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Why Am I Not As Successful As I Should Be?
I’m asked this question all the time from clients, other coaches (yes, even other coaches), and many other ‘professional types’. In fact, I just got back from the 2012 Glazer Kennedy Super Conference in Dallas and heard Larry Winget speak on just that issue. His approach is rough but it works. I’m thick-skinned so I can look past all of the “rough” and understand exactly what he’s saying..…
If you don’t know Larry (that’s him in the photo to my left) he’s authored several NY Times and Wall Street Best-Selling books including: Shut Up, Stop Whining &; Get a Life, and You’re Broke Because You Want To Be . Larry doesn’t hold anything back and is right on the money when it comes success and creating the kind of life that you want. His political incorrectness is refreshing.
What’s holding me and you back from achieving success is ME and YOU! I know that and as painful as it is to admit, I have known it for a long time. If I don’t like my life, I have no one to blame but myself, I’ve created it. Ditto for you.
I KNOW some reading this will take issue with what is being said and be offended. If so, hit the unsubscribe button at the bottom and I will no longer send you nuggets of truth that you obviously can’t handle. (And I’m really ok with you unsubscribing!)
Frankly, I don’t know about you but I am tired of whiners and complainers in my life.
Are you still with me? If so, here’s an exercise you can do right now to kick your success into high gear.
Take a few minutes and do the following 3 things:
1) Write down where you are in every aspect of your life right now (and be specific – financial,
physical, spiritual, etc.)
2) Next, write down where you’d like to be. Be specific. The more detail the better.
3) Last but not least, write down what you’ll have to GIVE UP in order get to what you want.
This is the hard one and the one most people will never do.
Did you read STEP 3? I mean really read it??!! Go back and read it – I’ll wait!
Most people know where they are in life and how they got there. Some people know want they want out of life, but very few are willing to give up ANYTHING to get to where they want to be. They abhor sacrifice and are constantly looking for the easy button to push. Success never works that way.
The only way to reach true success is in giving up whatever is making you unsuccessful, unhealthy….whatever it is that is keeping you from being as successful as you want to be or making the kind of money you want to make. This is huge. You have just been given the golden key to success so take the time and sit down and think long and hard about what you need to do and what you need to GIVE UP to get exactly what you want .
If you really want to succeed – if you want it badly enough, you better be willing to do WHATEVER it takes to get there. So get moving! Take those much needed steps and I’ll see you at the top of the “ladder of success!”
Wishing you all the success you have the guts to grab!
Steve
PS I really would like to hear from a lot of you on this. I promise to read every comment and to reply to as many as I can. Let me know what you think.
Direct Marketing Has Grown Beyond It’s Roots
Direct marketing has grown beyond its roots in traditional mail order to embrace a host of new technologies, customer relationship-building techniques and performance measures. Today, businesses and nonprofits of all kinds use direct marketing, which now garners 25% of the U.S. marketer’s budget, surpassing newspapers and broadcast TV.
In a 2011 case study three significant-sized charities reported the following data:
#1: Percentage of donations secured from first time donors attributable to different media: 76% direct-mail, 13% social media, notably Facebook and YouTube feeds their web sites, 8% email, 3% miscellaneous;
#2: Percentage of donations secured from present and prior and prior donors: 63% direct-mail, 9% printed newsletters. (Added together = 72%). 11% email and their web sites, 9% at live events, promoted by all media, 20% other online media and 2% miscellaneous;
#3: Percentage of internal resources devoted to work on different media-admittedly, their best estimates: 60% social media, 20% other online media, 10% events, 10% direct-mail.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Hint: Study the numbers – 76% vs. 10%. This (stupid) mistake is made over and over again by people who base their marketing decisions on personal preference vs. hard data.
Cancun, Weight Lifting and Winning
Ryan, a new financial advisor coaching client, shared an interesting story with me on our last coaching call about how he won a contest sponsored by his local gym. Turns out his gym was giving away a free trip to Cancun to the winner of a 12 week contest based on the concept of the biggest loser. The winner was chosen based on the amount of weight lost, number of miles run during the course of the event, number of times the contestant worked out at the gym, and number of inches lost around the middle.
I ask Ryan what motivated him to enter and how was he able to win. His answers are insightful and full of lessons about winning in business or sports or anything else. No magical formula just plain ole goal setting, commitment to a daily regimen of activity and accountability in the form of having a trainer watch over his shoulder and hold him accountable for his actions.
His motivation for entering was that, at age 38, he had become disgusted with his physical appearance and the fact that he was turning into a slob at such an early age. His psychological discomfort had been building for some time and finally reached a crescendo about the time the contest was announced.
Once he put down his $200 and entered the contest he went to work. He ran 20 miles a week. He quit smoking. He went to the gym and lifted weights 4 days a week. He limited his caloric intake to less than 2000 calories a day and he eliminated junk food from his diet. None of this required specialized knowledge or skill – just commitment.
As a side note he was the only one who entered the contest and stuck with the program for the entire 12 weeks. Everyone else quit and made excuse after excuse why they could not discipline themselves for even 3 months. The word for these people is LOSER and the world is full of them.
Many times winning means being the only one still standing when everyone else folds their tent, quits and goes home. This does not surprise me because I see it every day with my members. At least 50% of the salespeople who enroll in our Inner Circle Coaching Program quit during the 2 month free trial. Another 30% quit sometime during the first year and only 20% who start are still with us after 12 months. These 20%ers are the true winners who “get it” and their income is evidence of their superiority to the “mediocre majority”. Woody Allen was right when he said 50% of winning is just showing up. These days if you just show up and do anything at all you are in the top 20%.
A Sad But True Story
Recently, I had a dental appointment in town. After the appointment, I stopped by a Starbucks to treat myself to an afternoon coffee before heading back to the house. It was a pleasant indulgence and something I don’t do often enough.
I ordered my coffee and sat down at a table by myself and just relaxed, taking in the sights and smells and soft jazz playing in the background. No phone. No computer. No clients to talk to. Pure bliss.
A few minutes after sitting down I spotted an older gentleman walk in…he didn’t go to the counter to order anything, he just shuffled over to the table beside me, sat down and opened up a left behind newspaper. After a few moments our eyes met and we uttered the obligatory “good afternoon”. I turned my gaze to back to my cup of java – black, steaming and relaxing.
As I sat there enjoying my brief bliss, the man leafed through the pages making an occasional groan. After a bit he lowered the paper, looked at me and ask what I did for a living that I could come into a coffee shop in mid afternoon and not be in a hurry to leave. I told him I was a salesman and was able to control my schedule and come and go pretty much as I pleased.
“A salesman”, he muttered. “I used to be a salesman and I spent plenty of time in coffee shops like this. Never did make much money and eventually threw in the towel. Figured that if I just worked hard, was honest and tried to help people the money would just roll in. Didn’t work out that way. Now I just live off of my Social Security check which comes on the 5th of each month.” He continued, “Never could figure out what those heavy hitters who were going ‘gangbusters‘ were doing to make all that money.”
I said, “I know what you are saying. I too thought that working hard, being honest, and trying to provide the best service in the industry was sufficient. Then one day I got fired because of low production and I was stunned. That wake up call caused me to realize that if I was going to be financially successful I needed to take a different path.”
“What I realized was that I was good at selling, but I sucked at marketing. Especially marketing that attracted new prospects like honey attracts bees. So I went to work and became a student of marketing. I have since learned that being a good salesperson is simply not enough. If you are to succeed you have to become a master marketer. That decision has made all the difference in the world.”
With a sad expression he got up to leave. “Well, back then I figured it was just easier and simpler to focus on what I knew and kinda worked. If I had shifted gears the way you did….maybe things would have turned out different for me…” He got up without say anything more and walked out the door.
Right now, salespeople all over the country are struggling day after day trying to figure out how to do more than just get by.
It doesn’t have to be that way for you.
The truth is that this time of turmoil can be one of the very best times for you because most salespeople are doing exactly the same things as everyone else in their market and they too are wondering why it’s not working….and too many see a future before them that’s honestly not pretty.
I encourage you not to make the same mistake as that old salesman who tossed in the towel because he never made the mental shift from “working hard” to “working smart”.
If you are ready to make the shift from salesperson to marketer CLICK HERE and register to receive our FREE email newsletter loaded with proven marketing tips and strategies.
The System is the Sale
According to Theodore Levitt, a Harvard Business School professor, “The purpose of a business is to find and keep customers and to get existing buyers to continue doing business with you rather than your competitors.” I couldn’t agree more.
Everything Has Become a Commodity
In the old days of selling the best way to get customers was to have the best products at the best prices. That is still important but in a much more competitive world, the benchmarks for products and price are rapidly being met by many of your competitors. Pick any industry and you will find products, services and prices all beginning to look alike and blur together. To the customer, even salespeople all tend to look alike. They ask the same questions, wear the same clothes, write the same proposals and make the same promises. From the customer’s point of view there isn’t much differentiation out there.
Buyers Are Confused
Step back and look at the relationship between buyer and seller and how it has changed as the world has become more competitive. With more options that look alike and are sold alike, buyers make decisions to go with one product or another on the basis of what difference is left: price and convenience. Customers tend to buy the best price and most convenient arrangement from the options presented. (I didn’t say sold.)
Because salespeople are not very good at differentiating themselves from the competition, buyers simply make a transactional buying decision. In a transactional relationship the customer simply gets an order taker not a professional salesperson.
In the final analysis we have to realize that the traditional process of calling on customers, quoting prices and pitching the product is dead. It has been replaced by a new paradigm that sees professional salespeople as business partners or trusted advisors. If you want to survive and compete, quit pitching product and price and learn how to present yourself as a business partner or trusted advisor. Many companies and salespeople have yet to realize this. As a result, they will be left in the dust.
What differentiates you from your competitors? What is your Unique Selling Proposition? If you struggle with answering these questions clearly and compellingly you are nothing more than a commodity in the eyes of your buyers.
Which One Will You Choose?
I’ve got a sales manager coaching client who has 8 sales rep direct reports. One day during one of our coaching sessions, he said to me, “Steve, I’ve got 2 great producing sales reps who outsell the other 6 reps on my team put together. If I could just get those 6 to do what the 2 high performers do I would be golden.”
I told him “Roger (not his real name) ain’t going to happen! With proper training, you might get the low performers to improve slightly, but their production will never equal the production of the top 2 performers because of something called the Praeto Principle or the 80/20 Rule, which says that 80% of everything that is sold comes from 20% of sales the reps. This number will never change; so get used to fact that most of your sales reps will always be mediocre producers, and instead of trying to fix them, spend 80% of your time growing your top reps.”
This Praeto Principle applies to everything.
Take my business for example. I mistakenly used to believe that everyone was a candidate for sales training. Boy, was I ever wrong. After spending 16 years trying to train those who have no ambition, are mentally slothful, intellectually lazy, and are comfortable making a modest living from sales, I have come to the resounding conclusion that 80% of sales people are untrainable. These people represent what can only be called the “mediocre majority”.
If you want to see what they look like and who they are go into any Wal-Mart and walk around. There you will find them milling about looking for low price bargains and cheap stuff.
Contrast that with the elite 20% in sales. If you want to see them you need to go to Neiman Marcus or another similar very high end exclusive retailer. You can also find them at luxury car dealerships or yacht brokers. Wal-Mart shoppers they are not.
TRUE CONFESSION: For a large part of my life, I was an 80%, barely scrapping by each month. Some months having to live off of credit cards. That no longer happens. I live in a beautiful home with a pool. I have nice cars that I paid cash for. I have a boat that costs twice as much as I paid for my first house. It too is paid for. I take my family on nice vacations. Life is good.
How did I go from being an 80% to becoming not only a 20% but a 5%?
Simple, I got sick and tired of being sick and tired and made a decision to get out of the rut that I had created.
When I came to the realization that I was an 80%er, barely scrapping by each month, I made a decision to go to work on myself by investing heavily – at least 100k in the last 20 years – in personal development; and I have since come to the realization that virtually every 20%er in life has done the same.
Today, I only work with either those who are already in the top 20% or those who have a “burning desire” to join those ranks. Frankly, I disqualify more than I let in. Far more.
If you are at a point where you sincerely want to grow your income, keep reading……. If you are not there you might want to bail and pile the kids into the car and head on down to Wal-Mart.
Still reading…….
OK here’s the naked truth. If you want to excel and join the ranks of the elite in sales, you are going to have to work on yourself and invest your own money in personal development. Sorry, but that is just the unvarnished truth.
Anyone who tells you otherwise is blowing smoke and you need to get away from them as fast as you can.
If you are willing to do what it takes you will never go hungry and life can be very sweet.
Once you become a Master of Sales you get to travel around the world, get invited to very cool parties and hang out with other stimulating people who are on the same journey. It is really a very cool way to live.
If you want to join us on the most incredible and fun journey of your life head on over to http://www.newschoolselling.com/inner-circle/innercircle-gold/ and find out how you can join my Inner Circle and discover sales success secrets that only a handful will ever know.
Here’s to your success as the Maestro of your own fate. One that is light years away from the misery and mediocrity of Wal-Mart shoppers.
Without You There is No Business
Without You There Is No Business
If you don’t sell there is no money to pay the janitor, the accountant, operations, admin, the graphics gal, the IT people or even the CEO.
You know that, but others you work with don’t have a clue about this. They think you are a highly paid prima donna that the company could just as well do without. How ignorant they are. YOU ARE THE BUSINESS and without you none of them have a job.
Truth of the matter is that there are two kinds of people in business: those who generate revenue and those who consume revenue. You, my dear sales friend, are the revenue generators of commerce. EVERYONE else is a revenue consumer.
Be proud of who you are and what you do and don’t let the Dilbert cube dwellers in your company make you feel bad because you have the freedom to come and go as you like and are highly compensated for what you do. Hey, if they want to get out in the real world and mix it up, have at it. Truth is,very few of them could tote your water bucket and they would not last one week in the trenches where the bullets are real.
I have been selling something since I was 10 years old. It started with selling flower seeds and greeting cards from an ad I answered in Boys Life magazine and has continued for nearly half a century. There is nothing else I would ever want to do – except play Major League Baseball – but hey I couldn’t hit the curve ball so here I am just like you looking for new business every day.
Like you, no one understands me or what I do. My friends and family don’t get it either. They think I am an arrogant horse’s ass who has an over inflated ego. Like Rodney Dangerfield we sales people get no respect.
Let me say it bluntly:
Without you, no one in your company eats.
Without you, no one in your family eats.
Without you, your country goes bankrupt.
You are not the only one that matters in your company but you are the MOST IMPORTANT. That said, go look in the mirror and puff out your chest and go out there and sell something today!
Please feel free to leave me a comment below. I will read every one of them and respond to what you have to say.
Good Selling!
Steve
To stay on top of your game - CLICK HERE
What is Your #1 Sales & Marketing Issue?
A few weeks ago I challenged the readers of this newsletter to fax me their answer to, “What is your #1 sales and marketing issue?” I was thrilled that several readers took the challenge and responded by pouring their hearts out. After reading these, I thought you might benefit from hearing what they have to say. I hope you enjoy these and if you have comments please enter them below and I will read them and respond to each.
From Jennifer: “I work for a Credit Union. We are a mature 30+ year old non-profit organization. Our clients have been “trained” to receive most services from us at a significantly discounted price and if they do not like the price we charge for products/services they know if they complain we will typically cave in and lower their price. This practice is now proving to be detrimental to our business model.”
From George: “I feel that I’m lacking the proper skills to confidently close sales.
I do not feel like I’m in control of my sales calls. I feel like the buyers are driving the train instead of me.
I work in a call center selling Life and Health Insurance leads from the internet. I need to be able to close or sell the prospect once they are on the phone with me. Most internet inquiries are all shoppers and they have talked with 3 or 4 other agents and have received multiple quotes……. I feel like I am a professional quote smith catering to the needs of the buyers. Buyers are not being honest.
For most of my career I feel like I have been a trained circus animal jumping through hoops held by prospects.
For most of my life, I have been brought up with the notion that selling is an unstable and unpredictable occupation. I recognize the need to change this mindset.”
From Greg: “Not being able to effectively get to prospects “pain”
From Marc: “We offer a superior product and service but my prospects tend to go with our competitors because they are larger than we are.”
From Jim: “Making appointments with Decision Makers and letting prospects tell me they need to do a little research and get back to me – which they never do. When I try to follow up it seems like they have joined the witness protection program.”
From Ed: Closing, closing, and closing. We are in the midst of an intensive calling campaign of 1100 targeted leads. We have the backing of the trade organization which has endorsed us as they provider of choice. There is high rapport, legitimacy based upon this backing, but things are getting strung out for weeks even when people say they want to move forward. We can’t get them to move forward.”
From Erol: “Lack of a prospecting system to fill the pipeline.”
Having experienced every one of these repeatedly for years, I can empathize with these sales warriors. If you are experiencing any of these, take comfort that you are in good company and realize that there is a solution that will eliminate all of these once and for all.
To find out more go to http://www.newschoolselling.com/quiz/
Cheers
How Does One Go About Selling Trust?
The biggest key and the most difficult task for companies and their salespeople involves fundamentally changing the way they view sales. Traditionally, sales have been made by solicitation initiated by the sales professional. This hunting or seeking out or prospecting, as it has been called for decades, needs to be replaced with a philosophy and process that attracts clients as opposed to seeking clients. This is not merely a play on words. It is a fundamental shift on the part of the sales professional. And the more one targets affluent clients the more important this becomes.
Frankly, hunting is antithetical for creating trust. If you want to establish trust you must get clients to seek you out. Becoming the sought after provider of choice involves instituting a sophisticated and comprehensive marketing strategy that involves many different activities and behaviors. It takes time and it takes effort and it takes some money – not a lot of money but it does take some money.
Of course, I realize most reading this will instantly reject this philosophy because they need to hunt today in order to eat. I understand this and agree that if you don’t have clients seeking you out today then you need to become a hunter and seek them out. Hunting does work. I have done it successfully in the past when I had to acquire a new client immediately and you can too. And you can take comfort in the fact that if you hunt, the landscape will be void of most competitors who are too lazy to hunt.
If you must hunt, by all means, hunt and hunt aggressively and expansively. But AT THE SAME TIME, work at not needing to hunt as much, by developing a longer term strategy that will get clients coming to you so that one day you will not be dependent upon the grunt work of having to solicit and seek new clients.
If you fail to do this you will forever be on the treadmill looking for the next deal. This is exhausting, not much fun and will eventually lead to burnout. All highly successful sales people have figured this out and have developed multiple strategies that position them as authority experts with a certain local celebrity status in their marketplace. Some of these strategies include speaking, writing and publishing, developing local media relationships, becoming involved and taking leadership positions in business and civic organizations, hosting radio or television programs, conducting educational workshops.
The better you get at this, the less hunting you will have to do.
Trust: The Currency of the New Economy
What if everything you have learned about successfully selling was wrong – at least in this New Economy?
“Trust No One” is the new mantra. Today’s prospects, buyers, business owners, and consumers are the most cynical and jaded group of buyers in history – and with good reason. They have been lied to and deceived by government, business, religious and media leaders of all ilk.
In a recent study:
- Trust in media in the U.S. reached the lowest point in 201 since Gallop started measuring it in the early 1970s.
- Only 46 percent of informed respondents in the U.S. and 44 percent in the U.K. trust business to do what is right.
- Only 40 percent of people in the U.S. trust government to do what is right.
- Only 33 percent of Americans had a great deal of trust in medical leadership, down from 73 percent in 1966.
- 53 percent of U.S. workers do not think their boss is honest, and 69 percent are dissatisfied with the ethical climate in today’s society.
What About Salespeople?
How many buyers and prospects trust you, the sales professional?
Trust, whether you realize it or know about it or have even given it any thought is the currency of the New Economy.
In another study conducted in 2009:
- 77 percent of respondents said they refused to buy products or services from companies or individuals the distrusted.
- 72 percent criticized a distrusted company to a friend of colleague.
- 55 percent of respondents said they were willing to pay a higher price to companies and individuals they trusted
- 76 percent said they were willing to refer their friends to trusted brands they trusted. (This willingness to refer is the ultimate example of trust as a currency, in that it represents a “transference of trust” that goes from current customer to a new prospect and back to the seller.)
If you ignore these facts, stick your head in the sand and continue doing business as usual you may wind up the way of the dinosaur.
Smart companies and sales professional now realize that the #1 thing they are selling is trust. Without it nothing else really matters. These same companies and sales professional are setting about deliberately to develop marketing strategies and sales processes that focus on selling trust before they try to sell their products or services. You dear reader would be wise to do the same.
Stay tuned because in the next issue I will be giving you specific strategies for doing just that……
Listen to what these fans have to say ...
David D. Keleher
Business Development Manager
Landrum Professional Employer Services
Pensacola, FL
Jane Fraser
Certified Radio Marketer
CHUM Radio
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Scott Fraser
Business Owner / Entrepreneur
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Dana Puckett
President
DLP Problem Solving
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Shaun Courbat Director of Public Relations Martin Bros Food Service Cedar Falls, Iowa
Julie Hein
Asst Gen Sales Mgr
KZIA Radio
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Steve Clark, New School Selling
