Resource yourself ? What does that mean ? It means that a TRUE sales professional recognizes that there is always something else to learn / relearn about being better at what I do for a career. It means that there isn't a one of us who couldn't be better at what we do for a living.
What would make you even consider such a thought or have such a concern ? Are your current sales achievements where you expected them to be ? Are you meeting your sales goals ? Are you on top of your lead management ? Is your support team and management satisfied with your paperwork and communication efforts ?
And yes I know there is a recession or whatever you want to call it happening around us. Stop with theexcuses ! Valid or not ( and most are ) - EXCUSES don't lead to more sales. They support procrastination, laziness, more excuses, poor performance, and generally allow you to avoid what you already know about your day to day performance but deny with great resolve.
There are salespeople who are having great YTD totals - yes they are in the minority. But the fact remains that they are not allowing anything at all to diminish or discourage their basic efforts to garner opportunities and add to their numbers. I'm amazed at what some of my clients have been able to achieve in this marketplace. And there are more success stories to be told then what I know about.
When is the last time you attended a sales seminar, looked at a video tape, read a book about sales related functions, joined an online seminar, attended a basic networking function ( and actually worked the crowd ), or had an audio tape about "selling skills" playing on your way to another appointment ?
How is your database and CRM related efforts ? Is it up to date ?
Providing leadership for yourself and constantly evaluating your strengths versus your shortcomings is the way you win awards. We all have shortcomings and some of us have become very adept at denying or avoiding their existence let alone discussing them. Where are you at in this Perspective ?
Monday, June 28, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
WHAT'S THE MOST POWERFUL INFLUENCE IN YOUR LIFE ?
WOW - This insight has stirred a lot of discussions and a desire to learn more ! So, I'm going to leave it up for another week - call or email with questions or comments. Have a good week !
Please read and concentrate on this awareness; it could be life changing ! As you can imagine, when I ask this question I get a lot of good and very respectful answers. Answers like my Mother, my Father, my religion, my children. All good but not completely correct.
The correct answer is your Internal Dialogue. Yes, that conversation you are continually having with yourself ( as you read this - it's taking place ). This conversation goes on and on throughout every waking moment of every day, hour, minute and second. This is where you house your system of beliefs. Your essence of what makes you what you are is encased here. Everything you see, feel, think, say, and eventually do or don't do is a result of what is accepted, discussed, or ignored here.
Think about this ! This is serious business. And being aware of it can allow you to make some real significant changes in your world. All of your feelings about yourself and others are discussed here. What you accept as facts or absolute truths are housed here. What you don't accept and all of your disbeliefs are housed here. Are you familiar with your "paradigm" ? Here is where it is housed.
Please understand that everything you think influences what you say, what you do, what you don't do, etc. By the same awareness - everything you say or do influences what you think. It can be very difficult to see other perspectives and to learn new things because you can be so powerful about what you know and accept as fact.
This is not trivial insight. This is serious business and there is a lot more to understand about the power of your internal dialogue. I don't mean to tease you ( well maybe a little bit ) but understand that I could talk forever ( almost ) about this awareness and the power it has to influence your life. When I learned this many years ago, it started an awareness evolution in my life that has never stopped. It's so much fun to learn about what makes you who you are !
Please read and concentrate on this awareness; it could be life changing ! As you can imagine, when I ask this question I get a lot of good and very respectful answers. Answers like my Mother, my Father, my religion, my children. All good but not completely correct.
The correct answer is your Internal Dialogue. Yes, that conversation you are continually having with yourself ( as you read this - it's taking place ). This conversation goes on and on throughout every waking moment of every day, hour, minute and second. This is where you house your system of beliefs. Your essence of what makes you what you are is encased here. Everything you see, feel, think, say, and eventually do or don't do is a result of what is accepted, discussed, or ignored here.
Think about this ! This is serious business. And being aware of it can allow you to make some real significant changes in your world. All of your feelings about yourself and others are discussed here. What you accept as facts or absolute truths are housed here. What you don't accept and all of your disbeliefs are housed here. Are you familiar with your "paradigm" ? Here is where it is housed.
Please understand that everything you think influences what you say, what you do, what you don't do, etc. By the same awareness - everything you say or do influences what you think. It can be very difficult to see other perspectives and to learn new things because you can be so powerful about what you know and accept as fact.
This is not trivial insight. This is serious business and there is a lot more to understand about the power of your internal dialogue. I don't mean to tease you ( well maybe a little bit ) but understand that I could talk forever ( almost ) about this awareness and the power it has to influence your life. When I learned this many years ago, it started an awareness evolution in my life that has never stopped. It's so much fun to learn about what makes you who you are !
Sunday, June 6, 2010
ARE YOU WHERE YOU EXPECTED IN YTD SALES ?
Let's assume you are a GOAL SETTER. Hopefully you set your own goals for this year and if someone else set them - you were at least a part of the process and seriously bought in to the desire to achieve that level of success.
So given that's the case - how are you doing ? Let me tell what I see and hear a lot of - expectations are not being met and there are a lot of excuses. And before you get upset with me or the business world, most of the excuses have serious validity ! But, that's not the issue I try to capture and assist with. What are you doing differently ? How often are you setting down to evaluate your strategy ? Are the obstacles documented and measured ? In other words, when you generalize and say "nobody's buying" or "everyone's on a wait and see approach". Is that really valid or is it exaggerated to justify less than satisfactory performance ? Easy ! I know the economy is in the dumps and I know that to varying degrees some of these generalizations are valid. But, have you really analyzed the situation carefully ? And has your analysis as a team, or group, or an individual led to any change in strategy ?
What are you doing about pricing ? Have you instituted any volume concessions ? Introductory periods ? Prospecting methods never done before. Are you on top of all the basics. Are you telling instead of selling ? Are you asking enough questions ? How are your closing skills ? Trial closes ?
You can believe me or not but I can tell you that my most cherished offering to my clients is doing the role playing of real life situations over the phone, via emails, or in person. Tough times require skilled salespeople who can lead clients to where they need to be for their own survival and the success of the salesperson. Tough times like these will bring out the "best" in you or you won't make it.
This is my favorite axiom about sales and the sales profession ( and it's not original with me ): "It isn't what you know; it's what you have yet to learn" !
Take a look at where you are YTD. Analyze what you could change. Reach out for assistance and insights which you have yet to learn. There has never been more access to sales techniques, awareness, and assistance in the history of the profession.
So given that's the case - how are you doing ? Let me tell what I see and hear a lot of - expectations are not being met and there are a lot of excuses. And before you get upset with me or the business world, most of the excuses have serious validity ! But, that's not the issue I try to capture and assist with. What are you doing differently ? How often are you setting down to evaluate your strategy ? Are the obstacles documented and measured ? In other words, when you generalize and say "nobody's buying" or "everyone's on a wait and see approach". Is that really valid or is it exaggerated to justify less than satisfactory performance ? Easy ! I know the economy is in the dumps and I know that to varying degrees some of these generalizations are valid. But, have you really analyzed the situation carefully ? And has your analysis as a team, or group, or an individual led to any change in strategy ?
What are you doing about pricing ? Have you instituted any volume concessions ? Introductory periods ? Prospecting methods never done before. Are you on top of all the basics. Are you telling instead of selling ? Are you asking enough questions ? How are your closing skills ? Trial closes ?
You can believe me or not but I can tell you that my most cherished offering to my clients is doing the role playing of real life situations over the phone, via emails, or in person. Tough times require skilled salespeople who can lead clients to where they need to be for their own survival and the success of the salesperson. Tough times like these will bring out the "best" in you or you won't make it.
This is my favorite axiom about sales and the sales profession ( and it's not original with me ): "It isn't what you know; it's what you have yet to learn" !
Take a look at where you are YTD. Analyze what you could change. Reach out for assistance and insights which you have yet to learn. There has never been more access to sales techniques, awareness, and assistance in the history of the profession.
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