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SAVVY
SELLING - OCTOBER
5, 2006
It's
Not Just About Sales Goals
By Michelle Nichols
EXECUTIVE
OVERVIEW
Six strategies to help you persevere
while you're working to achieve
a Big Hairy Goal
Feeling stuck? Batteries
low? Need a motivational shot
in the arm? Try setting a Big
Hairy Goal for yourself
You probably have plenty of
sales goals, but do you have
a Big Hairy Goal? Every salesperson
should. A BHG is a goal that
is so far from where you are
in your career now that you
will have to push yourself incredibly
hard to achieve it. You'll know
you've created a real BHG because
it will inspire you and get
your creative juices flowing.
The downside is that you can't
reach it quickly. It will take
months or years of struggling
before you can declare to the
world, "I did it!"
It is easy to get discouraged
while you are working toward
a BHG. If this happens, evaluate
if your goal or your approach
to reaching it needs modification.
If your goal is to sell $1 million
worth of leisure suits a year
or your closing ratio is inexplicably
decreasing, you may need to
rethink your plan. However,
if your goal and approach are
still valid, then hang in there!
Perseverance is the magic ingredient
that separates those who set
big goals from those who accomplish
them.
Salesman-turned-Olympian-turned-professional
speaker Ruben Gonzalez embodies
perseverance. During his career
selling copiers, he personally
cold-called every office on
every floor of every building
in downtown Houston—twice,
he says. That's perseverance.
He'd start at the highest floor
of each building each time because
he wanted to "start selling
at the top." For two years,
his daily recipe for success
was cold-calling for three hours
every morning and following
up on the phone for the rest
of the day. As a result, he
was consistently a top salesperson
in his office.
NO QUITTING. When I first heard
Gonzalez' cold-calling story,
I wondered what kind of a nutball
would put himself through that
much pain. But once I heard
the rest of his story, I gave
him my full respect as a salesperson
and a competitor.
In his book, The Courage to
Succeed: Success Secrets of
an Unlikely Three-Time Olympian
(Aspen Press, December, 2004),
Gonzalez describes how he applied
his maniacal perseverance to
sports when he decided he wanted
to compete in the Olympics.
At 21, the age when most people
are leaving this level of competition,
Gonzalez began looking for a
sport in which he could qualify.
He was only an average athlete,
so he needed to choose an event
that required another quality
he already possessed. He chose
the luge, even though he had
never seen it performed. His
logic was that luging was known
for the many injuries it caused
and therefore had a high quitting
rate. He figured that gave him
the best chance to move up the
ranks to qualify for the Olympics.
Four years later, he competed
in the 1988 Olympics in Calgary.
He went on to luge in the Olympics
in Albertville in 1992 and Salt
Lake City in 2002.
Here are six lessons I've learned
from Gonzalez on how to develop
and achieve your own Big Hairy
Goals:
1. Ask yourself honestly:
Is this a wish, a dream, or
a BHG?
A wish is hoping that the phone
will ring and someone wants
to buy a lot of whatever you
sell at top price with speedy
payment. A dream is something
you are ready to make happen.
A dream becomes a BHG after
you've done your research, gotten
some experience, and produced
a step-by-step plan that will
make it come true.
2. Tell yourself that
quitting is not an option.
If you quit, you've guaranteed
that you've lost. Mentally close
the door to quitting. Put yourself
in a position where you have
no choice but to move forward
toward your BHG. I have a sign
over my desk that says, "There
is a way. Find it." It
helps me be unstoppable because
it keeps my focus on my actions
and wards off any thoughts of
self-pity.
3. Hang in there and
keep fighting.
Gonzalez told me that if you
don't quit, success is just
a matter of time. He proved
this with his success selling
copiers and in luging.
4. Surround yourself
with successful people.
If you hang around with people
who have a more positive attitude
than you, you will naturally
pick up their habits in behavior
and thinking. You can also benefit
from reading biographies of
winners. The opposite is also
true, so don't spend too much
time with folks who are constantly
negative.
5. Dream - Struggle
- Victory. Gonzalez
says the path to reaching a
BHG boils down to this: First,
you dream. Then you struggle.
Finally, you emerge victorious.
When things aren't going your
way, tell yourself that you're
in the "struggle"
phase of the process. This is
a natural step in reaching big
goals. It helps separate the
quitters from those who persevere
no matter what.
6. Stay focused.
When Plan A doesn't seem to
be working, it's easy to want
to start a second, parallel
plan. Resist that urge. Instead,
either modify your original
plan or sell yourself on why
it's still the best way to reach
your goal and double your efforts.
Gonzalez proved that if you
are willing to do whatever it
takes for as long as it takes,
success is just a matter of
time. So when you feel stuck
in your progress toward a BHG,
persevere. Happy selling!
PS To learn more about Ruben
Gonzalez's amazing story:
www.thelugeman.com
Michelle Nichols is a
professional sales speaker and
consultant based in Reno, Nevada.
She welcomes your questions
and comments. You can visit
her web site at www.savvyselling.com
or contact her at michelle.nichols@savvyselling.com.
Her toll-free number is (877)
352-9684.
Copyright 2000-2006. All rights
reserved.
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