Success is habitual… as long as your sales people develop the right habits!

Learn how leveraging the ‘7 Habits’ in a sales environment significantly increases the chances of personal and team success.

© The Sales Coach 2016

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In over 35 years of selling, I have learned many things the hard way, and I am not unique. The turning point for me in my sales career came from reading a book and being exposed to some sound thinking… about myself and how I sold. And it wasn’t even a sales book that I read!

The book in question was ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen R. Covey. Published by Simon & Schuster. If you have not read it, I urge you to borrow or buy a copy and make it a ‘must read’. Every single principle can be applied to sales effectiveness as well as personal effectiveness.

Working with Franklin Covey over the past 7 years, first as a client and then as a consultant, I have seen evidence of these principles working to transform sales in a way that challenges many of the old ‘buyer vs seller’ conflicts.

My premise is this. Many of the things we do unconsciously, yet habitually, constantly express our character and drive our effectiveness or ineffectiveness in sales, as in life. So, our character as sales people is a composite of our habits.

Acquiring and applying the 7 Habits to sales effectiveness takes us through two key stages of development. Habits 1-3 take us from dependence to independence by taking responsibility for our own sales success. Once independent, we learn through habits 4-6 to succeed with other people, either on our sales team, or with customers and clients. The seventh habit makes all of the others possible, by periodical and deliberate self-renewal.

Fortunately, for those of us not born as effective sales people (and let’s face it, nobody is) the 7 Habits can be learned.

On the next few pages, I’ve laid out my personal perspective on how Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits can apply in sales effectiveness.

Here’s My PersonalPoint of View…

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then,is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle.

© The Sales Coach 2016

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Each of the 7 Habits is based on sound principles of effectiveness, paradigms aligned with those principles and practices that produce the most effective results, in this case sales results.

For all of the 7 Habits, the Principles are universal, timeless and in existence, whether we understand or accept them, or not. Paradigms are our mental maps and orientation, the way we see, understand and interpret the world… and Practices are the way we arry out our paradigms – our behaviours.

Proactivity in a sales sense, means taking responsibility for your own sales results and your own effectiveness, and recognizing your responsibility to make things happen. It’s about choice, accountability, initiative, and resourcefulness.

The opposite to Proactive is Reactive. Reactive sales people are often affected by things going on around them, living in a way that is a function of their market or business conditions. You can get clues to whether sales people are proactive or reactive by listening to how they speak, for example.

“My sales target is unrealistic.” There’s nothing I can do about it.

“That customer always makes me livid.” My emotions are outside of my control.

These are common paradigms. A highly effective paradigm could be expressed as

“I am responsible for my own sales success.”

When you are proactive in sales, you take responsibility for achieving your targets, for growing your accounts, for finding new customers. It means you choose your behaviour based on principles, rather than your feelings or circumstances.

Top sales performers applying proactivity, are those who seize the initiative to do whatever is necessary, to get the job done.

Be Proactive

© The Sales Coach 2016

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This is my favourite Habit for sales people as it is the one habit that can make the most impact when used systematically.

When you Begin with the End In Mind, you start by thinking about where you want to end up, BEFORE you start something. This applies to achieving sales targets, building a sales management career, winning individual sales pursuits on a sole-source basis or against competitors, and even to an individual encounter with a customer or client.

I coach clients to have an appropriate End In Mind for every interaction – and the impact on relationships and sales results are priceless

What this means in practice is to know where you are going, understand where you are now, and to take the right steps, in the right direction.

A common paradigm is “I just go wherever the business takes me”, rather than the highly effective paradigm:

“I define my own ‘end game’ and how to get there.”

Covey noted that it’s easy to get caught up in an activity trap in the busyness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success, only to discover that it’s leaning against the wrong wall.

Taking time to think through the outcomes you want to achieve in sales, or in life, big or small, is a worthwhile exercise. This habit is based on the principles of commitment, vision, and purpose.

Consider creating a personal ‘mission statement’ to describe what you want to be (your character) and to do (achievements). Base it on a few core principles that will support you, whatever happens

begin wth theend in mind

© The Sales Coach 2016

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As sales people, we all face the same dilemma. We are caught between the urgent and the important. ‘Time Management’ is a challenge. In fact, time management is a misnomer since we don’t manage time, we can only manage ourselves. When you Put First Things First, you manage yourself effectively. It means you organize your time around the most important sales tasks.

Instead of trying to fit all of the things you encounter in your lives and job role into the time allotted, as many people try – and fail, your focus here has to be on enhancing customer or client relationships and achieving sales results.

To do this effectively, you must organize and execute around your sales priorities. Something urgent requires immediate attention, it’s usually visible, it interrupts your ay or week, and may not have any bearing on achievement of your sales goals.

Important things, on the other hand, have to do with results – they contribute to your mission and values, and your End In Mind. You react to urgent matters; often you have to take care of important matters, even as urgent ones shout for your attention.

If the common sales paradigm is “I spend time on what is most urgent.” the highly effective paradigm is:

“I spend time on what is important.”

This is about ‘self-management’. I consistently see top sales performers figuring out their key roles (work/life balance is important) and their most important results, and then planning their week or month around them, rather than ‘shoe-horning’ them in to a packed schedule. This takes focus and discipline.

Top performers realize that to say “yes’ to important things, requires a steadfast approach to saying “no” to something.

Put First Things First

© The Sales Coach 2016

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Only after having achieved the self-mastery of habits 1-3, can you start to work towards developing habits 4-6 and your capacity to work well with others. In a sales environment, this can entail working with other team members as well as working with the customer or client. Habit 4 is think Win/Win.

Win/Win is a philosophy, that when applied to sales, means that solutions or agreements are mutually beneficial and both parties are satisfied. We’ve all seen situations where Win/Lose, Lose/Win, or Lose/Lose is painful, and usually we don’t discover this until after the deal is done and customers, clients, or our own organization are living with a solution that doesn’t meet our needs.

Sales is often seen as a competitive, rather than a collaborative or cooperative arena. This is in direct opposition to the paradigm that there is plenty for both parties. Win/Win is a belief in the Third Alternative, that it’s not my way or your way; it’s a better or different way.

I prefer the approach of ‘Win/Win or No Deal’ as it has served me well over the years and is founded on the simple but true fact that if a deal hurts the client, it will hurt you too. To make this a habit requires you to adopt the principles of mutual benefit, fairness, and abundance.

If the common sales paradigm is “The more you get, the less there is for me.” the highly effective paradigm is:

“There’s more than enough for everyone.”

Whether you’re working a major opportunity, or negotiating an important agreement you’ll need to demonstrate high integrity and a sense of maturity, by which I mean, you must have enough empathy and goodwill to work for a win for your counterpart, and enough courage to make a win for yourself.

Many sales people think that in order to succeed themselves, others must fail. Not true! Seek ‘Win/Win or No Deal’.

think win–win

© The Sales Coach 2016

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As I work with groups of clients across the globe, I am often asked

“What’s the one thing that we can do that will really differentiate us from the competition?”

This is a tough question, particularly in industries like Management Consulting or Global Services where all of the major competitors have similar offerings, their websites look similar, their people dress the same, talk the same… and even say similar things. A big part of the answer lies in this habit.

The most important word to know in mastering this habit is LISTEN and the second two are GET CURIOUS. Listen to the customer or client – but not with the intent to reply, to convince, or to manipulate. Listen simply to understand, to see how the customer or client sees things, and then to get curious about what is challenging them.

If the common sales paradigm is “I need to ensure that customers understand our product, service or point of view.” The highly effective paradigm is:

“I have more influence when I listen first.”

seek first to understandThen to Be Understood

© The Sales Coach 2016

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The skill to develop here is empathy and you need to display a high level of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) when probing and asking detailed questions to understand the issues the client is facing. Top sales performers excel at this and the result is that they delay making presentations or proposals until they really understand the client needs, context, constraints and buying motives.

Average sales people just can’t seem to avoid ‘premature presentation syndrome’. They present far too early, far too quickly, and typically the content of their pitch is very ‘thin’ on understanding, too ‘thick’ on assumptions and misses the mark, often completely missing other opportunities too.

The real differentiation in competitive markets is often the way that a sales person conducts themselves using this habit.

seek first to understandThen to Be Understood

© The Sales Coach 2016

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The Cambridge English Dictionary defines Synergy as ‘the combined power of a group of things when they are working together that is greater than the total power achieved by each working separately’.

We’ve all heard the expression 1+1=3 or even more.

The mastery and exercise of the other habits prepares us for, and enables us to exhibit the habit of synergy in sales.

I see this demonstrated by the very best Key Account Managers (or whatever title exists in the various organizations I have worked with) who realize that when it comes to building and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders (and their teams) collaboration delivers a better outcome for both parties. The same is true for major, complex sales opportunities with long sales cycles.

If the common sales paradigm is “Let’s compromise,” the highly effective paradigm is

“Let’s come up with a better solution together.”

I have seen this manifest itself in joint ideation and account planning sessions on many occasions.

Synergy in sales requires a high level of trust and a high level of cooperation. When both are high the result is very open communication and the creative process of synergy which provides a seemingly limitless range of ideas to explore together. When trust or cooperation are low, you’ll see defensive behaviours and protective or even ‘legal’ language.

Synergistic communication opens minds to new possibilities, ideas and options. You begin with the belief that both parties will gain better insight and learnings and that these will lead to growth. As you read this, it may feel that you are ignoring Habit 2 (to begin with the end in mind) but in act you are doing the opposite – you’re fulfilling it, particularly if the end in mind is for things to be significantly better than they were.

Synergize

© The Sales Coach 2016

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In his book, Stephen Covey tells the story about a man feverishly sawing down a tree in the woods. He was exhausted, the work was hard. At the suggestion of taking a little time to sharpen the saw, so the work would be easier, his response was:

“..no time, I’m too busy sawing.”

When you Sharpen the Saw, you take time to invest in yourself every day. The investment of time in yourself is to renew yourself Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, and Spiritually if the latter is important to you.

In sales, as in life, your physical wellbeing is very important. Like many people I know, I used to work crazy hours to get deals done, surviving on take-out and other junk or convenience food, getting little sleep and no exercise. With the onset of type 2 diabetes, I had to make some choices and I have transformed my health by choosing to arrange my work around my regular fitness and tennis sessions each week – even when travelling on client assignments. It’s possible.

In my work teaching and coaching sales professionals all over the world, I meet very few who take care of their own renewal fully. I see more awareness of the need for physical fitness but very little evidence that sales people are taking the time to renew themselves mentally and emotionally.

Mentally, they could wisely invest in more preparation for meetings, visualization of their interactions, reading and learning new skills. They could practice techniques with colleagues, but simply do not invest. Similarly, I see little or no time set aside to regularly practice and hone their EQ skills.

Here’s the reality. World-class athletes, footballers, cyclists, golfers, and virtuoso musicians reach the top of their fields and stay there by investing significant time and effort in self-renewal and PRACTICE. It is no different in sales, where the stakes are high and there is little to differentiate competitors.

Sharpen the Saw

© The Sales Coach 2016

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Meet thesales coach

Les has lectured, trained and coached, thousands of salespeople and leaders at organizations including the following: Accenture, Akzo Nobel, Alvarez & Marsal, Avanade, Axiom Law, Board Intelligence, CIPD, Colorcon, CSC, Davy, Dell, Elsevier, Eversheds, EY, FranklinCovey, Genpact, Hewlett Packard, Hitachi Consulting, Health & Safety Laboratories, IBM, iCrossing, IM Group, Microsoft, Northern Trust, Novo Altum, Quintiles, Spencer Stuart, Thales, Tintri, Travelport, and Unisys.

A respected expert in consultative selling and an authority on large, complex sales, Les is sought by some of the largest and most successful sales organizations in the world to help inspire people, grow talent and drive better sales results. He is a certified teacher of Tracom Style and Versatility, the world’s most effective interpersonal skills model.

Get in touch

+44 (0)7979 535532

The Sales Coach,UK Thrive Ltd,Phoenix House, Withersfield, Suffolk, CB9 7RY

+44 (0)1440 767972

les@thrivesalescoaching.co.uk

From setting up his own consulting company earlier in his career to serving as a Sales Enablement Lead at Accenture, and European MD of the global FranklinCovey Sales Performance Practice, Les Bailey brings a ‘start-up’ enthusiasm and entrepreneurial approach to every client assignment he undertakes. From simple product to complex solution sales, and roles including Territory Manager, Account Manager and Sales Leader, Les has mastered most sales, business development and sales leadership roles in a successful sales career spanning over 35 years.

Les is known for his passion for sales, enthusiastic workshop delivery, provoking keynote speeches, consultative insight, quick intellect, incisive coaching, and a sense of humour.

www.thrivesalescoaching.co.uk

© The Sales Coach 2016

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Measurable results in under 100 days.

Transform results at individual, team and enterprise levels

with guaranteed business outcomes.

Empower any established sales process or framework and achieve

defined business impact with sustainable behavioural change.