In selling, there is no denying that analysis, number crunching, logic and organization play a necessary role. However, these left-brain functions constitute, at best, about 10 to 20 percent of the critical mass necessary for sales success. The other 89 to 90 percent comes from right-brain functions, which play primary roles in the sales realm. In sales, we talk about the need for people skills because we are selling ourselves. People skills are a right-brain function. We talk about being able to read people. This reading is a right-brain function. We talk about sensing, skilled listening, communication flair and skill, intuitive problem solving, innovation, and humor when describing highly successful salespeople – and the very best do possess these traits. All of these traits and abilities are based in the right side of the brain.

Most people are fairly balanced in their right-brain and left-brain orientation. Many people who naturally excel in sales, however, lean toward a left-brain dominance from whence these necessary sales skills are rooted. The prototype sales achiever is an imaginative and motivated risk taker, a colorful communicator, an incisive questioner, an insightful listener and a likable personality. Chances are this person also likes to have a lot of things going on (multitasker), is passionate and persuasive, abhors detail and needless paperwork, can’t stand being on a short leash (micromanaged) and needs freedom to improvise and try our creative strategies. These individuals detest being boxed in and love to respond spontaneously to situations and solve problems intuitively. The more an individual leans to this right-brain orientation, the more necessary it becomes to be surrounded by administrative assistance to attend to detail, manage multiple activities, organize ambitious schedules and generally keep aware of the linear world in which the individual lives.

Read on for a detailed breakdown of Telling the Financial Story.