--- title: When Good People Are Bad Salespeople | The Sales Blog description: No good person wants to believe that they are a bad salesperson. Sure, you have to be a bad salesperson before you can become a good one, but you’re incredibly unlikely to be the Hitler of B2B sales if you have at least an average moral intelligence (MQ). In my book, a good measure of […] image: https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_216474817.jpg --- ### [Now booking SKO meetings for 2026/27! Learn more](https://www.thesalesblog.com/authority) [![Iannarino The Sales Blog](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/2021%20Website/Images/ai-logo-web.svg) ](https://www.thesalesblog.com) - WIN AT SALES - The Sales Environment - [ Sales is broken ](https://www.thesalesblog.com/sales-is-broken) - [ Modern sales ](https://www.thesalesblog.com/revenue-growth-blueprint) - Sales Resources - [ Blog ](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog) - [ Podcast ](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/the-anthony-iannarino-show) - [ Live Training Events ](https://events.thesalesblog.com) - [ Modern Sales Methodologies for Enterprises ](https://www.thesalesblog.com/modern-sales-metholodogies) [![View Events](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/b2e09c31-23bf-4ae9-b840-9ce632f62111.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/b2e09c31-23bf-4ae9-b840-9ce632f62111) ###### Live Training Events ### Upcoming training events & workshops [![Sales Accelerator Training](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/cda2541c-e77c-44de-9752-0a68716d50e9.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/cda2541c-e77c-44de-9752-0a68716d50e9) ###### Online Training Platform ### Sales Accelerator [![Revenue Growth Blueprint](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/b2913e6b-029b-4079-96bb-20e4ad251bc6.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/b2913e6b-029b-4079-96bb-20e4ad251bc6) ###### #1 Resource ### Revenue Growth Blueprint - [ BLOG ](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog) - [ SPEAKING ](https://www.thesalesblog.com/speaking) - SALES TRAINING - [ Sales Accelerator + Monthly Webinars Bundle ](https://www.thesalesblog.com/sales-training-events-bundle) - [ For Individual Reps ](https://www.thesalesblog.com/individuals) - [ For Teams ](https://www.thesalesblog.com/sales-accelerator) - [ Events & Other Programs ](https://events.thesalesblog.com) - [ Hire Anthony to Speak ](https://www.thesalesblog.com/speaking) - [ Modern Sales Methodologies for Enterprises ](https://www.thesalesblog.com/modern-sales-metholodogies) - [ EVENTS ](https://events.thesalesblog.com) - [ BOOKS ](https://www.thesalesblog.com/books) - [ ABOUT ](https://www.thesalesblog.com/anthony-iannarino) - [ CONTACT ](https://www.thesalesblog.com/contact) - Hit Sales Targets [![View Events](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/b2e09c31-23bf-4ae9-b840-9ce632f62111.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/b2e09c31-23bf-4ae9-b840-9ce632f62111) ###### LIVE TRAINING EVENTS ### Upcoming virtual training events & in-person workshops ###### Improve your win rates [![Speaking](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/2a02e2ae-517f-42dc-a8db-40ef42615279.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/2a02e2ae-517f-42dc-a8db-40ef42615279) ###### Keynotes & Workshops ### Hire Anthony to Speak @ Your Event # When Good People Are Bad Salespeople ![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg) Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino) December 12, 2020 No good person wants to believe that they are a terrible salesman. Sure, you have to be a bad salesperson before you can become a good one, but you’re incredibly unlikely to be the Hitler of B2B sales if you have at least an average [moral intelligence](http://thesalesblog.com/2017/04/12/algorithms-rules-values-and-artificial-moral-intelligence/) (MQ). In my book, a good measure of a salesperson’s MQ is whether they think selling is something you do to someone or for someone. But here’s a confession: the story of how I became a really [bad salesman](http://thesalesblog.com/2013/06/08/the-bad-salesman/) and (eventually) a better one. ### The Center Cannot Hold I was among the best sales people, you see, before my manager forced me into outside sales. When I worked in operations, I called prospective clients and asked them for meetings. A good number of them agreed to meet with me, and because I had a few years of experience solving my client’s problems, I was able to recognize their challenges and suggest to them some ways I might be able to help. [Winning deals](http://thesalesblog.com/2020/06/25/how-you-sell-is-the-key-to-winning-big-deals/) was nothing more than asking for a chance to help. I had no quota and I wasn’t responsible for scheduling new meetings, even though I was able to meet new prospective clients every week. But once I was given the title of Field Salesperson in Los Angeles, things immediately fell apart. I became a bad salesperson. #### Mistake 1: A Change in My Intentions My first mistake came right away. Instead of calling people to see if I could meet with them to help them solve the problems I knew how to solve, I started calling them to “secure a meeting.” Before being thrown into a sales role, I had no trouble getting meetings. I went from not worrying about whether I got a meeting to “needing” to get a meeting. I was no longer focused on helping the prospect succeed, but on what I needed to succeed in my role. This change in mindset made me a terrible salesman, despite once being one of the best sales people. It’s important to note here that my manager didn’t put any pressure on me to schedule meetings. The fact that I had some weeks with a single meeting and some weeks with three meetings was never mentioned. But I had read a then-popular book on sales (no, I won’t tell you which one), which offered me a hard approach to sales that I was far too immature to use effectively. I came to believe that everything came down to how many meetings I could schedule. Luckily, that book’s model soon made me feel bad about myself, so I abandoned it, but the damage was done. #### Mistake 2: Trying Way Too Hard My second mistake was changing my [discovery process](http://thesalesblog.com/2020/06/20/what-is-the-value-of-your-discovery/). When I wasn’t a salesperson, I asked a few very natural questions about the client’s usage of the service I sold, and I gave them a tremendous amount of space to share with me. I was a very good listener and a good student, paying attention to the clients. But once I gained some “real” sales experience, I started to dominate [the discovery process](http://thesalesblog.com/2020/09/16/the-evolution-of-the-discovery-call/), spending more time talking and less time listening. I was armed with solutions, and the minute my unfortunate prospects shared their issues I started to solve them one by one, without so much as a follow-up question. I was trying way too hard to solve their problems, and in doing so, I alienated many of my prospects. It suddenly became much more difficult to get a contract and to earn their business. #### Mistake 3: Pitching Like the Devil Once I was trained to sell, I caused a staggering amount of harm to my prospective deals. If bad selling were a crime, I’d be praying that the statute of limitations has run out by now. As a new salesperson, I was provided with an 84-page monster of a proposal to present to my clients. It started with the company’s history, followed by our approach, and finally listed every feature, benefit, and advantage known to the industry. When I say that I literally read the proposal to them from front to back, I mean that I did exactly that, with no deviations. There are people who still haven’t recovered from the yawnfest that was my presentation—it could spawn a sleep so deep that it would make a fairy-tale villain jealous. At the time, it never dawned on me that back before I was a salesperson, I had never walked into any meeting with anything more than a legal pad, a pen, and business card. I never had a brochure, a presentation, or any sales collateral. Yet, I went from effortlessly [winning deals](http://thesalesblog.com/2019/08/09/winning-deals-how-to-make-nonlinearity-your-competitive-advantage/) to struggling and losing what were not even opportunities. ### Back to the Garden It took me far too many months to give up that approach. I didn’t give up on selling, though. In fact, in spite of all the obstacles I was putting in my own way, I knew I was never, ever going back to working in operations. The reason was simple: I realized that I could do more to help my clients in sales than I ever could in an operational role. Why solve small problems when you can help solve larger ones? Armed with that insight, I went back to what I was doing when I wasn’t a salesperson. My results immediately started to improve. I got less frustrated and worried less about any one particular outcome, instead “trusting the process” of making cold calls, believing the prospect would tell me what I needed to know, and asking if I could have a chance to help them. The outcomes eventually took care of themselves, something that only happens if you consistently do the work. The reason good people are sometimes bad salespeople is that selling is difficult. It takes time, training, and development that only comes from experience, so we can improve the complex, dynamic, [nonlinear conversations](http://thesalesblog.com/2019/09/16/how-your-process-can-help-with-nonlinearity/) that we engage in when we sell. [![](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/seizing-your-sales-destiny-ebook-v3-1-cover-Jun-14-2021-01-39-12-22-AM.jpg) ](https://resources.thesalesblog.com/selling-without-manager-ebook?ref=tsb-fullads) ##### Get the Free eBook! ### Learn how to sell without a sales manager. Download my free eBook! You need to make sales. You need help now. We’ve got you covered. This eBook will help you Seize Your Sales Destiny, with or without a manager. [Download Now](https://resources.thesalesblog.com/selling-without-manager-ebook?ref=tsb-fullads) [![](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/aisa-team-social-ad-02-Jun-14-2021-01-39-11-56-AM.jpg?width=1280&height=720&name=aisa-team-social-ad-02-Jun-14-2021-01-39-11-56-AM.jpg)](https://accelerator.thesalesblog.com/) ###### Tags: [Sales](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/sales) [2020](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/2020) Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino) on December 12, 2020 Written and edited by human brains and human hands. ![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg) Anthony Iannarino is an American writer. He has published daily at [thesalesblog.com](https://www.thesalesblog.com) for more than 14 years, amassing over 5,300 articles and making this platform a destination for salespeople and sales leaders. Anthony is also the author of four best-selling books documenting modern sales methodologies and a fifth book for sales leaders seeking revenue growth. His latest book for an even wider audience is titled, The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success. Anthony speaks to sales organizations worldwide, delivering cutting-edge sales strategies and tactics that work in this ever-evolving B2B landscape. He also provides workshops and seminars. Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn, X or Youtube. You can email Anthony at [iannarino@gmail.com](mailto:iannarino@gmail.com) [Follow me on my website](https://www.thesalesblog.com/anthony-iannarino) [Follow me on Facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/thesalesblog) [Follow me on LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/iannarino/) [Follow me on Twitter ](http://www.twitter.com/iannarino) [![AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27.jpg?width=400&height=400&name=AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27.jpg)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/authority) [![ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1.jpg?width=318&height=179&name=ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1.jpg)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/free-cold-calling-video) ![salescall-planner-ebook-v3-1-cover (1)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/salescall-planner-ebook-v3-1-cover%20(1).jpg?width=768&height=994&name=salescall-planner-ebook-v3-1-cover%20(1).jpg) ### Free Sales eBook: Sales Call Planner Planning your sales call improves the likelihood of making a successful call, and it demonstrates to your dream client your professionalism. [![DOWNLOAD EBOOK](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/c9f553be-fbba-4813-9199-95c1603472e7.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/c9f553be-fbba-4813-9199-95c1603472e7) ## Are You Ready To Solve Your Sales Challenges? ![Anthony-Solve-Sales](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Anthony-Solve-Sales.png?width=290&height=221&name=Anthony-Solve-Sales.png) Hi, I’m Anthony. I help sales teams make the changes needed to create more opportunities & crush their sales targets. What we’re doing right now **is working**, even in this challenging economy. **Would you like some help?** [![Solve for Sales](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035) ### Join my Weekly Newsletter for Sales Tips Join 100,000+ sales professionals in my weekly newsletter and get my *Guide to Becoming a Sales Hustler* eBook for FREE! --- ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org/", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Anthony Iannarino" }, "dateModified" : "2024-08-22T1:10:43 PM", "datePublished" : "2020-12-12 22:27:06", "description" : "No good person wants to believe that they are a bad salesperson. Sure, you have to be a bad salesperson before you can become a good one, but you’re incredibly unlikely to be the Hitler of B2B sales if you have at least an average moral intelligence (MQ). In my book, a good measure of […]", "headline" : "When Good People Are Bad Salespeople", "image" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 16, "url" : "https://f.hubspotusercontent20.net/hubfs/2922376/Image/favicon.ico", "width" : 16 }, "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/when-good-people-are-bad-salespeople", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "name" : "When Good People Are Bad Salespeople", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 24, "url" : "https://f.hubspotusercontent20.net/hubfs/2922376/TSB/images/TSB%20Logo%20Dark.svg", "width" : 228 }, "name" : "The Sales Blog" } } ```