The Thirty-six Thousand Foot View Of Sales

I’m on my way to Lima Peru with twenty-nine of my clients and staff for what will be an adventure of a lifetime. We will spend a day touring Lima and then catch a flight for Cusco and the sacred valley of the Incas. Cusco sits at nearly 12,000 feet. Sales people can be a little windy, and I’m sure I will need all the oxygen I can get just to remain standing. Cusco, the ancient capitol of the Incan Empire; a city of phenomenal wealth and architecture, was conquered by the Spanish in the mid fifteen hundreds. The wealth was taken back to Spain and the Inca people along with their leaders were killed. As part of our sales incentive trip, we are taking about a thousand pounds of medical and school supplies donated by our clients, their friends and others, to a small native school located in the Sacred Valley. Our next stop will be Machu Picchu, the religious and scholarly citadel of the ancient empire, lost to civilization until its discovery in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American archeological explorer. Machu Picchu is considered one of the seven modern wonders of the world. We will round out our adventure by spending a few days in a lodge on the banks of the Amazon River as we explore one of the greatest treasures of the world, the Amazon Rain Forest.

This trip is possible due to the extreme effort and success displayed by the sales people we train. Sure, they could have taken this trip on their own, but because they worked hard and successfully reached their sales goals, they will now be enjoying this adventure as a reward for their efforts. Travel is always more fun when someone else is paying the bill. Every sales person on this trip has reached their sales goal for the year, and the goals were all significantly higher than their performance in prior years. One of the reasons we offer this incentive, is to reward sales people in a way that they may not have enjoyed previously. The second reason we provide this kind of a reward for sales people is to create a pattern of belief and experience that they can continue their top performance and continue to travel to great locations around the world either as a client of The Business Performance Group, or by earning a great income and pay for the trip themselves.

Kerry Preece with All Metals Fabrication is enjoying this trip with his wife Lori because he brought more new business to his company this past year than any sales person in past years. Kerry has set a new standard of performance for his company, and is working diligently this year to bring even more business to All Metals Fabrication. Dave Herrscher, his wife Laurie and daughter Kathryn are traveling to Peru because Dave more than doubled his sales with Plastic Fabrication, one of three companies in the Fisher Group, which also includes Regional Supply and American Label. Dave Arbon and his wife Ashley left their young children home with grand parents so they could enjoy ten fabulous days together. They travel a lot with the children, but this incentive trip gives them time together and an adventure beyond their own expectations. What did Dave do for his employer, Jorgenson Companies, the leading provider of “space”, racking, mezzanines and lockers in the Mountain West? Dave had an increase in gross profit sales of nearly one hundred and fifty thousand dollars this past year. This has been accomplished during what has been one of the most difficult and challenging economies since the great depression. If you ask Dave about the challenges of achieving his greatest sales year since joining Jorgenson Companies several years ago, he will respond with, “What recession?”

Shelby Stewart, General Manager of SERVCO and his wife Angie are traveling with The Business Performance Group because he has led his company to their most profitable year since John Holbrook purchased the company nearly seven years ago. In fact, SERVCO had their most successful year last year, in the forty years since the company began servicing and selling boilers along the Wasatch Front. Shelby was part of the Management Training Program of The Business Performance Group, and earned this trip through applying the skills he learned, which then allowed SERVCO to exceed their annual profitability goal.

Stephen Halverson, President of Halverson Company and his wife Mary with their two children Brayden and Erin earned this incentive trip due to Steve’s unwavering application of the principles and skills he learned in the Management Training and Sales Training programs taught by The Business Performance Group over the past couple of years. During these difficult economic times, Halverson Company, a leader in designing, engineering and constructing material handling systems and facilities for the feed and grain industry, posted their most profitable year in the seventy year history of the company. Halverson also sells and services all types of scales, material handling equipment and parts. They also have a very successful structural steel and fabrication group.

Why would I talk about an incentive trip to Peru and highlight some of the individuals who earned this reward? Plain and simple - to demonstrate what sales people can accomplish when they focus their efforts on sales activities and apply the correct principles. Every sales person who reads this message can have similar results if they apply the correct sales principles with the same unwavering effort. Even if you don’t have the opportunity to earn an incentive trip, you can pay for it yourself with your increased income that will accompany your increased performance. The thirty-six thousand foot view of sales performance is one of hard work, focused effort, application of correct sales principles, increased income, and the time to enjoy it. Decide which great trip or adventure you want to enjoy and then work to achieve it.