SalesSuccessIntl.net

Archive for the ‘Sales Skill’ Category

Start with a cage containing five monkeys.

Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string, and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray that monkey and all of the other monkeys with cold water.

After a while, another monkey makes an attempt, with the same result- all the monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will attack that monkey in order to prevent it.

Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage, and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs, and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm!

Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, it is attacked.

Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, nor why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

After replacing all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys has ever been sprayed with cold water, nor do they know why they behave that way. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know, that’s the way it’s always been done around here.

As a former turn-around manager and consultant, with a Masters in Financial Management, I went into eleven failing businesses and made ten of them highly successful. What did the failing businesses have in common? Top management tended to diligently defend their management methods, the ones that had brought them to the brink of failure. In other words, the managers subconsciously chose being right over being rich.

At each failing company, I established mandatory sales training programs, incorporating the sales process that eventually became known as High Probability Selling. All salespeople were required to participate in the training, except the top two or three. It was optional for the top performers.

What was the common thread among these diverse sales organizations? Only about half of the salespeople were willing to change their sales beliefs or methods. Those that did quickly increased their sales volume and their compensation; those that did not soon left those companies.

Undoubtedly, some of the people who would not, or could not, learn a new sales process just did not have the “right stuff”- the attributes, talent or motivation to become a highly successful salesperson. But, most did. They just refused to change the way they sell. I have never been able to figure out why a large percentage of salespeople, those who have the right attributes to become successful, get stuck in false beliefs about “what works” in sales, and reject any other way of thinking.

One of the challenges we face in teaching High Probability Selling is that most salespeople believe that they need to improve their ability to persuade people to buy an expensive product or service that they did not already want. In other words, they believe that a salesperson is supposed to convince other people to change their minds.

According to our research, only a tiny fraction of salespeople can consistently get prospects to change their minds. Not sure? Just think about how difficult it is for you to convince yourself to do something that you do not already want to do.

When you utilize the High Probability Selling process, you will only meet with prospects that already want your type of product or service. You will do business with them on the basis of Mutual Trust, Mutual Respect and Mutual Commitements. Are you capable of that kind of change? Are you ready?

So, where do you stand? Are you fulfilling or exceeding sales projections? If the answer is “No,” ask yourself “Why?” If you question whether your product or service, and its positioning, is the problem, just look around. Are there other salespeople in your industry earning a very nice living? If not, move on. If so, you’d better make a major change in what you are doing. Don’t fall into the trap of “being right” instead of being rich!