Winners come in all shapes and sizes, but most have certain characteristics and qualities that ensure their success.
Conspicuously absent are certain qualities that are common to most mediocre performers, and we'll explore these first.
If you intend to become a consistent top performer, it will help to recognise the poor habits that contribute to low or inconsistent results. Some of these are work habits; others are thought and attitude habits.
The main factors behind poor performance are what I call the âfour fatal flaws'. If you find you identify closely with these habits, it will almost certainly indicate that Sales is not for you. They are:
People who suffer from these âafflictions' often go through the motions, but their chances of long-term success are nil.
Winners represent 20 per cent of the total sales force but account for 80 per cent of total sales volume. The other 80 per cent of the sales force fight it out for the remaining 20 per cent of the sales.
No wonder life is tough for those who find themselves in this 80 per cent. The truth is, they're in the wrong career!
For example, the person managing rental properties and the person selling residential properties are both salespeople, but they are likely to have different care levels.
Property managers need a higher level of care because they're dealing with landlords and tenants more frequently and over a longer period of time. The relationships between property managers and their clients last longer than the relationships between sales agents and their clients. Property managers also have fewer closing opportunities than sales agents. Managing rental property requires a higher care and lower close balance.
Property salespeople must also display a high level of care for their clients. Although they represent property sellers, they still have an obligation to care for their buyers, to give honest advice and never to conceal information buyers should know. They must also close the sale when it is appropriate to do so. Compared with property managers, sales agents have a lower care and higher close balance.
The desire to succeed can be seen clearly in the following example of two contrasting salespeople.
The first salesperson, Adam Horth, did not come from a wealthy home. After moving from Sydney to Brisbane in search of opportunity he started working in a real estate agency as a prospector and was determined to do the best job he could.
In two years Adam averaged 15 listings a month. He worked at getting better: He studied at night and practised what he learned in the field. In the first year his leads generated $450 000 in fees; in the second year, $720 000. Adam studied, practised, worked hard and improved.
The second salesperson â let's call him Stephen â joined the agency around the same time as Adam. This young man had also moved from Sydney in search of opportunity. Adam invited Stephen and his partner to join him and his partner for dinner. They were due to meet at 7 pm, but only Stephen, his partner and Jess, Adam's partner, showed up at the restaurant. Jess assured them Adam would be there as soon as he could, and sure enough he arrived at around 7.30 â with a listing.
Two salespeople: One went home, changed, picked up his partner and arrived at the restaurant on time, but with no result. The other focused on getting a result and going out for dinner, still in his suit and only a little late.
I'm not saying you must put work ahead of family and friends, but Adam was driven (he has a high ego drive) and results were important to him. He had to close the sale to meet his personal target.
Being a successful salesperson requires a passion for persuading people to buy from you, and it was a passion that Stephen didn't have at that stage of his life. I didn't either when I started. But I worked hard, trained, practised and steadily improved. I developed this strategy after I attended a Tom Hopkins seminar and bought his book. I studied all 62 of his closing strategies until I knew them by heart. I implemented them and refined them, learning from both my successes and my mistakes.
Wrong career selection
Do you think you are in the wrong job?
When I started in Sales, I didn't think I would like it. But when I looked back over all the jobs I had had, I realised they were just jobs, not careers. Every time I was unhappy with what I was doing, I left and found something else that interested me.
Sales only became my passion after I knew what I wanted to do with my life. Then I worked at it and came to love it. Along the way, I learned not to give up on something just because I wasn't good at it, but to learn all I could and then decide whether or not it was right for me.
If you are looking for a job with a regular income, Sales is not for you. It is hard on people who don't have the ego drive necessary to make it a successful career. Sales is not for the faint-hearted. Facing rejection after rejection is not easy, but if you learn to handle it, to study, practise, improve and work hard, you may just forge a successful career. So before you decide that it isn't for you, first try getting good at it. You need resilience.
Sales is not for job seekers. If you are looking for a job, do something else. If you are in Sales now and treating it like a job, I suggest either changing your attitude or changing jobs.
Sales is a career, not a job. Believe me, there is a huge difference between a job and a career.
Here are the Macquarie Dictionary definitions:
People with jobs work for people. They're paid an hourly rate. They work for other people's goals.
Look at these phrases: âprogress of a person through life'; âfollowed as one's lifework'. These are poles apart from a âjob'.
When I see salespeople âworking' only 9 am to 5 pm, and then complaining about how tough things are, I think, âYou are wasting a golden opportunity. Stop acting like a paid worker and start acting like a self-employed entrepreneur. Get out and look for business!'
Little belief
I agree with Brian Tracy when he says top professional salespeople believe themselves capable of being the very best in their fields. This belief comes from knowledge and understanding, which come through studying and practising â learning how to sell.
You have to believe in what you are selling. If you don't, you will never present with conviction and passion, and your ability to persuade will be greatly diminished. You cannot believe in something you don't understand, and you won't understand something unless you study it. See the pattern?
There is nothing your competitor can do that you cannot do better through training. For example, in the real estate industry, many salespeople lie to get the listing. Dealing with lying competitors is a challenge we have to overcome, and you can only do that effectively with training. The antidote to lying is to focus on what the seller wants, which is to know the truth about what the market holds for them. (That is, don't tell them just what you think they want to hear.)
When you totally believe what you are telling them, and you deliver the truth tactfully, you will be successful in getting their business. Truth is a...
