4. How long does it take to become a success in sales?
Why do I feel like telling them to take this job and shove it? Why am I all stressed out at the end of each selling day? More than likely it is because you haven't done your time. You haven't done your three years.
After three years in sales you will begin to feel confident. After five years it is very unlikely that you will ever want to do anything else for a living.
Take a walk through any bookstore - look at the success section. Most of the titles hint on the idea that your success is guaranteed instantly if you follow their formula.
Turn on the TV. During a commercial break notice how fast you can lose your headache - 15 seconds! These fast results create an unrealistic time frame for success in sales. When it doesn’t happen instantly you get stressed out. You begin to think you are not cut out for selling. You get a bad attitude. You think about quitting.
Ask yourself this question. “How long do I think it will take to become a true professional in sales?" See how close you come to three years.
How do you make it through those long three years? It takes short term and long term planning to be successful at anything. Careful planning will develop persistence.
Start now. Commit yourself to a daily schedule. Do it one day at a time. Plan tomorrow the evening before. Prioritize your daily objectives. Make a list of all the things you want to accomplish. Rank them in the order of their importance. Be persistent with this excersize.
Set a 90 day sales goal. Work towards it every day. Don't look beyond 90 days - just focus on your first step. After you reach it - set another 90 day sales goal. Once you repeat the process 12 times you will be there.
Focus on today. On Friday evening or Saturday morning, prepare your schedule for the week to come. Don't feel you have to account for every minute of every one of the next five days. Block out your scheduled appointments and meetings so you have a good solid overview of what you are doing.
Prepare for each call you are going to make. By attending to daily scheduling matters you will have more confidence. Your self-esteem will go up. By comparing your actual results with your plan, you'll increase your time-effectiveness. At the end of the day you will feel great.
You won't feel like telling them to take this job and shove it! You will actually start having a good time.
Comments:
I can agree that at least 3 years could be used as a benchmark but I personally feel that if you think that you are a sales "professional" that is when you are somewhat vulnerable. A salesperson can and should always be like a sponge in the marketplace,sales meetings or other trade related aspects to acquire as much knowledge as humanly possible. I have been a sales rep for 22 years and it still is amazing how much more that I can learn.
David Anderson
Persistence has played a big part for me in the market I am in so far and will continue the further along I get. But like some of the other posts discussed, it all depends on the individual and the time and effort they put in to it. I have also learned that organization and planning are also a big key to success, and if someone does not take the time now to do those things that three years will then be five years. So I believe persistence, organization, and planning are some of the best tools for me at this stage in my career. Then we can also add this course to my tool bag.
Jason Kirouac
Well everyone is different. And as long as you are doing your job and persistent in making the calls everyday this should help you to build up your confidence. It could take 3 years or it could take less, it all depends on how committed you are to being a salesperson and how well you want to succeed.
Jenn Snider
Well, I don't totally agree with the time frame to become a true sales professional.
What I mean is, yes, through trial and error it would take every bit of 3 years if not longer to figure out what works to be successful. However, I am a true believer in "Modeling," meaning find someone you look up to in the industry that you are involved with and follow in their foot steps. This let's you achieve ranks much faster with less errors. That's why I was so excited when I found out you were coming to do a seminar for us!
Since then I intend on having your course coach me to great success in a portion of the time that some of the veterans in the industry have taken to achieve similar results. I believe in learning from ones mistakes. But I also believe in standing on the shoulders of giants to meet the results I require of myself.
I sincerely believe that your coaching will be a true benefit in every aspect of my goals personally and financially.
Dwayne Mitchell
I would have to agree that it does take persistence to become a sales professional. As for what the actual benchmark is, I think it would vary depending on the individual. If you are committed to being a success, and you plan ahead (whether it's a day, or a week, or a month) I think that this would help to lay the ground work for becoming successful, but you also need to follow thru with your plan. Selling definitely doesn't come from overnight studying and cramming to make it work, it comes from effectively listening to your customer and applying what they are telling you with a way that you can make it happen for them.
JoAnne Welch
"Set a 90 day goal. Work towards it every day. Don't look beyond 90 days - just focus on each step it will take to reach your 90 day objective. After you reach it - set another 90 day goal. Once you repeat the process 12 times you will be there."