Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! Evan Signature
Evan Carmichael Top Header about About Home Profiles articles Tools forums inspirational quotes About facebook Twitter YouTube Blog
Share for a Cause











6 Steps to Sales Mastery

Guest post by: Dave Kurlan

Article Overview: Salespeople must evolve through six levels of development before they can consistently and successfully execute any process, concept, strategy or tactic they are trained and coached to perform. The six levels are:

Free Download - Sales Courage and Resilience By Dave Kurlan
Name: Email:

6 Steps to Sales Mastery

Salespeople must evolve through six levels of development before they can consistently and successfully execute any process, concept, strategy or tactic they are trained and coached to perform. The six levels are:

  1. Listening
  2. Understanding
  3. Internalizing
  4. Embracing
  5. Attempting
  6. Mastering
If there are hiccups at any one of those levels, they may continue on to the next level, but with an improper balance. For example, if they weren't listening carefully, and didn't quite hear the entire message, they will inappropriately approach the next 5 levels. If they listened but understood the message differently from the way it was intended, the next 4 levels will be wrong. If they listened and understood, but selected a poor frame of reference for internalizing the message, they probably won't embrace it.

Let's assume that they have properly advanced through the level of embracing. The key level of evolving takes place at the level of attempting.

Some salespeople never evolve from level 4, embracing to level 5, attempting. This is where underlying weaknesses have the most affect. Those hidden, underlying weaknesses cause discomfort and hesitancy - preludes to lack of confidence - preventing them from taking what they believe to be a big risk. Objective Management Group's work in this area, and the deep and wide sales force evaluations they conduct, help shine light on these hidden weaknesses. I have written a series of articles on the science, data and research behind this work.

Others make the attempt, but they are uncomfortable and do it poorly. and their undesirable result may cause them to give up right then and there. Finally, after making several attempts, some fail to master the concepts and continue to practice them poorly without improvement.

Keep in mind that this process takes place for each and every concept, strategy, tactic and method that they learn. Many clients ask why it takes so long - so many months - to train and develop salespeople. The concepts can be taught in a day. But the other 5 steps to evolving take months, especially getting them over the weaknesses that prevent them from attempting and executing. There are two ways to convey these concepts and most companies, in a great hurry to fix things, choose the comfortable, rather than effective option!

  1. Feed them with a fire hose via a one or two day seminar and perhaps reinforce it quarterly, semi-annually or annually.
  2. Present the fire hose but don't spray it down their throats. Spoon feed and reinforce daily through coaching, bi-weekly or monthly via follow up training, and don't ever stop. Hold them accountable for the six levels each and every day.
How many of your salespeople have evolved to mastery?

Why not more of them? Whose fault is it?

Related Articles
  Effortlessness. Want More of it?
  What Is Personal Mastery?
  Personal Mastery And Improving Your Life
  Getting To Your Personal and Professional Best
  Successful Sales Techniques
  Personal Mastery And Organizational Performance
  Personal Mastery And Career
  Personal Mastery Principles
  Personal Mastery And Leadership
  Personal Mastery And Improving Your Confidence
  Selling Techniques 101
  Personal Mastery And Your Kids
  Personal Mastery And Effective Communication
  Article #46 What Do Leaders Strive Everyday For?
  Sales Coaching Tips
  Tom Peters' 9 Items for the Sales Force
  Stress And Personal Mastery
  Guerrilla Marketing And Karate
  The Power Of Self Mastery In Your Computer Home Business
  Mastering Sales and Sales Management

Home > Sales > Dave Kurlan > 6 Steps to Sales Mastery >
Article Tags: attempts, cause discomfort, confidence, evaluations, frame of reference, hesitancy, hiccups, li li, management group, new science, next level, objective management, preludes, risk, salespeople, science data, shine light, tactic, target

About the Author: Dave Kurlan
RSS for Dave's articles - Visit Dave's website

Dave Kurlan is a best-selling author, top-rated speaker and thought leader on sales development.  He 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 (Dan Seidman), Stepping Stones (Deepak Chopra and Brian Tracey) and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2 (David Riklan).

Click here to visit Dave's website
Dashed Line

Understanding the Sales Force
More from Dave Kurlan
Salesperson Selection
Visual Pipeline
Predict Sales Turnover


Related Forum Posts
Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - 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
Re: Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional 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...
Re: Personal Mastery And Leadership Re: Personal Mastery And Leadership - Personal Mastery or Self Development is the basic key for success in life. A man said "there is no obstacle in life, the obstacle you see is the one you created"
Re: Drop out Billionaire Re: Drop out Billionaire - I reveived Bill Bartmann's DVD "9 Steps To Achieve Any Goal" as part of my monthly pack from Success University a few months back. It is a great presentation. I've watched it several times but not for a while so I'll view it again in the coming week. He is one of the greats. Like the best success mentors, he speaks with authority because he has come through much tribulation. His program sounds like a great bargain at $100 a year.
Hello From Marietta GA! Hello From Marietta GA! - Hello All! My name is Tim Naylor and I am in Direct Sales! I am glad I have found EC's sites and I hope to learn and share a lot!


Recommended Article for You close

  Effortlessness. Want More of it?

Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.



Featured Article

Bottom Footer



Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Popular Articles

Emotional Energy is Our Engine

Purchasing Real Estate using the SBA 504 Loan

Business Coach Explains To You How To Add Value

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.