Salespeople Discover How to Break Out of Their Comfort Zone to Achieve Extraordinary Results

“If you want to succeed as a salesperson, it’s not your wealth of knowledge that will carry the day. It’s what you’re committed to,” advised Dominick Valenti at AMA’s Current Issues Breakfast Briefing, “Putting the Force in Your Sales Force.” Dominick and his twin brother Angelo Valenti, principals of VSA Consulting Group, presided over the well-attended program at AMA’s Executive Conference Center in New York. The program was also presented at AMA’s Washington, D.C. Center.

The Valentis’ thesis is that successful salespeople need to design breakthrough plans that force them to invent new ways of thinking and new methodologies for reaching their goals. The purpose of a breakthrough plan is to bring about a result that has never happened before. The plan must be both specific and measurable. And because the result is unprecedented, say the Valentis, it can’t be achieved by relying on how things were done in the past. The key is to commit to figuring out how to achieve the new desired result. They explained, “When you design a breakthrough plan, don’t think of the ‘how’; focus instead on the ‘what.’ You’ll have to figure out how to close the gap between the current reality and what is possible.”

Some of the Valentis’ additional tips for salespeople include:

• Practice your sales pitch. Use a tape recorder, then listen to yourself and edit your pitch down to make it shorter and more effective.
• Stand in front of a mirror while you’re on the phone with clients and watch yourself to make sure you remain upbeat and enthusiastic.
• Generate leads through referrals (most important), networking, research, mail and e-mail, public speaking and publicity. Keep in mind that it is more effective to ask someone for advice rather than for a direct referral.

When building a network, salespeople should try to achieve any of four possibilities:

• Someone hires you.
• Someone refers you to another deal.
• Someone gives you some valuable market information.
• Someone invites you where you can meet people who lead you to the above three items.

The Valentis’ parting words of advice were to “Get everyone in your firm—even the receptionist—involved in the sales effort. Some of the biggest deals can originate from your junior people. Go with people’s strengths first and then build on what is next.”

AMA offers a variety of seminars on sales and sales management, including:

• Coaching Your Sales Team
• Fundamental Selling Techniques for the New or Prospective Salesperson
  
• Principles of Professional Selling

Or click here for a listing of AMA’s over 170 management development and business skills seminars

AMACOM, AMA’s business books division, offers many sales titles, including:

• The Instant Sales Pro, by Cy Charney
• Knock Your Socks Off Selling, by Jeffrey Gitomer and Ron Zemke
• Ten Steps to Sales Success, by Tim Breithaupt

Or click here for a complete listing of AMACOMsales titles.