Knowledge Is Power: Seek First To Know And Then To Do

To become the best sales person possible you must first learn the principles and skills of sales and then properly apply them. Consider this question, “How much time do you spend each week studying the principles and techniques of sales in order to help your prospects and to increase your income?” The typical medical doctor spends on average eleven hours each week in personal study and clinical observation in order to stay on the cutting edge of their profession. A CPA will spend an average of nearly eight hours each week in preparation and learning to stay abreast of the most current tax laws. Amazingly, sales people earning a six-figure income spend on average less than three hours per week studying the principles and skills of sales.

Unfortunately, there are very few colleges and universities that offer degree programs in sales. A few class are offered that deal with some aspects of sales, but the typical college program does not offer a concise and specific sales program. Weber State University offers one of the only sales related degrees in the country, but it is still limited in the curriculum that it can offer. Unlike other professions, sales people are on their own to learn and apply the correct principles and skills. Sales training is a multi billion-dollar industry. There is no shortage of knowledgeable trainers or excellent materials. The issue is whether on not sales people or employers take advantage of what is available. During the course of our lives we will deal with more sales people than all the doctors, lawyers, CPA’s and all other professionals combined. And yet, the sales people we conduct business with will be by far the least educated and least prepared to solve our problems.

Several years ago I was working with the president of a local company. We had been doing an excellent job training his sales people. His son was about to enter college and they decided to enroll at a local college where I had been teaching a course on sales. The idea was to receive some of the same training in a classroom setting that I had offered his employees in our regular corporate training program. Unfortunately, I didn’t teach that semester so my client decided to hire his son as a sales person so he could receive sales training and coaching along with the other sales people in the company. This young man has diligently (sometimes not happily) applied the principles and skills he has learned. His performance has been greater than any other sales person in the company prior to engaging their sales people in a training program. His first year’s commission income at age twenty-five was fifty-one thousand dollars. Second year income at age twenty-six was ninety-seven thousand dollars. Third year income at age twenty-seven was one hundred and twenty-six thousand dollars. When sales people study, learn and apply, there is no limit to their income.

A typical sales person might believe they don’t have time to study their profession. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is always time to do what you want to do. If you believed that spending time each day studying and learning your profession would increase your income, I’m sure you would spend the time. As an example, during this past year the sales people we have trained have increased their gross profit sales on average two hundred and sixty percent. That translates into more than a two and a half times increase in their commission income. Studying, learning, and applying the correct sales principles and skills is the answer to increased profitable and sales and increased income. Sales people can’t afford not to spend the time to learn. Doctors spend eleven hours a week learning, CPA’s spend eight hours each week leaning. Imagine what your income could be if you spent ten hours each week learning and perfecting your sales skills. Knowledge is power, the power to determine your own financial destiny. Discover the many resources available for learning the profession of sales and commit the time to become the best sales person possible.