Successful Sales Leaders Have Two ​Stand-Out Capabilities

I’ve been studying sales for over half a century. Today’s successful sales leaders have two ​stand-out capabilities that support their success.

The first is the capability of trust. This is the heart of 75% or more of achieving the sales result you want. Let’s break down trust in the following ways…

First, you have to trust yourself. At the center of this capability is belief in oneself. You know in your heart that you are ​and have the correct solution for your client/prospect. 

Second, you must trust the client/prospect to have a partnership mindset towards the total solution. This trust allows all parties to identify who will own specific responsibilities to accomplish the agreed upon outcomes. ​Accountability is a true pillar built into the relationship.

Third, a culture of no fear where total truth is the only acceptable way of communicating with each other. Therefore, one’s actions will define the truth in the relationship. In this culture of no fear, everyone can tell each other the truth without fear of vaporizing the relationship. 

When trust is established as I’m describing, it will accelerate the sale and expand the size of the sale. Many times, a one-year sale elongates to 3-5 years. 

What I’m describing will work with any and all sales systems. Trust me on this. 

The second capability that enormously successful sales leaders are doing consistently and brilliantly is providing a winning sales strategy. 

This is a rather simple, proactive behavior. The sales strategy your recommending solves the client/prospect problems. This strategy is customized using the client/prospects past, present and future data. The strategy highlights future challenges and their resolution that the client/prospect did not comprehend. The vocabulary and language used makes the client/prospect feel very comfortable. ​One very important signal coming from the client/prospect is that they’re sharing with the winning sales leader a secret. This secret is baked into your strategy. It provides an indirect way for the client/prospect to choose who they want to work with. 

This strategy comes from a sales leader that has the correct education, knowledge, experience, wisdom and intuition. In other words, these unique sales leaders are students of the game. They study their products, services, industry, solutions, and clients/prospects worlds. 

​Sales leaders are learners. I’m amazed at how clearly laid out a successful strategy has to be to succeed. The simpler the better. Make going from A to Z ​in a straight line. Make it direct and concise for all those who will be comprehending your strategy. By combining trust and strategy as I’ve described, it will support you in exceeding your sales goals. 

My last thought on trust and strategy is you must put time into developing both of these capabilities. Their muscles that need to be worked out, challenged to grow and gain the strength you’ll need to be a Top 1% sales leader. 

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