Successful Selling Lying On Your Back
I never cease to be amazed by how little effort many salespeople put into improving their sales skills. Ironically, of course, if you’re reading this I am probably not speaking to you. If you didn’t care about your sales development and your sales results then you probably wouldn’t be reading this at all.
One of the questions that I ask of the audience in my Selling in Tough Markets (or Selling in a Recession) keynote speech is, “Who is currently reading a book on selling?” The answer is usually about 2% of the audience at any one particular sales conference. Even if you widen this to, “Who has read a sales book in the last 6 months?” the percentage of sales professionals answering in the affirmative is still well under 10%… a very low figure by anyone’s reckoning.
Reading a book on sales, business, personal development or even a biography of a successful person can benefit you in many ways. You can benefit by…
- Learning new skills, strategies and techniques. If each book that you read delivered you even just one new strategy, one new skill and one new technique what would that mean for you, your sales results and your business over the next 5-10 years? A heck of a lot – that’s what. Top performing salespeople tell me that they always learn something from every sales seminar they attend or every sales book they read. It’s only less successful salespeople that come up with the line, “I knew it all already”.
- Revising, improving and reenergizing existing skills. As Anthony Robbins is fond of saying, “Repetition is the mother of skill”. If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. I am constantly amazed by how much I “get” from rereading really quite basic books that I have read before. Sometimes, several times. It’s not that there is something new in there, it’s that you see stuff differently and make critical distinctions that you did not make on the first read.
- Building motivation and self-confidence. People who study have an inner confidence. It comes from knowing that you know your stuff, knowing that you are in the top 5%, knowing that you can do a professional job and knowing that you have put your time in.
- Continuing professional development. All professionals undertake ongoing learning programmes to improve, refresh and update their skills. Why should salespeople be any different?
- Empowering yourself with a sales superstar mindset. In today’s economy, there is far too much negativity and far too many people moaning about how bad things are, how we should be prepared for the worst, how things are all going to go wrong and why there is nothing you can do about it. Spending time focusing on what you can do, what people are doing and sharpening your sales and business skills is the perfect antidote.
Listening to the news and reading many experts at the moment is like being bitten by a deadly snake – the bite won’t kill you but the poison seeping through your veins just might. I have two tips…
- Take lots of pre-emptive antidote &
- Try not to be bitten in the first place
That means, surrounding yourself with motivational books, audios, seminars and people and avoiding negativity as and when you can. Still not convinced? Check out what someone wrote having read Objections! Objections! Objections! recently…
I am a sales professional and have been selling for about 15 years… I have contracts that require a lot of cold calling. I seemed to not be getting anywhere and was feeling pretty de-motivated. I saw your book Objections, Objections, Objections and read it cover to cover. I put the advice into immediate practice, and from getting an appointment rate of 1 per 10 phone calls, I am now getting on average 6 per 10 phone calls – simply by changing my approach.
Now I don’t know about you but that seems like a real sales result to me. Here’s what you need to do…
- Think about the areas of selling and business that you could do with a boost in.
- Research books or other learning products that meet your needs.
- Check out their reviews online.
- Buy them.
- Commit to reading 15 minute per day.
It’s amazing what you can achieve in such a short period of time. Have a great week
Invest 15 Minutes A Day And Double Your Sales Results?
As a motivational speaker and seminar leader I speak with tens of thousands of sales and business people every year and my blogs and articles are read by far, far more. Speaking with so many salespeople and business owners gives me a unique insight into what drives people to do what they do and to behave how they behave.
I really enjoy this aspect of my role as I am, and always have been, intrigued by how and why people behave the way that they do. It’s certainly one of the reasons that I became a motivational speaker and author in the first place. And I have a few questions that I like to ask of nearly all of the groups that I speak to in nearly all of the seminars and keynotes that I run…
These questions are the ones that I think are really important, the ones that I think salespeople and business owners should really think about and the ones that will make the most profound difference for them, their sales, their businesses and their lives. Of all of them one of the most interesting and enlightening is…
“When did you last read a book on sales and selling?”
It’s a great question and one which I ask in various different formats depending upon the size of the group, the subject and the audience. It’s also one which I never cease to be amazed by the answers that I get. Here are typical responses from a typical sales conference audience…
“Hands up if you are currently reading a sales book.” Roughly 1-2%.
“Hands up if you have read a sales book in the last month.” Roughly 5-10%.
“Hands up if you have read a sales book in the last 6 months.” Roughly 20%.
“Hands up if you have NEVER read a sales book.” Roughly 25-50%, dependant on the group.
Wow!
I have worked with sales teams in banking, IT, telecoms, recruitment, financial, engineering, car sales, retail, consultancy, training, estate agency, investment, catering, legal, accountancy and virtually every other industry that you can think of and my conclusion is…
Most salespeople do not read enough about sales, business and personal development and this is holding them back from the success that they want.
There are many reasons that they give me for this…
- They do not have the time.
- They do not like reading.
- They don’t know what to read.
- They don’t believe that reading will make any difference.
- They don’t believe that the techniques they read about will work in the real world.
- They cannot be bothered.
- Their boss wouldn’t buy any books for them.
- They tried it before and it did not work.
- It wouldn’t work for their business or in their market.
- And on and on…
This decision is a huge shame and one which is holding back hundreds of thousands (nay millions) of salespeople all around the world from achieving the sales and business results that they want and deserve…
Top sales professionals in all industries read to stay on top of their game. Top sales professionals in all industries read to stay abreast of new ideas, strategies and techniques. Top sales professionals in all industries read to set themselves apart from their competitors…
Top salespeople read to learn new sales techniques and strategies to give them the sales edge. Top salespeople read for education, inspiration and motivation. Top salespeople read because they know that reading allows them to harness the power of OPE (other peoples’ experiences) and accelerate their sales results.
Many experts have remarked that reading for a mere 15 minutes a day could make you a subject expert within only a matter of a few years. Reading for a mere 15 minutes a day consistently could double or treble your sales. Reading for just 15 minutes a day could return you tens of thousands of pounds, dollars, euros, goats… whatever currency you’re trading in… over the coming months, years and decades.
Reading for 15 minutes a day could help you to achieve more sales, more job security, more professionalism, promotion, a bigger house, a nicer car, financial security, early retirement…
Here’s why reading sales book, business books and personal development books is so important for your personal and professional success…
- You only need pick up one or two new sales strategies, tips or ideas from any one sales training book to get a phenomenal return on your time.
- Seeing something you already know in a different light or perspective can catapult your sales to a whole new level. It’s not what you know but what you do with that knowledge that counts.
- Reading regularly helps to maintain a “can-do” attitude when others around you are not being as positive as they might be. This is particularly pertinent in today’s negative environments.
- 15 minutes a day reading is an investment in yourself which will help you to value yourself, your job in sales and your professionalism.
- Reading sales books gives you time to think about how you can improve what you do and how you can get better results.
- Reading improves your sales skills, your sales techniques, your sales ability and your earning potential.
- And much, much more…
Start by making sure that you are subscribed to my free sales newsletter which brings you sales and personal development strategies straight into your inbox every week; then dust off your old sales books and start reading.
Not got any old sales books? The buy some new ones! Check out my books and recommended reading lists now.
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