There's no arguing that sales can be one of the most lucrative and rewarding careers of them all.
In fact, if you're anything like me, you probably got into sales for either the money, flexibility, autonomy and/or fulfillment that comes from changing lives, businesses and solving problems.
But is you sales career currently living up to your hopes, dreams and expectations?
If not, this article will help you level up and turn your sales career into everything you want and need it to be.
Here are 3 critical things you must do to make your sales career an extraordinary experience:
3 Things You Must Believe In - Yourself, the company you represent and the products /services you are selling. I learned this one from my very first boss. Twenty-four years later, I can tell you, he was absolutely right on. If even one of these is missing it can be like pulling on the handbrake of your car, even if only slightly.
Think Like an Entrepreneur - In sales, you know that mindset is everything. The one mindset I see top performers across all industries embrace, is that of an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs take full ownership of their businesses and full responsibility for all of their results and outcomes - especially sales.
They don't whine, complain, make excuses, blame the company, blame operations, or knock off early because they made their calls for the day, or numbers for the month. They are students of the game and the industry. They are passionate about what they do. They get up early and stay up late because they just can't turn off the excitement and drive for the work they are doing, and the people they're serving. But most importantly of all, they know WHY they do what they do. Do you?
The great news is that you don’t have to take the financial risk they do to see the upside. One of the many advantages of working for a company.
Increase Your Influence - Like entrepreneurship, sales is a numbers, people and influence game. All opportunities come from one single source - people. They don't come through companies, products and services, associations, organizations nor government entities, but through people. Therefore, the more you can influence them (with full integrity) to do the things that are in their best interest, that they'd normally would not do, or at least put off until later, the more daftly you'll be able to facilitate win-win outcomes for you and them. So how do you increase your influence with your customers and prospects? Increase the "aligned" value you deliver to them. I talk about this concept and several other influencing skills you'll need in my free Comprehensive Sales Influence™ mini-course. < -- Make sure to request access.
At the end of the day, if you're not making the amount of money you should be, or if you're unhappy with the results you've been getting, make the adjustments mentioned above, and watch your entire world change for the better.