One way to inspire success is to celebrate its many forms. Baseball fans illustrate this perfectly. Do they wait soundlessly for final out in bottom of ninth? Of course not! They cheer every solid crack of bat… every difficult catch… every stolen base, because they recognize that each of these small successes brings them closer to their ultimate goal. The more skillful play more fervent cheer, which motivates athletes to stretch their abilities to achieve even more.

I think single most inspiring thing you can do is to pay attention to your reps. Don’t wait until bottom of ninth to commend their progress. Make a point to notice their incremental gains and celebrate their success!

CULTIVATE

When I first started in sales I thought I should be just like Gregg, most successful member of my team. I stifled my own personality and conducted my sales presentations as if I were Gregg, copying his voice inflections, rhythm of his speech, and even some of his jokes. It wasn’t long before I began to suspect that his achievement was more a matter of luck than skill, because clearly, this selling approach was a failure!

In truth, failure was mine. By rejecting my personal style I had violated one of fundamental principles in cultivating success: respect individuality. Gregg’s approach worked for him because it was his. When I rediscovered my style and trusted my own instinct, that’s when I developed success. When Boudreau was promoted to player/manager his team was made up of more than just shortstops. He led his team to victory by relying on each player’s unique strengths to overcome challenges of their position. Whether we are working with new or veteran reps, we must respect that their individual traits and talents have gotten them this far. Our job is to expect more.

How can we help our reps progress from expecting more to achieving more? By encouraging risk taking and new behaviors. Too conservative a team culture makes it difficult to raise bar; few are willing to reach higher, for fear of falling short. As trainers we should be first at bat, risking innovative approaches and new ideas. Boudreau wasn’t afraid to think differently. He recognized that teammate Bob Lemon was misplaced as an infielder, so he reassigned him to pitcher, liberating Lemon from mediocrity and helping him achieve MVP/All Star status.

BATTER UP!

Just as a coach can’t swing bat for player at plate, we can’t be with our teams every play of game. We must share our best techniques for sales success, so that when split-second adjustments need to be made, they have skills to make right ones.

“I can’t be with you every day” has become something of a team slogan; a reminder that ultimately we each bear responsibility for creating our own success. As trainers our mission is to teach art of unflinching self-assessment. Perhaps most important thing we can give our reps is ability to evaluate themselves honestly and specifically. Once they master that skill set they will be rounding third and heading for home!

Copyright ©2004 by Sally Bacchetta. All rights reserved.

Sally Bacchetta - Freelance Writer/Sales Trainer

Bundling can also increase your target markets which in return would give you a larger audience to sell your products and services. For example: if you're selling a baseball magazine you could add a free baseball when someone buys a subscription. You're now targeting people who want baseball magazine and those that want to play baseball out in yard. Some people buy a package deal just to get one of products.

There are many sources where you can find products and services to create a package deal. You can buy them from wholesalers or drop shippers. You can buy reproduction/resell rights to other people's products. Team-up with your competition to create a package deal. You could joint venture or cross promotion deal with other businesses. You could also create your own products and services. Be creative!