Are you a Star?

Guest post by: Trent Leyshan
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Find fear before it finds you - By Trent Leyshan

Can you be a "star" all the time - shining and twinkling high above everyone else, every day?

I think a few remarkable people can, but much more attainable for most is being a "star" some of the time.

If you're a career salesperson like me, you will know how challenging being a "star" can actually be. It's not an easy road to take and the goal posts appear to magically move and the rules of the game are always changing.

We all have our ups and downs. I've had my fare share of downs. You could say a good part of my career has best been defined by downs.

My definition of a sales "star" is not how many times you win, rather how many times you lose and willingly learn, grow and keep going. How much rejection are you prepared to take? How much instant gratification are you prepared to forgo and still stay on task and motivated? To me, that's the ultimate measure of your character. Most people give-up after one or maybe two losses. Stars keep going!

The thing to understand about a "star" is they dont try to shine. They just do.

I dont believe there are unrealistic goals - merely unrealistic time frames and pressures put on people to achieve them. My experience tells me goals will take on average just over twice as long as you think they will take to achieve. And it's this extra time that de-motivates and discourages people from staying the course until the goal is achieved.

Let's be honest most goals are ambitions, right? Of course they are, that's the point. Goals also give you direction and meaning and should form the key outcomes of your strategy. But ambition more often than not makes goal setting prone to miscalculation and guesstimating.

Whenever I estimate a goal I apply The 2.2 Rule. You do this by estimating the best possible time to achieve a desired outcome and then you multiply the outcome-time by 2.2 and you will be somewhere near the right time frame. I have applied this rule successfully with all types of executions from; gross business revenue, cutting costs, reducing debt, sales targets, and even project management time-lines for estimating pricing. And it works!

The 2.2 Rule examples:

• I have a strategy to earn an annual income of $400,000 in 2 years: (2.2 x 2 = Real time 4.4 years)

• I have a strategy to create 300% sales growth in 12 months: (2.2 x 12 months = Real time 26.4 months)

• I have a strategy to deliver this project in 3 months: (2.2 x 3 months = Real time 6.4 months)

The ‘2.2 Rule' factors in everything you didn't plan for and foresee; which is usually significant. If you achieve your goal quicker - great, power to you, but if you fall short, you are not left disempowered and in dissolution regarding whatever it is you set out to achieve, which invariably leads to quitting.

Many sales managers put unrealistic expectations on their new salespeople which does little more than set the team member up to fail. I believe everyone has the potential to shine in their own ways; some just need a little more time to refine and develop their shine. Some may even be in the wrong sky, i.e. the wrong job, career or role. And that's ok, The 2.2 Rule gives you time to reflect, refine and change approach if and when you need to.

Many of you that read my blog regularly know how big I am on process. You must have the right process to facilitate the right outcome. If you have achieved a goal in the past you will invariably use the same process to reproduce a similar goal.

If you have the right process, dont get caught-up in setting unrealistic goals or you will find frustration and failure closer than you think. And dont be too disappointed if you haven't achieved a goal in the past or you are failing to achieve a goal today.

"Challenges are simply opportunities to gain clarity for what is truly important to you."

If something is truly important to you, then fight for it! Dont give up. It's ok to quit your approach and tweak your strategy, but dont give up the end game, keep going!

Do I shine all the time? Hell no! My sky has been darker than most for long periods of time. I don't get too caught up in the darkness, nor do I resign to it.

When it's my time to shine, I take my opportunity to blaze away like there is no tomorrow!

Your time to shine is right now! This very instant. So stop reading and start shining!

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Find fear before it finds you - By Trent Leyshan

About the Author: Trent Leyshan

RSS for Trent's articles - Visit Trent's website

Trent Leyshan is founder, CEO of BOOM!

A leading international sales training company that specialises in the development of inspirational sales cultures, leaders and salespeople.

Early in his career Trent was head tradeshow spruiker and sales manager for Australia's most flamboyant TV salesman, Big Kev.

He has since driven two of his own companies from lounge room operations into market leaders. And led sales teams in leading new media and advertising agencies.

Trent is a sought after expert and facilitator on sales performance and strategy. He is the Author of sales book, The Naked Salesman: How to walk the talk and sell your way to success!

BOOM! develops sales training strategies and delivers inspiring learning experiences for some of the world's most successful and demanding sales driven organisations. Empowering them with modern skills and tools to effectively engage with customers and build stronger and more valuable relationships.

Click here to visit Trent's website.

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