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"Growth is the only evidence of life." -- Cardinal Newman YOU’VE ALREADY GOT WHAT YOU NEED In the final analysis, I think the secret to Titan success is the knowledge that the power to succeed comes solely from within. Great products and great services by themselves will not guarantee success. The ability to sell and succeed really lies within you. Success lies in the answers to the questions you ask yourself, and in how you choose to pursue your profession. Success depends on the degree to which you commit yourself to the goals of finding out where people are going, and giving people what they need, the way they want it. If you focus in consistently on those objectives, and give them every ounce of your attention, the doors will open for you -- even when times seem tough. Back in the mid-eighties, when I was working as a salesperson with Control Data Corporation, the computer industry was going through a rough period; there was some serious turbulence in the marketplace, and the changes were affecting everyone. Control Data was losing millions of dollars, and top management was forced to reorganize the company. During the fateful year of 1984, there were eight regional sales reps selling a particular specialized product. I was one of them. My quota was $1.2 million. If I remember correctly, most of us had about the same quota. But as the year went on and the sales began to disappear, management decided to cut everyone’s quota to keep our spirits up. They didn’t want to penalize us for what we all knew was an industry downturn, so they lowered our sales targets. That’s how desperate the situation was. In some territories the quotas were reduced from $1.2 million to as low as $400,000. Mine was reduced to $800,000. At the end of the year, though, I’d posted $1.2 million in business. The reason I came in at the original quota? At the beginning of the year, I was aiming for $1.5 million of business! You see, whenever I got a quota, I always bumped it up by 25%. That additional 25% gave me a buffer to protect myself in cases of unforeseen challenges (such as the changes I was experiencing at Control Data). Our results and our actions are based on what we focus on. If I had focused only on the $1.2 million quota Control Data gave me at the beginning of the year, I believe I would have fallen short, because of all the problems we faced. But because I focused in on $1.5 million, I was able to come in at my original quota of $1.2 million, even with all of the problems in the marketplace. There are unforeseen forces that affect our performance, factors we never plan for: accidents, slow markets, product glitches. So Titans always build in a buffer. They change the focus. They ratchet goals up a few notches. Because I felt I had to land $1.5 million in business, my actions were automatically different than they would have been if I’d been trying to land $1.2 million. The intensity was different, and, yes, the tactics were different. I was concentrating on developing higher-level sales, and I was actively developing new markets. I was concentrating on how to emerge as a resource for people who could benefit from what my organization had to offer -- even if I had to go out of my way to find those people in new settings. I didn’t sit around and assume that the same markets my organization had already identified for me were going to work. If it wasn’t working with one model, I was going to create new models for new customers where our pricing, our service, and our expertise would represent the right mix. Another factor on my side was tenacity. Now, tenacity isn’t solely a matter of pushing forward in any direction, but of pushing forward in a specific direction. I knew exactly what I was after, and I wouldn’t take no for an answer. That’s an important part of selling at the level we’ve been talking about in this book -- determining the outcomes you want. What is the outcome you want for your company? What is the outcome you want for your family? What is the outcome you want for your customers? Remember that the outcome you shoot for has got to be specific -- and it’s got to energize you! WHAT’S THE OUTCOME YOU WANT? So: You can’t simply say to yourself that you want to "increase sales" next year. That’s not specific enough. If you were to increase your sales by $1, you would have succeeded! But is that really what you’re after? Not if you want to buy a Mercedes-Benz next year! For that you are going to need something on the order of, say, $75,000. You need to increase your sales enough to yield an extra $75,000 in income. That’s why you need to be specific. You need to have that purpose in sight. You need to have the purpose so clear in your mind that you can dream it and see it and taste it and smell it. Your purpose must be so clear in your mind that when those unforeseen forces come up, your purpose will act a magnet and prevent you from being thrown off track. When your purpose is strong and clear enough, it will always prompt you to ask yourself this question any time you are challenged: "What do I need to do differently in this situation?" In my case, that $1.5 million goal was so strong in my mind that I didn’t take into account the fact that I might not be able to do it. I didn’t take into account the fact that the quota had come down. I never let that come into play for me. I kept saying to myself, "The mark is $1.5 million, and I have to hit it no matter what happens. I don’t care if it’s a bad market. If it’s a bad market, how am I going to crack this nut open?" If retail stores wouldn’t buy from me because of my company’s price structure, I had to find out who the appropriate customer was. RAISING THE BAR One of the best reasons to raise goals is that doing so gives you a professional challenge to shoot for. If you don’t stretch to grow, then you’ll never grow as much as you want. That’s the way Titans approach these questions -- not by focusing on how little they can get accomplished, but by focusing on how much. If the company thinks that you should be doing $1.2 million in a given year, and if you want to be a superstar, then you have to do more than $1.2 million! You have to stretch yourself a little bit. Titans make a habit of exceeding expectations, both their own expectations and the expectations of their customers. That’s why they become an invaluable resource! They set a goal that’s challenging -- and then they carefully monitor progress toward that goal. This brings us to an extremely important point. Titans measure their success against key benchmarks! If ever there was a "secret" to consistent high performance over time, this has got to be it. Constant measurement of key goals helps you identify what’s working, and it gives you the time you need to make up lost ground and to reach your goals. Monitoring yourself on the smallest realistic timeframe also tells you when what you’re doing is working. It shows you what needs tweaking -- and what you should leave alone. In addition to tracking specific sales-related goals, Titans also make a habit of monitoring how well they are doing at becoming a resource to their customers. They ask customers how things are going not just when a purchase decision is imminent, but at regular intervals! BEYOND "THE MARKET IS DOWN" Titans don’t ever put themselves at the mercy of the market. They keep themselves appraised and in control of virtually every process -- and they do that consistently enough to turn the dream of exceeding expectations into a reality. Titans follow the business pages -- and find new markets. They nurture the pipeline. They keep in touch with existing customers, regardless of what’s happening in the account, to find new opportunities to increase the net worth of each customer. They ask existing contacts for leads to new business, and thereby cultivate referrals. They make lots and lots of phone calls, and they keep track of the people they talk to. They’re constantly networking. They’re maniacal about cultivating new business from both existing and new accounts; they don’t get fooled into thinking that the job is ever "done." Everything that a Titan does is always a step to the next event. Titans never look at a sale as a static process, as a goal in and of itself. They’re always focused on the next step in building a relationship, the next step to elevating their network of contacts to a higher level. They know that everything’s interrelated. No sale is the final sale. Titans are always moving things forward! You can’t take anyone for granted; you have to stay on top of your customers’ issues not just today, but forever. The moment you assume that you’ve got all the facts you need, your competition is going to out-sell you. Titans have to recommit themselves constantly to the consultative sales approach; they have to find out what’s new, stay ahead of the curve, and figure out what has to happen to help get customers to the next step. What you did yesterday was great, but it’s not as valuable as what you are going to do tomorrow! ONGOING GROWTH Start each day by asking yourself this question: "What one aspect of my sales performance am I going to improve today?" Do you want to learn to build more trust in the initial conversations you have with prospects today? Do you want learn how to do a better job of listening to your prospects and customers? Do you want learn to do a better job of presenting your ideas and customizing the presentation so people will hear and take action on what you have to offer? Do you want to develop a better case for the consequences of not taking action, so that when you make your presentation, you’ll be in a better position to sell at a higher value? Whatever your situation, pick one or two objectives and go after them. Stick with your goal for at least four weeks, and monitor your progress on a daily or every-other-day basis. Remember what you’ve learned about positive change: Whenever you are first trying out something new, it is going to be painful. Once you start get used to the new way of doing things, and start seeing positive results, the becomes part of your routine. So don’t bail out early -- go through that process. Give the goal at least 28 days. Then assess your situation and pick another one or two goals and give them your time and attention for at least 28 straight days. YOU ARE YOUR SUCCESS Titans succeed because they clearly define their purpose, and they check constantly to see that their actions support this purpose. You can do the same. I believe that success lies in the questions you ask. Since you decide what questions to ask yourself and others, the power to succeed resides within you, and nowhere else. Titan selling does not start "when you get there." It starts now, with the tools you’ve already got. Doing things the Titan way, day and day out, leads to Titan results. Let me leave you with two Titan Questions. They are your most valuable tools for success. "What’s my purpose?" "Do my actions support that purpose?" May those questions lead you to conceive the best future for yourself and your customers you can possibly dream and may you follow the Titan example and turn that dream into reality! |
