Recently, Harvard Review cited a study refuting the common belief that our ability to learn slows down as we mature. The point of the article was that our mental agility is not a function of age, but rather one of stagnation. Solely focusing on one area, such as the products you sell, or putting aside mind expanding endeavors, will retard cognitive growth. Chet Holmes, in his book, The Ultimate Sales Machine, presents another perspective. He says only about 10% of the business population are learners (meaning they will seek out new knowledge and opportunities to grow), the rest will coast unless pushed. If you’re way over quota and doing as well as you ever care to in your sales and personal income, skip this section; otherwise, read on.

In a recent workshop one attendee commented, “This is great stuff, but I really want to be able to do it. How do I move forward and learn to actually apply this?”

• If you’re in sales management: The best investment you can possibly make (given you are already good at hiring great people), is to hold your sales team accountable for learning. I see all kinds of metrics put in place to babysit sales reps concerning the number of calls made, number of meetings booked, and the status of their pipeline. However, if your team isn’t learning and growing, you can’t really expect performance that will jettison you into the number one spot. Invest in training (not as a onetime occurance), form book study groups, and hold your people accountable to study and practice selling as a group.
• Maximizing Learning Materials: In high school I only read what was assigned, and often skimmed through it with disinterest. I didn’t maximize the learning opportunity before me. As a result, it took me longer than four years to get through college. But then something happened –I discovered how to pick up a book to study and apply it. You can skim through lots of articles and books (though most sales people have stopped reading altogether), but this will not translate into mastery. Study and apply. Make it a goal to be the best in your field.
• What to study: There are millions of resources out there – not all are good. Find authors, trainers, mentors, and coaches that really understand your business, and follow them. It’s far more valuable to study a few resources to the point of inculcating them into your life, than to read hundreds of books with little to show for it. But don’t stop there. The HarvardReview article, referenced above, recommends finding another field of study to help stimulate different areas of your mind. For me it’s fine wood working and teaching math and science to my kids. Become a learner and move ahead.

Before you start proposing, agree on the problem, jointly determine the value, and then with buyer approval, price it out.

• If you’re handing proposals to influencers in the IT department, you’re subcontracting the most important part of the sale to someone with no experience.
• RFPs (Request for Proposal) were developed to put everyone on even ground. Why would a professional sales person agree to enter a bidding process designed to strip away all aspects of differentiation. Refuse to play the RFP game.
• Stop trying to sell business value to IT people. Most IT managers are more interested in their position, title, income, and performance than they are the company they work for. Learn to talk business with business people.
• If you can’t agree on value, you can’t agree on price. Continue the investigation until justification can be demonstrated. Then, don’t agree to give a price until you know you have a common understanding of the problem and the value.

I recently had a sales VP email me to ask that I stop calling on him–“he’ll let me know if he is in need of my services.” At first my inclination was to comply – then it hit me…if I stop calling on him, I’ll be violating one of the most important things I teach in my sales workshops: expect at least seven or eight rejections from every new prospect, learn to chuckle over it, and then find new creative ways to reach out to them. At first they’ll be annoyed, but if you offer real value, most will eventually give in when they finally admit they need help. Be relentless and don’t take “no” for an answer. After all, that’s what you’re paid to do. I am certain he wishes his sales people would keep calling, and I hope he is reading this newsletter.

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