Do You Have the Talent for Sales?

Do You Have the Talent for Sales?

by | Jul 28, 2019 | Strengths

The process of understanding your strengths include things such as knowing what you bring and what you need. When you read the report you will in all likelihood say “Yeah, that’s so me!” yet getting to know your individual strengths in depth go way beyond what the reports include.

What the reports really illustrate is who you are when you’re at your best, and it’s really just a starting point of what you have the potential to be or do.

 

The question is, are you using your strengths every day intentionally? How?

 

For a talent to develop into a strength it needs attention much like a business. In business, you know that if you don’t invest time in staying on top of your game you’ll lag behind. When you don’t invest time and effort into applying your talents, that talent simply doesn’t develop into a strength.

We all have raw talents. Not everyone invests the time in themesleves to the point where they know that they need and bring.

The strengths conversations help cut a lot of “red tape” so if you’re looking for a fun and inspiring conversation about one aspect of you, your hardwiring, then this is for you.

 

Strengths Inspire Others

 

I thrive when I see you step into your potential and take it to another level, and others will too.

When you’re happy and empowered, you’ll inspire others and that will impact people in ways you can never forsee, unless, of course, you have a talent that actually can, like Futuristic®, for example. And even with that there will be unforseen variables.

We are all unique, per Gallup® 1 in 33 million people have the exact same lineup in their Top 5 as you do.

Your “strengths twin” could be anywhere on this planet with a different age, gender, skills and experiences, so suffice to say, you’re even more unique and special when you’re simply being your best you.

 

Are you wired for sales?

 

Some are naturally wired to sell, no matter what the product or market is like. For others, it’s a matter of finding the product or business that you really click with.

Being in sales can mena a lot of highs and a lot of lows depending on how intentional you are.

Using your talents/strengths can help you minimize that gap as confidence is one thing, at a minimum, that everyone gets from a coaching journey.

When you’re confident, not cocky, and believe in yourself and what you and your product bring, you sell.

 

How are you currently appling your strengths to sell?

 

Do you walk into an office with confidence, intention, and a [backup]plan or strategy in place, or are you winging it? 

Are you using a cookie cutter template that someone said that you should follow to be successful?

What challenges are your customers/prospects currently facing that you can help them with?

While some strengths thrive when creating on the spot, and that includes someone with Selling® (BP10™) in their Top 4, not all do and even those that do will be more effective and productive when having an intention.

 

What strengths can help you with

 

When you really hone in on your talents and develop them into strengths, you will find that your performance will increase.

Applying your natural talents intentionally with a plan and focused action that works for how you’re wired will energize you.

Have you ever mapped out who your ideal client is? It could be an age group, gender, ethnographic, specialty. personality, etc. Who would you love to do business with? Why not do business with people that you enjoy interacting with that can receive what you offer?

When you’re super clear on who you want to sell to, it’s easy to say no to anyone that doesn’t fit. For example, spend the majority of your time on the clients/prospects that appreciate what you bring, that buy from you consistently and that have an interest to grow.

 

Are your needs met?

 

Imagine having customers that you really enjoy interacting with.

When your needs are not met and when you don’t know what you bring, other than product knowledge and experience, it’s very easy to get cranky or simply lose your mojo. You have a sense that something is missing but just can’t put your finger on it.

On the other hand when you know what you bring and what your dominant talents/strengths need to be energized and feel fulfilled, then it’s easy to put together a plan.

Creating success based on you being your best you naturally is a heck of a lot more fun. When you feel great about who you are plus the product you sell and take intentional action you will create the success that you desire.

Here are three great books on strengths selling that you may enjoy – I sure did 🙂

 

 

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    1. Discover Your Sales Strengths

    By Benson Smith & Tony Rutigliano
    How the world’s greatest salespeople develop winning careers

    A timeless book of stories that may affirm what you already have a sense of with more meat added, published in 2003.

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    2. Strengths-Based Selling

    By Tony Rutigliano & Brian Brim
    Strengths-Based Selling explains sales talent and how to identify and maximize it

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    3. Born to Build

    By Jim Clifton and Sangeeta Badal

    A builder can create companies just like a salesperson creates a territory. This book reviews the Builder Talents with exercises to explore

Want to learn more about how you can make the most of your expert knowledge? Learn how we can work together HERE.

Why Talents Do Matter

Why Talents Do Matter

by | Jul 21, 2019 | Strengths

Google “talent” and you’ll get over 2 million hits. So, why does it matter and do we all have talents?  

One of the things that I love about the Strengths movement is that you really get, first of all, that everyone has talents. It’s awesome to be part of, and help individuals embrace their natural talents, sometimes personality traits that they were made wrong for one way or another.  

Taking these talents and creating environments where people actually can be their best at work and in life is truly a win-win situation for everyone involved as it affects every area of your life. 

When you use your talents and invest time in your talents you automatically increase your performance levels, feel better, simply you’re engaged.  

When you invest time in nonexistent talents a.k.a. weaknesses you will at best be average and we all know how crappy you can feel when that is the focus.  

So why are so many people still focusing on weaknesses rather than looking at what each individual naturally has a talent for, what they already may be contributing and then allowing that person to invest time doing more of that?

 

Who it applies to 

Well, all of us, every single one of us on this planet. Question is, how are you using them?

We all have areas where, no matter what we do, we simply don’t do it, get it, or get any better at it. If we’re smart, we delegate those tasks, if we have someone to delegate to, or we’ll hire the job out. And yes, there may be some issues that we can’t delegate.

When applying a Strengths conversation and lens to the task at hand we may actually be able to reframe whatever the “it” is and make it fun or interesting to us. 

Now, in all honesty, some tasks will never be fun yet when a team focuses on what they are best at there’s a big chance that someone on your team actually loves doing what you hate doing and you could potentially trade tasks.

 

What if you love sales but feel the pressure to be a manager

Imagine waking up every day and looking forward to going to work, even on a Monday. You’re energized, and doing what you love.

Many salespeople and entrepreneurs love the freedom that the job provides but spend a lot of time stressing out when sales are not coming in. Not everyone is wired to build a business aka territory on their own. 

Some are hunters, others are farmers, some have both. Knowing your talents helps you see what your greatest contribution to your company can be and set yourself up to win.

Many salespeople want to become managers, some have the talent for it, others do not.

If you’re someone who thrives on selling and the sales process, invest time in being the best salesperson you can be and take pride in that. Use what you have going for yourself naturally.

If your passion is to manage people, and the paperwork, then management might be your thing.

When selling energizes you, you’ll automatically add that little extra sauce that has your customers appreciate and stay loyal to you. A great product helps too, of course. 

While many of us thrive on change, some of us don’t, and when you’re in sales there are so many variables. Talented salespeople handle challenges with ease and sell no matter what’s going on.

 

What to do to get started

So what’s next? Well, it starts by exploring what your talents are as an individual. While you may have a sense of what it is reading the report will often confirm what you know deep down but haven’t had the words for.

Getting a coach and going deeper will create even more self-awareness resulting in more confidence and well-being for one, helping you sell you better too. Talking strengths is an empowering conversation that will make you smile, it’s painless.

Next step would be to bring it to your team whether that team is your coworkers, field team, family or your community. Starting a conversation that explores where you shine and how you can be better now doesn’t that sound like way more fun than fixing what you suck at?

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    1. Take the CliftonStrengths® Assessment

    …connect with a coach or go HERE and take the assessment. The report that you get after taking the assessment will in itself be worth gold. You will be blown away, and likely say “Yup, that’s me”.
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    2. Talk to a coach

    …if you want to dig deeper into how YOU can best invest in yourself.
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    3. Spread Strengths to your communities

    …including work. Remember, this assessment measures HOW you approach anything, it’s your hardwiring. Other talents, experience and more get added to this. So it’s about becoming more of who you are naturally. Honor you in other words.

Try it and let me know how it goes!

Do you want to learn more about how you can make the most of your talents? Learn how we can work together HERE.

3 Actions to Take to Create a Workplace That Performs

3 Actions to Take to Create a Workplace That Performs

by | Jul 14, 2019 | Strengths

Strength is a word that indicates power in many ways, whether it’s physical, like bench pressing 200 lbs, mental, or material strength — tough as steel, or using the talents we all were born with. 

When you’re operating in your strengths zone doing what you feel great about doing, life flows and you feel awesome. Engaged in life, contributing to others and open to possibilities, you’re feeling connected to a bigger “purpose” or mission, and confident in what you bring to the table.

You’re having fun with your team, ideas are flowing, communication is open and the business is growing. You and your team have created a work environment where you feel great, everyone gets acknowledged weekly, if not daily, for your contributions, not just for the dollars sold.

 

Is this your current reality?  

In the most recent update of the Global State of the Global Workplace by Gallup®, 85% of the workforce are performing below their potential with only 15% actively engaged! That number alone illustrates to me that the current systems are not working and that’s a high price to pay for any company.  

Having spent the majority of the last 30 years in fast-growing entrepreneurial companies, I’ve worked in workplaces with a higher percentage of engagement. Having co-workers that you actually like working with, that are passionate about the company, growing it as a team, and where they know that their individual contributions matter.  

I’ve also experienced what happens when you take the engaged people for granted and allow the unengaged, or complainers, to influence the workplace and create toxic environments, or promote people that aren’t equipped to manage people. With that ideas stifle, engagement decline and unnecessary drama results in performers, rather than non-performers, leaving the company.

 

Acknowledge the People That Perform 

Everyone on the team matter, acknowledge them for their contributions to build a strong team. When you see someone do something great, let them know. It’s very possible that they don’t know as it might be in their blind spot and unique to them, just as how you approach anything is unique to you. Strengths are all the things that come easy for us that we may not know have value. 

Nurture the people that consistently perform and create incentives, it’s not always about promotions. Ask your team how they define success and you’ll get an idea of how to reward them.

 

Pay Attention to Non-Performers 

Identify and talk to the unengaged and see what’s missing for them, what tools they need to be engaged and perform if it’s doable and if not consider terminating. The impact of toxic people in a work environment is costly. 

Shifting into a strengths-based culture doesn’t mean that you don’t need to look at weaknesses, especially if these are part of your role. When you focus on what you have a natural talent for and invest your time there, engagement tends to happen automatically, and with that confidence and increased performance.   

Once you really get what you bring everywhere (life & business) it becomes really easy to delegate what you suck at and appreciate the people that are great at it more than ever.

 

So where do you start? 

If you own the company or are in management, it starts with you. I would recommend that you read the newly released book called “It’s the Manager” from Gallup® (May 2019).

Take the CliftonStrengths® Assessment (how you’re hardwired to approach anything), add the BP10™ (what type of entrepreneurial talents you have aka where your business building talents lay) and hire a coach that you click with to walk you through what it all means. To date I have not met anyone who has resisted the results, rather they all say “yep, that’s me”. So, why not start with your talents and see how you’re using them, and then roll it out to your team?  

As with anything, it’s not a one-time fix as life is constantly in motion with new possibilities being presented. What would it look like to have a team that not only have fun together but one that performs consistently and are engaged? What value would that create for your business?

 

Here are THREE actions that you can take this week without even taking the assessment:

 

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    1. Send out a brief survey

    …to measure current likes, dislikes, and needs where people can speak freely and be anonymous – take action and address any issues as needed (Paperform, SurveyMonkey, TypeForm)

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    2. Read this article

    …share it with your team(s), discuss and take action CLICK HERE

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    3. Carve out time for a weekly performance pow-wow

    …5 minutes where you share your appreciation for what your team has achieved in the past week.

    Find something positive to say about everyone. Keep it short and sweet, like “thank you for being on time every day”, “thank you for embracing mid-course changes with project X so quickly”, “great job with that account”, you get the point. Repeat weekly and see what this simple effort creates.

Try it and let me know how it goes!

Want to learn more about how you can make the most of your expert knowledge? Learn how we can work together HERE.

What Are You an Expert In?

What Are You an Expert In?

by | Jul 7, 2019 | Strengths

There are three business building roles: Rainmaker, Conductor, and Expert.

Today I’m going to focus on the Expert who may primarily focus on product development and research. Being the best in your field is crucial for you. You set the bar high for yourself.

If you’re an Expert, you’re probably highly independent, determined, and never accept things staying the same. You push boundaries by seeing new possibilities and reimagining current thinking.

 

“You set the bar high for yourself and focus on breakthrough discoveries.” —Gallup® Born to Build

 

I work with several Experts and what has been interesting to me, again, is that they all have different occupations ranging from sales, accounting, to customer service, and warehouse management.

What they all have in common however is the desire to be the best in their field and that is something I can see in all of them. That may be expressed by constantly learning, researching, and seeking more knowledge.

 

To get a deeper understanding of your BP10™ we need to pair it with your CliftonStrengths® lineup.

Case 1: Salesperson with Selling™ as #1 and Relationship™ #2 will not only be the Evangelist of the product but also focus on the people, the “WHO do I need to influence, talk to, connect with to make “X” happen?” in addition to the “WHAT’s needed?”. Looking at the CliftonStrengths® themes you’ll find that there are a lot of influencing themes like Woo®, Communication®, Activator®, and Command® in the Top 5 alone.  

Case 2: Salesperson with Disruptor™ as #1 and Profitability™ #2 will bring curiosity and ideas to the conversation and also a desire to make the company money. They have a blend of themes like Learner®, Strategic®, Achiever®, and Activator® which means they’re going to look at the big picture, get things started and close the deal. There may also be a focus on “WHAT’s” needed to get things done as well as “HOW?”.

No matter what your primary role is you potentially have a blend of all three Builder roles which is available in a special report offered by Gallup® called CIR. Your unique blend determines whether your focus is on who, what or how or a blend of all.

 

Are you an Expert? What is your area of expertise?

 

Want to learn more about how you can make the most of your expert knowledge? Learn how we can work together HERE.

To find out more about the Gallup® Builders Profile (BP10™) and find out what your primary role and talents are, take the BP10™ assessment by clicking HERE.

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