Sandler Training

Success...It's All in Your Head   

Your mindset has more to do with your success than almost any other single element.  There are plenty of salespeople who possess extensive product knowledge, have numerous influential business contacts, are well-spoken, and have appealing personalities, yet their sale performances are average… sometimes, only marginally acceptable. 

Then, there are salespeople who have just enough product knowledge to get by, have few business contacts, don’t always articulate their thoughts in the most artful manner, and don’t have particularly sparkling personalities, yet their sales performances rank in the top ten percent.

How can that be?

Success in sales, or almost any endeavor, is not simply a product of one’s talent, education, personality, or contacts (although, those elements can surely help), but rather the result of one’s attitude—the natural tendency to have a positive outlook and maintain positive expectations.

But, it’s more than just being able to see the glass as half-full rather than half-empty.  It’s the ability to see possibilities…coupled with the resolve to take the required actions to turn those possibilities into realities. Some people will view a challenge, and after analyzing the positive and negative aspects of it, choose to focus on the positive.  They see possibilities and envision success.  The more they focus on the positive aspects, the stronger their belief grows about their ability to successfully meet the challenge.  And, the stronger their belief grows, the more resolute is their judgment to take the actions necessary to achieve their goals.  They press on, regardless…and they succeed. Others, will view the same challenge and focus on the negative aspects—all the reasons (real and imagined) that the challenge can’t be met successfully.  They only see limitations, and envision only failure.  The more they focus on the negative aspects, the stronger their beliefs grow about the improbability of successfully meeting the challenge and the futility of investing any effort in its pursuit.  They give up, or at best, make a half-hearted effort…and they don’t succeed. Your success is nothing more (or less) than what you envision it to be…and your determination to act in a manner consistent with that picture.  If success has eluded you thus far, perhaps it’s time to change your picture, and then press on.

All RFPs are Not Created Equal    Many salespeople believe that they should respond to all proposal requests that come across their desks where the scope of the work falls within the capabilities of their companies.  It’s easy to see the allure.  Working on an opportunity that “fell out of the sky” is far more desirable than “beating the bushes” to turn up an opportunity. Desirable, yes.  But, is it smart? Responding to a request for a proposal (RFP) carries with it associated costs.  What are they? There's the time invested identifying and specifying the relationship between the prospect’s request and the solution your company could offer. There's the time invested researching the competition you face and the solutions they could offer. There's the time invested developing an advantageous positioning of your solution relative to your competition. There's the time invested writing the proposal and developing the appropriate supporting materials. There are the production costs of any required presentation materials. And finally, there is the opportunity cost of working on a proposal instead of pursuing other opportunities. It’s important to recognize that not all RFPs are created equal.  That is, there are various reasons buyers send out RFPs…not all of which are for the intention of doing business.

One reason companies might send RFPs is simply to obtain some no-cost consulting.  For example, they may be considering establishing a new process or system using in-house resources…and sending RFPs is a way to gather relevant, valuable, and FREE information about processes, costs, implementation timetables, and so forth to guide them in their development efforts.  Another reason companies might send RFPs is to gain leverage with a group of competing potential suppliers.  The buyers end up with several “bargaining chips” with which to negotiate—playing the bidders against each other.  It’s also an effective way to pressure an existing supplier…especially when negotiating contract renewals or requesting additional services at prices favorable to the company. There are, however, other less manipulative reasons for proposal requests.  You may have discussed a business opportunity with a new or existing client, and the client’s request for a proposal is to obtain information in order to be comfortable moving forward.  Or, if the buyer has made the decision to move forward, the purpose of the request is to secure confirmation of the arrangements discussed. What should be clear is that blindly responding to an RFP is an iffy proposition…even if the scope of the work is well within the capabilities of your company.  Why? Because a proposal is a presentation…delivered on paper rather than in person.  Whether delivered in person or on paper, it doesn’t make good business sense to invest time, energy, and company resources developing a presentation without first thoroughly defining and qualifying the opportunity it addresses. While you may not always be able to do as thorough a job of qualifying an opportunity generated by an RFP as an opportunity that’s developed through ongoing person-to-person interaction with the prospect, it’s imperative that you have a dialogue with the buyer or an appropriate representative in order to qualify the opportunity, and at the very least, determine the underlying reasons for the request.  Then, and only then, can you determine if the request is worthy of your time and efforts.