Getting rid of mental clutter
Time to get real....
Before we get started, this week is all about self assessment and how difficult that can be for most of us to do. As a sales person, I am no different, and therefore I am going to ask for your help. If you have any feedback on the Tuesday Tune-Up, or any areas that I can improve or get better, please let me know whether directly or in the comments section below. It’s incredibly helpful to me, given some of the personality traits I describe in this weeks edition. Same goes with if there’s any topics you would like to see covered. I learn a tremendous amount each week by writing and I’d like to make sure the content is providing value for you, as the reader. Thank you in advance.
With fresh leaves on the trees, it's time for a little spring cleaning. As I pop open the garage, bust out that box of old VHS tapes and that shirt I fit into 10 pounds ago, I thought it a good time to talk about the importance of doing a little mental “de-cluttering” for the sales professional.
You see, every great sales person has two personality traits that make us prone to being mental pack rats.
Sales people are highly optimistic.
Sales people are highly emotional.
We have to be optimistic to deal with the ups and downs inherent with this business. That never ending roller coaster of wins and losses. We must also be optimistic that the customer is going to have a wonderful experience and that we will find a solution to the problem.
At the same time, sales is all about making connections and transferring trust, feelings, beliefs, convictions….. in other words….. sales is all about emotion. We get excited, we get angry, we get happy, we get sad. We can read a situation and know what our customers, colleagues and connections are “feeling” based on intuition.
However…… there are some definite downsides to these attributes.
Most sales people struggle with self assessment and getting real with themselves about their opportunities.
You see, just like me being in denial that I should probably donate my now too tight shirt from my leaner years, most sales people fail to come to grasp with the reality that things change, things don’t work out, and sometimes its best to move on rather than clutter up our minds.
I see these in two buckets:
Issue #1- Being out of touch with your pipeline
Yes, I know you had a really great conversation with that customer two years ago and they’ve never picked up a call or responded to an email from you since…. but it's time to let go. I’m not saying you need to throw it away, but you need to organize yourself so you can see what’s real and what’s not.
If that makes your pipeline look weak….. then it is weak….. you’re just not lying to yourself anymore. It’s kinda like having a pantry full of expired food. You don’t have a lot of food….. you’re just pretending to. You could have a billion people in your pipeline and none of them are interested or engaging with you…… you too have nothing to eat.
Sort the trash from the treasure and get real with yourself
Issue #2- Emotional attachment to your talk tracks
Here’s the problem most sales reps run into when it comes to their pitch and processes. First, you get stuck in what “used to work” and fail to adapt to changing times. I’ve seen this so many times in my career that its impossible to count. Times change, technology changes, the way people buy and do business changes and you have to adapt with it. For example, a couple years ago the idea of somebody doing a sales call from their bedroom would have been mind blowing, today we don’t think anything of it. At the same time, a lot of customers don’t want to talk in person. If you’re stuck in that corner, you’re going to limit your ability to help people.
The second way our pitches become cluttered is through unconscious additions we make to them over time. You start of with a lean and mean sales pitch, that works for 95% of people. But…. then you have this one guy that said he would have bought from you, but you didn’t tell him about x,y,z… so you add in a word track for x,y,z so you can insure that it “never happens again”. Then you add in a little more, and a little more, and a little more until you have a pitch that’s so bloated, 95% of people have no clue what you’re talking about. Again, I have seen this happen so many times I can’t count it. Next thing you know, your close rate tanks and you don’t know why (it’s because you’re talking about everything everybody requested you to talk about) and you work yourself out of a job.
So, how do we deal with all of this?
It’s incredibly difficult to remove yourself from the diagnosis because you are trained to operate this way. You have to get a third party involved that’s not optimistic or emotional about your pipeline, process, or pitch. Somebody that can look at things completely objectively and be honest.
Somebody that’s going to tell you
“They aren’t interested. Move on”
“This doesn't look or sound up to date. Why are you doing it that way?”
“Why are you talking about this? Is this something they really need to know?”
Hopefully this is your manager, but it could also be a co-worker or friend. Regardless, be willing to open the pantry of sales up and say “Will you take a look with me?”
You’ll be surprised at what you find sitting on the shelves that’s cluttering up your life.