Olympic Dream

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August 24, 2008

by Jeb Blount - host of the Sales Guy Podcast

When it was all over and Michael Phelps had done the impossible – winning 8 gold medals in a single Olympics – we stood in our living room and cheered for him. It was an inspirational performance that even had my son and his friends reenacting the  4 x 4 races in our pool and fighting over who would get to be Phelps on the butterfly leg. I’ve watched these kids idolize baseball, soccer, hockey, and football players but pretending to be Olympic swimmers was a first.  As I watched them play and cheered them on I realized that they, like so many others, had no clue of the brutal training regimen required to compete at the Olympic level. Most people cannot imagine what it would be like to train for thousands of hours, seven days a week, for a single race.
   
Athletes at that level make it look easy and, because they do, we forget about the hard work that comes before their amazing feats. Now it wouldn’t be fair to discount their God given talent without which they would never have made it that far. But talent alone is not enough. Talent needs to be molded with training, enhanced with skills, anchored in repetition, and unleashed with desire. To be successful at anything, whether sport or sales, requires a combination of talent, skill, and desire. 

Unfortunately many very talented people forget this and try to succeed on talent alone. They win some and lose some but ultimately fail to live up to their potential. Instead, because of ego, laziness, or ignorance they live and work in mediocrity. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the field of sales.

True success in the Sales Profession leads to high incomes, a flexible lifestyle, and the attainment of goals that most people only dream of. If you look around you, top sales professionals make it look easy. I’ve even overheard average sales reps describe the consistent high performance of top earners as “magical.”

You see, these reps can’t imagine the effort that top performers put into training. They don’t understand that success in always paid for in advance. But Top Performers do. Olympic class Sales Professionals read constantly. They subscribe to multiple sales ezines, read sales articles and trade magazines, buy sales books, and listen to sales audio programs. They do whatever it takes to stay at the top of their game. Frankly, on this podcast, I’m preaching to the choir because our subscribers are almost always the top sales people and sales leaders in their organizations. The average and poor performers don’t have time to listen, think that reading is a waste of time, and complain when they are sent to training. And because of this they never live up to their income potential, and many struggle to make ends meet.

Another trait of the mediocre is that they train only when they are in trouble (sort of like waiting until right before the Olympics to start training for an event). Just this week one of our eZine subscribers wrote to say he wanted to unsubscribe. When we asked him why, he said that he was doing well now and that he didn’t need to be bothered with reading more articles. Top athletes and top salespeople train constantly. Training is a way of life. When the whistle blows or a big deal is on the line they are always ready to win. I received a letter from one of these sales pros who says he listens to the Sales Guy podcast episodes and other audio programs on his iPod between appointments to stay sharp. That is a sign of a champion.

To be great in sales you must invest in yourself – mind, body, and spirit. You must train like and athlete. You must stay on top of your game. You must re-learn and practice the basics again and again. And you must add to your knowledge base, improve your skills, and manage your attitude through reading, listening to audio programs, and attending training.

If God gave you the talent to sell, coach, lead, or swim, live up to your potential by investing in yourself and turning your talent into excellence.

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10 Free Resources to Increase Your Sales

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August 17, 2008

It occurred to me as I was watching the Olympics with my family this weekend how incredibly connected the world is in the 21^st century. Every action on our planet can and will have a lasting impact on others. Our vision at SalesGravy.com is focused squarely on creating the largest online community of Sales Professionals on the planet. Through our actions we will connect salespeople, sales leaders, and sales experts from around the globe, advance sales as a profession, and help each other suceed.

Our growth over the past six months has been phenomenal. In July SalesGravy.com received 2.2 million page views – we were blown away - thank you!

Of course we count on word of mouth for this international community of Sales Professionals to grow. You help our community grow when you tell your peers, sales managers, and friends about SalesGravy.com. One of the most effective ways to get the word out is our Tell a Friend button. You will find it on many of our pages.

Please take a moment and tell a friend about SalesGravy.com today.

Australia, India, China, and Mexico – please help us get the word out to the salespeople in your countries.

Advancing Sales as a Profession | 10 Free Resources to Increase Sales 

Our core mission at SalesGravy.com is advancing Sales as a Profession. This means providing Sales Professionals and Sales Leaders with resources designed to drive success, increase sales, and create wealth. Here are 10 FREE Sales Gravy Resources to help you make more money:

1.       Sales Gravy Articles – hundreds of free articles on sales and sales leadership.

2.       Power Principles Podcast – need a boost? This podcast is an iTunes Top 25!

3.       Ask The Coach – got a sales question? Ask a Coach for free.

4.       Sales Gravy Videos – a huge selection of free sales videos – login to add yours.

5.       Top Sales Feeds – we’ve cataloged the best sales content feeds on the internet.

6.       Sales Audio – download thousands of hours of free sales audio programs.

7.       Blogs – our members rock! Read hundreds of member and feature blogs free.

8.       Can LinkedIn Increase Your Sales – free eBook from Jill Konrath

9.       Sales Channel Playbook – free eBook from Socom Sales

10.   Free Magazines – a huge selection of free magazines and white papers

Sales Gravy Forum | Selling in the Down Economy

There is no doubt that salespeople across the globe are feeling the pinch of the tightening economy. We’ve opened a new discussion in the Sales Gravy Forum to get your ideas, rants, best practices, and questions on selling in the down economy. You must be logged in to participate and you may log in at the forum site or through the main community login.  We want to hear from you

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Get In The Game

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August 3, 2008

by Jeb Blount, author of Power Principles

One of the best parts of working at Sales Gravy is all of the books that come my way from authors and publishers who want us to give them a review. Every once in a while I get a book that makes a real impact on my life. Most recently it was The All Star Sales Book by Billy Cox. Quite frankly, this book came to me at the right place, at the right time. I was having one of those weeks where everything was going wrong. Set back upon setback had sapped my energy and ruined my optimism. After one final kick in the pants, I threw my hands in the air and shouted out loud, “what else can possible go wrong.” I had a serious case of “stinkin-thinkin.”

Disgusted, I started sorting through the pile of mail my assistant had placed on my desk. The first package I opened contained Billy Cox’s, All-Star Sales Book. I turned to the first page and started reading. Almost immediately my mood began to improve. Cox’s inspirational and motivational message broke through my bad attitude and began to lift me up. In one passage Cox writes, “I’ve always heard that when life knocks you down you need to land on your back because if you can look up, you can get up.” Just the message I needed to hear at the moment.

Throughout the book Cox delivers the message that in sales and life there are no time-outs, no overtimes, and you only get one chance to play. Through his inspiring stories, easy to understand analogies, and humor, Cox delivers a guaranteed road map to success. In the book he provides practical, and easy-to-implement advice that is both relevant and critical for succeeding in today’s sales environment. These tried and true methods are central to every successful sales career and I applaud Cox for delivering these key lessons, anew, in a fresh and engaging style that makes it fun to learn and inspires action.

For more information, click here.

Change Everything | The Sales Store

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The Winning Attitude

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July 31, 2008

by Bill Sayers

I just had the privilege of accompanying my wife on her company’s President’s Club trip to Rio de Janeiro. It was a great trip to a great city. (Don’t believe all the press about the streets being overrun with criminals. Be smart, and you’ll discover that Rio is unbelievable and one of the most beautiful cities in the world.) What I noticed most about this trip was the attitude of all the winning sales people. It was infectious; it was everywhere. You knew these people were highly successful.

Where does that attitude come from?
There were 70 sales people with 70 different personalities and 70 different backgrounds and yet they all had this attitude of success and “getting it done.” As I participated in the events, it was reinforced for me again and again: a winning attitude is an internal choice. There were reps who were there for the eighth or ninth time – every year that they had been with the company. They expected to be there and expected to be one of the top performers. There were reps who had had a good year and realized that they could do it again. There were the rookie reps who were going to do it again next year.

It rubs off.
The amazing thing was that the winning attitude and energy rubs off on everyone. As a spouse you’re inspired by your partner’s success and are thrilled to celebrate and share in this success.

At the awards breakfast, the CEO congratulated the winners on their achievements. He then challenged them to look around and see which colleagues were not there and asked everyone what they were going to do to help those reps be there next year. Wow. What a great way to have that attitude rub off on the entire organization! What do you think that will do to foster great teamwork?

Sales reps are competitive. I did not like sitting at the kick-off meetings and not have my name read for the President’s Club. When I didn’t make the trip, I kicked myself into high gear to make sure I was on the “trip” the next year. I still have the plaques and awards hanging on the walls or sitting on the shelves in my office. That attitude is what the CEO wants to inject into the organization.

How do I get this attitude?
Attitude is not a God-given trait. We all have personalities and behaviour traits that we were born with and stay with us forever. That is proven. It is also proven that a shift in attitude—particularly in sales people—can take you from the bottom of the pile to the top of the heap in a very short period of time.

Attitude is something you own and “must” take responsibility for. Your attitude is 100% your responsibility. How you view the world, what words you use, the context in which you speak, your ability to respond to situations is all in your control. If you believe otherwise it is time to change your attitude! A positive attitude will put you in a better mood, affects your health positively and people want to be around you.

While in Rio, I spent time with the two top performers (one male; one female). They had two very different personalities, yet I loved being around them because they were “real,” fun, and confident. And they weren’t arrogant; those reps never last because everyone is trying to knock them off their pedestal—and I mean everyone. Their enthusiasm was infectious and put a smile on your face every time you are with them.

Sayers says:
How is your attitude? What words and turn of phrase do you use when speaking to others? Do you take responsibility for your behavior and actions? Do people want to hang around you? Do you send people away with a smile on their face? Spend some time this week thinking about these questions and answer them honestly. If you need to change – then change – it’s up to you!

Bill Sayers speaks, coaches, leads education sessions and provides management consulting services to a variety of companies. For the past five years Bill has run his own sales consulting practice. He has recently completed the writing of his new book – “Funnels and Forecasts – The Great Game of Sales”. He has been a professor at George Brown College teaching Personal Selling Skills to the Sports and Event Marketing Graduate Program, and is on the faculty of Canadian Professional Sales Association and Canadian Management Centre. To receive our free “How are you Playing The Game” Scorecard and a 45 minute one-on-one session with Bill Sayers, email: info@TheSayersGroup.com or visit: www.TheSayersGroup.com

 Invest in Yourself - The Sales Store

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