Tough is not enough

Our customers don't know how we are selling. They do know and feel how we act. If we act proud of what we do, they will buy more.

Underachieving sellers are ashamed. They talk and carry themselves in a way that screams second-class citizen. Life is a mirror, so these salespeople are treated poorly and blame it on the customer.

Rule 3: Prospect. The top 2OVo prospect for new business a// the time. The bottom 807o prospect when times are tough. Too late! Master sellers make prospecting an ongoing part of their business. Minimum 107o, that's one full day every two weeks. We do it and our business grows-guaranteed.

fN rue MovrE Pretty Baby,Clint Eastwood plays a wizIened boxine trainer who has seen it all and more than he'd like. He ias a sign over his office door: "Tough Is Not Enough." Later in the movie, Clint explains, "Show me a kid with nothin' but heart, and I'll show you a kid who's ready to take a beating."

Many struggling sellers are hard working and honest, stand behind their products l$OVo, and offer a good product mix, great service, and competitive pricing. Many think this is enough. It's just the sit-down money.

There are high stakes poker games where all you need is the money it takes to sit down. The less you know, the better. There are "different" and "secret" rules that the professional player of any activity knows that the amateur does not.

Rule 1: Pareto's Cruel Truth: If there are 10 salespeople in any territory, two of them are getting 807o of the business.

What are the top two doing differently than the other eight? The bottom 80%o are:

Information dispensers: They give the customer anything they ask for, but don't ask for anything in return.

. Product presenters: They are knowledgeable about product and are glad to talk to potential customers about specifications, about anything-except purchasing.

. Service agents: Service is a sub-set of sales. The bottom 8O7o think they can service their way to the top of a sales business. Master sellers sell and service their accounts.

Rule 2: Be Proud to Be a Salesperson. The difference between the top and the bottom is pride. The top 207o arc proud to be salespeople. The bottom 80Vo are ashamed. They don't like salespeople. How can you compete against someone who loves themselves and what they do, when you hate yourself and what you do?

Rule 4: Promote, Don't Quote. If we are asking customers what they need after the needs analysis step in the sales process-master sellers are thorough and meticulous in this step-then we are in the bottom 807o.

The top 207o offer products and solutions. They ask lots of questions, listen for pain, and then prescribe a solution(s). We cannot have a good life as sellers if we chase customer inquiry/RFQ. Customer desires are too diverse and frivolous to chase. We must uncover customer need and sell to that need.

Rule 5: Ask More Often. The bottom 80Vo are waiting for the magic phrase that will change their sales lives. Working with a group of new sellers, I had Donnie, a master seller, come into class to show them how it was done. Donnie is self proclaimed "Mr. Wonderful." (Another characteristic of many master sellers-they live in their own dream world.)

Donnie is not smooth. He is not artful. He does not have the magic turn-of-phrase that makes customers buy. He is positive and he is persistent. Donnie asks for the order-a lot.

The biggest "technical" sales difference between the master producer and the rest: The top 20Vo ask for the order and ask more often. I repeat, they ask more often.

The underlying psychology: Master sellers understand that the basics are just that-basics. Tough is not enough. Master sellers add the element that makes all the difference: salesmanship.

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