Sales School Mentality

Through the rigorous training program that IBM graciously invests in the 2013 Summit Architect class, we are fortunate to receive IBM's famous Global Sales School training. Being from a technical background, I recall being fairly nervous before entering this prestigious program. However, I knew that the time that I invested would pay off in the future.

Global Sales School

Unfortunately, my overly analytic brain led me astray in the beginning of practice calls. However, I managed to quickly jump back on track and apply the experience that I gained from consulting interviews to sales calls. This problem solving mindset, combined with a passionate desire to help our clients, even if they are role playing clients, creates value and partnerships. It is the essence of being essential. Now that I can leverage my technical background to improve future sales calls, I can direct attention to some important lessons learned and critical mindsets to put in one's frontal lobe.

First, place yourself in the mind of a CEO of a 15 person company. I am CEO of Erik Inc. This simple thought increases one's personal responsibility and sense of ownership. It can definitely help independent individuals perform better with larger groups of people.

Second, never forget about your competition.

• What is your competition doing? 
• Are you doing anything different? 
• When a client has your proposal on their desk along with a competitors, what will make yours stand out?

While it seems obvious to know the competition's strategies, these questions are imperative to ask. If you do not stand out from the crowd, you will be trampled in a stampede.

Third, place yourself under the skin of a client. Again, this simple mentality can help astronomically. For instance, all I have to envision is sitting at my desk and receiving a request for proposal from a potential seller. The last thing I want is to read a 40 page document straight. Even a short executive summary might be too laborious. I want a document with diagrams, that is easy to read, has bullets, structure, and boldface for important phrases. I do not want my eyes to bleed by reading a proposal. As a technician, I am extremely adept at focusing on the details and making sure every last minute aspect of a product is perfect. However, sometime I lose site of the bigger picture. When working with clients, the bigger picture can never be lost.

While these ideas seem simple and intuitive, it is an entirely different story to live your life, both work and play, by these mantras. These three mentalities, among many others learned, are key to success to sales and life.