By S. Anthony Iannarino

I am continually amazed at how much of a difference willingness and effort make on a salesperson’s results. Let’s take a look at two very different salespeople.

Salesperson 1 has a tremendous amount of business acumen. He knows his business well, he understands his client’s business well and he knows how to make a difference for his client in a big way. He is the supreme subject matter expert, and he could very easily be a level-4 value creator (this means he can create value at the strategic level).

Salesperson 2 doesn’t know nearly as much about the business. She doesn’t really know enough about her client’s business. She would love nothing more than to make a difference for her clients, but she doesn’t know exactly what is possible and needs help. She isn’t a subject matter expert, and she is a still a good distance from being able to create a high level of value for her clients.

The first salesperson has everything he needs to succeed, while the second salesperson is woefully ill equipped. Or so it looks on the surface.

The rest of the story

Which of our two salespeople would you prefer to have on your team if you were their sales manager? If you were a salesperson, which salesperson would you prefer to be?

What if I told you that Salesperson 1, for all of his abilities, was unwilling to put his knowledge to use prospecting and creating value for his clients and dream clients? What if I told you he refused to put forth the effort necessary to produce results?

And what if I told you that, despite her lack of knowledge and experience, Salesperson 2 was willing to do whatever was necessary to succeed? What if I told you that she put forth a massive effort to get in front of her clients, to learn and to find the help she needed to make a difference for her clients?

The ability to sell isn’t a great predictor of success. In fact, many talented salespeople waste their talents and abilities by being unwilling and by not putting forth the effort.

A willingness to do the work and to put forth the effort, if coupled with some training, some coaching and some development, will produce success at a far greater rate. These ideas aren’t mutually exclusive.

It’s far better — and it produces far greater results — to have a less-talented salesperson who is willing to throw punches than it is to have a talented salesperson who refuses to use his or her talents. The salesperson who is willing to put forth the effort can be taught what she doesn’t know, and he or she can gain what he or she is missing. It’s unlikely that the lazy, unmotivated and talented salesperson is ever going to find the internal inspiration to take advantage of his or her talents.

For my money, I’d bet on the salesperson who throws punches.

S. Anthony Iannarino is President and Chief Sales Officer for  SOLUTIONS Staffing, a best-in-class regional staffing service based in Columbus, Ohio.

by  Nic Windley

Most of us who are in sales want to be good at what we do, because sales, just like business, is a process of constant improvement — if you really want to go somewhere or become one of the top sales people.

With all the training and conventional wisdom that gets pushed upon sales people, you’d be forgiven for thinking that most of that stuff is what makes up a top sales person, but I’d disagree.

Over my career in sales, I remember meeting top people who just didn’t do any of those things or fit the typical sales persons profile. In fact they did, in a lot of cases, the exact opposite.

So what is it that top sales people do that makes them the best at what they do?

Actually I think it’s what they don’t do that makes them truly different from the average sales person. Less is more.

Here are 16 things that top sales people don’t do:

1. Top sales people don’t do what the average sales people do, because if they did, they wouldn’t be any better.
2. Top sales people don’t have lots of established connections or receive special treatment. In my own career, I moved around from industry to industry and always sold no matter where I was and went.
3. Top sales people don’t have to have high levels of qualifications. Instead, their qualifications come from experience, self-education and dedication.
4. Top sales people don’t get born. In fact, they start off as failures — because only failures will ever truly understand what it takes to become great by constantly failing and improving.
5.  Top sales people don’t believe the myths that are spread about top sales people.  Instead they become truth seekers looking for evidence and knowledge to point them in the right direction.
6. Top sales people don’t come across like robots with beautifully scripted openers and canned replies that the company training drums into its people. They come across as real and make every effort to understand their prospects and customers. Selling is not telling, and you can’t build trust by pitching at people.
7. Top sales people don’t use cold calling to generate qualified leads. Instead, they understand the power of marketing, which even a single person can do inside a big company.
8. Top sales people don’t manipulate, they persuade. Most selling tactics or techniques are merely manipulation disguised as persuasion and push prospects into a corner where they are forced to do something that benefits mostly the seller. Persuasion, on the other hand, puts the customer or prospect first and delivers value that builds trust. I liken it to a camera person filming in the wild. If they wanted to film animals in the wild, they’d soon have nothing to film if they went steaming in and tried to force some film footage. Instead, they build an environment where the animals come to them, because they trust they are safe and will get what they want.
9. Top sales people don’t confuse having or using intelligence or developing technical skills with their ability to sell. In fact, a lot of geeks are brilliant business people; just take a look at Bill Gates from Microsoft or Steve Jobs from Apple and the long line of engineers and scientists from the industrial revolution.
10. Top sales people don’t lead with products or technology, instead they lead with a problem or a desire that needs to be fulfilled and show people how they can achieve that.
11. Top sales people don’t focus on numbers, they focus on outcomes, including marketing, building trust, expanding their knowledge and delivering value.
12. Top sales people don’t go to typical networking events and mixers. Instead they spend time with people in their market, understanding them and their problems.
13. Top sales people don’t just attend events. They become speakers at events, demonstrating thought leadership and imparting knowledge.
14. Top sales people don’t lose control. Instead, through leadership and persuasion, they understand that every interaction is a negotiation, whether it’s by phone, email or in person, and requires control and action to bring about a desired event.
15. Top sales people don’t chase, they position. Instead of being in need of customers, they position themselves as solutions to problems or opportunities to fulfill desires, and customers seek them out.
16. Top sales people don’t ignore the fact that 93% of all in-person communication happens at a sub-conscious level, so it’s not just what you say, it’s the way you say it. They also don’t confuse that with trying to be overly dynamic or energetic. Calm confidence.

By Dave Light, Sales Evolution Principal and Coach

I admire salespeople! I admire them in part because I believe that salespeople hold the power to restore American economic growth! Yep, that’s what I said. America’s team of professional salespeople bear the responsibility at a grass-roots level for lifting our country above the flat GDP of recent years and for restoring the confidence and commitment to moving the nation forward.

At the same time, as professionals, we need to reject the assignment of blame and reject the attitude of the politicians and pundits who seem focused on seeking scapegoats for our economic realities, rather than seeking solutions for them. Maybe there was mismanagement at a few bad firms, and maybe the consequences of those bad decisions did temporarily overwhelm the really great management of many, many small and mid-sized companies. But it just doesn’t matter anymore; it is time to press on.

If you are reading this in the Sales Evolution newsletter or on the blog, when I say “sales professional,” I’m pointing at you! America’s business developers hold the power to restore GDP, full employment and begin mending the budget and trade deficits. Our capabilities in concert go far beyond the meager powers of the President or Congress or Wall Street. And judging by the robust market for sales training and self-help materials, our nation of sales and business developers is well prepared and eager for the task. After all, salespeople are trained in getting things done, managing time, creating solutions, driving decisions and controlling priorities. And most importantly, we are about delivering results — that’s “job one” for us and what clearly distinguishes us from everyone else in the organization.

But how do we do it? Well, it’s not going to be easy, but it all starts with us having the kind of reality-testing conversations that strike at the heart of the fears and uncertainties that are causing our prospects and clients to choose inaction over moving forward with new business initiatives, including buying our stuff. This conversation is not about trying to sell them on your stuff and you are not trying to persuade them that they need to change the way they are thinking. It is about having open, unbiased conversation with them so they can share with you the deep uncertainties they are having about dealing with the issues and aspirations that are critical to the growth and well-being of their businesses, as related to our products and services. This talk might bleed into areas that are not directly related to your business, and that’s okay. The important thing is that you create as many of these conversational opportunities, with as many prospects and clients as possible.

Remember and focus: STOP SELLING and start having MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS concerning their uncertainties. Keep it focused, that’s all you need to do, nothing more. Then stand back and watch the magic. In challenging times, your prospects will respect that a salesperson is willing to carve out a “sales-free-zone” for them to talk about all of the business concerns they’ve been carrying around in their heads. And they will be grateful that you created the opportunity to allow the conversation to be about them. Every trained sales professional has the capability to empower these important “Certainty Creating Conversations” with prospects and customers — and if we engage in these conversations, we are going to dramatically change the American business landscape for the better.

So, there’s little doubt in my mind that the “United States Sales Force” has the intelligence, the skills, the energy and the tenacity to tackle the duties of selling America back to vitality at the street level. And I’ll even go one better — mobilizing America’s sales talent has the potential to lift us beyond our previous levels of economic achievement; enabling us to tackle even larger challenges that we as a nation are eager to confront, but sadly have been lacking the leadership to meet, beat and defeat.

So now it’s up to us. Either we adopt a larger role in our success, our customer’s success, our community’s success and our nation’s success, or we fall back and accept the role of victim (which is frankly getting tedious for many Americans). Either we envision ourselves as the engines of change, of improvement and of the future or we don’t. But each of us had better make up our minds because in this battle, our country is counting on its sales force to take the lead, to go on the offensive. And if we don’t take the lead to challenge economic mediocrity who will? And if not now, when?

Paulette is handling numerous accounts and trying to develop new business at the same time.

She is frustrated because she is always on call. She constantly complains of having to “put out fires” with existing buyers. These emergencies take away from her prime selling time when she needs to be out developing new business.

Paulette’s reality is that primetime selling time is in short supply.

When Paulette discovers the importance of having a plan for her primetime selling hours, she will turn her sales numbers around quickly. Too often the so-called “emergency” calls from her customers really aren’t, and often could be handled by someone else in the office. Paulette needs to be proactive working her client base, because when salespeople spend too much time with preparation, false emergencies and professional visiting, they fall victim into the deadly pattern of consistent inconsistency.

To get back on track, Paulette must retrain her customers not to call her for every single thing they need, particularly when there are others in the office that could handle the situations better and faster. Additionally, and even more importantly, she must clearly determine which buyers and prospects in whom to invest time and what she should expect back for her time. This will lead her to discover that a number of existing buyers and prospects are expendable. That’s right — believe it or not — there are business-producing buyers and prospects you can’t afford to continue to service or call on. Here’s a quick way to determine who is worth your time:

1.  Rank your accounts from highest volume and/or margin to lowest; likewise rate your prospects’ potential. Add them up and get a total business for the year.

• Grade A Buyers: These buyers account for 60% of your total revenue.
• Grade B Buyers: These should provide the next 20%.
• Grade C Buyers: These should account for only 20% of all your business.

Are you investing 80% of your time with your A and B buyers and prospects? Probably not.

2. Take a highlighter and mark all accounts that have potential to generate additional revenue. Label them plus (+) accounts.  Treat A+ as special accounts, B+ like As and C+ like Bs.  The rest are expendable.

3.  Develop a Plan: Determine how often you contact the A+, A, B+ and B buyers and prospects.

Firing customers and clients may seem like the wrong thing to do. After all, they are generating income and commission for you, and often you don’t have to do very much to get it. The real question is, how much are they costing you when you spend your time with them versus those where the real money lies?

“Minds, like bodies, will fall into a pimpled, ill-conditioned state from mere excess of comfort.”- Charles Dickens

By Gary Lockwood

Most of us have a thermostat that regulates the temperature in our house. When it gets a bit too warm, the air conditioning kicks on to bring the temperature down to an acceptable range. When the temperature drops below a comfortable point, the heater comes on to bring the room temperature up to a more comfortable level.

The “comfort zone” is the range of temperature that is not too hot and not too cold; just comfortable.

Your personal “comfort zone” is where you are comfortable in what you are doing in your job, your life and your experiences. It is when you have no feelings of risk or anxiety. Some call it “being comfortable.” Some would call it “a rut.” You have your own personal comfort zone. Your built-in thermostat regulates your level of anxiety, fear and discomfort. When you step outside your normal, existing boundaries in the areas of your knowledge, skills, habits and attitude, you begin to feel a bit anxious. The natural tendency is to pull back.

Try this: Fold your arms. Now, fold them the other way.

How did that make you feel? Felt a bit unnatural, didn’t it? That’s why you usually stay within your comfort zone. When you try something new, you often feel uneasy about it, and frequently pull back.

The security feels good

The downside of all this is that always staying in your comfort zone can be very limiting. The world passes us by as we stagnate. Complacency, in our fast-paced competitive world, can be fatal to business and severely limit personal and professional growth. If you are not learning, trying new things and growing, your job or business may be deteriorating.

How do you expand your comfort zone?

Before you just throw all caution to the wind, try some simple things.

• Drive home by a different route.
• Shop at a different grocery store.
• Order something from the menu that you’ve never tried before.
• Sleep on the other side of the bed.
• Make a conscious effort to experiment.
• Let yourself feel the adrenaline level rise a bit. Allow your anxiety level to increase. Feel your heart rate and breathing going faster. The adrenaline is your body’s natural drug that, in moderation, makes you sharp, creative and quick. It creates the feeling of excitement and exhilaration that comes from trying something new. Recognize that it also can be scary and stressful. Some stress is useful. Too much can be harmful. Some stress provides energy. Too much stress causes distress and can lead to burnout if done to extreme.

Why would you want to give yourself the stress of stepping outside your comfort zone?

You do it because that’s where growth takes place. Just like a muscle gets stronger when you exercise it outside its normal range of use, you get stronger when you get out of your rut. And just like your muscles, once you stretch beyond your current capabilities, you don’t ever go back to your original dimensions. As you try new things, you gain confidence. Confidence makes you feel powerful and good. And when you are confident that you can survive new ideas, you allow yourself to try even more new things.

What’s the limit?

Obviously, you need to be realistic in your risk management. Most successful people think through the possible outcomes of taking a risk. Then they prepare for how they would deal with each potential outcome. Successful people take risks, but they are not foolhardy or stupid. What are some higher-level activities that could add to your personal and professional growth?

Here’s my challenge to you. Make a list of 50 things that, if you really were successful in doing them, you would be a better person or have a better company. Things like:

Give a speech (oh no!),
Write and publish an article,
Start an exercise program,
Volunteer,
And so on.

Then choose one or two that you are willing to do within the next 90 days. Schedule those new activities and then go for it. Afterward, choose one or two more and do it again. Make personal and professional growth a life-long habit.

Don’t stay PARKED in the comfort zone.

SOURCENOTE: Gary Lockwood is increasing the effectiveness and enhancing the Lives of CEOs, business owners and professionals.