Sales Ain't For Wwimps!
Sales Ain't For Wwimps!
Growing up I heard a lot of recommendations to go into sales as a career. Something about having no fear whatsoever of walking up to any stranger and talking to them as if we were lifelong friends. Heck, the way I saw it was that everyone wants a friend and all I had to do was be one. As I got older, and puberty was some years past, I learned the value of being charming and full of charisma. Probably learned more about sales in those later teen aged years than any other 5 year span the following 30.
But even with some success and being able to talk to anyone with some degree of charm, I still didn’t know beans about the world of sales and what it would take to be successful in it. Couldn’t tell you for the life of me why when it came time to close a sale my mouth started doing a little jig with the words and they came out with 5 times as many syllables as they started with. Hel-l-l-l-o? Why when it came time to ask the head of a company for an appointment, my brain got all mashed potato like and my knees emulated a San Andreas 7.0.
For some reason, it was much easier to re-organize my pencil drawer than make cold calls. I knew it wasn’t because I was afraid, because I was well known for talking to anyone. If you asked me, I knew the answers to any sales question and readily provided them to everyone who asked. In fact even if you didn’t ask, I was providing answers.
It wasn’t until one day a woman I had a slight crush on, after hearing some of my excellent and awesome, un-requested, and unrequited, wise beyond my years, sage advice, turned to me with a slightly disgusted look on her face and asked me point blank, “Michael, if you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?”
Damn! That was a good question. I hated it but it was a good one. Not to be outdone in the moment, though clearly reeling from a well placed blow to the ego, I advised her that I would have to get back to her on that. She’s still waiting. There is a secret place in my heart that hopes she never finds this article…
For everyone else however, I will admit to what has become a lifelong study on what makes a successful salesperson. Guess what? It aint about charm or charisma, Ok, they help but plenty of folks without make a lot of money in the business. Ugly people make money in sales and to my dismay; I am discovering that men with male pattern baldness can make a living doing this stuff too.
So what on earth is the difference between KNOWING what to do and actually getting around to doing what you know?
One of the best series of answers I can find comes from intense studies in sales and human behavior. It seems there are 4 strengths that drive a sales person and 5 major weaknesses that will throw them into a big blue funk.
The strengths include vision, commitment, desire and wonder. Weaknesses involve value deficit, old tapes, money issues, buying style, and emotional intelligence. When we lack the strengths it doesn’t take much to destroy a sale. When we have too much weakness, we couldn’t sell our way out of a wet paper bag.
What is fairly disconcerting for a happy go lucky guy like me is that the more I try to reach out with charm and humor, the more I display a desperate need for approval from the people I am talking with. If I need a prospect to approve of me, how can I manage the negotiating phase of the sales effort in my companies and my favor? Frankly all I am doing is demonstrating that my win comes from my client telling me “he likes me fine.” Even if he says right after that something like, “but we have decided to buy from someone else.” Ouch.
So, to end up as successful as I have become, it was important to find ways of getting that need for approval met from someone other than a prospect. Same is true for every sales person. Same is true for each of the weaknesses. If you got one, and you probably have at least one, it’s costing you a few bucks every year.
If you’re hiring these guys, and if you hire salespeople you are, it probably makes sense to help them develop strategies to fix it outside of their selling arena. Otherwise it’s costing you lots of dollars every year.
It also explains why the guy who looks so good in an interview costs so much in non-sales when they get in the game.
For business owners like me who care a lot about sales and don’t have lots of time to do the activities, it’s critical to use selling time as efficiently as possible. And if you ever want to hear a really good question that motivates you to change your behavior, let me know, I got a good one that is still burning in my guts.
Michael Goodman is the President of USSalesForce, he is a recognized expert in the field of developing sales forces, and creating sales influence. He is the founder and moderator of AzSalesPros, a professional association for sales people over 400 strong and was recently ranked with the likes of Jerry Colangelo and Harvey MacKay as a person you would most like to run a sales meeting. Contact Michael at Goodman@ussalesgroup.com or www.usssalesgroup.com. For more information on AzSalesPros, see www.azsalespros.com.
Sales Aint For Wwimps - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Goodman's Website.
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The thing about sales you see is that it is a lot more difficult than it looks.
Growing up I heard a lot of recommendations to go into sales as a career. Something about having no fear whatsoever of walking up to any stranger and talking to them as if we were lifelong friends. Heck, the way I saw it was that everyone wants a friend and all I had to do was be one. As I got older, and puberty was some years past, I learned the value of being charming and full of charisma. Probably learned more about sales in those later teen aged years than any other 5 year span the following 30.
But even with some success and being able to talk to anyone with some degree of charm, I still didn’t know beans about the world of sales and what it would take to be successful in it. Couldn’t tell you for the life of me why when it came time to close a sale my mouth started doing a little jig with the words and they came out with 5 times as many syllables as they started with. Hel-l-l-l-o? Why when it came time to ask the head of a company for an appointment, my brain got all mashed potato like and my knees emulated a San Andreas 7.0.
For some reason, it was much easier to re-organize my pencil drawer than make cold calls. I knew it wasn’t because I was afraid, because I was well known for talking to anyone. If you asked me, I knew the answers to any sales question and readily provided them to everyone who asked. In fact even if you didn’t ask, I was providing answers.
It wasn’t until one day a woman I had a slight crush on, after hearing some of my excellent and awesome, un-requested, and unrequited, wise beyond my years, sage advice, turned to me with a slightly disgusted look on her face and asked me point blank, “Michael, if you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?”
Damn! That was a good question. I hated it but it was a good one. Not to be outdone in the moment, though clearly reeling from a well placed blow to the ego, I advised her that I would have to get back to her on that. She’s still waiting. There is a secret place in my heart that hopes she never finds this article…
For everyone else however, I will admit to what has become a lifelong study on what makes a successful salesperson. Guess what? It aint about charm or charisma, Ok, they help but plenty of folks without make a lot of money in the business. Ugly people make money in sales and to my dismay; I am discovering that men with male pattern baldness can make a living doing this stuff too.
So what on earth is the difference between KNOWING what to do and actually getting around to doing what you know?
One of the best series of answers I can find comes from intense studies in sales and human behavior. It seems there are 4 strengths that drive a sales person and 5 major weaknesses that will throw them into a big blue funk.
The strengths include vision, commitment, desire and wonder. Weaknesses involve value deficit, old tapes, money issues, buying style, and emotional intelligence. When we lack the strengths it doesn’t take much to destroy a sale. When we have too much weakness, we couldn’t sell our way out of a wet paper bag.
What is fairly disconcerting for a happy go lucky guy like me is that the more I try to reach out with charm and humor, the more I display a desperate need for approval from the people I am talking with. If I need a prospect to approve of me, how can I manage the negotiating phase of the sales effort in my companies and my favor? Frankly all I am doing is demonstrating that my win comes from my client telling me “he likes me fine.” Even if he says right after that something like, “but we have decided to buy from someone else.” Ouch.
So, to end up as successful as I have become, it was important to find ways of getting that need for approval met from someone other than a prospect. Same is true for every sales person. Same is true for each of the weaknesses. If you got one, and you probably have at least one, it’s costing you a few bucks every year.
If you’re hiring these guys, and if you hire salespeople you are, it probably makes sense to help them develop strategies to fix it outside of their selling arena. Otherwise it’s costing you lots of dollars every year.
It also explains why the guy who looks so good in an interview costs so much in non-sales when they get in the game.
For business owners like me who care a lot about sales and don’t have lots of time to do the activities, it’s critical to use selling time as efficiently as possible. And if you ever want to hear a really good question that motivates you to change your behavior, let me know, I got a good one that is still burning in my guts.
Michael Goodman is the President of USSalesForce, he is a recognized expert in the field of developing sales forces, and creating sales influence. He is the founder and moderator of AzSalesPros, a professional association for sales people over 400 strong and was recently ranked with the likes of Jerry Colangelo and Harvey MacKay as a person you would most like to run a sales meeting. Contact Michael at Goodman@ussalesgroup.com or www.usssalesgroup.com. For more information on AzSalesPros, see www.azsalespros.com.
Sales Aint For Wwimps - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Goodman'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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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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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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