I have stated many times, that there is a large difference between a salesperson and a sales professional. Some of these may require you to not only change the way things are being done but may also require a change in mindset.
This may mean that one particular emotion starts to rear its’ ugly head. Fear. We as human beings tend to shy away from fear, back away from fear and even succumb to the fear. In order to grow and make the shift from salesperson to professional, I encourage you to embrace it and look for it, because fear is what growth is all about.
Here are five of the many that will start that process of salesperson to professional:
- Plan: As mentioned in my previous blog, ‘The 5 Part System for A Successful Day’, this has to be done the night before. You have to get up in the morning knowing where you are going and what you will be doing. You have to have a plan as to what you are going to do when you get there, as well as the plan to deal with not only the positive outcome but also the negative outcome. Without these plans, how will you manage your behavior, actions, but most importantly, your time?
- Doing: Professionals do, they do not try. Professionals are great followers of Yoda: “Do or do not. There is no try.” How many times have you said or heard: “I tried to get that appointment?” or, “I tried to get them to commit.” Try means nothing. Try has no action, no results. By changing the two statements above to: “I didn’t get the appointment.” “They did not commit.” Now, the professional will go back and analyze and find the why. Once the why is found, they go back and do it again.
- Listen: People in general; not only salespeople, listen to respond and not to understand. They have already formulated their next question without hearing the subtle language of the prospect. If you actively listen, you may find that you may not even have to ask that other question as they have just given you the buying signal. It amazes me how many talk themselves out of the order by continuing with the presentation.
- Scripts: If everyone on this planet is different and there are no two fingerprints alike as there are no two snowflakes that are alike, then why would you treat everyone the same? That’s what a script does. It assumes that we are all alike regardless of age, gender or even, life experiences. Professionals cater the message to the individual. They do not use scripts.
- Measure: If you can’t measure, you can’t manage it. This is so critical to bridging the gap between the rookie and veteran. Professionals measure everything from what is the best lead generation tool to what system is working. If something starts to not work, how would you know what to change if you were not measuring along the way. You may think that you have to change your pitch, when in fact, it is the new sector that you are going after that is the problem. By measuring everything, they also know exactly where they are now and where they will be in the future.
Ready to make the leap from salesperson to sales professional?
Register for our ongoing program, The Action Suite where the talking stops and the doing gets done and where you will receive the knowledge, know-how and tools to get you from salesperson to sales professional.