**New** Implementation Tips

December 14, 2009 at 7:44 am

Roger,

Thank you for the nice feedback, and for your kind words about QBS. I agree with you that this is a difficult time in the sales year, if not the entire economic cycle. Business can’t always be booming. There is some feast or famine, even within burgeoning sales organizations. When things are hopp’in, of course the mentality is, “all hands on deck.” But, oddly enough, it may actually be what happens during the slow times that give a salesperson the greatest competitive advantage.

If you are a professional football fan, you will notice that the NFL season begins in early July, way before the seat and pounding of the first regular season game. Plays and coaches could say to themselves, “Since this is the slow time of year, I don’t have to focus or work hard.” They could say the same thing on the Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the season, justifying the lack of intensity by thinking, “it’s okay to dial it down because we’re in between games.”

Me, I tend to wonder what my competition is doing between games, or during the off-season. If they’re working harder than me to retool and refocus, then let’s not be surprised if they end up with a competitive advantage. On the other hand, if they want to relax and dial it down during the holidays, then that’s good for me.

Roger, here is the excerpt from my second book, “It Only Takes 1% to have a Competitive Edge in Sales.”

Lesson 9: Earning the Right to Succeed

Tom Malchow captured an Olympic Gold Medal for the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games by winning the Men’s 200-meter Butter-fly in Sydney. When he was interviewed after the race, one of the announcers put a microphone in his face and asked him about the victory. Tom’s response was interesting. He said, “Leading up to the games in Sydney, I worked harder than ever before because I wanted to be able to look to my left, and then to my right at the start of the race, knowing that I had earned the right to succeed.”

When I first started out in sales, I had to kick, scratch, and claw to make any headway. Each sale was a battle, and in every opportunity, I felt like the underdog. Perhaps it was because I had relatively little selling experience at the time, or maybe it was just because I didn’t descend from a long line of genetically gifted salespeople. Whatever the reason, I found it overwhelming to always feel like an under-achiever.

Fortunately, people respond to pressure in different ways. Some peo-ple, when they start to feel overwhelmed, fade into the background, not want-ing to bring attention to the fact that they are struggling. As for me, increased pressure tends to make me more indignant. If I am going to fail at something, I would rather go down in flames.

On January 1, 1988, I made a career changing New Year’s resolution. I had just finished up a mediocre sales year and damn it, I wasn’t going to have another one. So I headed to the office. While everyone else nursed their post New Year’s Eve hangovers and watched college football, I cleaned out my office and got seriously organized. I worked the entire day. It was no sur-prise that mine was the only car in the parking lot since it was a holiday. But by the time I left the office, I felt a very clear sense of satisfaction and prepar-edness. I was ready for the New Year.

Have you ever noticed how good it feels to be ahead of the game? For the entire first week of January, while everyone else was trying to catch up, I was moving forward and feeling productive. In fact, it felt so good that I was motivated to stay ahead. Consequently, I often remained at the office late into the evening and came in frequently on weekends, each time noticing that mine was the only car in the parking lot.

My strategy was simple. I was determined to outwork everyone else on the sales team. That way, if I did fail, I wouldn’t have any excuses. Besides working longer hours, I also made it a goal to work harder than everyone else. I made more cold calls than anyone else and scheduled the most appoint-ments. I also asked the most questions in order to uncover more needs. I even made it a point to take the most notes at every meeting. After a very short pe-riod of time, I had become significantly more knowledgeable about our prod-uct offerings and target industry, which in turn, made me a much more credi-ble resource to my prospects and customers. As the year progressed, I began to feel less overwhelmed and more in control.

It didn’t take long before I became the “go to” guy in the office. When someone had a question, they came to me for help. And when the sales man-ager had a new opportunity, he usually sent it my way, knowing it would be handled more completely and with a greater sense of urgency. By year-end, I had become the top producing salesperson in the office. Essentially, I had earned the right to outperform everyone else whose car wasn’t parked in the lot on that New Year’s Day.

Now, I’m not saying you should work every holiday or abandon your family by “living” at the office. Too much of anything is bad. What I am saying, thought, is that for me, those hours increased my knowledge and my self-confidence, which completely changed my perspective. The perception you have about your own abilities will greatly influ-ence your probability of success in sales. If you view yourself as an average performer, you most likely will be. On the other hand, if you can put yourself in a position to overachieve, then it is likely that you will see some very pow-erful results from your extra efforts.

I hope to see your car in the parking lot next to mine.

Comments

Roger Grow says

December 13, 2009 at 7:34 pm

Good Morning Mr. Freese,

Thank you for your ongoing passion for making this world and us guys in the trenches a better place to play in! I had found an article several years ago that you wrote about a time in your life where you had just completed a difficult year. You then did something different for the holidays, you refocused and retooled and hit the ground running on January 1st. Does that sound familiar?

I had it printed and kept in a journal which I can now not find? I would love to see if you have a copy of it as if there ever was a year to review it and live it, it would be now. Thanks again for all you do. Merry Christmas and a very Happy and productive 2010.

Roger Grow

- Tom Freese says
  
  December 14, 2009 at 7:44 am
  
  Roger,
  
  Thank you for the nice feedback, and for your kind words about QBS. I agree with you that this is a difficult time in the sales year, if not the entire economic cycle. Business can’t always be booming. There is some feast or famine, even within burgeoning sales organizations. When things are hopp’in, of course the mentality is, “all hands on deck.” But, oddly enough, it may actually be what happens during the slow times that give a salesperson the greatest competitive advantage.
  
  If you are a professional football fan, you will notice that the NFL season begins in early July, way before the seat and pounding of the first regular season game. Plays and coaches could say to themselves, “Since this is the slow time of year, I don’t have to focus or work hard.” They could say the same thing on the Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the season, justifying the lack of intensity by thinking, “it’s okay to dial it down because we’re in between games.”
  
  Me, I tend to wonder what my competition is doing between games, or during the off-season. If they’re working harder than me to retool and refocus, then let’s not be surprised if they end up with a competitive advantage. On the other hand, if they want to relax and dial it down during the holidays, then that’s good for me.
  
  Roger, here is the excerpt from my second book, “It Only Takes 1% to have a Competitive Edge in Sales.”
  
  Lesson 9: Earning the Right to Succeed
  
  Tom Malchow captured an Olympic Gold Medal for the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games by winning the Men’s 200-meter Butter-fly in Sydney. When he was interviewed after the race, one of the announcers put a microphone in his face and asked him about the victory. Tom’s response was interesting. He said, “Leading up to the games in Sydney, I worked harder than ever before because I wanted to be able to look to my left, and then to my right at the start of the race, knowing that I had earned the right to succeed.”
  
  When I first started out in sales, I had to kick, scratch, and claw to make any headway. Each sale was a battle, and in every opportunity, I felt like the underdog. Perhaps it was because I had relatively little selling experience at the time, or maybe it was just because I didn’t descend from a long line of genetically gifted salespeople. Whatever the reason, I found it overwhelming to always feel like an under-achiever.
  
  Fortunately, people respond to pressure in different ways. Some peo-ple, when they start to feel overwhelmed, fade into the background, not want-ing to bring attention to the fact that they are struggling. As for me, increased pressure tends to make me more indignant. If I am going to fail at something, I would rather go down in flames.
  
  On January 1, 1988, I made a career changing New Year’s resolution. I had just finished up a mediocre sales year and damn it, I wasn’t going to have another one. So I headed to the office. While everyone else nursed their post New Year’s Eve hangovers and watched college football, I cleaned out my office and got seriously organized. I worked the entire day. It was no sur-prise that mine was the only car in the parking lot since it was a holiday. But by the time I left the office, I felt a very clear sense of satisfaction and prepar-edness. I was ready for the New Year.
  
  Have you ever noticed how good it feels to be ahead of the game? For the entire first week of January, while everyone else was trying to catch up, I was moving forward and feeling productive. In fact, it felt so good that I was motivated to stay ahead. Consequently, I often remained at the office late into the evening and came in frequently on weekends, each time noticing that mine was the only car in the parking lot.
  
  My strategy was simple. I was determined to outwork everyone else on the sales team. That way, if I did fail, I wouldn’t have any excuses. Besides working longer hours, I also made it a goal to work harder than everyone else. I made more cold calls than anyone else and scheduled the most appoint-ments. I also asked the most questions in order to uncover more needs. I even made it a point to take the most notes at every meeting. After a very short pe-riod of time, I had become significantly more knowledgeable about our prod-uct offerings and target industry, which in turn, made me a much more credi-ble resource to my prospects and customers. As the year progressed, I began to feel less overwhelmed and more in control.
  
  It didn’t take long before I became the “go to” guy in the office. When someone had a question, they came to me for help. And when the sales man-ager had a new opportunity, he usually sent it my way, knowing it would be handled more completely and with a greater sense of urgency. By year-end, I had become the top producing salesperson in the office. Essentially, I had earned the right to outperform everyone else whose car wasn’t parked in the lot on that New Year’s Day.
  
  Now, I’m not saying you should work every holiday or abandon your family by “living” at the office. Too much of anything is bad. What I am saying, thought, is that for me, those hours increased my knowledge and my self-confidence, which completely changed my perspective. The perception you have about your own abilities will greatly influ-ence your probability of success in sales. If you view yourself as an average performer, you most likely will be. On the other hand, if you can put yourself in a position to overachieve, then it is likely that you will see some very pow-erful results from your extra efforts.
  
  I hope to see your car in the parking lot next to mine.

New Implementation Tips

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