How can one get an unfair advantage in their sales career
The answer lies in strategic thinking by focusing on 3 core building blocks.
Why is it that some sales professionals earn more or get ahead in their career while others try to keep up the pace?
Is there some formula or method that could be used to fast track sales career, something that could give you an edge over peers.
The answer lies in being strategic about your sales career, to do some of things that might look obvious but 90% overlook it, let me share the top 3 points here.
1. Continuous learning: Practising your craft and becoming 1% better everyday
The only way to become better is learning continuously, staying a student, staying a learner, because the moment you think you know it all, you would experience stagnation, you might feel stuck.
Look at sport personalities, most of the despite being good, they continue to work hard, on their skills, fitness and being better, because they know its a competitive world, and if the do not perform or bring their best then this opportunity could go to someone else, hence there is no option to not putting the required hard work.
You can break down learning into skills and knowledge, you need to refine and improve your skills along with the domain knowledge, as both are crucial for your success.
You can learn from books, watching videos, talking to peers, bosses etc. but the best form of learning from mentors or people who are ahead than you, they could fast track your journey, find mentor if you can, find that seasoned sales professional who has done really well.
2. A strong network: Your network is your net worth
You would have heard this statement before, your network is your net-worth, while most of us know that there is merit in having a good network, but very few actually are able to build relevant network.
There are practical challenges here, as first people don’t have time to network with you or, may be they are busy or have some other priorities, in these scenarios most of the people reach back to others only when there is a requirement to do so.
But let me tell you that it’s a mistake, you don’t dig well to fetch water when you are thirsty, you dig well when you are not thirsty, and that means you build network of like minded people when you actually don’t need anything from them.
Most people take the standard route, talk to people only when you need them, don’t make that mistake.
But now the question is how do you build a strong network. Two options, either you do all the hardwork here and try to figure out things or join a network, or community that already is doing the hardwork, all you need to do is, join them and find relevant like minded people to network with, its like either you build your own linkedIn or join linkedIn and connect with people you want to, which one is easier or better?
3. Setting clear goals with a clear bias towards taking action
How many of us actually have clear goals and a plan to achieve that?
I also didn’t have for a long time, i was going with the flow trying to figure things out.
But you don’t have to, it’s never too late to establish clear goals and build strategy and plan to achieve them.
There are multiple ways in which you can do that, one key point to highlight here would be to have a good soundboard where you can go to them for any advice, be it tactical or strategic.
Most of us stay in the lane because we live around with our own thoughts, but its very important to leverage senior folks so that you can fresh ideas, you start thinking differently as senior folks bring experience to the table, that only comes by spending more time in a particular domain to build expertise, that you can leverage.
Also, have just not 1 person but try to have around 3-4 people you could leverage here, that could as a personal board of advisors.
I know it’s not easy to get their time and attention, but trust me its not that hard.
Another point there to highlight is, i have seen successful sales professionals taking massive action, they are clearly biased towards getting things done, they don’t give up easily.
Action is the only way to get things done, and its the only way to get to the top, the day you stop taking massive action, the results would start dropping and that is not a great sign.
You need to be patient with the results but you need to be impatient with actions, continue to take actions, and results would start showing up.
While there are more than 3 points on this topic, that can help you get unfair advantage in your sales career, i have covered the top 3 here. In coming days, will share more here, but keep these 3 in mind, ensure you leverage them to your advantage.
Now, there are two ways to go about leveraging the above 3 points, first is to try and do everything by yourself.
Or, the second option is it take a smarter approach and join a community that can give you access all the 3, a curated and relevant learning sessions, a like minded community of sales professionals and access to senior professionals that could guide you on your career journey. Which one would be a better choice?
If you picked second as a better option then check out www.salestiger.club and apply to become a SalesTiger and leverage it to get an unfair advantage over your peers!