How You Can Recruit Sales Super Stars - Part 1 - Sales Traits

Ted Nicholas, the author of "Magic Words That Sell" once said,"Marketing mistakes are by far the primary reason businesses do not survive. This includes companies which consider themselves direct marketers as well as those who do not".Of course Ted is quite right make mistakes in marketing and you'll end up paying through the nose with absolutely no results. Yet companies continually make mistakes in sales.They waste the opportunities that marketing provides by using salespeople that have one, or more, of these traits:
Poor closers
Too aggressive
Passive order takers
Fear of phoning
Can't write to persuade
Can't present without being boring
Unable to build value in the service or product
Has poor follow-up skills
Can't get to top decision makers
Finds rejection difficult to handle
Poor time manager
Doesn't think strategically
Not self-disciplined
Doesn't try to get market knowledge
Yet sales training may have little or no effect because they're at the limit of their potential already.What About The Owners As Salestaff?Often the owners in small companies are also the sales staff. If they can't sell they ultimately go out of business. If they can sell they usually reach a point where they're working harder than if they were in a job. Think about it...If the owner is the company's sales channel they're probably also their own bookkeeper, administrative clerk, VAT returns clerk, receptionist and general "muck in and get the thing finished or delivered" guy too.


We all know Michael Gerber's mantra about "Working on the business, rather than in it". We all agree that's a very laudable aim. But we're all so busy doing and doing that we can't quite bear to tear ourselves away from working in the business.I've been a consultant and coach for over 30 years and I've rarely met a business owner or director who's felt able to step back and consider the strategic aims of the business as it grows.Strategic Selling AimsIt's all down to the perceived urgent need for sales. Because often management have no visibility of sales beyond the next one or two months.Ultimately your business reaches a point where you and your current staff are working all the hours there are to simply stand still.Growing the organisation is just another item that stays on the "to do" list. If it's not part of a strategic plan it rarely gets any focus until it's been a problem for a long time. A time where the company has been unable to keep up with sales leads.Before you reach that point you need to set-up a strategic business plan - for you, not for investors. As part of that consider when you're going to want to recruit a salesman.I'll use the term salesman rather than salesperson to indicate a man or woman who sells because it's seems less clumsy than salesperson.In the next article in this series I'll explain the three types of sales people you can attract and what their impact could be on your business

How Do You Save a New Salesperson Who Is Failing?

When you hired that new salesperson you had a great feeling in your gut. You felt they had the perfect personality. You made a good connection. You could see how others would easily get to know, like and trust this candidate. You hired her!Several months have past and now you realize you didn't get the full picture through your current hiring process. The person you were convinced would be a star is turning out to be a gigantic disappointment. She just isn't delivering at a level that is even close to your projections; and you are not going to meet your projections and goals. What do you do? Do you need to let her go?It's a tough decision as you have invested so much in terms of time and money to bring the new salesperson up to speed on your company; it's culture and it's products and services. The though of finding a replacement and going through the process of education someone else is overwhelming. You wonder how you can go through this again.Have you ever considered a coaching solution -- for yourself? I'll bet you thought I was going to suggest coaching for your underperforming salesperson? No, I am suggesting coaching for you, the sales manager. Through a coaching solution you can develop a coaching approach for yourself that will transcend years into the future, all the while you improve your staff's success potential.


Many sales leaders are turning to coaching models today to manage and grow their staff competencies. They are also using assessments to help determine who are the appropriate hires and who is right for a promotion. Assessments help managers determine who's the right fit based on incredibly valid data. When we hire based on resume's and face to face contact, we are only seeing about one-third of the candidate... not nearly enough information to make credible, positive hiring judgments for very important positions.Managers can compare thinking and behavioral styles to those criteria of your top performers who are important to you and your business. From this information you can determine not only job fit, but also where there might be behavioral and training needs that need to be addressed. Once you have this information you are positioned to make the best possible hiring decision.Through the coaching and assessing model of managing you continually improve your proficiency and are leading your sales team with maximum impact.

What Does a Sales Manager Do?

Are you considering the leap from client facing sales to the role of sales manager? Have you wondered what it is that the sales manager does? Let's look at the top 10 activities that the sales manager performs on a regular basis.1. Managing Targets/Quota: Every sales manager will have a target that is the total of all sales people that are reporting to him/her. In a situation where there are agents or partners involved, the sales manager will also carry this target. The sales manager must look at all potential means to close this target as management will be looking to him/her to find a way to close any and all 'gaps' between projections and targets.2. Working on Strategy with your Team: Often this element is forgotten in the rush to provide numbers on a continual basis for your management. However it is one of the most important things you will do to develop the skills of your team. Through their interactions with you and exploring the opportunities at hand you have the opportunity to truly provide value to your salespeople.3. Reporting: Unfortunately the role of the sales manager also contains quite a bit of reporting. The sales manager may be asked to report on funnel activity, forecasts (30, 60, 90 days), current month commitments, and specific products sold. They may also be asked to participate in marketing initiatives designed to improve the sales function.4. Managing the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software: Hand in hand with reporting goes managing the CRM (and more specifically the use of the CRM by the sales team). If the CRM is to be effective, your sales people need to use the CRM on a regular basis - capturing all the information they can about the customer and the communication with the customer. Not only is this critical in situations where a new person takes over an account, but it is also essential so that senior management can truly gauge the relationship with prospects and customers.5. Client Visits: While this is probably one of the most exciting thing for a sales manager to participate in, often it is the first to suffer given the pressures from all of the other items. During client visits the role of the sales manager is one of support (supporting the sales person), gathering information for coaching (whether in the moment coaching or scheduled coaching later) and observation. It also important for the customer/prospect to feel that they are connected to your organization by more than just the sales person. This adds credibility and strength to your sales person's offer to the client.


6. One on One Meetings: On a regular basis the manager will want/need to have one on one meetings with the salesperson. These meetings should focus on the mechanics of the position - what opportunities are hot, how can you help, where do you need to engage others in the organization. What these meetings are not is coaching meetings.7. Coaching Meetings: On a regular basis (no less than once a month), you need to meet with your people to provide coaching advice. The goal here is not only to provide feedback on a regular basis but also to give the employee the opportunity to implement feedback and improve on their results. If you do not have a coaching methodology, please feel free to look at my article coaching using the GROW methodology. I find that this approach works very well.8. Communicate: Your role is also to communicate both up into your organization as well as to your team members.9. Maintaining Morale: You must be prepared to support the organization and the direction it has been going. This means putting on a smile and being positive even when you may guess that things are going in another direction. With that said, you need to be transparent with your team when you can be.10. Team Meetings: Conducting these meetings in a clear, concise and transparent way will enable your team members to feel as part of the larger 'machine'. They will not only feel better about themselves and their colleagues, but also about your leadership and where you are taking the Team.Are there more items than those detailed above? Of course there are! One thing certain about being a Sales Manager and the role you perform is that change and chaos is inevitable. Your challenge is to be open, welcome these, and transform them for your Team.

Patience and the Art of the Sale - Growth Is Needed for Our Deals, Our Teams, and Our Clients

'Patience is necessary... One cannot reap immediately what one had sown' Soren KierkegaardIn today's high tech - instant gratification age we forget the basic truth that Kierkegaard shares. Patience is necessary in all things. Whether we are talking to the teenager that expects to leave school with no firm foundation to walk into a six figure income without putting forth the required work and innovative approaches required or a sales person that expects to close every deal without putting in the effort required to nurture the customer and the deal - in both cases we are really dealing with a certain level of immaturity and entitlement.We need to remind our team members that it does take time and patience for the seeds we plant to grow to a size that makes reaping a profitable venture. Just like the seed that grows to a plant that is ready to harvest - after nurturing and caring - so too our sales opportunities must be be tended and developed to the point where we can complete the sale. If we pull the plant too early we may end up with an underdeveloped yield. We pull the same plant too late and the plant may be past it's prime and only good for seeding the next crop. So too with our sales deals Pus the client before they are ready and your deal will not yield as much or provide as much benefit to the client. Wait too long and the circumstances around the deal may have changed so much that it may not resemble our initial vision of success.Given this truth, one must naturally ask why it is that the feeling of instant gratification and quick deals is perpetuated in our sales culture. Yes there are definitely those commodities and services that allow for the 'one call' deal yet the number of these do not align with the approach the majority of companies take. It is my belief that this is actually a failure in our organizations - a schism in the corporate culture that demands month after month performance from even the newest sales representative and does not provide sales management with the luxury of time to plant the seeds that will grow into deals. In such a case it is no wonder that uncertainty and self analysis/fear of the next months cause an unnaturally high stance of burnout amongst our middle management - one could argue our most critical level of management.


The inevitable question that arises for the leadership team relative to the balance of urgency and nurturing deals. How do we, as senior leaders, balance the need to 'feed the beast' (whether this is our shareholders or our next level of management)?We all acknowledge the truth that we cannot speed a plant to grow faster organically. Yes we can apply pesticides and genetic modification to increase the yield of the crops - but when we look at the ecosystem of a sale rarely do we have the opportunity to 'engineer' a deal for the greatest yield. Yet the demands of the organization and of the street drive harder and harder for the leadership team (and by trickle effect the entire organization) to attempt to deliver increasing amounts of profit without investing in the most critical element - patience.-------

Sixth Basic Principle Of Sales: To Be Aware of the Concept of Competition

In our world, competition existed, still exists and it will always continue to exist in every human activity. Many people believe nowadays that the bigger the competition is concerning a product, the less the possibilities are to sell it. This opinion is a huge mistake. Do you know which products are the most difficult to sell? Those that are characterized by the less competition!! Why? Because competition is equal to free advertising.Thus, competition does not play any important role. It does not even matter how many sellers have already spoken to our potential customer. The only thing that seriously matters is who we are and how professional we are regarding our job, in other words if we enter an enterprise in a professional way, if we deal with each one of our customers that enter our store in a professional way and eventually, if we show enough professionalism so as our potential customer can trust us.Let me tell you a secret: when you enter the place of your potential customer you should think that you are the first person who meets the customer to talk to him about this particular product. In fact, you are the first person: the customer may have heard all these things many times before but he had not heard them from you.Consequently, we should not be scared of competition but we should be aware of it. What are the other companies of the same field? It is helpful to carry out a research concerning this issue so as to form our own opinion regarding competition in our field. Do we know all positive features of our company against our competitors? Do we belong to a big or small enterprise of our field? If we belong to a small company and in case our customer asks us, do we know all advantages characterizing our company against a bigger enterprise?


Let's be more precise. A small enterprise:1. Pays greater attention to each one of its customers.2. It is more flexible. We discuss about something at this present moment and it can be implemented immediately and not in a week.3. It is more adaptable meaning that in case there is an initial agreement with a customer, everything is more positive in the future.4. It is more personal. Prices can be adapted to each customer's demands.5. There is an immediate delivery of the products.If we belong to a big enterprise, our strong points can be the following:1. Our company's power along with its extended clientele shows us that many people trust our company.2. Advertising as well as marketing of a big company enforce its products. This means that the customer knows its products quite or very well.3. Long-term cooperation: such a big company inspires safety for a long- term cooperation.4. There is the possibility of lower prices in the company's products compared to the average characterizing its competitors and this is due to the company's power.Thus, in any case regardless of the competition and the other companies existing in this particular field, we always pay attention to the positive features of our company so as to gain our customer's trust. Always remember: the market out there is really huge. Saturation will never happen. In case there is saturation of a product, sooner or later other similar products will come up. Human needs never end because this is exactly what human nature is.

Recruitment Training - 3 NLP Techniques That Will Send Billings Ballistic

When it comes to recruitment training for ambitious recruitment business owners, it generally spells one thing. Get my recruitment consultants billing more and consistently! The ultimate goal for any business is to increase revenue and profit. One sure fire way is to bill more. So what needs to happen for your consultants to send their billings through the roof? It comes down to a much used term and that is closing the sale. Before that can happen a few things need to have taken place first. Usually around the ability to set a realistic goal or target and a route to achieve it.Add into this ethical and elegant influencing skill and you will be on the home run. One way to do this is to utilise NLP. NLP is a great model that can show us exactly how to do this. The even better news is that it is based on the results others have achieved. NLP is the abbreviation for Neurolingustic programming. In lay man's terms this means how the mind and body all work together to achieve exceptional results. So here are three key NLP techniques that when you use them will increase your results.1. Start with the end in mindSo often consultants can take action on something without thinking about exactly what they want to happen. A great technique is to set a well formed outcome. This is where we start with the end in mind and then work our way through exactly what is going to happen, how we will feel and what the desired result is that we want. Remember this is what successful people do and their exact process has been studied.2. RapportSo now we have our well-formed outcome what next? Rapport my friend. This is one of the most powerful parts of NLP, especially if you are in the influencing professions, which of course as recruiters we are. In one famous book on selling there is a quotation that states that 85% of successful sales come through the ability to establish rapport. Now in this context we are not talking about the fact that you both like football or rugby. We are focused on something deeper and powerful. That is an unconscious connection that you make with someone. The amazing thing is that you can be in rapport with almost anyone, if you follow the process. An easy way to do this is through body language and voice. It is easy to learn fast and will bring results.


3. LanguageLanguage is powerful at any level from the words we say to ourselves to the voice pitch and tone we talk in. Words do influence. One of the ways to use this to your advantage is to identify language preferences that people use and then use similar words and phrases. The guys who developed NLP were called Bandler and Grinder. Something they noticed is that as humans we have three main preferences in the language we use. We are visual, auditory, or kinaesthetic. In reality we are a mixture of all three. You can spot this easily. The visual people will use words like; "See what I mean", "Show me how that works", if we are auditory we might say, "Sounds logical", "I hear what you are saying". The kinaesthetic people might say; "I feel that this is not the best thing to do". You get the picture! Matching language like this is powerful and builds an unconscious connection with people. Have a go and see.So there you have just three things that you can help your recruitment consultants embrace that will skyrocket their billings.

The Importance of Leading and Real Time Indicators for Sales Leaders

When sales leaders look at their sales team success they often only key in and look at the actual sale. The sale or the closing of a prospect is of course important - but it is only one piece to the puzzle. Sales leaders have to look at Leading, Lagging and Real Time indicators when they are evaluating sales performance of their teams.The closure of the sale is a lagging indicator and unless you are closing sales daily, you could already be in trouble.So how do we as sales leaders create effective indicators that assist us in evaluating the behaviors required today for sales tomorrow as well as into the future? The answer is the utilization and management of Key Performance Indicators or KPIs for short, specifically by managing the following three indicators, Leading, Lagging and Real Time. These key three will ensure you have a healthy sales funnel and future business. They provide an objective form of measurement that if done correctly allows you to see into the future allowing you to change direction swiftly or solve roadblocks within your team.To effectively implement these KPIs as a sales leader you will need to determine how you will measure them correctly is to clearly differentiate with your team what a sales pipeline is and that of a sales forecast. A sales funnel provides clear visibility into all of your opportunities, regardless of their probability of closing, whereas a forecast is a subset of the pipeline that only includes qualified opportunities that are expected to close within a defined period.A properly defined funnel and its sales stages help you organize your sales process and create effective tools and benchmarks for your sales team, making it easier to forecast the future success of your sales team. In fact, using KPIs, you'll know not only how your team is currently performing, but also what roadblocks they are encountering.Implemented correctly a sales forecast becomes yet another forward planning tool you can use for budgets, spending, lead conversion success, cost per lead, and help you appropriately and accurately predict your revenues.Every sales leader should measure the following:Leading indicators - Funnel development• Sales cycle length• Number of qualified leads in the pipeline• Proposals to qualified prospective clients• Total length of time to qualify a new prospect• Number of new (first) client meetings per month• Cold calls to qualified prospect ratios and conversion rates


Sales leaders need to not only measure their teams opportunity-to-close ratio's but also the conversion from each stage of the sales process. Keeping an eye the length of your sales cycle, the number of new client meetings you have each month, and the conversion ratio of new leads to qualified leads will provide insights on whether you will be ahead or behind your companies sales goals and how you can best adjust them quickly and effectively when needed to ensure the accomplishment of said goals.Lagging indicators: Quota focused• Number of sales per quarter and year• Proposal to closed ratio• Average sales size• New clients versus existing clients• Annual sales quotaReal time indicators: Client management, retention and growth• Average client growth quarter over quarter• Client retention ratesDepending on your particular business, you may need to have additional KPIs. A payroll company might measure checks cut per client.The best sales leaders rely data when establishing KPIs. Each KPI should have an appropriate benchmark that is based on actual data derived from past sales history or if you are a start up or relatively new company utilize benchmarks from your particular industry. Review your sales from prior months, quarters or years to assist you in calculating averages and quotas. Knowing your average deal size and then combining that with lead conversion rates will give you a very accurate idea of how many opportunities your team will need to have in the funnel in order to exceed your sales quotas in a very objective and process driven way.Once your measurements are established they are only helpful if they are used. Know each of your KPIs, and review the data weekly. Manage the system and watch for any trends-both worsening and improving so you and your team can react appropriately. It's vital to include your sales team in this process; review each person's KPIs once a week in your coaching session. This will help them to understand what is important and help them see any issues in their performance early and allow them to make adjustments quickly based on data.KPIs allow sales leaders to more accurately predict the future of their sales team, their goals, and training needs that will ensure success.Bret J. Brockbank is a management and leadership expert with skills in sales, operations and human resources developed from years of experience all while delivering bottom line results.

Faster Isn't Always Better - Slowing Down The Sales Process Could Yield Better Results

Many sales people are eager and operate in a fast paced environment. But, too often that means they rush straight to the proposal phase, without taking the time to discover enough compelling reasons to create urgency for the deal. When this happens the client is rushed along, and may not have the ability to build a strong internal case needed for approval and funding.As a CEO or Sales Manager one of the main things you can do is sit down with your team and ask them to review their pipeline with you. To do this, there are some key questions you can ask to identify if these opportunities are really as strong as they believe.What sort of questions should I ask my sales team?Ask questions to poke, probe and challenge whether they can defend their probability of closing prediction.Here are a few questions to help you get started, please feel free to add your own questions that fit your industry or business.Tell me about the business problem our proposal will solve for this prospect:How long has it been an issue for this company? When did they first notice it?
What have they done to try to address it? How has that worked?
How much did that cost them?
What happens if they don't address this issue?
How will it impact them financially? Lost sales? Increased cost? Missed opportunities? Upset customers? Damage to their reputation? Key employees leaving?
What will the impact be on their operations if this isn't fixed? How does this slow down their workflow? Does it require people to do things they shouldn't need to do? What would those people being doing if they were not working on this issue? Does it impact quality? Are their regulatory issues?
Who are all the people at the prospect that care about this issue?
Tell me about the roles and responsibilities for everyone you've met with for this opportunity.
Who could lose their job if this doesn't get fixed?
Are you talking to the right people or are you calling where you're comfortable?
When you agreed to prepare a proposal for them, what timeframe did they give you for their decision process?
Did you set up a meeting to review the proposal or did you just send it over?
What are the next steps?
Who else are they considering? How do we stack up against this competitor?


Keep asking them questions.Many of the sales people who have attended our Must Win Deal workshops can't handle this rapid questioning. They quickly realize that they went through the discovery stage of the sales process way too fast. They didn't ask enough or the right questions. They didn't explore all the issues. They didn't quantify all of the compelling reasons to change. They didn't meet with all the key stakeholders. They missed a lot of critical information.Have your sales people slow down during the early and mid-stage sales meetings. Ensure that your sales team is having meetings, and take the opportunity to probe them and coach them around this issue. Have them ask more and better questions. Have them invest more time in the conversations at these earlier stages, and you will see a tremendous improvement in the quality of the late stage opportunities in your sales pipeline.If you're interested in learning how our half-day Must Win Deal workshop can sharpen your sales funnel, please contact Intelligent Conversations to learn more and find out if it's right for your situation.

Sales and Employee Compensation Programs

Employee Compensation and Performance- One of the biggest management challenges for a growing business is compensating salespeople effectively. You know you need an incentive compensation plan that encourages your sales force to land new accounts and continue to upsell existing customers, but where do you begin figuring out the best way to compensate them? It often boils down to finding the right balance between base pay and commission and/or bonus.Sales incentive programs can have an enormous impact on the bottom line and on future growth of the business. Executing a well-designed sales compensation plan can help companies create a sales culture of high performance where individual goals are aligned with those of the larger organization. Furthermore, building a reputation for recognizing and rewarding good performance while also helping companies attract and retain top sales talent.Every compensation plan should be constructed to help your company achieve its strategic goals and to synchronize with the primary elements of the Strategy for Sales Perfection. If the plan does not achieve these two objectives, you need to restructure your compensation plan. Secondarily, your compensation plan needs to address the inherent goal to attract, reward and retain the right people.A sales compensation plan is a way to put your sales and marketing strategy into operation. Given the impact that sales compensation plans can have on growth, almost every company with a sales force should take a more strategic approach to designing their incentives plan. Fully understanding both the key drivers of successful sales incentive programs and the ways to optimize them can be complex, and plan specifics can vary widely.Here are some of the essential elements to include:Strategy - The business' sales strategy, incorporate product sales initiatives into the plan, and finally, what the business is trying to achieve. Keep in mind that you will need to consider your environment, your product categories, your marketing plan, and your competitors.Performance measures - Spell out benchmarks and performance measures to help guide the sales force in terms of their focus.


Payout formula - This is perhaps the most essential component that spells out to your staff what is in it for them. The payout formula lays out how they will be paid in terms of straight compensation or commission for sales.Develop Meaningful Sales Goals and Performance Objectives - Successful selling means motivating sales people to attain certain objectives. Be realistic with these objectives and make sure that each level can be reached.Never structure your compensation plans around a straight commission. It limits the number of candidates you will attract, and it typically drives sales volume towards lower margin items that are "low hanging fruit". Straight commission programs seldom drive sales volume within proprietary and high margin product categories. If you are a proponent of commission only plans, then design the plan around a base and commission.Sales compensation formulas should be a mix between base salary and variable pay. How you decide to structure the plan rests entirely on the type of business you are engaged. Completely evaluate each and every aspect of your business and how this will affect the plan, such as the autonomy of the sales person to control the sale, the kind of selling you are engaged, and the sales cycle of your business. Let your top performing sales people provide input to the plan, include your HR department in the plan design, and devise a suitable formula with an implementation strategy.I personally believe a sales compensation plan should be structured around performance to annual budgeted profit objectives or product penetration objectives. I find these to be highly effective and typically bestow all the objectives management is trying to achieve. Additionally, these plans should be indexed to meet certain performance goals designated by company executives. Consider the following example.Assume you have one sales person for this model and the sales person is paid according to the following plan. This plan is based upon the assumption that the sales person will be compensated for attaining their quarterly profit goals.

Are You Pushing Hard Enough?

"You never know how a horse will pull until you hook him to a heavy load." Bear Bryant.Are you pulling a heavy load while developing your self, your business, your life?
Or, are you just gliding along on the smooth ice?Are you working hard to do something - or just being busy?Are you talking about what you did or what you are going to do?
That is how you can tell you are getting old.
Old people talk about what they did.
Those seeking success talk about what they are going to do.The "Bear," - one of the most successful college football coaches ever, was a man of few words, but a tremendous winner. His Alabama football teams will live on in history forever.Until you put yourself under a heavy load, a great stress, you never really know what you are capable of.It is human nature to want things easy and comfortable - yet?Without difficulties you will never have a chance to discover your real ability, power, and skill.You will never reach or even come close to your potential.This year, stop, make a commitment, and go for the gold.Today's six pack - six ways to unleash your power.1. Double your goals
Set them up, come on.
Stop making it to easy.
If you wanted to increase sales by 10%, make it 20%
If you wanted 10 new customers, make it 20.
If 3 major new accounts was your target, make it 6.Make the load heavier and you will be amazed at what you a capable of.2. Do something different.
Stop doing what everyone else does.
If everyone else uses the phone, you stop by.
If everyone else uses the internet, you use the phone or send it US Mail.
Stop doing it the way everyone else does.
If the standard is written proposals, do a video.
If everyone else sending paper, send a recording.
If everyone uses email - you text.
Do something different
Innovative
Creative


Take a risk and be different.3. Give more.
Stop worrying about what you have and start giving more away.
If you give more away.
You will get more to give away.
It does really work that way.
You will never miss it.Take a shot.
Try it.4. Stop Accepting less
How many people accept where they are in life and just settle in?
How many people say, "gotta be happy I got this much."
No.
You know what you want, and you are not going to accept anything less.
Make a commitment to make it happen.
Go for it.You will be amazed at what you can do.5. Push your team
Raise the expectations you have of them.
Expect them to do more and they will do more.
Or they will leave.
Either way it is OK.
You need a team that will support what you want to accomplish.
If they don't work at your level, then perhaps they are not the right players.Push them hard and you will learn.
Expect them to push as hard as you, and they will.6. Push yourself.
You are really that good.
But first you have to believe it yourself.
Then you can get others to buy in.
Are you really pushing yourself, or are you just talking about it.
Are you really stretching, or just thinking you are.
Come on, this is your year.Go for it.OK, there you have it.
Yes, you might fail.
But, you know failure creates success.
So go for the gold.

Is Your Prospect's Short Attention Span Causing Heartache and Frustration?

If you were to sit down and create a fantasy sales team to compete in the market of your choice, would you add your own name to the roster? Your immediate response should be an emphatic "YES! I am a Sales Professional and sales is my game." If it wasn't, then maybe it's time to take a look at what's keeping you off your own team.Understanding What MattersThe first thing you'll realize is that the product or service you're selling isn't the most important factor in the growth equation. The goal may be to sell a specific product or service, but it's secondary to the knowledge and skill required to do the job. Do you remember Circuit City, Blockbuster Video, and Kodak? At one point in time, they were leaders in their respective markets. Unfortunately, they forgot about the distinction between the product and the process. They didn't adjust to what was happening in the market, the direction of the trends, or the advances in technology. They didn't stay relevant in a changing world and ended up losing their customers, and ultimately their businesses. It's important to stay on top of business trends and remember that today the business world moves at the same speeds as cell phones, emails, and blogs.Staying FreshStaying fresh and ahead of the curve requires a commitment to consistently pursuing information relevant to yourself as a salesperson, to your product and its application, and to your clients and customers. Do you have a process in place that ensures you're paying attention to what matters in your quest to achieve and maintain your personal and professional success? Are you making the necessary adjustments in your sales approach based on new information or technology to remain relevant to your prospects and customer's needs?


Make a CommitmentOne thing you can do to increase both your relevancy and your competitive edge is to make a commitment to staying current with news that might have an effect on you, your product or service, and your clients and customers. Most sales professionals already do this to some degree, but to stand out:Decide how much time it will take to stay on top of news and research and make a personal commitment to blocking that time out in your schedule and doing the work.Analyze your knowledge channels - both off and online - to make sure they are still the best sources available for relevant and up-to-date news and information.It's a ChoiceBusiness growth depends on a lot more than supply and demand. As a "business professional", you have the choice of being an active part of the growth cycle or sitting on the sidelines and watching someone else take your place in the game. Commit to doing the work; commit to making a valuable contribution to your customers and clients and you will be sharpening the competitive edge that invariably leads to success.