Selling-Skill: Moving Your Sales Performance Up a LevelThere is no magic to selling-skill, and there are no secrets. Those are just enticing words designed to sell the latest sales book by the latest "guru".
What there are, instead of magic and secrets, are best practices and core selling-skill competencies. Why is it, then, that we think that every salesperson has his own way of selling and that is OK? Would you expect your pilot, doctor, or accountant to figure it out for themselves?
Are there any self-taught professional golfers out there? Even Lewis Hamilton
had driving lessons. It´s what you do with what you know, not what you know.
Every profession in the world has evolved a body of knowledge about how to
effectively practice in that profession. That body of knowledge is generally available to all the practitioners of that profession, and becomes the standard by which professionals in that field are judged. Every time I get on an airplane, I´m comfortable in the knowledge that my pilot has learned the best way to fly this plane, and it doesn´t much matter who the pilot is, everyone of them has been trained in the best practices. When I review the financial statements my accountant has prepared, I´m
confident that those statements reflect her disciplined use of best accounting practices, and that every other accountant would recognize them. When I go into see my doctor for a physical, I´m confident that he is using the best practices of his profession. That if I went to another doctor, because there is a recognized way to do this, the process and the results will be very similar. And so it is for every profession. It´s the way the world progresses. We build on the wisdom and experience of those who have gone before us. We don´t need to reinvent the wheel when it has already been around for generations. It´s what you do with what you know, not what you know. "Selling is more difficult now that it was just a couple of years ago." Most of the participants in my sales training programmes nod solemnly when I make that statement. And then they begin to fidget in their seats when I follow that up with this: "And it will be more difficult next year than it is today." They become really uncomfortable when I extend that idea: "And it will be increasingly more difficult every year after that." That´s a sobering truth that we don´t like to face. Yet, just a little bit of reflection will convince us of the likelihood of that statement holding true. Aren´t the products and services you sell growing more complex and sophisticated all the time? Aren´t the demands of your customers growing more complex also? Aren´t the processes that you use to do your job effectively growing more intricate every year? Isn´t competition growing more challenging every year? Isn´t your company changing rapidly, and expecting you to be a part of those changes? Will it ever get simpler? Now, ask yourself one more question. What's the likelihood that one day in the near future all of these trends will stop on a sixpence and everything will go back to being simple and uncomplicated? You know the answer. The job of the field salesperson will continue to grow more complex, more challenging and more difficult for the foreseeable - and, I suggest, for the unforeseeable -future. So what does that mean to you? It means that you will need to continually change and adapt constantly. It means that you will need to become proficient at learning new things and improving yourself. It means that from this point on you will have two jobs: 1. Doing your job
At first this seems unfair. There was a time, not so long ago, that as a field salesperson you could pay your dues, put in a strenuous few years, and then begin to coast as you developed the relationships you created and the product knowledge you gained. Those days are gone. In their place is the time compressed, stress laden, constantly changing atmosphere we currently inhabit. It may seem unfair. You may have been born a few years too late. But, really, it´s not so different than other components of our economy. Aren´t manufacturers expected to constantly improve their products, and every now and then bring out a breakthrough new technology? Isn´t your company continually improving its processes? Aren´t your suppliers constantly bringing you ideas and services? Don´t your customers strive to continually improve their businesses and their processes? So why should field salespeople be any different? They´re not. Welcome to the 21st Century. Welcome to the world of "two jobs" (........if you are not still with me, go back up and read No.1 & No.2 above again!). What does all this mean to you? It means that you have to work as diligently at improving yourself as you do at selling and serving your customers. It means that you have to invest time and money in your other "job". It means you need to become serious about taking your performance up a notch to the next level. Where to start? I like to compare this job of continually improving yourself as being like golf. Everyone can play golf. I know that, because I have done it for almost thirty four years. When I started playing, I never knew where the ball would go. Eventually I put the ball in the hole. But after years of lessons, practice and play I have developed a modicum of skill. So, I, like millions of other people, can play golf. But I have not reached my real potential on the golf course. That demands a lot more time and energy than I have given to the game. If someone were to say to me that by this time next year I must be able to make my living golfing, I´d suddenly become very serious about it. I´d find the best golf coach I could identify, and arrange a whole series of lessons. I´d invest money in the best clubs I could get. I´d spend hours every day practicing. I´d invest major amount of time, effort, and money in improving my golf skills. Continuous improvement in selling is like that. For the rest of your working life, you´re going to make your living, at least in part, by continually improving yourself. And, while everyone can do it, not everyone can do it well. Those people who learn to improve themselves well, to grow faster and better than their colleagues, will be those salespeople who will enjoy increasing income, more fulfillment, opportunities for greater challenge, and a satisfying personal life. It´s like golf. If you want to become better at it, you´ll invest time and money in improving that. Here are a couple of ideas to help you along: Focus on best practices. I recently received a phone call from a Sales Director of a large company, who was, he said, looking for the latest, new state-of-the-art selling techniques. I replied that he wasn´t going to find much of that. Almost all the behaviors of highly successful sales people are the same as they were a hundred years ago. The applications are more sophisticated, but the core behaviors are the same. Sales is still about creating relationships, understanding your customers and their business objectives, matching your product/service to those objectives, negotiating next steps, adding value, planning and preparing properly. "I know all that!" Occasionally I come across a seller who says something to the effect
of this: If you are going to grow, you need to be constantly prodded to put into action those things that you already know. Most human beings, left to themselves, would rather watch TV and doss than do the hard work of continually improving themselves. Back to our golf analogy. I know how to grip the golf club, I know how to set up the shot, and I know how to swing correctly. But I very rarely do it! My problem isn´t what I know; it´s what I do. So it is with sales people. Ultimately, continuous improvement is about what you do. It´s one thing to know something, it´s another to consistently put that knowledge into action. Lesson from Padraig Harrington. Padraig Harrington (one of my personal heroes) is Ireland's top golfer and ranks in the Top Ten in the world in his profession. Padraig recently had a new home built here in Dublin with a 1500 sq foot putting green in his garden. Why? So he can practice chipping and putting in his off time. Padraig knows how to chip and putt. His short game is one of the best on tour and many times is the difference in whether he wins or loses. He has practiced those shots tens of thousands of times. But he is not as good at it as he feels can be, so he continues to practice. How about you? How about YOUR Selling & Business skills? Do you know it all? Or are you, like Padraig, dedicated to continuously improving what you do? (c)2004 MMacC If you would like to discuss sales coaching (for yourself or your sellers) or have assistance
structuring a sales development program or sales system to suit the specific needs of your company -
you can reach Maitiu at: Did you enjoy this article? Two names of other sellers or sales managers you know would help me enormously to spread the word. Email Maitiu here, with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Include your friend's name email address. THANKS in advance. Would you like to make your Annual Sales Conference memorable? Keep Making it Better! Press BACK button to return to previous page or CLICK Here for Home Page Maitiu MacCabe, Maggie Gibbons, Changing the World One Mind at a Time |