Monday 8 March 2010

A rather riduculous thing, running and sales



Hi

This is going to be one of my longer introductions to our monthly Irish newsletter (we're into our 8th year now) so if you are just after a round up of the Irish Auto News then go straight to the link below; however if you want to indulge me a little read on as I’ve got a rather ridiculous story to tell.

To pick up your newsletter click on http://www.saleslynx.co.uk/newsletters/irish/SaleslynxIrishAuto78.htm 

It’s too easy to get caught in all the negative stuff out there and it’s even easier in bad times to point the finger of blame at others, forgetting that we all have a part to play and that we can influence our destiny through what we do, how we do it, how we see things and by how we approach them.

In January I wrote about the importance of staying focused on the good stuff, the low interest rates, low inflation, falling new car prices, on communicating the positives to the customers and focusing on doing the basics right.

Well back in May last year I got an email, the content of which I’m going to reprint for you again. It’s inspirational, it’s genuine and I recommend that you share it with your sales people as a reminder on how their attitude can influence their sales.

An inspirational email

I want to give you a little background to the email. It’s from a salesman that I have worked with for a number of years. He’s in his mid 20’s and He lives and works in Dublin. He’s been one the best delegates that I have trained, he’s enthusiastic about training, he likes to learn and he’s not afraid to try.

This is his email exactly as he wrote it last May (I asked his permission to print it).

Hi Brian,


How the hell are you? I had to email you as I did something that is rather ridiculous in the current economic climate and if anyone would appreciate it, its you.


As you know, I've had a difficult year; in fact about a month and a half ago I lost my Grandmother too which was like rubbing salt in the wound after losing my mother. Basically I hit a all time low and didn't think I could pick myself up again, I had no interest in selling cars because it all seemed so insignificant.................so I made a decision, to try beat the sales record in the middle of this recession, I though that setting such a crazy goal would keep me focused and make me get back into selling again, I also knew that I can do anything if I put my mind to it.

So I gave up drink, I worked everyday and every hour I could, I answered every phone first, got to every customer first and I started to get back in the groove very quickly and before I knew it I had delivered 60 retail cars in 26 days; breaking my old record of 58 set back in January 2007.

Maybe in these depressing times when your training around the world this story could be worth telling other sales people who are struggling and think that you can't make money in this recession.

From the 9th of April until the 7th of May: 61 Hours a week, 244 hours in the month, 2.3 sales a day over 26 days - Record broken by 2 units.

Hope your well,

Regards

Ian


Postscript

I know that some people will think this is not real, that it’s an imaginary tale! Well it’s not and if you are a salesperson or manager then you need to take on board the message.

Ian has focused on what he can do, he’s set himself a goal and he’s worked his hard to achieve it. He’s focused on his activity and he’s taken every customer enquiry seriously. Perhaps that’s why he’s breaking sales records when others are not.

I love the line that he soon got back into the groove, because that’s exactly what we all need to do. There will be an end to this recession sometime and we need to stay focused on that. Lift yourself up, challenge yourself, rev your motivation and point yourself in the right direction, that’s what Ian did and look what he achieved.

Running and sales targets

If you know me well you know that I get off on running. I completed my first half marathon last year coming in at 2.00.52 on the main clock. I'm doing my second on the 21st march (the Reading Half Marathon) and I'm aiming to beat my 2 hours this time (I'm hoping for a 1hour 50 minutes).

So what’s running got to do with sales? Well targets for most things in life fall into the categories of quality, quantity, cost, profit and time. Running is said to be simple to measure; you have a distance and then complete the distance in a time (the 100 metres for example). It’s not that simple though; what if the distance is all uphill, what impact will that have on the time? What if the temperature is going to be high or the humidity high?

The conditions will have an influence over the result and you will have to work harder in tougher conditions (and smarter) to achieve similar results to the race before. It will have an impact on your time as well unless you train differently for the different conditions.

Well that’s the same in sales in my mind, the market conditions are tougher so we need to work harder and train differently. There are fewer prospects around so we really need push the boat out with every customer, give them the best demonstration we can, present the deal in the most enthusiastic way, communicate all of the positives and really do our best for every customer. The market today needs us to treat every customer like they are gold (because they really are) and treat them to the very best of our ability.

I also believe that we need to train harder for the current economic conditions, something that is easy to overlook when there are negative people all around you. I train 5 days a week for the reward that my running gives me. I train to make sure I’m prepared. I do it because I love it not because I’m forced to do it. I make time for it because if I didn’t then I might either injury myself or fail to meet my goal. Now there are people around me that say I’m mad (which is probably true), why bother, what’s the point in running. The point is that I’m doing it for me, the point is that enjoy it and the point is that it is rewarding for me.

And that’s exactly the sale in sales, if your salespeople don’t enjoy it, don’t find it rewarding, if they don’t want to work harder in a tougher environment and they are not prepared to train (or you to train them) then don’t be surprised if things don’t improve.

I think that Ian’s email says it better than I do. Nobody forced him to work so hard, he did it because he wanted to, to challenge himself and to see what he could really achieve. He achieved his goal and I know that he got his reward as well.

And finally

That’s it for this month, I hope that Ian’s story has touched you, it did me. I love the spring because there is a feeling of light about it, of new birth and summers on its way. The evenings will get longer, the temperature warmer, the flowers will be out and cars will be sold. If you haven’t picked up your newsletter then click on http://www.saleslynx.co.uk/newsletters/irish/SaleslynxIrishAuto78.htm.

Have a great March

Regards

Brian

www.saleslynx.co.uk

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