Sales Superstars

Lets face it sales is hard, hard to stay motivated as there is so much rejection! My motivation always comes back to my “why.” And lets face it to be good at sales you need to be motivated at all times!

The why is something that everyone in sales and marketing—and every other challenging career—needs to determine. For me, it was always my family. From a very early stage in my career, I tried to work out how I could be home more with my kids.

Especially if you don’t love the product or service you’re selling, you need to regularly remind yourself of your own why to reconnect with your passion, enthusiasm and determination. Maybe you need to have photos or other images in front of you. Before you get back on the phone or in front of a prospect, create a paradigm shift and make sure you are projecting your passion by focusing on your why.

At the same time, if you work for someone else, don’t lose sight of your goals set by those above you.

  • Do you know what your boss is responsible for in achieving sales goals?
  • What is his or her role in your success?
  • Did your boss set the goals or were they set by those above?
  • Are the goals realistic?

Have you analyzed how you’re doing? Don’t bury your head in the sand and just go out and try to sell. Know what you need to sell each month and then break it down even further: how much do you need to sell every week? Every day? 
When I was in sales, as you know, I mostly sold high-end, in-ceiling speakers. To stay motivated, I needed to break my targets down by how many speakers I needed to sell each day. Once I did, the challenge became real. 
You also need to measure your performance. If you need to sell 100 speakers each day and you are consistently selling 50, you need to have a meeting with your boss. Is the expectation unrealistic, or are you doing something wrong? It is better to meet this head on than to get fired over it. Request help and ask which members of the team are meeting their quotas so you can learn from them. 
Be proactive. Do not assume things will get better on their own—ask for help early and you will be respected for it. Remember that sales is almost always a team sport, and team members must work together to achieve their goals.

Action steps: Spend a few minutes making sure you know what your why is. When you have it clear, put a picture of it where you will see it each time you pick up that phone to sell something or face attending another event where you will need to be in top form.