RETHINKING THE SALES ROLE

Part two of our look at sales insights…

Why do some people acquire basic sales skills but never develop further, either Flatlining or Flaming out? I think there are a couple of reasons: the most optimistic is that Sales Delegates are unaware of the existence of the different levels of skill development, the importance of Life Principles, and the importance and reality of the Sales Process in our growth and development.

The other unfortunate occurrence that I see is a lack of consistent effort, cognitive rigidity (the inability to adapt to new demands or information), bad habits, and/or lack of commitment. These are hard to overcome.

All the books, training and reinforcement will not help someone who doesn’t want to help themselves. However, for those looking to improve, there is a way to do so, which consists of gaining new information, concepts, and strategies to develop skills.

OPTIMISTIC THINKING
Awareness becomes a key concept of our lives and careers. For purely practical reasons, I am an Optimist. I have always believed that no matter what our level of skill, there is another level in front of us, and we are all aspiring to reach it. When we think back to the negative perception of Sales people and the associated words, it would seem that these are the Levels available:

Rookie: Brand new
Novice: New but learning Typical: this is the sales version of arrested development, a plateau that has been reached, where we become stuck without realizing that this is only the base level we need to move on from as soon as possible.

Whatever descriptions we think of with the word “typical” – they usually aren’t good. Typical is Flatlining, getting to a point (low) and stopping. Sales is a profession like any other, no lawyer, doctor, teacher, accountant, engineer, etc.

is at their best and most proficient early in their careers, the expertise and value is generated over time with experience and ongoing skill development. Idealistically, I believe that no one really wants to be stuck at the Typical level and are looking for a sustainable way to develop and grow.

These are the actual Sales levels:
Journeyman: still developing but valuable – this is when the realization occurs that there is a lot more entailed to sustainable high levels of sales success, as well as the personal choice to make the effort to do the work required.

Atypical: the opposite of Typical. This is where I always thought we all wanted to go, it isn’t easy and one of the key components to getting there are the Values we discussed in my last article, a Values based approach to the work. Expectations of over a 50% sales closing ratio.

Virtuoso: A higher level of personal, professional skills, and mastery. 80% closing ratio expectation and achievement.

Universal: the highest level of personal and professional development, values and principles embodied in all endeavours. This takes decades to achieve if we can get there at all.

HERE’S THE THING
Getting to Typical is about the very minimum of what you can do; show up, know the basics about the products you sell, close 20% of opportunities (20% is the level of customers who will buy regardless of the sales effort).

Becoming Atypical and a Virtuoso is not only about what you do, but critically, WHO you are. Life Principles is the term I use (a “Principle” is a fundamental truth) and I refer to these as “the things that don’t take care of themselves.” Why these require our awareness is because of: Entropy – the 2nd law of thermodynamics that basically states that things left unattended get worse.

“Who” we bring to the work – is as important as the work itself, so no matter how well we might be performing in some of these areas, failure in any of the others can derail our careers/lives.

The Life Principles we have to focus on, and bring to the work every day are our:
Physical – Diet/Exercise/Sleep
Mental – Reading/Writing/Learning
Spiritual – Morals/Ethics/Reverence for Life
Relational – Friends/Family/colleagues
Financial – Spending/Saving/Debt

VALUES ARE PERSONAL but here are five PADDI goals to remember.

There is no such thing as differentiating personal/professional or work/ life balance – there is just Life and we spend 60% of it at work, so who we are is a critical factor in our growth and development. An early mentor for me, Jim Rohn, said: “You have to work harder on yourself than you do your job.”

It took me 40 years of continual understanding to fully appreciate what he meant. I also meant to explain this image in the last article. First of all it’s the first AI image I ever created, and the intent is the awareness that these Values and Life Principles are just words, just slogans, until we embody them whole heartedly and have them take root in our being.

This takes time and awareness and effort. “We have to work harder on ourselves than we do our jobs” – this is the path to growth and development, this is the work that creates sustainability in our lives and career. The reason more people do not follow this path is simple, it’s because no one is going to make you. No one can make you.

There is no extrinsic mechanism for adults to grow and develop except by their own desire, mindset and discipline. There is a famous example of a company who had personal development in their job descriptions. They had time allotted and paid for the development.

But they were sued by some employees because it ‘violated their rights to not develop at all.’ Information that is designed to aid us in our forward motion is created for the people that want to hear the message, not necessarily the people who need the message.

TIME TO RETHINK
We need to take an honest assessment of where we are in our sales career and the personal part of the equation. Renowned physicist Richard Feynman said it best “You don’t want to fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.”

Awareness of the principled reality that who we bring to the work is as important (if not more) than the work itself. Without the Life Principles, work becomes one dimensional and leads to dissatisfaction, burnout, and worst of all, flatlining. A Values Based/Principled Sales Delegate is just the start.

What we need now (and are ready for) is a Process to follow that will get us the outcomes we desire, allowing us to continue to grow, learn and become expert at selling, which takes us to the Sales Process, that no one is exempt from, regardless of their level of acknowledgement.

The Sales Process is a roadmap that keeps you on track regardless of how you feel, or what is going on in the marketplace. Our work now becomes working on the process. One of the most influential management consultants in history had this advice regarding Process: Seven Steps of the Sales Process – to be continued…………..

STEVE HASENMUELLER
Keynote Speaker, Sales Trainer & Author has spoken to companies worldwide on all topics regarding effective selling, motivation and leadership.
Effort Today Enterprises
www.effort-today.com
steve@effort-today.com