One of the practices of successful sales professionals is their engagement in careful career planning.

Now is a good opportunity to take a few moments to evaluate your own sales career goals and identify the steps you'll need to take this year to reach them.

The following are eight suggestions to help increase the quality of your selling - and your life - in the coming year.

1. This is the year to make a career plan.
If a salesperson put just 10 percent of the amount of time into becoming a better salesperson that he or she would put into becoming a doctor, attorney, mechanic, etc. imagine how much better a career the person would have.

Most salespeople learn only enough to achieve a certain standard of living or just get by, whatever getting by means to them. By contrast, a professional salesperson is proactive, developing well-constructed goals and mapping out a solid plan to achieve them.

2. Start delivering results.
Was 2007 a good sales year for you or were there areas that were disappointing? Perhaps you lost steam midway through the year or maybe you were hit hard by the recent waves in the economy. Whatever the case, now is an opportunity to get energized and start producing results. Truly successful individuals measure their progress based on being more successful this year than they were last year. With the right focus and commitment, your success this year can outpace last year's - and make up for any losses as well.

3. Upgrade your selling skills.
If you seem to be losing more sales than you're closing these days, now is the time to enroll in some sales training to learn an effective methodology that will help you succeed. Knowledge is power, but thinking you know everything there is to know about selling is proof that you don't. As golf superstar Tiger Woods says, "You can always become better." A professional salesperson has a commitment to a calling and that calling is to be of service to the customer.

To achieve that, he or she must have the education, commitment and training that an amateur does not. School is never out for the sales professional. The most successful salespeople are always the ones who show up first to every training session, actively participate and are always eager to learn new ways to improve their selling skills.

4. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
In this age of e-mail, instant messaging and voice mail, nothing replaces personal communication. When was the last time you dropped in on your clients, shook their hands, asked how their business is going and really connected with them? You may learn how things have changed or how well - or unwell - your product or service is working for them.

To keep all of your sales sold, nothing beats a face-to-face check-in. Never forget your customers - and they'll never forget you.

5. Banish your "yes" men.
While every salesperson needs colleagues and clients who compliment and buoy them up, too much flattery can lead even the most down-to-earth salesperson to rest on their laurels. To grow, it's important to be shown what you're doing wrong, whether by a coach or a mentor. Constructive criticism, when given in a truly constructive manner, can be your best learning tool. Make 2008 the year you find the right coach or mentor and "get real" with the things you're doing right - and wrong.

6. Start saying thank you.
The great philosopher, William James, once said that the greatest need of a human being is to feel appreciated. If you're the type of salesperson who forgets about a client as soon as you've left that office, it's time to mend your ways. Invest in high-quality thank-you notes and send them to every client with whom you close a sale. Send them to people who've referred prospects to you as well as to your vendors.

The more gracious you are, and the more visible your appreciation, the greater your repeat business and referrals will be. The investment you make in simple thank-you cards or the time spent stopping by or making calls will return to you many times over in repeat business and referrals. After all, the easiest person to sell is a referral from a happy, satisfied customer.

7. Have an attitude of gratitude.
Give your way to being successful. With the recent surge in philanthropic activity from billionaires such as Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Barron Hilton, the personal benefits of giving have never been so well-illustrated.

I took a core philosophy from the founder of Parade magazine, Arthur H. "Red" Motley, who coined the phrase, "Nothing happens until somebody sells something" and expanded on it to say, "Nothing happens until somebody gives something." Just as the old adage says, you get what you give - and the more you give, the greater the intrinsic reward.

8. This is the year to reward yourself.
Many salespeople fall victim to a work-work-work mentality, become exhausted and often lose perspective. A healthy sales career should never come at the expense of an ailing personal life.

If you're prone to burning the candle at both ends, this is the year to reward yourself with a well-deserved vacation or getaway, regular spa treatments, fine dinners out or attendance at sports outings and other activities. When you participate in these activities, you allow your body, mind and spirit to rest and rejuvenate. As a result, you'll return to your work life refreshed, renewed and balanced.

About The Author:
ROY CHITWOOD is an author and consultant on sales and customer service. He is the former president and chairman of Sales & Marketing Executives International and is president of Max Sacks International, Seattle, 800-488-4629, www.maxsacks.com. If you would like to subscribe to his free Tip of the Week, "You're on Track," please e-mail contact@maxsacks.com.

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(Note About Author: Jerry Hocutt, author and presenter of the successful Cold Calling For Cowards® series, is now scheduling his speaking events for 2008. If you would like to schedule him for a keynote or breakout speaker, please email Eric or call him at 509.665.6479.)

“The difference between being an assistant coach and a head coach is the difference between making a suggestion and making a decision.” – Bobby Knight

How many times have you gone back to your sales manager to excitedly tell her what a great presentation you’ve just made and you think the prospect is going to buy? But then the sales manager asks a silly question like, “Is he really the decision-maker?”

Sure. I think. I guess. Maybe. Leave me alone. I was feeling good up until now.

Isn’t there some way we can flush out the real decision-makers? Too often we’ve been bamboozled by prospects telling us that, “It’s my decision” only to find out later they got shot down by the hidden, protected Lord of the Decisions.

One of my favorite techniques is to make this statement immediately on meeting: “I’m not sure if you’re the person I should be talking with about this, and if not, maybe you can point me in the right direction.”

This gives the DM (decision-maker) pretender an out without losing face. More often than not this person will direct me to the very DM I’m looking for.

Tripwires

But if the pretender tells me that he is the DM, I’ll play along for a short time and throw out a few more feelers to see if he trips himself up.

“We’re looking for a speaker for our next regional sales meeting,” the pretender says. “We’re on a short notice to find one, so I’ve got to make a decision fast. What is your speaking fee?” A red flag goes up if price is brought up before details.

I try to get more information, but he keeps circling back to price. I’ve got a clue, but I decide to give my fee to see if he trips over his hesitation to confirm my suspicions. Here you go.

Silence. Gulp. Hem-hawing around. I’ve got my answer. He’s the point man taking the bullet for the Lord of the Decisions lagging behind.

“Thanks,” the pretender says, trying to put on a brave face, “I’ll take it back to the committee.” Oh, so now there’s a committee? I’m dealing with an assistant coach. Not the head coach. DM’s avoid committees like the plague. DM’s make decisions.

A real DM would say “Let’s do it.” Or perhaps “Why are you so expensive?” Or “Forget it.” A real DM isn’t concerned about hurting your feelings or embarrassed that his budget is too small. He makes a decision and moves on.

Discourage them to test them

I will even try to discourage the person from selecting me if price is one of his first questions. In closing, this is known as the reverse close. “I know this may be too expensive for you, so why don’t we look at an option that is a little cheaper.”

But if he doesn’t get discouraged and keeps asking questions or bringing up objections I have the real DM. He’s trying to gather enough information to make a decision, not pass the information on.

One client was considering whether to choose me or former Dallas Cowboy coach Barry Switzer (winner of Super Bowl XXX) to speak at their national sales meeting. I was honored to even be considered in the same league.
“Jerry, your fee is much higher than Switzer’s,” my client told me. “And he’s a personal friend of our owner. Plus he lives here and we don’t have to pay travel expenses.”

Hard to argue with that. I chose to justify my position.

“I know,” I replied. “And I certainly won’t be upset if you choose coach Switzer. But...this is a sales meeting and not a pep rally, right?”

Sigh. Smile. “Oh, all right. Send me the contract.” That’s a DM.

One final clue

I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. Look at the personality of the person you’re dealing with and what you sell.

For my services, a high ticket item, someone I rule out immediately as being the DM is the Amiable person. They’re known for being indecisive. That’s not a bad thing. That’s their nature. But they are good about gathering information and making suggestions.

The Expressives are questionable. They talk a good game, but unless they own the company, I rule them out quickly. They have influence, but aren’t the DM’s.

The #1 personality I’m looking for is the Driver. Did a cold call on a staffing company last week and asked for the owner by name. Turns out the guy who answered the phone was the owner. Stated my case. “Not interested,” he replied. “I love to cold call.” The call took less than one minute. That’s a decision. My kind of guy. Didn’t upset me or hurt my feelings. Just made my next call.

The second personality I’m looking for is the Analytical. They are camouflaged DM’s. They’ll let you think someone else is actually the DM. But don’t be fooled. You’re probably talking with her. If I find I’m dealing with an Analytical, and she’s high up in the organization, I will then do everything I can to flush her out and get her to admit that, “Okay. You got me. I can make the decision.”

If your time is important, if you don’t like jumping through the hoops only to find it’s been an exercise in futility, learn how to flush out the real decision-makers. You’ll find your frustration level going down significantly and closes coming more quickly.

About The Author:

© 2008 Jerry Hocutt. Get affordable ($25!) sales training at www.SalesWebinarsOnDemand.com. Webinars include Straight Talk If You’re New to Sales: Good Advice I Wish I Had Earlier in My Career and the Cold Calling for Cowards® trilogy.

Jerry Hocutt, author and presenter of the successful Cold Calling For Cowards® series, is now scheduling his speaking events for 2008. If you would like to schedule him for a keynote or break out speaker, please give Eric a call at 509.665.6479

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Every salesperson eventually falls upon slow times. Whether it's a regular seasonal slump, marketplace readjustment, or economic downturn, it happens to all of us. What salespeople do during these slow selling times is what separates the wheat from the chaff, the good from the bad, and the professional from the amateur.

Slow Time Blues
In slow selling times, retail salespeople can reorganize displays, restock shelves, do inventory, sweep floors, or stand around praying for someone to come into their store at which time they pounce on the unsuspecting prospect and regale them with their snappy opening, "Can I help you." The general response, of course, is usually, "No thanks, just looking."

Retail salespeople don't have many options. If they don't have someone to sell to, they pretty well have to wait until someone comes along. It's not the same for business-to-business, outbound salespeople.

Oh, B2B salespeople can do some of the same things during slow selling times. We can reorganize our desks, restock our literature supply, and clean out all the fast food containers from our vehicles. The one thing we can't (or shouldn't) do is stand around waiting for a prospect to press money into our hands.

Slow selling times are when we should become proactive, not reactive. We should try to make things, like potential sales, happen. Or at least we should get some potential sales started.

Law of the Sales Jungle
I'm reminded of the law of the sales jungle, which goes like this:

"Every morning, on the plains of Africa, a gazelle wakes and realizes that it must run faster than the fastest lion or be killed. On the same plain, a lion wakes and realizes that it must run faster than the slowest gazelle or starve. So it doesn't matter if you're a gazelle or a lion, if you're in sales you better hit the road running."

So, if you can't wait around for a prospect to stumble over you, what can you do? You can hit the road running and try to stumble over a prospect, that's what!

It's called prospecting.

Many of us old-timers and some of those newer to professional selling are familiar with the concept of the sales funnel and prospecting pipeline. The concept is as valid today as it ever was and maybe more so as we go into and out of slow selling times.

The Sales Funnel
The sales funnel is just like a funnel you might use to pour liquid from one container into another. If you stop pouring the liquid into the top part of the funnel, fluid stops coming out the bottom. If you try to pour too much liquid in at one time, the funnel overflows and you lose some of it. You'll also lose liquid if the funnel has leaks. If you have some blockages in your funnel, the flow may stop or back up causing an overflow situation again.

So how does this work for sales? Simple. If you stop putting potential sales opportunities into the top part of the funnel, closed sales stop coming out the bottom.

If you try to put too many sales opportunities in at one time, the sales funnel overflows and you lose some potential sales. This can happen after a trade show where you simply have too many leads to follow-up in a timely manner.

You'll also lose sales if the sales funnel has leaks. Leaks are simply lost sales that probably weren't going to happen in the first place.

A blockage in your sales funnel could be something as simple as the inability to get a proposal out in a timely manner, the inability to deliver on a specific date, or indecision on the part of someone in the company.

It would be nice if every sales opportunity you put into the top of the sales funnel poured out the bottom as a closed sale. The percentage of sales opportunities that actually end up closed is called your "closing ratio." A 25 percent closing ratio means that you get (close) one out of every four sales you start.

Feeding the Funnel
Just like your regular funnel can't go out and find liquids to pour into its top end, the sales funnel can't actively find potential opportunities. That's your job. It's called prospecting. And part of your job, particularly in slower times, is to keep a flow of potential opportunities flowing down through your prospecting pipeline and into the sales funnel.

Developing your prospecting pipelines is important to your long-term survival in sales. If you just wait around for the company to supply you leads, chances are you'll slowly starve to death, in a metaphorical sense. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Experience shows that the best salespeople are also the best prospectors.

Typical Pipelines
It's not a good idea to just rely on one source of prospects — your company, for example. Develop your own. Some typical pipelines are networking (if done properly), associations, mailing lists, trade journals, old customers, existing customers, competitors (yes, competitors), and the Internet. These are just a few of the prospecting pipelines that the professional salesperson should be aware of.

Pipeline Size
If you know your closing ratio, you can get an idea of the size of your prospecting pipeline. Let's assume that your annual sales target or quota is $1,000,000 and your average sale is $20,000. Some will be more and many will be less but the average is $20,000. That means you need 50 sales to make your quota.

If your closing ratio is 25 percent, you'll need four hot prospects for every sale or 200 potential opportunities in the top of your sales funnel.

Hold onto your hat because the numbers get a bit worse. Because everyone you talk to isn't a hot prospect, you need to find sources of "suspects" — people who you think might be a prospect. If you're good and can convert every two suspects into a prospect then your prospecting pipelines must be capable of sustaining a flow of 400 suspects a year or you're simply not going to make your quota.

Do you have enough sources of leads to succeed? Think about it.

Which Are You?
I started this article by mentioning that slow selling times separate the wheat from the chaff, the good from the bad, the hawk who hunts for food from the baby bird who waits to be fed, and the professional from the amateur.

Which are you? It's your choice.

About Brian Jeffrey
Brian Jeffrey is a sales trainer, sales management consultant, columnist, and author of numerous e-books as well as over 100 articles on sales and sales management. His company, Salesforce Assessments Ltd, helps sales managers avoid costly hiring mistakes by providing specialized sales assessments and other tools to better match the salesperson to the job. For more information visit www.SalesforceAssessments.com.

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