Chance Favors Only the Prepared Mind
Home 9 Message from the Mentor 9 Chance Favors Only the Prepared Mind

Professional sales managers are fond of advising their sales teams that “hope is not a strategy.” As most sales professional know, effective business development is a complex combination of functional activities made better or worse by the application of finely-tuned interpersonal skills. The trick is knowing which combination of activities and skills are required for a certain sales situation, when they are needed in the decision-making process, and how they should be applied. Additionally, knowing what to do and doing “it” well are two separate judgments that often do not intuitively present themselves in the midst of “live” selling efforts.

Just as professionals in all trades and industries regularly renew their knowledge and skills, sales professionals need to continually assess their sales effectiveness to ensure they are not just doing the right things but also doing the right things, correctly! In a rapidly changing and dynamic business environment, what is “right” is not always apparent. As business sectors consolidate, technology advances and global competition becomes more and more efficient, the high-performing sales professional is called upon to continually assess the competitive landscape and determine how to adapt — not just to today’s challenges but to anticipate and prepare for tomorrow’s.

It has been well documented that sales performance improvement is due, in large part, to sales training opportunities. A recent Aberdeen Study makes just such a finding. As part of a proven sales training program, sales professionals have the opportunity to pause and reflect on how they are doing their jobs. More important, the training environment provides a unique opportunity to gain new, proven sales insights and skills. Participants have the luxury of honing those skills without exposure to customer demands. This “safe” learning venue allows sales professionals to be ready when the real moment arrives for putting those skills and behaviors into practice.

As 2011 dawns, an opportunity to learn and apply effective selling skills and behaviors is available from Carew International. On February 22-25, at Great Wolf Lodge in the greater Cincinnati area, Carew will offer its proven and most popular sales performance improvement workshop titled “Dimensions of Professional Selling (DPS)” for sales professionals who are interested in not just keeping pace, but accelerating their sales execution proficiency. Learn more here>>

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