Selling is a 'slight edge business' that is driven by one more phone call, one more prospecting effort, one more cold email outreach, one more social media push, and one more effort to build a new relationship and land a new client.
In this article, we cover the basic principles of control in sales and how the little things are actually the big things when it comes to selling effectively and separating yourself from the competition.
One of the most frequently asked questions we receive from salespeople is, What is the secret sauce to sales success? or, Can you just give me the magic? I need to sell more business. Actually, there is a secret sauce, and if you will permit me to enter your kitchen, I am going to serve it up to you.
There is no one thing that is a big thing in selling. In our organization, we refer to selling as a “slight edge business.” By that we mean that the line that separates high performers from mediocre performers is usually a very small difference. Think in terms of maybe just one or two more conversations a week, or one or two more presentations a month.
The Olympics are a perfect example of this truth. Think of almost any race, whether that be swimming, track and field or skiing. Do you know what separates the athlete who wins the gold medal from the athlete who finishes just outside the bronze medal? The answer is fractional seconds, sometimes even as little as tenths of a second.
There is very little you can control in selling. You can’t make prospects take your call. You can’t make prospects agree to meet with you. You can’t make them move forward in your sales process and you certainly can’t make them buy from you. There are only 3 things you are in control of:
- Your effort on a daily basis
- Your attitude on a daily basis
- Your investment in becoming a better or smarter version of yourself (self-improvement)
Selling is not going to suddenly become easier. Leads are not likely to become more plentiful. So, the question that is worth asking is this: What are you doing to shave fractional seconds off your sales time in the 2019 race you are running? What are the little things that when done week in and week out will amount to big things in terms of your 2019 production? Maybe it is the one more conversation you need to have each day with a prospect. Maybe it is the one book you will read or the one new connection you will add to your network that will make all the difference.
Sometimes little things are so small you won’t even notice them when you look back at your sales success. But that doesn’t mean that it is not a big thing to worry about the little things.
