What is it that separates great salespeople from merely average ones? What is that helps one business person grow their new business whilst another languishes, struggling to make a living? Why can two sales presentations of the same product with the same client have radically different outcomes? Why can great new business executives consistently reach key prospects that mere wanabees cannot?
Why can sales superstars sell value over price time and time again whilst mediocre journeymen fight battle after battle and end up selling on price?
Questions like these and just the simple, “What differentiates top performers from mere average ones?” have over the years been the focus of my attention, my passion and my career. Helping others to realise them in their careers and in their lives is something that gives me great fulfilment.
As many of you know, I am tapping away on my laptop in Spain, where I am spending a couple of weeks in the sun, and I have been reading about the reactions to the recent UK riots from afar. The usual suspects have said the usual things but what has interested me is the reaction of the UK police chiefs and many of the MPs to the mention of taking any kind of advice in any capacity from Bill Bratton, the ex-police chief of Los Angeles who oversaw a fall in crime for six consecutive years. Several said that the US was different to the UK and, more significantly, that they had NOTHING TO LEARN from him. Where does this stupendous arrogance come from? And what purpose does it serve other than to prop up their own fragile egos?
For sure, Los Angeles is different to the UK but there’s always something to learn even if it’s what not to do. There’s always something to learn even if it has to be adapted to your situation. There’s always something to learn if you want to be the best.
I see people every day who seem intent on reinventing the wheel out of sheer bloody mindedness. The concept of utilising OPE or Other Peoples’ Experiences seems to have passed them by. Why spend years clambering, climbing and crawling to the top if you can hop up onto someone’s shoulders and start from there with a huge advantage?
This week’s task is to have a think about who you know and how you can utilise their skills, experiences and insights to give yourself a shortcut to sales, business and personal success. Take some time to think about someone who you know who is excellent at something, someone who excels in a particular area and then go and pick their brains to find out how you can give yourself a sales boost.
Related posts:
- Check Out This Loser!
- What Would You Achieve If You Knew You Couldn’t Fail?
- Remembering The Power Of Now
- The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 5
- The Sales Apprentice 2011: Sales Training & Business Development Tips From The Hit TV Show, Week 8
About Gavin Ingham
I think the difference between good salesmen and great ones is (as you suggested) the ability to learn from others. Even if the person you’re learning from is wrong, you have the opportunity to observe the outcome and know *not* to ever do something that way. We can always learn to better ourselves. That’s why we’re not perfect.
Rick, absolutely. You can always learn something if you’re open to it. One of the biggest blocks to increased performance is thinking that you know everything and that you have nothing left to learn.