Head trash and life scripts, oh my!

Most salespeople tend to move through their day by executing a series of behavioral scripts that create a pattern of action and they follow these scripts even though most of them stopped delivering the expected result long ago. This "scripty" behavior holds higher performance hostage and develops comfort zones of mediocrity. Eighty percent of salespeople fail to recognize that these scripts are at work within them as they are hidden from sight and these stealthy saboteurs prevent even the best sales strategies from working. Left unchecked negative scripts create head trash which, like the trash you take to the curb weekly for pick up, must be removed regularly.

I attended a networking event last week with the intent to meet small business owners and salespeople who may be struggling with their selling effectiveness. There were about 100 people in attendance, so I went about my business, eavesdropping on conversations, listening for telltale signs of ineffective sales practices. It wasn't long before I came upon a group of five salespeople complaining about the other attendees not being of the quality they expected, even though they spent the entire first hour chatting exclusively with each other.

I edged my way into the group, introduced myself, focusing my 30-second commercial on professional development, and asked if they would answer a few questions for me. They acquiesced and I responded with:

1. "What did you learn from your parents about talking to strangers when you were 6 years old?"

2. "When you asked your parents about their household income how did they respond?"

3. "How were you taught to treat your elders, as a child?"

4. "When teachers asked you a question, in class, how did you respond?"

5. "When you met someone who was experiencing a problem, did you offer advice on ways to solve the problem?"

Once they finished judging me as being crazy based on my questions, I explained that their answers created limits in the selling behavior they performed each day.

You see, young children are wise not to speak with strangers as it keeps them from being taken advantage of by the predators of the world. This script works well for children; however, it creates head trash in adult salespeople who struggle talking to strangers on a cold call.

When we asked our parents about their wealth, as a child, we were typically met with, "It's impolite to discuss money as it is a very personal topic." Salespeople with this money script will never press a prospect for their budget! All children are taught to respect their elders, however, as adult salespeople we must create equal business stature to be successful in sales. Answering questions a grade school teacher asks is the right way to act, but blindly answering prospect questions leads to "unpaid consulting!" Lastly, solving problems without understanding the reason they exist comes from a salesperson's need to rescue prospects who are experiencing "pain." High empathy has "killed" more sales than any other form of head trash!

There are hundreds of scripts that either drive the success of high-performing salespeople or subconsciously limit the growth of mediocre ones. I spent an hour with my networking group and each of the 5 requested a meeting to discuss my taking behavioral assessment to determine whether they have deeper script and head trash issues.

It may be time to ask yourself the following questions to determine whether you have internal blockers keeping you from greater success:

1. Should I begin to question some of the scripts I have been blindly following in my selling process?

2. Do I continue to act a certain way in selling situations even though the actions don't drive the results I require?

3. What if I acted 180 degrees opposite from the way I'm handling my current selling strategies?

4. Do I regularly analyze what I think in certain selling situations and why I think that way?

These questions may point out that it may be time to put your head trash out to the curb as you do your household garbage. Go conquer your worlds!

• Bill Bartlett owns Corporate Strategies, A Sandler Training Center. bbartlett@sandler.com. Text "salestip" to 35893 to receive Bill's biweekly newsletter.