This is number 3 in the series – you can read the first article here
“If we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently." (Tony Robbins)
The first step in changing is identifying and getting rid of the influences that are holding you back. Things such as:
Making excuses. We can all find excuses for not winning a sale. Competition, poor economy, missing features, price etc. But poor performers stop there. They don’t try to work out what they can do about them. You have to commit to evaluating every lost sale, finding why you lost it, and working out how to overcome. You have to stop making excuses and develop reasons. Then you can deal with them.
The mediocre mass. Low-performing sales people socialise together. Around the coffee pot in the office, over lunch or at the quick, Friday night after work drinks. And their attitudes and passive acceptance of under achievement are contagious. If you want to change you have to remove yourself from that atmosphere.
Knowing it all. “I’ve been in sales for 20-years.” That’s not experience; that’s just longevity. You need to be saying: “I’ve been in sales for 20-years and I keep learning.” The sales business has changed more in the last 10-years than in the previous seventy. You have to want to learn.
Underinvestment. Top performers invest in themselves. They take the time to learn. By reading, by seeking coaches, by asking questions. By paying for their own training and professional development. I’m never impressed by salespeople who try to beg off a training course “because I’d rather spend the time selling.”
Waiting for perfection. Surprised at that? Let me tell you, the best sales people in the world drop balls. They may drop less than you, but that isn’t what makes them good. It’s that they know they might and they watch for when it happens. They know they are imperfect. Aim for perfection but don’t wait for it before acting.
Time. Making changes means extra effort. That means finding time. You have to keep your activity up. That means using some of your own time. Family pressures. Social pressures. You’ll just have to insist that you have the time.
Identify your constraints. Then work out how to get rid of them. And make doing so the first in a new set of consistent positive behaviours.
Ivor Morgan's Blog 