(925) 977-3400At 8pm yesterday, something happened that strongly reminded me of how valuable sales skills can be. His name is Brian Savage. Homeless at 15, he dragged himself out of the Minneapolis shelter that took him in only to become drug addicted and homeless again by 17. His mother got back on her feet and found a place of her own, taking him in and encouraging him to clean up – fitting some tough love in between the average 14 hour days she put into the two low paying jobs she was lucky enough to land. After a year of struggle, and a short stint in the clink, Brian shook his habit, turning his attention to basketball and his church. Unfortunately, without a high school diploma, any work history (since dealing drugs isn’t exactly a resume builder,) Brian had few options to earn money. A couple of minimum wage, overnight janitorial jobs made him think that this might just end up being the rest of his life. Then at 20, he found a job that didn’t care about his background or his education, only his ambition. What’s more, the training he would receive, mostly on the job, would increase his life skills and bring him into the “legal” economy from the shadows. Finally, it leveraged a lot of the survival tactics he had learned through his difficult life and a few of the genetic traits – like a big smile and a way of speaking that would do Luther Vandross proud. So who hired this kid? A direct sales company of course.
About one year later, Brian was standing on my front porch at 8:05pm, in the dark and cold of a February evening, nervously eyeing my growling Great Dane with a smile on his face and eventually convincing me to part with $360 for magazines I neither need nor want. His commission from this sale (65%) was $234 which helps to explain why he’s earning an average of $1,200 per week going door to door. Brian is an unbelievable sales person. He asked questions in a practiced (but still casual) way. Before ten minutes passed, he was asking for the business, upselling me into other products, and increasing the length of each subscription by continuing the dialogue. Admittedly, I’m a sucker for a good sales person and complete milquetoast for a great one. I have to protect myself from sales people because I will spend money to reward someone I learn something from. That all being said, the fact that a kid from the hood with a rap sheet, a middle school education, and a newly overcome addiction had the kind of game this young man displayed gives me hope for our whole society. The observation that sales skills can be taught, honed, and practically perfected over the course of a very short period of time sends a powerful message…if he can do it, why do so many people with lots of advantages, education, and experiences struggle to gain marginal sales skills?
One of the key ingredients, and one you can’t manufacture, is desire for success. Brian may have a lot of challenges but his drive pushes him to learn new things, suffer the cold and the elements, and regularly/consistently get yelled at/barked at/kicked out/flung aside just to sell a few magazines. There are probably lots of lessons one could draw from this story – the one that applies to most of us seems to be simply this: to get better at sales, pick a sales process, surrender to it and learn it well, and make consistent sales calls. Everything else is just stuff. Some of that stuff is important…most of it has nothing to do with sales.
When you examine Brian’s approach, his success really boils down to these three simple concepts:
- Choose a systematic approach to sales – one that is simple, easy to understand, and relates to your product or service. Don’t spend time convincing yourself the system won’t work – it will. Just like the radio in your car, it has to be ON to function. Turn the system on and get your fears, doubts, concerns, critiques out of the way.
- Practice. Somewhere along the way, we forget that anything we want to improve requires consistent and intentional practice. From what I’ve seen in my career, the sales people with all the gold have a practice routine, even if they’ve been at it since the Mesozoic era. Find ways to respond to objections, hone your closing and relationship definition skills, value statements, questioning skills in your spare time when the stakes are low. Make flash cards that you can use throughout the course of your day. Ask your spouse or significant other to quiz you – you can be just like Inspector Clouseau of Pink Panther fame who had his assistant Cato attack him at random to improve his self-defense skills. Just don’t hurt yourself. A little effort here will go a long way…get serious about your practice and the sales will follow.
- Increase your consistency. Brian hits 35-60 doors a day, every single day. He’s learned the numbers matter and the more doors he hits the more money he earns. As we progress in our sales careers, we let things get in the way of our sales time. Can you imagine how your sales would increase if you spent even half as much time as Brian knocking on doors? Figure out a consistent, daily sales regimen you can commit to – and make it as important as your coffee in the morning or your mealtimes. You wouldn’t think of starting the day without your coffee (tea, diet Coke, whatever) right? So why would you let your sales day progress without a routine of its own? Create a commitment to sales consistency and watch the results soar.
Brian Savage overcame his circumstances, poverty, addiction, homelessness and a lack of education through the acquisition and implementation of an impressive set of sales skills. Can you overcome the obstacles you put in your own way to do the same?