Stop Bitching About Leads and Learn How To Sell

"If only we had more leads." "Marketing is out to lunch." Phrases we hear all too often these days. The Reality: Sales Reps as a group took another nosedive in terms of quota attainment results: the 6th straight year this has declined. In an economy that has been growing strongly over that same period, we need to look at ourselves in the mirror and try to understand what went wrong in our sales game, what is going wrong? What will we do when things get even tougher? The blame game is in full swing these days and marketing tends to be the first stop. More leads are needed. Better leads. Better accounts. The truth is that Selling success is being dominated by the top performers and leaving a trail of mediocre and weak reps that fall back on the "blame and complain" approach. In addition, sales leaders have been ineffective in moving the middle and bottom performers up to towards the top. Only 17% of mediocre and weak reps are being successfully trained and coached(Objective Management Group)

If you are struggling now, what will you do when the economy contracts, when a recession hits?

There is so much written today on the changing requirements for successful selling. Yet, many reps stampede right by this advice and wing it, free-styling like its 1999. Don't get me wrong, I have been selling for a living my entire career and it has definitely gotten tricky lately. But I also had the experience of selling for 10 long and hard years in an industry that was once prosperous but then began vanishing off the face of the US. Read that story here I have had the experience of seeing my business disappear, my customers saying goodbye as they moved all of their business to Asia, my company going belly up, packing up my desk for good and having to find a new career at age 42. I tell you this not to bloviate, but to remind you that it can and it might get A LOT TOUGHER out there and that if you are not performing up to par now, that you ask more of yourself and find a way to get there.

Selling in 2019 is complicated, with many opinions and views of what will make us successful. If you follow my podcast, you have heard me rant and rave about the importance of these skills. Subscribe here However, there are a few key foundational elements that are a must-have. Let's start with these:

Personal Brand - This is no longer a nice to have. It's first on my list because as I have said numerous times on the program, "first impressions now occur online." What is the first thing you do when you are going to meet someone? You check out their social profiles. Is this person interesting? What is important to them? Or are they a mystery?

Lack of Social Presence = Lack of Trust

So what does a personal brand mean? It means having a point of view; it means creating original content; it means sharing, posting, commenting, liking, relevant articles, it means adding value to your network. Buyers search social channels like crazy, looking for solutions information and people. An impressive social presence will enable you to rise to the top of the list of the first vendor calls they'll make. Oh, you're too busy to do this? BS, friends! Find the time.

Giving a sh*t - Buyers invite sales reps back that genuinely care about their plight. They don't want to deal with self focused, self absorbed reps that blather on about themselves and their product and dominate the conversation. We have heard so much about empathy, but it is not feigning concern or interest while you load up you power point and turn the conversation back to you. Empathy is vastly more complex than we think and if you really are interested in developing this skill/trait, I turn your attention to the great book written by @Helen Riess called The Empathy Effect. A few key pointers from Helen:

Empathy is understanding what is unspoken- it understanding the whole person and not just what they are saying.

It includes listening not only with your ears, but with your heart and truly understanding the motivations behind your prospect's concerns. Riess calls in 'hearing the whole person." We will get into more of this when she joins us on the podcast, but one last key point. Empathy is a two way street. You need to shoot for mutual empathy, which leads to a strong relationship based on a mutual level of trust.

Always Adding Value As I said on a recent Linkedin Video this is the era of value selling. A broad category, for sure. One of the key elements of this selling approach, is making sure we are adding value to each prospect or customer touch point. According the CEB, 74% of buyers choose the sales rep who is first to add value and insight. In today's selling environment, insight sellers boast a clear advantage. This means coming to the table with a point of view, with a desire to help( and not only that, but being able to acknowledge when you cannot help), personalizing each conversation based on your deep understanding of the prospect's issues. Your follow up also adds value-a relevant article, video, case study, a personal note, that relates the 'whole person.' Not a pest-like, harassing note to see if a decision has been made, what the next steps are.

Create your own DEMAND The elite sellers don't bitch, they don't blame. They take 100% responsibility for everything. Not only the wins and the commission checks, but also the losses and 'no decisions' - its on them. They learn from what has worked and what didn't. They come back from the losses smarter and better prepared. They'll adjust. They never complain about a lack of leads.They'll look themselves in the mirror and figure out how to do a better job of growing their current customer base, of finding more time to prospect, to network, to spend more time on social, whatever it takes.

And finally, here is how you get more leads. You create them FOR YOURSELF!

That's it for now. There is a lot more to talk about, but let's leave it here. What do you think? Let me know how you are doing. Either in a comment below or private message. I know this is going to your Year