- January 29, 2010
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
My guest on this week’s edition of Meet the Sales Experts was Bob Sinton and we talked a lot about the importance of pride, business self-esteem and two levels of confidence:
- the confidence that comes from knowing the sales process, strategies and tactics to effectively execute a sales cycle;
- self-confidence – that feeling that you will simply be comfortable in your own skin, with another individual, who you will successfully sell.
We also talked about the importance of reaching Trusted Adviser status with your customers and clients, and how different that is from Vendor, Preferred Vendor, and Partner.
Bob’s niche is in the service industry – businesses associated with construction – so we talked about people whose background may not be sales. Since they are being asked to acquire business, we discussed the difference between their title (plumber) and role (sell).
Bob is a believer in performance based pay – for everyone – and sees the day coming where everyone is compensated on performance.
His top tips for success:
- It’s not enough to just be good anymore. You must be better than you were before – you must become great.
- You must have a step by step plan to achieve your goals. It’s a new world and we have a new economy so your plan of action much change – at least slightly.
- For CEO’s and Presidents – Fish stink from the head down so you need new strategies and a new mentality to succeed in this new economy.
- Sales Managers must take the lead in the quest to improve their salespeople.
- Salespeople must embrace the changes to the plan in order to see their results change.