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Sales – Are You Up for the Challenge?

Guest post by: Leanne Hoagland-Smith

Article Overview: Selling is not easy. The last thing sales professionals should do is to make it any harder. The question is "Are you up for the challenge."

Sales – Are You Up for the Challenge?

A recent automated response caught my attention. "I am lazy." This individual who was in marketing his business, crafted a message within his automated response to justify the automated message. What is even more incredible he was not selling hammocks, mattresses or any product or service connected to being lazy. This individual specialized in helping others market their businesses.

Maybe I have been in this business of sales a tad too long, but why would anyone what to do business with someone who up fronts tells you he is lazy especially when his focus in marketing. In today’s highly competitive global marketplace the last thing any small business owner, entrepreneur or sales professional needs is a lazy marketer.

Selling is a constant challenge where you must be active and definitely not lazy. Of course, many in this profession or role are just lazy. One of my past sales coaching clients once said about salespersons: "If they are hungry, they will hunt." He paid commission only to his sales team because he saw the lack of productivity and revenue when he paid using an annual salary.

In observing local small business owners to solo-professionals (independent contractors), there is a lot of laziness in the marketplace. Sure, the economy is not the best, but that is not an excuse not to be working your goal driven sales action plan and planning your action plan work.

Being your own boss demands much longer hours both in and out of the office. Follow-up on critical emails to attending business networking events all are considered to be necessary sales skills and consume an incredible amount of time. This is why it is so imperative that you have a plan and stop playing Captain Wing It.

Now is the time to look at your time, invest time where needed from planning to monitoring the results of all of your activities. Be proactive instead of reactive. Think opportunity instead of obstacles. Embrace abundance instead of scarcity. By taking these actions, you will increase sales and enjoy the fruits of your well-deserved labors.

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Article Tags: amount of time, annual salary, being your own boss, business networking events, economy, entrepreneur, excuse, global marketplace, helping others, independent contractors, laziness, marketer, mattresses, nbsp, productivity, profession, small business owner, small business owners, tad



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Re: Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - [quote="ltrahan":31w9r2iz]Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing[/quote:31w9r2iz] I second the request...
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