Lenses - The Keys That Unlock

The sales profession is not an easy one to master. In fact, I'm confident that it is never fully mastered. The salesperson who believes that they have arrived will soon be in for a rude awakening. The mindset of "I don't need to work on my sales skills" is a green light to the unemployment line.

Over the past 2-3 years my natural lenses have given way to a set of reading glasses. As I approach the ripe young age of 46, I am fully aware that those reading glasses will give way to a set of prescription lenses. I accept it. It's just one of those facts of life.

Pondering the thought of glasses starting me thinking about the various lenses we wear as salespeople.

Here are just a few:

1. Customer Lenses: The very best sales reps have the ability to step outside themselves and view each and every interaction from the customers point of view. By doing so they prepare better questions, anticipate objections, and discern intent by reading between the lines of spoken words and body language.

2. Awareness Lenses: Great reps use their eyes to scan and absorb all environments they are in. When they're in the customers office they scan, absorb, and weave their findings into meaningful dialogue. As they wander the customers facilities they pay attention to workstations, storage shelves, and production lines. Awareness lenses create opportunities that help customers increase efficiencies that impact profitability - for the customer, the sales reps company, and the sales rep.

3. Planning Lenses: Organized reps sell more. By choosing to wear the Planning Lenses they close more sales due to the fact that they have more time. They don't forget to "do what they told the customer they would do". They control their day and don't allow circumstances or habit to drive behavior.

If your customer eye sight has been faltering, consider adding a new set of lenses. You will soon thank yourself.