When I talk about being great in sales, I’m not talking about simply hitting your sales quota, I’m talking about being the best of the best, and not for a month, or a quarter, or one year, I’m talking about consistent sales results that would put you in the top 1 or 2% of most sales organizations over a span of many years and even decades. And by the way, when you get to this level, you’ll know intimately that what I talk about in this article is 100% true. You’ll be one of the ones that ‘gets it.’
First off, let me say that most of the information out there from sales ‘gurus’ on what it takes to be successful in sales is wrong. Most of the so-called sales experts haven’t actually sold successfully and/or consistently over the years, if at all. If a ‘guru’ tells you there’s an easy, stress-free, rejection-free way to sell, in which you don’t need to reach out to or call on anyone but instead people come running to you in droves and practically beg you to buy, first, get a firm grip on your wallet, and second, turn 180 degrees and move as fast as possible away from them. There are about six or seven people in the sales training world that speak the truth. They speak the truth because one, they have been top sales reps so they know what it actually takes, two, they are actually interested in helping people instead of just making bunch of money by telling people what they want to hear versus what they need to hear, and third, they aren’t concerned with what people think about the truths that they speak when it comes to sales, they are simply interested in making sure salespeople and sales managers know the truth, even if it’s unpopular. On this last note, they aren’t concerned with the number of likes they get on social media; in fact, they know that by telling the truth they’re more likely to get fewer likes, more negative comments, and more haters. So, before you do any training with or take advice from any sales ‘guru’, find out what their real-world selling experience actually looks like. That said, what makes the great salespeople in the top 1 or 2%?
The truth is that sales at the highest levels is far from a 9-5 job. It’s not a stress-free, comfortable existence. It requires you to work hard, talk to strangers, and face lots of rejection. It is not hanging out in the same comfortable networking group where you’ve known everyone forever, spending countless hours on social media, hiding behind a bunch of cold, spam emails, or waiting for leads from marketing. IT IS being proactive and knocking on doors and ringing phones… of strangers. It is answering your phone early in the morning, late at night, and on weekends. The same goes for emails and texts messages. It’s going above and beyond and delivering more than expected.
What else does that top 1 to 2% look like? It’s doing the things that no one else wants to do, that you don’t want to do either, but that you get yourself to do because you know that’s the only way to the promised land. Biggest among the things that no one wants to do are making cold calls, continuing to follow up with people beyond one, two, or three tries, and roleplaying sales situations with peers.
It’s also showing up every day with a proactive action plan for exactly what needs to be done to hit your sales goals and then getting that plan done every day, and if you do miss a day, making up for it tomorrow. It’s not allowing excuses, negatives, and disempowering beliefs to stop you. It’s having the right attitude, the perseverance, and drive.
It’s being persistent. It’s having thick skin, and being able to take lots of rejection while not taking it personally. It’s having the same demeanor on the next call whether the last person you spoke to bought from you, or swore at you and hung up, the latter of which happens very rarely by the way.
It’s confidence and conviction. It’s believing in yourself and your product. It’s being an effective communicator who is likeable and easy to get along with. It’s making friends easily and putting prospects at ease quickly.
Probably most important, it’s getting really good at the basics which starts by focusing on your most important activities which are prospecting, presenting, and closing and spending the most time possible on those while delegating other tasks or doing them off hours. It’s not looking for the Easy Button, the shortcut, or the hack, it’s sticking with the tried-and-true method that has always worked: the hard work of making lots of calls, talking to strangers, and facing rejection. It’s studying sales and constantly and continually working on sales skills. It’s learning exactly what to do and say in each and every sales situation then committing that to memory.
It’s also understanding that very little has changed in sales in the past 100 years. Sure, there is better technology and other tools that can make aspects of the job easier, but when it comes to talking to people and selling, there is no new relationship selling, or new customer-centered, peer-to-peer approach. The best have always focused on the relationship and doing what’s right for the customer. They’ve always had, and continue to have, open, honest, direct conversations with prospects and customers. Sure, there were some temporary successes in the past, and even today, who got away with showing little regard for the customer and shoving product down someone’s throat, but that kind of so-called success has always been short-lived.
Also, the top people are very careful about how they use AI and other technology in their businesses. It’s good to use technology where you can, to simplify or off-load certain mundane tasks where human involvement is not a differentiator, but unless you’re simply selling a commodity, in volume, at the lowest price possible, it’s important to keep the aspects of selling in place where human involvement is a differentiator. For example, in the insurance industry, it’s important not to replace the Trusted Advisor with a chat bot on your website. Keep in mind that in any long-term sale, the relationship, the human connection, is still the trump card. The top people know they are the key differentiator.
When I see people failing in sales it’s almost always because they’re failing to do the things they know they need to do in order to be successful. On the flip side, sales success at the highest levels is both doing the things you need to do to be successful and working harder and doing more of them than everyone else. For the most part, it comes down to how badly you want to be great and how committed you are.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel here for great sales tips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrp223d9i1RxjyW2S5m697Q
John Chapin is a motivational sales speaker, coach, and trainer. If you have questions, or to have him speak at your next event, go to www.completeselling.com John has over 37 years of sales and sales management experience as a number one sales rep and is the author of the 2010 sales book of the year: Sales Encyclopedia (Axiom Book Awards). You can reprint provided you keep contact information in place. E-mail: johnchapin@completeselling.com.
