Nothing beats a great vacation, and I just came back from mine. My wife, Linda, and I are celebrating 25 years of marital bliss and we took 8 days to visit the Keys. Though I'm not technically a 'sales rep', I do sell. Along the way, I learned valuable selling lessons that would be valuable to anyone selling anything to anyone.
1. Enjoy the trip. Enjoy the process of selling. Our flight was delayed, but we didn't care- we were headed to Key Largo. Your sales will be delayed sometimes, but as long as you have a plan, you work the plan and you keep your eye on the objective - provide to the prospect
what they need, within their pricing parameters, and service the heck out of them. You will get to your ultimate goal. Relax and have fun.
2. Expect the unexpected. As you work your 'sales process,' something will surprise you. This advice will sound strange, but don't be surprised about the unexpected. Adjust the strategy, move forward and see what happens next. We wanted to go Gus' Grill for dinner. It was closed for renovation, so we walked over the suspension bridge and found ourselves watching an awesome sunset and listening to Jimmy Ray.
3. You will get lost. In selling, it is a rare occasion that you go from step 1 to step 8 without getting lost somewhere in the buyer's buying process. Don't forget they have their own process for buying. If you ignore their process because you are so determined to get to where you want to go, you'll miss the turns they are making to get to where they want to go. Our next stop was at the Cheeca Lodge in Islamorada. For some reason, I thought it was on the golf side of Route 1. So I drove right on by the entrance on the left hand side. Now we didn't get lost lost; we just missed our turn. The point is I was focused on what I thought versus what was reality.
4. A sink is a sink. Selling is selling. One of the sinks in the twin vanity had a broken stopper. You know the thing that stops the water and keeps your lenses from going down the sink. It wasn't major, but it didn't work. We called the front desk, and they fixed it while we were out. The thought hit me that it doesn't matter what kind of hotel or lodge you stay in. Five star or one star, when the sink doesn't work, it just doesn't work. The same is true in sales and selling. No matter what you are selling, sales are pretty much sales; and if yours aren't working, then you need to go back to the basics of selling and fix what is broken. (Hmmm, there's an idea. Maybe we should start a blog called 'Sales Plumber'...)
5. Blow your own whistle. Have courage to tell your story. In the years that we've been doing sales and sales development, it is rare where I meet someone that doesn't have a prospecting problem. We always have to help companies and their sales reps develop more effective methods of prospecting and prospecting consistency. We were in Key West, and on the first evening, we did the tourist thing and went to Mallory Square to watch the sunset. That is where we met Dr. Juice. Dr. Juice is 52 years old and does gymnastics in the square for tips. The show itself is fun to watch, but watching him drum up business is more fun. He has a whistle, and for 10 minutes prior to his show, he is blowing it AT people and telling them to come and watch the best show on the square.
I don't know where you are heading this summer on vacation, but I hope you have a wonderful time and travel safely.
I don't know where you are headed with selling, but I do know that no matter where you are, where you've been or where you are going, you can always find ways to to sell more, more quickly at higher margins.
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