Many people think they are OK with sales, but you just have to look at the consistency of their sales activity to see if there is a problem. The classic symptom is the ‘feast or famine’ cycle. The business owner realises they do not have enough sales coming in and something must be done about it. They do a whole burst of activity that eventually leads to some work coming in. Soon even more work comes in and it’s normally at this point the sales activity slows down and eventually returns to a complete standstill.
Increase self motivation
Having highly motivating goals and a plan to obtain them can often overpower any sales reluctance and drive forward activity. The problem is that many business owners do not understand how to keep their motivation levels consistently high. ‘Feast and Famine’ is driven by fear and that is not a good form of long term motivation. I prefer to help people to learn how to motivate themselves.
Increase clarity
You can be highly motivated but if you are unsure about what you should be doing or where you should be focusing your efforts then the uncertainty can lead to reluctance. Your energy will be sapped and you will not know why. It’s because you are confused and need more clarity. Clarity comes from asking better questions of yourself that get you thinking in new ways. I find that people often complicate matters and the best answers are so simple that a five year old child would be able to understand them.
When working with people to help them gain clarity around sales
- Who is your target audience?
- Where is their pain (i.e. what problems do they have that are hurting badly)?
- How do you take the pain away?
- Why should they do business with you specifically?
- How can you prove you can take their pain away?
