Are You READY for Sales Success?

August 13, 2008

“Some people like my advice so much that they frame it upon the wall instead of using it.”
-Gordon R. Dickson


“Are we there yet?”

We probably drove our parents nuts asking that question as children. Even as adults, we’re often so anxious to get to the destination that we miss some pretty great things along the way. This is true of our desire to achieve success. We are so eager to get there that we easily forget that the path to greatness is a never-ending journey of discovery. We have to constantly make adjustments in our attitudes and behaviors, working each day at becoming incrementally better, never resting on yesterday’s achievements.

This applies with equal force to following the path to sales greatness. For several years, now, I’ve been discussing the need to adjust your internal processes (your thoughts, attitudes and emotions) in an effort to change your external behaviors and thus achieve your desired outcomes. I've shared tools and ideas that can help you implement these changes in your life; how, though, can you sustain these changes to produce great results? In order to make a real, lasting change, you must always be READY: Renewing, Expanding, Amazing, Doing and You.

Renewing

When I say “renewing”, I am talking about the daily practice of self-renewal. As a sales person, you must spend some time each day recharging your batteries. If you are employing the DROP DEAD Sales principles, you are going to be doing a lot of giving of yourself. What will happen if you don’t spend some time each day putting something back in? Very soon, you’ll find yourself with nothing left to give.

Think of your capacity to give as a bucket of water. If you only ladle water out to others without ever refilling the bucket, it will soon be empty. How do you refill it? By taking a little “you” time every day. I prefer to spend a little time each morning in quiet reflection, just ten or fifteen minutes considering all the great things in my life. You’d be amazed how often I’ve discovered the solutions to difficult problems by taking just a few minutes to clear my head. Whenever you choose to do it, whether morning, evening or sometime in between, the important thing is to make sure you do it every day.

Another great source of renewal is listening to motivational tapes or CDs at the start of your day and between sales calls. This is especially crucial if you’ve hit a rough spot, a cycle when you are having difficulty closing. At times like this, it is so easy to lose your momentum; just a little pick-me-up in the form of a motivational message can make all the difference, helping you to break a negative cycle. It doesn’t have to be geared toward sales, either; anything with a positive message will do the trick.

I’d like to take just a moment to address some comments directly to sales managers. Take a moment, if you will, and think about your sales meetings. How often do you get your team together for a little renewal? It’s unfortunate to see that most sales meeting have become forums to air complaints and address behavioral problems and little more. While it is important to discuss such matters, I believe that an equal or greater amount of time should be spent building your team up. Use your sales meetings as occasions to inspire your people to greater heights. Offer encouragement, praise and helpful ideas and watch your team soar.

Renewal is an essential part of your selling day. Without it, you’ll soon find yourself with dead batteries and a desire to do nothing but stay home and watch “Three’s Company” reruns. You certainly won’t feel like making sales calls. On the other hand, if you block out a portion of each day to get back in touch with your Desire, Enthusiasm and Optimism and you’ll discover immediate benefits.

Expanding

How long have you been selling? Five years? Ten? In all that time, how often have you adjusted your approach to your customers? If your answer is that you never have, it might be time to reconsider your strategy. While I’m not saying that you should follow every new fad or selling strategy that comes along, I do believe that you should be constantly looking for new and fresh approaches that will help you to open doors.

For example, how often have you heard sales educators tell you that referrals are your absolute best source for new business? How many of them have told you how to get referrals? I’d wager that probably every one of us has heard at least once that the easiest way to get referrals is to simply ask your current customers for them. I’d further bet that all of us have heard specifically of using the method of taking three 3x5 index cards, handing them to a current customer and asking her to write down on the cards the names and phone numbers of individuals who would benefit from the product or service that we offer. The question is, how many of us have actually tried it?

This is just one example. The point is that we should always have our eyes and ears open for new techniques and solutions. These can come from books and tapes on selling, training seminars, blogs and other online forums, or our peers. One opportunity for such expansion that is often overlooked or ignored is our competition. Do you have a competitor that is especially hard to sell against or that is exceptionally gifted at taking your business away? If so, you have two options: you can get mad and vandalize his car or you can take the time to study him in an effort to learn why he’s so good. Don’t let your ego get in the way of your education.

Expansion is a critical part of your growth as a salesperson. If you’re not growing, you’re dead. It’s that simple. If you really want to grow, you should always have your sense of Awareness tuned in for an opportunity to learn something new.

Amazing

With the flood of information and technology that bombards us each and every day, you might think that people would be pretty hard to amaze anymore. After all, most of us are used to being able to instantly communicate with someone across the country, the continent or the globe with the touch of a button. We can beam images and music through the air at blinding speeds and play them on receivers with a clarity that boggles the mind. How can you amaze people who are used to things like that?

It’s simple, really. Just show up.

You see, while technology has certainly made our lives more convenient, this convenience has come with a price. All too often, the human element has been removed from our transactions. Even many customer service representatives are more robot than human. With just a little practice, however, you can be a refreshing change. How?

As often as possible, be available for your customers. This means answering your phone whenever you can and, when you do miss a call, returning it as soon as possible. In addition, get in the habit of providing requested information in a timely manner. Whenever possible, go the extra step and provide a little something extra that you think might be helpful to your customer. I've often dropped off a copy of an article that I thought was particularly applicable to a customer's business, and they have been exceedingly grateful for the information. With all the changes happening in today's world, you can amaze your customers by keeping them up-to-date with the latest information.

Further, you can really be amazing if you practice treating your customers with the Dignity, Respect and Professionalism they deserve. They are used to being abused by salespeople; amazing them should actually be pretty easy for you, the true sales professional.

Doing

Do you have a reputation as someone who gets thing done? Do your customers and coworkers see you as a reliable person, someone they can trust to see a task through to completion? Do people come to you with problems that don’t necessarily fall under your job description simply because they know they can count on you to find the solution? If your answer to these questions is “Yes”, you are well on your way to success in sales. If not, it’s time to get busy!

“Doing” is much more than staying busy, though. You can maintain the appearance of being extremely busy and still get very little done; salespeople, especially, have a natural talent for this. We are very good at being “busy” without actually accomplishing anything. Why? Because relatively few of us have taken the time to develop a plan for getting things done.

We’ve all heard the adage “Plan your work and work your plan”. We all recognize (at least I hope we do) the value of planning. We all expect to get around to it eventually. In fact, every one of us has probably purchased one or more planning tools (a day planner or organizer) which we carry around in our car or briefcase but never actually use. We may me even be guilty of saying “I’m trying to get organized”. Remember, though, what Yoda said: “Do or do not. There is no try.”

You cannot be a doer unless you are a planner. It’s time to get tough with your self. Develop a system of organization and planning, and stick to it. It doesn’t have to be complicated, either. I find the best method for me is to carry around a small notepad that I record phone calls and action items on, and then check them off as I complete them. It’s a little primitive, I’ll agree, but it works for me. Find something that works for you, and then cultivate the Discipline to follow through on it.

You

This blog is full of suggestions and recommendations geared toward helping you to be a better person, and therefore a better salesperson. While I think a healthy self-appraisal is probably in order, please don’t get the impression that I am suggesting that you sacrifice your personality in an effort to become a DROP DEAD salesperson. At the end of the day, YOU are what your customers are buying. Your product or service may be important, even critical to the operation of their businesses, but there is a strong likelihood that someone else offers the exact same product or service at a better price. The difference is you. If your customers didn’t like you, they would be buying from your competition.

This is a crucial insight into how to increase your sales: get people to like you, and they will buy from you. Simple, right? Unfortunately, many salespeople have yet to figure out exactly how to accomplish it. If you are one of them, I’d like to suggest that you immediately drop what you’re doing and head over to Amazon.com to purchase How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Then, take the rest of the week off to read, study, meditate on and memorize it. Put the ideas you find there into immediate practice; watch them work, and be amazed at the success you start to see.

I’d like to make a couple of assumptions about you as a person. First, I’m going to guess that you are a “people” person; otherwise, you wouldn’t be in sales. Second, I believe that you have friends who truly value you as a person. Third, I’m betting that you have already achieved a reasonable amount of success as a salesperson. That being the case, I’d like to assert that you have the potential for sales greatness. In order to tap that potential, you simply need to spend some time in learning what your strengths and weaknesses are. This can come from an honest self-examination, but it would also be helpful to ask those who know you for some input. You might be surprised by what you hear. You might also be surprised to learn that one or two small changes in the way you deal with people can lead to exponential growth, not only in your sales but in your personal satisfaction as well.

Until next time, happy sales to you!