Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

You`ve hit on the reason turnover is so big in the sales world.  If you want to stay with your current company, here`s a suggestion to stay excited/motivated.

Find a new market area or product use to try to break into (while of course still keeping your paycheck fat with your current area of focus).  This change of pace will result in some initial failure, which will motivate you to figure out how to succeed and voilà - you`re excited again, at least for a little while.

A more underlying strategy is to realize that you`re not selling a product or service (which can get pretty boring), but understand that you`re helping your customer`s business succeed.  So you job now becomes consultive in nature - which in my opinion rarely gets boring, because each customer is different.

And if you can`t get out of your rut and you are really sick to go to work - jump ship.  With your track record, you should be able to land a new job in a heartbeat.  But if you`re in such a large organization as you stated and are in the top 5% of that company, you might have a tough time finding a more lucrative position.

My father used to have a really great instant summary of modern business: "So, what`ve you done for me LATELY!" 

What he was shorthanding is the quota system that`s killed your interest. There`s never any "success point," where someone can pause for a bit and enjoy the fruits of their labor. For example, say you work on commission against a draw and your week starts on Monday.

You work from Monday to Sunday, and sell $10,000 of something. Fantastic! On Monday you come in to work, expecting your boss to at least give you a pat on the back and tell you that you had a terrific previous week.

Instead, you show up Monday morning and everything`s been reset to zero. Your boss offhandedly says that sure, you sold "something" last week, but "what have you done for me lately?"

Human nature includes a very powerful driver toward approval, which is a one-time acceptance. We compete in order to win, and that means there needs to be a point where the competition stops, we win and receive an award. In sales, there`s only never-ending competition, no win point, no award, and no one-time approval.

You`ll have to find something to sell that offers that win point. Some great insurance sales people feel a lot of satisfaction because when they sell a policy, they`ve protected a customer for a long time. Other insurance sales people are only interested in more and more sales, more policies, and more money. They`re not interested in protecting anyone, only the money.

So it comes down to your own personal style, psychology, identity, and life goals.

OOOO!!  I have an answer.  I have been in sales for 25 years, and the answer is sell something you like!  Makes a huge difference.  Remember, do not engage in the outside pressures of sales, all success comes from within you.  Make it a game or get another gig.  Jeffrey Gitomer is THE answer for sales people, subscribe to his Sales Caffine newsletter on his site.  Get some of his books.  Good salespeople can find a job selling anything, anywhere so it might as well be something you like.

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Dale
www.ourbestidea.com
www.maskerinsurance.com
www.maskercreations.net

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Well...yes, as a matter of fact...it IS written in stone!

http://www.jarsa.net