Category Archives: Dignity

Bringing a dash of dignity to selling

Sales is a Science? REALLY?

I was in a sales training the other day. The man in front (who hasn’t ever actually sold anything…He’s been “in” sales – sales management, sales operations, stuff like that) was laying out the Art and SCIENCE of Selling.

Really?

This is where salespeople get hurt! Damaged! When they start to believe what the ‘experts’ say about how to do sales.

I AM SALES. I do it every day. Face to face. Phone to phone. Front lines.

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I will tell you that there is NO SCIENCE to sales. If you’re talking about the “models” and “experimentation” and “observation” part of science..Sure, I’ll give you that.

BUT calling something science IMPLIES that you can do something re-producible, every time. As in…every time I put this many Hydrogen atoms in with this many Oxygen atoms, I will get water. Every time.

We could NOT have landed Curiosity on Mars without heavy-duty science. Hell, we couldn’t plug in our lamps and read by the light reliably without science. Or keep our food cold in the refrigerator.

THERE IS NO SUCH formula with sales.

Which is why salespeople get messed up. They hear things like “the science of sales” and they follow some formula that someone else MADE UP! (Still haven’t seen the math that works every time). But it doesn’t work for them, so they think they are just not doing it right. And they get beat down… AND they are trained to beat their customer into submission.

UGH!

NO!

Someone needs to tell these fabulous salespeople that they have been snowed. Today, I am your someone.

Sales is an art. A beautiful and precious art. Something to master. It requires all of you and every bit of personal and professional growth that you can imagine.

Someone who does sales well is a GIFT; to their company, their family, their customers and themselves. (Read this wonderful story: http://www.sellingfearlessly.com/mound-road/)

People LOVE to buy things that they want and need from other people.

Where is the breakdown then?

When we treat something so MAGICAL as sales as a “science”, we diminish the human spirit to numbers and formulas.

People are NOT numbers and formulas and they do not appreciate being treated that way.

I treat YOU as someone I want to discover. I seek to understand what you truly desire and do everything in my power to fulfill that desire. And to tell you when I cannot – but still collaborate to get you what you really do want. THAT is why I ROCK in sales!

I sleep in on days you don’t need me…and I work until 3 am on days that you do.

I fulfill on your intention. I get you what you want.

I AM The Irreverent Sales Girl … and SO ARE YOU!

Wanna move a crazy economy forward? Let’s ALL get in the business of getting each other what we want and need! Let’s engage in the ART of it.

I love sales UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

 

IT IS ALL MADE UP!!!

A weird realization this morning…

I woke up feeling like I was finding my way through a jungle.

I immerse myself in a web of information that pulls me and pushes me in the journey of finding “success” – the word my sixth-grade teacher posted on the wall. I didn’t know what it meant – prob’ly still don’t!

I forget that I am wildly successful. I have done it all! I have built the business, earned the career, found the love of my life..but still I am wading through these tendrils, looking for the next Nirvana. (When I get THERE, I will probably complain that I miss doing the laundry).

I see that I am chasing all the things that SOMEONE ELSE said was success. I am alone in a sea of my own expectations. I am disconnected from those who revel in my life and who are achieving their dreams. I AM MISSING THE WHOLE THING!

The tendrils of the jungle tell me what I am supposed to look like, what I am supposed to wear, the income I am supposed to have, the car I am supposed to own.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

But, they are not me! They are not my voice. And, they are not YOUR voice.

I stopped and remembered who I am today. I am fatally flawed, but I have achieved things that some people want to achieve. And, I am going to share EVERYTHING I know. For reals. The BMW’s and the Volkswagen’s. The credit cards and the fear about money. The love of new love, and the fear of growing old. I am INFECTIOUS! I am a voice that wants to be heard.

So are you. I wake up like you do. I feel like you do. You are me.

Let’s go MAKE SOMETHING AMAZING UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

 

Guilty Pleasures

Yesterday, I had just HAD ENOUGH! I had been working to just “kill it” all week! I was TIRED!

So, I spent all day Sunday watching episode after episode of “Sex and the City” in my pajamas. Eating whatever I could scrounge from the refrigerator. I turned my phone off. I didn’t shower OR brush my teeth. I didn’t talk to anybody. I went to bed early. I did not do my laundry.

I tell you this for a very important reason. It is not because I am proud of this little episode.

It’s just I RARELY hear successful people tell you what they do when they are just being slugs. I guess I always thought that really successful people aren’t ever slugs.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

I have imagined that their downtime is spent on exotic vacations to Caribbean resorts. It is all planned and perfect. They go for an energizing run! They read an inspiring book! They do somethiing positive and productive.

SO, I have ALSO made up that they are more successful than I am because they are never slugs. I am tired of having those thoughts in my head.

I’m going out on a limb here. But, I’m betting that these REALLY SUCCESSFUL people have all sorts of guilty little pleasures that they’re JUST NOT SAYING. If you have similar thoughts (like THOSE PEOPLE are doing it right, which is why I can’t do it.) I invite you to think again.

I also invite some of you REALLY SUCCESSFUL people to start sharing the deep and dark secrets. Before I hear about your FABULOUS organize-your-office, write your plans, set your intentions, make the bold calls, eat the frog first…I want you to tell me the truth about what you do when you just shut it all down! That gives me access to something real!

So, ready to dive in and tell the Truth? I am! I want to hear how it REALLY is for you!

Love all of YOU UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

REALLY great salespeople, employees, people view themselves…

….as the CEO of their own company!

I am clear that if I do not do my job, the people in my company don’t eat, don’t feed their children, don’t provide health insurance to their loved ones.

THAT is what it means to be the CEO…you view the WHOLE of your impact.

Great accountants know this. They provide a solid ground to walk on.

Great attorneys know this. They provide clarity and protection.

Great receptionists know this. They are the brand of the  company.

Great salespeople know this. They know that they feed and clothe everyone in their company.

WAKE UP! What you are doing is CRITICALLY important!

When you “show up”, everyone around you wins! (This includes you)

When you “phone it in”, it may not seem important in the moment, but it matters beyond what you can imagine (To YOURSELF especially – now, you are someone who “phones it in” – not someone who GOES FOR IT –  just sayin’)

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

NOW, what do you see about your current job…more important…what do you see is possible?

Love your life UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Does “Love” matter in a Fortune 25 Relationship?

Today I met with my client. An executive of a Fortune 25 company.

Together, for the last 12 months, we have been working to make sure their programs work (the ones I sold them).

It has been an uphill battle. They signed on with my company in good faith. They wanted our product (and needed our product). My key contact has taken a stand that my service will work in her company – despite management changes and priority shifts (anyone who works in Fortune 500 knows that this is standard – everything changes on a dime).

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

My client took a risk with us. There were glitches at the beginning that, frankly, put her job at risk.

But, she got in touch with me, and my company fulfilled (and in some cases, over-fulfilled) on her expectations.

Turns out, we have been able to TRIPLE results! YAY!

Today, I had coffee with my client. Her job is going great. Her boss is now impressed. We shared a couple of personal stories.

At the end of our meeting, we hugged and she said, “I love you, dear!”

Can a Fortune 25 person say “I love you” to a salesperson? Turns out, the answer is “YES”, if you’ve fulfilled what meant the most to her and her and her position!

Can men share this sentiment? I hope so!

But, today, I got an “I love you” hug from a Fortune 25 executive. And I am happy!

Love your clients UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Sometimes I forget how much people remember!

I was plumbing through my emails last week and found a follow up email from a top salesperson at a Fortune 500 company.

It was a lovely email thanking me for a conversation we’d had in the airport! This email was over A YEAR OLD. I thought I would give it a shot anyway. Re-connect. See how he is doing. He loved it! He emailed right back and we talked on the phone today.

This year, he is THE top salesperson…about to go to his Quarterly Training Conference and receive the recognition he deserves. I asked him how he does it time after time. He said some cool things, but he also said…”I remember what you said…’Don’t chase a “no”‘ and ‘People love to buy things from people they like!'”

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Ha! Me, being quoted back to me! He remembered!

The moral for me: When I am being me and what I really believe, people remember AND IT can make a difference!

Dontcha just LOVE LIFE?

Love it UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Did I not ask for enough?

I am STUNNED!

I have the most amazing people in my life (you). No, really YOU, the one reading this. The one sitting in your chair!

I want things. I want success. I want connections. I want love.

Today, I learned something.

I consider myself to be a busy person. (HA! Go read the rant by Redhead Writing about this: (http://redheadwriting.com/the-bitch-slap-busy)

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

At any rate, today a very good friend asked me to help out a new up-and-comer. In the face of being so “busy’, I spent a good portion of my night connecting this person (who I’ve never even met) with some of my most important peeps. It may come to nothing. Yet, it was worth the shot!

I realized…I WANT TO DO STUFF for people. I want to make a difference.

And then I realized…WOW! I really need help getting to where I want to be…and people keep saying..WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME? I WILL HELP YOU!

Get the paradox here? I want to help, but I don’t know how to ask for it!

I am limited by my inability to ask for help.

Game on!

I challenge you (and me) to embarrass yourself asking for the help you want.

Even the BIBLE says “Ask and you shall receive”. Do I listen? NO!

Maybe at the heart of us, each of us knows that we only matter if we made a difference for someone else.

So, allow people to make a difference with me. That’s what I will do.

And you?

What do you REALLY want? Are you willing to ask for help?

Love your doubts UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Practice Honesty

Mark Twain said, “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything”.

UNITED STATES – CIRCA 1900: Mark Twain (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images)

This is easily gotten, but not easily practiced.

Today, I told the truth to a business partner about something I had said about him, behind his back. It was a funny throw-away line, BUT… It wasn’t pretty. I am not even sure why I “needed” to say it.

Here’s what is REALLY interesting! It is unlikely he would have ever known that I had said it.

But, I care about my business, so I told him.(I was shaking in my boots when I did.)  Know what he did? He LAUGHED!!!!

What I learned? I still act as if I am 15-years-old some days. AND, people are GENEROUS. What’s funny is…HE apologized to ME that I’d sweated it out for two days to tell him.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE.

Even if it seems scary!

Love your honesty UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

Collecting “no’s” is a fantastic strategy

Hypothesis: If you are getting a LOT of “no’s” – you aren’t asking for enough from life!

Doesn’t matter what business you’re in – even if you’re not in business. Ever notice how kids keep asking and asking and asking. Never minding that they’re collecting “no’s”, they’re simply going for the “yes”. The magical “yes”.

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

I’ve heard that you can’t collect 20 “no’s” in a row for a request that is even remotely possible.

I dare you to try this today. What is something you want? Now, go ask for that thing 20 times from people who could give it to you. You could do 20 asks from the same person! (That could be interesting). Or ask 20 people.

If you take the dare, please share your results! Did you get 20?

Love your life UP!

The Irreverent Sales Girl

If you want to be bold…

Remember who you REALLY are…what you came here to accomplish!

Please think about your life this way. What do you want to leave behind?

It may seem morbid, but it’s not!

Go forth as if you could not possibly lose!

Take risks!

Wondering how to go from 5 to 6 figures in sales? Check out this Free eBook: http://ebook.solidsixblueprint.com/solid-six-ebook/

Get what you get … and then go from there.

Stop LIMITING YOURSELF. YOU ARE HERE FOR SOMETHING AMAZING!

I’m just sayin’

Love,

The Irreverent Sales Girl