If you want to close more deals and make your life easier, read on.
In the last 18 years of my life, I have worked in sales within multiple industries, markets and countries, each time stepping up in terms of sales experience and competitive nature.
As a sales performance coach for recruitment agencies, I deal with consultants who are already at a good level and know how to raise the bar. What do the top consultants have in common?
1. Preparation is a religion
If you plan ahead, use checklists, plan your days in advance, down to the smallest detail, all you have to do after that is execute it.
When you take this to the extreme, you do things differently and faster, and you can achieve things that others think are impossible. This also requires a mindshift to what you think is necessary.
We think we are prepared, but usually we just blocked out a few hours of time and then “did” the activities in our CRM, if at all.
No, think more about how airline pilots follow crazy checklists to get the plane in the air, follow the flight plan to the minute and actually follow the execution and know they will arrive at the destination on time.
2. Train until it becomes second nature
You may think you don’t feel comfortable performing role-playing exercises, client simulations or having a conversation you had with a prospect, but that’s nothing compared to losing deals and not achieving your goals.
Sales & recruitment is competitive and you will have to deal with a roller coaster of emotions, the highest of highs and lows and additional stress and pressure.
By dealing with these situations, discussing them with colleagues, you will become familiar with them and if bad things happen, you will be able to recognize them from the role-play.
You can handle it as a professional, keep your eye on the ball and can think from the client’s or candidate’s perspective to help them, instead of focusing on your own spiking stress levels and reacting in a way you’ll regret later.
3. Het succes van systemen
If you zoom out, you will see that you follow a daily pattern, waking up, having breakfast or not, going to work, doing the things we do every day, and if you look at this over a period of months, you will recognize a clear routine in yourself as well.
Now don’t worry, this is a good thing. If we all did things randomly, it would be total chaos. We follow patterns, routines, and they are there to make you do the things we need to do. Systems make sure you do things right.
Look at your sales cycles, the interactions you have with prospects, customers, candidates, colleagues ect.
Then ask the top performers in your company how they do things, “their” routine and if you can copy it. This becomes a template that you can build on, modify, improve and write down, this is a successful system.
4. Invoer creëert output
This is the most unpopular thing I talk about: the more you do, the more you get. What people get confused about is that you don’t have to do more if you don’t want to. It’s up to you what the work-life balance is, but if you want to achieve more, you have to do more.
If you don’t like working more or later because you have social obligations , a family, etc., I completely understand: these are the things that enrich our lives and I believe this is what we live for.
But if you want to accomplish bigger things, you will have to find small gaps in your work hours that you can use to be productive.
Send me a DM if you want me to look at your calendar and daily routine. I am 100% convinced that we can eliminate time wasters, time thieves or deal blockers that get in the way of achieving your goals.
I mean it, send me a DM, if you’ve read this all the way to this point, you’ll get a fun video as a reward!
5. Reflecteren, beoordelen en opnieuw opbouwen
By spending 10 minutes on Sunday in a coffeehouse, a conference room or on the couch with a notepad or notebook, you have time to remove yourself from the daily busy, action-oriented mindset.
It is great to be in the state of “flow” and execute it, the problem is that we are not in a “thinking or creative” mindset, we are action oriented, we think about “what am I getting out of this action or am I getting enough ROI from the time I spend on this, you should think like that, but not when you are thinking.
Get yourself out of the work environment, go for a walk if possible, go to the forest, the countryside or a restaurant, so that it doesn’t bother you.
Then sit still for a moment, think about what you are doing, write down your thoughts, what you have been doing for the past week and see if you are on track with your goals.
If you’re thinking, “I don’t need to do that, our CRM has all the statistics and is on the dashboard” – Great! This saves you time calculating your ratios and statistics and gives you insight into where you are.
You still have to go through them and think about why you are where you are. If you’re on the right track, perfect, keep doing what you’re doing. Have you looked back over the past few months to see why you are on the right track? Have you had some easy deals or improved certain skills?
Are you falling behind on your goals? Why is that, who can you ask for help? Are you performing extremely well? Okay, did you set your goals too low or did you do something else that opened the money gates of heaven?
The point I am trying to make is that you need to actively think about your work, what you do and how you do it.
So that’s it.
PS: If you scrolled down to just “know” which five steps they are.
Herewith the quick version.
- Voorbereiding
- Opleiding
- Systemen
- Invoer
- Reflectie
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