Watson gives those of us in our 50’s belief that it’s “never over.” Thanks Tom.

The Mental Side of Golf

But another comment that we at “inside the sales mind” heard was Stewart’s speech. He thanked his coach, Butch Harmon, his conditioning coach, and — get this — his two mental coaches. I’ve always heard Tiger has one ‘mind coach’ but two? Oh well, if that’s what it takes, go for it.

In a game that is as mental as golf, why not.

But what about business and sales? Isn’t that mental? It’s not just about activity–but the right activity–with the right mental framework.

Do you have a mental sales coach? Preposterous right? Well maybe not. Here are some thoughts about where a mental coach can help us.

1. When we’re in our comfort zone. Actually, we’re ALWAYS in our comfort zone. So we really need someone there all the time to keep us moving to the outer reaches of that zone. This applies to our income, sales goals, activity levels and how we look at the market.
2. When we call too low. I believe calling too low is a mental issue.  If you continue to call at a level where the decision is NOT made, then don’t blame others for mediocre results. Who you call on has more to do with your self-image than you might think.
3. When we see ourselves there to ’sell.’ Wrong. We’re not there to sell. We’re there to find and solve problems. But, beaten in to our heads, from our first sales job to our current one, is this notion that the  ‘harder we sell’ the better we do.  We need an impartial, unbiased 3rd party there to keep our head right on this one. (A sales manager cannot be a ‘head’ coach–too much invested in the game.)

So, hopefully, we can take a lesson from Stewart Cink. Maybe mind coaches aren’t such a waste afterall. No one’s laughing today.

“Lack of clarity leads to confusion. Confusion leads to fear. And fear leads to inaction.”

Now, of course, he was talking about the economy in general and the ineffectiveness of the President’s communication to the people on this front.

But he could just as well be talking to you.

As a sales trainer, I’m always observing how sales people approach me. The world is one big laboratory for us.

I had a sales person call on me from a referral last week. It should have been a ‘laydown’ for him (or ‘layup’ coz of March Madness). I really wanted what he had.

But by the end of the phone call, he had me so confused with so many options that I decided to “do nothing.” Afterall, I didn’t HAVE TO HAVE what he was selling. it was a “nice to have.”

Too many options. Too confusing. Too much Fear. Too little action.

Do you do that to your prospects? Do you get ahead of yourself? Do you fail to realize that they aren’t in your business? You’re in college–they’re just in grade school, comparatively. Do you overplay your hand to the point you scare them?

I hope not. But if you’re experiencing  a slow market, don’t be too quick to blame that market. Look in the mirror and see if you’re easy to buy from.

Slow down. Be patient. Ask better questions. Tell stories. Be more clear about your value. And watch your results change. Don’t confuse your prospect.

So what’s the problem? I think I know.

They aren’t happy with you.

That’s right, they may not be entirely happy with your service. So how would you know if they were? Do you test? Do you survey? If not, why not?

Dinner at Sullivan’s

I had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants the other night–Sullivan’s Steak House. It was less than special. Steak grisly. Potatoes boring. Desert lousy. An uncommon experience at Sullivan’s.

So what did the waiter do at the end? Sell us on why we needed to get on the email list.

Hmmmmm. Wouldn’t it have been better if they would have given me a chance to weigh in on my experience? AND THEN….ask me if they could have my email address. Never once at Sullivan’s have I been asked to rate the food, the experience or anything.

That night, the restaurant was 1/3 full. In this day, when customers are weighing their every dollar, doesn’t it make sense to do all you can to solidfy your current relationships?

And that starts not with “Can I sell you something else?” But, with, “How are we doing at providing you unbelievable service?” If it’s not unbelievable, then it can be replaced.

So all the time you’re out selling new prospects, goes up in smoke because you’re losing clients out the back end.

In that post, he bulleted several lessons, one of which was, “People will pay for things that make their life better.”

During slow times, this might just be your secret key to riches. You must be exploring your value deeper to see how you make the lives of your customers better. Do you?

At Your Next Sales Meeting….

Spend 2 hours (that’s right two hours–this is important stuff) on a list of ways that buying your solution will improve the life of your clients. It could be from the standpoint of economics ($$), or reputation, or customer acquisition, or well-being.

But take furious notes. What you’ll find is that you’ll hit on things where you bring value that have been previously undiscussed.

2009. A Year of Value

We’re living in a year of value–people will pay for it if it’s there–and will skip it if it’s not. Lowering your price does not bring value. Doing “going out of business sales” doesn’t either. Spending your energy claiming victim won’t either.

Communicating the benefits of your product does.

But I try to look at things through different glasses–and sometimes it gets me in trouble. As a sales trainer, I get asked about skills a lot. And so this post is about sales skills and free markets. Quite a combination, isn’t it?

But here is my thesis, unproven as it is:

While most people look at the unemployment rate as an indicator for the health of the economy, I look at it as an indicator of SKILL-JOB Congruence.

SKILLED Congruence is a phenomena of ‘population skills to job requirements.’ In our leadership unit, (The Leadership Institute of Indianapolis) we spend a lot of time with sales teams making sure that the SKILLS required for the job match the SKILLS of the individual. When they do, things work better.

So Why Isn’t it the Same Thing in a Capitalist Society?

We each are CEO’s of us (although I’ve always sneered at that phrase, it actually fits here). You have choices in life in a free society/market.

You choose where to live, based on your means. You choose what career to pursue based on your interest and ability. You chose your friends. You choose whether you want to go into massive debt or not.

In a free market, where you are CEO of YOU INC, you also choose what skills to work on. If you chose the skills required for an assembly line in the auto business, you did fine for a while.

Markets Change. That’s Why They Call Them “Free.”

But the market changed (it does ALL the time). So now, those skills you were selling to your employer are no longer demanded by that employer.

So, why claim victim? You can cry ‘foul’ for years, but that won’t change the fact that the market has changed. And you can change with it.

What Does This Mean to the Average Auto Worker? Or to You?

It means everything.

Virtually every client I’m working with right now is hiring — if they found the right person. EVERY CLIENT. Granted – these people aren’t in the automotive but it means they have demand that needs to be filled. But they find few people who are skilled in their area.

So, rather than whine that the government (or anyone) won’t bail you out, look at your skills and take an assessment of them. Be man enough to admit when your skills are outdated, antiquated, or out of demand. Remember, the market doesn’t pay for what you want it to pay you for. The market pays for what’s in demand.

It’s Your Life. Use It.

Go back to school–or to a trade college –or to the internet. Look at purchasing a small business op or a new skill.

And don’t think your any different than the automotive business is different. What if your skill was no longer needed? What would you do?

The Market Wants New Ideas. Can You Supply Those?

• The Market wants people good at selling/marketing things? Can you do that?
• The Market wants people who know how to get things done? Are you one of those?
• The Market wants to pay for performance–not pay for hours worked. Do you have the guts to do that?
• The Market wants internet skills. Have you stopped to learn them?

The Market does not need automotive assembly line workers. The Market does not need new auto dealerships. The Market might not need more realtors right now–regardless of how much you love homes.

TIP: Go where the market is.

I can’t tell you how many phone calls we get from sales managers/CEOs who complain that their people just can’t communicate the value of their products, and they’ve got to either train them or replace them.

Good news for us—since we’re in the training business.

But with that pain also comes a certain amount of guilt. I had one president tell me last week that he “took it personally that he couldn’t teach his people how to sell.”

There are three things that will be the foundation for whether a person has it in them to be successful in your business:

1. Fit
Does the salesperson’s personality fit the personality required of the position? If they’re very outgoing and enthusiastic and you expect them to call on CFOs who are very reserved and calculating, how do you think that’s going to work?

Or, if your AE is not a detail person and you’re selling engineering services, how do you think that’s going to work? The personality fit has to be there.

2. Competency
It’s amazing to me how few companies take time to say, “What do our salespeople need to be competent at in order for them to achieve at high levels?” What most people ask is, “What do they need to achieve to keep their job?”

And that’s the wrong question. Make a list of all the things that your salesperson needs to be competent at to be in the top 2-5% of producers. Don’t settle for top 50% here, go to the top (while you’re dreaming, you might as well dream big).

3. Resilience
Does your team have a strong, tough mental/inner game when it comes to bouncing back, being tough, talking about difficult issues, preemptively solving problems, etc.?

B2B sales is not a walk in the park. It requires confidence without being cocky, assertiveness without being arrogant and leadership without being controlling.

Some of that is trainable; some comes with the person, already baked in.

So before you blame yourself or feel guilty that your team is not selling at the level it should, take a look at these three things and excuse yourself from taking it personally.

I get all sorts of RSS feed on sales compensation, including the latest from www.gotomarketstrategies.com Good content all but I think most miss the major point. 

Vision Should Drive Compensation

The major point is  what kind of compensation plan is going to lead to the vision of a business? Not which ones are easiest to calculate…or to track…or to manipulate. Which one best leads to the vision. 

Since the vision of your business should be somewhat (or totally) focused around “customer problems and your ability to solve them–and what happens to you if you’re really good at that–then it seems comp plans should match up. 

Shouldn’t there be a component of this that has to do with Customer Perception of how you solved their pain? Sure, there should. Can you put a dollar and cents # on it? No,  not likely for most selling orgs. 

A Compensation Solution

But you can offer some type of a component that has the Customer Rating of  the sales person’s  competency at understanding the problem and assigning resources to solve it. 

There are plenty of survey packages that will do the trick, but first you have to change your thinking about compensation. 

If you’re a manager/leader/president, float this idea past your people. If they balk, it might be just what they need to fully measure what you expect from them: Great problem solving skills. 

Maybe you hold a percent or two back for those sales execs who are masterful at solving problems. And they get extra compensation for it. 

The Customer’s Problems Come First–Not Compensation

Caution: Remember, I come from a different position on selling–one where the customer and his/her problems come first. My belief is that if you’re a competent problem finder and solver, the revenue will come. Everyone wins. So why not compensate your sales team on that?

 Never start any sales training unless your team has bought in to it.

I know this sounds like heresy. “Why on earth would we want the inmates running the asylum?” (as one of my friends puts it).

Well, if you don’t engage your people in some kind of a Sales Problem/Pain Assessment (what do they believe they can improve on to get better/different results?) then you already have an asylum — you just don’t know it.

Sales People Are Honest If You Ask Them–And Care
OnestThe first thing that happens when you ask people is that, if they think there is a chance you can help them, they will tell you honestly what’s not working. Secondly, they will be much more engaged in training.

(Those are two words you don’t hear much in the same sentence: engaged and sales training.) And thirdly, you can tell who on your team is really in “growth mode” and who’s just going through the motions.

As a sales manager, you know your people have to change to meet market demands. But most won’t unless threatened (with their job).

We don’t believe it has to be that way.

Assess Your Sales Team 
Take a few hours and come up with an assessment of your own. Create space for rigorous honesty. (I know this is tough in the corporate world.) And then purchase sales training to solve sales problems.

I have seen salespeople starved for something new and different that helps them grow professionally. But they never get it because the company nevers sees the connection between the training investment and return on that investment.

And do you know what? It’s not the people who really need training that feel that way. It’s usually the already-high-achievers that want to explore new ways do to old tasks.

So before you buy into the old myth, “seasoned sales people don’t need training” ask them what they want. You’ll be shocked.

Here’s an example of a very short assessment–it’ll at least get you started. Right click to download. My gift to you.

Sales Tactics. The Wrong Discussion. 

As I sat in the room listening to their ideas on mailing vs. calling first v. emailing, I thought to myself (and actually said it), “You’re working on the wrong thing!” (Sometimes you just have the be the ‘bringer’ of bad news.)

The right thing to work on is “what is my thinking?” Their thinking was all wrapped around: how do I get someone in to the free seminar?

Their thinking should have been: how can I bring value to this person by him attending?

The Key To Great Sales Results Is Great INTENT.

I see this a lot in sales orgs—their “intent” is out of whack. Think about how their new intent (of helping the prospect get value) will color their words, their tonality, the discussion etc., It will radically change their interaction with their customer. The customer will no longer feel sold to–and their will be less resistance.

As they all realized what they had missed, heads started nodding. They didn’t like my exposing this fallacy in thought–but they can now to their prospecting with their head on straight.

Are Your Filling Your Sales Pipeline With The Right Mindset?

Maybe. Maybe not. But before you make another cold call (or prospecting call), make sure your attitude is in the right place. And the best method for that is checking out “your intent.” Is it about YOU? Or is it about THEM? You know the answer.

I hope you can use this information to achiever better sales/business results for yourself. We’ll probably do a podcast (The Advanced Selling Podcast) on it soon.

=1 Change how you think about yourself. Most of us see ourselves as victims in a big economy–held hostage by market forces and company forces. We are quick to blame others for our malaise. That’s what’s so cool about sales–it’s up to you. It’s your accountability that is THE factor in whether you’re a success or not. See yourself as an abundant being on a mission to bring value to your customers. Whether they buy or not–or whether they buy on your time line–is irrelevant. All that matters is that you’re in the present moment with them while in conversation about their pains/issues/matters of the heart. The greatest sales strategies in the world won’t work if you aren’t thinking correctly about your self in the sales process.

=2 Change how you think about your market potential. Most markets are abundant. Yet, when I hear salespeople talk about their sales funnel, it appalls me at how scarcely they see things. Your market is in a lot of pain that they need you to fix for them. Never forget that. And because there is an abundance of pain–and an abundance of money available to fix that pain–then you are in an abundant market. Period. Never let the scarcity of another (even a prospect) effect you.

=3  Change how you think about your roles as a sales professional. This is cool and very simple. Your role in the sales process is to create an environment for the truth to occur. You have to create a safe atmosphere where your prospect is so comfortable telling you the truth, that it’s easier to do that than to lie to you. You’ve heard the expression “buyers are liars.” Well, it’s only because amateur sales people drop into “convince and persuade” mode and make them lie. If you’re creating the right environment, buyers won’t lie.

=4  Change how you think about your value. The value you bring to customers hovers around the intersection of THEIR PAIN and YOUR SOLUTION. Stop thinking your value is all about your benefits and features. Your benefits are only relevant if they have a pain and they believe you have a solution for it. NEVER LEAD WITH YOUR VALUE. Lead with them telling you their problems–and you determining if you can help them. Most corporate selling strategies lead with how great they are for the client. If your a prospect, do you want to hear that?

=5  Change how you think about the sales process. “OK class, who should control the sales process? The one with the money?” NO. THe one wtih the solution. Most sales people get this wrong. But you can only control the sales process to the extent you change your thinking on #1-4. If you merely try to exert control of the sales process without work on #1-4, then you’ll appear crass and amateurish.

So that was my answer to my client. Obviously, in training, I go into much more detail, but thought you’d maybe get a little something from that.

Any comments? I know someone will take me to task for something I said (or didnt’ say), so have at it. And recognize that a change in sales results starts in the mind–not in the market.