“You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety” – Abraham Maslow

In B2B sales, many salespeople stopped their education upon completion of their college requirements. Except for occasional company training, many do not attempt to read much about this demanding noble profession.  The success of a salesperson is built upon continuous self-education. The knowledge gained is what propel one career to new unimaginable heights. Most salespeople are inadequately trained in the professional selling process. Therefore, most are selling below their true potential. While many organization provides the right level of training, it’s incumbent upon the sales person to self-educate relentlessly. The top 20% to 30% of sales people often produce 65% to 85% of total sales output.

Sales success is all about having a curious mind and asking the right questions in a manner equivalent to a defense attorney. In a criminal prosecution case the defense attorney will try to find out more about the prosecutor plan, then he will customize a defense strategy that is unique to the situation at hand. For example, if a prosecutor lays out a story depicting the defendant at the crime scene, the defense attorney will most luckily ask questions that may set out a different story showing the defendant at another location.

Much like a story teller (selling is Story Telling), a criminal defense attorney and a sales person are experts at telling a truthful story in many different ways. Both use methodical questioning processes, demonstrations of evidence and facts, sympathy and empathy, confessions and denials, and admittance and explanations.

We know that attorneys are required to do research and self-educate to stay relevant in the industry and keep their success rate high enough to attract new clients. We also know that salespeople are curious with deep-rooted risk tolerance and desire to win.

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” – Albert Einstein

However, one may ask, why these talented salespeople have the propensity to undermine their best interest by not self-educating regularly? We know that change requires three steps.

  • 1- Self- analysis, 2- desire to change, 3- Wiliness to exert a continuous great deal of effort

We know that selling is the highest paying hard work profession and one of the lowest paying easy work profession as well. There is a good percentage of hard working sales professionals that make six figures incomes and more (includes commissions).

Selling has no buffers!

Is selling a hard job? You bet, selling is one of the toughest jobs in the world! Let’s explore some basic requirements for professional selling.

  1. Commitment to success. Keep going until you achieve objectives
  2. Act is if it’s impossible to fail. Face impossible odds with gusto, resolve, and bravado until you can go no further
  3. Go all in every day. Believe in your products, services, organization, mission, purpose and do not doubt yourself with your whole heart, never allow any doubt to stop you from your noble mission
  4. Be the professional you are expected to be. Most importantly your clients should see you like the growth partner they can trust and depend on all the time
  5. Be over-prepared for every meeting or call. Research, dig do your homework before each client interaction. You cannot improvise your way to success.
  6. Accept complete responsibility for the outcome. You are completely in charge of the progress, outcome, and failures. No excuses accepted.
  7. Master the basics. You should learn and practice the fundamentals of the sales process in the proper sequence to ensure the correct repetitive outcome.
  8. Be an ROI master. Demonstrate that your business solution will create an exponential return on investment
  9. Use educational selling approach. Show your solution value and benefit every time.
  10. Build trust and credibility with every client. Great long relationships are built on trust.
  11. Handle objection effectively. Practice to ensure that you generate well-thought-out answers every time.
  12. Handle price objection tactfully. Demonstrate to your client that your proposed business solution is much more valuable than the money invested.
  13. Know how to close masterfully. Learn to methodically manage the selling cycle to close the deal in a manner where the client feels that the solution is right and the value derived outweighs the investment.
  14. Work with a sense of urgency and anticipation. There is no idle time in professional selling. Make every minute count.
  15. Work smart. Spend 80% of your time with your most valuable clients and prospects. You should allocate the other 20% to the tasks that advance your sales agenda.
  16. Keep your pipeline full. Well, professional selling requires prospecting, demonstrating your business solutions and following up to ensure that you retain your existing clients and enlarge your funnel via client’s referrals.
  17. Set challenging income goals and sales goals. The quality of your output dictates your income. The company goals are the minimum benchmark; your target revenues and comfort should reside way above company objectives.
  18. Manage your assigned territory to perfection. Be precise, do not waste unnecessary time in traffic and unproductive meetings. Be selfish with your day, spend it wisely.
  19. Focus on continual improvement. Focus, self-motivate, control your behaviors, stay active, self-educate, auto-correct wrong approaches, be creative and be a methodical sells practice innovator.
  20. Be relationship oriented and metric centric. Focus on what matters the most to advance your production and augment the size of your relationships and influence.

“We have more power than will; and it is often by the way of excuse to ourselves that we fancy things are impossible.” – Francois Duc De La Rochefoucauld

Sales excellence belong to the willing.

As you can see, the list can probably go on and on. However, I believe you got the idea. Sales are complicated, it requires continuous self-discipline and self-education just to stay afloat. Eighty percent of the people in B2B sales are either average at best or below average.  Let’s explore the reasons behind this failure.

  1. Shallow Knowledge. Beyond the formal education that often ends with college. Many professional B2B salespeople do not focus on self-education as a way to attain success. While it’s incredibly easy in this day and age to access knowledge freely online, through books and video tutorials. Many salespeople just choose to spend more time on their hobbies and interests rather than their profession.
  2. It’s easier to blame circumstances than take personal responsibility. There may be some truth to the effect of some internal and external conditions that may get in the way of achievement. However, how you chose to think, act and respond are entirely in your control. Your thought and processes are what controls your output, income, and future. Focus on changing the way you think and you will change your life.
  3. Company goals are the minimum benchmark required, aim higher. Do you know what you want, or maybe you don’t want it bad enough to do whatever it takes ethically to attain it? A determination is an unyielding motivator in life, yet if you don’t spend time thinking or planning on how to get to the next level of your potential. That’s on you!
  4. There is always a way. It’s easy to give up the moment things turn south. It’s easy to give up when the outcome seems far, when things get hard and complicated. Too Many salespeople give up quickly, a simple no, get them to turn away and run away never to come back. Many spend enormous time indoctrinating excuses to justify failure, rather than own it. It’s almost like you are selling without excitement, passion or love for what you do. You should dedicate yourself to the profession of selling, or you should find another suitable trade.
  5. Success is the discipline of corrected practices every day. Failure is errors in judgment uncorrected over an extended period. It’s hard to observe professional salespeople repeating the same mistakes, asking the same questions and behaving the wrong way in a daily basis without realizing that one should break these bad habits. We recognize that old habits are difficult to eliminate, but, they can be self-corrected with conscious effort and deliberate act.
  6. If you cannot design your success plan, then at least meet the company plan. Refuse to coast through months, quarters and years. Take control of your success and start focusing on getting to your goals, but at a minimum meet the organization thresholds.
  7. In sales, you may not change your YTD standing overnight, but you can change your direction. You can learn from your experiences; you can make few adjustments to head towards the right course. By the end, you may not reach your potential, but at least you would have achieved a better outcome.
  8. Aim high and don’t sweat the small stuff. Focus on the right actions that yield results. Focus your attention on yourself, and do the things that enhance your image, brand, and capability.
  9. Manage your day according to your priorities. Start with what’s, urgent, critical and necessary, then move down the list. Go through the list, but allow flexibility to run the day, don’t let the day runs you.
  10. Don’t wait for motivation, become a creature of habit. Sales excellence requires rituals, and it is easier to deviate from healthy habits, but don’t let that be you.
  11. If you don’t like the outcome of your results, change your process. Be flexible and changeable. If you’re not pleased with the outcome, don’t complain about it change it.
  12. Take advantage of every opportunity, every resource to achieve greatness. Your goals are to become better in every aspect of your sales career. Practice every day, learning takes time, be patient and stay the course.
  13. Discipline is the bridge between current objectives and future accomplishment. Without discipline, you will never get anywhere. Deliberately planned actions ensure goals attainment under the most challenging circumstances.
  14. Be all you can be, or you can choose to be just a shadow of your potential. It’s up to you to become all you can be. It will take hard work, dedication, and commitment, but you will get there. Don’t choose the easy route as it leads to nowhere.
  15. Success is the natural consequences of consistently applying basic fundamental common sense. Choose your path carefully, but be ready to face difficult odds. The struggle is always the best way because it’s lessons are priceless.

“I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma.”  — Eartha Kitt

In conclusion. With the exponential evolution of technology and ever- evolving complex business solutions. It’s imperative that the B2B salesperson self-educate to staple themselves to clients wants, desires, business gaps as well as business evolution trajectory. Technological progress will never render the salespeople absolute.  You may say, how come Anthony? Well, it’s simple, salespeople always evolve and adapt. Sales people must add value by becoming an integral part of the product or high- value solution they are selling. Regular self-education is the only way.

What are your thoughts? Would love to hear your comments!

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