Increase Sales By No Longer Being the Toad in the Road
Increase Sales By No Longer Being the Toad in the Road
Years ago, I heard a story that went something like this: A salesman was traveling down a country road where he happened across a shepherd who was guiding his flock across the road. The salesman stopped and ran up to the man. He told the shepherd that he could provide the exact number of sheep in his flock, but to do so would cost him one sheep. The shepherd smiled and agreed. The anxious sales professional took out his GP, made several calculations and said that the flock contained 296 sheep. This count was correct and the salesman took a sheep. Before he could open the door to his car, the shepherd told the very smart young man that he could tell him what company he worked for. The shepherd said: You were for XYZ Consulting (use any big name consulting firm). The man was very puzzled given that his black vehicle, his shirt even his GPS and did not show any company signage. So, he asked the shepherd: How did you know that I worked for XYZ Consulting? “Oh, that was easy,” replied the shepherd, “You came uninvited, you told me something that I already knew and you took my darn dog.”
This story demonstrates how many sales professionals are quite literally the toad in the road. They interrupt their potential customers with their marketing messages. They attempt to tell them something that they already know. They truly do not understand their customers. And the end result is inconsistent to poor sales along with a lot of wasted resources of energy, time and money.
To stop being the toad in the road suggests that you may need to start focusing on your talents. During a recent teleconference, Jay Niblick of Innermetrix, provided some great insight as to how we confuse talents with strengths. He made the statement that people are born with talents and non-talents. From those talents and non-talents, he continued, we manufacturer strengths or weaknesses.
This is an incredible 180 for many people who have been conditioned to believe in the power of their strengths. For example, if I am not good at the 30,000 feet big picture solving and I need that ability for my role, I will then manufacturer a weakness specific to that non-talent. However, if I never need to use that talent, then it is only a potential dormant weakness. Simply speaking what happens is that we create a self-fulfilling prophecy because we are confused about talents, non-talents, strengths and weaknesses.
Many professionals in business adopt the role of sales professional so that they can demonstrate what they do well be it advising, helping, facilitating, sharing, training or coaching. Unfortunately, in most instances, this role of selling is a conflict between their own belief system and their talents.
To avoid this confusion and still realize the goal to increase sales begins by changing from a sales based marketing approach where the goal is to make the sale to an education based marketing approach where the focus is to educate your customer. What this means is that you no longer send or hand out marketing messages such as flyers, but demonstrate what you do with that potential customer.
Yes, you can switch from being the toad in the road to being the trusted advisor. All you must do is to provide incredible value because you left your selling ego at the door and demonstrated your authenticity by your ability to educate.
Increase Sales By No Longer Being the Toad in the Road - To learn more about this author, visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website.
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If you could be anything but a salesperson and still increase sales, would that be of interest to you? Just imagine, you no longer have to fight the beliefs of your potential customers (a.k.a. prospects) about being the toad in the road who is there to interrupt your potential customer.
Years ago, I heard a story that went something like this: A salesman was traveling down a country road where he happened across a shepherd who was guiding his flock across the road. The salesman stopped and ran up to the man. He told the shepherd that he could provide the exact number of sheep in his flock, but to do so would cost him one sheep. The shepherd smiled and agreed. The anxious sales professional took out his GP, made several calculations and said that the flock contained 296 sheep. This count was correct and the salesman took a sheep. Before he could open the door to his car, the shepherd told the very smart young man that he could tell him what company he worked for. The shepherd said: You were for XYZ Consulting (use any big name consulting firm). The man was very puzzled given that his black vehicle, his shirt even his GPS and did not show any company signage. So, he asked the shepherd: How did you know that I worked for XYZ Consulting? “Oh, that was easy,” replied the shepherd, “You came uninvited, you told me something that I already knew and you took my darn dog.”
This story demonstrates how many sales professionals are quite literally the toad in the road. They interrupt their potential customers with their marketing messages. They attempt to tell them something that they already know. They truly do not understand their customers. And the end result is inconsistent to poor sales along with a lot of wasted resources of energy, time and money.
To stop being the toad in the road suggests that you may need to start focusing on your talents. During a recent teleconference, Jay Niblick of Innermetrix, provided some great insight as to how we confuse talents with strengths. He made the statement that people are born with talents and non-talents. From those talents and non-talents, he continued, we manufacturer strengths or weaknesses.
This is an incredible 180 for many people who have been conditioned to believe in the power of their strengths. For example, if I am not good at the 30,000 feet big picture solving and I need that ability for my role, I will then manufacturer a weakness specific to that non-talent. However, if I never need to use that talent, then it is only a potential dormant weakness. Simply speaking what happens is that we create a self-fulfilling prophecy because we are confused about talents, non-talents, strengths and weaknesses.
Many professionals in business adopt the role of sales professional so that they can demonstrate what they do well be it advising, helping, facilitating, sharing, training or coaching. Unfortunately, in most instances, this role of selling is a conflict between their own belief system and their talents.
To avoid this confusion and still realize the goal to increase sales begins by changing from a sales based marketing approach where the goal is to make the sale to an education based marketing approach where the focus is to educate your customer. What this means is that you no longer send or hand out marketing messages such as flyers, but demonstrate what you do with that potential customer.
Yes, you can switch from being the toad in the road to being the trusted advisor. All you must do is to provide incredible value because you left your selling ego at the door and demonstrated your authenticity by your ability to educate.
Increase Sales By No Longer Being the Toad in the Road - To learn more about this author, visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith'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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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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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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