Dan Westra – Bridging the Gap Between Companies and their Customers

In any business, the sales department plays a pivotal role in its success. Sales plays a unique role in business because, unlike other sectors of a company or organization, salespeople bridge the gap between the customers’ needs and desires, and the products or services the company offers. In general, salespeople are dealing with clients who already have an existing awareness of the company thanks to its marketing strategy, making their primary job to close the deal by reaffirming the customer’s need for the company’s products/services, and introducing new information to help the customer make this important connection.
 

Because of the niche quality of their role in business, salespeople like Dan Westra must exhibit several innate qualities that enable them to perform their jobs effectively and convincingly. One of these qualities is empathy. When people think of businesses and corporations, empathy is usually not something that comes to mind because of the cutthroat reputation businessmen tend to have. In sales, however, empathy is crucial to making the fundamental connection between the corporate and the client side of the business. By conveying empathy towards his customers, Westra is able to identify with them and make them feel respected. This makes it possible for him to gain trust and establish rapport with customers by showing that he is working within their best interests.
 

Westra is also extremely focused, which has motivated him to accomplish his goals by encouraging him to work attentively and diligently on every project he undertakes. For example, when Westra was the senior technical recruiter at Hall Kinion, he exceeded his sales goal by more than 50 percent for three consecutive years, earning him a place in the top 5 percent of more than 350 recruiters worldwide. During his time at Quantum Purchase Group, he used his charismatic personality to develop relationships with several architects, which led to over 30 percent in additional sales, bringing the company back from the verge of bankruptcy.
 

Finally, Westra has demonstrated his talents as a good salesman because of his strong sense of responsibility and accountability. In sales, failure and rejection are unavoidable, but it is the way each salesperson handles these setbacks that show his or her true character. Though he has enjoyed a generous amount of success over the course of his career, Westra has also had to face plenty of difficult situations that did not have clear solutions. Instead of getting defensive or trying to blame others, Westra has instead always tried to learn from his mistakes and improve himself as a professional. Accepting responsibility is one of the most important lessons any salesman can learn.