primarily a Science. The sales rep is trained to have specific, quantifiable sales skills that can be channeled into a measurable sales process that will produce increasingly predictable results, similar to a factory worker.

This is NOT an academic question. Inside companies, even minor differences in emphasis on this issue can have an enormous impact on how sales reps are managed and compensated. Organizations that strobe to the "art" mindset tend to focus on individual coaching as a sales training vehicle, and usually pay their sales stars big money. Organizations that strobe to the "science" mindset tend to train a very specific sales process, invest heavily in sales technology, and pay lower commissions.

I'm curious what my panel of experts (that's you guys) think, so here's a poll:

[Poll=28]

Needless to say, comments are welcome.