Are you a salesperson or sales-player?

In July you may have read The Game of Sales and The Game of Sales Leadership.

If gamification is to be your way of work – then you aren’t a salesperson, you’re a sales-player!

Here are 12 steps stolen from How to Be a Great Football Player translated for the great inside sales-players.

1. Know that you can achieve your goal.

• Do you have a mindset of self-belief?
• Are you confident that you can be successful?
• Inside do you believe you deserve to win?

2. Be in great shape.

• Are you sales fit?
• Do you work out your sales muscles daily to get stronger?
• Have you created a habit of getting better?

3. Practice the basics.

• When is the last time you focused on being masterful at the basics?
• Do you have conversational qualifying questions to ask?
• How will you handle resistance and objections?

4. Find a position you like to play.

• What are you good at AND enjoy doing?
• Do you strive to put yourself into situations to do MORE of those things?
• Have you defined what you want your sales career to look like?

5. Practice the skills for your position.

• What sales skills do you want to be stronger and more confident in?
• How can you get the training and coaching you need?
• Who can help you become better at your sales craft?

6. Be aware of your competition.

• What else might be a higher priority than what you’re working on with prospects and customers?
• What are the criteria being used to choose a solution?
• Who else could win the business away from you?

7. Be tough.

• Do you have a strategy for when you’re tackled by an objection – obstacle – your competition?
• How will you get up when you’ve been outplayed?
• Are you resilient?

8. Get along with your team members.

• How are you cooperating with the other sales-players on your team?
• What do you do to build alliances with other departments?
• Are you easy to work with?

9. Get ready to win.

• Do you prepare well to sell?
• Are you aware of the metrics the most successful people in your organization achieve?
• Do you have the will to succeed?

10. … anything less than your absolute maximum 100% effort… is a recipe for mediocrity

• Do you use all your sales skills and belief on every call?
• When you feel like slacking, do you make yourself take action instead?
• How committed are you to putting in the work to be great?

11. When you’re off the field, listen to the coaches.

• When is the last time you listened to sales advice AND took action on it?
• Are you actively looking for someone to coach you?
• Do you have accountability partners to work with?

12. Watch some of the games to look for new skills!

• Do you have a career learning plan for yourself?
• Have you figured out a new skill you want to learn, practice, and implement?
• Who are you looking to for their expertise?

This week figure out what’s missing for you to be the best sales-player you can be. Then get after it!

Yours in greatness,
Lynn