How can you turn a good sales force into an exceptional sales force?

It doesn’t matter if you are a sales force of one or there are hundreds on your sales team, there is one driving factor that all top sales producers have. Lisa Earle McLeod, a former top sales professional for Proctor and Gamble, sales researcher and author of “Selling with Noble Purpose”, was commissioned by a large pharmaceutical company to determine what actions their top sales people were doing differently than their average sales people.

After 10,000 hours of research what she discovered was profound.  Her discovery has changed the sales process and can help you increase your sales or help you change what you are selling.  The discovery is that:

Sales people that have a noble sales purpose outperform sales people that work toward sales goals and money.

A noble sales purpose is the why behind the driving force of sales people.   The metrics of any business is important but only reflects what has happened.  Making a profit is important. Meeting sales targets is important. Sending more e-mails or making more calls is important to be a top performer.  The top business people do all those activities, but it is the why, that sales purpose that drives them to make the extra calls or send that extra e-mail.

If you focus only on how the customer can improve your bottom line that will come across in your dealings with those customers.  If in your sales meetings you only focus on metrics that will be translated to you customers.  Your customers will reflect that toward you in looking for the lowest cost and employees will leave for slight increases in pay or what they perceive as better working conditions.  Let’s discuss briefly sales purpose, goals and profits.

1. Identify your noble sales purpose.  The noble sales purpose is what drives a person to make a difference.  It could be: making something safer, more valuable, improved life style, making their work easier or helping someone make more money.  You have to identify your passion.
2. Goals are only a motivator to a point.  If you are a goal driven or a task orientate person then meeting metrics is important to you, but when you identify the why behind what keeps you motivated, you improve your ability to reach your goals.
3. Profit is only a motivator to a point.  Yes, profits are important to operating a business, grow a business and provide for our families and employees but the why is the driving motivator.

To focus on serving your customers, you can begin by asking the question:

How will your customer be different as a result of doing business with us?
If you are having trouble thinking of reasons why a business should work with you and by working with you they will be able to improve, ask the following questions?

1. How will they be safer?
2. By doing business with you what is the impact on their families?
3. Will you improve their lives?
4. How will you help them serve their customers?
5. Can you help your customers make more money?
6. Can you help your customers be more efficient?

I recommend reading “Selling with Noble Purpose” for more information about building a sustainable sales team.

Question: How can you implement these ideas to increase your business? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Quote of the Week: “You will get all you want in life, if you help enough people get what they want.” – Zig Ziglar