The Secret of the Top 10% of Sales Reps

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What separates the top 10% of sales personnel from the bottom 90%?

They are diligent about how they spend their time.

In banking, and likely many other fields, there is always something to do to take care of your customer. When you place your focus on always serving, the marketing function doesn’t happen. And when you stop marketing, your pipeline flatlines! I don’t know about you, but I hate waking up a 3 a.m., staring at the ceiling, wondering where my next deal is coming from.

Recently, I interviewed the veteran, regional president of a business bank. He had a solid team, a $40 million portfolio, and he still managed to spend eight hours a week developing business. Think about the level of responsibility that went along with his position, including managing a couple of locations––and he still made time for marketing every week.

How did he do that?

He was disciplined with his time. He spent eight hours a week making phone calls, sending emails, and having face-to-face meetings with prospects, new COIs as well as his usual COIs.

It’s all about thinking differently.

Innovation never springs from a closed or satisfied mind.

One of the biggest challenges I have is coming into an institution and working with bankers who have hit their goals for years. In order to evolve and grow, we must be challenged to reinvent ourselves constantly. Now more than ever, this is crucial to our success. The bubble we’ve enjoyed for the last twenty-five years is dangerously close to bursting.

Yet, we are creatures of habit. Habits keep us safe, but they don’t allow us to grow.

Changing one’s behavior is the hardest thing to do.

What I know about my habits is that they keep me comfortable, but they don’t allow me to grow. When I’m uncomfortable, when I have that fear in the pit of my stomach, that is a signal that I’m learning and growing. I’m stretching myself. And when I stretch my business grows, my relationships grow, and I grow.

Remember, small changes in behavior make a big difference––and I guarantee you will be a little uncomfortable during the first two or three tries of a new behavior. And that’s a good thing.  Good news, that uncomfortable feeling goes away quickly with a little practice.

To Your Success,

Ray Adler

Plant the seeds of greater sales growth. Enroll now in the Spring Session of Ray Adler’s One-of-a-kind Sales Honing Academy. Remember, change is inevitable, success is not!

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