Here at The Southwestern Company, I’ve spent years reading about and observing how people are motivated. We’ve spent countless thousands of dollars on motivational contests, incentives and awards. While my short little blog won’t fully answer the question posed above, Daniel Pink’s thought-provoking book called Drive, does. In it, Pink presents 40 years of scientific evidence that extrinsic motivators don’t work in the long run; rather, the secret to high performance is the deep human need to direct our own lives, and to learn & create new things. Contests, cash incentives–even paying your kids for good grades–work in the short run, but then can have serious negative ramifications.
If you are a sales manager, a VP of sales, an artist, a business owner or someone who is just trying to lose weight, it would be wise to read and ponder Pink’s latest book. The old “carrot and stick” mentality regarding contests, work, compensation and motivation needs an overhaul.
Here is Pink describing this Drive thesis at a TED conference. Click here.
I ran across an article which intrigued me. It is excerpted from a book called Is There Life before Death? by NLP master practitioner and author, Steve Andreas. Think about your sales and how you see yourself as a salesperson; think about how the language you choose to describe yourself and what you do is important.
Often people don’t pay much attention to the words they use to describe themselves, and the consequences and ramifications of using these words. For instance, people who have had horrible experiences–particularly in early childhood–often describe themselves as “scarred for life.”
In the first place, they are engaged in fortune-telling without being qualified: No one can predict the future that well. Some people continue to suffer from traumatic experiences into their later years, but many others don’t. Secondly, they don’t examine the meanings of the words they use. Most people go “Oh, ‘scarred for life,’ Yes, terrible!” without thinking about what the words actually mean. I have quite a few scars, and none of them bother me a bit. Scar tissue is often considerably tougher than the original. Only a few scars continue to produce discomfort, and even then the discomfort is more often due to damage that never fully healed, than to the scar tissue itself. Scarring is actually a sign that the body healed itself and made itself whole again.
Even the meaning of obvious scars depends on how they are viewed. Early in this century in Germany, a visible dueling scar was considered a badge of honor. When I was in high school in New Mexico in the 1950′s, many students flaunted their knife scars as a sign of bravery. Some African tribes deliberately create elaborate decorations on their skins by scarring. I have even met quite a few women with scars that made their faces much more interesting than they would have been without them. So what does “scarred for life” really mean?–only what you choose it to mean.
So what words do you use to describe your week? Here’s what I’ve heard at Southwestern Sunday meetings:
“It’s horrible.”
“I’m dying out here.”
“I’m got slaughtered this week!”
Are these descriptors really that accurate?
One sharp, bubbly Student Manager I met with even had her own nickname: DRAMA. She had assigned herself this moniker because she said she took little things and made them complicated and complex. She overthought and consequently everything became a big deal! Second-guessing herself felt natural–her life was “always a drama”!
Cute and memorable? Yes. Helpful? No.
The metaphors and images–even our nicknames–have a way of steering our thinking and our lives. It’s wise to be cautious about the ones we use, and it’s wise to examine them to see if they are taking us where we really want to go.
What words, thoughts and comments does this invoke? How do you label your experiences? Let me know.
For those of you who are doing too well, here are some ways you can reduce your sales productivity and be unhappy, whether you’re selling with the Southwestern Company or in any sales career:
1) wish you were somewhere else, doing something else
In other words, avoid being present! Let your mind drift off to home, to greener pastures, to more pleasant activities. (Remember sitting in the classroom back at school, gazing out the window, and not paying attention to what was happening in the lecture?)
2) ponder your defeats
It’s easy to catch yourself doing something wrong. We all tend to dwell on our misteaks (I know, I was just testing you). What’s far more difficult is to notice your victories and what you’ve done well that day.
3) get really satisfied with your production
My first summer selling with the Southwestern Company, I did well–for the first 90% of the summer. Then I had a rather destructive thought. It was, “Wow. I’ve made three times more money than I made last summer.” I suddenly felt rich. My drive, my competitive nature, my interest–all flagged. And my last two weeks selling that summer were in survival mode. “Satisfied-itis” had set in.
4) compare yourself to top salespeople
In order to really feel less than adequate, use phrases like: “If only I could sell like _______ ,” or “Why can’t I sell like ______?” If you ask a bad question, your brain will provide a bad answer. Remember, you are not your units. You are not your production.
5) tell yourself you suck at sales
It’s impossible to perform well while at the same time reminding yourself how bad you are at the task. Imagine the result if your self-talk about driving was, “I am a bad driver. I just have wrecks. Accidents happen to me all the time. Man, I can’t drive.” Then you start the ignition. Change your self-talk! You want the right kind of self-fulfilling prophecy when it comes to your sales.
Do you have more strategies to fail? Feel free to comment–just avoid the suggestions!
If you’re out there selling books with the Southwestern Company this summer, here are some great ideas from Haley Price (author of your inspirational flip book) on how to improve. If you’re not on the bookfield, these are still applicable to a sales career.
1. Expect it to be a killer week. Don’t hope for a great week; EXPECT one. Behave as though there is not a doubt in your mind that you will hit your goals this week – and you may surprise yourself in finding that you do!
2. Ask for referrals. Whether Mrs. Jones buys your books or not – ask her if she knows anyone that might be interested in sitting down with you to have a look.
3. Ask trial closing questions. Don’t be afraid to hear the word, “No”. Throughout your conversation, ask questions like, “So far, does this look like something that would be helpful for your family?” Questions such as these give you the opportunity to asses Mrs. Jones’ level of interest, and also allows for you to cover various objections in advance.
4. Clean out your car every night.
5. Don’t say a single negative thing from sun-up to sun-down on Monday.
6. Commit to giving 10% (or more!) of this week’s profit to your favorite charity or cause.
7. Give to Get. Gain trust with your customers by offering guidance , advice or insight on school, getting into college, etc. This will make you far more credible with your customers, and you will likely sell more books. Worst case scenario: you have helped a family through offering your perspective!
8. Add One Sit-Down Every Day. On Tuesday, sit down with one more family than you did on Monday. On Wednesday, sit down with one more family than you did on Tuesday – and so forth. If you do this through Saturday, you will likely see an increase in customers and units as well.
9. Time Yourself – set a stopwatch and refuse to allow yourself to sit in a house for longer than 20 minutes. You CAN get a yes or a no in 20 minutes.
10. BREAK YOUR BELIEF BARRIERS- convince yourself that you CAN hit your goal this week. Don’t look at it as too lofty or outrageous or unattainable. It’s POSSIBLE. YOU CAN – and WILL – HIT YOUR GOALS THIS WEEK.
I’ll tell you the greatest secret to my success and the biggest reason most people fail. It’s not lack of desire, big dreams or even motivation. It is not a fear to sign up, try or to even get started. People go to seminars, buy books, join gyms, start diet programs or sign up for a new business opportunity. Starting is not the problem. Staying is. A commitment to consistency is the key. My definition of commitment is doing the thing you said you were going to do long after the mood you said it in has left you. People get excited, they get started, maybe even experience some success, but then they stop or stall. That start-and-stop process kills momentum and destroys progress in every pursuit–that’s true in your relationships, in your wealth-building plan, with your diet and fitness, and it’s most certainly true in building a direct selling organization.
Hardy goes on to say:
It’s not about who gets started first or fastest, but about who can repeat the simple disciplines, the core fundamentals, over and over, consistently over time….That is why the tortoise beats the hare every time–not because the tortoise is more talented, experienced or faster, but because the tortoise is simply and relentlessly consistent.
I think about the student dealers in the Southwestern Program. Why do we give the “I Wanna Win” award to those who have their best sales at the end of their summer? Because it’s harder to finish than to begin. The greatest feeling in the world is finishing strongly–to acknowledge that you have “left it all out on the field”. That you’ve spent yourself doing your best. (By the way, we do not have an “I Wanna Begin” award because it’s easy to start things–way harder to finish.)
Please share your strategies on how you maintain your focus, effort and energy while you sell!
Music is powerful. It can recall a distant memory. It can change your mental state in just a few seconds. Music can pump you up or calm you down. I recall setting best times during a swim meet with Beethoven’s Ninth banging around in my head! If you’re selling with the Southwestern Company, music can be part of your morning ritual to get ready for Mrs. Jones.
So here’s a question for salespeople: what music motivates you? Do you get fired up before your sales day with some old time Rock & Roll? or with some heavy-duty rap? Or do you like to get centered, focused and calmed down with a dose of Brahms (classical), or even some Dave Brubeck (jazz)?
I’m conducting the most un-scientific study ever. The poll is in the margin to your left. Vote for the music genre that inspires you to be your best!That puts you in the mood to sell. Also, feel free to comment if you want to get really specific with a group or performer. (Eg. “James Blunt really gets me jacked up!”) Let’s see how we use music to get into a peak selling state.
What’s the difference between success and failure in sales? Ideal territory? Extra calls? More hours worked? Twice the interpersonal skills? More lucky breaks? Or is it some people have what it takes and some people don’t? All these are important, whether you’re selling clothing, cars, or working in the Southwestern Company summer program.
Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach who brought the Green Bay Packers from 15 losing seasons to successive Super Bowl championships, that success was a matter of inches. A bit more focus, one extra push in practice, second effort for a tiny additional gain. He didn’t ask his players to be something other than what they were–he asked them to improve their best one inch at a time. He knew inches add up, both in life and in a sales career.
At Southwestern, we call it the slight edge philosophy–all the little extras top salespeople do to gain a slight edge on the competition: working when you don’t feel like it, making a call beyond the suggested schedule, closing one more time, taking time to memorize your customers’ names, repeating positive affirmations out loud, reading technical material at night after work.
Question: are you doing all those little things you used to do when you were excited about your work? Are you working with the same focus and enthusiasm as you did the first week? These little things–these “inches”–separate top sales people from average producers.
Today, I will be aware that I am a champion in the making. I may not make a complete turnaround in one day, but I will make progress.
If you sell books with the Southwestern Company, you invariably hear at some point in your summer, “You’re a great salesperson, BUT…” AAaargh! It’s then that you realize you are selling logically, not emotionally. No sale.
Mrs. Jones can hear a nice polished demo, she can see your product is good, but, does she need it? No. Does she want it? Nope, not really.
The sales presentation we use at Southwestern involves a great deal of logic. Here are a few statements which will help overcome objections which deal the emotion that causes people to want your product. I usually inserted one of more of these after I gave her the price. They can be used as part of your demo, or to answer objections:
“We can’t afford it.”
“You know, Betty, it’s kinda like one mom told me. She said, ‘Lee, There is no best time to buy anything because we always have bills. And we spend money on all kinds of things—hundreds of dollars on appliances, like plasma TVs, xBox’s, iPhones… A lot of the time, we don’t spend that much on good books or on educational software in comparison to what we spend on other things.’ Betty, a year from now when you look back on it, do you think you’d ever really miss the money you put into these?”
Or…
“One mom said, ‘We’ve spent hundreds of dollars on toys, video games, PS3 systems, …and the kids end up breaking them, losing them, or totally losing interest and they just lie around. Getting something educational that will really make a difference in their future, that would be a worthwhile investment!’ Can you see why she felt that way?”
And/or…
“I was talking with one lady, and she said, ‘You know, I guess the only thing more expensive than a good education is no education at all.’ It seems like the people with the best educations get the best jobs. Money spent on education now might seem like an expense at first, but when you think about it, it’s really an investment isn’t it?”
Or how about—
“One mom said, ‘Even if my kids just used them once or twice a week—just a little bit—it would be worth it because of all the times they asked me questions about their homework and I couldn’t help them. Not a good feeling to have. I just want to give them every opportunity to get ahead and to get better grades.’ That makes sense doesn’t it?”
You see, if you want to get Mrs. Jones to a feeling level, you have to speak her language, remember? We are not selling books to college students! We are traveling to the Land of Parenthood, where they speak a little differently and respond to different things. Try some of these phrases—with conviction! Experiment. Learn to tap in to selling with emotion and you’ll improve your sales.
I think it might be physically impossible to have a bad day after a morning like that.
While not always a common practice, many successful people engage in similar affirmation rituals every single day.
What exactly are affirmations, you ask? Well, we all affirm ourselves constantly. For better, or for worse. Our affirmations are the stream of dialogue that flows through our brains each and every day. They are the thoughts we have about ourselves, our abilities, our expectations, and others. They are also in the words we speak and the actions we take on a daily basis. This flow of information is our output into the world. It affirms that our belief systems (the way we view the world, ourselves, and other people) … are indeed true. These affirmations are, in effect, programmingour brains.
So it is our decision whether our affirmations are positive – or negative. They can tell us how happy and at-ease we are (or, how much we like our pajamas). Alternatively, they can tell us that people are cruel and life is hard and we were intended to live a life of suffering.
And just like when you program a computer – what you put into it, is what you get out of it. Garbage in; garbage out, as they say. Same goes for how we communicate with ourselves. We actually TELL ourselves and those around us what we want out of life. How we want to feel, what we want to experience, who we want to surround ourselves with, etc. It’s amazing how much of our reality is actually up to us.
And yes, it may seem (or look) silly to a bystander, but I’d be willing to bet that if we all started our days a little more like Jessica – in some capacity or other - we’d see our lives (and our summer’s) get a whole lot more fruitful.
A week ago I attended a Southwestern Company Sunday Meeting. I had a great time with 100 sharp, mostly-motivated college students who’d just finished their third week on the bookfield. One personal conference with a veteran student manager reminded me of my bookselling days.
She explained that she really wanted to do well, that she was working really hard giving enthusiastic demos, but she wasn’t selling like she wanted to. People assured her that she was a good salesperson, but they just weren’t buying. It reminded me of me.
I was a top salesperson, I was an Organizational Leader, and always felt added pressure to perform strongly from the start of the summer. I had to set the example and do well to give hope to the rookies (and myself)! Often I found I would overtry–I would want to do well so badly that I pushed, ever so slightly, with Mrs. Jones. Maybe just subconsciously. I probably wasn’t aware of this, of my neediness to make a sale, but I’m sure the moms I demoed to did.
I would invariably call in to the Southwestern Company and speak with Allen Clements or Roy Loftin, and they would give me sage advice. They would say, “Lee, QUIT SELLING!”
I’d say, “Huh?”
They’d say, “Relax, and let people buy….”
At first, this sounded like the dumbest advice anyone could give me, but after thinking about it and letting go a bit, I found their advice was on-target.
Have you ever competed in a race? Perhaps you were a runner, a basketball player, in my case a swimmer. If you were uptight and tried too hard, you probably noticed your times were slower, or you missed baskets you normally would make. As a sprinter, I know now that if I overtry, I can reduce my efficiency in the water and slow down my race.
So it goes with selling. You have to be willing to give 100% effort to make the sale, but you also have to not care if you do. You must be focused and relaxed all at once. People subconsciously pick up on the fact that you really, really need a sale! (They probably also notice your white knuckles during the close.) They like your product, but they don’t buy. The reason is you are overselling. Ease off. When you say, “if you like it fine, if not, that’s OK too” you have to mean it! If you are just saying these words, but are thinking, “Please buy! Please buy!”, folks can pick up on this.
So quit selling; relax and let people buy. You will discover that your sales will once again return. Share your thoughts–can anyone relate to this?
There Life before Death? by NLP master practitioner and author, Steve Andreas. Think about your sales and how you see yourself as a salesperson; think about how the language you choose to describe yourself and what you do is important.
what you choose it to mean.
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