The sales success code for 2019

I am fascinated by the way clients, prospects and salespeople, in general, define success. It is usually very personal and intimate, and reflects their perspective on their own life. Some define it in terms of income as in "he who dies with the most money" is deemed successful. Others use the importance of their job to determine whether or not they are successful. A third group speaks of balance, though it is rarely achieved.

In my world of training and coaching high performing salespeople, success is a hard-wired mindset, not a result. It is based in these beliefs: "I can always do better," "Challenges are motivating," and "I can positively impact any outcome." We all have the aptitude to succeed, so the missing ingredient is the determination of whether or not we have the ability. In short, can you succeed versus will you succeed? When I examine the difference between these two factors, I find four key areas that must be in place to ensure that "can" becomes "will."

Commitment: High performers realize that their level of commitment determines a great deal of the success code and when the word "unconditional" is placed in front of commitment, it means that they will do whatever it takes to accomplish their sales goals! All high performing sales people recognize that their commitment will be challenged daily, so they need to build an internal support system to get them through the rough times.

Conviction: High performers understand the importance of having the conviction to continuously execute their behavior in an ever-improving way as well as the need to strengthen their belief system to support their level of performance. For them, growth occurs because they continuously analyze better ways to succeed and develop aspirational beliefs to support that success.

Competency: High performers regularly look for ways to develop greater competency in the areas of building relationships, qualifying opportunity, finding reasons for their prospects to buy, etc. By improving their selling effectiveness, they can stay one step ahead of today's educated buyer. A salesperson's "A" game from 2018 won't be enough to compete in 2019 as the bar will be raised.

Baggage: There are two forms of baggage: technical (specifics skills that are relied upon to succeed) or conceptual (those traits that support them). Both forms of baggage must be overcome in order to succeed. Make a commitment to learn new skills and develop characteristics that support them.

Here is my 2019 success code for high performing salespeople:

1. Set long term, short term and daily goals, build a strategic plan to achieve them and execute daily/weekly behaviors to accomplish the plan.

2. End each day with a review of the lessons you learned and create a plan to utilize them the following day. Many critical lessons in our day are lost without this critical review.

3. Review your sales toolbox and make sure you have the right tools for success.

4. Select an accountability partner to help you see the areas where you need improvement.

5. Find a coach and mentor to help you move in the direction of success.

6. Understand your "killer" weaknesses and make sure they're not hiding in your blind spots.

7. Each day ask yourself, "What would I attempt if I had no fear of failure?"

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.