Back to School: 3 Lessons That Great Teachers Teach Us About Sales

September is back-to-school season, and whether or not we have kids in school, most of us think back on the days of our youth, when fall was a time of getting new shoes, new clothes, new haircuts, and trudging off to school with our backpacks and lunch boxes to start a new school year.

Most of us can probably remember inspiring teachers who helped us learn and grow along the way. But if you’re a business owner or sales leader today, you might be surprised to realize that some of the best sales training can come from classroom teachers everyday.

Here are a few lessons in salesmanship that great teachers–whether they realize it or not–are teaching us:

Sales Lesson #1: Strong Communication Skills

Great teachers have a commanding presence in the classroom. They know how to comport themselves in a way that commands attention from the students.

The best teachers tend to be excellent communicators–they phrase things in ways that every student can understand, and they use strong public speaking skills to reach every student in the classroom, from the front row to the back of the room.

In the same way, excellent salespeople have the same type of charisma and eagerness to connect with their audience. Sometimes when you see someone walk into a room, you can just tell that they’re a great salesperson–because of how they inhabit their space and project a sense of power and influence; they tend to draw other people’s attention and hold their interest.

Sales Lesson #2: Quietly Persuasive

Teachers, whether they realize it or not, all day long at school are in the act of “selling.” They’re constantly trying to persuade kids to focus, to pay attention, to learn, to interact, and to engage. They’re constantly “selling” kids on the value of the lesson plan, the compelling nature of the subject matter, and the importance of education to the students’ long-term plans and futures.

However, the great teachers don’t have to use any “hard sell” sales tactics; they make the sale by their actions and by their presence. Great teachers get kids to buy into their class and believe in themselves, just by sheer power of gentle persuasion–they get kids to believe that they are on their side.

In the same way, great salespeople often act like great teachers. Especially today, when customers need more information and research support than ever before when making a purchase decision, salespeople are often called upon to be a helpful resource in educating the customer and listening to the customer’s questions and concerns.

The same skills that make a great teacher also make someone great at selling–especially in today’s complex, high-value world of B2B “solution selling.”

Sales Lesson #3: Building Trust and Relationships

Great teachers know that students can’t learn well unless they really trust their teachers and have strong relationships in the classroom. When students feel isolated and lonely, they tend to lose confidence and have bad times at school.

This is why it’s so crucial for teachers to really earn the trust and confidence of their students, to show them that the classroom is a safe space for learning and growth. Great teachers are well trusted and well liked--not because it’s a popularity contest or because they aren’t occasionally tough on their students--but because the students know they really believe in them and have their long-term interests at heart.

Great salespeople also operate from a place of trust and always with an eye on building relationships. Just like a teacher knows that students must trust before they can learn, salespeople know that buyers need to trust them before they will buy from them.

Great salespeople know how to show customers that they really care about the customers' overall situation and are able to listen to the customers' challenges, and then find ways to solve the customers' problems in a way that leaves everyone better off.

Education is not a zero-sum game--there’s no limit to how much students can learn, or how much of a difference one great teacher can make. In the same way, sales is not a competition where you try to “get” as much as you can from the customer; at its best, sales is an act of “giving” to the customer where you try to be as helpful and generous as you can, in the hope that the customer will reward your generosity with a long-term mutually beneficial business relationship.

Hopefully these sales lessons from great teachers will help you get closer to achieving your next sales goal. And sometime when you can, take a moment to send a note to one of your favorite former teachers, just to say “thanks” for helping you become the success story that you are today.