Sales is a demanding profession. Top performers know that to sustain a high level of performance, they need to keep fit and well – both physically and psychologically. An increasing body of research is showing that keeping an optimistic outlook, and having the physical energy to meet the demands of working in sales are critical to a sales person’s effectiveness, success and overall well-being. Something many of us know intuitively, however it good to have it validated.

Managing and overcoming setbacks is key to succeeding in anything. In sales we are tested everyday. Without a sense of optimism it would make getting up to face each day that much harder.

So what is Optimism?
A tendency to expect the best possible outcome or dwell on the most hopeful aspects of a situation.

So optimism is a very useful mindset to take especially into sales, even more so in the tough times. As a sales person I know I have had to call upon my optimism many times in my business career and it works every time. However, many people mistakenly think being optimistic is being unrealistically positive all the time. It is not. Being optimistic does, however, determine how a person deals with setbacks. The good news is that optimism can be learned and developed, resulting in real dividends due to a more resilient workforce.

A lot of research and positive work has been done on learned optimism by Dr. Martin Seligman, Chairman of the University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology Center and founder of Positive Psychology. If you like to read more about his work I recommend you go to: http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx

Being an Optimistic Sales Professional is about developing personal strategies helpful to leading a successful sales career. Key areas to focus on include:

• Developing Learned Optimism
• Developing and maintaining resilience & drive
• Developing ways to enhance your wellbeing (diet, sleep, exercise, rest, recreation, etc.)
• Recognising common types of thinking errors
• Dealing effectively with the effects of negative thinking
• Minimising unhelpful self appraisal
• Using Mindfulness and Meditation to enhance your performance

Top performers will have variety of strategies and techniques that they apply in their daily life.

Top performers also possess resilience, drive and determination.

What is Resilience?
Ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy.

What is Drive?
To strive vigorously toward a goal or objective; to work, play, or try wholeheartedly and with determination.

What is Determination?
Firmness of purpose; resolve

And by being optimistic you really help build upon your resilience, drive and determination. All good things for building sales.

What’s the alternative?

Well it has been shown that Pessimistic Sales People are twice as likely to quit their job as those who are optimistic.

Whereas Optimists enjoy better health, take less time off work and are more adaptable in a changing environment.

I know what path I am choosing.

Which path are you going to choose?

I wish you happy and successful selling.

PS Barrett has developed the The Optimistic Sales Professional program. Call us on 03 9532 7677 for more details.

Although technology has become increasingly important in recent years, the importance of relationships in business has not changed. Upon reflection, it appears that we have taken the following path.

Technological Era ——> Industrial Era

In fact, it has been predicted that over the next ten to fifteen years, we will see a new era emerge; that being the era of the relationship in doing business. It is estimated that the relationships we have in business with our customers and within organisations will be the key differentiator for businesses worldwide.

Technological Era ——> Industrial Era ——> Relationship Era

What this demonstrates is that the role of networking is going to be increasingly important in order for businesses to achieve their goals. In addition, given that networking and relationship will be a key differentiator in times to come, individuals will need to take a much more structured and professional approach to network as opposed to leaving it to chance.

What is Networking?
Networking is the process of establishing and developing business relationships with other business people or customers that are mutually beneficial to both parties.

Networking is different from selling. Think of what it feels like for you when a stranger comes up and sells at you and pushes their business card in your face. More often that not, you will feel repelled. This does nothing to foster or build a relationship.

Remember, in networking, if one party is chasing, the other is retreating.
The key to true networking is the word mutually. Although the intention is to increase revenue, effective networking must centre around how you can help the person you are networking with rather than focusing on how they can be of assistance to you. As such, developing and fostering a relationship over time becomes extremely important in the networking process.
By far, the most important factors in networking are listening, having excellent communication skills and being focused on how you can assist the other party.

Feelings about networking
Many people feel uncomfortable when it comes to networking. However, a lot of the time, this discomfort is unnecessary when you consider the following:

• Most people have an altruistic streak where their natural tendency is to want to assist others
• Most people will be able to identify with your situation, particularly if the network alliance has the potentially to be mutually beneficial

Some people enjoy being seen as networkers and being considered an excellent referral source for others in business circles

I must confess I find networking at events a challenge. I don’t like small talk. My style can be too serious at times when I meet new people. I find it much easier to start a sales conversation than a networking conversation. It takes me a while to warm up.

Others, on the other hand, love talking to anyone and never seem to tire if it. They are warm, friendly and engaging. Don’t get me wrong I can do it but it takes more work from my side.

So how do I get around this and make the best use of my time networking? I interview people. I find that I feel comfortable asking people the following: Why do you like coming to networking events? What brought you to this event? What do you hope to gain from being at this event? And then I take it from there – wherever the conversation goes. I am careful not to interrogate them though. The benefit is that I learn lots about them and find it easier for me to be present at these events. For the other person they feel important as I paid attention to them.

When at a networking event, it is easier to gain the attention and time of individuals as there is an agreed reason for being there that centres around networking. However, when you are networking and promoting yourself directly to individuals (either within your organisation or as follow up from networking events), it is more important to manage the dynamics of the discussion as here, you are drawing on the relationship and what it has to offer you.

Online networks
With the advent of Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn and the like, the networking opportunities abound. However there is inherent danger in falling into the trap of just collecting names for the sake of wanting to ‘appear’ to have a large network. Ask yourself the following questions:

How long since you actually spoke to any of those people on your online network? Are some people on your connection list people you have never spoken with? Have you understood why they want to be connected to you? Do you know why you want to be connected with them? If you don’t why then you may want not think about why their name is on your list in the first place.

Taking the farming approach to Networking
Many people are under the misconception that with regard to networking, you must focus on spreading the net far and wide. Whilst this is important, for your networking efforts to be truly effective, you must also approach some networking relationships as a farmer would approach yielding his crops.

Consider the way a farmer works. He takes the time to prepare his soil so that it is ready for his seeds to be planted and he does this long before he plants his seeds. Once the seeds are planted, he nurtures them with water, fertilising and tending to them regularly.

He does not pull the seeds out of the ground before they are ready but rather, waits until his plants are strong and the roots have grown deep before he expects to yield anything from his plants. The farmer understands that there is a process to follow and that gains will not come from expecting a quick return, but rather, by putting in what is required of the process and waiting for the appropriate time to yield results.

Approaching networking with a farming mentality will ensure that you will yield quality results from your networking process. While the tendency may be to approach as many contacts as possible as quickly as possible and expect fast results, in reality, taking a more diligent approach will mean that you form relationships that can prove beneficial and bear fruit for you for years to come.

Keeping you and your sales team ‘match fit’ and actively engaged in the market place selling effectively is paramount to your survival and success in today’s market. Yet too many businesses, large and small, do not train their sales teams in the vital skills needed in the much more consultative, value add, less product focused market of today.

I was reminded of this again when I was speaking with a 35+ year veteran in sales and sales management who works in the office equipment and facilities management industry. We were discussing the sales team he has inherited recently and how they cannot seem to get their head around talking about facilities management and business processes. They have their heads well and truly stuck in the box (i.e. their products). In order for them to survive they (and others like them) need to transition from selling products to selling in systems and solutions, but as it happens they have had no training in how to make that transition. Whilst they have received some training in the past, it was only product training.

Why do we keep doing this to our sales teams? Why don’t we invest more in their ongoing development and help them adapt to the changing business world? Why do we invest in Occupational Health and Safety Training, for instance, and not in Sales Training? Most likely because we will get fined if we don’t have our OH&S in place or our Workcover insurance premiums will rise. In the OH&S scenario sense we are forced to. (PS I am all for OH&S).

Yet without a good sales team we cannot survive. Sadly, I cannot legislate for good sales training, however, if you are smart you would realise the continuous development (formal and informal) of your sales people it is a type of insurance as well as an investment for your business. Here is a one of our client case studies which illustrates the point:

Banking Products: Case Study: Bank Personal Banking Investment Products
Call Centre – Business to Consumer Telephone Sales

Project Purpose & Pre Intervention Issues
Head of Distribution for Banking Products wanted to create seamless “One Bank” approach to meet customer needs and enhance the customer experience in Banking Products Direct (BP). BP embarked on an attitudinal / behavioural change and skill enhancement program.

Issues needing attention:
No formal sales process or set structure to guide sales calls effectively
Sales people lacking confidence in their own abilities to sell effectively
Too much focus on building rapport instead of building real business opportunities
Sales people not controlling the sales call and lacking a proactive assertive approach
Sales people not cross selling or up-selling instead sticking to “one product” missing growing the “Prime Accounts”

Within 6 months of implementing Sales Skills, Behaviour & Process training (2 days class room training plus 6 fortnightly 1 hour follow up sessions run by the manager supplemented with some training for the sales manager in how to run the follow up sessions and coach their staff on the phones) the following results were achieved:

• Accounts Opened: 58% uplift
• Accounts Activated, 43% uplift
• Sales per FTE: 39% uplift
• Conversion Rate, 33% uplift
• New TD FUM ($m): 39% uplift
• % of Total BP accounts opened via BP Direct: 106 % uplift

Business Climate: Post Intervention Results
Apart from the noted uplift in sales, the manager noted a change in behaviour for many sales consultants. Several consultants commented on the program being a ‘light bulb’ moment for them, as that they were suddenly made aware of behaviours and felt empowered to take charge of the situation.

The ROI was definitely worth it. Yet this is the exception in the business world. One of my other clients (another senior sales manager of 20+years experience) alerted his young sales team at the end of their sales training program recently to the fact they were indeed very lucky to receive sales training as most people do not get this kind of support or indepth approach to their develop their careers. He wanted them to really value what they were receiving as it was not the norm.

I am deeply concerned at the lack of adequate support many sales people get. Instead of giving them the vital skills and training/ coaching support they need to flourish and succeed, we (often with the best intentions) mistakenly, think our sales woes will be solved by implementing a CRM system, doing more advertising and marketing, or giving them a motivational RAH RAH session, etc.

Yet if our sales people cannot adequately:

1. Define who they should be targetting or
2. Define what a viable prospect looks like, or
3. Pick up a phone and prospect for new business, or
4. Investigate and understand a client/prospect’s needs, or
5. Use effective problem solving and identification skills, or
6. Present a range of viable solutions, or
7. Make effective customer centred recommendations or,
8. Know their competitive advantage and that of their competitors, or
9. Advance a viable sale towards a close, or
10. Pitch for the business and close a sale, or
11. Up sell and cross sell, or
12. Follow up and deliver, or
13. Manage themselves and their portfolio

What hope do they have in making effective sales? How is a CRM, new brochure or RAH RAH session going to fix their lack of skills and process? If their skills, behaviours and attitudes are not addressed they and you are in trouble.

Yet so many businesses (small through to large) are happy to let luck take its chance when it comes to have a fit viable sales force. You cannot replicate something that does not exist in the first place. So why risk your business and future sales to luck, chance and the intuitive (non replicable) approach taken by many sales people. Do you know why most sales people take this intuitive approach? Because they are given nothing else to put in its place. Instead they get a motivation session here and there and, at best, some product training. And the thing they usually need the least of all is product training. Especially if we are trying to get them to be more investigative and client needs focused.

As you have seen from previous articles I have written, many seasoned sales people are struggling in this market to shift from a ‘product focused’ sales approach to a more ‘complex solution sales’ approach – at least in B2B sales. The skills, knowledge and behaviours now required are more complex. As their market changes many are are still left to their own devices to make it up as they go. They need training just like the rest of us to move with the times and remain relevant.

Most people do not engage in self evaluation and continuous learning so they need prompting and our help to sources the right training and support for them. At the very least having a regular series of mini (in-house) sessions where they can review and reflect on their actions, the causes and effects of what they do and link it something tangible will help them in their endevours. Sales training does not have to be formal class room sessions – 70%+ of sales training should occur in the field using the right type of coaching approach linked to real tangible skills and behaviours.

We have come such a long way in technical advances in science and technology and now it is time we put good sales training and development on the map and under the microscope. Here is a list of competencies or capabilities that, at the very least, most field sales people and outbound telesales people need to know how to apply to survive and thrive in sales: (taken from the BARRETT Sales Competency Dictionary) :

I recommend we give our sales people a fighting chance by investing in relevant, purpose built, evidenced based (competency) sales training programs which are ideally supported by coaching in the field. At least given them training in the three most fundamental / essential areas:

• Sales and Account Planning
• Sales Prospecting Strategies & Skills
• Consultative / Solution / Diagnostic Sales Communication Process

(Assuming you have a product/ service and business structure that is viable) If your sales people understood WHO they need to prospect to, HOW they need make contact with prospects and clients, HOW OFTEN they need to do the activities in order to be viable, WHAT their competitive edge is, HOW they help people solve problems and succeed with your range of products and services, WHY they should continue to work for you and your company and WHAT the benefits are for them, the clients and you by being part of your business, then we are on the right track to get more and better quality sales with fitter sales people.

And if you cannot invest in a more formal training or coaching programs, then at the very least talk about the skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviours they need to work on to make their sales career a success. If it helps use the competency table above to initiate discussions and see what it brings forth. Most of your sales people will be grateful you took the time to speak to them about this.

NB: BARRETT offer a full range of assessment processes and competency based programs including Sales Simulation exercises to test your team’s current and ongoing sales fitness.

With the Sub-prime market issue in the US and its effects on countries and the world’s stock markets featuring as a daily major news item at present who can blame people for getting a bit nervous and worried about the future. You can see it with the panic selling of shares and so forth. However if we let this and other issues get to us and allow ourselves to blow things out of all proportion we can, in turn, create our own demise. Whilst it is critical for business owners and sales people to keep abreast of market changes and challenges we can let real and, more often than not, perceived threats get the better of us.

Choosing your state of mind, your attitude, is critical in business and in life, especially in more challenging times.

Now I am not suggesting we ignore real threats, they need to be taken and dealt with seriously, however many people, especially some sales people can let negative comments, tougher market conditions, hearsay, etc. really affect them unnecessarily.

Once they begin to believe the hype and only focus on the negative they can find themselves in a self-doubt spiral which leads to further problems such as:

• Financial: Loss of revenue; No new sales revenue coming in; Existing customer business drying up; Losing customers to competitors
• Emotional: Excessive worrying & anxiety about poor sales revenue results; Doubt about doing this type of work; Lack of sleep & exhaustion; Loss of confidence; Self doubt about one’s ability to do anything.

This doesn’t; help anyone. Selling in the good times is easy however being able to pick yourself up and keep moving forward in the tough times is the real test – a test of character.

Take the Mortgage industry or instance. Up until recently you only had to bump into someone in the street and you could almost be assured of selling them a mortgage. Now the market is much tougher and lenders are tightening up on credit. Many mortgage brokers and managers are feeling the pinch. The talk amongst many is negative. Who will make it? Who will survive? It will be interesting to see. Yet people create their own reality. All I know is that complaining and feeling sorry for yourself will not help the situation and is likely to lead to even less sales. Yet if they only looked in the market rather than at their navel they would find there is still business to be had it is just a little tougher to find.

I learnt early on in my sales career to keep on going and put in the effort by doing the activities that count especially in the hard times. Prospecting is key. Without it nothing else happens. I can recall in my recruitment consulting days in the late 80’s and early 90’s when jobs were really hard to find and many recruitment consultants were going out of business that some of my colleagues and I looked at the market and said “just because jobs are harder to find doesn’t mean there aren’t any jobs. Companies still exist. Someone will be in business and someone will want to hire good people so let’s get prospecting and find those companies who still want to hire staff and be in business.” And you know what? By taking that approach and having a positive, determined attitude, my colleagues and I had some of our best results ever. We looked for opportunity and it was there. Whilst everyone else was in despair and whinging about how hard it was, we were getting the work.

So where did I get the determination from to keep on going? Was I smarter than any one else? Certainly not! Upon reflection I think it boiled down to two things for me:

1. I looked at the market in a more rational manner and saw the evidence for what it was – there was still work out there to be had.
2. I was also fortunate enough to have to participate in a demanding sport – swimming. I trained 50km+ per week over a 10-year period as a teenager and competed at state and national level in my sport where you were tested mentally and physically everyday. I learnt to be tougher, to get through the pain barrier and to watch out who I listened too. Many a time at race meetings some swimmer would try and get into our heads and scare us to put us off our game. Me, I just tried to shut them out and focus on my own race, my own goals and listen to what my coach said.

Little did I know that I was using some tried and true techniques that still serve me very well today. Years later I would read about and come to realise that I was practicing, amongst other things, the following technique:

Thought Realignment

Thought Realignment is a special adaptation of the self-talk techniques introduced by ancient philosophers. In modern times this concept has been popularised by psychologists Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis, and sensationalised as a modern breakthrough, which it is not. It asserts that most, if not all, of our distressful feelings are caused by the view we take of things and situations in life not the things and situations themselves. How we speak to ourselves can really affect positively or negatively the outcomes of our actions.

We all speak to ourselves every day and what we say has an amazing impact on what we feel and do. Thinking negatively about your market place and seeing only bad things will affect your prospecting and sales efforts. Letting other peoples negative thoughts pollute yours can bring you down as well.

In essence what you say to yourself influences what you feel about yourself or a situation which alters what you do. If you want to change what you do then modify what you feel by altering what you say to yourself. You will be amazed how it can transform your day and your results. If your self-talk is going to be self enhancing it needs to be:

• Objective
• Logically consistent
• Goal supportive
• Enlightening
• Releasing
• Uplifting

A good way to check if your self talk is helping you or harming you is to say to yourself the following: Now say “I want to..” and “I have to..” silently to yourself and feel the difference in energy flow in your body. Which one is easier? Which one feels effortless? You will know what I mean when you do it. I know which one I am choosing.

There are basically two types of self-talk

1. Goal Supporting Self-Talk

“I want to …”
“I’d like to …”
“It would be better if …”
“I’ll try to …”

“…and it’s OK

2. Goal Obstructing Self-Talk

“I have to …”
“You have to …”
“I’d better …”
“I can’t …”

“…or else!”

Now there are some realities we need to face such as I know we have to breath, eat, sleep etc. to survive. And I know we have to prospect to sell however taking an ‘I want to’ approach to these tasks makes life and getting sales a whole lot easier and much more enjoyable. So watch whom you let near your mind (especially yourself) and go get the opportunities that are out there waiting for you.

Happy Selling.