Sales
Guy Gruenberg
Why are Some Salespeople More Successful than Others? Great salespeople aren’t born – they just do a better job of organizing, planning and pursuing prospects IF YOU CAN sell $3 million in asphalt projects working 35 hours a week, why don’t you just sell $5 million in 50 hours? This was the question I asked a top salesperson that I coach. His answer in a minute... This article is not about how to sell. That is a course, a book and career full of experiences. The focus in this article is on why some salespeople are more successful than others. Do you ever wonder why some salespeople struggle to get to $1 million in annual sales while others continually set new milestones for themselves? Here is a comparison you might find interesting. Would you go to a surgeon who never went to medical school? Of course not, because you can’t be a surgeon without many years of college, internship and residency and fellowship. The good news is that there is an abundance of formal and self-guided information to acquire sales knowledge. However even if you immerse yourself in assimilating this information it doesn't guarantee sales success. Back to the beginning of the story...
Characteristics of Successful Salespeople The person I am conversing with, we will call him Mike, is a true salesperson. He isn’t just an estimator sending out many estimates and winning a small percentage of contracts based on low price. Anyone
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can do that, and it is not the way to grow prosperous companies. Here are five specific things Mike focuses on: • He has set some very specific goals and is passionate about achieving them • He is a master of time management and is laser focused. That’s why he can get so much done in a fraction of the time it takes other salespeople. • He builds relationships, which means he has a significant amount of repeat work • He goes after the types of projects at which his company excels
• He has an insatiable and passionate desire to always do better Mike has made a good income in sales. He could probably double his earnings if he worked the additional 20 hours I asked him about. But during our very frank coaching, Mike explains he has seen the greed of salespeople when they have a cut-throat desire to make money.He also points out that he worked those 50-60 hours a week in the beginning of his career to get to where he is today. (It is also notable what he defines as work. For Mike, going to a networking event early in the morning or accompanying a client to a hockey game is not work to him. It is fun!)
Goal-setting, CRM, and a Laser Focus When I began coaching Mike, setting goals and refining them is the first thing we worked on in creating his success path. It became clear during our coaching sessions that he would achieve his goals and continue to set new ones. Many people set goals on their own and leave it at that. Those who want to achieve more, who want to be as successful as they can be, invite others to help them analyze and review their goals. Getting feedback from your inner circle gives you perspectives from others that know you, enabling you to better calibrate and focus your goals. The beginning of the season is the perfect time to do goal setting or refine the ones you already have. So, if you haven’t already, let’s get you started on creating your 2020 goals. Truthfully, I envy Mike on his time management and focus skills. Underneath his favorite ball cap, he sits at his desk and focuses on his most important tasks. Mike uses a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system as his core technology. While some salespeople resist CRMs with stale thinking that the company is keeping tabs on them, he understands that this tool is better than a full-time assistant. His CRM system and question-based selling techniques help him operate with less emotion. We have prepared a meticulous set of questions that match each step of the sales process. This is just a sample of what Mike’s laser focus looks like, enabling him to get an amazing amount of work done in a day: • He is in complete control of every sales decision, including what he will
January 2021 • Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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