If you've been in sales for any length of time, you've seen people like this.
The person who genuinely cares about others and is always looking out for the best interest of their customers. Warm, attentive, and people just like them.
Or the grinder. They crank out 50, 75, 100 calls a day. At their desk a half hour early, eating lunch at their desk, last to leave after the paperwork is done. No nonsense. Pure activity.
Or the student of sales. They've memorized the scripts, they're constantly reading, always listening to podcasts, and their favorite thing to binge is a 12-part Zig Ziglar weekend seminar from 1987.
Or the fearless one. No's don't phase them. They call the largest companies in their territory and ask for the CEO without blinking.
Now here's the question.
Who do you know that fits one of those descriptions... and still has trouble bringing in business?
Who doesn't hit quota?
Who always seems to be struggling financially despite working hard and doing all the right things?
Or maybe it's you.
Why is that?
That's the focus of today's Big Lesson.
Why Having Some of It Isn't Enough
Let me introduce you to three salespeople. They are all real people. I changed their names. And their patterns are ones I've seen hundreds of times over 40 years.
As you read these, you'll probably recognize one of them.
Meet Mike.
Mike is a student of sales. Actually, he could probably teach it. During one of our sessions, he actually quoted things I had written that I had forgotten about myself.
He's also on the verge of being fired for never once hitting quota.
Because when Mike actually gets on the phone, something happens. He freezes. He softens. He stares at the phone for a few seconds longer than he should, then finds a reason to check email first. He's terrified of rejection, and because of that, almost nothing he knows ever makes it into an actual conversation.
Now meet Tina.
Tina's customers love her. I mean really love her. They send her birthday cards.
The problem is getting in front of new ones.
When she should be making calls, she's surfing online. Chatting with coworkers. Chasing down product information for existing customers. By the end of the day she's been busy nonstop... and hasn't made a single new-business call.
She loves serving customers. She just struggles to go find new ones.
And then there's Hank.
Hank is a bulldog. He makes more calls than anyone on the team, and it's not close.
Rejection doesn't faze him in the slightest. He dials, gets told no, and dials again without missing a beat.
But the numbers game isn't working for him.
Because when someone does answer, Hank wings it. He doesn't believe in scripts or structure. He likes just being “himself” and relying on his charm rather than what he calls a rigid process. No two calls are ever alike.
And most of them go nowhere.
So what do Mike, Tina, and Hank have in common?
They're all good people. They all work hard in their own way. They all have something real going for them.
And none of them are hitting the results they're capable of.
Here's what frustrated me for years.
After working with tens of thousands of salespeople, and watching so many of them achieve great things, there was still something nagging at me. So many more people I encountered had genuinely great qualities. Real strengths. Things that should have translated into consistent success.
But the results didn't follow.
I pondered this deeply for a long time. Honestly, it took a couple of years of being close to a breakthrough before it finally happened. And when it did, it wasn't a lightbulb moment.
It was an industrial spotlight.
It became crystal clear that there are four specific areas that all need to be present, and present at an above-average level, for a salesperson to reach their highest potential.
Not one. Not two or three.
All four.
Because when even one is missing, there's a gap. A gap that salespeople can feel but usually can't pinpoint. And because they can't pinpoint it, they can't fix it.
That gap is why Mike knows everything and executes nothing. Why Tina is beloved by everyone and prospecting no one. Why Hank is the busiest person on the floor and one of the most frustrated.
Tomorrow I'm going to walk you through all four of these areas. What they are, how to identify which one you're missing, and what happens when you fix it. And when you don't.
You'll probably see yourself in this more clearly than you expect.
Watch for it tomorrow.
Go make it your best week ever!
