By Michael Tregonning
Years ago I realized that I love making a sale but I hate the process I have to go through to get there. I would look at my sales colleagues picking up the phone with the same relish and excitement that Homer Simpson eats a doughnut.
I had to ask myself the question….”What is wrong with me?”
My Sales Manager kept threatening me, my bank account was shrinking and I started to wonder if I could get my old job back. I would look at the phone, shuffle papers, look out the window and suddenly remember that I needed to go to the toilet….again. This was a crisis and I definitely needed some well-informed advice. I needed to talk to someone who knew what they were doing so I knew there was no point in talking to my sales manager.
I asked the most experienced salesperson in the place for some advice. I explained to him how I felt about the sales, the fact that I liked the sale but hated making cold calls. At that point he stopped me and said something that I would be reminded of throughout my career.
Some people are good at making cold calls because they love to meet people and they love to talk. Don’t be too despondent though Michael because most of them can’t close a sale even if their life depended on it.
The difference here is that you can close sales because you love to win, you love the buzz that comes from getting the deal.
A Simple But Effective Tool
Then he sat me down at my desk, pulled up a chair and proceeded to change my whole approach to Cold Calls.
He drew twenty little boxes on a piece of paper and said “Michael, forget the idea of making a call to get an appointment. That is no longer your priority. From now on you only have one goal each day. That is, be able to tick these twenty boxes.”
If you make a call and the person at the other end is rude and nasty you can say “Thank you Sir, I get to tick another box”
This veteran salesperson also made the point that if an opportunity arose during the call that could result in an appointment, I would recognize it and jump on it like a cat on a mouse. The important thing to keep in mind is that you have made the call.
There are several observations I could make to clarify your understanding of whether you are suited to sales and how best to approach the sales process.
What this veteran sales person was saying became clear to me. I am not a natural salesperson. In fact, in the course of my career I have found that it is very rare to meet a natural born salesperson. Most people who succeed are those that find the tools and methodology that works for them.
This piece of paper with twenty little boxes worked for me. It was a way of fooling myself or more specifically changing my perspective about cold calling. I wasn’t making a cold call anymore I was just earning the right to tick one more box.
Of course, if you are after another effective tool that will equip you even more try the Sales Analyzer App – Download it from the Google Play Store or Amazon by clicking the box on the right.
