This is part one in a 5-part series about challenging as a part of selling.
We'll talk later in the series about challenging buyers. First, let's talk about the most important person you need to challenge if you are to be successful in sales.
(No, it's not your sales manager.)
The most important person to challenge in selling is yourself.
Start by challenging your assumptions about every single prospect and client you call on. Those assumptions are preventing you from opening sales and from closing sales, too. Every time you say "no" instead of giving a buyer the chance to do so, you're operating on an assumption.
Common assumptions about buyers include: they don't have enough money, they wouldn't be interested, they're satisfied with their current vendor, they already have enough information about us, and they're solid and don't need anything more from us.
These assumptions, left unchecked, leave the door open to your competitors. Sellers make these assumptions because they are pre-qualifying prospects and managing their time. At least that's what they tell themselves. In my observations, sellers stretch those assumptions too far and too often. That's why you should challenge yourself to re-examine and reconsider any preconceived notions you have about buyers.
Next, challenge your sales habits. As your skills and experience have grown, you've developed shortcuts and workarounds. Are they still working for you as well as they once did? Or have they become hindrances? What tools or skills have you neglected because they weren't valuable to you in the past? Is there a chance they may be more necessary now than they were in the past?
Challenge yourself to consider these possibilities. Give yourself a reality check as you self assess. If your performance has slipped, own the responsibility for that rather than blaming the unfair quotas, pricing constraints, economic conditions, intensified competition or other external factors. Ultimately, these factors will only affect your performance if you are not developing new skills and techniques for dealing with them.
Your third challenge for yourself will be to take a few risks. Whatever you need to do differently will require some trail and error, including some failure. That's a part of the learning process. You will not progress without failing forward. You will not overcome changing sales conditions and your current struggles without taking risks to change the game.
Feeling a little risk averse? You're not alone. Most people would prefer to avoid taking a personal risk. But you know what's more risky than not taking a risk to improve yourself? Not taking a risk is riskier. Counting on all those external variables to align in your favor is the riskiest strategy of all. The cost of your inaction is likely to be much higher than any risk associated with putting yourself back in charge by challenging yourself to grow.
Challenging yourself is how you will get back in control of your sales performance. If you refuse to challenge yourself, you may as well admit defeat.
If you don't challenge yourself, your Willy Loman-esque self delusions will keep you from achieving the success you could be enjoying. It's up to you. Challenge yourself or resign yourself to an ever-increasing set of environmental challenges you'll never be able to control.
