How to train Salespeople for GREATNESS

FROM THE DESK OF GRANT CARDONE:  Every 4 years, the worlds greatest athletes compete in the Olympics.  You have to ask, why are people so captivated by the Olympics?  How come suddenly everyone becomes an expert in gymnastics, water polo, or any number of sports that for 3 and half years only a few people actually seemed to pay any attention to it?

It’s because we’re seeing athletes achieving greatness.

We’re watching them at their peak going for accomplishments and records that defy what the rest of us think is even possible. We love watching greatness and people achieving beyond human limits. But do you know what those athletes are doing during those 3 and half years and longer when they aren’t in the spotlight?

They’re training.

They spend most of their lives getting up before everyone else does, pushing their bodies and mental states further than anyone else is willing to do, they hold to much stricter diets for years, in short, they are training every single day so that when the time comes, all that training will allow them to be the best.

Unfortunately, that training rarely gets the spot light. Yet it’s that training that needs to be emphasized because you are always training. You’re training right now. If you’re the type of person who walks in to work and the first thing you do is open up a web browser to read the news, just so you can settle in to work, then guess what? You’re training yourself. You’re training yourself with bad habits and excuses.

One of my favorite quotes that we use in my office is

Under pressure, you do not rise to the occasion, rather you sink to your level of training.” Barrett Tillman.

When you see an athlete perform with millions of people watching them, knowing they have to have a perfect performance, they don’t suddenly hope or pray that they’re going to get everything right, they know they’re going to get everything right. They have trained for years to get everything right.

So why do so many sales people think that they don’t need to train for handling customers?

Have you come out of a deal that wasn’t closed and you said things like “oh that guy was just a hard customer” or “that guy was never going to buy, anyways?” What you’re really saying is that you didn’t train hard enough to handle difficult customers or to stay in the deal as long as it needed.

Look, I know the truth, no one likes training. No one wants to drill closes or rehearse greetings any more than those athletes enjoy waking up at 3am just to start a full day of training. Everyone loves results, though. Everyone loves closing a deal or getting a Gold Medal. But those results cannot happen consistently without training.

Here’s how to train salespeople for greatness:

1. Train Daily. You wouldn’t expect Gabby Douglas to train once a week or once a month. She trains daily and you need to as well.

2. Push your limits. If you stay in your comfort zone and never try to reach new things, you will never reach greatness. Keep learning new closes.  Go and find some difficult clients.  Make sure that there’s something that you’re always trying to push harder for.

3. Make sure you get a coach. This can be someone in management or even a fellow sales guy.  But you need someone who will watch you and help you practice to help correct your mistakes. It goes without saying, but if you practice something wrong, and no one points that out and helps you correct it, you will always do it wrong.

4. When the moment comes and you have to perform, be confident. Instead of sweating and worrying if you’ll have what it takes, you’ll be relaxed and confident knowing that you’ve prepared for this moment. When that difficult customer walks in, you won’t be stumbling over yourself, you’ll be prepared and will find a way to make this moment work. So find a way to train daily.

Call 310-777-0352 if you need help and we can show you a program that emphasizes daily training in under 12 minutes a day.