I can almost hear the groans now . . . “Another discussion about goal setting?–How boring!” Well, boredom comes from repetition, and without repetition, masterful achievement is not possible. Reading more, practicing more, and understanding more about goals bring this part of selling into a normal daily routine where it motivates and guides those who are masters in the field of sales.
Our lives are directed and pulled by conscious and subconscious desires, which when aggregated become our future vision. This vision (whether to lose 25 pounds and be athletic or to consistently earn $10,000 commissions and be wealthy) is directed by our destination goals, but the more finite process goals help us get there. Treat each daily detail as an important process goal to achieve, and indeed these small ones will accumulate so that ultimately our larger vision becomes our reality. It is easy to derail our dreams by self doubt, other people, and external events, so the only way to keep the vision alive is to transform it into tangible, goal-directed behavior.
Most goal-implementation plans require getting other people enrolled in our personal program. This is where person-to-person selling comes into the picture. In this instance, selling means convincing other people to give us something they have in return for something we possess. In a traditional view of selling, the buyer exchanges her money for our product. But in the real world, every person sells continually–whether ourselves on a first date, our beliefs, or our knowledge. If we sell successfully, we might achieve a goal of having an enjoyable evening date, public recognition, or personal satisfaction as a return from our effort.
Setting the right environment to complete a sales transaction might include bringing flowers on the first date or artfully crafting a storefront window to allow those walking by a glimpse of the buying opportunities to be found inside the shop. The sales trainer might say, “Your goal is to create an environment (a stage) that causes your customer to feel like a VIP taking delivery on his Rolls Royce.” The sales process is a very social activity, one that creatively mixes the buyer’s goal of owning a solution with the seller’s complex goal of meeting company targets, earning an income, and personally helping the customer. Learning this craft of goal satisfaction is never ending and forever challenges the master seller.
While I was working on the book Masters of Sales, a woman named Joan Fletcher wrote me and told me a noteworthy story about a very successful young salesman. In spite of his sales awards, his corner office, and charismatic charm, he still felt he was just scraping the surface of success . . .
Even though dutifully creating written goals, his level of self satisfaction was low; until he realized that the big picture was not just about how much money he earned, or the big house, or the number of sales he hoped to close. The big picture was his vision about what he truly wanted to achieve in all combined areas of his life. Once he discovered this realization, his renewed selling accomplishments became directly tied to setting aside money for his daughter’s education fund, to have time to help coach his son’s soccer league, and to work in his yard. Even with more personal goals than before, his sales results climbed higher.
The thing to always remember is this: Work goals, selling goals, and life goals are all intertwined and each one will always influence the others. Now the question becomes: what do YOU truly want to achieve in all combined areas of your life and what are some ways you might make a conscious effort to streamline your work, selling, and life goals in order more effectively work toward your future vision? I’d love to hear your thoughts so please share any/all feedback you may have in the comment forum below. Thanks!
