Expectations- A Sales Attitude By Any Other Name
Expectations- A Sales Attitude By Any Other Name
So what are expectations? And, more importantly why are they so important in your goal to increase sales?
What I have discovered is that expectations are attitudes with an anticipated result. For example, if I make 100 phone calls, I expect to receive 50 appointments. From those 50 appointments, I expect to have 30 second meetings. Those second meetings should provide me with 20 commitments or sales. Now I expect my sales to close ratio to be 20% or 5 to 1.
Conversely because I might have meet the wrong people (A.K.A. not the decision makers), I may have included them in my calls and then all of a sudden, my sales to close ratio is no longer at 20% but possibly at 10%. Now my expectations may change and so will my results specific to the goal to increase sales.
Expectations are powerful sales attitudes because of their immediate connection to some desired result or want. Many sales people really dislike to cold call, to talk to strangers, to go to where they have not been invited. They have a negative attitude about cold calling. This attitude can be changed, but when the expectation is that cold calling does not work, this is more difficult to change.
I have seen the affect of expectations specific to marketing and direct mail. Businesses will spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on print, radio, television, billboards and even on-line advertising for impressions. Due to the numbers of people who are tuned in to a radio station, watching a TV program, driving by a billboard or visiting a website, the advertisers can claim we have thousands to millions of people hearing or seeing your advertised message. They have set the expectations that your invested dollars will generate incredible results. After all, your message is being heard or seen by the masses. Yet, how can you confirm those thousands to millions of people are truly qualified prospects who have these 4 criteria: need, budget, decision maker and urgency?
These same businesses will balk at investing far less in direct mail because it does not work. As a sales coach, I have heard sales professionals including small business owners, real estate agents, insurance agents and financial planners say that they sent out 100 postcards or 500 postcards and received no responses. We do not expect direct mail to work for us. However, if they had sent out 1,000 mailers at least 3 to 6 times to a qualified list over the course of several months, their expectations would probably change. Did you know that to expect someone to know your business name requires 13 touches? Did you know to expect your name to be the first one that comes to their top of mind demands 33 touches over the course of a year?
Expectations are indeed powerful sales attitudes that can either make or break a business as well as any sales professional. These thoughts become ingrained in your overall belief systems or foundational thought processes based upon all prior experiences. So, be careful of what you expect, you may get it or not get it, for the choice is yours.
Expectations A Sales Attitude By Any Other Name - To learn more about this author, visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website.
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Years ago I read something that Zig Ziglar wrote: Attitudes are habits of thought. Pretty simple definition, but incredibly powerful. How many of our thoughts are really sales attitudes including expectations?
So what are expectations? And, more importantly why are they so important in your goal to increase sales?
What I have discovered is that expectations are attitudes with an anticipated result. For example, if I make 100 phone calls, I expect to receive 50 appointments. From those 50 appointments, I expect to have 30 second meetings. Those second meetings should provide me with 20 commitments or sales. Now I expect my sales to close ratio to be 20% or 5 to 1.
Conversely because I might have meet the wrong people (A.K.A. not the decision makers), I may have included them in my calls and then all of a sudden, my sales to close ratio is no longer at 20% but possibly at 10%. Now my expectations may change and so will my results specific to the goal to increase sales.
Expectations are powerful sales attitudes because of their immediate connection to some desired result or want. Many sales people really dislike to cold call, to talk to strangers, to go to where they have not been invited. They have a negative attitude about cold calling. This attitude can be changed, but when the expectation is that cold calling does not work, this is more difficult to change.
I have seen the affect of expectations specific to marketing and direct mail. Businesses will spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on print, radio, television, billboards and even on-line advertising for impressions. Due to the numbers of people who are tuned in to a radio station, watching a TV program, driving by a billboard or visiting a website, the advertisers can claim we have thousands to millions of people hearing or seeing your advertised message. They have set the expectations that your invested dollars will generate incredible results. After all, your message is being heard or seen by the masses. Yet, how can you confirm those thousands to millions of people are truly qualified prospects who have these 4 criteria: need, budget, decision maker and urgency?
These same businesses will balk at investing far less in direct mail because it does not work. As a sales coach, I have heard sales professionals including small business owners, real estate agents, insurance agents and financial planners say that they sent out 100 postcards or 500 postcards and received no responses. We do not expect direct mail to work for us. However, if they had sent out 1,000 mailers at least 3 to 6 times to a qualified list over the course of several months, their expectations would probably change. Did you know that to expect someone to know your business name requires 13 touches? Did you know to expect your name to be the first one that comes to their top of mind demands 33 touches over the course of a year?
Expectations are indeed powerful sales attitudes that can either make or break a business as well as any sales professional. These thoughts become ingrained in your overall belief systems or foundational thought processes based upon all prior experiences. So, be careful of what you expect, you may get it or not get it, for the choice is yours.
Expectations A Sales Attitude By Any Other Name - To learn more about this author, visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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