Are you one of the reps currently engaged in frantic selling fanaticism? With each New Year, sales reps are launched (or jettisoned) into the marketplace like a pack of hungry dogs. Nipping and biting at each other and anything that looks like food.
There are plenty of sales kickoff meetings, too. Your managers are doing their best to “pump you up” and get the sales force fired up about the newest products, services and features.
Sales reps are whipped into a frantic selling fanaticism each January.
Can you imagine what it’s like to be on the receiving end of such unbridled energy, enthusiasm and emotion? Ugh.
After all, the real objective of frantic selling fanaticism is to make your numbers. After all, the real objective from your company’s perspective, is to start off the fiscal year in the black in the event that rosy sales forecasts don’t pan out as the year progresses.
After all is said and done, the real objective of frantic selling fanaticism isn’t your customers. Not one bit.
The reality of how top performers sell is that they tee up their current sales year by end of Q3 (or earlier) in the preceding year.
The reality of how top performers sell is that they view this year as a continuation of last year. They don’t ever hit their Reset Button and start from Square One.
The reality of how top performers sell is that their fiscal “year” is an 18-24 month runway, which overlaps with the past and the future.
When your philosophy of selling is lateral, there is overlap and flow created. Your customers, current and prospective, really appreciate your big picture view.
When your philosophy of selling is contextual, you understand how what is happening this year fits into your customers’ business strategies for following years. That foresight results in upsells and add-ons which continuously grow your business base.
When your philosophy of selling is about the long-tail instead of frantic selling fanaticism, this quarter’s numbers create synergy over the next 18 months. Each sale builds on the next.
If you are one of the reps out there frantically thrashing around in the New Year marketplace in search of quota, slow down. In fact, stop.
You are better than that.
Frantic selling fanaticism gets out of control this time of year.
Stop and think about how you are being motivated to sell. Consider how you’d like to be sold to.
Consider the positive impact of adopting a long-tail, 18-month vision of what your customer base might look like in 18 months, not 12 months.
You may never need to hit your Sales Reset button again.
Why be a frantic selling fanatic when you can become a Salesperson of Worth to your customers?
Babette N. Ten Haken, President of Sales Aerobics for Engineers®, LLC, is a management consultant and business coach. Babette develops business, technical and engineering professionals of worth. She remodels startups and small-to-medium manufacturing and service companies experiencing difficulty with unpredictable revenue streams.
A recognized Top 50 Marketing & Sales Influencer, Babette’s blog won the 2014 Bronze Medal, Top Sales & Marketing Awards, Top Sales World. Her book on communication and collaboration strategies and tools, Do YOU Mean Business? is available on Amazon.com
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