Six Keys to Success's Door

By Kendra Lee, President, KLA Group

Job Title: Sales Rep
Job Responsibilities: Generate leads and close sales
How to Get the Job Done: It's up to you my friend!

That's a pretty accurate description of how most sales reps enter the marketplace. They understand their title and their assignment, but nobody ever tells them how to fulfill their responsibilities. What is needed are tangible sales tips and techniques that can help them unlock the door to success.

In my experience, I've come across and consulted with hundreds of sales reps who are motivated to sell, but they just don't know how to begin. They realize they're not as efficient as they could be, yet don't know what to do differently. It's a difficult proposition to be sure, but regardless of experience, territory, the company a rep works for, the solution she sells, or her quota, there are golden keys to being a successful sales rep.

1. Have a Vision
Too many sales reps try to have someone else define the vision for their territory for them. And while it's important to understand your management's and your company's vision, it's critical for you to have a vision of your own that you can get excited about. To help you bring your vision into focus, ask questions such as: What do I plan to achieve? What do I plan to turn this territory into?

As you develop your vision, avoid listening to naysayers, but do address potential failure. There's no reason to acknowledge doubters, but it's important for you to know that failure is part of the process, as some people will say "no" and some lead generation campaigns will fail. However, if you can create your own vision, bring it into focus and embrace it, you'll have what it takes to communicate your message and believe in your own ability to become a success.

2. Develop a Plan
The second key to success is a winning plan to help you achieve your vision. It's important to take time out of your schedule to do strategic planning. Ask yourself: What are all the steps I need to take to achieve my vision? Think of every little step, write them down and organize them in the order you'll take to achieve your vision, and then begin executing them.

Unfortunately, planning is not something you can do once a year and then forget about. It must become part of your business life. Without a good plan and execution, you have little hope of achieving your goals. But, it you do have a plan and stick to it, odds are you'll accomplish your goals long before you complete every step in your plan.

3. Practice Die-Hard Execution
Die-hard, consistent execution is the third key to success. Many sales reps find the details involved in successful lead generation to be tedious and unnecessary. Once the leads begin to flow, they get busy and let other priorities replace the attention to detail that brought in the leads. What they should do is continue to execute in conformity with the plan they created, while keeping their vision in their mind. Leads will abound if you continue to execute according to the plans you put in place, involving critical resources and meeting your time frames. No matter how busy you get, continue to execute with precision.

4. Generate Leads Constantly
The next key on your chain should be constant lead generation. Without it, you won't have new opportunities flowing into your pipeline on a consistent basis. You also won't have your name in front of your customers and prospects when the next opportunity presents itself. Many sales reps work a set of opportunities to closure then begin the lead generation process over again. This leads to inconsistent commissions and a sales manager questioning your selling abilities. Your goal should be to consistently generate leads so you have new opportunities constantly entering your pipeline. The more opportunities you have flowing in, the less dependent you will be on closing specific deals.

5. Follow-Up
The fifth key to success requires follow-up. If you've worked hard to get a lead, follow-up on it until you're certain it's no longer an opportunity. Following-up means keeping your commitments. Call when you say you will, meet when you say you will and get answers by the date you say you will. It's amazing how many people don't keep their commitments. By keeping your own, you portray yourself as an organized, interested business partner and not just another salesperson.

Follow-up also means staying in touch over time to help give yourself the best opportunity at the next assignment. The prospect who says she isn't going to do anything for 12 months will likely do something eventually. Stay in touch so you're there when the opportunity does arise.

6. Take a Genuine Interest
The final key to success starts with something that may have inspired you to become a sales rep in the first place: having an interest in your customers, and how you can provide the best solution. Take the time to understand a customer's business needs, and not just in terms of how it affects your products or services. Ask yourself questions such as: What are their business challenges? How can you help them meet those challenges? How can you show your value by sharing the overall knowledge you have, and not just knowledge about your product? This will show your customers how much you really care.

For a sales rep who is starting her career, or even a veteran who may be struggling at any one time, these six keys will help unlock success's door for themselves and their company.

Kendra Lee is author of "Selling Against the Goal" and president of KLA Group. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group helps companies rapidly penetrate new markets, break into new accounts and shorten time to revenue with new products in the Small & Medium Business (SMB) segment. Ms. Lee is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and association events. For more information, contact the company at +1 303.741.6636 or info@klagroup.com or visit www.klagroup.com.

KLA publishes an industry-leading online newsletter. To subscribe and get a free Quota Gap Calculator ($18.95 value) visit www.klagroup.com. For information on sales training, call 303-741-6636.