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Go From Good to Great: Five Ways to Boost Your Sales Career

Written by: Chip Eichelberger

Article Overview: There is a chasm between good and great sales performance. Here are five ways to boost your sales career quickly.

Go From Good to Great: Five Ways to Boost Your Sales Career


Many experienced sales professionals don’t see the need for continuous improvement. They often think, “I’ve been selling for fifteen years, so I must be great.” The
number of years experience is not a measure of excellence - any honest
golfer knows that. Such thinking can limit sales professionals from
achieving a higher level of success.
Just because you’ve been doing something for years doesn’t mean you
can’t or don’t need to improve. Oftentimes, people get satisfied at just
being good at what they do. Then they stop doing all the little things
that made them great, such as using a pre-call checklist, asking for
referrals and testimonials, conducting timely follow-up, and sending
thank-you notes. But these little things make the difference between
good and great.




Question - How often do you "wing-it" on a sales call? You know you are not as prepared as you should be.

In
fact, a great chasm exists between good and great performance. Realize,
however, that this doesn’t mean you have to work harder. Rather, you
need the discipline to execute the little things in an extraordinary way
every day. Consider U2 front man Bono’s example of taking something
good and making it great. “An early version of our first single Vertigo
was massaged, hammered, tweaked, lubed, sailed through two mixes, and
got U2’s unanimous stamp of ‘very good.’ Very good is the enemy of
great. You think great is right next door. It’s not. It’s in another
country,”

Bono told USA Today. Instead of releasing the song at
“very good,” the band rearranged Vertigo with new melodies and rhythms.
They soon discovered untapped reserves of ideas and fortitude, and the
song went on to become a number one hit.
Has your sales performance been “good” or “great”? Have you been on
cruise control in your job? When was the last time you went back into
your “studio” and reevaluated what you do and how you are doing it? If
your performance could use improvement, consider the five following
strategies.


1. Ask “What Can I Do Better?”
When was the last time you asked a client what you could do to
improve his or her experience with you? Years? Months? Never? If you
want to continuously improve your sales skills, your clients and
prospects will have the most valuable insight into how you can become
better. So make it a priority to regularly ask them for their
suggestions on how to improve and add more value. Sales managers should
ask their sale people, “You have worked with me know for three
months/three years. What can I do to be a better sales manager? How can I
support your more?”
The same question is just as powerful with your family. When is the
last time you asked your kids, “What can I do to be a better mommy or
daddy?” How about asking your spouse? I guarantee they will have some
feed back for you. It takes courage to ask and really listen to the
answers. What you often find is that is will be little things they want
you to do more often that you did not know where that important.
Although asking “What can I do better?” is an excellent way to
continuously improve your performance, asking is really only the first
step. The key is to listen when someone offers a suggestion. When a
client starts talking, don’t try to defend yourself or justify your
actions, just listen to what he or she has to say. Take your client’s
suggestions seriously and follow up with the person later to ensure you
make progress.


2. Set a Goal for Each Day
What activities drive performance for your business? Is it number of
contacts? Referrals? Phone calls? Appointments? Determine this factor
and set a measurable goal for doing a certain number of these activities
each day. Many sales professionals think in terms of a sales funnel,
and they need to keep a specific number of people in that funnel at all
times to remain successful. How many new prospects do you need to
contact to keep your funnel full?
As you do this, don’t forget about past clients. Many sales
professionals become so focused on acquisition that they forget about
retention. Past clients are easier to sell because they already know you
and love the service you provide. But your competition is constantly
trying to take your past clients away, and they may succeed if you lose
contact and show indifference. So, how many past clients are you going
to call today?

3. Keep Track of Your Progress


A good way to track your progress and ensure continuous
improvement is to keep track of what you do. Create a scorecard to
record your key performance numbers for each day—number of appointments,
sales, referrals, etc. For example, if you want to make ten cold calls
each day, then keep a record of the number of calls you make as well as
the number of days you achieve your cold calling goal. Repeat this
procedure for each goal or activity and post it where you can see it
easily. This is the strategy I used when I managed the road teams for
Tony Robbins – you can’t mange what you can’t measure. The quickest way
to lose momentum is to stop tracking your results.


4. Tell an Effective Story


Everyone has a success story, and you may notice that
businesses and products often use their story as a marketing tool.
Whatever your story is, it must be unique, solve the customer problem
and be compelling Real estate agents, for example, may take pictures of
their clients in front of their new homes and then show these photos to
their prospects. Even a bottle of wine or a consumer product can tell a
story to differentiate it on the shelf. Consider how you can document
your success with quotes, testimonials, case studies and pictures, and
then creatively use your story to attract new business.

5. Record Yourself


No one likes to admit they aren’t good at what they do. Even
if a person fails, he or she won’t likely admit that individual
performance was to blame. But people are often mediocre or just plain
bad at sales, and they don’t even realize it.
Have you ever recorded yourself while you’re meeting with a client or
prospect? Most people haven’t. However, recording yourself is an
excellent way to identify your strengths and weaknesses.
How do you record a sales presentation? Explain to your client or
prospect that you are consistently trying to improve the way you tell
your story and your listening skills. Then ask if you can record the
meeting for personal use. Most of the time, the prospect won’t have any
objections and they’ll admire your professionalism. If you are speaking
to a group, ask to use a video camera. If you are on the phone it is
fairly easy. Many modern phone systems now have that capacity.


Once you have the recording, the moment of truth arrives. Yes,
it takes guts to review the tape! Getting quality feedback is the key!
On your first review, takes notes on all the good things you do and
write down all the questions you ask. Then go back, ideally with a more
experienced peer, and review what you need to improve. The danger is the
more you know, the more you tend to talk. So you’ll often find that you
need to ask more questions and talk less!
Continuous Improvement in Your Future
You may think that if you want to take your sales career to the next
level of success, you just need to work harder. In reality, you need to
work smarter. Start by asking your clients what you can do to improve.
Then use their suggestions to set goals for yourself and track your
progress.

Know your success story and ensure that you
communicate it effectively to your clients and prospects by recording
yourself in a meeting.
Most sales professionals use these strategies initially, but people tend
to fall out of good habits quickly. They become satisfied with
providing a mediocre experience to their clients, when they should
really be trying to amaze them. Providing a superior experience means
constantly improving and refreshing what you do. One of the best ways to
gain momentum is to go back to these habits and start doing them again.
When you do, you can achieve limitless success.

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Article Tags: chasm, good to great, sales career, sales performance, sales skills, tony robbins



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