SalesScore

There is an unspoken, emotional need for approval, and all of us want to be liked.  Whether that is from colleagues or associates, no one wants to be perceived as a jerk.

So, how can having a need for approval become a negative attribute of the sales cycle?

Sales reps with a high need for approval can fail to ask some of the more difficult qualifying questions.  Sales isn’t about being liked, it is about trust and respect, and there is a huge difference.

Hearing “no” for some people can be scary, but in reality hearing “no” can be a good thing because it may shed light on issues that need to be followed with more questions.

The good news is that the need for approval can be overcome by role separation.  This happens when someone consciously separates themselves as who they are as a person and who they are as a sales rep.  This is somewhat like acting, and this can mentally prepare people to get over the hump of needing approval.

Hunters are extremely goal-oriented, results driven people. They are decisive and would much rather be giving orders than taking them. They usually exhibit leadership qualities and are very comfortable in the role of leadership. They are not timid, nor are they afraid to try new approaches or to view situations or problems from a different angle.

They are highly competitive and enjoy challenges. In sales, they resist tight supervision – generally, because they don’t need it since they display a high degree of self-motivation.

Hunters tend to be both impatient and opinionated. They move at a fast pace and are more comfortable in a changing and evolving environment. Their decision process is usually quick and decisive, and they are not paralyzed by fear or uncertainty.

They are self-starters and big thinkers. They carry themselves with an air of confidence that others sometimes portray as arrogance.

Some of their greatest strengths as sales professional are:

• Willingness to prospect for new business.
• A sense of urgency.
• Ability to ask tough questions or fight through tough situations.

Areas of concern as a sales professional: 

• Establishing bonding and rapport
• Being overly aggressive.
• Failing to understand a prospect’s reasons for buying.

It’s easily possible to let prospects mislead, deceive and procrastinate with sales reps too much. Patience and tolerance are very admirable social qualities. However, sales is not a social setting. It is a business setting.

• Be willing to demand more of your prospects.
• Be less accepting of their excuses and stalls.
• Be willing to ask more Why questions.

Often, going for the ‘No’ or having the strength to walk away is the best thing to do in sales rather than keep a slowly dying deal in your It Just Might Happen file.

Being comfortable and easily approachable are great traits for any sales rep.  On the other hand, enjoying making presentations too much can become a major conflict.  This can lead to becoming too anxious at substituting a presentation for difficult conversations or discovery.

There is a proper time and place for presentations in the selling cycle. There is also a proper reason for presentations that are in your best interest. Try to avoid making so many presentations. Also, try to avoid pontificating the value proposition of your company or the wonderful features and benefits of your service.

The best presentation you will ever make is the one you never have to make. Believe it or not, the fewer presentations you make, and the fewer proposals and quotations you submit, the more deals you are going to win. Presentations have very little to do with making sales.

In my opinion, prospecting is the number one ingredient to have a successful sales career. Not everyone is built for prospecting. It can be a tough, gut-wrenching and unpleasant activity. However, if you are going to stay in sales, and you want to reach a higher level of success, you need to turn this weakness into a strength.

Become emotionally detached when you prospect. Quit feeling the rejection personally. When someone rejects you, or they aren’t interested in what you have to offer, quit feeling that it’s personal. It isn’t. They are rejecting your company, not you. Develop the mindset that you are in the ‘third person’. You are trying to get an appointment for your company, not for you. Therefore, rejection is much easier to deal with.

Realize that if prospecting is the worst part or hardest part of your job, it’s really not a bad job. You could have a much worse job – and some people do. Think about all of the dirty, disgusting, terrible and limited opportunity jobs you might have to settle for if you were not in sales.

Set some prospecting goals. Your goals need to be time or activity oriented – not results-oriented. Thus, your goals should be how much time you spend prospecting every day, or how many dials you will make during the course of a day. Don’t base your goals on setting ‘X’ number of appointments. If you concentrate on time and activity, the results will take care of themselves.

Spend time discussing money or a budget with your prospects. In every sales process, sooner or later it is going to become an issue. Therefore, why not get it freely out on the table early in the sales process? By doing so, your prospect cannot use it as a weapon against you late in the sales process or at closing time. 

Often, prospects miss the point or get sidetracked over the issue of a budget or money. The price of your product, your competitor’s pricing, your commission or your company’s payment terms are irrelevant. The only thing that is relevant is whether your product or service provides a solution that is less costly than having the prospect’s problem remain unsolved.

Goals and destination are very important to achieve success in sales. However, without a roadmap to guide your journey, goals can be rendered meaningless. A successful roadmap is made up of both understanding and planning consistent, daily activity, which is necessary in sales. Here are a few ways to strengthen your roadmap:

1. On a daily basis, think about and then execute the activities, which are important to developing new business and new sales.
2. Try not to become bogged down by activities, which do not directly lead to new sales.
3. Be conscious of the amount of time you are spending every day on productive activity vs. non-productive activity. 

In sales, there are only three activities, which I consider to be productive:

• You are on the phone trying to set up a sales call or appointment. 
• You are on a sales call or appointment.
• You are trying to get a referral or an introduction, which will lead to a sales call or an appointment.

Yes, there are many other activities, which are important and necessary in sales. However, you should consider these three activities as your basic foundation for a good roadmap!

Are you willing to do whatever it takes?  Commitment is doing what we have to do, even when we don’t want to do it or when we don’t feel like doing it. It is almost impossible to reach a higher level of success without a strong level of commitment.

Increasing your level of commitment is a little bit like beginning an exercise program. At first, you don’t like it. Then, you begin to tolerate it. After a while, you start to accept it and you’re no longer just going through the motions. With the right outlook, eventually, you will begin to embrace it. 

There are some characteristics and areas of our personal makeup that we cannot change. However, we can change our level of commitment, if we truly have the motivation to do so.

My definition of desire is “a passion for success”.  Desire is the engine that motivates you to make the kind of money you want to make, to win awards, to be recognized in your profession, to be sought after, and most importantly tucks you in bed every night with a healthy feeling of self-worth. Therefore, ask yourself: What do I really want to achieve? And, what steps can I take to get there?

There is nothing wrong with being motivated by factors other than money or compensation. However, I’m going to assume that you’re no different than the 95% of the people in the workplace – who go to work every day because they have to. Personal and family obligations must be met and bills have to be paid!

Therefore, never lose sight of the fact that your career is centered on money more than any other factor.  For that reason, don’t become complacent about your compensation.  Most sales reps who are “willing to do whatever it takes” have a very high level of desire – a passion for success which burns inside them. It’s the passion and desire that gives them strength in difficult situations.

We can all be better. We can all do better. Even the most highly skilled individuals in any industry have some room for improvement. Chances are, if you are reading these words, you are embracing the opportunity to take a step towards improving your game. Improvement is always created by change. What do you need to do? What changes do you need to make personally and professionally to become more successful? What single element can get you moving toward greater success? The answer is desire.

When drumming up new business, do you prospect at random or do you have a strategic plan?  Below are 5 key benefits of having a selling system.

       1.  Repetition – The more you repeat a process, the more proficient you become at that process. It’s difficult to master anything without repetition. Do you want the doctor whose surgical procedure is a little different every time to operate on you? Or, would you prefer the doctor who has honed his skills and process through repetition.

       2.  Control – It’s extremely difficult to control anything, including a sales process, if you don’t know where you’re going or how you’re going to get there. Sales professionals who do not have a selling strategy usually relinquish control to the prospect. Thus, the prospect who is in control of their buying cycle is also now in control of the selling process. You become a passenger who is along for the ride.

       3.  Shorten the selling cycle – Without a strategy or a process, you are wandering aimlessly through the selling cycle. However, with a strategy or plan of attack, since you know where you are going and what you hope to achieve, the journey is usually much shorter.

       4.  Clear understanding – A strategy allows a salesperson to have a clear vision of where they stand each step of the way. It also clears up the mutual mystification, which can happen between sales professionals and prospects as to… what happens next?

       5.  Accident report – A strategy provides self-accountability and a mechanism for you to file an accident report. When you don’t make a sale, you can analyze what, when and how you went wrong. You can retrace your steps and learn from your mistakes.

Remember: You can’t manage what you can’t measure – a strategy is a measurement tool.