Does the Truth hurt?

The truth does not hurt but it is a difficult pill to swallow.

A friend/mentor advised me today that I have warts; I knew I had them but it is always better to have them pointed out by someone who only looks to your best interests.

The good thing about warts is that they are easily treated. A little work, a little freezing or duct tape and they are gone.

How does this apply to sales?

Knowing where your weaknesses are means you can look in the right direction and take the steps to turn them into strengths. Accept the truth from one you trust and believe that it IS in your best interests to continue to grow, learn and develop. Take courses, listen, observe, listen, use your awareness to your advantage.

STOP talking when you see they are no longer listening; remember that I said their opinion is more important than yours- to them. Let them talk, let them sell for you. Let them help you help them.

Procrastination, I have found, is ego driven too. If you delay you can extend the time that you are of value, you can increase your importance or you will, in reality, merely become a drain on resources.

Focus on the outcome and do everything needed to arrive at that end. Then, and only then, will you find you will shorten the sales cycle, increase performance and revenues. The strangest thing is that you will end up being of more value to your clients and employer and will become vastly more important. You will also find your stress levels are greatly reduced because you never have to worry about getting it done; you already have.

That brings me to paperwork. The bane of every salesman and sales manager.

I had a coach once who taught me a great lesson... he taught me everything I knew BUT he did not teach me everything he knew. That was painfully demonstrated at the end of the drill.

I have learned this lesson applies to paperwork too.

What I leave behind in notes is what I know, sort of the reason for this blog actually; a test to see what I do know. However, there is more than just notes. There is the entire sales process that must be respected.

All too often the word teamwork is thrown around within a sales organization. All too frequently it seems that is where it stays; in the sales organization. There are several others within that company that have integral roles in the success of the whole team.

How can the correct product be delivered if the sales order is not explicit? They don't know what you do so tell them. It saves time, confusion, error and money to get it right the first time.

How can the correct revenue be generated and collected if Purchasing does not know what you need for your client and Administration does not know what you are charging?

How can Client Services deliver/install/train/support efficiently if you do not let them know what expectations the client has? You can only know what the expectations are if you LISTEN and OBSERVE and are AWARE of what the client knows.

How do you know what you have done or said if you do not write it down?

Paperwork helps everyone from the client, to you, to your company.

It breaks down silos and allows all the internal clients you have work best with your external clients. It makes your life easier and best of all; no one is yelling at you!

Am I perfect at any of these? Nope! Do I work at them? Absolutely! Even more so now that I have been writing this. I am determined never to get yelled at again so I work at it every day. I am reading. Listening to friends/mentors, taking advice and keeping my ego where it belongs. Lately, I have been told that I seem calmer, quieter and 'deeper'.

Am I ready to manage a team? Yes, because I am beginning to understand my weaknesses, to recognize them, work to correct them and have really applied my 'terminal curiosity' to life-long learning.

If you have ouind your way to these posts AND have read this far I hope I have helped? It has helped me find my way.

Thank you.