Looking back over my 33 year sales career I’ve pondered many times the thought, “is there is just one principle or skill that would significantly influence one’s sales success?” I’m convinced that there is no “magic bullet”, something so unique and different that if a sales person were to happen upon it that they would become the greatest sales person in the world. Sales success is built upon the correct application of many different principles and skills. However, is there possibly just one thing that by itself might have a profound influence upon a salesperson’s success? After many years of training salespeople and having spent a career in sales myself, I believe that for someone to be successful at selling they must want to be successful at selling. They’ve “gotta wanna” be successful. If they have the desire then every other principle and skill can be built upon that foundation.
I believe that for someone to “gotta wanna” be successful in sales they must apply a self-evaluation built on five key principles. These five principles will validate whether you are willing to do those things that will allow you to become successful. Here are the five principles and I will discuss each one briefly: Understanding, Belief, Vision, Desire and Purpose.
Understanding: Most people pursue a career in sales without preparation and knowledge. They believe that selling is simply telling someone about a product or service and hoping that they will buy. Selling is a professional career just like medicine, law, accounting and business, requiring training in order to properly achieve the desired result. Selling is a service industry where the desired result of all your activity is to solve a problem with the best possible solution. Selling is an honorable career that requires education and training to be successful. Selling is difficult and is not a career to be taken lightly, believing that you can be successful just because you call yourself a salesperson. A career in sales can provide a significant income for those who prepare themselves.
Belief: To be successful at sales you must believe that you can be successful. Selling is not something you do until something better comes along. Sales is a career choice that can provide a wonderful standard of living for you and your family. Just as with any other professional career, if you study and train to become competent you can become a leader in your field. Becoming a top sales person does not happen by chance, it is the result of hard work and preparation. Salespeople can earn incomes that are greater than those of doctors, lawyers, financial advisors, businessmen, etc. Don’t hope that selling will provide a satisfying career, believe that it will.
Vision: If you can see it you can achieve it. You must be able to visualize your sales success in order to achieve it. Identify the top salespeople in your industry. Watch what they do and then visualize yourself doing what they do. Look for patterns of success and then apply those patterns to your own activities. Picture in your mind the success you want to achieve in life and then imagine the joy and satisfaction you will receive. Now, visualize doing those activities in sales that will bring you the success you desire. Catch a vision of what your life can become as you work, study and apply the principles and skills of selling.
Desire: What do you really want in your life? If you want to be financially stable, to enjoy the finer thing in life, to have the time, money and freedom to choose, then a career in sales is a good choice. Your desire cannot be passive, it must be a burning desire! You must be willing to work hard, sacrifice, and do those things that average salespeople are not willing to do. Selling cannot be something that you have just fallen into, a job that is convenient for now. If you are selling because you think it is easy and convenient, you will fail. Forty years ago I met a young man who was practicing dentistry in Taiwan. I ask him where he had studied and what he had done to prepare himself for a career in dentistry. His response was, “My father practiced dentistry and when he died I inherited the equipment so now I’m practicing dentistry.” As a dentist, he was about as prepared as most sales people. To be successful at selling you must have a desire to enjoy the finer things in life.
Purpose: Of all the principles that I have discussed as indicators of whether you have the ability to be successful in selling, nothing is more important than “purpose”. Purpose is the thing that will keep you going when times are tough. Purpose will sustain you through discouragement and adversity. When you have a purpose so strong and compelling in your life that you will not quit but continue in the face of all the struggles inherent in a sales career, then you will find success. Without a purpose to keep you focused on what you really want in your life, the negative experiences you will encounter may cause you to doubt your decision to choose a career in sales. Your doubts will grow and soon you will abandon a selling career that could have provided financial freedom.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The Ten Principles That Separate Top Sales Performers From The Rest
Have you ever paused and pondered why some salespeople are so much better than others, or why someone in your organization or industry is recognized as the top salesperson? What makes the difference? What are the defining characteristics that make one person better or worse than another in the sales arena? Why aren’t you at the top of the performance ladder instead of someone else? I know the answer and in the next few minutes I’m going to tell you. I’m going to make it simple, and discuss sales success in plain terms that you can understand. I’m going to present the answer to sales success in the form of ten basic, time-tested and proven principles that have made the difference between sales superstars and typical average salespeople. Now, to further clarify these ten principles, it is not just in knowing these principles that makes the difference. They must be applied diligently and consistently – that is what the top sales performers do. I don’t want you to mumble to yourself, “I know that.” Knowing doesn’t make any difference in your sales performance. Consistently doing, using and applying these principles is the only way you will become a top performer because that is what top performers do.
Principle #1 - Desire: You’ve got to want it so badly that you will do whatever is legal, honest and moral to achieve success. Top sales performers have a desire to succeed that is so compelling that they will even do those things they don’t like to do because they know that those are the very things that will allow them to succeed. You must have a purpose in your life that will drive you to do those things when your motivation is low and discouragement is high. Your purpose needs to be greater that the pain of sales activities.
Principle #2 – Knowledge: Many people enter into the field of sales thinking it something they can do to earn a living believing they don’t need to train, study, or learn. After all, who attends college to learn sales - business or marketing maybe, but not sales. You might think that selling is easy; all you need to do is just declare yourself a salesperson and then go out and sell. Nothing could be further from the truth. The very best salespeople have prepared themselves to be the best. They have studied, practiced, roll played, rehearsed and sacrificed to earn top honors. Successful salespeople have invested years of hard work to earn the title of top sales professional. Top performers know their products and can answer questions and concerns directly, or know where to find the answers. Top salespeople are full of knowledge, not “b.s.”
Principle #3 – Time Management: Most salespeople never have the time or the organization to be able to do those things that will allow them to be successful. Sales success doesn’t just happen because you get up in the morning or because you hope it will happen. Sales success is the result of planning and scheduling to do those things that will bring you success. Sales success for those top sales professionals is the result of following a game plan designed to give you victory on the playing field of sales when other, less successful sales people believe all they need to do is just “show up”. Top sales performers plan, schedule and perform meaningful sales activities during each thirty-minute increment of time in their sales day.
Principle #4 – Dress For Success: If you want to be a top sales performer you must dress like one. When you dress for success you will develop an attitude of success. It is very difficult to focus on selling if you are thinking about your appearance. Your whole demeanor will change when you dress appropriately for your audience. Your prospect will pay greater attention when your dress and grooming suggests that you know what you are talking about. You should dress for your audience, which means you may present yourself differently to each prospect based on their industry and market. Top salespeople have the look of success.
Principle #5 – Hard Work: Plain and simple, selling is hard work if you are going to be a top income earner. There is a common perception that salespeople have a pretty easy job. They are gone all the time, no one ever knows where they are, and sales just happen. Successful salespeople work hard every minute of every hour of every day. They work hard at doing the right things. Successful salespeople never arrive at a point when they don’t have to work hard. The harder they work the more money they make and they don’t stop working just because they have made a few bucks. Successful salespeople don’t just fall into sales or get lucky. What you might think is luck is the result of hard work and consistent daily effort.
Principle #6 – Consistency: The consistent erosion of the Earth from the mighty Colorado River formed the Grand Canyon. It wasn’t eroding the Earth occasionally; it was a consistent daily effort over a long period of time. Too often salespeople find a great opportunity only to squander it due to lack of consistent follow-up. Top sales performers are consistent in every aspect of the sales process. They value each opportunity as a potential sale and believe that through applying the correct principles on a regular basis they will have success. Day in and day out successful sales people religiously follow their sales process, knowing they will realize the reward they seek.
Principle #7 – Attitude: I can’t think of a profession wrought with more rejection and potential discouragement than sales. Eighty-four percent of all people who eventually purchase your product or service said “no” before they said “yes”. People don’t want to be sold, and no one has the time to hear about or to do anything different. If you don’t approach selling with a positive, “I can be successful” attitude, you will be eaten alive by the challenges associated with selling. Top sales professional experience the same challenges as every other sales person. The defining difference is found in their attitude, their belief that regardless of the challenging circumstances, they will be successful. They know that in sales there are only two things they can control, activity and attitude. If they work hard and maintain a positive attitude, they will find the success that eludes the average salesperson.
Principle #8 – Rapport Building: Those sales professionals that are top income earners know that people buy from people they believe, like and trust. They know that sales success is ultimately the result of strong lasting relationships. The most successful salespeople know that a relationship built today will generate continuous sales, while a sale made without building a relationship will be lost in the storm of competition. They cultivate the sales opportunity, building a solid foundation of friendship and trust that will withstand the constant buffeting of the winds of price.
Principle #9 – Problem Solving: The very best and most successful salespeople realize that selling in nothing more than finding a problem and then presenting their product or service as a solution to the problem. There are impulsive buyers, but the majority of all people who purchase, are making that purchase to solve a problem or to meet a need. Without a need there is virtually no opportunity for a sale. Focus your attention on discovering what the buyer needs and then do all within your power to help him achieve what he needs. To effectively solve problems you must ask probing questions and then listen effectively. Selling is the process of discovering needs and presenting solutions, not blindly telling someone that they should buy your product.
Principle #10 – Caring: The crowning principle embodied by all successful sales people is caring more about meeting the needs of the customer than in making the sale. When you are willing to lose the sale in the process of helping the customer achieve their purpose, then you have reached that level of professionalism that will propel you to the success that other salespeople find only in their dreams. Your sales activities should be totally focused on providing the right solution for the customer without any thought given to your own income. When you care that much, you will ultimately be rewarded ten fold. Selling is not about you; it is all about the customer.
Principle #1 - Desire: You’ve got to want it so badly that you will do whatever is legal, honest and moral to achieve success. Top sales performers have a desire to succeed that is so compelling that they will even do those things they don’t like to do because they know that those are the very things that will allow them to succeed. You must have a purpose in your life that will drive you to do those things when your motivation is low and discouragement is high. Your purpose needs to be greater that the pain of sales activities.
Principle #2 – Knowledge: Many people enter into the field of sales thinking it something they can do to earn a living believing they don’t need to train, study, or learn. After all, who attends college to learn sales - business or marketing maybe, but not sales. You might think that selling is easy; all you need to do is just declare yourself a salesperson and then go out and sell. Nothing could be further from the truth. The very best salespeople have prepared themselves to be the best. They have studied, practiced, roll played, rehearsed and sacrificed to earn top honors. Successful salespeople have invested years of hard work to earn the title of top sales professional. Top performers know their products and can answer questions and concerns directly, or know where to find the answers. Top salespeople are full of knowledge, not “b.s.”
Principle #3 – Time Management: Most salespeople never have the time or the organization to be able to do those things that will allow them to be successful. Sales success doesn’t just happen because you get up in the morning or because you hope it will happen. Sales success is the result of planning and scheduling to do those things that will bring you success. Sales success for those top sales professionals is the result of following a game plan designed to give you victory on the playing field of sales when other, less successful sales people believe all they need to do is just “show up”. Top sales performers plan, schedule and perform meaningful sales activities during each thirty-minute increment of time in their sales day.
Principle #4 – Dress For Success: If you want to be a top sales performer you must dress like one. When you dress for success you will develop an attitude of success. It is very difficult to focus on selling if you are thinking about your appearance. Your whole demeanor will change when you dress appropriately for your audience. Your prospect will pay greater attention when your dress and grooming suggests that you know what you are talking about. You should dress for your audience, which means you may present yourself differently to each prospect based on their industry and market. Top salespeople have the look of success.
Principle #5 – Hard Work: Plain and simple, selling is hard work if you are going to be a top income earner. There is a common perception that salespeople have a pretty easy job. They are gone all the time, no one ever knows where they are, and sales just happen. Successful salespeople work hard every minute of every hour of every day. They work hard at doing the right things. Successful salespeople never arrive at a point when they don’t have to work hard. The harder they work the more money they make and they don’t stop working just because they have made a few bucks. Successful salespeople don’t just fall into sales or get lucky. What you might think is luck is the result of hard work and consistent daily effort.
Principle #6 – Consistency: The consistent erosion of the Earth from the mighty Colorado River formed the Grand Canyon. It wasn’t eroding the Earth occasionally; it was a consistent daily effort over a long period of time. Too often salespeople find a great opportunity only to squander it due to lack of consistent follow-up. Top sales performers are consistent in every aspect of the sales process. They value each opportunity as a potential sale and believe that through applying the correct principles on a regular basis they will have success. Day in and day out successful sales people religiously follow their sales process, knowing they will realize the reward they seek.
Principle #7 – Attitude: I can’t think of a profession wrought with more rejection and potential discouragement than sales. Eighty-four percent of all people who eventually purchase your product or service said “no” before they said “yes”. People don’t want to be sold, and no one has the time to hear about or to do anything different. If you don’t approach selling with a positive, “I can be successful” attitude, you will be eaten alive by the challenges associated with selling. Top sales professional experience the same challenges as every other sales person. The defining difference is found in their attitude, their belief that regardless of the challenging circumstances, they will be successful. They know that in sales there are only two things they can control, activity and attitude. If they work hard and maintain a positive attitude, they will find the success that eludes the average salesperson.
Principle #8 – Rapport Building: Those sales professionals that are top income earners know that people buy from people they believe, like and trust. They know that sales success is ultimately the result of strong lasting relationships. The most successful salespeople know that a relationship built today will generate continuous sales, while a sale made without building a relationship will be lost in the storm of competition. They cultivate the sales opportunity, building a solid foundation of friendship and trust that will withstand the constant buffeting of the winds of price.
Principle #9 – Problem Solving: The very best and most successful salespeople realize that selling in nothing more than finding a problem and then presenting their product or service as a solution to the problem. There are impulsive buyers, but the majority of all people who purchase, are making that purchase to solve a problem or to meet a need. Without a need there is virtually no opportunity for a sale. Focus your attention on discovering what the buyer needs and then do all within your power to help him achieve what he needs. To effectively solve problems you must ask probing questions and then listen effectively. Selling is the process of discovering needs and presenting solutions, not blindly telling someone that they should buy your product.
Principle #10 – Caring: The crowning principle embodied by all successful sales people is caring more about meeting the needs of the customer than in making the sale. When you are willing to lose the sale in the process of helping the customer achieve their purpose, then you have reached that level of professionalism that will propel you to the success that other salespeople find only in their dreams. Your sales activities should be totally focused on providing the right solution for the customer without any thought given to your own income. When you care that much, you will ultimately be rewarded ten fold. Selling is not about you; it is all about the customer.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The Ten Steps Of Successful Goal Setting
Setting a goal is easy. Anyone can decide they want to do something and set a goal. However, all goals are not the same, and most goals are never achieved. When it comes to goals and achievement, most salespeople don’t correctly use this powerful principle to their advantage. Let me take a few moments and outline ten basic steps of goal setting. The proper application of this principle will dramatically improve your sales success.
Step #1: Choose goals that excite you. Nothing is so motivating as a goal that unleashes passion. Too often salespeople take a passive approach to goal setting and find themselves pursuing goals that they don’t really care about. Once you have selected your goal find a picture. We are all visual and nothing is as convincing as a picture. Psychologists tell us that a picture is worth a thousand words. Find a picture that represents the achievement of your goal and look at it daily.
Step #2: Determine if the goal you have selected is one that is of value to you and your personal success. Review the positive aspects of achieving your goal and then evaluate the negative aspects of reaching your goal. Then take the opposite view and review the positive aspects of not pursuing that goal and then evaluate the negative aspects of not achieving the goal. You want to make sure that the goal has value before you commit time and effort towards its achievement.
Step #3: Once you have determined that the goal is in harmony with your objectives and you are committed to the time and effort to achieve it, write a positive, present tense affirmation relating to the achievement of the goal. Write down the names of those people that inspire you and would be proud of your achievement. Write down the names of a few people that might not believe you could reach your goal and focus on proving them wrong. Finally, tell those that you are close to about your goal and give them periodic updates on your progress.
Step #4: Without a “time frame” for completion, a goal is just a wish. Determine a realistic completion date and work towards completing the goal by that date. Remember, Someday is not a real day. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc, but never Someday. Someday is another word for never.
Step #5: Goals must be achievable, realistic and challenging. It is far better to aim a little bit lower and achieve the goal than to aim too high and fall short, even if in both cases the same result is achieved. In the first case you were successful. In the latter, you failed even though the results were the same. Don’t program your mind for failure. Once the goal has been achieved, set a super goal. A super goal represents that “little bit more” you can achieve after having reached your goal.
Step #6: Lack of determining the steps necessary to achieve a goal is the major reason for failure. You have all heard that the way you eat an elephant is one bite at a time. The same is true with achieving goals. Once you have determined your goal, break it into small steps. Give each step a time frame and then move forward one step at a time until you have achieved your goal.
Step #7: Just because you have set a goal doesn’t mean you are capable of achieving it without the proper training or education. Make learning and training part of the goal achievement process. Consult those who have previously accomplished your goal or something similar. Take advantage of the knowledge and wisdom of others to achieve your goals.
Step #8: Plan time each day for the achievement of your goals. Too often people become so focused on the day-to-day urgencies associated with their employment that they forget to plan time to accomplish the specific steps of their goals. Without proper daily planning you will never find the time to reach your goals.
Step #9: Create a structure of accountability relating to your goal. It is not good enough to just be accountable to yourself. Involve family, friends, co-workers and anyone else you feel comfortable with in the steps and achievement of your goals. You will find strength and courage when you involve others. A definition of courage is “doing what you say you will do even when the emotions of the moment are past.”
Step #10: Goals are achieved mentally before they are ever achieved physically. The world of sports is a very good analogy for winning first in your mind and then on the field of play. Envision yourself achieving your goal and then your physical actions will follow. In the Law of Success, Napoleon Hill’s first book, he describes the insight he gained from his research into the power of goal setting. He said, “Any definite chief aim that is deliberately fixed in the mind and held there with determination to realize it, finally saturates the entire subconscious mind until it automatically influences the physical action of the body toward the attainment of the purpose.”
Step #1: Choose goals that excite you. Nothing is so motivating as a goal that unleashes passion. Too often salespeople take a passive approach to goal setting and find themselves pursuing goals that they don’t really care about. Once you have selected your goal find a picture. We are all visual and nothing is as convincing as a picture. Psychologists tell us that a picture is worth a thousand words. Find a picture that represents the achievement of your goal and look at it daily.
Step #2: Determine if the goal you have selected is one that is of value to you and your personal success. Review the positive aspects of achieving your goal and then evaluate the negative aspects of reaching your goal. Then take the opposite view and review the positive aspects of not pursuing that goal and then evaluate the negative aspects of not achieving the goal. You want to make sure that the goal has value before you commit time and effort towards its achievement.
Step #3: Once you have determined that the goal is in harmony with your objectives and you are committed to the time and effort to achieve it, write a positive, present tense affirmation relating to the achievement of the goal. Write down the names of those people that inspire you and would be proud of your achievement. Write down the names of a few people that might not believe you could reach your goal and focus on proving them wrong. Finally, tell those that you are close to about your goal and give them periodic updates on your progress.
Step #4: Without a “time frame” for completion, a goal is just a wish. Determine a realistic completion date and work towards completing the goal by that date. Remember, Someday is not a real day. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc, but never Someday. Someday is another word for never.
Step #5: Goals must be achievable, realistic and challenging. It is far better to aim a little bit lower and achieve the goal than to aim too high and fall short, even if in both cases the same result is achieved. In the first case you were successful. In the latter, you failed even though the results were the same. Don’t program your mind for failure. Once the goal has been achieved, set a super goal. A super goal represents that “little bit more” you can achieve after having reached your goal.
Step #6: Lack of determining the steps necessary to achieve a goal is the major reason for failure. You have all heard that the way you eat an elephant is one bite at a time. The same is true with achieving goals. Once you have determined your goal, break it into small steps. Give each step a time frame and then move forward one step at a time until you have achieved your goal.
Step #7: Just because you have set a goal doesn’t mean you are capable of achieving it without the proper training or education. Make learning and training part of the goal achievement process. Consult those who have previously accomplished your goal or something similar. Take advantage of the knowledge and wisdom of others to achieve your goals.
Step #8: Plan time each day for the achievement of your goals. Too often people become so focused on the day-to-day urgencies associated with their employment that they forget to plan time to accomplish the specific steps of their goals. Without proper daily planning you will never find the time to reach your goals.
Step #9: Create a structure of accountability relating to your goal. It is not good enough to just be accountable to yourself. Involve family, friends, co-workers and anyone else you feel comfortable with in the steps and achievement of your goals. You will find strength and courage when you involve others. A definition of courage is “doing what you say you will do even when the emotions of the moment are past.”
Step #10: Goals are achieved mentally before they are ever achieved physically. The world of sports is a very good analogy for winning first in your mind and then on the field of play. Envision yourself achieving your goal and then your physical actions will follow. In the Law of Success, Napoleon Hill’s first book, he describes the insight he gained from his research into the power of goal setting. He said, “Any definite chief aim that is deliberately fixed in the mind and held there with determination to realize it, finally saturates the entire subconscious mind until it automatically influences the physical action of the body toward the attainment of the purpose.”
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Management Has Three Choices In This Challenging Economy
The current economic environment is difficult. It is more challenging for some industries and less challenging for others. However, every business has been affected in one way or another. Every business has been presented with three choices; the culminating result of the choice you make will surely mark the difference between the success or failure of your company. This may come as sobering news, but it is better to understand the impact of your choice at the beginning, than to wish you had chosen better informed after the fact.
Each week I write about sales and this week will be no different. However, one of the three choices management will make in these challenging economic times involves sales. I will address that choice in a moment. These are the three choices that every company will ultimately choose from as they face the challenges of the current economy:
CHOICE #1: Do nothing – business as usual. Continue as before and turn a blind eye to what is taking place in the economy. Hope against hope that what you are experiencing is not real and things will be the way they used to be when you awake in the morning. Maybe everyone else is over reacting believing that changes need to be made when in reality, the current market is under rated.
CHOICE #2: Accept that you are truly experiencing unusual times and it is time to pull in your spending and reduce your overheads. Cut back in all areas, reduce all budgets, eliminate all waste, and let everyone go that is not adding value to the bottom line. Eliminate those salespeople who are not producing and make due with the rest. You believe that if “lady luck” smiles in your direction you will have cut deep enough to ride this one out. All indicators suggest that this strategy would be akin to being set adrift in the ocean and realizing that you will never be able to make it to shore, you take a deep breath, sink into the water and hope that you can hold your breath until someone can drain the ocean to prevent your drowning.
CHOICE #3: Believe in your heart of hearts that even though the economy is worse than you have ever seen, that you do have the ability to turn you business around and even perform more profitably than before the economic crises. With that belief you will focus all of your resources and energy on increasing your sales revenue, bringing more profit into the business and looking for ways to improve overall costs. Never in the history of your company have sales been more important to your survival. Your salespeople need to be at the top of their game in order to find every profitable sales opportunity instead of waiting for someone to walk in the door ready to place an order. In today’s market, people are not walking in the door. However, people have not quit buying either.
To survive the current market you must be proactive. If you had ten sales people last year, you need fifteen well-trained, highly motivated, proactive “selling machines” this year. Most salespeople do well in good times and poorly in challenging times. Why? Simple! Most salespeople are order takers, taking credit for sales that your company would make even if they didn’t have salespeople. In good times you need someone to answer the phone and write up the order. In challenging times salespeople will tell you that the sales are not to be had. Nothing is further from the truth. Sales opportunities are still there. There are plenty of sales to be made. They just require digging to find them and your salespeople don’t know how to dig.
This dilemma reminds me of Yellowstone bears in the early 60’s. They became lazy and complacent in their search for food. It was too easy to eat from the hands of the tourists or to just graze for food in the dump at the local campground. They didn’t need to hunt or dig for food, they just went where food was handed to them. A whole generation of bears no longer knew how to feed themselves in the wild. They depended on handouts. Salespeople have become like Yellowstone bears of the past. They can make a sale (write and order) if a customer walks in the door, or makes a phone call or hands them the order, but they don’t know how to find the sale if it is not in clear view.
TRAIN YOUR SALES PEOPLE TO SELL!! Don’t be satisfied with their excuses that the market will not support past performance. Therefore, as a company, you’ll just have to accept whatever they can get. Think about it. Has your market become so small due to the current economic situation that if you had one hundred percent of the market you wouldn’t have enough? There is still so much opportunity in this current market that if you increased your market share a few percentage points, you wouldn’t be able to handle all the business. How can you expect your salespeople to do something they haven’t done in the past, just because the current economy requires it? If they didn’t know how to sell when the market was strong, they still don’t know how to sell in today’s challenging market. The market has changed but your salespeople haven’t.
To increase sales you have to do something different than you have been doing in the past. Train your salespeople to do what you now need them to do. They need to be proactively finding new opportunities and closing at a higher ratio. They need to be accessing needs, presenting solutions and becoming part of the answer that prospective customers are so urgently seeking. Don’t expect the phone to ring, and don’t wait for someone to walk in the door placing a large order. It won’t happen. As difficult and challenging as the current economy is, there is still all the business your company can handle if you have well-trained, proactive salespeople who are working harder that they have in the past. Don’t accept any excuses from your sales department. There is no reason your sales can’t be better this year than last. Increased sales can be a reality if you apply the correct formula discussed in choice #3. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.
Each week I write about sales and this week will be no different. However, one of the three choices management will make in these challenging economic times involves sales. I will address that choice in a moment. These are the three choices that every company will ultimately choose from as they face the challenges of the current economy:
CHOICE #1: Do nothing – business as usual. Continue as before and turn a blind eye to what is taking place in the economy. Hope against hope that what you are experiencing is not real and things will be the way they used to be when you awake in the morning. Maybe everyone else is over reacting believing that changes need to be made when in reality, the current market is under rated.
CHOICE #2: Accept that you are truly experiencing unusual times and it is time to pull in your spending and reduce your overheads. Cut back in all areas, reduce all budgets, eliminate all waste, and let everyone go that is not adding value to the bottom line. Eliminate those salespeople who are not producing and make due with the rest. You believe that if “lady luck” smiles in your direction you will have cut deep enough to ride this one out. All indicators suggest that this strategy would be akin to being set adrift in the ocean and realizing that you will never be able to make it to shore, you take a deep breath, sink into the water and hope that you can hold your breath until someone can drain the ocean to prevent your drowning.
CHOICE #3: Believe in your heart of hearts that even though the economy is worse than you have ever seen, that you do have the ability to turn you business around and even perform more profitably than before the economic crises. With that belief you will focus all of your resources and energy on increasing your sales revenue, bringing more profit into the business and looking for ways to improve overall costs. Never in the history of your company have sales been more important to your survival. Your salespeople need to be at the top of their game in order to find every profitable sales opportunity instead of waiting for someone to walk in the door ready to place an order. In today’s market, people are not walking in the door. However, people have not quit buying either.
To survive the current market you must be proactive. If you had ten sales people last year, you need fifteen well-trained, highly motivated, proactive “selling machines” this year. Most salespeople do well in good times and poorly in challenging times. Why? Simple! Most salespeople are order takers, taking credit for sales that your company would make even if they didn’t have salespeople. In good times you need someone to answer the phone and write up the order. In challenging times salespeople will tell you that the sales are not to be had. Nothing is further from the truth. Sales opportunities are still there. There are plenty of sales to be made. They just require digging to find them and your salespeople don’t know how to dig.
This dilemma reminds me of Yellowstone bears in the early 60’s. They became lazy and complacent in their search for food. It was too easy to eat from the hands of the tourists or to just graze for food in the dump at the local campground. They didn’t need to hunt or dig for food, they just went where food was handed to them. A whole generation of bears no longer knew how to feed themselves in the wild. They depended on handouts. Salespeople have become like Yellowstone bears of the past. They can make a sale (write and order) if a customer walks in the door, or makes a phone call or hands them the order, but they don’t know how to find the sale if it is not in clear view.
TRAIN YOUR SALES PEOPLE TO SELL!! Don’t be satisfied with their excuses that the market will not support past performance. Therefore, as a company, you’ll just have to accept whatever they can get. Think about it. Has your market become so small due to the current economic situation that if you had one hundred percent of the market you wouldn’t have enough? There is still so much opportunity in this current market that if you increased your market share a few percentage points, you wouldn’t be able to handle all the business. How can you expect your salespeople to do something they haven’t done in the past, just because the current economy requires it? If they didn’t know how to sell when the market was strong, they still don’t know how to sell in today’s challenging market. The market has changed but your salespeople haven’t.
To increase sales you have to do something different than you have been doing in the past. Train your salespeople to do what you now need them to do. They need to be proactively finding new opportunities and closing at a higher ratio. They need to be accessing needs, presenting solutions and becoming part of the answer that prospective customers are so urgently seeking. Don’t expect the phone to ring, and don’t wait for someone to walk in the door placing a large order. It won’t happen. As difficult and challenging as the current economy is, there is still all the business your company can handle if you have well-trained, proactive salespeople who are working harder that they have in the past. Don’t accept any excuses from your sales department. There is no reason your sales can’t be better this year than last. Increased sales can be a reality if you apply the correct formula discussed in choice #3. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.
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