1. They are not willing to run the necessary numbers to generate the required sales to produce the desired income. Call more people, and/or see more people.
OR, in 2008 and beyond: not willing to relentlessly learn and test in different proven online and offline marketing strategies to generate enough leads to convert into sales. 2. They lack the discipline to do what they need to do to make their particular business work. Discipline is doing what you said you were going to do, or doing what you planned to do after the mood in which you decided to do it is gone. Everyone wants to join the gym in Jan, don’t they? Without discipline one cannot create habits and processes that create success in any endeavour.
Every company has the same slogans plastered everywhere, with the eagles soaring in a framed picture. Besides empty chest beating… So what?
The discipline to follow through with customers is crucial.
I.E. You said you would call back on thurs. morning- don’t call fri.
Follow up even after the sale is made and the cheque is already cashed. It’s that simple. Keep serving.
3. They get emotionally attached to sales that they think ‘might’ happen and count on those, and then get disappointed by them when they don’t happen. Often spending the ‘if come’ money before it is issued by the company.
The more emotion involved means that there is less work put in the front end. When this happens a salesperson tries to squeeze a sale out of too small a pool of prospective buyers instead of naturally guiding a bunch of prospects from one stage to the next of the selling process. Pressure and intensity are a turn off as a customer. But you have already experienced that somewhere before, haven’t you?
Frustrated emotions also get transferred into the dealings with the next batch of prospective customers- ruining any good impressions that may have been made otherwise. You can’t think clearly when your emotions are not in control. Aren’t the smartest people the calmest?
4. Fear. Most people crumble or hide from their fears, making the fear stronger and more difficult to overcome. Do what you fear most first in your day. Eventually you’ll grow tolerant of that fear, and maybe overcome it. And you’ll be free from it for the rest of the day if you get it out of the way. This works with what you dislike to do the most- do it first the morning (if the task can be scheduled this way).
Successful people don’t fear less, or like distasteful tasks more than unsuccessful people, they just do it in spite of all of that because it will bring them closer to their goals.
5. They are not professionals, but amateurs. Professional salespeople are constantly perfecting their craft. Professionals don’t just ‘wing it’. They drill, rehearse, and practice selling situations. Professionals are always trying to improve every aspect of their personal habits and, performance and that of their business. They understand that it’s the incremental changes over time that produces results in the end.
6. They think that after they finished their formal schooling, that that was enough. Professionals are always listening, reading, learning, growing, and changing in order to excel in selling. They invest time and money into improving their strengths and perfecting their process. Don’t invent the wheel. Find the guy that’s sold tens of thousands of cars who wrote a book, if you sell cars. You might not like everything or even the author, but will definitely find a few nuggets that will boost your success if you are really searching. Be humble, you can always learn from someone, even if they are a poor example- at least you learned what not to do.
7. They don’t value their time. Professionals value their time, so they plan constantly and are incredibly well organized. They plan the Sunday before the workweek, the night before each day, the morning of each day and review at the end of each day, week, month. Professionals don’t waste their time doing things that don’t contribute to the attainment of results that they want for their lives. Don’t check out websites, read personal emails, make unrelated personal calls, etc. during times of the day when the prospects in your industry need to be reached.
8. They procrastinate. ‘Tomorrow’ or ‘Later’ is the battle cry. Professionals have a ‘do it now’ attitude to everything. They don’t put off things that they can do now. They don’t clog their brains with ‘to do’s’ that drag from day to day, and then from week to week.
Write things down as soon as it pops into your brain (invest in colourful post it note pads), or invest in a PDA phone, and let the technology hold the tedious thoughts, so that you can use your brain for creative solutions that drive you closer towards your goals.
9. Most people are not willing to write down their dreams and goals. Because they don’t know exactly what they want to accomplish and in what timeframe, they wander aimlessly with a cloud around their head. And usually, this state is accompanied by a headache.
Confused, depressed, and frustrated.
Or they have a false belief that successful people succeed the first time, so they are afraid to fail. When they fail, they are embarrassed to reset goals, to get back up.
You need to know what you need to do daily, weekly, and monthly to accomplish your goals 3mths, 6mths, 1yr, 2yrs, 5yrs, 10yrs from now. And yet, be flexible to LIFE. Stuff happens.
The worst thing about defining success is thinking that what makes you happy is the same as Joe or Mary. You are not THEM. Define success and what it means to YOU.
10. They are EGO-Driven. Unsuccessful salespeople are more concerned about being right than helping the customer with their business. Arguing is not persuasion.
They are more concerned about covering up mistakes than admitting them.
Ask for forgiveness, and fix the situation. They want to give unwanted advice to people to show their intellect when they should be listening for clues on how to solve the customer’s problems with their product or service.
11. They confuse entertainment with refreshing themselves. Proper Rest and Leisure not escaptism. Family time, alone time with an exciting book, a stimulating hobby that is not draining emotionally or financially to yourself or your family, exercise, etc. There is a reason that God rested on the seventh day, it wasn’t because He was tired, but because He wanted us to learn a lesson about proper rest. Going to Cuba for a week when you can’t afford it is not rest, but stress!
12. They think, speak and act like they are doing so well, when deep down inside they are not. A vital thing is: ‘don’t lie to yourself’. The first step towards success is to be honest with yourself. What are your weaknesses? Strengths? Where are you at? Take personal inventory, and then work to change for the better.
13. They hide problem areas of their business from prospects even though the concealed information could greatly jeopardize any future relationship with this prospect. This is an extension of #12: give full disclosure to your prospective customers. Don’t lie. Don’t evade questions. Tell them the pros and the cons, then show them how the pros can solve their problem, and how they outweigh the cons.
I.E. If you know that delivery time for your product is 5 business days, then don’t promise 2 days just because the customer wants it then.
If the cons in the company outweigh the pros to the point that you are uncomfortable with a full disclosure style of selling, then it is time to leave your current company. It’s just not worth it for anyone involved.
14. They have the wrong priorities, are confused or have none.
I.E. Is watching TV a few hours a night helping your brain to succeed the next day? Have you ever heard of a successful person watching tons of TV and attributing this to their success?
15. They so self-serving that they cannot see the effects of their actions. Filter your thoughts and actions through The Golden Rule. ‘How would I feel if someone said or did this to me?’
In learning what not to do or be like, is equally useful as all the ‘how to’s’. Stay passionate, Dat To
