Coaching activities creates consistency
“How to remove peaks and valleys from your sales results”
-Nathan Jamail, Keynote Speaker, Bestselling Author
How to remove peaks and valleys in sales :
In my over 3 decades of sales experience I have heard sales people and sales leaders talk about sales being a ‘peaks and valley’ profession, and it is simply not true. Peaks and valley’s in sales is based on the activity of the sales person, not the profession. This message is for both “the sales professional” and the “Sales Leader”. When leaders only manage and measure results, they are unable to coach effectively because they only focus on the result or the outcome. Leaders that only look at reports and sales goals can’t help their sales people improve or grow, not to mention they are only involved when they need to ‘fix the results’.
How do we make sure we are choosing to thrive vs merely survive in sales- and more importantly in difficult times?
I, like you, have had to rethink how I can continue to build my business and my success in the midst of a pandemic. Like many of you I am coming off of the best year of my business and was in the strongest first quarter ever, at the beginning of 2020. That quickly changed in March, as it did for many around the world. I have chosen, to not ignore the current situation, but I have not accepted that it will stop my growth, my success and in fact, I am expecting 2020 to be even better than 2019. Not through bind optimism, but rather with belief, preparation and taking action.
The most common sales leader’s mistake:
One of the most common mistakes made by most sales leaders: they only get involved when number are missed. The quote I hear most often from leaders who are managing from a report vs coaching upfront on the field is: “I don’t care how you get there just as long as you hit your number”. Maybe to some this sounds great, but in reality it leaves everyone losing; the leader, the sales person, the organization and most of all the potential customers.
A Sales Leader’s action:
Winning sales leaders coach, get in the practice, not just witness the results of the game. First thing to do is to see your self as a coach of a sports team or the director of a play. Seeing your self as the person to help others deliver the best show possible. A coach focuses on the basic activities and skills that most spectators and managers would never even understand or recognize. They do this because they know the perfect pause, tone of voice or the right question, at the right time, can make the difference from earning a new customer or losing a new opportunity. Take action leaders focuses on the team’s daily activities, not to make sure they are doing their job (micro managing), but to help them prepare, be disciplined and holding them accountable to showing up as their best version every day. Focus on the activity no matter the result and you will never have to worry about results.
A Sales Professional’s action:
Sales professionals learn to create and implement a consistent activity plan. Peaks and valley’s are mirrors of our sales activity. We prospect until we get some appointment then we go on those appointments until we get some sales and then once the sales we are working on close, we find out we had not prospected in several weeks and our pipeline is empty- so we start the process over again. We have to plan, prepare and harvest every day. It’s like a balanced diet of activities. Focus on your daily activities and make sure every week you spend a balanced amount of time prospecting, selling and delivering product or services. There are several benefits to this beyond just a more consistent pipeline and achieving better results. You will also find yourself riding the momentum of closing a sale into a new prospecting call. You will have more confidence as you have more consistent success and because of this success and confidence you will find yourself on the better side of negotiations.
.
Final Thought
Don’t give yourself the excuse of ‘sales is a peaks and valley business’. It does not help you achieve more success, it just helps you justify and blame. Sales is a hard profession and is truly mastered by very few because it requires great personal discipline, and the benefit of a focused and committed Sales Leader- both are not easy to find. According to some stats only 2% of all college football players make it to the NFL. I believe it is similar in the sales world. I would suggest only 2% of all people who attempt a career in sales actually achieve top success. To that thought, there are thousands more opportunities for sales professionals than NFL football positions. Unlike the NFL, there is not a limited number of spots, because every organization I am aware of is always looking for top sales professionals. This is a choice that each person has to make. This is a hard choice because many sales managers and sales people are making a good living and are achieving moderate success WITHOUT having to really focus on activities and skill development- so the decision to do it must be made from within. Top performers have the internal drive and desire to be better, no matter how good they are. Don’t average out the peaks and valleys, or flatten the curve. Strive to live in the peaks of your success.
