Friday, September 28, 2012

Experience Matters for Sports Refs and Sales Reps



Just because you know the rules doesn’t mean that you can compete in the big leagues. Let’s take the recent bad-call-heard-round-the-world during the Packers/Seahawks game. Are high school refs qualified to be reffing professional football games?  I have no doubt that they are well-versed in the rules of the game, but they have no experience working at the professional level.  It’s not their fault that they don’t have the experience, but it does not mean that we have to respect bad calls.  Enterprise selling is not that different.  There are over 13 million sales people in the US operating on many tiers. There is no way that that 13 million people can compete at the enterprise sales level.

What makes an enterprise salesperson different?

1.     They have moved their way up the ranks selling at all levels. In other words, they have experience.
2.     They have training.  No one just gets to walk into any high level sales job, one needs to have been taught methodologies to perform at the highest level and prove they can meet and exceed their numbers time and time again.
3.     They are able to see the forest through the trees. (Insert any analogy that relates to big picture thinking.) They not only possess the interpersonal skills that make them affable and trustworthy, but also they are able to understand how the org puzzle fits.  They are able to connect the all of the data points that will drive more closes faster.  They are able to use the tools that they have at their disposal to scale their sales cycle, guiding their prospects to closure.
4.     They not only react, but they anticipate. They see the big picture and they know how to use the technology tools to navigate complex sales cycles.
5.     They possess agility.  When they know the deal is not going down how it should be, they move quickly and bridge gaps.  Not with a sense of urgency, but with calm redirection.  Think of a duck on a placid lake:  above the water they look calm and confident and below the water their feet are moving at turbo speed to stay afloat.

So want to play with the big kids? Arm yourself with the tools and methodologies to take your sales skills to the next level.

To learn more about competing at the enterprise sales level, check out our latest webinar that we are co-hosting with CustomerCentric Selling®



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