Selling Power Blog

Resilience: How to Embrace and Learn from Mistakes

Today's post is by Mark Petruzzi and Paul Melchiorre, co-authors of Selling the Cloud: A Playbook for Success in Cloud Software and Enterprise Software Sales.

 

Rejection and adversity are commonplace in sales. We get knocked down, and we get up again and again. Most salespeople will hear “no” more than “yes.” You will be stood up and ignored, but behind each closed door is a priceless lesson—the sales greats are those that take the time to pause, reflect, and absorb and apply those lessons.

To perfect the art of sales is to channel the art of resilience. Here are four strategies to embrace failure and learn from it.

1. Overcome Adversity

Our mindset greatly influences how we react to adversity. The important thing to remember is that rejection does not equate to worth. Failure always hurts, but it is not permanent. The key to resilience is considering every loss an opportunity to grow.

Next time something does not go your way, ask yourself two questions to reset your mindset:

1. What can I learn from this loss/failure/negative experience?
2. What can I do differently next time?

It is also important to remain calm and take responsibility for the role you played in the failure. This requires patience, self-awareness, and confidence, and it may be something you work toward over time.

2. Take “No” for an Answer

Whether we are asking someone out to dinner or pitching a deal, “no” is not an answer we want to hear in our personal or professional lives. Unfortunately, an “anti-no” culture has become so prevalent in sales and is the primary focus of countless sales training programs. In fact, one of the basic belief systems in selling is, “Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” Now ask yourself, honestly—how do you feel when you say “no” to someone who will not take “no” for an answer? No one wants to be strong-armed into something they do not want or need.

A good salesperson is one that knows early on when a “no” is a “no,” and focuses his or her efforts on the leads that promise a potential “yes.”

Accepting “no” allows us to hit our full revenue production potential because it frees up more room for clients who are better fits. So, try accepting a “no” and see if it gets you a few more shots at “yes” down the road.

3. Don’t Focus on Closing

In many industries, being dubbed a "closer" is the highest accolade a sales professional can achieve. The term encapsulates the skills and traits necessary to become a top-level performer. Closers are the most highly recruited and sought after—the true elite. However, most of us don’t even like to be considered salespeople—much less closers!

This is true despite the fact that we can close with the best of them and that many sales executives consider closing important. Many senior partners or CEOs have said, “If only we had someone around here who can close, we’d have a lot more business.” But the reality is that sales close themselves if they’ve been worked properly throughout the sales process.

4. Learn from Every Deal

Every deal, whether it is won or lost, is worth dissecting and learning from. Strong sales organizations build a process around this. Lost deals are not all bad. In fact, you learn a lot more from lost deals than won deals. In our experience, the best sales deal reviews are not done in a vacuum, but with a team. One strategy is to have a sales rep give a presentation about a great win or a tough loss in front of the entire company. It is a vulnerable task, but incredibly helpful to the rep and to the entire organization. Ultimately, the process can become a great sales enablement tool and an opportunity for company-wide engagement.

Remember, failure always hurts, but it is not permanent. The key to resilience is taking every loss as an opportunity to learn and grow.

Selling the Cloud: A Playbook for Success in Cloud Software and Enterprise Software Sales provides strategies individuals and organizations can apply to boost sales performance, help customers succeed, and grow careers and businesses. Order your copy today.

Peak Performance Mindset: Hack Your Sales with Accountability Partnerships

Today’s post is by Jamie Crosbie, an accomplished senior executive with a proven record of sales leadership success. Contact Jamie today at 214/720-9922 or jcrosbie@proactivate.net and find out how to take your business to the next level with Peak Performance Mindset Training.

 

So, you want your team to sell more?

Of course, you do.  

What company doesn’t? Assuming you have a solid product or offer a stellar service, selling really comes down to your sales team. Your revenues rest squarely on the shoulders of the men and women who represent you. Which is why you need to keep them lit up like a massive 4th of July fireworks and BBQ cookout event.   

That’s where mindset training comes in. Research has shown there are two main factors in reaching any goal. The first part of the equation is providing an incentive. We’ll save that topic for another day. Suffice it to say you need the right kind of juicy carrot to dangle to motivate your team. After all, people are not widgets – and what motivates one might not work so well with others.

Once you have a well-considered incentive structure in place, you need one more factor to keep the sales machine humming. One that, if thoughtfully implemented alongside targeted incentives, can increase the likelihood of achieving sales goals (or any goals for that matter), by as much as 95 percent.

The Big Sales Hack: Accountability

Having your team members become accountable to themselves, one another, and the leadership team is simple. Pairing accountability with other mindset tools can boost employee performance across the board.

There are, however, a few caveats to bear in mind (as always).

Simply setting sales goals in not enough. We are not talking about numbers here, but the overall structures, mindsets, and habits that create the results you are seeking. This is where the famous Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule) helps.

The rules states that 80 percent of results stem from 20 percent of the causes. In other words, 20 percent of your sales force is carrying most of the load. They are exhibiting, even if they do not know it, certain mindset skills and behavioral habits that help them perform day in and day out.

These are what you need to pinpoint. Once you identify the specific high-impact behaviors that move the needle, you know which habits to encourage. Remember: When setting goals, you can use the acronym S.M.A.R.T.

Keep your Goals

• Specific – what key behaviors do you want to encourage?
• Measurable – what transparent metrics do you need to put into place?
• Achievable – what is the specific sales territory in question really capable of providing?
• Results oriented – what works and why? (And, equally important, what doesn’t work and why?)
• Time bound – when do you want to achieve what?

Be sure to remember that not all goals are created equal. You need to prioritize and focus on what really gets results. Your accountability system must also be simple – fitting into a large schema – and offer tangible, trackable results.

Additionally, your accountability system needs to be – well, for want of a better word – accountable, too. The last thing you need is a meaningless box that gets mechanically checked off, or an accountability program that is so involved it cannot deliver in real-world situations.

Don’t be afraid to refine your program heavily until you get the results you are looking for. The whole idea is to keep your team engaged with an understanding of what they are doing and why. Remember: Adapt and overcome; rinse and repeat.  

Increasing High-impact Behavior with Peak Performance Mindset Training

Today’s post is by Jamie Crosbie, an accomplished senior executive with a proven record of sales leadership success. Contact Jamie today at 214/720-9922 or jcrosbie@proactivate.net and find out how to take your business to the next level with Peak Performance Mindset Training.

 

Success can be difficult to achieve – and even more challenging to replicate.

One of the keys to sales growth is to identify (and continually implement) high-impact behaviors; and it is not just for the management team. Your entire company culture should be identifying and practicing high-impact behaviors.

That may sound like a tall order, because it is. The results, however, can be stunning. For better or worse, actions are often like a series of dominos, ending up with improving or slumping sales.

Consider too the well-known 80/20 rule (also known as the Pareto Principle), which states that roughly 80 percent of events are really caused by approximately 20 percent of specific actions taken. The 80/20 rule is really a double-edged sword in that it can apply to both positive and negative results.

For example, if one or two of your team members are generating conflict, or a single sales manager is creating barriers to reaching goals, the impact can be much larger than their role might suggest. Likewise, if a handful of producers are moving the sales needle, their results can raise profits and increase overall company viability. The point is to dig down to what works and promote it repeatedly until it becomes soaked into the company culture and mindset.

What Are High-impact Behaviors?

The exact nature of high-impact behaviors may vary to some degree, based on the type of organization, but, generally speaking, high-impact behaviors could be defined as those that:

• Are people centered
• Create well-defined goals and expectations
• Relentlessly improve focus on the overall vision and strategy
• Increase transparency
• Prioritize actions that help achieve goals
• Use existing resources strategically
• Solve problems and create opportunities (including the ability to turn challenges into launching pads)
• Improve overall performance and productivity
• Provide feedback in a way that fosters understanding or promotes improvement
• Are actions and attitudes that generally promote forward movement
• Encourage communication and collaboration/cooperation across boundaries

While entire books could be written about the above behaviors, suffice to say, successful companies understand they need to provide a framework of success. In short, team members need the tools to succeed. Behavior flows naturally from mindset. Successful people are not necessarily born; they can be created. Mindset is one of the biggest indicators of who will, or will not, achieve a goal.

Learning to Implement High-impact Behaviors

Believe it or not, even those with a poor performance track record can improve their performance if they believe they can and also learn to implement high-impact behaviors. You read that right. A growth mindset (and the associated high-impact behaviors) can not only be learned; they can be used to overcome long-standing behaviors that may have contributed to previous failures.

In many cases, team members really do want to succeed; they simply do not know how – or even that they can. Brain plasticity research has shown that mindset and brain rewiring are not only possible; they are really a natural part of the way the mind works and can be stimulated by training.

New York Times bestselling author Norman Doidge, M.D, writes in The Brain That Changes Itself, “We are in the early stages of a Brain Plasticity Revolution. That revolution begins with a clearer understanding that the brain’s machinery is being continually rewired and functionally revised, substantially under your control, throughout the course of your natural life. You have a remarkable built-in ability to strengthen and grow the person that you are, at any age.”

In a nutshell, this fascinating book declares that the way you think – and even what you think about yourself – has a real-world physical effect on the structure of your brain and how it performs. Success is really built on a series of mental habits, concepts, and ideas that lead to specific high-impact behaviors that are then naturally expressed as part of who we think we are – and what we are truly capable of doing.

Why Struggling in Sales Means You're Winning

Today’s post is by Christine Harrington, The Savvy Sales Lady and a facilitator for Peak Performance Mindset workshops.

 

How many times have you told yourself sales is too hard or that you must be doing something wrong because you’re struggling to make sales?

Here’s the truth: Your struggle – and even your deep sense of failure – are sure signs that you are growing.

Struggle hurts. It can overwhelm you as you try to find the right way, the right words, and the right prospect.

Remember, too, there’s no sense of failure or discomfort in mediocrity.

By contrast, when you’re struggling, you are often fully conscious not of strength but of your weakness. Your weakness comes into full view; it no longer sits in the shadow.

I’ve always been intrigued by second chances. What I’ve discovered is, while others may be willing to give us second chances, often we will not give ourselves a second chance. A second chance we deserve. Somehow, we punish ourselves relentlessly.

This punishment is undeserved. It shows up in ways like

• Unforgiveness
• Isolation
• Depression
• Self victimization
• Resentment
• Self loathing

You will give yourself a million reasons why you shouldn’t be able to succeed – and to walk away. The thing is, you need only one reason to stay. What’s your one reason?

Can you imagine working in a job for 40 years that you hated? Selling some products you didn’t completely believe in while trying to discover what was true and right for you? Who would do that?

I did that. I worked in an industry for 40 years that I could not align with. Don’t misunderstand me…there’s nothing wrong with the industry. The issue was with me. It forced me to go deeper – to grow personally, spiritually, and professionally. It made me look at myself in ways that were no fun at all.

That said, every bread crumb I followed over the past 40 years taught me the sales skills and mindset I have today to help my clients and followers. Instead of trying to avoid the struggle, learn from it. Embrace it and know the answers – and the freedom it brings will empower you in ways you cannot imagine.  

Struggle is a good thing. It causes you to either grow or stay fixed in your struggle. Which will you choose?

What Is a Peak Performance Mindset? And How Can You Leverage It for Better Sales?

Today’s post is by Jamie Crosbie, CEO and founder of ProActivate. Jamie is a certified peak performance mindset trainer. Contact her at jcrosbie@proactivate.net or 214/720-9922 to learn more about how her training can help your sales team reach peak performance levels.  

 

A lot of forward-thinking companies are turning to different forms of mindset training to improve their bottom line. Fortune 500 companies are using the lessons gleaned from neurolinguistic programming, neural, and behavioral sciences to help improve the way individuals think – and therefore act. Like a massive colony of ants, an organization thrives or fails based on thousands of moment-to-moment decisions, actions, and reactions. And it really all comes down to the way individuals think about themselves and their jobs.

What, Exactly, Is Peak Performance and Mindset Training?

In a nutshell, a peak performance mindset is one in which your mind is functioning at its highest level. It is a way of isolating the mental habits that build success. These specific habits are not built on wishful thinking or simply pumping yourself up to do a better job. Mindset training is actually based on solid (albeit leading-edge) science.

The simple truth is that, although some people do seem to be born under a lucky star, success is not usually something you just fall into. Rather, it is built – often over the course of years – based on the way our minds naturally work. Simply becoming proactive rather than reactive can change the course of your life. In a real sense, the components of our successes (and failures) are bound up in our everyday habits, choices we make, and, of course, the mindset behind them.

Peak performance is really about living well and creating sustainable success across all areas of your life. So exactly how do you do that?

While the fine details are beyond the scope of this article, there are some ways you can tap into these new advances right away. First, you need a goal – a target to strive for. It needs to be something meaningful to you, too. Unless you are committed to something, your mind is more likely to slide back into chasing the same mental bunnies on the same rabbit-trails it always has. All of us battle a slug-like lazy streak, and war goes on inside us every single day.  

Some Peak Performance Takeaways

First and foremost, set a meaningful goal. Think about why you want to reach this goal. Is it because you want more stability? Greater income? Or do you want to prove something to yourself or others? What is the real motivation behind your goal? It can be as simple as feeling you are capable of more, or as complex as wanting to create a nonprofit to help others. The thing is, you need to find your passion. What motivates you? No one will give exactly the same answer here, which is fine. The question is not what lights your manager’s inner fire, but what speaks to you.

Next, you will need a plan. Make sure it is one that includes micro-goals as well as built-in downtime. Keep in mind that making smaller – yet meaningful and productive – changes can help you build new avenues to success in the long run.  

And the most important step is one that may seem really counterintuitive. Build in both stress and rest. Just like a weightlifter who trains to isolate and work certain muscles, you need a laser focus. Equally, though, you need a time to recover. You require time to adapt and enjoy the process. If you do not add these components, you are going to burn out. You may be able to attain a few things before you do, but, without meaning and rest, you are just going to fizzle out like a firecracker turned dud – a few sparks and then nothing.

Adding small, bite-sized goals you can crush is not only motivating, it can help you solve larger problems. Think like an athlete. Use increments, stress, and recovery to help you hone your performance. Remember, you do not want to be a one-hit wonder. You want sustainable, attainable change that adds up to greater happiness and long-term success.

After that, you need to begin to identify and magnify your peak performance mental “flow” state. This refers to the way you are totally and completely absorbed in the moment. Peak performers have learned to move into a zone that immerses them, allowing them laser-like focus.

To do all the above, you need at least one more puzzle piece: You have to allow yourself a cookie now and then. Newsflash: you are not an android. The whole point is to enjoy your life and the journey. If not, why bother with trying to accomplish anything?

For more about mindset and peak performance training, please email jcrosbie@proactivate.net or call 214/720-9922.