This should be immensely encouraging to sales people. Unlike the promotional messages from legions of sales trainers and authors, the reality is that there are no “secrets” in sales. Success comes not from hidden strategies and mysterious tactics, but rather from the excellent execution of the essentials.
The best sales people execute the most fundamental skills with excellence. And, since we can all do the things the best do, we can, if we choose, strive to do them better. And, if we strive to do them better, at some point we will arrive at the same place they are: a master sales person.
In other words, there is a path to sales mastery, and we can all follow it, if we choose.
It begins with our mind-set.
We need to see ourselves as professional sales people, whose job it is to bring revenue into the company. That sounds so simple and so basic, yet legions of sales people are loath to consider themselves sales people. They are account executives, sales facilitators, mobile customer service representatives, etc. Some consider themselves to be exclusively the advocates for the customer and hand
out discounts and concessions to anyone and everyone.
Since they don’t see themselves as professional sales people, they don’t invest in improving their sales skills. They don’t understand that their behavior creates a reciprocal reaction on the part of the customer. The sales person’s actions create reactions on the part of the customer. If they want more profitable actions from the customer, they need to improve their actions.
Once we have the mind-set of the professional sales person, we slowly begin to gravitate toward the opportunities and customers that hold the greatest potential. We understand that we only have a small and limited quantity of sales time, and that we must invest it, with a cold-blooded business attitude, in those situations that will bring the greatest reward. In short, effective time management
becomes a daily obsession.
Now, since we are interacting more frequently with the highest potential customers and prospects, we focus on excelling at the most fundamental communication skill: asking better questions and listening more constructively.
Armed with these two fundamental and powerful communication devices, we strive for continued improvement and constant development.
With this as a path, sales mastery is an achievable goal for every committed sales person.
As the best have taught us, there is a path to sales mastery, and it travels through excellent execution of the essentials.
