(By Loyd Ford) Yes, it is true. I have been reading Will Smith’s autobiography, “Will”. It’s an interesting title because he understands brand and because he uses his name as an actual part of his personality. He also shares wisdom we can all use in the innovation century (where things don’t look exactly like they used to for all of us).
“Life is a journey from not knowing to knowing.” – Will Smith
Your sellers face uncertainty every day, rejection, issues with motivation and encouragement and if you are a sales manager or market manager, it’s time to fire up their faith in the possibilities and what they bring to the game. Make it your mission to give them additional daily boosts of confidence by what you share with them, including attitude, fortitude and commitment to being creative and practical even-handedly to deliver the prized revenue your company expects from your cluster.
They hear enough negative. They want to be heard, appreciated and they want to be told they can complete the mission.
People underestimate the power of encouragement and motivation to light the fires of hunter-gatherers. We all know that the world (and the world of sales) isn’t fair. Sellers are met on the battlefield every single day by a variety of foes who are clever at hiding, misdirection and giving a wide variety of excuses not to buy a seller’s products and services. Our job in management is to help our sellers see around corners by looking past what prospects say to try to determine why they are giving an objection, how to overcome that objection and both identify and leverage their hot-button to buy.
Your Sellers Are Like Children
All children are different. Managing your children requires watching and listening carefully for how you can truly give them confidence and passion to perform beyond what they believe about themselves. Treating everyone the same ultimately gives you a muted more generic result.
What about my visits with Will Smith?
If you remember, Will Smith achieved his first fame with a song called “Parents Just Don’t Understand” with DJ Jazzy Jeff (Will was known as “The Fresh Prince” back then). But what you may not remember is that he and his partner struggled after that first success. Jeff went into hiding and Will Smith instinctively knew he needed a second act. Sellers can be like that when they stumble. A lot of how Will Smith reacted had to do with coaching (Will’s mom and dad taught them to be committed to meeting problems head-on). That can be the difference for your sellers in 2022, too.
Pop wisdom says, “It’s what you do when no one is watching.” That is certainly true, but I am going to suggest that having management who lifts sales talent, boosts confidence daily, holds sellers accountable but also identifies and shares the unique traits of that talent back to the talent themselves as reasons they will overcome challenges is a powerful engine for individual sellers and sales departments. Remaining calm in the storm and reminding sellers of the fundamentals and why their talent matters will help smooth out challenges and keep your team on course for reaching new revenue goals again and again.
“Life is a journey from not knowing to knowing.” – Will Smith
Please remember that your sellers are growing and they need that fertilization and encouragement. They are looking to you for that. Just like you want your morning show to prep for their show before they go on the air, this is your show. Prep what you do with sellers and produce experiences that lift them up, educate them, arm them with confidence about who they are and their value and purpose to the organization. Even on days when your local sales talent may not look like they are paying attention, your attention to encouragement, motivation and giving sellers daily confidence matters more than you think it does. This can be the most powerful part of your job and propel your career to heights you can’t even image right now.
If you are a seller and you are not with a management team that respects you and encourages you, this should be part of your new year’s considerations for life in the future. Selling is a gift.
It’s also a reason to be grateful when you have great management that hears you, encourages you daily and helps educate and arm you for the daily battles of cultivating revenue in any economy, any storm any situation.
Loyd Ford consults radio stations, coaches personalities, and provides behavioral and strategic programming to radio with RPC. If you’re on the Clubhouse app, you can join Loyd’s radio pro encouragement group “The Encouragers.” Reach him anytime. 864.448.4169 or [email protected].
