Sales Blog with Sales Tips

How you view yourself has a profound effect on your success as a sales professional. Do you see yourself as living life from a position of confident strength? Or do you live each day fearing loss?

The Implications
Sales professionals who believe they have all the elements to succeed, usually do. Those who constantly work at vigilantly protecting what they have, don’t succeed. The universe is funny that way.

Living In A World Of Scarcity
If you believe most of the following things about yourself (be honest with your answers), your sales perspective is one of defensiveness and scarcity. You believe life is a zero-sum game. Your job is to protect what you have. You waste a lot of energy chasing demons that don’t exist.

• I feel desperate to fit in and get in. I live in a “pick me, pick me” world.
• The world is all about me. I’m the axis of my world.
• I need and want everyone to adore me. Every prospect is a qualified prospect to me.
• I must protect my current situation. I’m closed to new things, and change is usually bad.
• I have to be the center of attention. I talk too much and don’t sincerely listen to others.
• I feel deficient in many areas. I work hard to hide this from my employer and customers.
• I live in a small envelope of comfort. I’m afraid of failure, but I don’t want to reach too high either.

Living In A World Of Abundance
If the following better describes you (again, be honest with your answers), your approach to sales is one of abundance. Being the person God made you – mixed with hard work – will bring you all the things you need to be a sales rainmaker.

• Just being myself is enough to attract others to me. People are comfortable around me, and I feel no need to perform.
• Not everyone is right for me. Not all prospects are right for my company or me either.
• I don’t see all people as competitors to my success. It recharges my batteries to help others.
• I’m always available psychologically to others. I’m in the moment. I want to hear what they’re saying.
• I feel no need to change anything about myself. Just being me is enough.
• I’m confident that all things are possible for me. I don’t waste energy on building walls that limit me.

Sales Tips Wrap Up
What you see when you look in the mirror not only greatly affects your outlook on life, but it profoundly influences how others see you. They notice your “vibe.” Customers are attracted to those who are comfortable in their own skin. Seeing life from an abundant perspective allows you to do this.

©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Do you ever ask yourself if you’re really cut out to be in sales? Ironically, the number one question I receive is from individuals who are currently not in sales. They ask some variation of, “Do you think I’m cut out to be a salesperson?”

Your non-sales buddies probably ask you the same question.  Do you ask yourself the same question sometimes?

Sales is a soft science and I don’t ever want to say yes or no to that inquiry. The person asking the question could be the one out of 100 who, while breaking all sales rules, might be profoundly successful. I’ve seen it a number of times.

Sales Advice For The Undecided
Whether you’re contemplating a career as a sales professional or questioning if you should remain, the following quote will provide an answer. It’s a test. Read the words below and ask yourself, “Does this describe me?” If it doesn’t, sidestep sales as a career choice, because you will be unhappy and unfulfilled as a sales professional.  You’ll feel like an imposter.

Sales can reward nicely. However, it can be a punishing daily existence for those who don’t have it in their blood.

Sales Tips From Niccolo Machiavelli
“All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it’s impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of [laziness]. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.”
— Niccolo Machiavelli

Does This Resonate With You?
When you read these words, do they fill you with a sense of passion and motivation for action?

Do Machiavelli’s thoughts make you want to say, “That’s right!” as you read them?

Does this quote inspire you to think of personal opportunities where bold and assertive action is summarily called for?

It’s Your Decision
Not everyone is hardwired for sales. It’s okay not to follow a sales path.

I encourage you to be candid with yourself when taking the litmus test above. If you don’t pass, there is no shame. But find a career that inspires the same kind of fire in you that a sales professional finds in Machiavelli’s words above.

©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

We all have customers that are a pain in the tail end. It’s part of being a sales professional. However, there is a class of customers that goes beyond annoying. I’m talking about the kind that stalk you, cause stress and can even be scary to deal with.

I call these Crazy Pill Customers (CPCs).

We’ve all had them.

10 Common Attributes Of A CPC

1. They suck time out of you like a vampire sucks blood.
2. You are never able to provide  enough help for them.
3. They don’t listen to good advice.
4. They want you to believe every one of your competitors is gunning for their business.
5. “Free” would not be cheap enough for them; their purchases are small and they pay slowly.
6. They escalate every problem to your boss, your boss’s boss…
7. Every sale you make to them has a problem and it’s always your fault.
8. Their need for additional information is unending and knows no boundaries.
9. They are bipolar; you’re either a demon or an angel depending on their mood.
10. Everyone who works at that company is unhappy and not fun to work with.

Sales Tips For Handling Crazy Pill Customers
No one can tell you how to handle your accounts. However, if you have a handful of customers that have a majority of the ten attributes above, fire them! They’re a ball and chain.

Why They Need To Go
It’s an irony in sales that we frequently spend the majority of our time on high maintenance, low volume customers. I think the reason for this is that our best customers are cooperative, understanding and professional. They’re sane.

Over time CPC customers tend to orbit closer to us while our best customers orbit much farther out, getting less of our attention. Losing the CPCs frees us to spend time on the accounts that butter our bread and gives us time to find new ones that will do the same.

It Isn’t Easy
It’s hard to walk away from CPC’s because of the immediate revenue they may provide, albeit small. By jettisoning them, you will regain your sanity, free up time to find new quality business and build a stronger bridge with the customers that aren’t taking crazy pills.

©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer