Dear Tony, sometimes I feel like a hamster in a wheel going around and around, doing the same thing. Most months I hit target (just) and I feel like the oomph has gone out of what I’m doing. How can I inject my next year with sales rejuvenation?
Sales is a funny game and I think you’ve used a great analogy to how many of us can feel in sales. The answer to your question will be different for each and every one of us; however the same principle will apply for us all. It’s all about what you want out of the selling that you do, what’s the end result you have in mind
I have asked all 3,000 sales people that I have trained these 3 questions: 1. How many of you have set goals? 2. How many of you have written those goals down and put a deadline against each one? 3. How often do you go back and review those goals?
I would say around 10% of them actually set goals and out of those 300 or so people, only 50 of them have written the goals down; of which approx. 10 of whom have revisited their goals. With this in mind, it’s no wonder the majority of us sales people lose the oomph as we have nothing to aim towards, no purpose.
I recently trained a sales recruitment company and one of the sales consultants said to me “you are so passionate and enthusiastic about sales Tony, I can never be like that.” “Why do you think that is” I asked him? He replied “sales doesn’t interest me enough, I just can’t seem to get energised about it.” I explained to him this truth, I do not get passionate or energised about sales, I get enthused about the wonderful things that my success in sales brings me i.e. the lovely holidays with my family, the Porsche that I dreamt about as a young boy, my watch collection, the joy on my kids faces when I buy them new toys etc. That’s what ignites the flame in my belly I explained. This really seemed to resonate with him and he has since written out a list of all his goals for the next 12 months and most importantly put a deadline next to each one.
The deadline is a really important part of the process, as it makes it real and creates urgency and is your way of committing to the goal. It’s like if you book yourself on a marathon and have the date in your calendar, this motivates you to train as you have a clear goal that you are working towards.
Therefore, I would strongly recommend going away and writing out your goals for 2021. They don’t have to be materialistic, it’s whatever drives you; it could be a promotion in work, getting fit, learning a new subject, writing a book; the key is to write it down and put a date beside it. I find it helps to have pictures of your goals in front of you every day; this helps you focus on the things that are important to you and keeps you constantly motivated.
