The Rainmaker Series – Hard Working

(This is the first in a series of posts that I had promised a few weeks ago. I call this the Rainmaker Series. While the intent is to show Sales and Account Managers the characteristics and traits of Top Sales Producers, I believe this series of articles will benefit anyone wanting to be successful in whatever they wish in life. These articles will be a little longer than usual so please stick with me.)

As we enter the last quarter of this year it seems we begin the final push to end the year strong and start thinking about next year.

For some Account Managers the quota has been made, the outlook is promising and “all” is well. Congratulations if you are in this group.

But for others there is still work to do. In some cases there may be much work to be done, the outlook may look promising but heck it did last year as well.

You are probably working harder than ever but your customers are not as busy as they have been in the past.  Your competition is making a full attack on your accounts and is quoting at margins that seem unthinkable and most likely not profitable. The pressure is on to make your sales goal and you know time is getting short.

I think as Sales and Account Managers we have all been in this position at one time or another. If not (again congratulations) but if you stay in sales long enough you will have years that you struggle.

Over the years I have seen many account managers just give up if the goal seems unachievable. They just begin to convince themselves that next year will be better. In many cases they hope their quota will be reduced and much easier to obtain.

The thought is if I keep working hard everything will be ok.

I say let’s stop right there!  Let’s change our mindset and begin thinking like a Rainmaker. Let’s not quit until we become our companies Top Performer!

Working hard is very important in sales if you wish to be successful. I have yet to see the most successful Account Managers not be hard workers. They may make their work seem effortless but just spend some time with them and you will see how hard they work to build and maintain their business.

Over the past few years I have asked the consistently Top Producers or Rainmakers in our organization what makes them successful.

I can’t think of a time that not one of the very first things they say is “they out work the competition.”

When I think of Top Producing and Hard Working Account Managers I’m reminded of my time as a new Branch Manager in Odessa Texas.

For those that don’t know, Odessa is right in the middle of the Permian Basin which is one of the largest oil fields in the country. Every spring, usually Memorial Day Weekend, severe storms start rolling across the Permian Basin bringing wind and lightning which is very damaging to the Oil Patch.

From the end of May into July storms consistently work their way through the area. The days following a really good/bad storm would be like an early Christmas. If the wells are not pumping, no oil is flowing and no money is being made. This is not a hard concept to grasp. So the phones would start ringing way before normal opening hours.

Ok, so much for the history lesson.

I can’t remember a time then or since that after such a storm two of the top producing salesmen in Odessa were not at work well before anyone else.  We were fortunate that one of these salesmen worked for us and the other would join our sales team within a couple of years.

They both understood and still understand the need to work harder than the competition. They helped me realize the trust and confidence that can be built in a relationship by working hard. Their customers knew that their orders would get out first with the material needed to make repairs. This not only provided a value to their customers but perhaps an even greater value to their customers  customer who was counting on getting their wells back into production as soon as possible.

As I think about this story I realize that their trucks were usually first at the branch every morning storm or no storm and leaving the store with me long after closing.

I’m not trying to say that hard work is the secret to being a successful Salesperson. What I do believe is that without hard work you will find it difficult if not impossible to be a consistent Top Performer or Rainmaker for you company.

So let’s start with the 1^st trait or characteristic needed to be a Top Performer or Rainmaker is “Hardworking.”

I truly believe that to be an outstanding Sales Professional is not all that complicated but it is certainly not easy. If we can all agree that we are going to work hard to be successful and do what’s needed to be a top performer, I need you to do some homework before next week’s post.

If you have already made your quota and “all” is well or you may still have work to do to reach this year’s goal let’s begin working on the next trait which we will call “Goal Clarity”. This is probably the most important trait in the series and I would say to be successful in anything you wish to accomplish. But be aware that setting good goals is hard work.

HOMEWORK

Please identify two sales goals you are committed to accomplish during this next sales year and write them down. You may want to review an article I wrote in June called “A Goal Setting Refresher.” I also highly recommend “The Beginners Guide to Goal Setting” a blog post by Michael Hyatt that will help you with the SMART Goal process.

EXTRA HOMEWORK

Those of you who still have a little work to do this year additionally identify a couple of monthly goals you are willing to commit to for the next 3 months. This will not only give you practice with goal setting but may get you closer to meeting this year’s goals.

I will have some information and statistics next week that will show the importance of setting clear goals and their relationship with high achievers. I will also try to provide you tools to help you stick to and reach your goals.

If you have any suggestions that have helped you when setting your goals please share them by leaving a comment below or emailing me at feedback@wewaonthenet.com  and I will try to include them in next week’s post.

You can also follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WE_Ward where I tweet articles I come across each week that may be of interest.

Now let’s get out there and over-deliver!