Do you have ANY idea how tough it is to be a salesperson?
(If you are NOT a salesperson, you may be thinking, “Well, then DON’T be a salesperson if it’s so tough!)
Really? It’s also tough to be an engineer, a mom, a business owner, a neurosurgeon, an astronaut. Should we not do those, too? Of course we should!
This is to all you sales pros, who go out and make it happen for their companies, day-after-day, sometimes really getting KICKED in the TEETH, you deserve a bit better than an ordinary post, don’t you?
Let’s shift the focus a bit, shall we?
Sales can be quite magical! (ting)
After all, who HASN’T bought a great pair of shoes from Zappos?
OR, who DIDN’T try the chocolate mousse after all because the waiter was being so fantastic with them all evening?
OMG! I was in a TERRIBLE sales presentation the other day. TERRIBLE.
The presenter was Hooked On Pronouns.
“We, you, they, it, he, she, their” … it went on and on. (Example: So, I said this to him about it, and he said he was interested in their results.) WHAT?
PRONOUNS ARE MEAN
When you use pronouns, you make your audience feel like idiots!
Remember when you really hit your stride as a salesperson?
Maybe you only have one memory of it. Maybe you have had many.
What was it that made that time so magical?
Perhaps you would say that you were lit up by the product you were selling. Or the challenge. Or you had a great team around you. Or that people really wanted to hear about what you were selling.
What if your customers viewed you as someone who called them because you were interested in what THEY were dealing with. Not just what you could sell them to help them. You won’t always have the answers.
Can you see how much more FUN you would have calling on people?
You have fun. They have fun.
You will find out things about their children, their marriages, their pressing concerns.
You do it because you “getting the deal” isn’t the most important thing to them. But, their life IS important to them.
Do you know that salespeople don’t do this?
Stand out. Demonstrate that you are truly out for THEM.
If you are committed to being successful – you may have found books and conferences on success intriguing, but they don’t get you there…Dan upsets that applecart!
BEWARE – Dan’s message can be confronting. It is the TRUTH about what it takes to be a top performer. Not a guide on how to shortcut your way to the top.
Check this out! Dan’s EDGY introduction of the game-changing book!
I HEART DAN WALDSCHMIDT. He is one of the most accomplished, generous, and committed people I know – committed to OTHER’S success. He is EDGY and real and awesome. The Irreverent Sales Girl would be nowhere near where we are today without his awesome-ness!
Here is what Dan has to say about the book he released today!
“It took us four years of work to figure out what really makes ordinary people do amazing things. Like you, we had read many books about how to be successful in business, how to stay motivated, and how to get rich. When we finished reading each one we though “if that formula works so well why is it that I don’t get the results that the book says I should be getting?”
We threw away the books and motivational seminars and started looking around at ordinary people who ended up unbelievably achieving outrageous success. We looked for common people who accomplished amazing feats of success and dug a little deeper into their stories. The more we started looking, the more examples we found.
From business to math to science to sports to politics, we studied 1,000 ordinary people who achieved success against all the odds. What we uncovered were four clear character traits that I had never read about in any book. We call it EDGY. (And wrote our own book about it.)”
www.EdgyConversations.com — This is our site where people can learn more about the book, along with the workbook, ebooks (optimized in different formats)
SHORT AUTHOR BIO:
Dan Waldschmidt is an international business strategist, speaker, author, and extreme athlete. His consulting firm solves complex marketing and business strategy problems for savvy companies all over the world. Dow Jones calls his Edgy Conversations blog one of the top sales sites on the internet. He’s been profiled in Business Week, INC Magazine, BBC, Fox News, The Today Show, and Business Insider, has been the featured guest on dozens of radio programs, and has published hundreds of articles on progressive business strategy. He is author of Edgy Conversations: How Ordinary People Achieve Outrageous Success.
AND, if you order NOW, he’ll send you his workbook FREE!
I am delighted to share this article from a salesperson I recently met who, frankly, blew my socks off!
Please meet Cait Green, a truly remarkable saleswoman. Her enthusiasm, her ability to quickly detect what is important to other people, and her drive captured my attention! Could she really be this excited all of the time? This on point?
So, I wrote an email to Cait and asked her what I really wanted to know…Do you WAKE UP excited?
Here’s what she wrote. I got a ton of great stuff from it and have even put a few things into my morning that have made a difference….I haven’t added Julie Andrews yet, but, hey, if it works, it works!
Heck yes! “The hills are alive with the sound of music,” for me anyway. My alarm clock sounds at 6:30am each day with Julie Andrews belting out the uplifting opening number from “The Sound of Music.” People often laugh when I let them in on my little show tune secret, but HEY it works for me. It’s difficult to make time for ourselves in the midst of hectic and demanding schedules, but it’s crucial to find something that inspires you to greet the day in a positive way. Cue the birds chirping and Julie spinning arms wide open against the backdrop of rolling green hills and I’m up and ready to take on the world.
I don’t allow myself to catalogue the myriad thoughts that are RACING through my mind at the start of the day, in bed. Beds are for sleeping. Here are my simple morning steps for success…
STEP 1: Avoid that snooze button like the plague and GET UP.
STEP 2:CLEAR YOUR HEAD. For me this entails some combination of feel good tunes (lots of Beyonce as of late) and exercise, preferably outdoors. You’re going to be grinding all day so it’s important to allow yourself the time to mentally prepare for the hard work at hand.
STEP 3:MAKE A LIST! I’m not talking about a list that begins with…”make a list” so that you can immediately slash an item off in thick black marker with a satisfied grin. It’s imperative to set goals each day. It’s easy to get carried away in creating an inventory of the MILLION things you NEED to get done NOW. Be smart about it and prioritize at least 3 tasks associated with your goal(s) that you can realistically accomplish. You want to end the day feeling fulfilled and carry that momentum through to tomorrow. So there’s no point in setting unrealistic expectations for yourself that will ultimately leave you feeling like you’ve fallen short.
STEP 4:READ. It can be an excerpt from Radical Acceptance, Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha (a great read) or a chapter from The Hunger Games (also a great read). It wakes your brain up. NOW, peruse the trades that pertain specifically to your area of sales expertise; an article or piece of research you can dig up on a prospective client or an exciting event that impacts your marketplace. Being well versed and up-to-speed on industry happenings sets you up for success and gives you the confidence you need to engage your clients in an interesting and meaningful way.
STEP 5: REMIND YOURSELF TO BE YOUR BEST SELF. Relationships are at the heart of success. It is all about the connection forged and maintained between the parties transacting. Working hard to BE YOUR BEST SELF is the key to being the best professional you can be. Relationships flourish when we take care of ourselves, which enables us to best meet the needs and expectations of our partners.
WHAT WILL YOUR MORNING ROUTINE LOOK LIKE?
You owe it to yourself and to your clients to devise a morning routine that works for you. Sometimes I want to toss Julie Andrews right out the window when she starts in on her 6:30am serenade, but I don’t. I refuse to allow the negativity to seep in while I lie in bed …dread gathering at the thought of placing my feet on the cold floor. We all know how quickly our anxieties can snowball and intimidate us into inaction. When you take control and focus on getting excited about what the day holds for you…you WILL succeed!
And of course, take the time to prepare and eat a great breakfast…a little French pressed coffee goes a long way in making you feel like a BOSS.
Note from ISG: As many of you already know, I particularly like the Kerry Ellis version of Defying Gravity to get me going in the morning!