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Sales – The job Everyone needs to have at least once….
It is 6:50AM on yet another beautiful summer day in Toronto, and as I sit here gazing out at the verdant scenery, with my steaming cup of frothy coffee, I hear the sound of water flowing. It’s the shower and in it is my (just 2 days ago) 19 year old son, getting ready for another day of his summer job….in Sales!!
After spending several weeks looking for the right summer job, he took a position as a door to door salesman for a company that seals driveways.
It is back breaking work – pushing around a 500 lb machine; knocking on doors selling the service, and sealing the driveway if the sale is made. For this, payment in the form of commission only, comes at the end of the week, for sales made. minus the $10/day to rent the equipment. It is a win, win, win – for customer, company and salespersons – with some groups winning more than others!
And, I for one am much pleased at the lessons that are happening as a result of this.
Top Ten Lessons Learned
- Entrepreneur – good sense of what it’s like to run your own business, and enormous pride of knowing exactly what you are worth at the end of the week.
- Discipline – has the leg up on talent. Sure work ‘smarter not harder’ is a great tenet – but nothing beats having a process that works – and working it.
- Experience is not always the best teacher – because someone has been at this longer doesn’t mean they are better – on his first day he made the only 2 sales of the day – experienced partner – none.
- Continuous Improvement – experience only counts if you are constantly re-calibrating to ensure that you are learning – even a billion dollars starts with that first penny.
- Goal Setting – setting goals every morning has had a great impact on his results – and has become a dash board for him to measure his accomplishments.
- Some days are better than others – enjoy! And for the others – remember, even the longest day –ends!
- Perseverance – it does conquer all –sometimes the hardest part is just showing up (especially when you don’t hit the bed until 2:30AM)
- Closing – there is always a close – either your customer closes you and there is no sale – or you close them for the sale.
- People are really cool – he and his partner were given lunch by an empathetic home owner – hang onto that when people are not too cool!
10.Pride and reward in a job well done – there’s nothing wrong in being a 20 year, overnight success!
In his journey to make this world a better place, the lessons he learns in his sales career are invaluable, and certainly more than his mother, the sales facilitator could teach him, about the job that everyone needs to have!!
Just got a text from him now…’It’s been great day today, Mooom!’
Cool!!- that’s my boy!!
It is 6:50AM on yet another beautiful summer day in Toronto, and as I sit here gazing out at the verdant scenery, with my steaming cup of frothy coffee, I hear the sound of water flowing. It’s the shower and in it is my (just 2 days ago) 19 year old son, getting ready for another day of his summer job….in Sales!!
After spending several weeks looking for the right summer job, he took a position as a door to door salesman for a company that seals driveways.
It is back breaking work – pushing around a 500 lb machine; knocking on doors selling the service, and sealing the driveway if the sale is made. For this, payment in the form of commission only, comes at the end of the week, for sales made. minus the $10/day to rent the equipment. It is a win, win, win – for customer, company and salespersons – with some groups winning more than others!
And, I for one am much pleased at the lessons that are happening as a result of this.
Top Ten Lessons Learned
- Entrepreneur – good sense of what it’s like to run your own business, and enormous pride of knowing exactly what you are worth at the end of the week.
- Discipline – has the leg up on talent. Sure work ‘smarter not harder’ is a great tenet – but nothing beats having a process that works – and working it.
- Experience is not always the best teacher – because someone has been at this longer doesn’t mean they are better – on his first day he made the only 2 sales of the day – experienced partner – none.
- Continuous Improvement – experience only counts if you are constantly re-calibrating to ensure that you are learning – even a billion dollars starts with that first penny.
- Goal Setting – setting goals every morning has had a great impact on his results – and has become a dash board for him to measure his accomplishments.
- Some days are better than others – enjoy! And for the others – remember, even the longest day –ends!
- Perseverance – it does conquer all –sometimes the hardest part is just showing up (especially when you don’t hit the bed until 2:30AM)
- Closing – there is always a close – either your customer closes you and there is no sale – or you close them for the sale.
- People are really cool – he and his partner were given lunch by an empathetic home owner – hang onto that when people are not too cool!
10.Pride and reward in a job well done – there’s nothing wrong in being a 20 year, overnight success!
In his journey to make this world a better place, the lessons he learns in his sales career are invaluable, and certainly more than his mother, the sales facilitator could teach him, about the job that everyone needs to have!!
Just got a text from him now…’It’s been great day today, Mooom!’
Cool!!- that’s my boy!!
Sales – the Job that Everyone needs to have, at least once …..
It is 6:50AM on yet another beautiful summer day in Toronto, and as I sit here gazing out at the verdant scenery, with my steaming cup of frothy coffee, I hear the sound of water flowing. It’s the shower and in it is my (just 2 days ago) 19 year old son, getting ready for another day of his summer job….in Sales!!
After spending several weeks looking for the right summer job, he took a position as a door to door salesman for a company that seals driveways.
It is back breaking work – pushing around a 500 lb machine; knocking on doors selling the service, and sealing the driveway if the sale is made. For this, payment in the form of commission only, comes at the end of the week, for sales made. minus the $10/day to rent the equipment. It is a win, win, win – for customer, company and salespersons – with some groups winning more than others!
And, I for one am much pleased at the lessons that are happening as a result of this.
Top Ten Lessons Learned
- Entrepreneur – good sense of what it’s like to run your own business, and enormous pride of knowing exactly what you are worth at the end of the week.
- Discipline – has the leg up on talent. Sure work ‘smarter not harder’ is a great tenet – but nothing beats having a process that works – and working it.
- Experience is not always the best teacher – because someone has been at this longer doesn’t mean they are better – on his first day he made the only 2 sales of the day – experienced partner – none.
- Continuous Improvement – experience only counts if you are constantly re-calibrating to ensure that you are learning – even a billion dollars starts with that first penny.
- Goal Setting – setting goals every morning has had a great impact on his results – and has become a dash board for him to measure his accomplishments.
- Some days are better than others – enjoy! And for the others – remember, even the longest day –ends!
- Perseverance – it does conquer all –sometimes the hardest part is just showing up (especially when you don’t hit the bed until 2:30AM)
- Closing – there is always a close – either your customer closes you and there is no sale – or you close them for the sale.
- People are really cool – he and his partner were given lunch by an empathetic home owner – hang onto that when people are not too cool!
10.Pride and reward in a job well done – there’s nothing wrong in being a 20 year, overnight success!
In his journey to make this world a better place, the lessons he learns in his sales career are invaluable, and certainly more than his mother, the sales facilitator could teach him, about the job that everyone needs to have!!
Just got a text from him now…’It’s been great day today, Mooom!’
Cool!!- that’s my boy!!
Sales? Really….really?…
At 14 years old, and on my way to becoming she who must be reckoned with, my mother sat me down to ask my opinion on a matter of great urgency. She needed to know what I thought of her going into….dare I say it…..sales!
You see, she had spent her life, after secretarial school, climbing up the corporate ladder until she was now in the lofty role as Senior Manager at the insurance company she worked for -well respected, professional, with a staff in the teens. She was a somebody!
As she looked out into the future, and saw my brother (younger, chronologically), and myself approaching the university years, and knowing that the question in our home was not are you, but which university are you attending – she realised that my dad and herself could not afford this with their present income situation.
Something had to be done – and with her gregarious nature, and work ethic, combined with several years of networking (although back then it was called being neighborly), sales was the answer.
But wait – Sales! Really?….Really? What would everyone think?
How far have we come from there, I ask? Is sales still viewed as being that which must be explained?
Yes indeed ! With my 20 years of sales experience, and 8 years of sales training experience, I have annotated sales reps in 3 Main Species:
- The Blowfish. These are the ones who need to amplify their role, because what they do is above selling. As soon as they are asked the dreaded ‘what do you do question – they inflate. The answer may sound like, ‘I’m a BDE – Business Development Executive’…Me – I’m a’ Snr Account Executive’…..Well – I’m an ‘Account Manager’; ‘I’m a Fitness or Lifestyle or xxxx Consultant – or my favorite….’I’m not in sales – I’m in Marketing’!
- The Ostrich. These guys put their head way down deep in the sand. You see – they really aren’t in sales. What they do is not as lowly as trying to disturb people to buy stuff. What they do is of great importance, and follows along the lines of, ‘I’m not here to Sell you anything – I just need a few minutes of your time to discuss your business’, or ‘I am conducting market research on…..’; or ‘ the last thing I want to do is to sell you something, I really just want us to have a conversation…’
- The Eager Beaver. This esteemed group are in Sales and Proud of it! They have the quotas, & the pitch books, & the suits & Vision Boards to prove it. They wear out a pair of shoes every 3 months! They have the value statements and the impact questions in the Sales Call Planner at the ready! They probably are well equipped with their BAs – perhaps even MBAs – and know that sales is their foundation to bigger and better and brighter futures – perhaps, even in Marketing!!
Of course, our wonderfully succesful capitalist society exists on supply and demand, buying and selling – whether you are a blow fish, an ostrich or an eager beaver – go forth and sell something!
Oprah, Larry, Matt, Charlie & Barbara….
Oprah Winfrey, Larry King, Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose & Barbara Walters.
What do they have in common?
- they are rich
- they are self made
- they are known by the questions they ask
- their ability to ask the best questions is responsible for their success
What O, L, M, C & B know;
- you cannot learn when you are talking
- you learn when you listen
- you need to be selective about the info you are listening to
- to be selective you need to ask the right questions
3 Rules to Questions:
- The person asking the question controls the conversation. Ask O, L, M, C & B – or any lawyer, police officer or child. Asking questions, both open ended and closed ended will lead the conversation in any direction that you want it to go. The more powerful your questions the more information you will receive – knowledge is power.
- Learn how to ask powerful questions. Powerful = non-judgemental, non- leading, future focused, create awareness in the other, and causes reflection. You know the question is powerful if you hear, ‘I never thought of that before’; ‘Not sure how to answer that’; ‘That’s a really good question’
- You may ask any question you want as long as you can answer – why do you want to know? Your questions should have a solid reason behind them, so if you are challenged with ‘Why do you want to know?’ – you can answer
So, let me ask you this:
- What will you gain by asking more powerful questions?
Oh, to sell like a flower….
http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_drori_the_beautiful_tricks_of_flowers.html
Mastering your inner game…
Last week, I wrote about how many of us may be sabotaguing ourselves. See, Find out how you are sabotaging yourself?
We act and perform in accordance with our beliefs. Our beliefs reside in the unconcious, which means that many of us are not even aware of why we are the way we are!
So – what happens when we are not acting in our own best interest? Are you letting your fears stop you from taking action? Do you find yourself stuck? Are you restricting the choices you have?
How do we get out of our own way?
Here are 3 ways of moving beyond.
- Master your Inner Game (to borrow a phrase from Tim Gallwey of The Inner Game fame)
You see – we play 2 games – an inner game and an outer game. The outer game is played against your opponent. The inner game is played against yourself, and is full of anxiety and self-doubt. We need to Master our Inner Game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mglMtDVefx8 - Positive Self Talk – are you aware of what you say to yourself every day? It can and does make a huge difference in how think and act.
– When my son was 14, I had him take out a large piece of flip chart paper, and a set of markers – and spend 30 minutes noting his goals for the year. There were 4! I had him re-do it in the present tense – and then paste it on the wall opposite his bed, so that it was the first thing he saw as he opened his eyes. It was done under duress – and as a pacifier to whacky mom. When all his 4 goals had become reality by Christmas – he was a believer! He re-did them on Jan 1st for 6 months this time. Again and again they have become reality! He is now an evangelist!
– Repeat positive phrases to yourself all day – and do so in the present tense. It may sound like –I live a blessed, wonderful, fulfilled life; I am successful in my sales career; I have made 3 new contacts today; I am the best!etc. I have even been known to put it to music.. .and I often amuse myself and make up jingles. - Sit in Silence – Silence is a source of great strength. ~Lao Tzu
Silence has an energy and power all of its own. We come to know our stregnth and our power through silence. We live in a world where we seldom have occassion to be quiet. Think of all the noise and interruptions you are exposed to. Our lives are run by ringings and buzzings and words and music.
Sit in silence for at least 15 minutes every day. At first, you will be surprised at how hard that is. Then – you will come to see the beauty in the silence. Many people run from themselves, and don’t want to be alone with their thoughts.
Sit with your thoughts – make friends with yourself – and see the emerging grace.
turbochargeyoursales 