Kahle Way B2B Sales Blog

by Dave Kahle
copyright (2010)

This is such an important practice that I have named it one of my top ten time management strategies.  If you have the book, Ten Secrets of Time Management for Salespeople, you’ll see that it is secret number nine.

I had to learn this the hard way.  I was a heavy-hitting, driven sales person.  I’d stop into the office, drop off work for everyone, and head out; just assuming that everyone would do the jobs that I had deposited on them.  My task-oriented style put a number of people off, and my operations manager warned me that I was creating ill-will among the office staff.

It took a while, but I finally decided that I needed them to be on my side.  So, I apologized, bought everyone a gift, and tried to re-start the relationship on a more positive basis.  As people gradually came over to my side, I found that I was able to be far more productive.

Instead of doing a project myself, I could confidently ask someone inside to do it for me.  Since they liked me, they didn’t mind.  Instead of expediting a back order myself, I could have someone else do it.  Instead of walking a new and complex order through the system, I could have someone else do it.

I discovered that many of the tasks that I previously had done myself could be done just as effectively and much more efficiently by someone else.  That freed up my time to do what I did best – visit my customers and sell my company’s products.  As a result, I was much more effective.

That’s why this is one of the best practices of the best sales people.  The average sales person creates an overwhelming list of tasks to perform and things to do which then weigh him/her down and decrease the amount of time spent with customers.  The exceptional sales person creates relationships, not tasks, and influences those people to do the tasks for him.  In so doing, he/she multiplies his effectiveness and dramatically increases the amount of time spent with customers.

It’s a best practice of the best sales people.

To learn more about how to do this, read chapter nine of
Ten Secrets of Time Management for Salespeople.

Excerpted from Chapter Seventeen, Question Your Way to Sales Success
By Dave Kahle
Copyright 2010

For a sales professional, there are two basic sets of questions with which a dedicated sales person should gain competence: Questions to ask prospects and customers; and questions to ask yourself.

Questions we ask ourselves are just as important, if not more so, than those we ask our prospects and customer. The reason goes back to the ultimate power of a question — it directs our thinking. Just as a good question directs the customer’s thinking, so, too, does a good question direct our own thinking. And thinking well is the ultimate success skill for a professional sales person.

Some years ago I was interviewing a group of sales people for a consulting project in which I was engaged. One of the sales people, upon reflection, said, “I’ve come to realize that sales is really a thinking person’s game.”

I couldn’t agree more. Ultimately, the way you bring greater results into your organization, make an outstanding career for yourself, and provide more abundantly for your family is by outthinking your peers and your competitors. Thinking – good thinking done with discipline and methodology – is the ultimate competitive skill.

Yet, few sales people, and few people in general, regularly engage in good thinking. As the philosopher, Bertrand Russell said, “Most people would rather die than think. In fact, they do.”

This chapter is not designed to be the final word on how sales people could think more effectively (that’s the next book!). However, there are some easily applied rules, processes and practices that will enable you to think better and dramatically impact your performance.

Let’s start with a simple definition of good thinking for a sales person: Good thinking is asking yourself the right questions, in the right sequence, at the right times, and writing down the answers.

It sounds so simple, and it is. The power, like so much else in the world of the sales person, is in the excellent and disciplined execution. The rest of this chapter is going to discuss what it means to “ask yourself the right questions, in the right sequence, at the right times” but at this point I want to make the case for “writing down the answers.” 

Writing down, either on a computer or handwriting on a pad of paper, is one of the disciplines of good thinking. The very act of writing focuses you on the exact words which formulate your answers. While you can be vague and indistinct as long as the answer is just something you maintain in your mind, when you force yourself to write the answers down you must select the exact words that go on paper. Thus writing is a discipline that forces you to think precisely – one of the tenants of good thinking.

Secondly, putting it in print is an act of commitment. Once you’ve written the answer, it is there for you to review forever.

Not only does it serve as a commitment – after all, you wrote it – but also as a reminder that you have already gone down this path before and come up with an answer. When you confront the question that prompted that answer again, you’ll save time by referring to your previous work.

So, if you are going to think well, you’ll write the answers to your questions down on paper. [Read More]

By Dave Kahle

I am constantly amazed at the number of sales people who never take notes during or after the visit with a customer. They think, I suppose, that they will remember everything important. Or worse, that nothing is important enough to actually remember.

A close second are those who, on occasion, realize the need to take notes, but who seem constantly surprised by that need, and unprepared for it. They find themselves using the backs of printed pages, the margins of selling literature, the backs of business cards, etc. to scribble cryptic remarks. The concept of a well-thought-out system has evaded them.

By the way, this is one of the benefits of a well-designed and comprehensive CRM system, which forces you to take good notes by requiring that you respond to the prompts and blank spaces of a computer screen.

A well-prepared, organized sales person needs to have a system that prompts him/her to take the right kinds of notes for every sales call, organizes that information so that he/she can take the necessary follow up action, and makes that information available in every succeeding sales call.

As a minimum, that system should include forms, either electronic or paper, to record certain aspects of the account that the sales person picks up from time to time – things like the number of employees, the type of equipment used, the position and title of the key decision-makers, etc.

Then, there needs to be a place to record the important aspects of the conversation. What did you talk about?

Finally, there ought to be a place to record the action items that came out of that conversation. Do you need to call someone? Check on something? Arrange for something? These “to dos” should also be kept in a duplicate file, with the date by which you promised to have them completed.

Finally, you ought to record those things that you want to take up in the next sales call. That information should be readily assessable so that you can plan for it as you prepare for the next time you see this customer.

There are various mediums on which this information can be recorded. Some people will use paper, others will use Blackberrys and PDAs, while others record everything on a laptop. With the sophistication of today’s computer systems, there really is no excuse for a sales person not to be conscientiously and systematically recording, storing, and using meticulously gathered information from the customer.

It’s a regular practice of the best.

To learn more about this practice, review:

• chapter eight of Ten Secrets of Time Management for Salespeople
• chapters four and five of How to Excel at Distributor Sales.

By Dave Kahle

Are you wasting your customers’ time?

In this pressurized, multi-tasking world, where your customers are expected to produce more in less time, they may be growing less eager to meet with you than they were just a year ago.  Time is more precious today than ever before, and your customers are feeling the pressure.

In order for your customers to reliably make time to see you, they need to expect that they will gain some value for the time spent with you.  That means that, if you are going to be successful in the world of B2B sales, you’ll need to create a reputation that time spent with you is worth the investment.  If, over time, you can create that idea in the minds of your customers, you’ll find them generally willing to meet with you when you call.  And in an economy where “too much to do and not enough time to do it” is the prevalent mind set, that reputation is a valuable asset.

As is always the case, it starts with thoughtfulness and preparation.  As we prepare for a sales call, we so often think about what we want to accomplish and what we want to gain out of the sales call.  Very few sales people ever give any thought to what the customer gets out of it.  That’s the starting point.

Here’s a little mental trick to help you.  Before every sales call, when you are thinking about what you want to do, and what tools and materials you’ll need, take a moment and ask “What is the customer going to gain out of this time he spends with me?”

Here’s a list of some possible answers:

• Some good ideas to help him in his business or his job.
• Some ways to help him gain more business.
• Some ways to distinguish himself from others.
• Some ideas about how to reduce his costs.
• Some good things to think about.
• You helped him resolve some conflict.
• You helped him simplify things.
• You helped him solve some problem.
• You helped him move closer to some objective.
• You made him feel better about himself or his business.
• He got to spend time with your charming and entertaining personality.

The answer probably lies somewhere within the top ten items on that list.  If you can’t name anything that the customer will gain, then you can safely assume that the time the customer spends with you in that sales call will be a waste of his time.  Your relationship may be able to withstand one or two of those, but in the long-term, wasted time will destroy a business relationship.

If you are going to bring value to every customer, every time, then you’ll need to spend more time preparing to do so.  That brings us to two simple rules to add value to every sales call:

1.  Present something, every time.

2.  Ask something, every time.

Present something, every time, means exactly that.  You should, in every sales call with every customer and prospect, have something to talk about, to educate him on, which may be of value to him.

You can, for example, have an idea that you share.  Maybe an idea that will help him…

• cut costs
• increase revenues
• save time
• do something better or easier
• make him more valuable
• make his job easier.

You may have a story you can tell that provides an example of how someone gained a benefit, or solved a problem.

You could present a new product, a new product line, or a new application for an existing product of which he may not be aware.

You could present a service that your company offers in which he may be interested.

And finally, you could present a proposal to buy something from you.  The important thing here is that you prepare to present something to every customer and every prospect on every sales call.  And not just anything, but rather something that this particular customer may find of value to him.

Don’t forget rule number two:  Ask something, on every sales call, with every customer and every prospect.  And I don’t mean a question like, “What do you think of the weather today?”  Ask a question that causes the prospect/customer to

• think about his job or his business in some different way, 
• consider something that he has probably not thought of before,
• clarify some values, goals, objectives or strategies.

In my book, Question Your Way to Sales Success, I make the point that the ultimate power of a good question is that it causes the other person to think.  The thinking process that results is the value that a customer may receive from the time spent with you.  The purpose of the question is not for you to gain information, rather, it is to direct the customer to think about some things in different ways, so that the customer receives some value.

If you take the time to individually prepare something to present, and something to ask for each sales call, you will, more times than not, be perceived as bringing some value to the customer.  Over time, he’ll be more and more willing to meet with you.  And that reputation will be one of your greatest strengths in the marketplace.

by Dave Kahle
On first glance, this looks like a bit unrelated to the day-to-day challenges of an effective sales person. What has this to do with your interactions with your customers?

Consider the issue of “sales time.” Sales time is the time that you actually spend interacting with your customers either on the phone or in person. It is the heart of your job and the ultimate reason your company employs you. Investing your sales time effectively is the way that you achieve better results and earn your money.

Because of the demands for administration, reporting, preparing, travel, etc., the typical field sales person only spends about 25 percent of his/her work week in “sales time.” In our challenging economy, the demands on our time by the press of “other stuff” can be overwhelming.

We need to be constantly battling the allure of “other stuff” so that we are investing sufficiently in selling time. All things being equal, the more time you actually spend with your customers, the more successful you will be.

So that leads us to this question: What constitutes the biggest proportion of other stuff? What has the potential to overwhelm us, to rob us of our sales time by tempting us to invest our energies in something not nearly as effective?

The answer? Information. We are inundated with information. Consider the amount of selling literature, technical bulletins, computer reports, web pages, emails, voice mails, and memos from the boss that we have to deal with every day. All these are types of information. If we gave in to the temptation of dealing with all the information that comes our way, we could easily spend 8 – 15 hours a week doing nothing but that.

And that would not be a good idea. It would detract from our ability to create sales time, and immediately and negatively impact our performance.

That leads us to this best practice. The best performers don’t waste a lot of time dealing with useless information. They stay focused on the heart of the job – sales time – understanding that without quality time with their customers nothing else matters.

So, they create disciplines and strategies that enable them to deal with all the forms of information quickly and expediently. The run-of-the-mill sales people waste inordinate amounts of time processing information.

To learn more about this best practice:

• review chapters four and five of How to Excel at Distributor Sales
• review chapter eight of Ten Secrets of Time Management for Salespeople
• review chapter ten of Insights & Answers for Distributor Salespeople
• read the article on my website entitled “Managing Information.”
• purchase Best of Dave’s one hour seminar #43 “Get Organized! Managing Information before it Manages You.”

by Dave Kahle

One of my clients recently mentioned to me that, when hiring prospective sales people, he looks for a “passion for sales” in their personality. The idea struck me. I had never really thought in those terms before. What is a ‘passion for sales?’ What does it look like? Is it really an indicator of a successful sales person? And, how do you identify it?

Perhaps the reason it struck me is that for 20 years I have been working with sales people who, for the most part, never really started out wanting to be sales people. I think that is true of the overwhelming mass of sales people. They really didn’t get there by following a well defined, intentional career path. Most sales people sort of slid into sales as a result of being “nice” people, and showing some skills or knowledge which their bosses considered helpful for sales. They found the increase in income and the freedom to organize their day as they saw fit to be attractive aspects of the job. The next thing you know, they were a sales person.

But, a “passion for sales?” Rarely, in my experience. Here’s a test to see if you, or your sales people if you are a sales leader, have a passion for sales

Do you (or they) invest in their own development as a sales person? I am convinced that only one out of 20 sales people has actually spent $25.00 of his own money on his own improvement in the last 12 months. I believe that is an indication of a person’s interest in the profession of sales.

Here’s an example. I am a mediocre golfer. But I really like it. Since I have a “passion for golf,” I invest in my golfing ability. I subscribe to the magazines; I buy a golf book every now and then; I follow a couple of golf websites; and I take lessons every couple of years. I go to the driving range and practice almost every week in the summer. This year, I did a bit of a study on which golf ball I should be using, and made an informed decision. While I readily admit that I am not a good golfer, at the same time I will absolutely assert that I am getting better, always better. If I live long enough, I will become an excellent golfer.

There is nothing unique in that. What’s true for me and my passion for golf is true for everyone and their passions. It is certainly true of sales people. If they have a passion for the profession, they will invest their own time and money in it. They’ll subscribe to the magazines and Ezines, they’ll buy the books, go to the seminars, network with other good sales people, and practice as much as they can. Their money and time will follow their passion.

Is it an indicator of sales success? I think so. It may be the ultimate indicator of eventual sales success. Just like me and golf. Eventually, I am going to be a good golfer. My passion for it will lead me to learn, and eventually I will figure it out. So, too, for sales people. Given a modicum of talent, their motivation will drive them to learn, and eventually they will absorb enough of the principles and practices of effective professional sales, they will incorporate them into their routines, and they will be successful.

How do you identify it? Pre-hire aptitude assessments can uncover it. I remember taking a battery of psychological tests as part of the hiring process for one of my employers. The report that resulted pegged me as having “a singular intense attraction for persuasive activities.” In other words, a passion for sales. The pre-hire assessments that we sell provide a measurement of a candidate’s sales inclinations.

But, probably the best way is to examine their investments in themselves. Have they invested in their own growth as sales people? A number of years ago, I discovered that my alma mater, the University of Toledo, had a world-class sales school in the college of business. Young people actually take a major in “sales” and learn to sell in college. For a number of years, I have been donating a day a year, speaking to the classes of this number one rated sales school. How encouraging! An academic institution devoted to developing young people who have a passion for sales.
But few are fortunate enough to have been educated in the sales profession in college. That doesn’t stop those with the passion. The ultimate question is, “Have they invested in themselves?” Have they bought the books, attended the seminars, read the newsletters, etc.? If they have, you can be pretty sure they are passionate about the profession. If they haven’t, the opposite is true.

As an experienced sales trainer who has educated tens of thousands of sales people and their leaders, I can tell you that my job is so much easier when I have a room full of committed, passionate sales people. And so much more difficult when they really don’t care.

As for me and my company, I’ll take a passionate sales person every day of the week.

Q. I worked on a large bid for a company with which I had relationships in the past. I knew that we could do a great job for them but I also knew the buyer in charge of the project worked from fear and comfort and it would be a big change for him to turn over about 600K of business to us. I asked up front if we were to put something “special” together for him would we be given an opportunity or just used as a negotiating piece for the current vendor (my old company). I did not get a straight answer, and proceeded to put together an A+ presentation. We found out our program showed an immediate 15-18% reduction in cost. All of our information was given back to the current vendor and they eventually matched our proposal.

My question is: I am considering going over the local and national buyers head laying out the facts to a VP or CEO, not in spite, but to say if we did this on this opportunity what else could we uncover that may be being missed. Also should I have refused to move forward with the bid unless I received some kind of commitment guaranteeing me the business if I were to meet some specified requirement?

by Dave Kahle

A. This is one of the most difficult issues a B2B sales person faces. It represents one of the true “lows” of field sales. We often talk about the “highs” of gaining a big deal, but rarely the “lows” that come with being used and abused. Unfortunately, almost every sales person has one of these kinds of stories to tell. I can still remember a very similar situation in my experience. It was a several million dollar piece of business, involving a buying group, and I was left in the same situation you are in – a lot of work done to create a great proposal, and someone else, who had invested nothing, got the business on the basis of broken promises and a few cents difference. I was used and abused, and to this day, I have bad feelings about it.
Just as an aside, if you were the competitive sales person, you would be bragging about your relationship, and how you got the “last look” and the ability to meet some competitor’s best efforts. I’ve always had a bit of distaste for that approach, even though a number of sales people consider it desirable.

I’m not sure I have the 100% fool-proof solution to this, but I do have some thoughts to share.

First, let me respond to your specific question: Should you go over the buyer’s head to a VP or CEO? 

I don’t think so. No matter how careful you are, you are going to look like you are bitter and tattling on the buyer. You won’t look good, and that will come back to bite you some time in the future. 

Now, let’s try to learn from this. I see two questions:

1. What to do in this account? 
2. How to prevent this from happening again?

1. What to do in this account? 
If you can pull it off, you may want to find a way to share your view of things with the buyer. Does he even know that he did something that most people consider is immoral? He may think nothing of it. If you can have that conversation with him, it may make him feel a bit obligated to you in the future.

Chances are, though, that is not a conversation you will be able to have with this buyer. I honestly think, if it were me, I’d pull back and wait for a change in buyers before I put any significant investment of time or energy into the account. 

Those of you who have been through my system of rating accounts by potential will recognize that this account is low in “partnerability.” Hopefully, there are more responsive fish to fry elsewhere.

2. How to prevent this from happening again?
I’m going to share some thinking with you that you will probably have never heard before. You don’t want to have this happen to you again. To prevent this in the future, think about “risk.” 

“Risk,” in this particular case, is the fear in the mind of the customer of what might happen to him if he makes a mistake in awarding the business to someone he doesn’t know well.

One of the core reasons why you didn’t get the business is that, in the customer’s point of view, you represented a greater risk than their current vendor. (By the way, “risk” is one of the biggest issues in the buying/selling interaction. Check out my article on it, and consider one of my one hour seminars on it.)

This deal sounds like a big one, relatively speaking. The mistake that you may have made is to pursue a “big deal” in an account where you were viewed as the higher risk choice. This rarely ends up well, and more times than not, produces a result similar to the one you experienced. The other company, because of their past relationship, is always seen as lower risk than you. Since the customer is fearful of the risk, he’s going to find a way to do business with the lower risk choice.

Strategically, the way you make your option look like less risk is to do small pieces of business first, so that you establish some history of performance. Then, when the big deal comes up, you are operating from a “less risk” perspective. Alternatively, if you could have broken the $600K deal up into four or five smaller pieces, that could be executed and implemented sequentially, one-at-a-time, you would have had a better chance. Smaller deals are less risk.

I would generally NOT put much time and effort into pursuing “big deals” with accounts that had little previous experience with my company. I know they are tempting, but they almost always turn out like your experience — a waste of your time and energy. You get used and abused.

So, pick your battles carefully. Don’t put a lot of time and effort into “big deals” unless you have a history with the account, and are seen as a “low risk” provider. Your time and effort are valuable commodities. Don’t waste them on opportunities and customers that aren’t worth it.

Hope this helps. 

I just rode with two sales people for one of my clients. One of them went off with only the address of the company in his head. He took nothing into the sales call, and took no notes afterward. The other had looked up each call in the company’s CRM system, and had printed the records to take with him. He approached each sales call with a folder in which he had the printed record and some literature. Immediately after the sales call, he made notes on the document, and would enter it into the computer when he was finished for the day.

Guess which one produces more? You know, of course, that the second sales person produces about twice as much as the first.

I am absolutely befuddled by some sales people. Here is a simple, easy-to-implement best practice. Why aren’t you doing it? 

It is as if some sales people strive to be unorganized, slovenly and mediocre. If your company has created tools for you to use, USE THEM!!

The best sales people have briefcases jammed full of the literature and samples that the company has created. Mediocre sales people often go into a sales call with nothing in their hands, or briefcases loaded with next to nothing. In addition to sales literature, “tools” include presentations, forms, and electronic tools like software and computers of every variety.

Superstars view all of this as effective complements to their skills. Their company literature presents their case in a written format that can complement their verbal presentation. DVD and PowerPoint™ presentations portray the product/service in a more compelling way than the sales person can do alone. Forms help organize thoughts and require detailed thinking. Electronic tools like CRM systems help organize the sales call, and provide a way to automate routine tasks.

Mediocre sales people see all these things as encumbrances: More “busy work,” or someone telling them how to do their job, or encroaching accountability. The real issue underneath these excuses is their fear of, and inability to, change in positive ways and become more effective at their jobs. It is just easier to complain and find fault with the latest software tool that the company wants you to use, than it is to actually take the time to learn it.

Taking the time to learn the new thing, to make use of the latest tool, implies that you may not have been doing this the best way possible in the past. That implies that you can, and should, improve. It’s that implication that motivates most mediocre sales people to reject the company-provided tools. To accept them is to give tacit acceptance to the idea that they can and should improve. They would rather hide under the radar screen of accountability.

That’s why making good use of the company-provided sales tools is a best practice of the best sales people.

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For Sales Managers…

Use this rating scale to assess the extent to which each of your sales people evidence this best practice. 

Best Practice #10: Makes good use of the tools provided by the company.

Comments: __________________________________________________

To help your sales people implement this practice…

1. Make an inventory of all the literature, forms, electronics, software, etc. that your company has available as tools for the sales people.
2. At the next sales meeting, review each tool, indicate how it should be used, and the impact it can have.
3. Require the sales staff to begin using them.
4. As you ride with them, audit the contents of their briefcases and files to determine the extent to which they are using the company’s tools.
5. Recommend specific improvements for those who need them.
6. On the next visit, inspect the degree to which they made the improvements you indicated.

by Dave Kahle
A. Welcome to the bane of 21st Century sales people – Voice Mail! Yes, I have a number of ideas.

1. Give up thinking that there is a fool-proof magic set of words that are guaranteed to work. Nothing you do is going to be guaranteed, nor will any set of words work with everyone. You are going to have to steel yourself for a long-term frustrating experience, where success is defined as a few more returned calls this week than you got last week. It’s going to be a constantly moving, never-ending challenge.

2. Compare notes. Get together with your colleagues and brainstorm this question. What has worked for someone? Anyone have any success stories to share? Sometimes a word or story from someone else will generate a successful idea for you. A small group of sales people, working together, may be able to generate some ideas that will work for you and them.

3. Always remember WIIFM – “What’s in it for me?” Put yourself in the shoes of the person you are trying to call and ask yourself why they (you) should return the call. What’s in it for them? I know why you want them to return the call, but when looked at from the prospective of your customer, why should he/she devote five or ten minutes of valuable time to a phone conversation with someone he doesn’t know?

4. Don’t try to sell your product over voice mail, instead sell the return call. Your position should be that you are not trying to sell him anything; you just want to talk with him. At this point, the issue isn’t the price or product; it is the time it takes to talk with you. Give him a reason to talk to you.

5. The most powerful voice mail messages typically do one of these things:

a. reference a person you both know, perhaps someone who referred him to you.
b. reference a company that he knows for whom you have done some good things
c. mention a problem he is likely to have, for which you may have some ideas.
d. mention a specific benefit that would likely be important to him that he would gain from talking to you

6. Study your results. Keep good records, and constantly review your experience in order to learn from it. You may discover, for example, that you have a better chance of reaching CEOs if you call at 7:45 in the morning, rather than at 8:30. Or that a certain phrase or question works better than another.

Hope this helps. You have identified one of the top challenges for every sales person in the 21st century. There are no simple answers, only slight improvements. If you are really serious about improving in this skill, I have two resources to recommend. Check out my one-hour training audio training seminar entitled:
Victory over Voice Mail. If you have a group of sales people frustrated by the same problem, consider my small – group video training program by the same title. 
Good luck.

by Dave Kahle

Every now and then, I run across an idea which makes a significant impact on me. One such was the idea (I wish I could remember who first said it) that the surest indicator of success was the ability to deal effectively with adversity.

Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate the power and truth in that idea. The world is full of talented and intelligent people who never really succeed. But the surest indicator of success is not latent talent, natural abilities or native intelligence. It is, instead, the ability to get knocked down by life, and get up and go at it again.

This is particularly true for sales people. We typically fail more times than we succeed. It’s the rare sales person, for example, who sells more than 50 percent of the prospects. So failure is a regular part of our jobs. As is rejection and adversity of all kinds. Every “No” is a rejection. Every voice mail message is an obstacle.

Our days, weeks, years and careers are spilling over with failure, rejection and adversity.

The lesser sales people become burdened and lethargic with the weight of it, while the stars shrug it off and rise to try again.

It’s not that the sales superstars have less failure and adversity to deal with (although they may), it is that they recognize they need to manage themselves in light of the inevitable failure with which they must contend. They recognize the issue, and deal with it head-on.

In his great book. Learned Optimism, Dr. Martin Seligman describes the mechanics at work. When faced with adversity, some people give up and retreat into an attitude of “helplessness and hopelessness.” Others take control of their minds, and choose to think optimistic thoughts. As a result, they create more energy and more motivation. That energy and motivation channel themselves into more positive behavior, and that positive behavior brings better results.

Notice that this process starts with their thoughts. I have long thought that the ultimate playing field for the professional sales person (or any person, for that matter) resides within – inside the mind where one’s thoughts, emotions and beliefs are generated. Because it is those things that stimulate and influence behavior, and positive behavior produces positive results.

The best sales people have an understanding of this, recognize that their primary obstacles are internal, and develop disciplines and practices to overcome negative thoughts that emerge from adversity and replace them with positive thoughts.

Some of the techniques that superstars employ to help them overcome adversity include visualization, the use of positive affirmations, prayer, and learned optimism.

To learn more about this best practice,

• read Chapter 13 of How to Excel at Distributor Sales
• read Chapter 16 of Take Your Sales Performance Up-a-Notch
• listen to The Best Of Dave Kahle Phone Seminar#24

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For Sales Managers…

Comments: ___________________________________________________________

To help a sales person build this practice into a habit,

a. Share your assessment with them.
b. Talk about how that impacts their performance.
c. Refer them to one or more of the resources listed above.
d. Ask them to commit to a couple of specific changes.
e. Monitor their progress at a future, pre-determined date.

At a sales meeting, ask people to share one time in their lives when they overcame some adversity. It could be something small, like a bad experience at an account that they were able to turn around, or something much deeper, like overcoming a serious illness. If you ask them to prepare this beforehand, you’ll see much better responses. Use the stories as a means to build into people the concept of achieving success by overcoming adversity.