Sales Performance – What’s at the ROOT of Your Sales Performance Problems?
by Michelle Argyle-Rigg
When I was young, my mother and I would spend our weekends tending our vegetable garden. Taking care of the garden meant ensuring the plants had proper nutrients, plenty of water, and an environment that was free of weeds. My mother explained that weeds steal water and nutrients from desirable plants and keep them from thriving. She also said that if you just remove the visible part of a weed, it may grow back. This taught me the importance of going deep into the ground to destroy the root.
Most weeds were easy to spot and even easier to pull out. However, there were certain types of weeds that were deceptive in appearance and incredibly well-rooted. These weeds disguised themselves as respectable vegetable plants. My untrained eyes could never tell the difference between these weeds and the vegetable plants, yet they never got past my mother. She eventually taught me how to identify them and, more importantly, how to eliminate them for good!
Why an I writing about weeds in an article on sales performance? Because there may be a pesky “weed” or two sabotaging your sales success!
Here are four examples of common sales “weeds”
Not Connecting to Your Client: Do you ever find yourself focusing a sales call on you and your agenda, rather than focusing the call on your client and his or her problems and concerns?
Bad Timing: Have you ever been in a conversation with a prospect or client and the timing of the conversation “just felt off”? This often happens when we try to force the rhythm of a sales cycle. A better strategy is to use questions to help the client set the rhythm of the sales cycle, then respect the rhythm from that point forward.
Bad Fit: Have you ever tried to “force fit” your product or service into a client’s situation? In other (gardening) words, have you ever proposed a green bean when the client really needs a radish? This is often the result of Weed #4, which is…
Not Being Detached: As salespeople we need to be willing to accept that our products and services may NOT be a fit for a particular client’s needs. The more detached we are, the more powerful our sales performances will be.
Here are three steps you can take to help you eliminate your sales “weeds”
Develop a trained eye so you can identify cleverly disguised weeds in your communication and relationship skills.
Learn how to go down deep to permanently remove the behaviors, patterns and beliefs that support your weeds.
EXAMPLE: You are in a meeting with a prospect or customer and something just doesn’t feel right. Stop and take a look at what has transpired so far during the meeting. Pay special attention to the internal dialogue that is going on in your head. Does it include any of the following thoughts?
This should be going faster!
They are talking too much!
I really need them to buy!
If you are thinking these or other negative thoughts, try to identify the belief that is causing you to have that thought. Do you believe that prospects like to waste salespeople’s time? Do you believe that some people are too social and don’t know how to get down to business?
Once you identify the belief that is at the root of the problem, you can choose to reject that belief and adopt a different (more powerful) belief. Unfortunately, you can’t make that choice until you first identify the belief that is holding you back!
Be willing to take action when you see a weed. Identifying a weed doesn’t do you any good unless you pull it out.
It really is that easy!
You can stop creating negative sales outcomes IF you are willing to let go of habits, patterns and beliefs that, like weeds, are choking the wins from your life. Are you ready to get your hands dirty and see your garden flourish? If you are, then start finding your “weeds” and pull them out, roots and all!
©2006 – Michelle Argyle-Rigg
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About the Author
Personal power expert Michelle Argyle is the author of The Strength of Being Out of Your Mind: A Guide to Focused Strength, Clarity, and Purpose in Your Life. Her clients usually see remarkable improvements in income, relationships, communication, focus, and clarity in just four to six weeks. For more information and a FREE “power leak” survey, visit http://www.createpersonalpower.com.
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