This article is a deep-thinker type.
In the business of moving products and services, the mind can work with us or against us.
The very first declaration I need to make is: anyone moving a product or service is a salesperson, regardless if she is hair stylist renting a booth in Hialeah FL, or is an attorney graduating from a top law school.
Of all the sales challenges business owners have, this is the biggest one. And business owners failing to overcome the mindset that he or she is an attorney, a dentist, a CPA, or a plastic surgeon...and is not selling anything, is the number one obstacle to growing businesses.
Why do the majority of white-collar professionals feel they are not salespeople?
The answer is two-fold:
Four-year colleges preparing graduates to become attorneys, CPAs, dentists, and plastic surgeons do not require students to enroll in business development courses. Further study to become certified in law, accounting, dentistry and medicine, again, do not require selling or business development courses. By the time, white-collar professionals graduate from college and finish certification requirements, white-collar professionals are supercharged to believe their professional study is all that is needed to have successful practices.
The selling profession has a bad reputation because of a lack of selling and business development training. Just about every person who has purchased something can recall a bad sales experience, leaving bad tastes in consumers' mouths. So, of course, no white-collar professionals wants to be perceived as a salesperson.
Items 1 and 2 are severely harming the sales industry and depressing sales productivity and sales performance. The effects of items 1 and 2 manifest themselves into white-collar professionals not proactively seeking new clients and, during appointments, closing ratios being extremely low.
Readers need to understand that white-collar professionals are not selling items priced at $35, $75 or even $150. Legal, accounting, dentistry, and plastic surgery services can easily start at $1,000 and higher.
Every reader would probably agree that, if a prospect is willing to spend $1,000 or $10,000 for a product or service, the white-collar professionals, aka the salesperson, should be at the top of his or her game. Professionals should have a strong desire to connect with as many potential clients as possible at $1,000 or higher transaction prices. And as mentioned above, who would not want to close as many appointments as possible when meeting with potential clients?
Sales productivity gaps (not enough contacts) and sales performance misfires (low closing ratios) are unknowingly self-inflicted sales challenges. This is what I mean by white-collar sales professionals being their own worst enemy.
Interested parties can contact me, Yeilyn Rodriguez, VP, Business Development Specialist (bilingual) for English or Spanish contacts, at (786) 697-3400 or, Rick Nappier, CEO, at (833) 321-3212.
321 Biz Dev LLC offers 6-hour sales system training to help white-collar salespeople improve skills and increase business development efforts.
Business owners can also complete a 5-minute Questionnaire by clicking the Services tab on our website. Also, click the About and Podcast tabs to see and hear more about 321 Biz Dev LLC.
I hope readers enjoyed this article.
Yeilyn, VP