Sales Wolf Blog

“Nothing happens in business until something gets sold.” - Thomas J. Watson, IBM Chairman and CEO, Called “The World’s Greatest Salesman”

All of our business successes hinge on selling. Sell and succeed. Don’t sell and die. It is an absurdly simple formula.

So why do so many businesses screw it up?

The death of a business ultimately starts at the head – the CEO. What the CEO allows, so shall the sales team.

All problems start at (and in) the head.

Have you ever seen a star pitcher or quarterback just lose their IT factor in the middle of the season? Their mojo is gone. They can’t score a touchdown or strike out a guy for anything. But just a week or two (or a season or two) prior, they were at the top of their game.

Sure, there is the inevitable physical decline in athletes, but that’s usually pretty recognizable. This is different. I would even say it is an aura they project.

They lost their mojo.

You’ve heard of Scott Adams. You’ve inevitably seen his work posted around your office. No, we’re not talking about those insipid motivational posters that show a soaring bald eagle and pithy, generic phrase like, “Only those who strive will fly.”

Adams created the comic “Dilbert”, which has been circulated in 2,000 newspapers in 65 countries in 25 different languages. It’s a hilarious skewering of the absurdities of office culture that has joined the ranks of movies like Office Space and television shows like The Office. 

But what most people don’t know is that Adams’ productivity goes far beyond cranking out thousands of comics. Over the course of his career, he’s opened two restaurants, written hundreds of blog posts, hosted a podcast, and become a highly sought-after speaker.

The pattern of your thoughts shapes your future reality -- individually and collectively.

Mindset is one of those topics that is very “buzzworthy” among sales leaders. It has become such a trendy term that in a way, you could say its value has been somewhat cheapened.

How many times have you experienced this scenario?

You walk into your office, eager to get the day started and excited about an important project. You sit down at your desk, fire up your laptop, and are suddenly confronted by a spewing Vesuvius of, for lack of a better word, “stuff”. 

Overnight, your inbox blew up. You check your phone and see that you have 43 unread text messages and nine unheard voicemails. A few of the most eager members of your sales team arrived early and have already started pinging you on Slack. And you have an enormous digital stack of unread industry-related articles to plow through.

Do you need to compromise your integrity to close a sale?

“Knowing what’s right doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.” Franklin Roosevelt

For all intents and purposes, 2018 sales performance is baked in. There is little you are going to be able to do right now to level jump sales unless you made bold strategy executions a year ago.

Unless you make decisive action soon, 2019 will be largely baked in as well.

Where there is smoke, there is fire.

Mindset toxicity among your sales leaders will destroy your sales performance.

No excuses. No second chances.

Sometimes organizations are in denial about the reality of their sales leadership. Strong and weak sales leaders paint two entirely different pictures. Which one fits your business?

Believers sell value.

Your salespeople either believe in selling value or they do not. There is no "in-between".

Non-believers possess and model a mindset focused on "saving" money and/or order-taking for their Prospects / Clients. Non-believers sell on features, benefits and ultimately price.

Non-believers sell the way they like to be sold to.

Believers, we call them "Sales Wolves", understand their unique value proposition and the value it shapes / creates for the Prospect. With proper training and guidance, they engage the Prospect in a consultative sales process that drips with rich value. As a result, they make strong recommendations for their Prospects and Clients that will create extreme value. Sales Wolves focus on value, not price.

Hope is not a strategy.

Hope without meaningful action is insanity.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein.

You know what most CEOs, VPs of Sales and HR does when an under-performing salesperson or Sales Wolf (or one in-between) leaves?

They do little or nothing more than look for a replacement. And that is a waste.

Choosing to not study what went well and what did not is recipe for repeating sins of the past. 

That is insanity.

Never miss the powerful lessons only an autopsy feedback loop will provide.