# Can an aspie be a salesman?



## modus (Apr 27, 2011)

I'm looking for a day job to help me along while I try to build my freelance business. The problem is that customer service rules the world. Every interview tests rapport-building and sales skills, and it's simply not clicking.

The interviews have been awful, although outside the interview I can socialize pretty well. I definitely had aspie issues growing up, but I've worked hard to minimize them. However I get nervous, and nerves seem to set my social skills back 10 years.

Is it even worth trying? I'm just not sure if I'm missing the gear in my head that turns the wheel, or if it's rusted and I need to spend 40 interviews repairing it.


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## Grog (Sep 13, 2013)

Don't see why not . Sales is just bull****ting someone into wanting what you have got .


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## Glass Child (Feb 28, 2013)

Don't let other people tell you what you can or cannot do.
Interviews are hard for everyone, really. I'd advise to just take deep breaths beforehand and during the interview, but I have little experience so I can't give you many tips.


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## modus (Apr 27, 2011)

Thanks guys, I just realized there's a "Work" section under Frustration. If a mod wants to move this there it might be more appropriate.


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## maxpain (Mar 13, 2013)

If you really have some autistic spectrum disorder, you won't be able to KNOW whether you are socializing well or not.

Do your friends tell you you're a people person?


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## mca90guitar (Sep 12, 2012)

I dont think it would be bad depending on what you are trying to sell and if you have any experience with the product.


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## changeme77 (Feb 22, 2013)

Glass Child said:


> Don't let other people tell you what you can or cannot do.
> Interviews are hard for everyone, really. I'd advise to just take deep breaths beforehand and during the interview, but I have little experience so I can't give you many tips.


Honestly, you have wisdom well beyond your years. I keep on reminding myself you're only 16 when I see your posts.

To answer the OP, I agree with this...



mca90guitar said:


> I dont think it would be bad depending on what you are trying to sell and if you have any experience with the product.


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## persona non grata (Jul 13, 2011)

Yes. I've worked sales (call centers mostly) and although I wouldn't describe myself as an aspie, I am a fairly introverted guy, and being friendly with strangers isn't something that comes natural to me. Obviously, I'm on this board. You might not enjoy the job but you can do it. It will probably even be good for your people skills, definitely helped mine. I'll bore you with a couple points of advice real quick.

The general theme is that you should make it easy to buy from you. Knowledge is your key here, you need to take time at home to learn what you're selling inside and out - and be familiar with competing products too. This is because the customer wants the product; it is solving a problem for them, and they don't enjoy telling you no. They also don't want to spend all day shopping around. But they don't want to feel like they took a bad deal, so you need to give them the excuse they need to end their search and buy the product.

You accomplish this by listening to them and letting them know that this product is _perfect_ for their needs because [feature x] is great for [problem y]. So it sounds like "This couch is great for you because it's stain resistant, so your dogs won't mess it up like your last one!". You're just giving them the excuses they need to buy, but personalizing it so that they feel like you're counseling them and not duping them. Likewise by knowing about your competitor's products you can talk about those too - which means that they're less likely to tell you that they can't buy with you before they speak to the competition.

The other reason you want product knowledge is because _people buy from people they like_. You can make them like you in two ways. The first is by being funny and charming, which I know isn't going to be easy for you 100% of the time (you'll get better as you go along though, I promise). The second is to be helpful. If you're able to provide good information and make smart recommendations a lot of customers will appreciate your effort, which will make them not just want the product, but want it from you personally because they feel like it should be you who gets the credit.

Anyway dude, sorry for the thesis but I wrote it for two reasons. The first is because if you do work a sales job I want you to do well, and I feel like these are a couple principles that an aspie could successfully use to make sales. The second is so that you understand a little more about sales tactics and you can decide if it's something that you can do. Obviously you know yourself infinitely better than I know you. There's a lot more to it, but I think I'm making you read long enough already. I will say that working in sales was rough for me, especially at first, and I would never make a career of it. But the truth is that I'm ten times better at dealing with strangers than I was a few years ago, and this is part of the reason why. It could be good for you.


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## modus (Apr 27, 2011)

maxpain said:


> If you really have some autistic spectrum disorder, you won't be able to KNOW whether you are socializing well or not.
> 
> Do your friends tell you you're a people person?


Eh, you can learn the signs from people's body language. It's like studying socializing from a book whereas most people "just know"

No, friends have never called me a people person. I'm used to wearing my emotions on my sleeve and if I'm happy, people like me. If I'm irritated, they avoid me.



persona non grata said:


> if you do work a sales job I want you to do well, and I feel like these are a couple principles that an aspie could successfully use to make sales. The second is so that you understand a little more about sales tactics and you can decide if it's something that you can do. Obviously you know yourself infinitely better than I know you. There's a lot more to it, but I think I'm making you read long enough already. I will say that working in sales was rough for me, especially at first, and I would never make a career of it. But the truth is that I'm ten times better at dealing with strangers than I was a few years ago, and this is part of the reason why. It could be good for you.


This is a big reason why I want to pursue it, just from a personal growth standpoint. I feel like I could sell something I believe in, but I'm going to be asked to sell bull****. How will I do that? Your tactics make it sound like something you can "study" for though, the same way you might write a great research paper for school. I like that. It's so much easier to do anything after lots of preparation.

Thanks for that beautiful post. You hit on the big points.


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## mca90guitar (Sep 12, 2012)

exobyte said:


> Eh, you can learn the signs from people's body language. It's like studying socializing from a book whereas most people "just know"
> 
> No, friends have never called me a people person. I'm used to wearing my emotions on my sleeve and if I'm happy, people like me. If I'm irritated, they avoid me.
> 
> ...


You can learn to BS a sale, you just need to know about the product your selling and get them to believe you actually think its the greatest thing out there. You probably wont start off good but after watching others you will most likely pick up things that will help you. Only items I had to promote and sell were archery products for my sponsors, so for me that was pretty simple to do and pretty fun. Feels good talking with someone for awhile and at the end they order the item, even better when they come back saying thanks.

Give it a shot, you might actually enjoy it.


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## persona non grata (Jul 13, 2011)

exobyte said:


> This is a big reason why I want to pursue it, just from a personal growth standpoint. I feel like I could sell something I believe in, but I'm going to be asked to sell bull****. How will I do that? Your tactics make it sound like something you can "study" for though, the same way you might write a great research paper for school. I like that. It's so much easier to do anything after lots of preparation.


I have a hard time selling bull****. The number one criticism I've ever gotten from sales trainers is that it shows when I don't believe in the product. If you end up in that situation my best advice is to put the product in the best light possible while keeping all of your facts accurate. It's up to the customer to make the ultimate decision about what's right for them. You could end up with a manager telling you that they want you to push some product or another harder even though it's a bad deal (and they know when it is), in which case you need to figure out where you draw your personal lines. And remember very often entire industries are built around moderately deceptive marketing strategies and it isn't your fault. For example, if you want TV service any given company will have hidden future charges that you need to deal with. You didn't invent that business model and it's not your failing that your customers need to deal with it to get that kind of service.

And yes, this is something that studying can really help with. Not everyone thinks of it that way, but it's true. Coming out of college I did a job interview for an insurance sales job where the manager was this really gregarious, affable guy. He said he used to believe that you could teach sales but had learned over his career that it was just something you were born with. I don't see myself as a natural salesperson, so I was kind of taken aback at the time. But now I know that he was only half right - he can't teach people to sell the way he does it, but that's because his style is based on his strengths and not yours or mine. You might not be able to build rapport as efficiently as a more extroverted person. But you can do the best you can and then try and outgun them somewhere else.

Best of luck, feel free to let me know if you need any advice.


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## Sacrieur (Jan 14, 2013)

maxpain said:


> If you really have some autistic spectrum disorder, you won't be able to KNOW whether you are socializing well or not.


LOL what?


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## modus (Apr 27, 2011)

Thanks, I'll let you know how it goes. Like I said pretty much every open position has to do with either direct sales or customer service with the end goal of upselling, so whatever job I eventually get, this stuff will come into play.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

Sales are easier if you work in a store and can criticise some products but promote others, that will earn you a lot more customer trust. A liar will tty to claim every product on the shelves is good or whatever, which is never the case.

I basically stop talking to a sales person if they cannot say one bit of criticism against anything they are selling.


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