“We’ve been in sales a long time, so we don’t really need any help with sales.”

This is what I heard from a member of a sales team I was hired to help develop sales knowledge and skills.  This team of 7 had never had any formal sales training at this particular company, they didn’t operate under an incentive program, and most of them really didn’t care about growth  (What was in it for them, anyway?)  What some of them had grown was comfortable with their less than mediocre performance and never wanting to change.

So I began by creating an incentive structure to help motivate the sales team toward caring about their sales performance (step 1).  Then I had to convince their sales manager why incentive pay is a basic tenet to sales performance (true story and sadly this felt like pulling teeth!).  Once the incentive pay was negotiated it was time to role this puppy out to the sales team (I was starting to feel the love…more money if we do well?!  Imagine that.) Finally I scheduled our team meeting for Q&A.

If you were sitting next to me in that meeting room you would’ve heard a mixture of fear, frustration, and excitement.  Some people were already anticipating their future performance and felt uneasy about tracking their sales results. 

“So we’re going to compare our sales results to that of our previous month’s performance and with those on our team?”

“Yes”, I replied. 

“What if my territory has more Medicaid payers than anyone else on the team, is that really fair?”

“Fair or not, you will need to create a unique strategy plan – you all will”, I told them.  Then followed numerous hypothetical scenarios about performance and the bonus plan.

Can you hear the cogs of this business starting to turn? There is movement and change on the horizon.  Measurable results!

Suddenly spreadsheets were being created and the team began analyzing their performance through numbers.  We had weekly meetings where they shared case studies and participated in problem solving with one another.  They wanted to know how other people were being successful (or not).  They were talking about sales.  They wanted to be better.

Whether you are a seasoned sales professional or a complete newbie, the road to excellence is always under construction. This means that successful sales professionals expect more from life and more from themselves.  Always.

Some of the people on this sales team I told you about wanted to be better.  They looked forward to learning new information they could apply to their daily performance.  But a few others initially didn’t like the idea of learning something new.  They preferred to think they “had arrived”; that they “knew sales” and their was nothing more to learn.  Really?

Reflection: How much do you want to succeed?  Do you expect to get from life without giving of your self?  Or, do you excel simply for the excitement of being better than you, and naturally reap rewards along the way?

If you are the sort who is interested in improving your personal sales performance, download this sales performance checklist and rate your self accordingly on a scale of 1-10.  Consider making copies for your sales team or share with your manager to show him or her where you are great and where/how you plan on improving.  Talk about being proactive and in control of your situation.  A leader!

I suggest picking no more than 3 things to improve at a time.  Give yourself 2-6 weeks to fully develop your new and improved selling skill!  Reward yourself when you’ve achieved success and then pick your next three areas.

As a sales professional you can readily guess the benefits for taking this advice: increased sales, bonus, recognition, confidence.  What can you lose if you don’t?  Sales, bonus, recognition, confidence.  Got that? 

Tweet This Post