In my opinion, everybody is a salesperson; everybody has something to sell. I am a salesperson myself, which is probably why my view of the world is biased. It is not easy to be a salesperson in a bank. You have to balance your client’s needs with those of the bank. All too often I observe how salespeople identify and empathize so much with their clients that they put their employer at risk. Similarly, sales that only think of their commission and that churn and burn clients, hardly ever last long in the industry. Being successful in sales is all about balance, business acumen and perseverance.
Traders will tell you salespeople just “wine and dine” their clients. That may have been true fifty years ago, but today, clients are extremely knowledgeable, and they expect to deal with knowledgeable interlocutors. Talking about football and cars won’t be enough.
As a salesperson, you are squeezed between your client and your trader. Which one takes priority over the one is your decision alone; the answer is not always straightforward, and the best salespeople are often the ones that use their creative skills to come up with positive outcomes.
The most important skill for a salesperson is to be able to distill and synthesize client issues and translate them into a format that can be digested by the trading desk.
Middle and Back Office
