Sales lessons from Chanakya for every Sales Manager to follow 

The primary role of every sales professional is to identify buyers for their products or solutions. In the ever-changing marketplace, we all struggle in some part of our sales carrier to identify the potential buyers of our solution offerings. I have seen in my sales carrier that we have to create monthly, quarterly, and annual sales strategies to achieve our sales quota.

Acharya Chanakya was an Indian teacher, thinker, philosopher, strategist, and chief advisor to Chandragupta. His teachings help King Chandragupta to establish the Maurya Empire.

Acharya Chanakya was a strategist and chief advisor to Chandragupta which helped him to rise to the power and gain respect from the people of India. If those strategies/teachings are followed even in today’s life, victory is certain.

These strategies helpful not only in our day-to-day life but in have a great impact on our career as well.

I have observed the benefits of those teachings in my sales profile. I am confident that if you can apply those teachings in your sales/inside sales profile you could come out as a winner for sure.

For reference, I will use the book of Chanakya Neeti and provide my explanation on a few sales-relevant teachings of Archaya Chanakya.

I will share some quotes of Chanakya and will explain my observation which can be followed by every sales professional for certain success.

“One’s development or destruction depends very much upon one’s tongue (or speech)”

 

In this quote Archaya Chanakya emphasis the importance of sweet tongue in our day-to-day life. This quote has very much significance on our career or in our Job especially for the sales professional where we have to talk to a lot of people on daily basis.

I have observed that every sales rep talks to many prospects and even meets them in their offices to showcase the benefits of the offering solution. If we remember the above quote from Chanakya, we can very much control our speech and maintain the sweet tongue even if the meeting with the prospects does not become fruitful.  

This quote is not only helpful in our interaction with our clients but also with our internal team and with our Boss. I have seen many of my colleagues left the organization where they work with a very sweet note. This does not mean that you will hide the issues of the organization with the management but to raise the issues tactically and highlight the positive side of the organization.

 

I understand that keeping oneself calm and in control of our word is not so easy at the time of anger.  Still, a wise man should try to use words very cautiously.

 

                     “One must never be uncouthly dressed”

 

This quote is simple yet very much powerful. Irrespective of one’s financial condition or position within an organization one should always wear a dress that is neat and tidy and fits perfectly. The dress that you wear must not be an eyesore for the observer.

I have observed that when I wear a dress that is properly washed and ironed and fits well boosts the confidence within me.

A Salesperson who interacts with many of his clients in day-to-day life should give importance to how he dresses well and be more presentable to the others.

 

“A powerful king or man tries to seek impossible, only a powerful king can afford to be audacious. Only then he tries to achieve something inaccessible so to add to his strength and glory”

 

This quote by Chanakya is very much self-explanatory. Here Chanakya emphasis that if a man is seeking the impossible then he should be fearless, brave, bold, and courageous. A lazy person can’t get any impossible things done.

A lazy person does not make any effort to get success and so does not gain any advantages. In our corporate world, you must have seen that some employees take surprisingly bold risks to achieve something impossible. And this boldness or fearless attitude separates them from others who like to work in the comfort zone.

In sales, we can take a sales target that is challenging for us to achieve and fully dedicate ourselves to achieve them. You may fail to achieve once but if you try again and again with your full potential you will achieve the challenging sales target and this will add to your strength and glory within and outside your organization.

 

                              “A single wheel can’t move the chariot”

Indirectly Acharaya Chanakya says that alone a king can not function well and he needs the support of his cabinet.

This quote is valid in today's business world as well. The owner of a business can’t run the whole organization by himself. He needs the support of his able employees, business partners, consultants, and others. Together they run the business. And all have to understand the task they have given to and strive to achieve them.

In a sales department, the inside sales, field sales, the technical team, and the marketing team all work together to achieve the desired result. Only the sales department can not function alone to achieve the desired result. We understand the importance of every employee working with us and we work together to achieve the goal. In this manner, the success is divided amongst the team and not to any particular employee.

 
                                   “Arrogance is one’s greatest enemy”

 

In the path of success, many people become arrogant. They believe that are better than others and know more than everyone else. In this phase, people become arrogant and started thinking that he is never wrong.

Chanakya emphasis here that this kind of arrogance is the enemy for a person and can destroy them like us unknown enemy. Same valid for a business or a salesperson. I believe a man should be humble and modest instead of arrogant. Kindness is underrated and people should use more kind words to show gratitude toward others.

Being a salesperson for quite sometimes I understand that have product knowledge, competitor analysis, creating a sales strategy, and many more are important but having humility and modesty toward your organization, your colleague, and your prospects/ customer is a must.

To conclude I can say that by analyzing the 5 quotes by Chanakya I say that those knowledge are not only relevant for ancient India but have importance in today's generation especially for sales professionals.

In today's competitive era the knowledge share by Chanakya is an asset for all of us and we should give proper importance to our daily life and our professional life.

I would like to know your opinion on this article. Provide your valuable feedback on the comment section.

Thank You for reading!!!