The lingering question of what makes an individual successful in any art or craft will never seize to be a topic of fascination. The debate of whether or not innate skills dominate over training inevitably generates immense controversy each time it is brought up.
The field of sales does not escape the nature-nurture debate. Each person who has found success in this industry has a unique take on the importance of innate traits like extroversion over tangible skills.
For Ali Mirza, a nationally renowned authority in the sales industry and the president of the Atlanta-based consulting firm Rose Garden Consulting, closing a deal is an art that must be learned.
“There is no such thing as a natural-born salesperson,” said Mirza during a recent interview. “The only things that are natural-born are baby boys and baby girls. Salespeople are trained.”
After a thriving career as a salesman in the insurance industry, Mirza became one of the leading sales and revenue generation experts nationwide. Over his years-long career as a consultant, Mirza has assisted hundreds of companies in building powerhouse sales teams and streamlining their operations. Mirza’s expertise in sales has led him to be featured in Business Insider, Forbes, and Entrepreneur Magazine.
From his office at the Rose Garden Consulting headquarters, Mirza connected for an exclusive video interview filled with anecdotes about his early career. During this interview, he addressed the seemingly ubiquitous question in an interview with a successful salesperson – are salespeople born or made?
Mirza continues to remember his first dive into the sales industry. At age 18, he took a summer position as a car salesman. Nonetheless, as Mirza explains, the lack of training in this job made this first encounter with the world of sales a rather unpleasant experience.
“Because I received absolutely zero training [while selling cars], how could I possibly be good at it?” said Mirza
Despite possessing intangible skills that, in theory, could have made him a savvy salesman, Mirza’s time as a car salesman was far from a success story.
“I had a naturally charismatic personality, and I’m outgoing, but that’s not what makes a good salesperson,” said Mirza. “You still need to have several other skills. It’s just like saying that you will make it to the NBA just because you are tall. That’s a good start, but a lot of tall people will never make it to the NBA.”
As Mirza elaborates, innate talent cannot be translated into real value if it is not complemented by formal training.
To be successful in any field, “there is a skill set that is required,” explained Mirza. “You are not born with certain skills; you learn them.”
The beginning of Mirza’s ascent to success in the sales industry came a year later, when Mirza, 19 at the time, took a summer position selling life insurance. Unlike his first work as a car salesman, Mirza’s new employer gave him what he describes as the most transformative training he ever received.
This training in the art of sales catapulted Mirza’s career. Within his first year as a sales representative, Mirza became the number one agent in annual premiums sold nationwide, eventually being promoted to team leader.
“Because I was charismatic and cared about getting things done,” concluded Mirza, “when you mixed the actual training I received and the systematic skill set of understanding what it takes to move somebody to a close, it made me much better.”
In the years ahead, Mirza built an outstanding career as an insurance sales representative, with multiple individual and team accomplishments. Mirzas’s experience in the insurance industry was critical for his subsequent success as a sales consultant.
Nowadays, Mirza and his team at Rose Garden Consulting assist hundreds of companies across the United States in building all-star teams and achieving exponential growth.
By Juan Sebastian Restrepo,
With Artistic Initiative Agency
