Sam Manfer is a sales force development expert and makes any sales manager or sales person feel comfortable and confident getting to and talking with powerful decision makers. For his free “Selling Wisdoms” e-zine and articles on overcoming all the problems with C-Level Selling visit www.SamManfer.com .
I can't help but compare Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to selling. Tiger Woods came in second place at the Tour Championship, yet walked away with $10 million as the FedEx Cup champion and $800,000 for his second-place finish. Phil Mickelson walked away with $3 million for the FedEx Cup and $1.35 million for winning the tournament. The comment by Phil was "Let me get this straight. I shoot a 65 and win $1.3 million and Tiger shoots a 70 and wins $10 million?" That's right. Tiger was consistent over time. Phil had a great day.
How many Tigers do you have in your organization? How many Phil’s? How many struggle to make the cut?
If you think about it, this makes perfect sense. Tiger was consistent throughout the playoffs and throughout the year. Phil was not. Tiger Woods, the consummate in consistency, work ethic, and diligence, plus a lot of skill, stays the course. He works golf as a process, continues to get coaching, and continues to come in usually first or second, and always within the top 10. On the other hand, Phil Mickelson has a ton of skill, but not overly diligent in his work ethic, and just within the past two years has embraced coaching. Tiger produces every time he plays. Phil has moments of greatness, and then ends up down in the pack at other times. In all fairness to Phil he did have personal problems this year. However, over the long run he's just not that consistent yet Tiger is.
Think about your salespeople, (or yourself, if you're a salesperson). Does your salesperson, or you, close the sale, 7/10 times, or do they score big every once in a while? Which would you rather have? What are you willing to invest, if anything, to get it?
Selling is a process and like golf, it requires training, practice, coaching, and reinforcement. Unlike golf, there is no reward for a second or lower place, which makes selling effectiveness even more critical.
The process of selling may sound simple -- prospecting, presenting, addressing objections, and closing. However each of these is as complex as driving, hitting long irons, pitching, chipping and putting -- and for those of you tried it, you know just how complex it is. The big difference between professional golfer and professional salespeople is that in golf every person that makes money was trained and practiced long and hard before he or she made a time. Most salespeople learn to sell on the job and unlike golfers, rarely get on-going coaching.
So consider these:
- Which of your salespeople are Tigers? Which are Phils?
- Are you satisfied with each of their performances?
- Do you have a selling process that can be managed to and structured to make both salespeople and sales managers accountable?
- Have your people, or you, been trained to sell effectively or were they "experienced" when you hire them?
- Do you have an on-going coaching program?
- Are you willing to invest to improve your sales team?
Success is not an accident. There are many golfers with the talent of a Tiger or Phil that can not get on any money Tour. In addition to having skill, Tiger and Phil work extremely hard to stay where they are. They train, practice, pursue coaching and compete aggressively. Likewise, your salespeople, or you, must do the same to be successful in selling -- train, practice, pursued coaching and learn to compete aggressively.
And now I invite you to learn more.
Bonus Tip: Free Book – “TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER$” – The Complete Guide to C-Level Selling – hardback version. Network, get past gatekeepers, interact with executives, secure commitments and sell more than you ever thought possible. Click http://sammanfer.com/Book/freeoffer.htm to learn more about this fantastic offer.
- Related Videos
- Related Articles
- Ask / Related Q&A
- The Sales Training Series: Buying The Salesperson
- The Sales Training Series: Sell Yourself Before You Sell Your Company
- The Sales Training Series: The Right Way To Sell
- The Sales Training Series: Five Buying Decisions
- The Sales Training Series: Selling With Leverage Questions
- The Sales Training Series: Sell By Agreeing On At Least 3 Needs
- The Sales Training Series: Stopping Objections Before They Start
- The Sales Training Series: Dealing With Sales Objections and Stalls
Choose Your Best Right Tiffany Jewelry
By: yuyun | 29/12/2009If you want Tiffany jewelry to buy jewelry from online stores, to find honest tiffany jewelry wholesalers is important. There are many different places where you can push your ornaments and the best place for you will depend on what is important to look at some of silver key rings if you have a good reputation by requesting samples or you can vend extensive jewelry online with a cheap price and high quality.
Where Can I Go To Sell My Gold For Cash?
By: peter jones | 29/12/2009With the economy in the state that it is in today you may want to ask yourself, “Where can I go to sell my gold for cash?” Gold that is just lying around collecting dust has no real value at all.
To Sell Gold Jewelry in These Harsh Economic Times May Be the Answer
By: peter jones | 29/12/2009To sell gold jewelry in these harsh economic times is one step that a person can take to help make ends meet, or get that little extra something for their families, or even for that special trip they have been hoping for.
Dollars for Gold Scam? No, of Course Not
By: peter jones | 29/12/2009No sooner than people are offered a service to help them through tough times than someone, usually a competitor starts to deride the service with false claims. This is meant to drive business away from one business to another by scaring customers and instilling mistrust.
The Online Automatic Cash Machine Making Over $15,000 Per Month on Affiliate Marketing on Auto Income
By: Dale Dupree | 29/12/2009You need to grow your business by re-investing what you make. That is the reason most people fail on the internet, they think about the internet as an ATM machine and if they don't see money flowing in the first few weeks they give up.
The Internet Cashflow Machine Creating Over $10,000 Per Month on Internet Marketing on Auto Income
By: Dale Dupree | 29/12/2009Many of my subscribers usually ask me how much money I'm making because so many of them are not making enough even to cover their monthly expenses. In fact I'm making over $15,000 /month. A lot of money can be made on the internet but the newbie's shouldn't take it the way most of them
The Online ATM Cash Machine Making Over $20,000 Per Month on Internet Marketing on Automatic Cash flow
By: Dale Dupree | 29/12/2009That is the reason many people fail on the internet, they think about the internet as an ATM machine and if they don't see money flowing in the first few weeks they give up. If you, as a beginner, are bringing $200 a week with one niche only, and you know how to do it, then you rinse and repeat, make another one, and then 2 more and so on.
The Online Cashflow Machine Producing Over $20,000 Per Month on Internet Marketing on Autopilot
By: Dale Dupree | 29/12/2009always have the same number of sites on my portfolio, and there's no reason you can't do the same. But at the beginning you have to re-invest your profits in order to grow.
Selling to C-Level Executives Sales Training Tip 11- Handling the Committees Obstacle
By: Sam Manfer | 08/12/2009 | SalesA committees or a subordinate has been delegated the power of awarding the contract. This C-level selling tip will help you handle this tough selling obstacle.
C-Level Selling Tip 9 - Overcoming Executive Intimidation
By: Sam Manfer | 06/11/2009 | NegotiationPowerful people make everyone nervous, but if we don’t deal with it as sales people, we’ll be stuck with subordinates that stall our progress and mislead us on what it will take to win the sale, project or contract.
Five Tips for Creating C-Level Selling Confidence
By: Sam Manfer | 28/10/2009 | SalesOne of the most powerful tools for C-Level Selling, selling to doctors or any influential people is confidence. So here a 5 tips to help you build your confidence.
C-level Selling Tip 7 – Leveraging Your Golden Network
By: Sam Manfer | 16/10/2009 | SalesLeverage your golden network - those that like you, work with you and those who have bought and benefited from you - to find a wealth of high quality leads and beat out competition.
C- Level Selling -- Subtleties Make Big Differences in C-Level Selling
By: Sam Manfer | 14/10/2009 | SalesJust a few words rephrased, or a few actions rearranged can make huge differences when it comes to winning over C-level executives and closing sales. However, without a sales coach you’ll never pick-up what needs to change with your approach and/or delivery.
C-Level Selling Tip 6: Networking, Use Your Resources
By: Sam Manfer | 01/10/2009 | TrainingEveryone needs more business, and the best way to get more is to network your way through the doors to the C-level offices. Learn about networking with this C-level selling tip.
C-Level Selling: Are You a Tiger, a Phil or Struggle to Make the Cut
By: Sam Manfer | 29/09/2009 | SalesC-Level Selling and professional golf have a lot in common, but there is no money for second or low place.
C-Level Selling - A Sales Person's Best Resource
By: Sam Manfer | 16/09/2009 | SalesSales managers and sales people are sympathetic to other salespeople. Learn how they will help you get to the C-Level and make your sale to their companies.