The Six Enemies of Greatness (and Happiness)

The thing you love about owning is the lifestyle that comes along with it. 

How can you and I understand this principle better and use it to improve our ability, in becoming champion sales professionals? The answer is not in getting into heated debates or trying to push our perception of something onto others. It’s the old “Taste Great! Less Filling! “Tug of war. No one ever wins in this approach. Even the most persuasive or influential people, cannot simply will everyone to their way of thinking or opinion. And believe me, many of us have tried. How does this play into a sales career? Great question let me ask you, have you ever noticed that many people have a poor opinion of sales people in general? Have you ever been in an office and seen someone coming and hear all of the other employees say “Oh no here comes so and so, run! “?

These are not the ingredients for a high level sales career. So what is the answer? In many types of sales, the client can’t know that you or I are different from the “Bad Guys” until after they have completed a successful sale with us. When they first meet us, they only have their past experience’s, what they have heard and their perception to guide them in deciding to do or not to do business with us.

I have seen this play out in many different circumstances over the years, most of the time with disastrous results because the sales professional did not understand that credibility and a person’s perception go hand in hand. They are more powerful in making each and every sale and the creation momentum than many people realize. They are necessary to elevate a sales person to the highest levels in the sales profession. I was fortunate enough to have several elite sales professionals share the keys to mastering these principles with me early on in my career. They are two of these most powerful things I have come to understand. Let me share a few examples of how I have seen hard working, well intentioned sales people blow it. See if these sound familiar to you from what you may have seen. I once saw a mortgage professional who really put in the effort. He studied and knew his products, dressed properly, showed up on time consistently and always told the truth. As he was trying to establish clientele with some of the area’s elite Real Estate Professionals this was all important. This person rarely took any personal time off, often working for weeks on end with out a break. Then he decided to take a well deserved 3 day trip to Disney Land with his wife and kids. As fate would have it, one of these top Realtor s decided to give him a first chance, you guessed it.

When the Realtor called, he was not available. Not good but the world wasn’t over yet. He came back and never knew the deal had gotten away from him. Setting out to work another marathon stretch, putting in tremendous effort and hours. Again after several, long weeks, he decided to take another short break. Yep, the same Realtor decided to try again. The only reason I know the details of this story so well, is that I was competing against this other mortgage professional and happened to be in the Realtor s office when the second chance happened. The Realtor said” Well, I have heard some good things about so and so but, I don’t know when he ever works. Every time I try to call him he is out of town on vacation!” Hey, I know what you’re thinking. It’s a dog eat dog world out there, of

course I took the deal and the long term relationship that came with it. It was a classic example of perception being reality but not the real reality. I knew this other person was available 99% of the time and on the only two times that he took some time off, the call came in. If it makes you feel any better, we both have had very successful careers and I ‘m sure I have lost my share of deals.

Then there would be the times where after many hours of hard work a sales person would decide to let off a little steam by goofing off, just at the wrong time. Yes, right when a high level client came on scene and unfortunately saw less than professional behavior of various kinds (I’ll let your imagination do the rest here). There went the credibility, the perception was out the window and so was the sale. The examples could go on and on. However there were a few elite professionals that I was fortunate enough to work around who taught me the following points. 1.) When you are in a position to affect earning business, you are “On”. Pretend that the curtains are up, the lights are on and audience is watching. Even in a business social setting where there is food and drink. The rule is: If I do something negative that can affect my income, I am “On”. Very different if you’re home alone and no matter what you do it is not likely to affect your income. I have seen many hard working sales professional blow weeks and months of hard work by not understanding this rule. Whether they are the one who tells the offensive joke or thinks it is a contest to out drink every one else, because the alcohol is free at mixers, the results can be devastating to a career.2.) We can positively or negatively affect people’s perception of ourselves. This is the good news. If you know that in certain situations you would benefit from people having a better perception of you, you can alter it. For example, you may have some sort of a mental image of me as you read this. If when you finished reading this article I walked into the

conference room where you are, I could improve your perception of me or dramatically damage it. What if I walked in wearing a top of the line, tuxedo, without a wrinkle anywhere? Would that not raise your perception a little? However, what if I walked in wearing sloppy shorts, flip flops and a straw hat? Still the same guy walking in, right? Not at all in most peoples perceptions. Another example; when we all see certain people coming. There are two groups of people at any company. The real pains that no one ever wants to be around and the rare few that light up the room anytime they enter. People generally repel the first and crowd around the second category. Does this affect a sales career? Absolutely! What do people say, when they see YOU coming? Knowing the answer and making continuous improvements to your credibility and peoples perception of you, can make a huge difference in your career and income. You can study and analyze both groups and find clues that will give you the necessary answers. First of all, we have all made mistakes unintentional as they may have been. Knowing that and that you can make some adjustments will give you a great place to start from. One of the most successful people I ever had the privilege to work around shared his philosophy on this. He said that anytime he could or would have contact with anyone that could affect his income he made it a purposeful plan to create the “Optimum Perception” with that person. Whether it was in person, on the phone or by email. He always gave the impression/perception that he was super busy, super excited to be busy and honored to have the chance to help them next. He told of an example where he accidentally answered his cell phone very early one morning as he was going to get a glass of orange juice. It was actually a potential client on the phone calling form a different time zone. He was asked if he was busy. He immediately said “I am just finishing with a very important client but I can call you back in one hour to

assist you, if that would be all right?” The person said,” I was told you were the best; I thought if I called early enough I might catch you. Sure I can wait an hour; I look forward to hearing from you.” In telling this story to me he explained he was actually telling the truth. My family is my most important client and was just finishing breakfast with them. If I had said with a yawn and half asleep, “Yea, who is it?” what a dramatically different perception I would have created with this new client. He went on to describe situations where even on the weekends he would dress very professionally every time he was working. Even when many of his clients told him repeatedly,” You don’t need to always dress up, you’re one of us.” He said many times a competitor would show up, half dressed bringing pizza or something in a half hearted effort. They would see him dressed for business and meaning business. Then they would just leave the pizza up front and leave. They many times would never even come in because they felt so inferior. He said he was always appreciative for the food while he was working, especially from a competitor!

This person was a top money earner for many years and someone that had profound impact on me and many others from really understanding these principles. I have had the opportunity to see how our personal credibility and other peoples’ perception of us can really elevate a sales career. One guide that I have found useful is to always ask yourself” If the biggest client in the world or the owner of my company walked in right now, would I be proud of what I am doing, what I am saying and how I am representing myself, my company and my profession?” Decide to compete at the highest level; you never know who may be watching.                

I have several top tier clients that I’am helping reach their market share goals for 2012.Watch for updates that could be of value to your sales goals.

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