Are you reading and practicing?
I just answered a question on “Linked in”. Here I stand on the soapbox again. And I know, on this site I’m preaching to the choir. After all, you are the Reading Revolutionaries! Did you know it is estimated that 90% of sales professionals and their managers don’t read books on their profession? Now, that’s just plain stupid!
A salesperson can and MUST include reading, and lots of it, as one of his sources of learning to sell, manage, coach, and lead. Successful people are committed, perpetual students. I am flabbergasted that so many professionals do not read books about how to better do their job! Right now I am reading six different books on coaching, one book on managing people across cultures, and a book on mentoring. I just finished reading 2 books on sales, and finished Chet Homes “The Ultimate Sales Machine” on CD in the car. I have at least a dozen CD books in the car “in queue” on a variety of sales, management, and current business trends. In my night stand are 3 books that get read and re-read, multiple times: “The Bible”, “The Big Book”, and “Think and Grow Rich”. I also consume regular periodicals with the latest info on business, like Harvard Business Review and Success magazine, for creativity and inspiration, and to keep me being the person I need to be to do the best job for my clients.
Now…..Obviously, we can not succeed on books alone…….we must get out there in the field and practice our craft at every opportunity and we must all make many mistakes in order to become successful. That’s how we learn (falling off the bicycle, right?) The most successful people in the fields you mentioned above are the people who have made the most mistakes. (When I was the “top dog” salesperson it used to infuriate me that people would say “you’re so LUCKY”. They weren’t with me at 7AM every morning practicing my scripts on the phone, or when I repeatedly put my foot in my mouth, when I cried myself to sleep, when I got 146 “no’s” in a row, when I got hung upon, the door slammed in my face, when my friends would say “Why don’t you get a REAL job” and when I was awake all night worrying about where I would find the next sale.
Along with reading, it is essential to practice scripts and role play various situations with others.The average professional football player practices about 500 hours for every hour spent playing. How many hours a day do we practice? If a salesperson will get out there and learn what his customers want, have caring conversations, listen actively, practice, and read everything about his profession ever written, he can become unstoppable.
Managers: Here is the last, most critical piece: Just because someone CAN sell doesn’t mean they WILL. A salesperson must have a burning desire to accomplish certain specific goals. Without big important reasons to continue performing his best in the face of few results at first, he must he will most certainly fail. I see it every day. This stumps a lot of managers, leaders and coaches: “So-and-so has all this potential and he is a proven expert in his field, but he is not selling. WHY?” Because his reason is not clear, not big enough, or not his own heartfelt, burning passion. In that case, reading may be his only way out of the slump, for reading can put a dream back into a man’s heart. “A man without vision shall perish” we read in scripture. Managers need to stop hiring salespeople with experience, and start hiring raw talent with big dreams. Then give them as many books as they can possible read, train them, practice with them, and you’ve got yourself a winner. That, my friend, is business well done, in sales. It can’t be done ONLY with books, but it most likely will never happen WITHOUT them.
Happy selling, and i want to hear what you are reading!!!!
When you stop learning………..you’re dead meat.
Coach Julia
