If I may say, what a great sign. When I relate the sign to sales I come up with this. No cutting corners. I wanted additional info on Sabbath so I googled Sabbath and came up with this. "A supposed annual midnight meeting of witches with the Devil." How appropriate within sales. Witches and the Devil are always trying to steal my sale. Who wants to meet at midnight with the Devil? Not me! It is so obvious that if I take the Narrow Way then nothing good comes of it. I take Broadway and shine. Sunday is a day of rest. Recharge the battery, take care of myself. You know what they say, "take care of yourself and you will be a better spouse, partner, friend, father, brother, coworker, employee, etc." You get it, you know where I am coming from. If you look above the street name, Sabbath and Sunday appear. Love that. In my mind, Sunday suffocates Sabbath. I am going to do the right thing within a sale, always taking Broadway. Staying away from Narrow Way. It is so easy to take the simple path to victory, going right down Narrow Way. When I do this, I fail, I fail miserably. I learned the hard way. How? By losing large, HUGE commission checks that had my name on them but I went down Narrow Way. Ha. Never again. I pay attention to the details, I am always timely, apply the best selling techniques for that given sale and walk it across the finish line. Came across this quote, "I like things to happen: and if they don't happen, I like to make them happen:" Bingo, Broadway!
“Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.” tankdieselsales.com
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Oh wow, what a story I am going to share. This story changed my life as well as many others, I kid you not! I had started a job in ATL back awhile ago. I was the brand new sales rep and a VP within the office decided to have fun with the new rookie. He was a joker. Everyone has come across a joker that does not know when to stop, right?!! Well he joked 24/7 so you never really did know when he was serious. Here I am a rookie and this VP calls me into his office. "Hoyt, I have a lucrative lead for you in Charlotte, NC. Pack your bags and get up to see my CFO friend at Presbyterian Hospital. He is waiting for you tomorrow at 8 am. WOW, I am going to be a star. Went home, packed my bags, flew out that night, leaving myself room for error, landed in Charlotte, got a rental car, did a dry run, rode to the hospital so I knew where I was going in the morning. All set. I bedded down, got a good nights sleep and was ready to SELL and make the VP proud. Only to find out that when I showed up to the hospital that the name of the fella that the VP shared did not exist. The VP duped me. I was furious to say the least. Came back to ATL, met with the VP the next morning and shared that the person that he asked me to go see in Charlotte did not exist. He said, "come on Hoyt, I was kidding dude!!" That is when the word Iacocca showed up. I came up with a key word that means, "I am telling the truth, you can trust me I am not joking." Whenever I am in conversation with someone who knows the meaning of Iacocca the word comes up a lot. In today's world it is nice to have a go to word, in this case Iacocca cuts to the chase and says come clean, tell the truth, no lies. When someone throws an Iacocca at you, you better come clean. Hey Paul, "where are you from?" I respond the moon, "no really where are you from," the moon, "Iacocca", okay ATL! Iacocca boldly says stop the joking and give me the truth. I love it and my family and friends use it all the time. Spread the key work - Iacocca. Do you need a key word to keep the truth working for you? Try Iacocca, it works.
“Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.” tankdieselsales.com 913-522-3944 Ever heard "you only live once-but if you work it right, once is enough." I do not want to look back on my life and say, wish I did this, wish I did that. Nope. That is why I have goals. For me there are two sets of goals. Small one's and HUGE one's. It's important to have daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals. I do not take them lightly. They are my road map to success in life. Keeps me centered and focused on my purpose. On the other hand, I get excited about my HUGE goals. I enjoy dreaming big. The big man say, "have not, ask not". So with that I set HUGE goals and dream big. I look at it this way, if I am going to dream why not have a HUGE dream. Takes the same amount of energy. Decision done, dream HUGE. In sales, dreaming of being #1 in the country, making 7 figures, that's right 7 figures, going to the President's Club, winning the Rolex watch, cashing in on quarterly bonuses. On and On! HUGE is not in scarcity. There is an abundance of HUGE so I ask for it. Everyday I ask for the success of my HUGE goals. I write them down and I visit them everyday. Dedication, organization, attention to detail and timeliness are disciplines that launch me towards HUGE. I like this saying cause it relates to goals, "dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become." Are you in pursuit of your HUGE goals? I know you are and you are on your way to Success Street.
“Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.” tankdieselsales.com Transformation. Let's discuss this for a moment. When I am in front of a prospect I pay attention to many things, but one thing I focus in on most is their personality. Are they laid back, aggressive, procrastinator, nervous, etc? Finding this out is paramount for me to be successful and serve this prospect the proper way. I sell differently depending on the audiences personalities. My style transforms from one person to the next. I am not "what you see is what you get" selling personality. Oh no, not me. It is critical that I develop a sincere relationship with each buyer. It requires change. For me to do this I need to understand who I am developing a relationship with. I invest quality time to get to know the buyer. Some people like sarcasm, witty humor, some are dry, serious, like to laugh and so on. Whatever that personality is I need to serve it. What are they all about? What is their "win" in the sale? Are they buying to better their career, will it impact their bonus, make their job easier? Every buyer has a "win" in the buying process. It is up to me to find that out. Why does a young man buy a shiny new corvette? Prestige, chick magnet, speed, and so on. I work to find out. The buyer receives value out of a purchase. Finding out what that value is, is my job. Once I nail that I can sell properly. When the champion sells they cover all the bases. There is so much transformation techniques to selling. That is why I love it. No two sales are the same. Every sale requires transformation. "And what he greatly thought, he nobly dared!" Dare to transform your selling technique. Are you astute in your unique selling situations? Do you sell the same way every time you sell? Do you take the time to understand your buyers personality and serve it properly? Are you a robot or caterpillar that morphs into a butterfly? When you pay attention to the buyers "win" and their personality great things happen.
“Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.” tankdieselsales.com Ever heard "your bad habit won't break, your bad habit will break you?" One phrase that has a positive impact on me is "Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes." It is a simple and nice reminder that if we continue to do things the same way all the time, we should not expect a different outcome. Along those lines, what got you here today is not good enough to get you where you are going. Change is a must. My bad habits will not be broken by wishful thinking, instead it takes a tremendous amount of dedication and commitment to a new way of thinking to make any significant and long term difference in my life. I realized early in my sales career that I needed to change, be fluid if I was to be successful. Accepting things the way they are is unacceptable. In sales I needed to break through the barriers and do the unexpected to win. I could not continue to do the same ole same ole. It takes creativity, dedication, swift movements, timeliness to win a sale now a days. My point is that I needed to change with the times, the environment, situations, etc. As Albert Einstein said "doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results." The truth is that nothing changes if nothing changes. I always like to remember the saying, "great things are done when man and mountains meet." Make a change. Are you nimble, on your feet, ready to change to get ahead or are you stuck in the same ole same ole? Remember what got you here is not going to get you there! I bet you are flexible and that you aggressively change to make it happen, good for you! Go get the prize.
"Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.” tankdieselsales.com Certainty. I love certainty, hate gray. I have never been one who likes to guess and see what is going to happen. For example, my wife and I did not want to wait and see what sex our baby was going to be when born. We wanted to know now. Forecasting is the same for me. I want to know what is going to happen with a high level of certainty. I want to know the outcome with a high level of certainty. If I can control most of the situation then I will be confident in the outcome. Forecasting is scientific, based on events and information, that will determine when I will close the deal. For me forecasting is not like predicting the weather. A lot of guess work goes into predicting the weather. Forecasting for me needs to be predictable, accurate and dependable at all times. If leadership is going to run an organized, efficient company they need a forecast from me that they can count on. To do this, I am diligent in asking the tough qualifying questions. No easy road to travel. Keep asking the questions that get me thrown out early and if I cannot get thrown out then I will provide leadership with an accurate forecast. Accurate forecasting provides for sunny days. Are you bulletproof on your forecasting? Does leadership trust your numbers? If so, excellent, go out and enjoy the sun, the forecast calls for it!
“Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.” tankdieselsales.com Ever heard the saying "Tomorrow is one of the most dangerous words a sales executive could say. If it can be done today do it for there may not be a tomorrow." So true as I reflect upon this. When prospecting I would always try and get one more call in today. Just one more before I hang it up for the day. The worst feeling is to put off that call and find out that you were a day late. Darn, a day late! I am being tough but a true champion does it today, does it now. I lost the deal cause I was lazy. Brutally honest with myself. Could have made the call, could have put the effort in today instead I waited until tomorrow and guess what? The lead was gone. I lost. Sting! Ouch! In sales I live for qualified leads, leads that end up being sales which turn to commission which gives me my financial freedom. As those of you who have been reading my blogs, most of us sales executives strive for financial freedom. If I provide extraordinary service today then I win and financial freedom comes knocking on my door. This saying is appropriate for the subject at hand, "not failure, but low aim, is a crime." Low aim is waiting until tomorrow. Low aim is the enemy. Do you sell today or are you waiting for tomorrow? Today you say?! Ahh, good deal, keep it up and watch the leads flow to you.
“Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.” tankdieselsales.com That little boy in the picture reminds me of my son Angelo. A full head of hair just like Angelo. Ever heard of the phrase, "even keel?" I was having one hellava month, Ammazza! Which means killing it in Italian. Some of you may know that I have a lot of Italian blood in me. My mom is 100% Italian. Back to my story. When I was killing it that month, the next month I went bone dry. I could not land a deal to save my life. My boss at the time said to me, "what's the matter Hoyt?" She could tell I was down. Sales bring lots of ups and downs as you can imagine. The key to getting to the top and staying there is to have an even keel frame of mind. In sales, let you not forget, you always have to have your A game with you. I do not allow myself to get to high or to low depending on my performance. If I go crazy when I win and on the flip side get depressed when I lose then I become unproductive. It's exhausting mentally and I lose focus on what is important, closing deals. So as I go through my selling days, I stay disciplined on even keel allowing me to have productive days without having to ride the roller coaster. It is a simple discipline however, and you have read this before from me, simple but not easy. This behavior also helps me in everyday life. Sure it's fun to get overly excited, and I am not saying do not celebrate but I have to be careful that I do not over indulge because the emotional swings can be to much to handle. This is an area that I have had to grown slowly in but the return on my even keel efforts has been and will continue to be mentally rewarding. In selling, anything I can do to enhance my performance I am willing to do. Do the emotional highs and lows of selling drag you down? Are you an even keel person? If so, super! Keep up the even keel and enjoy the rewards of this highly effective discipline.
“Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.” tankdieselsales.com Working for Texas Instruments in PGH right out of college. First day on the job and my leader Evelyn shared the following. "Hoyt on this team you don't learn to hold your own in sales by standing guard, but by attacking, and getting well hammered yourself. Hoyt we don't sell to not lose we sell to win! You will be prepared for battle and we will go in swinging. I expect us to win every deal and to do that you have to aggressively attack. Unlearning is more difficult than learning. So start learning the right way. You got it Hoyt, cause if you don't take your briefcase and get out." Damn that was strong, I was intimidated. I thought this woman is crazy, what did I get myself into. No good morning, welcome to the team, friendly handshake. NOPE. She meant business. Looking back, how blessed to have such a strong leader to teach me right out of the blocks. OK, welcome to the world of taking charge. I was ready to embrace it. What she taught me no college classroom could ever come close to teaching me. It was street smart knowledge at it's best. She taught me to be disciplined, organized, attention to detail and timely in every aspect of the sale. She ingrained in me to learn as much about the prospect and the competition before I showed up for my first sales call. And heaven forbid, she said, "when in a sales call shut up and listen." Hoyt, selling is investigational, listen more than talk." Oh, let me share a story about my early stages of sales calls as I worked for Evelyn. I would prepare for the sales call, check in with Evelyn before I departed, then hit the road. I would come back to the office after the sales call and have an AAR, After Action Review with Evelyn. The AAR stood for what I did well and what I could have done better. For the longest time she would always ask me the question(s) I forgot to ask the prospect. Made me so mad. I thought I was so thorough until she asked me the one question I forgot to ask the prospect. What a great learning experience in how to prepare for any sales call. I wanted to come back and have all the answers to her questions. I wanted her to be proud of me. By her always naming the question I forgot to ask made me a more thorough complete sales executive for the next sales call. The benefits are powerful. The more I knew about the prospect the better I could serve them. Even though she frustrated me, she did me right. Eventually the AAR's turned into meaningful strategies on how to close the deal. Blessed to have such a mentor that was sincere in making me the best sales executive in the country. Are you thorough in your investigational work prior to making your sales calls? Gather as much information, for if your going to lead the sale to the finish line you will be doing a service for the prospect and your company. Attention to detail will drive you right to the winner's circle. Success smells so sweet. Don't you think?!
“Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.” tankdieselsales.com Martin was a phenomenal leader. I easily apply his leadership quotes to my sales experiences. Let me share and you will see what I am talking about. Powerful stuff!
“Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.” tankdieselsales.com Back in junior high school I played quarterback. Coach Moressi would ride me like a crazy bull every practice. At the time I hated him, but as I reflect back, I love and respect him for his passion to make me a better player and most important a better person. He would get up in my grill at least once during practice. "Hoyt, your are the leader of this team and you are acting ordinary! Put something extra into your efforts." He pushed me to exceed my gifts. The extra effort paid off for us. We won a lot of games and as former NFL Jets quarterback Joe Namath said, "When you win nothing hurts." Coach always made me do more than anyone else on the team. Coach would randomly say to me, "do you want to win Hoyt?" I have incorporated that culture into my life, the tankdiesel model. Look at the picture that I have posted. I do not want to be a common yellow practice range ball. Do you? I want to be the ball that a champion like Tiger Woods tees up to win The Masters. I do not need to win I WANT to win. In my mind wanting something is a key component to success. My wants drive my success. Being ordinary will not cut it in sales. I put extra into all areas of my life like Coach demanded. Extra puts me ahead, escalates me to the top. Extra is something most sales people will not commit to. The path of least resistance leads to last place. Not an area that I am familiar with. Winning through extra efforts, strategy, energy, herculean efforts, laser focused action pays high rewards to me. I put extra into ordinary and now I am extraordinary. Have you looked at your actions? Are they ordinary like others or are you adding extra to your ordinary? March on to financial freedom by being extraordinary.
“Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.” tankdieselsales.com On the road one day with my then current boss reviewing my sales pipeline, funnel. I was a rookie, learning as much as possible from my mentor. He was a strong willed, scientific seller/leader. Scientific meant no gray when it came to selling. He used to say "Hoyt, your either going to close the deal or your not. Which is it Hoyt? The questions requires a binary response. Get good at that son so when I ask you if your going to close a specific deal I want to hear yes or no. There is no emotion in selling Hoyt. Just the facts." It was a lesson that I embraced and to this day have woven into my sales approach, tankdieselsales.com. Scientific selling to me means, asking all the hard qualifying questions all the time to the prospect so that you can get to a yes. If the yes is not coming move on. I did a BLOG on getting thrown out early. You may want to go back to that one and reflect. Getting throw out early means you are not going to close the deal so pack up and move onto a better qualified prospect. Don't fish where it's nice to fish, fish where the fish are. Do not waste your time on deals that are not going to close in your favor. So as the story goes, that day my boss shared that I needed to build into the CRM, salesforce.com at the time hard questions within each stage. If you can answer all the questions positively within a stage then you move to the next stage which is closer towards the sale. He shared, "be disciplined on this process Hoyt (he loved to call me by my last name) and watch your W2 grow. Remember Hoyt scientific selling is full of certainty. Learn to hate grey. Certainty will not let you down." The tankdiesel model is full of certainty. Do you selling through emotions? When your boss asks you if your going to close a specific deal do you answer through your gut and emotions or do you answer scientifically? If you answer scientifically then you are on the right track, the track that leads to successville.
“Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.” tankdieselsales.com Have you ever heard the saying, "imagination is the preview of life's coming attractions." I have and I believe it. There have been many times in my life where I have thought, wished, fixated, obsessed, etc. on something and darn, the hell if it did not happen. Powerful stuff. Imagination has no prejudism. In my personal sales putting positive imagination to work is healthy. Doing the footwork and then imagining closing the deal is healthy. Why not use my positive imagination to bring things to the forefront? If I believe that something positive is going to happen then I am attracting it to me. I put it out there in my imagination and work my plan A. I displace worry, which is anticipating a negative outcome with positive imagination, a preview of life's coming attractions. As I walk through my selling day, it can be tough to stay laser focused. So many things going on and so many critical deliverables on my plate at any given time. Day or night. So at times my mind will wonder. That is when I come back to my positive imagination. Remember it is key for me to keep my imagination positive. NO, NO, NO on the negative imagination. If negative, I come to a screeching halt and get my mind off of those toxic thoughts. This is a simple exercise for me but one that I am diligent in carrying out. Why? Because positive imagination promotes healthy thoughts within my mind. My healthy thoughts generate mental energy. I use this burst of mental energy to work on selling strategies. Out with the worry, in with the positive imagination. I want to thank my buddy for sharing this sales pearl of wisdom. It works and it's healthy. Do what you can and pray for what you cannot yet do. Put that imagination to work. Wear it out. Do you allow your mind to recklessly wander into thoughts that are an absolute waste of time and typically are focused around worry? If so immediately replace worry with positive imagination and watch out!
“Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.” tankdieselsales.com Every year since I was a young boy I have watched the 3 races that make up the Triple Crown. Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes. Let me share a story. On the road in Louisville selling our services to hospitals with a bright young guy that worked for me. He was full of energy and I thrived off of it. He owned the KY territory and he asked if I wanted to visit Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby during my visit to Louisville that week. Hell yea I said, let's do it. As we were touring the grounds he said "Paul, every horse in the Kentucky Derby has a trainer. No horse prances into Louisville without a trainer and declares. "I have arrived, look at me!" He proceeded to school me. "The trainer is not there to make the horse run. Of course not, he is working with a world class thoroughbred. The horse knows how to run fast already. The trainer's goal is to assist in anyway possible to see if he can make the horse run faster. Shave off a few tenths of a second here and there, so the horse can win the roses and be #1. Paul, coach me, train me on how to be a better salesman"! Wow, I was blown away. He was coaching the coach. I admired that in him. He was willing to speak up and say candidly, I know how to sell, train me on how to sell better, more efficiently. "Don't be a stiff tie boss, coach me coach". I learned a valuable lesson on that beautiful sunny Louisville KY day. I hope that most everyone wants to be up coached, to be the very best that they can be. Find a coach, have them coach the heck out of you, bring out the best in you so you are elite. We completed our tour of the grounds and then we started our journey for him to be the best sales executive in the country by executing the tankdiesel system. Everyday I learn something new that keeps me sharp on my A game. In sales there is always more to learn. That is why I love the profession so much. A quote I read and want to share. "My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges, and trying to rise above them." Are you being up coached? Are you open to learning? Are you going after the big challenges?
“Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.” tankdieselsales.com Striving to be better everyday is excellent. What works for me, working with a partner. We hold each other accountable, making each other better in everything we do. Selling is a rewarding profession, however it requires a considerable amount of dedication and focus. In my younger years I did everything alone. I thought it was the right thing for me because I could be in total control. No one to run ideas by, disagree with me and of course hold me up if I was ready to go. Not a good strategy. Having a partner, mentor, trusted coworker is vital to my success. When two individuals are aligned with the same goal, being the top of our profession then things start to happen at an alarming rate. I cannot stress how important it is for me to work closely with someone on a daily basis. The energy, ideas, strategy, etc flows. Having two heads to come up with bright ideas is an excellent ROI. I wish I could have done this earlier in my career but I have a working partner now that I speak to on a daily basis and the routine works for both of us. We keep each other focused on our goals and push each other to be better each and every day. I can only push myself so hard, that is when my partner is there for the additional support. My partner share this with me all the time. "Want to go fast go alone, want to go far go together" Do you have a selling partner that you confide in on a frequent basis to push you to greatness? If so, excellent. Great resource, great choice. The learning is so much more deeper with another looking out for each other. Iron sharpens Iron.
"Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111." tankdieselsales.com One day early in my selling career Lou Holtz former Notre Dame football coach was being interviewed and I remember one attribute he said to his listeners "there are many highly qualified football coaches in this league however none of them will out hustle me"! I learned from an early age that hustle makes up for a lot of other deficiencies. I may not be the smartest one in the room, however, that does not intimidate me. When you select me to do a job, I am all in. No one, absolutely no one will out hustle me. I believe you are born with the hustle DNA. I have not been successful, (occasionally) in coaching, teaching, instructing, instilling hustle into someone. You are blessed if you are one of the fortunate one's that hustle is your only gear. A majority of people rely solely on their big brain and as Lou says, "I will out hustle you"! My point is that I lean on hustle along with my other skills to get the job done. During selling I know that the competition is right on my tail. There is always someone trying to knock me down, take the sale from me and go to the ATM with my money. Wait! It's my deal, so I hustle after it with a ferocious attitude. Not many slackers are at the top of their game, not many CEO's are lazy, not many top sales executives make a lot of money by coasting. Take my skills and combine them with hustle and I have a winning formula that I can count on. I put a grain of hustle into everything I do. Are you giving it all you have every time you go sell and provide exceptionally high quality service? If yes, excellent. March on!
“Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.” tankdieselsales.com When I awake in the morning I have Faith in the gifts that God has blessed me with. I take those gifts which include Faith and go to Sweat Street. I work it, work it and work it. There is no better feeling for me than to go after it. Mentally or physically at times both. I can say that leaving it all on the table is not an option but a must. For me Sweating is a sign of effort. I sweat both mentally and physically when I set my sights on a goal. If I am going to make an effort why not give it 100%? In sales, I decide what the goals are, I put together sound strategies, make herculean efforts, stay laser focused and go execute with Faith. Imagine that. Faith over Fear! With hard work, strategy, pre planning, attention to detail, organization, timeliness, Faith and sweat I can then relax. Most sales execs would be exhausted but not me cause I have a well oiled plan. That is what a sound proven system has done for me. By mastering the tankdiesel system it allows me peace, joy, happiness and of course to serve people leading me to financial freedom. It's not work, it's fun and the return is amazing. These companies had Faith in their system and worked hard down on Sweat Street. Google, UTube, Amazon, Facebook, Bing, Baidu, Yandex. I love to reflect back on my work ethic and see that the harder I work a proven repeatable system the higher the return. The system is scientific no luck involved,. Full of certainties. Working smart hard is smart. I am running through life like a NFL running back. Are you going to meet me on the corner of Sweat Street and Success Avenue? If so, let's work our plans, have Faith and enjoy the trappings. "Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111." tankdieselsales.com In sales, I need to ABC Always Be Closing. Look at this home. For me beautiful! I have always wanted to live in a beautiful castle. Currently as for me my home is my castle. I am a homebody so I love spending time in my castle. I strive to live in a castle like the one in the picture. And one day I will. Another definition for ABC is Accept nothing, Believe no one, Challenge everything. This is also sound advice however I love ABC Always Be Closing as my first go to. Not only in sales but ABC is used all through my daily life when appropriate. Let me share a quick story. When I met my beautiful wife I immediately said to myself "ABC". I am going to marry that woman, and I proceed to court her into a life long marriage. ABC is powerful and I use it all the time. Now lets talk about ABC in sales. WOW!! As I walk through my selling days, ABC keeps me focused on the end result. It is a barometer on how I should best use my time and resources. On a daily basis I am always moving towards closing "the deal." If so then I am being efficient for everyone that is involved in the sale. For me sales means serving people and that leads to financial freedom. One of my goals. So if I am to meet my goals then I focus on closing. No time to waste. When I wake, I do not forget to pray to God because he did not forget to wake me up. Secondly I grab my forecast off the night stand and thirdly and not lastly ABC. Are you ABCing it? If so, excellent. You are on your way to living in your castle if you so desire. The castle is out there, it is just waiting for me to take occupancy. As I mentioned, I am declaring it, someday I will!
"Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111". tankdieselsales.com Ever lose a big deal, a critical deal, a deal you worked your butt off for? I have many times. However, I keep swinging but man o man it's painful to lose. It is like a shot to the heart. Losing flat out stinks. No other way to put it. However, my Dad shared, " when you lose you need to grow through the pain not go through the pain". It took sometime to wrap my brain around it, but it was the solution for me to move forward in my selling career. I wanted to use the pain of the loss to better my selling skills, so I did. Every time I lose I do an AAR, After Action Review. A military term used in the US Army. What did I do well and what could I do better for the next sale? I used the AAR exercise in every company that I have worked for. I am confident that the following life science companies use AAR or something similar to increase their selling successes. Genentech, Pfizer. Merck, Amgen, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Bristol-Myers Squibb. Not only do I want to grow through the pain I want to shine in the face of adversities. Lost sales causes difficulties in many areas and I have learned over the years to shine during those difficult times. To do this I needed to grow through my pains. Taking a proactive approach to learning and growing through difficult times has paid off for me in more ways that I could ever imagine. Lastly, I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. No reason for me to dwell on my losses, learn from them and dream about selling success. Sounds like a good plan to me.
"Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111." tankdieselsales.com Let me share a life experience. I was speaking with my son's Godparent Shanan the other day. I was venting that some close friends were not returning my calls. This was going on for at times 6+ months and it was bothering me. In my mind I was searching for reasons why they would not call me. What a waste of my valuable time. To be exact it was 3 of them and I could not get a return phone call to save my life. When I started to share this concern with Shanan he quickly stopped me and shared the Bill Gates garage story. He said "Paul, when Bill dropped out of Harvard he could not get his former classmates to return his calls. They had no use for him anymore. The same maybe true for you. What you thought were close friends have no more use for you now that you are venturing into your own successful business. They are looking out for themselves, they don't care about you. Get that into your head Paul. Bill did not let the distractions become a disruption. He kept plowing ahead with the building of Microsoft. Now when they call him he does not even remember them". Great story and lesson for me to not let anything derail me from my dream of building TankDiesel into a powerhouse. TankDiesel is built to serve others in reaching their dreams, one being financial freedom. What a great purpose. Those friends, so I thought, who will not call me back are now in my rear view mirror. I have deleted their contact info. The garage is where I will be until I am done, and of course I will never be done building tankdiesel. Shanan thanks for the great share.
'Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.' tankdieselsales.com One day earlier in my career I was having a bad selling day. I was working for an IBM Baxter company called IBAX. We competed with EPIC, Cerner, McKesson. I lost a deal that I had worked on for 18 months. Long term selling cycle. Selling hospital information systems worth upwards of $5M+. You had to be patient along with never taking your eye off the ball. I should have won the deal but I was not willing to do the uncomfortable. There is a saying that I have in my office. "You cannot find what you do not seek. You cannot grasp when you do not reach. Your dreams won't come up to your front door. You have got to take a leap, if you want to soar." I was not soaring, I was coasting. Doing just what I needed to to get by. Well losing a $40k commission made me do a self assessment. The answer was to turn up the volume. Selling requires 100%+ dedication to processes that work. I realize that I could not skate by and become the best selling executive in the nation. Time to do the uncomfortable. Slow down, strategize, cold call for leads. Oh how I hated to prospect. I needed to cover all my bases. I decided to learn Miller Heiman blue sheets and work the hell out of my opportunities. That is tough work. Invest in the process and watch the returns. Get up early, take care of myself, full body, mind, spirit. Follow up with all my prospects on a daily basis. Dig into the weeds and cover all the bases so that I win every deal I enter into. I started working around the clock. I was kickin it man. Every part of selling for me is not fun but I realized that when I lost that deal I got exactly what I put into it. I am a true believer that what I put out is what is coming back. My efforts are ferocious and herculean at times but that is what it takes to be the best sales executive in the nation. Are you doing the maximum to succeed? Are you going outside the comfort zone and doing the uncomfortable? It is hard work, not all fun but the results lead to a large bank account. Strategic, disciplined selling leads to success and for me success has its rewards.
'Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.' tankdieselsales.com Ever been fishing? Sure you have. If you are going to do it right it requires a fair amount of pre planning. For example you have to decide where to go, where to park, make sure you have bait, fishing pole, tackle, appropriate weather clothing, food if you are going to be there for a long time, etc,etc, etc, the list goes on and on for some, more than others. The bottom line is that it takes a fair amount of pre planning time before you drop the line in the water. They say, G. Washington spent hours strategizing on how to cut down the cherry tree that took 5 minutes to drop. When it's time to sell I spend the appropriate time strategizing, planning, preparing, role playing, etc before I execute my Plan A. How many times have I been burned by rushing to action? Over the years I have learned to slow the motor, step back, learn and plan. The execution goes smoothly more times than not when I invest time upfront for strategy. It may take longer before I execute, that is where patience comes in to play. Patience is a strength in sales and may be viewed as being slow, lazy. NOT, Being an assertive, move forward, go go sales executive, requires discipline to plan, develop, review, review, review then execute. So remember, champions are the master of the fundamentals. The top of the line sales executive has mastered patience and certainly knows how to take the time to strategize before execution. You better believe that the sales executives from these top airplane manufactures have patience in their blood:
Airbus, Boeing,Bombardier Aerospace, Dassault Falcon, Embraer, Gulfstream Aerospace, Pilatus Business Aircraft and Textron Aviation. When selling mega $$ million 747's you better have a sound bullet proof strategy. You don't get many chance to sell a fleet of planes to Delta, United, Southwest, etc. They are not buying them every year. Keep your fears to yourself but share your courage. Have the courage to put patience into your life. The return will be rewarding. Plus remember, don't fish where it's nice to fish, fish where the fish are. 'Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.' TankDieselSales Quotes that I have picked up over the years from others that I would like to share:
Behold the Turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. When two paths open before you, take the harder one. Every time you win, it diminishes the fear a little bit. You never really cancel the fear of losing;you keep challenging it. The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision. Now's the day, and now's the hour. Go for it, dream big! Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear. I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. Be bold, be bold, and everywhere be bold. Experience gives us the tests first and the lessons later. Start by doing what's necessary;then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done. A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. Take Away: are you keeping the faith in your abilities? Is so excellent! keep dreaming and dream big. 'Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.' TankDieselSales Fear creates worry. The more wary you are of worry, the more likely you are to meet it. When it comes to sales I used to worry when I was not prepared. I felt vulnerable so I started to worry. For example if I was scheduled to present to a group of prospects and I was not bulletproof on the subject matter I worried. Easy fix right?! Know your stuff better than anyone else. Worry is the anticipation of a negative outcome. What a waste of my energy. Years of worry has led me to meaningful solutions. Staying in the moment, which I have complete control over allows me to gain confidence in outcomes. I cannot control the future nor can I go back in the past and change that. God doesn't even bother with the past. When selling I know my products, services, industry, competition, pricing, contract, references, etc like the back of my hand. No better confidence builder than knowing more than anyone else on my "stuff". I have a good friend of mine that sells high end Mercedes in the Atlanta area. Rest assured he knows his product inside and out and when it's game time Robert is bulletproof knowing he will not lose this sale to the competition down the street. He loves to serve and is proud to be a salesman. Worrying is not in his DNA. So when it comes to worry, seize the day and get rid of it; put no trust in tomorrow.
'Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.' TankDieselSales What does it take to be a successful sales executive in today's world? I did some research on top producing companies, Verizon, Intel, Disney, Comcast, Cisco Systems, Oracle, Adobe and Nvidiaand. Not to be surprised but most of their CEO's have a background in sales. These companies know how to market their products and services. It's not an accident that they rule their industry and they take no prisoners when it comes to revenue growth. They do not give up, they do not quit trying to gain market share. Behind the curtain of a successful sales organization will be but not limited to hustle and grind, tremendous work ethic, faith. Add the proven TankDiesel model and you will have a well oiled machine that will keep producing over and over. The only way sometimes that companies change is by exhausting everything they think they know and they still keep failing. There comes a time when the pain of missing the number becomes unacceptable. Through my career I realized that I have to stay on top of my game at all times to keep winning. Once I drop my guard I get smacked down. The best motivator for me is self encouragement. I need to remember that everyday that I am my best supporter. Ann Landers "remember this: beware of quitting too soon. Dr. Seuss's first children's book was rejected by 23 publishers. The 24th publisher sold 6 million copies". I keep plowing ahead to be the best sales executive on the planet.
'Our sales training creates a culture that delivers measurable results. For more information, call TankDiesel at (678) 665-1111.' TankDieselSales |
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