Get Lucky
The ability for a sales person to create their own luck has never been better.
The problem: old school thought and behavior won’t give you the same chance to get. You create luck by being active in social media. Creating expert content in your field and distributing your knowledge as a service to your prospects. The more you’re OUT there, the more luck you’ll create…..or you can just keep making cold calls and handing out brochures.
The Four Most Annoying Habits of Salespeople
Below is a list of habits millions of sales people do that annoy the hell out of most other human beings. If you partake in any of these, please stop. If you don’t, let’s keep it that way.
1. YOU TALK TOO MUCH AND DON’T THINK YOU DO.
In the movie When Harry Met Sally, Harry Burns said to Sally Albright, “You’re the worst kind; you’re high maintenance but you think you’re low maintenance.” I can’t tell you how many new clients have talked for 20 straight minutes on the importance of being a good listener.
My advice: Be quiet. Be quiet. Be quiet.
2. OVERLY ENTHUSIASTIC.
Here’s a conversation at national sales meeting between two territory managers who haven’t seen each other in a while:
- “Bobby Z whasssup dog? Still killin’ it in Hotlanta?”
- “Dude we killed it this year, up 28%! How are things on the left coast?”
- “Same bro numbers this morning had us up 32″
- “…Great! Fantastic! I’m finer than a frogs hair split three ways!”
My advice: You annoy the hell out of people if your energy is too high. Relax bro. Watch the two bulls on a hill story in the movie Colors with Sean Penn…just walk down.
The Bitch is Back
I think God created a “bitching” gene and implanted it in 9 out of 10 Americans. Salespeople are unfortunately notorious bitchers. They complain about their territory, their managers, their compensation plan, and their expense policy. I believe in Karma and I think too much bitching costs people money, relationships and good fortune. Next time you feel the need to lambaste your idiot manager do us and YOU a favor and keep it to yourself.
“WHOOOOO ARE YOU?” –P. Townsend
In this obvious time of reflection prior to heading into a new year, I thought it would be helpful to give you some questions to ask yourself.
- Why am I doing what I do for a living?
- What do I REALLY want to do day after day after day?
- What makes me deliriously happy?
- What do I loathe?
- What am I most afraid of?
- What is my most limiting belief?
- What would happen if I took a risk beyond my current comprehension?
- What thoughts do I have that limit my performance?
- What mask do I wear and why?
- Whom do I know that can mentor me/help me?
- What knowledge do I have that others would love to know?
- Whom do admire? Why?
- What behaviors am I most proud of/best at?
- What behaviors am I least proud/worst at?
- When is this blog post going to end?
Now…use this as a free-flow thought provoker as you travel from place to place and mentally prepare for next year.
Cheers!
One
It’s the loneliest number and also the spot you likely want to hold on the sales results chart. Being number one is easy. Most average performers justify why they’re NOT number one, “Well hell, Tom’s got the best territory. No wonder he’s number one.” Being number one is 85% mental and 15% skill. You’ll never be number one until you surrender to this truth. Today would be a good day to surrender.
How Salespeople Can Differentiate Themselves
We get asked this question almost daily in our sales training business: HOW CAN I DIFFERENTIATE MYSELF? Let’s spend a little time looking at the bigger picture.
Step 1: Stop Behaving Like a Salesperson
Find 20 strangers and ask them to do word association. You say a word, and they say the first thing that comes to mind. The word: SALESPERSON.
95% of the responses you’ll get will be negative: PUSHY, ANNOYING, SLIMY, SLICK, etc. So the first step in differentiating yourself is to STOP BEHAVING LIKE, SPEAKING LIKE AND THINKING LIKE any sort of salesperson.
Step 2: Develop 2 Stories
Express your value with STORIES. The “elevator pitch” is OUT. The 30-second commercial is as up to date as an 8-track tape player. Time to find your voice in the new century.
You need to develop 2 stories: 1) your personal story and 2) your company story. We’re not talking about your biographical history. We’re talking about why you do what you do—your philosophy with new customers. Stating your intent. Sharing what you’ve learned. The Story is in and a necessity when it comes to differentiating yourself in the sales process.
Step 3: Keep Features/Functions/Benefits Out of the Conversation
Here’s the deal. NO ONE CARES ABOUT WHAT IT DOES. THEY ONLY CARE IF IT MAKES THEIR LIFE BETTER. Salespeople are still addicted to specs, attributes, features, functionality, etc. No one cares…how is my life better off with you and your product in it than out of it? That’s it.
Step 4: Stop Trying
Stop trying to DIFFERENTIATE. Trying to differentiate from a competitor immediately puts you in a very bad place. It puts you on the defensive. When you’re on the defensive, you turn your attention to the COMPETITOR and away from the CUSTOMER. If you really want to differentiate yourself, stop trying to. Just focus on helping the person across the table.
4 small ideas that will dramatically and positively impact your effectiveness in the sales process.
For Sales Managers Only
This one is for the sales managers and VPs. If you’re a salesperson, forward it with high priority. If you’re a sales manager or VP sales, print it out and laminate it.
It’s the ECONOMY, STUPID. Remember this piece of political wisdom imparted to Bill Clinton by one of his top advisors? It all but won the election for President Clinton.
So here is my advice for CEOs, sales teams and sales managers: It’s the SALES MANAGER, STUPID.
Inevitably, when we’re invited to train a group of salespeople, the focus turns to fixing or helping the “salespeople.” A deeper investigation almost always reveals a more significant problem—the sales manager.
Unfortunately, the typical path to become a sales manager involves a pit stop in the #1 slot on the sales results chart. You’ve likely heard it or said it. “Susan’s our best salesperson. If we could just get 15 Susan’s, we’d kill it. Let’s make Susan the SALES MANAGER.” Hoo hoo hoo hoo (while pumping fists, hi-fives and chest bumps by grown men).
WAH, WAH, WAH (Price is Right loser sound) WRONG ANSWER, CHIEF!
The skills of strong sales managers RARELY align with the skills of strong salespeople. I repeat: The skills of strong sales managers RARELY align with the skills of strong salespeople.
Here are some observations as one who observes sales managers all day everyday:
- It can’t be ABOUT the sales manager. IT HAS TO BE ABOUT THE SALESPEOPLE. Your #1 job as a sales manager: To help every salesperson reach their own personal goal. That’s it. It’s NOT TO HIT YOUR NUMBER. IT’S NOT TO HIT YOUR BONUS. You should only focus on helping them.
- It’s your role to remove any and all useless administration that distracts from their prospecting and selling efforts. Sales managers usually do this one backward. They require reports and data and analysis and forms and call sheets and expense reports…and, and, and. STOP IT! Find someone else to collect and analyze the data. Share the results with your salespeople with an idea on how to use it to help them reach their personal goal.
- Realize they WON’T DO IT LIKE YOU DID IT. If you’ve gotten to the management spot via the typical path, you were a stud or stud-et salesperson. You did things uncommon to the game. You were proactive. You were personally accountable. You were an anomaly. That’s why it’s a bell curve. You’re now dealing with people who couldn’t hold your jock or sports bra. It’s your job to MEET THEM WHERE THEY ARE and get the most out of them possible—which might be way less than you could get out of the same territory.
- Find each person’s PERSONAL EMOTIONAL MOTIVATION (PEM—but I hate acronyms). Here’s the question: Do you know what personally motivates each person on your sales team? You probably assume everyone wants to make a lot of money and be #1. That’s what they say, isn’t it? That’s a lie! They all want something different. Some want balance in life. Some want security. Some want your job. Some want to save money to start their own business. You will be INSANELY effective as a sales manager if you know each individual’s motivation and manage them to that. It’s the most efficient approach to getting sustained behavioral change.
I could go on, but I think that’s plenty for now. If you’re a sales manager, inject these into your sales management DNA. If you’re a salesperson, forward it (and then stop in the next day and see if he/she has read it).
