No Shortcut to Sales Greatness
Written by Dave Lorenzo on August 10, 2016 / Behavior
There is no shortcut to sales greatness. You must put in the work.
Just about every client who comes to me is looking for a pill they can take before they go to sleep. Their goal, of course, is to wake up thin, smart and rich.
I do not have such a pill.
What I do have is a set of recommendations for methodically and painstakingly building a business that will enable you to live the kind of life you deserve.
Notice that I used the word “deserve“. This means, “to be worthy of.”
And here is the great secret that sales gurus never reveal:
Success requires hard work.
That’s right. I said it.
Building a business that helps you earn terrific money AND maintain a reasonably healthy life is difficult.
Fortunately, most sales professionals, if they apply themselves, can have the lifestyle they deserve. All they need to do is model the behavior of other successful people.
And, yes, successful sales professionals all have certain qualities in common. And, yes, you can easily replicate them through your own behavior.
I did not discover these qualities. They were discovered by Napoleon Hill. Hill studied 500 of the most successful business people during the era of the great depression and he distilled his studies down to 16 qualities that all these people had in common.
I am sharing the five qualities with you that are most important to your success as a sales leader.
Quality One: Burning Desire
You must have a burning desire to be successful. You’ve got to want to be at the top of your profession. There must be a passion for accomplishing this.
Maybe being the “best in the world” is something you cannot envision right now. If so, you should become passionate at becoming the best in your profession in your geographic area.
The key is this all-encompassing desire.
It will motivate you to keep going, even when you don’t feel like it. It will push you to do the extra work necessary to be at the top of your game. It will help you focus when the world is swirling with distraction around you.
Quality Two: Specialized Knowledge
In addition to being knowledgable about your industry, you must also be a good salesperson. You need to know how to attract clients.
Your formal education provided you with one third of the skills you need to be successful.
You are essentially on your own to figure out the remaining two thirds.
You need the specialized knowledge sales training gives you, if you have any hope of becoming successful.
Quality Three: Be Decisive
You must take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way. This means you need to make decisions. You must not be timid.
Keep in mind that choosing inaction is still making a decision.
Quality Four: Set Goals
Goals are simply destination points on the map. On your journey to success, you need to know that you are still on course. Your goals serve to help you stay on track.
Most people do not set goals because they fear one of two things: Failure or Success.
Face your fears and embrace your future. Set goals.
Quality Five: Tap into the Power of the Mastermind
Hill encourages us to embrace a culture of continuous improvement. By this he means you should tap into the collective intelligence of the people around you.
Hang out with smart people.
Join groups and associations containing people who have already achieved what you want to accomplish. This may be painful at first – seeing people enjoy things you want to enjoy – but this will also help you recognize the possibility that you can achieve them.
Being part of this group of successful people will also help you identify and replicate activities that will make you successful. You will learn new strategies and techniques and you will see them in action. This will give you the confidence to put them into action yourself.
No Shortcut So Enjoy The Journey
There is no shortcut to sales greatness. You must put in the work.
If you want to be successful, and if you want to achieve your goals, you must enjoy the journey you are on as you move down the path toward success.
Stop and celebrate when you hit some of your targets. Enjoy the fruits of your labor. Treat yourself well.
The qualities highlighted by Napoleon Hill will serve as a roadmap to guide you on your journey. Each day reflect upon them and take a personal inventory of your feelings about each of them.
Each day, at the end of the day, ask yourself:
What is your level of intensity toward achieving my ultimate goal today? (Burning Desire)
What will I learn today about building my business? (Specialized Knowledge)
What decisions did I make today? (Decisiveness)
Review your goals. What actions did you take today that got you closer to your goals? (Goals)
Who did I interact with today? Did they make me better in some way? (Mastermind)
Taking this inventory at the end of each day will help you stay on the path toward success.
Here are some additional resources you can use to help grow your revenue and take home more money.
As a sales professional, you will hear the word “NO” often. You have to be able to view that word as the gateway of opportunity. That’s what rejection armor is. It helps you get past all the “NO’s” you hear until you get to a “YES.”
Fear holds everyone back. As soon as you decide to eliminate the fear, you can move forward to achieve the success you deserve.
Act quickly and people will believe they must also act quickly in order to work with you.
Remember, There is no shortcut to sales greatness. You must put in the work.