I very much enjoy discovering companies that have problems I can solve. Each company, story, and of course person is different.
Just a little background…I only started doing “colder” sales calls about three years ago. The previous 10 were basically all referrals. I thought I was good at sales, and I actually had no clue about sales.
Fast forward through thousands of calls…
I have learned how to divide myself into multiple people internally.
When I wrote this the first time I definitely laughed out loud thinking about what my close friends would say… “You definitely have that skill down!”
Anyways…
A prospect wouldn’t reach out to me without some sort of pain or desire for improvement. So, I’m just playing a game trying to figure out what the hell is going on. While going through this discussion and preparation, I let the prospect represent things in my head and then I have a little battle back and forth.
I keep letting the battles continue until I’ve come to a reasonable conclusion as to how I can help and how to show them I am capable and trustworthy. If there are multiple decision makers, I just multiply the process (normally trying to play the role of the most skeptical one in the room).
It’s really just a bunch of critical thinking, but damn is it hard to master. In my opinion, this is why sales are worth so much. If you can really think through things, man is it valuable.
As Jordan Peterson said, “Thinking that you’re very good at thinking is really dangerous. Most people just aren’t.”
If you desire to become a better thinker, I believe the only way is to put yourself in situations that REALLY make you think. Make you exhausted you have to think so much. Finishing a meeting having a hard time figuring out what the hell just happened whether good or bad.
I also believe this applies to our closest personal relationships. We’re going to have to battle internally to understand our loved ones as we look to connect.
Until next time.
-SJ