Good morning!
Roughly 10 years ago I learned how to ride a motorcycle. It was a weekend class which combined classroom lessons with riding experience. At that point, I had been a licensed driver for 34 years. When I went to the registry to get my permit, I was told I’d need to take the standard drivers permit test again. No problem, I thought, and I asked if I could take it immediately. “Yes,” the woman replied brightly, but then she leaned forward and whispered, “but you don’t want to. Go home and study.” After a brief discussion/argument, I decided to take her advice…
Oh.
My.
God.
She was so right. I needed to relearn long-forgotten lessons.
You need to get 20 correct answers out of 25 questions. I think I got 21 and barely passed. That was a wake-up call. That weekend, learning how to ride a motorcycle returned me to the fundamentals of road safety and made me a far better driver.
How often do you go back to the fundamentals of sales?
Sales, contrary to what the “I’ve never sold before, but…” armchair experts say about it being a numbers game, is actually better described as an algorithm; a formula. There are four components and every time your sales are off, you can go back and ask yourself four questions. Go 4 for 4 and you are guaranteed to be successful. The questions are:
- Am I making a high value, well researched sales call?
- Am I calling on the right target markets?
- Do I have a prospecting process to follow?
- Am I following that process with diligence and pleasant persistence?
Or what if you were struggling with a personal issue? Good news! There is a fundamental base for that as well.
Don Miguel Ruiz gave them to us in his best-selling book, The Four Agreements:
- Am I being impeccable with my word?
- Am I making an assumption?
- By taking something personally?
- Am I doing my best?
An examination of your answers to these questions either identifies the issue or helps to ease your mind.
Fundamentals are like filters we can run situations through. Regardless of the economy or the times, they never change. Careful review of these fundamentals can get you back on track, provide reassurance that you’re doing the right thing, and serve as your compass to true north.
