Sales Force One

The Discipline Bridge

I ran across the following quote by Jim Rohn today - "discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments."

It caused me to think about the number of people who have goals and dreams but never see them through to being accomplished.  Why?  Because of a lack of discipline and the failure to identify a process for tracking their progress.

It is not enough to have goals.  It is not enough to have your goals in writing.  If you are truly committed to accomplishing those goals, you must have a disciplined approach and process that includes accountability through tracking.  I am using some on-line tools from WeightWatchers to help with my weight loss program and one of the tools that has proved to be most effective is the food tracker where I record everything I eat during the day with a summary of the point values of those foods.  It helps me be accountable to my daily eating behaviors.

How solid is your discipline bridge?

Mountain Climbing

I have always liked the quote by Lance Wubbels in his book Dance While You Can - "I will believe what God has placed inside me is superior to the mountains that stand in my way."

Today I would like to tell you more about my friends Brian and Melissa Hull and how they deal with the mountains that stand in their way.  The Hull's live in Houston but have been in Cincinnati since Memorial Day with their son Colby.  Actually, they have been at Chidren's Hospital in Cincinnati since that time as Colby (6 years old) battles a very rare form of cancer.  Colby has several tumors and has been sedated for nearly two months with a breathing tube and is in the intensive care unit.  Meanwhile, Brian and Melissa have a one year old son back in Houston that they have not seen in two months.

What absolutely amazes me is the strength that Brian and Melissa display...and the grace and dignity they continue to demonstrate in what is such an incredibly frightening ordeal.  They have never lost sight of the fact that what God has placed inside them and around them will always be greater than the mountain that currently stands in their way.  I have linked to their website in the "Inspiration Section" of this blog.

As I pray for Colby, I am reminded every day of how small the mountains of life can be.  What mountain should you be climbing today?  What are you waiting for?

Sell Better Than You Are

I have been reading The Winners Manual For The Game of Life by Jim Tressel, head football coach at The Ohio State University.  For those of you who know me, it will not surprise you that I am reading the book given my love for Buckeye football.  And if you are counting, there are 129 days until the Michigan game.

Tressel quotes Dr. Pat Spurgeon as saying "all I ask is that you play better than you are.  You may not win, but that is all I am asking."

In terms of selling, I would encourage you to "sell better than you are." By that, I mean forget your year to date results...and forget that last big deal you lost.  The question comes down to whether or not you can rise up on your next sales call to sell courageously...asking great questions...not caring if you win or lose.  The simple reality is that you can't make the prospect buy - that is beyond your control.  But what is within your control is to prepare with excellence...and for one call...maybe one hour of your day...to sell better than you are.

Go Bucks!

Try If You Want To

One of the missionaries that my church (Lakota Christian Church) supports is Jake and Erin Moore who serve in Ethiopia.  Recently Jake was involved in a motorcycle accident and both Jake and Erin have been dealing with a host of other problems, ranging from snakes inside the house and lizards in the sink drain to governmental issues with their work permits.  Jake has a t-shirt that he wears that reads "Try, But You Can't Bring Me Down."

That same attitude is a part of the DNA of top salespeople.  They are so passionate about achieving their goals that they are unwavering and resolute in dealing with the ups and downs of selling.  There is nothing that a prospect can say or do that will make the compromise the way they execute their selling system.  Their outlook never changes as they chase their dreams.  That is the most important form of commitment - they commitment they make to themselves.  Remember, you can never commit to someone or something else until you first commit to yourself.

How committed are you?  What does it take to bring you down?

Save the Cheap Salesman Talk

One of first things we teach at the Anthony Cole Training Group is the importance of not sounding, looking or acting like a salesperson.  This starts with the words we use.  Do you say things that make people think "here is another typical salesperson"?

What follows is from justsell.com and is based on the famous quote by Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street:

"Save the cheap salesman talk, will ya? It's obvious."
-- Gordon Gekko
corporate raider from the movie "Wall Street" (1987)

Not a great role model but the point holds true. Trite words and phrases waste time and help no one.

Get to the point, be real (see above), and drop these top 11 pieces of sales fluff...

• 1. Honestly... (you're always honest, it doesn't need to be said)
• 2. To be honest... (are you kidding? did you hear me?)
• 3. To be completely honest... (oh my God!)
• 4. Trust me... (a bell and siren to do the opposite)
• 5. I guarantee it... (a warranty or agreement guarantee something, not you)
• 6. Please don't hesitate to call (if you're so unapproachable that your prospects and customers would hesitate, you have another challenge)
• 7. At the end of the day... (you go to sleep)
• 8. We pride ourselves on... (NORC... no one really cares what you pride yourself on... they care how you help them get more, save more, look good, feel good, eliminate pain, or to be loved)
• 9. Just following up... (no... you are calling to help them solve a problem and/ or improve their lives)
• 10. What would it take to get your business... (were you listening?)
• 11. Win-win (only their win counts, not yours)

Sweat Equity

I don't believe there would be much disagreement among sales force development experts as to the importance of qualifying.  And I have yet to meet a salesperson who goes out of their way to work on unqualified opportunities.  By unqualified, I mean the prospect has some or all of the following characteristics:  no pain, no compelling reason to make a change, no access to the true decision maker, lack of budget, etc.

Why is it then that so many times in my coaching sessions that I find salespeople failing to qualify...at least properly qualify...the opportunities in their pipeline?  I believe it comes down to sweat equity.  Rather than dig in and qualify properly, many salespeople jump on the opportunity as soon as they smell even a whiff of pain.  They forget the difference between pain and pain indicators....which is the difference between the disease and the symptoms.

Why do they act this way?  Because it is easier to go work on the new opportunity than dig in and make sure their prospect is qualified. 

Remember, just because it is the easy thing to do rarely makes it the right thing to do.

Counting Your Accountability

I noticed a sign in a client's office this past week defining accountability as owning the outcome that has been created.  I like that - short and sweet.

I have heard alot of answers from salespeople as to why they didn't close a piece of business.  While the answers tend to vary, 99% of them fit into one of four reasons:

1. They either failed to find any pain or they did not find enough pain that motivated their prospect to take action (i.e. to fix something or solve a problem).
2. They failed to differentiate themselves from the competition, i.e. they did not communicate their "uncommon offering."
3. They failed to effectively communicate how their solution solved the prospect's problem.
4. They failed to deal with the incumbent.

Think of your most recent loss - which of the above outcomes do you own?  An even better question is do you know where in the process you started to create that outcome?

The Uncommon Offering

One of the leading thinkers on organanizational growth is Verne Harnish at Gazelles, Inc.  He posed a great question in one of his recent newsletters when he asked "what is your uncommon offering?"  It is a question from Bob Bloom's book The Inside Advantage.

The short version is that your uncommon offering is what you do best....it is what you do better than everybody else...it is why your customers decide to do business with you instead of your competition. Bloom suggests that before a company starts to advertise that it revolve everything it does around that uncommon offering.  You would find it on their letterhead, on their email signature line, on the phone when they greet customers, on delivery trucks, on their website, etc.

Think about your business.  What is your "uncommon offering"?  Of course the more important issue is what does your customer say it is?  You might want to find that out soon.

My uncommon offering is found in my passion for how I accomplish my mission of helping salespeople identify, chase and catch their dreams.  My uncommon offering is quite a surprise - I am really not as much of a sales developement expert as I am a dream coach.

How do you see yourself?  Are you common or uncommon?

What Matters Most

Today's post is not about selling.  It is about a 6 year old boy named Colby Hull who is in intensive care at Cincinnati Children's Hospital battling cancer.  It is about the incredible impact he is having on so many people, most of whom have never met him.  It is about his parents having such incredible faith in God.

If you are reading this blog, I ask you take just a few minutes to offer a prayer for Colby.  I was in his room last Sunday and he needs your prayers.

This is just another reminder that we work in the toy department of life.  Never forget what matter most - your family, your friends, people in need.

Selling Like a Tiger

Like many people I was captivated by the performance of Tiger Woods over the weekend in the U.S. Open golf tournament.  Whether you are a Tiger fan or not, there is no question he is the greatest clutch athelete of all time.  We have never seen any athelete in any sport produce so much and so consistently under pressure.

Here are my observations on what we could expect if Tiger decided to put the sticks away to start a career in sales:

1. He would never find a prospect more mentally tougher than him.
2. He would always prepare for every scenario on a sales call.
3. He would always be able to recognize those special moments on a sales call when commitment can be gained.
4. He would never be afraid to ask the prospect tough questions.
5. He would never accept a prospect tellling him they needed to think it over when he had a solution that solved a problem within the budget that was discussed.
6. He would never lose focus on the key sales behaviors that predict future success.
7. He would never fail to make his dials and then offer up excuses.
8. He would always wear a red dress shirt to the closing meeting.