3 Things Everyone in Sales Should Be Thankful For

Gratitude and giving thanks are easily overlooked in the workplace.

Actually, in today’s rushed and “connected” world, it’s often disregarded almost entirely. We’re all living busy lives and get caught up in stressful moments.  It’s easy to dwell on the negative, but what about focusing on the positive things that are working in our favor?

Now, this isn’t all some lovey-dovey mumbo jumbo - gratitude has been scientifically proven to:

• Open the door to new relationships
• Improve physical and psychological health
• Enhance empathy and reduce aggression
• Allow you to sleep better
• Improve self-esteem and increase mental strength

Who wouldn’t want all those benefits? With how busy you are and how hard you work - wouldn’t it be nice to sleep a little sounder and just feel a little better, maybe even happier?

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it’s time to slow down for a moment, look around, and show our gratitude.

Here are 3 things all those working in Sales should be thankful for:

1. Marketing Materials

Your Marketing team works hard to position your company’s product or service. Marketing produces content to get you leads and peak the interest of potential buyers. This includes various educational resources so that your lead can learn as much as possible, even before you try to sell to them.

Because of these resources, when the lead actually gets to your sales team, you can rest assured that they will be at least somewhat well-versed in the market and what it is you have to offer.

As much as content helps your prospects and customers, it will also help you. When a prospect asks you a question that you may not have the answer to (or that may require a long answer), you can share these marketing materials for them to read through on their own.

Depending on the type of seller you are, it can be thrilling to go into a meeting not knowing exactly what you’re going to say or how you’re going to pitch your product or service, but you like to go in with a game plan,  chances are your marketing team already has several materials for you to build off of.

If you’re not well versed on all the Marketing material or content available to you - it’s time to start studying!

Try this:

Make a recurring appointment in your calendar where you will spend time familiarizing yourself with all of the latest (and even past) materials your Marketing team has created. Take notice of what’s new and how you can integrate those changes into your pitch and sales process.

2. Clearly-Defined Goals

As a seller, you are usually completely in control. That can seem like a tough reality, but it actually provides a certain freedom.

You know what your revenue goal is, right?

Silly question - of course you do! It’s completely black and white. That number is what you need to reach in order to be successful. It might seem daunting that the goal is ever-increasing, but that just means you have to steadily increase your efforts as well.

Having that definitive goal will help you decide which actions you choose to take on a daily basis. If you’re a long way off from your target and your pipeline is drying up, you can steer yourself toward focusing on creating better next steps and follow-ups with prospects.

Knowing where you are supposed to be makes it a lot easier to determine how you’ll get there and what steps you need to take to make it happen. So how can you use having a clearly defined revenue target to your advantage?

Try this:

Start tracking your activity. If you’re doing a good job with utilizing your CRM, you should know what actions are leading you to closing sales. However, if you’ve been putting off documenting your sales process - it’s time to start. When you begin recording your activities you’ll start to see patterns that can help you adjust your behavior and help you achieve your goal more smoothly.

3. Constant Feedback

Whatever you’re selling was created for a reason, with definite thought and research behind it. But depending on how large your company is, it’s possible that you’re in the only department that is actively talking to and getting instant, regular feedback from customers.

Every discussion and interaction with a prospect or client you have, can give you that much more insight into what they need and how your offering is helping serve them.

You have lots of valuable knowledge on what’s working for your customers and what isn’t. Take the time to appreciate every compliment, complaint, head-nod, or objection you receive and write it down.

Some things will test your creativity and you’ll have to come up with a solution on your own, but if you’ve noted a repeated request for a feature that your product isn’t currently offering - make sure you inform others in your company!

You’re part of a bigger team and helping other departments make decisions about how to improve and advance the company’s offering is tremendously powerful and something you have direct access to!

Try this:

Keep notes on what your prospects and existing customers love and hate. Assess your findings each week and see what you can change or adapt in order to improve.

If it’s something that another department needs to be involved in (i.e. marketing) - send them a note or bring it up in a meeting. They’ll appreciate your discoveries and willingness to initiate change.

Key Takeaway

We are all guilty of taking things for granted in our day-to-day lives. Be thankful. Spend time reflecting. You’ll be pleasantly surprised what a difference it can make by being grateful for the simple things like: having Marketing materials, a definitive revenue target, and having your ear to the ground.