SELLING FOR LIFE

A good friend of mine in Florida sent this to me and I thought it appropriate to share.  I do not know who the quote is attributed to but something to think about none the less.

"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? Success comes in cans, not cant's.  The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it. Well done is better than well said. To find a new ocean, you must have the courage to lose sight of the shore. When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened. Life Rewards Action!"

What is the most important “element” for having success in sales?  Believe it or not it isn’t an abundance of prospects.

There are actually four crucial elements that successful salespeople possess, desire, commitment, outlook and responsibility.  But the most important one is desire.

Desire will provide the incentive to make changes even when it's difficult or uncomfortable.  It will cause you to continue to raise the bar and set new standards for yourself.  Top performers have a burning desire to succeed.

Commitment – what is your compelling reason to do whatever it takes to succeed?  For most they find it in their personal goals.  If you seem to focus on behaviors that are enjoyable and comfortable, you might have an issue with commitment to success in sales.

Outlook – how is your outlook on life, what you are doing, who you are doing it with?  Selling can be tough enough without dragging a poor outlook around with you.  While from time to time everyone can get a little down about things, remember it’s the people that get up quickly and keep going who succeed.

 Responsibility – is just what it sounds like, take responsibility for your actions and results.  No Excuses!  People that make excuses won’t change until they take responsibility for their results.

Ask yourself how you are doing on these four crucial elements and since it’s the start of the baseball season for more success, touch em’ all.

 

If you have been selling for even a week you have had to swallow the bitter pill of rejection. It's just part the sales process. The question is, how quickly do you recover? Could it be that that your recovery is directly related to your commitment to personal goals.

John Grisham was committed to becoming a writer, thank goodness for those of us who love reading his books. His first published novel A Time to Kill netted him 30 rejection letters before someone agreed to publish it.

We will all face rejection, those that look at it as a stumbling block instead of a roadblock are destined to achieve their goals.

If at first you don't succeed....

Lot's of you have already embraced the opportunities to prospect and develop relationships using LinkedIn. How many of you have used it to establish credibility before you get introduced to someone new?  Often times even if you have great idea, product, or service, what will determine you ability to get a meeting is what others say about you.  Just like you, others look at sites like LinkedIn before they call or take a call from someone.

 The recommendation feature is a great way to improve the chance that when introduced, people will take your call.  It is also a great way to help others do the same.  Don't make or take this request lightly.  There are things you can and should do to get the most from this practice.  Here is a piece from my friend Keith Ferrazzi about How to Give and Get Great LinkedIn Recommendations.  Good luck!

When you don't make the sale, who is to blame?  Is it the economy?  Is it your competition?  Is it your company?  OR could it be you?  Good sales people know that when they don"t get the sale it is no one’s fault but their own.  They assess what happened so they can learn from it. As Malcolm Gladwell would say in his book Outliers you are just making progress towards your 10,000 hours.

Stop making/accepting excuses for your lack of results.  Look at the effectiveness of your sales process.

• Do you have an effective sales process for moving opportunities from suspect to prospect to customer?
• Are you preparing for every sales call with a pre-call plan? 
• Do you ask quality questions that help the prospect uncover issues that are compelling enough to solve?
• Do you know when and why to walk away?
• Are you always asking for introductions so you always have someone else to call?

Control the one thing you can.  You!

You know what the sales party is right?  When we all get together at the end of the year to celebrate our success.  One month is already in the books for 2012.  Where are your sales results?  Are you tracking ahead or behind?  If you are at all like me, then sometimes you procrastinate.  "I have 11 more months to get my results," "I'll make those phone calls later" "Nobody is in this week"  

Don't you just hate it when you call on someone and they tell you "we just made a change" or "you should have called last month"  Too late! We all know what happens, tomorrow becomes the day after tomorrow, next week becomes next month and before we now it another year has passed.  As Dr. Martin Luther King said many years ago:

"We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood -- it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, "Too late."

Words that were true then and are still true today.  Whatever you are waiting to do, do it today!  Let's get the party started, before it's too late.

In his book Outliers author Malcolm Gladwell details several  examples of why the achievements of some people go way  beyond normal.  While I found the entire read quite interesting there were two things that really struck me:

1. The 10,00 Hour Rule:  After several studies of people who had risen to the top of their profession whether it be music, art, athletics or business, it was concluded that ten thousand hours of "practice" is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world class expert in anything. 
2. Work Ethic:  In observing Chinese rice farmers who often worked over 3,000 hours per year they overheard several things the farmers would say to one another, my favorite is "No one who can rise before dawn 360 days a year fails to make his family rich"

I often hear comments about highly successful salespeople (from those less successful) that:  

• They get all the breaks.
• They don't work as hard as I do.
• They don't have to do all the cold calling I do.
• Everything comes easy for them.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  My observations of the top salespeople I work with is that they have probably got at least 10,000 hours invested into their development and they start their day well before dawn. They are driven with a commitment to getting better and being the best. Too many salespeople start their days at 9:00 AM, too late.  What if you simply began to work harder?  How long will it take you to get to 10,000 hours at your current pace?

Of course you must "practice" the right things but if you were practicing 20 hours more each week how long before you start making it look easy?

On my way home from the airport the other night, my son, Michael, called and said, "Dad, there is a mouse in your office."  My first thought was I hope he sleeps through the night because it's 1:00 AM and I am not dealing with this until morning.

Then I asked myself:  How did he get in?  Why is he here?  How do I get rid of him?  It got me thinking about sales.  Of your last 10 sales calls, how many of your prospects were asking the same questions?  Are you establishing, on the phone call, a reason for the appointment?  Is it your reason for meeting or theirs?  How often do you begin your sales call with a discussion around "Why am I here?"  Do you agree to outcomes that are mutually acceptable?

When you get invited out to a sales call to discuss specific issues that are on the prospects mind you avoid being the "uninvited" guest.  Make sure your sales calls are "by invitation only."