What is Blocking You from Sales Success?

Several years ago, I was flying from Minneapolis to the west coast. In the seat next to me was the VP of Sales for Master Craft, a competition ski boat company. As an avid water skier, I was eager to engage in a conversation which eventually led to the oft asked in-flight question, “So what do you do?”. My seat mate told me who he was and what he did for living and, of course, I returned the same. When he learned that I was a professional speaker, he asked if I knew a speaker named Joel Weldon. Of course, I knew Joel. Everyone knew Joel. He was one of the early pioneers in professional speaking. The truth is, I knew of him but didn’t really know him. In the course of our conversation, my seat mate mentioned that they had recently hired Joel to speak for a sales meeting. When my new friend quoted the fee they paid Joel, I said, “Nobody is worth that much!” to which he replied, “You're wrong and I'll tell you why. Look,” he went on to explain, “If Joel helps our organization improve sales by just 1%, Joel’s fee is a nonissue. In fact, if he just helps our #1 sales rep increase sales by 1%, we are still getting great value.”

 As we talked, my seat mate helped me realize that I was undervaluing myself. If I didn't have confidence in my message, how could I expect to be selling to clients regardless of the price? Even though I made my living speaking professionally, I had a limiting belief about the power of words and how they could actually produce revenue. I wasn't confident. I didn't fully believe in my message, and I relied on my ability to "wing it" to get me through. That experience revealed a block I had early in my career.

As fate would have it, Joel and I were both attending the National Speakers Association convention a few weeks later, so I approached him and told him about my experience on the plane. In this short conversation, we also discovered that both of us had worked with the same client, State Farm Insurance. Joel kindly offered to let me come hear him speak to a State Farm group in Florida. The year I met Joel, I spoke for a still-standing record number of days – 78. At the time, Joel said he only did 38 by design. His mantra was to do such a great job with those 38 dates that clients would do the referring for him. Joel asked me, "If I could show you a way to speak half the time and make just as much money, would you be interested in hearing about it?”. Who wouldn’t? I went to hear Joel speak and several weeks later when I was speaking in Scottsdale AZ (Joel’s hometown), we got together for lunch. Joel taught me a lot that day, but the best part was that he not only helped expose a block in my career, he also helped me move past it. Shortly after that, armed with new ideas on how I could help clients uncover their needs, fears, and victories (verbiage I learned from Joel), I doubled my fee. Most importantly, I didn’t have to travel as much because I was able to spend more time researching my clients' needs and preparing for my programs. This led to adding more value, which enabled me to charge more for my services and ultimately, attract a higher end client.

While you might not have the direct ability to influence the price point of your product or service if you are employed by someone else, the principle still applies – when you remove a block (as Joel helped me do concerning price and value), you potentially open up new possibilities that weren’t visible before. Depending on the nature of the block, it can totally obstruct your vision.  In my case, it prevented me from working with clients who didn’t think I had much to contribute because my price was too low. I actually had a client once tell me after I spoke for his event that he almost didn't hire me because he reasoned that if my price was that low, I must not have been a very good speaker.

The journey to understanding your block(s) might begin with someone you meet who impacts your thinking; it might begin with reading a good book, attending a sales training program or even exercising. My block was exposed by a chance meeting on an airplane. Here are some simple tips for overcoming your block(s):

1) Pay attention when traveling or when meeting new people. Always introduce yourself to others at business events and to your seat mate when you travel, even if it's as the plane is landing. You never know what connections could be made or what role this person could play in your career.

2) Find someone to speak the truth to you about what you do. Give them permission to challenge you and ask you tough questions.

3) Think deeply about how you can add more value to your product or service that will both separate you from the field and prevent you and your company from being unintentionally undervalued.

4) Think about what's blocking you from moving to the next level and attack that block with fervor and tenacity. 

Tim Richardson works with sales organizations helping them unlock the block to selling and service success. Contact Tim at [email protected] or 865-684-7661.