Zig Ziglar produced one of the most intriguing statistics that I have ever seen in the world of sales. Before his fame, Ziglar was an independent sales representative for a knife and kitchenware business. One year, he won salesperson of the year by producing more dollars than any of the hundreds of other salespeople. As impressive as that is, it is not the statistic to that caught my eye – what impresses me is that he won this annual award while not finishing in the top 10 salespeople during any month that year.
Let that concept sink in for a few seconds. Think about the consistency of his production and the discipline in practicing his process day in and day out. Regardless of how bad or good those days were, Ziglar stuck to his process and had a record year.
For most salespeople, days are good right now – really, really good. A lot of average salespeople are making a ton of money, taking Fridays off, and losing a sense of reality. The five-day summer trip to the lake has turned into a three-week jaunt around the Mediterranean. Family ski trips have become standard – even for salespeople living in Florida and Texas. Owning a Lexus or BMW is so “Account Manager” nowadays – hunters and closers drive a Maserati or a Tesla. Only rookies deal in $20K pesky little deals. Prospecting and weekly routines are for the untalented ones that need them.
Indeed, today is great and most salespeople are having record months and maybe even record years – but are they really taking advantage of this rich time? I say many are not.
Don’t Become Complacent
An unfortunate outcome of great times is a decrease in good habits. When the sales are flowing, it takes a ton of self-discipline to stay on top of industry knowledge, attend networking events, or follow a prospecting plan for new accounts.
Focusing on process is one of the most difficult things to do during extreme conditions – even during extremely good conditions; however, the process that creates hundreds of small and medium sales and make legendary salespeople like Ziglar can seem unnecessary when the sales are falling into our laps. If we are being completely honest with ourselves, a lot of sales today are falling into our laps. So, what can one do?
First, do not buy into the hype. The longest economic expansion on record combined with an increased demand for security technology have created a perfect storm that is making a lot of average salespeople rich.
Most salespeople today are not as good as their numbers are showing. When this time comes to an end (and it will), the great ones are going to enjoy a healthy pipeline and a reputation of expertise while Joe Average, who bought into the idea that he did not need to follow a process, is going to be sucking air and looking for something else to do for a living.
Second, get back to process. Get hungry again and focus on tripling your pipeline, not just doubling your production. Create a process, follow it, and fall in love with it.
Famed champion boxer Marvelous Marvin Hagler once said: “It is a lot harder to wake up and run at 5 a.m. when you are sleeping in silk sheets.” You don’t have to give up the silk sheets, but it is time to start getting up at 5 a.m. again.
Chris Peterson is the founder and president of Vector Firm (www.vectorfirm.com), a sales consulting and training company built specifically for the security industry. To request more info about the company, visit www.securityinfowatch.com/12361573.
