There are many professions where it helps to be highly creative such as musician, graphic
designer, chef or architect. Sales is rarely mentioned – or even thought of – when the topic of
creative careers comes up.
However, talk to any hyper-successful sales professional and you’will soon realize that their
plays a huge role in their achievements. In fact, there are many ways a salesperson must think
outside the box if they are to rise to the top of their organization.
Here are some ways you can channel your inner Picasso into your sales career:

Create a Creative Sales Plan

One area where you can really engage your creativity is your sales plan. Depending on how
much power you have over your sales plan, there are a lot of variables you can alter to create
something that is suited to your strengths that perhaps others wouldn’t consider.
If you’re a team leader, start at the top and think about how your team is structured, how goals
are met, and who your target audience is. Look at the big picture and pay attention to where
the team as a whole is succeeding and falling short.

Maybe the team needs to be restructured for better workflow and communication. Perhaps
you’re marketing to the wrong audience or customers that doesn’t fit your product as well as
you thought they would.

While nobody thinks of data analysis as a creative art form, by doing a deep dive and gaining a
true understanding of everything that is going on, it will allow you to become far more creative
with your approach and solutions.

Identifying weaknesses and coming up with creative ways to lessen their impact requires
creativity and a willingness to experiment and try new things.

As an individual sales professional, you need to start by being honest with yourself about
whether you’re achieving at the level you should be or not. If your sales strategies are not
yielding strong results, it’s time to get creative and come up with more unique and interesting
ways to present to existing customers or to find new prospects from previously untried areas of
the market.

Get creative and come with catchy ways or deals to turn a prospect into a long-term customer.
Find a way to make yourself stand out from the crowd and be interesting to the people you are
trying to sell to.

Be creative and pitch ideas to your marketing department that you think will bring in sales
leads. This can anything from a funny local TV commercial to a well-placed billboard to an eye-
catching online advertisement.

You have more face-to-face interactions with your customers than the marketers do so show
them you can help develop creative ideas that will help take the company to new heights of
success.

Create a Creative Sales Pitch

In an ideal world, the follow-the-script sales pitch handed to you by your manager, or the
marketing department works every time you use it. In the real world however, this is not always
the case.

Again, sales professionals know a company’s customers better than anyone. And any
salesperson worth their salt knows that they have to stay light on their feet and make creative
adjustments to their pitch based on the response they’re getting from the customer.

Of course, it is best to be prepared and to know the “company line” pitch inside and out but
don’t be afraid to let your creative flag fly and improvise if you can tell it’s not hitting the target.

Do your research of your prospect, including their history and their needs, and know what
resources that you’re able to draw upon, including what deals and opportunities you can give
them. This allows you to have a better idea of what you can and should do based on a variety of
situations your pitch may present you. Further, this allows you to implement the creative sales
strategy you worked so hard on.

Being able to think quickly and creatively will allow you to come up with answers to questions
you hadn’t considered. It can also grant you the opportunity to present your service in a
perspective they may not have considered. The most important thing is this step though, is not
to let your creativity overtake the conversation. A sales pitch is supposed to be a back and
forth, allowing both parties to get what they want. Trying to be too clever and eclectic may be a
turn off for some. Just remember to have a cool head and be ready to get creative.