Perservering in the Sales Profession

Hi Guys

I've been in the sales line for awhile now and there are times when i just wana throw in the towel and give up.

There would be this head in my voice telling me that i'm not cut out to be a sales person.

How many of you ever felt this way?

What made you perservere and stay on to reap the rewards?

For my first college degree, in 1955, I majored in Industrial Sales. They taught "Needs Selling" which is almost the same as the Consultative Selling, Solution Selling, etc., which (unfortunately) are being taught today. I aced every sales course.

Then, I got a job selling forklift trucks and I found out I could not sell. I could not make any of the techniques, that I learned in school, work. After four months of working 60 hours a week, I was no closer to making a sale than I was on my first day. I was totally discouraged and ready to quit and join my father's union and drive a truck.

Luckily, I had a chance to go out on sales calls with the top salesperson (out of 120) in our company. I watched him work and took careful notes. That top salesperson was not doing anything that I learned in school. He had intuitively, experientially developed his own sales methods. I just copied what he did and suddenly I became a better than average sales guy.

Next, I sought out other top salespeople in different industries and watched them work, took notes and copied what they did. Every time I did that, my sales volume and my income increased.

Eventually, I went out with 312 of the top 1% of salespeople in 23 industries. My book, "High Probability Selling," describes the sales process that I learned from all that research. It is probably very different from the way you are trying to sell.

"I've been in the sales line for awhile now and there are times when i just wana throw in the towel and give up.

There would be this head in my voice telling me that i'm not cut out to be a sales person.

1. How many of you ever felt this way?

2. What made you perservere and stay on to reap the rewards?" -- coldshot

1. Me

2. What made me perservere in the beginning was absolute belief in our products. Then came absolute belief in our company. At the same time I'm not a quitter of things quickly - I'm often a slow start BUT I hang in long years of learning because I believe that's the key to most success.

At the same time I had determined that what I do would be my income and future - I had specific goals and objectives which are important when the going gets rough.

Many resources helped me along the way - Jacques Werths' book still helps me and I continue to make it a disciplined study. "How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling" by Frank Bettger helped me. I could list other resources - many in sport training from both physical and mental discipline.

I've never studied martial arts with a teacher but I've studied many forms of Asian martial arts physical and mental - internal and external - systems and in a disciplined way that's helped me.

Those are some of the things that have helped me. Looking in the mirror every day reminding myself that life is going to end and I want to live it long and fully alive and that I can learn and achieve and do better - call them affirmations, they're really the truth people can grab a hold of or not - taking full responsibility for my own success making no excuses has kept me from quitting.

I refuse to quit myself - or those who depend on me.

MitchM

I haven't met a salesperson yet who didn't experience what you experienced.

What can you do? For starters you can remind yourself why you chose to work with this specific... industry, company, product/service, and clientele.

Coldshot is it possible that you aren't confident in your current sales system? Have you checked into SPIN Selling yet?

As noone has mentioned it, I'll say money and personal satisfaction. I believe in the basics. You can take all the advanced classes you want, but if you learn the fundamentals, and get good at them, you're on the way to success.

Susan

Quote:

Originally Posted by susana

As no one has mentioned it, I'll say money and personal satisfaction. I believe in the basics. You can take all the advanced classes you want, but if you learn the fundamentals, and get good at them, you're on the way to success. Susan

The problem with "learning the fundamentals" is there are many different sets of fundamentals based on different beliefs about what works best in selling. All the various sets of fundamentals make "logical sense" to advocates that have dedicated themselves to using a particular selling system.

Unfortunately, most salespeople utilize only the fundamentals that they are most comfortable doing. And unfortunately, most salespeople either fail, or they fail to become very successful.

There is only one selling system (that I know of), which has statistically validated every step of the sales process to determine which combination of steps consistently provides the best sales results.

[quote=JacquesWerth]The problem with "learning the fundamentals" is there are many different sets of fundamentals based on different beliefs about what works best in selling. All the various sets of fundamentals make "logical sense" to advocates that have dedicated themselves to using a particular selling system.

I'm referring to the fundamentals of the sales process itself. I don't advocate any particular system. You can take all the classes, read a lot of books, but if you can't ask good questions, listen to a prospects replies and develop needs all that training is useless. I've been a top performer in several industries (copiers to fractional ownership of jets) and I know there were very few classes which ever changed the way I approached the sales process.

Susan

Quote:

Originally Posted by susana

I'm referring to the fundamentals of the sales process itself. I don't advocate any particular system. You can take all the classes, read a lot of books, but if you can't ask good questions, listen to a prospects replies and develop needs all that training is useless. I've been a top performer in several industries (copiers to fractional ownership of jets) and I know there were very few classes which ever changed the way I approached the sales process. Susan

I have no doubt of your competence as a salesperson; nor do I doubt that you got very little out of the sales courses you have taken. However, if you are like most experienced salespeople, you only take courses that indicate they can improve on what you already know how to do.

Do you ever question whether your sales process can really be improved very much? Do you ever questions whether a different sales process would work better for you?

As you posted above, you do a lot of skilled work to "develop needs?" Only then, are you ready to get into what we call the "sales process."

If you utilized the HPS process, you would only be meeting with prospects that already know they need the benefits of your products and/or services.

You would also know why, and you would have a conditional commitment to do business going in. Thus, you would start with the Trust and Respect Inquiry process. Those are a few of the HPS fundamentals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by susana

I believe in the basics. You can take all the advanced classes you want, but if you learn the fundamentals, and get good at them, you're on the way to success.

Susan

Do you think a person who only knew the basics would do good in sales?

Perservering in the Sales Profession

Self Improvement - Personal Development Forum