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I know it’s an old cliché, “When the

going gets tough, the tough get going.”

However, I think it’s really appropriate

for today’s marketplace.

 

I don’t believe

many people would disagree with the

fact that it is a tough marketplace that

we are selling in today.

 

 I also don’t think

anyone, at least in their right mind, would

call this economy a seller’s market.

 

I recently wrote about

whether selling was an art or a science. My

conclusion, after over 10 years of hiring,

training and developing sales people, is

that selling is, without question, a science.

 

The art of selling, I believe, lies in one’s

ability to execute the science of selling.

 

In the article, I quoted the founder of a

well-known company who stated,

“Selling is a fun game when you’re

doing it well.

 

 

 

It’s the pits when you’re

not.” Selling really is fun when you’re

doing it well.

 

Unfortunately, most

salespeople don’t do it very well.

I define a sales professional as

someone who “has a commitment to a

calling, has the training, education and

expertise that an amateur does not.”

 

When

the going gets tough, the amateurs drop

out. The professionals not only survive

but many times excel in a down economy.

 

The following is an excerpt from

an email I received a few weeks ago:

 

“The local promotional business market here in Los Angeles has contracted just as it has nationwide.

 

Personally I am seeing a rather large

influx of program sales and my

personal January production is up 85 percent over

2010.

 

There are many reasons for this

including the fact that many non career

solution driven distributors are dropping out of the business

selling, especially in a booming

economy, almost anyone can get a sales

job and experience a degree of success.

 

However, when the boom ends, as it

inevitably does, these individuals are the first

to move on.

 

When the going gets tough, the

professional works harder and smarter, is

more imaginative and creative and finds

new, innovative ways to develop business.

 

Let’s again review our definition of a

sales professional.

 

How many salespeople

do you know who have a commitment

to a calling and pursue education and

training consistent with the old adage that

school is never out for the professional?

 

In Malcolm Gladwell’s new book “Outliers”

(this is the same author that gave us “The

Tipping Point” and “Blink”), he suggests

that the difference between a professional and

a talented amateur is 10,000 hours of practice.

 

Even though Gladwell did not use

selling as an example, I think his

reference is just as applicable to selling

as it is to law, computers, music or any

other field of learning.

 

However, I do

take exception to the general cliché that

practice makes perfect, because if you’re

practicing doing something wrong, all you’re

doing is getting better at getting worse.

 

Many times I have asked the question,

“What do you think would happen if a

salesperson would just spend 10 percent

of the amount of time learning selling as

they would have to put in to become a

doctor, a lawyer, an accountant, or any

other professional?”

 

Unfortunately, most

salespeople choose to only learn enough to

get by, whatever “getting by” means to them.

 

The HR Chally Group, in a sales

benchmarking study, identified

what customers want from sellers.

 

Interviews with more than 1,000 corporate

customers established three major needs

that customers expected vendors and sellers

to address — even though customers were

not confident that sellers could fill them.

 

– Customers want to narrow their

own focus to the few things they do best

and outsource the rest without the added

overhead cost of supervising their suppliers.

 

– Customers want sellers to know their

business well enough to create products

and services they wouldn’t have been

able to design or create themselves.

s o  t h e r e  i s  m o r e  p i e  f o r

everyone.

 

 

– Customers want proof, hard evidence that

their supplier has added value in excess of

price.

T h e C h a l l y  R e p o r t  st a t e s  t h a t ,

“Customers expect salespeople to transform

themselves into professionals who are left at

identifying and satisfying their new buying

needs.

Having conducted extensive research

in customer purchasing behaviors we are

able to enumerate new buying needs.

 

This

list of expectations essentially defines the

role of the new sales professional of the

21st century.”

“In the customer’s own words, needs

included: Be personally accountable for our

desired results; understand our business; be

on our side; design the right applications;

be easily accessible; solve our problems;

and be creative in responding to our needs.

 

Buyers expect professional salespeople to be

innovators who bring them fresh ideas to

solve their problems.

 

Creativity is a major

source of value in today’s salesperson.”

The skills, techniques and philosophies

of professional selling will give you a

sustainable advantage over your

competition. You will sell more, earn more

and have more fun in the process.

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