Look in the mirror…THAT’S your competition!

Salespeople know ‘Pros compete with themselves, Amateurs compete with each other.’

If you are working with amateurs, prepare yourself for a Review of their circumstances:

• not getting good leads
• making calls but nothing’s happening
• business is slow
• budgets are tight
• can’t get to the decision maker, and …the grandfather of all,
• Got some prospects but it is going to take more time.

Make no mistake, the amateur salesperson wanders without a plan. Goals are something someone else sets.
They sound like the circumstances common to the herd’s movement. ‘If only…’ is also a large part of the hysterical sales review. It continues with ‘next month/quarter is going to be better.’ Their amateur victim review is a result of poor actions taken to match their victim mentality circumstances.

So, what do the Pros do? Pros set goals and are committed to do whatever it takes to be win. Pros plan their own work and work their own plan.’ Pros are their own worst critic when circumstances are not going their way consequently, ‘Pros make business happen.

James Allen said, “Circumstances don’t make the man, rather they reveal the man to himself.” Pros refuse to accept circumstances as they are. Consequently, if the circumstances are not right, they ‘make circumstances happen’ according to their plan.

The comparison is simple. The amateur reviews the lack of business as being a victim of circumstances.  Victim reviews are all about, ‘what happened.’ The Pro’s review is about being a victor who made business happen.’ Victor reviews are full of less talk and more action.

Coach Joe’s Journal

Great Sales Teams are made of Sales Team Members who are all Victors. Is it possible? Can every member on a sales team be a Victor? Can the entire Sales Team be made of Victors?

Yes!

Early in my career, I depended on sales reviews to identify and overcome mistakes made by the sales team. We paid attention and thought we were learning from our mistakes. However, sometime mistakes came back several times before we began to learn. Another problem was working one-on-one with a salesperson. Others did not get the benefit of the learning. Consequently, progress was too slow. Others were making the same mistakes. Correcting and working with one person at a time was slow progress. The entire sales team could benefit instead of the correct action taken with only one person at a time.

We began having Sales Performance Previews with the entire sales team present and involved. While I was the main coach for the sales team, learning and coaching with everyone involved became a benefit because it improved everyone’s sales. Previews became Mutual Coaching opportunities. The entire sales team learned, benefited and grew each other. Knowing and trusting that we were growing each other increased our senses about winning both individually and as a team. We weighed the risks along with the rewards for our actions. We asked the right questions of each other. We clarified strategies. We created better actions for mutual sales success.

Our mutual coaching generated better goals and much better actions. Previews with Mutual Coaching created professional performances because we grew in our mutual desire to make each other winners. Previews with Mutual Coaching always produce effectiveness and accountability for the person and to the entire team. Previews with Mutual Coaching created circumstances for all of us, the entire team, to be VICTORS.

For more information, visit our website, www.team2learn.com

Better yet, buy the book “Sales Team Leadership: Pure and Simple” to learn more successful sales team strategies and tactics.