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Walt Gerano

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5 Critical Sales Competencies: The Will to Sell Factors

Posted by Walt Gerano on Fri, Mar 11, 2022

There are 21 critical sales competencies that salespeople must have in order to achieve great sales success.  But there are 5 Will to Sell factors that make up the foundation of that success. 

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We talk to salespeople every day who tell us they want to achieve more, they are going to change their ways, and the results will follow.  If only it were that easy.

The Objective Management Group, an organization that has evaluated over 2 million salespeople, has identified the 21 sales competencies that are crucial to success for salespeople.  There are 10 Selling Competencies(skills), 6 DNA traits (behavior), and finally, 5 that fall under the category of “Will to Sell”.

Of course, they are all important but today I want to tell you why I believe that the Will to Sell competencies are the most important of all, and without them, success will be much harder.

Desire – desire measures how badly you want to achieve greater success in sales, in other words, do you “really” want it?

Commitment – the willingness to do whatever it takes (assuming ethical conduct) to achieve your success.  Commitment is not conditional; you are either in or you are out.

Motivation – there are two parts to motivation:

  1. Are you motivated?
  2. How are you motivated?

Knowing the power behind your motivation helps you plow through behaviors when you get stuck.

Outlook – how do you feel about yourself, the company you work for, the people you work with, and finally the people you call on.  When any of these are out of alignment, we struggle to do the behaviors we know we need to execute to succeed.

Responsibility – do you take responsibility when you don’t get the results you want, or do you make excuses?

Of course, all 21 sales competencies are important but when you have a strong Will to Sell then you are coachable and able to understand what behaviors need to change (DNA) and possess the desire, commitment, and motivation to change.  The same thing is true for the selling competencies, these are learned behaviors.  Without them, it is a tough road.

As the saying goes where there is a will (to sell) there is a way!

Learn More About the  21 Core Competencies!

Topics: sales skills, sales competencies, competencies required for sales

Sales Success: Declaring Independence from Your Personal Obstacles

Posted by Walt Gerano on Thu, Jul 01, 2021

As we approach the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, our own Walt Gerano shares his thoughts regarding the obstacles holding us back from experiencing the sales success we desire.

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245 years ago, 13 colonies declared themselves as newly independent sovereign states and no longer a part of the British Empire. Instead, they formed a new nation—the United States of America.

Have you declared your independence from the things holding you back from experiencing the success you desire?

When you look at your business today, you might agree that you need to prospect more consistently, qualify better, and know when to move on from a prospect. But you still have opportunities in your pipeline that are stuck. The question is why and what are you going to do about that?

Why don’t you prospect more consistently

  • You don’t have enough people to call on.
    • When was the last time you asked for an introduction or spent meaningful time on LinkedIn?
  • You don’t have the time.   
    • What activity is more important to the growth and success of your sales practice than prospecting? Schedule prospecting time first.
  • You are fearful of rejection. 
    • Rejection is nothing compared to failure.

What about qualifying?

  • Do you prepare with a pre-call plan for every call to make sure you know how you will get the answer to the question; “why am I here?” (First question you should ask on a call)
  • Are you ready for the curveballs? Those are the annoying questions that you wish they didn’t ask.
  • How and when will you deal with the incumbent?

Why are “opportunities” stuck in the pipeline?

  • Does the prospect really have enough PAIN to move forward and make a change?
  • Do they have the money to fix the problem?  Did you even ask about it?
  • Are you meeting with all of the decision-makers prior to presenting your solution?
  • Have you dealt with the “return of the incumbent?”

There is nothing here that you don’t already know. It’s the middle of the year so take a few minutes and evaluate where you are and what you will do about it.

Need Help?  Check Out Our  Sales Growth Coaching Program!

Topics: Qualifying skills, How to Increase Sales, sales commitment, increase sales

4 Questions You Need to Ask Yourself When Building a Success Formula

Posted by Walt Gerano on Fri, May 07, 2021

Success Formulas help us identify certain behaviors that we need to execute week in and out to achieve our goals. But how do you know if yours is set up for greatness or failure?

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Will Rogers said, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”

Let’s talk about getting on and staying on the right track.

If you are like most of us, at the end of the year, you evaluate your results and then built a success formula for the type of year you need to have next year. My question is, are you working from a success formula that is destined for failure?

Of course, none of us start out with the intention of failing; we just never looked to see if the train was coming!

Success formulas are great because they force us to identify certain behaviors that we need to execute week in and week out to achieve our goals. But, they cannot exist in a vacuum. Things change, and when they do, we need to change as well.

I want to share a few ideas on small changes to your success formula that can make a big difference at the end of the year.

First of all, I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you are doing the minimum activity on the front end, so this isn’t a call more/run faster conversation.

    • Consider prospecting for an account size that is 10% above your current target.
    • What if you improved your qualifying so that you converted just one more meeting into an opportunity each month?
    • What if you made one more telephone call each day? That’s over 200 more calls per year. Even if your technique didn’t improve (but it would), how many more opportunities would that create?
    • What about skill development? Getting better at asking for introductions, your compelling reasons for someone to do business with you.

You should evaluate every month not just how you are doing (results) but what you are doing (behaviors). Every month, answer these four questions.

    1. Do I have the right metrics? In other words, am I tracking the right behaviors that support my revenue objective?
    2. Am I performing with the right frequency? This would involve enough calls, 1st base meetings, and asking for introductions.
    3. Am I performing at a high skill level? Is my message compelling? Am I asking questions that help the prospect to discover some compelling issue? Am I listening or just waiting until it’s my turn to talk? Do I prepare a pre-call plan with each prospect in mind?
    4. What do I need to stop doing? Do I confuse being busy with a sense of accomplishment? We can all find things to do in order to avoid what we must do.

Just a few of the right changes could make all the difference when you get to December.

Need Help?  Check Out Our  Sales Growth Coaching Program!

Topics: Sales Effort, sales success formula, increase sales, traits of successful people

4 Steps to Create Loyal Client Advocates

Posted by Walt Gerano on Fri, May 08, 2020

In today's blog, we discuss how your organization can go above and beyond to create loyal client advocates for your business. 

If you are looking to increase sales in 2020 and beyond,  it is important to create a consistent experience for your customers and those that chose you to work with in the first place. 

If you are not providing a superior experience, your clients might start asking "Then, who will?"

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Today's question is this: “What are you doing to keep your clients coming back and telling their peers about your business?"

Is your organization providing an excellent consumer experience for your clients? 

Are you getting to know the wants, needs, and pain points of your customers each and every single day?

Are you under promising and over delivering results? 

Now, can you think of a place where you go and wait in a long line, spend a lot of money, and yet, can’t wait to tell others how great your experience was?  Well, that could describe a number of places, but the frame of reference I want to use today is the Disney experience.  

No one would argue with the success that Disney has in exceeding expectations and creating loyal advocates. When you go there your first time, it is more beautiful than you ever imagined.  You have such a magical time that you forget about how much things cost or how long the lines are for almost everything.  

In his book, Inside the Magic Kingdom, author Tom Connellan explains the seven keys to Disney’s success and how they work to create a dazzling experience for all of their guests.  As you read the book, you can only imagine what would go into building and sustaining that kind of relationship with your customers.  

In order to achieve “dazzling”, you must have a process that is consistent and predictable.  People need to know what they can depend on when they trust you with their business.  In other words, it’s not a once-in-a-while thing; it is just the way you do things.

Keep in mind that it does not have to be the same thing for all of your clients.  The way you support your top 20% needs to be different from how you support your bottom 20%.

Download "9 Tools to Increase Sales" Whitepaper

But, at the heart of it all, everyone gets the basics.  However, if you want to increase sales within your organization and stand out from the competition, your organization must be willing to impress, dazzle, and treat your advocates like members of your family.  It may sound drastic to some, but there is a reason that some companies truly stand out in a crowded market.

It's the little things that matter in business.

So, how do you create loyal advocates for your organization?

  1. You have to find out what they wantHow do you do this?  Ask!  Give them a list of things to choose from with the option to add things that might not be on the list.
  2. Next, prioritize critical areas. The key here is to find out what they won’t tell you.  How many times have you left a restaurant after you told your server everything was fine when they asked?  Some of your clients may do the same thing.
  3. Identify performance levels and find out where they are setting the bar; don’t assume you know.
  4. Negotiate expectations. Now is the time to deal with anything you are not willing to agree to. Sometimes we say “yes” because we think it’s a deal breaker; just ask and then decide.  If it is outside your process, then you are better served to move on because, unfortunately, it will always be a struggle and they will never become an advocate anyway.

The only way to exceed your customer’s expectations is to know what they actually are, not what you think they are.  Start by having that conversation first and soon you will have them coming back for more and telling their friends.

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Why Increasing Sales Leads to Personal Freedoms

Posted by Walt Gerano on Fri, Feb 21, 2020

Achieving the work-life balance sales professionals all hear and dream about starts with having a personal vision and a set of non-negotiable goals.

In this article, we will discuss the 4 must-do sales activities and the characteristics that all successful salespeople share when striving for the freedom of success. 

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Today, I'd like to commemorate the victory and personal freedoms that comes from success in sales.

There are two freedoms that successful people enjoy: the freedom of time and the freedom of choice. You see, when you are always playing from behind, you never feel like you can take time off or treat yourself to that vacation you've been wanting to take.

Successful people aren’t successful by chance or luck. They all have (at least) four things in common.

  1. They all have a vision of where they want to go, starting with the end in mind.
  2. They have a mission. Or, the “how you will achieve your vision” 
  3. Goals become the mile markers that let you know when you’ve “left the road”.
  4. And they have a “WHY”

So, decide what freedoms you want. Determine what those freedoms require. Build your plan to get there.

  • It all starts with your success formula, the behaviors you must execute day in and day out to accomplish your goals.
  • Track your behaviors weekly and be accountable to someone other than yourself (we’re too good at explaining to ourselves why we didn’t do something).
  • Know your SMART numbers- what are the key metrics that really drive your business and learn from them!
  • Build your Unique Sales Approach (USA) that is compelling to the people in your sandbox, or those that fit your profile.

Finally, don’t do all of this and stick it in the drawer. You should review your vision, mission and goals annually and your Successful Formula and SMART numbers quarterly.

Now go out and sell something and celebrate the freedom of success.

Topics: Sales Management Training, increase sales, hire better salespeople, consultative selling, sales effectiveness training, banking sales training, consultative sales coaching, corporate sales training, online sales training, hire better people, train the trainer, online sales management training, sales training workshops, sales training seminars, sales training programs, sales candidate assessment


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    Anthony Cole Training Group has been working with financial firms for close to 30 years helping them become more effective in their markets and closing their sales opportunity gap.  ACTG has mastered the art of using science-based data and finely honed coaching strategies to help build effective sales teams.  Don’t miss our weekly sales management blog insights from our team of expert contributors.

     

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