Set High Objectives

Greetings!

Since it's World Series week let me share a brief baseball story, one that has sales implications of course.

I was in Kansas City a couple of weeks ago doing telesales training for a client, and heard retired player and Hall of Famer, George Brett, on a radio interview. George now works for the Royals, helping develop young players. The team had an awful season this year, and when asked about expectations for the number of wins next year, Brett said, "We expect to win 162 games." (That's how many they play total. They won 65 this year.) "We have to expect to win every time we step on the field." 

I immediately stopped the car and wrote that down (much to the dismay of guy tailing too close behind me who waved his middle finger as he sped by.) 

At first it seemed like an outrageous statement, since 116 games is the most anyone has ever won in a season.

Then it made perfect sense. 

Why WOULDN'T you expect to win every time you play a game? 

Or, why WOULD YOU allow yourself to play the game--or make a sales call--unless you expected to succeed?

Realistically, we all know that simply saying, "I'm going to win," or, "I'm going to close this sale," doesn't make it magically happen. 

What is far more certain, though, is the fate of the person who says, "We can't win," "I can't get that business," or, "They'll never buy from me." 

So here's my brief, but practical and instantly useable sales tip:

KEY POINT

Set your Primary Objective as high as you realistically can on each call.

Of course, if you sell something very technical, requires a large investment, or typically has a long sales process, a sale on one call probably isn't a reasonable expectation. Be reasonable, but stretch your personal expectations to, and beyond, what you thought your previous limits were. 

Replace saying, "I'm not sure if I can...", and instead say, "Why couldn't I...?" 

I'm not a math genius, but experience tells me that the higher you aim, sales-wise, the larger the ultimate results over time. 

Canadian author, Frederick Philip Grove, said, "If the desire to get somewhere is strong enough in a person, his whole being, conscious and unconscious, is always at work, looking for and devising means to get to the goal."

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Don't make your goals too easy; you'll be cheating yourself." Alec Mackenzie

God Bless America

Art

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Contact: Art Sobczak
President, Business By Phone Inc.
Editor and Publisher, TELEPHONE SELLING REPORT newsletter
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