Take control

For salespeople, results can occasionally be dependant on things beyond their control. If your biggest account was Lehman Brothers or AIG last year, you probably had a terrible year. Ditto if you were trying to sell vacation homes in Las Vegas or Fort Myers, Florida.

What most salespeople ignore, however, is the fact that most of their results depend on things they do control, and so they ultimately fail to do the things necessary to improve their chances for success by not focusing enough on these controllable elements.

While it's true that we can't simply decide, for example, to be the smartest, most likable or luckiest salesperson, and we can't snap our fingers and suddenly have a world beating product, there are a number of things that we can decide to do in order to dramatically improve our chances for success, including:

- be the best prepared. Being better prepared than the competition gives us a real edge. Many reps feel they are well prepared, but very few are really putting in the effort necessary to know their products, competition and customers significantly better than the rest.

- be the hardest working. Our competition can't keep us from out-working them, yet many reps just do the minimum necessary to get by. More effort inevitably leads to better results. Most of the time the hardest working sales people are the luckiest.

- be the most positive. Having the right attitude is contagious and people respond better to positive people. Too many reps sit around complaining about how tough things are, often turning off the people around them. Salespeople can't afford to "turn-off" anyone. Choose to be positive instead and watch how your customers and co-workers react positively in turn.

- be the most responsive. Customers love responsive reps, and it's normally up to the individual how quickly and with what degree of urgency they follow up on customer’s requests. When it comes to customer follow up, move faster than the other guy.

The best thing about these actions is that no one can stop you if decide to make being the best prepared, hardest working etc. your objective. Not your competitor, your fellow reps or your cranky boss. It's 100% up to you. And it’s a change we can decide to make RIGHT NOW! So, while you can't snap your fingers and bring Lehman Brothers back to life, there are lots of things you can do to improve our "luck", and many of the most important are completely within your control. The real winners are the ones who recognize the impact these controllable variables have on performance, and maximize their chances for success by electing to be the best at them.