Let’s not overcomplicate this. In sales, there are only two ways to get better results. The first is to make more sales calls. The second is to perform better on each call.  So how many prospecting calls do you make each week? And as an FYI, “It depends,” is NOT an acceptable answer. Because those that say, “It depends,” or “I am not really sure,” have lost control over their sales territory and as a result, are at the mercy of whatever voicemail and email are telling them to do. The top performer, on the other hand, sets a call objective number and let’s that number drive the workweek. If he or she wants to increase their sales by 15% or more, they realize it means they may have to make 15 more calls. They then let that number haunt them. They don’t start the weekend until they made the last call.

Another way 15% more effort can create 15% greater performance is by investing in improving your sales, communication and leadership skills. Buy a sales book, attend a seminar, seek out top performers in your company and grill them! By increasing your knowledge and skill by 15% or more, you will become 15% more valuable to your customers, your company and your future.

Winners are only judged in loser’s circles.
-Brian Sullivan

Recently, as I prepared to speak at a company seminar, I looked around the room as salespeople walked in to find their seat at one of the 25 round tables. I wondered how these salespeople would choose which seat was best for them. Just a few minutes before my speech, I asked the sales manager to identify who in the room were the A, B and C players based on attitude and performance. Sure enough, they seemed to be huddled in groups throughout the room…finding comfort in like-minded performers.

As expected, throughout the day the table full of As and Bs participated in the learning more actively than the Cs. The Cs (when not enthusiastically sharing their tired story about how hung over they were from the night before) were sitting in the back, and at times rolling their eyes while the As offered their own advice and sales experience.

So what about you? Are you and A, B or C? And regardless of what you are right now, what do you want to be? If you want to be a C, it’s easy. You just have to believe you know all you need to know, what has worked in the past will continue to work, and that your sales peers who are constantly honing their knowledge and skill are nothing more than corporate butt-kissers.

And if you want to an A, then stop hanging around Cs. They are poisoning you. Grab a salad and shimmy up to a top performer or leader at your next sales meeting. Then grill them with questions about what you can do to mimic their success. And while your buddies from of the back of the room judge your motive, give them a wink, knowing that you will be delivering their performance review someday.

How do you feel? Are you ready? Of course you are. Because in 2010 you are going to change the world! And I promise it’s not going to be difficult. In fact, it’s going to be easier than you ever imagined. And the good news is that you have total control over how much positive impact you make. If you want this to be your most famous year ever, you absolutely can have it. But it means you have may have to “clean house.” That house is your mind. You need to get rid of any grudges, anger, jealousy, apathy or fear that existed in your business or personal life just two days ago. Why? Because it’s holding you back. If I thought being negative, angry or grumpy would help you sell more, lead more, organize more, or change the world more I would say, “Go for it!” But it doesn’t work.  It only makes people more negative angry and grumpy towards you and you can’t influence them if they think you are a jackass.

So today, make a deal with yourself. While others are making excuses, gossiping about a co-worker, cutting corners or frowning in frustration, be the one finding solutions, recognizing the good in others, finishing the job and smiling in celebration. Then be prepared for the positive results that this year will bring. Because these small changes in you are about to make BIG changes in everybody around you.

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
-Albert Einstein

“I’ve been in this business for over 25 years. I have run out of things to learn,” was one of the saddest comments I have ever heard from one of my recent seminar attendees. Stop learning? Don’t we need to learn from our customers so we can effectively serve them? Don’t we need to learn what our competition is doing? Don’t we need to learn how our peers and employees feel about working with us? Don’t we need to learn how much we DON’T know? Once you lose your hunger to learn, you lose the ability to positively affect everybody around you. And who would choose that? And it’s not enough to be open to learning; you have to aggressively seek opportunities to learn.

For example, this week try these three questions with your current customers…and family members:

•    What am I doing I should keep doing?
•    What am I doing I should stop doing?
•    What aren’t I doing that I should begin doing?

Because customers, peers, employees and family members won’t often seek you out to tell you how you can be more valuable to them, you have to ask. And when you ask, you show a willingness to learn. And once you create a habit of LEARNING, you will create a habit that creates some of the world’s top performers.

Act Your Wage.
-Dave Ramsey

While driving down the road yesterday I saw a billboard with the above quote. After thinking about it for a minute I realized how much I disagreed.  Because Top Performers don’t act their wage, they act what they WANT their wage to be.  So what wage are you looking for? What new job promotion do you long for? What new network do you wish to belong to? Once you answer those questions, observe the behavior, etiquette and work ethic of those in the position you admire. Then act like you belong.  Will you have to “fake it ‘till you make it” for a little bit? Maybe, but Top Performers find a way to balance their own authenticity with the requirements necessary to grow professionally.

So this week, STOP acting your wage, and START acting like the leader you always knew you were.

“I want to discourage you from choosing anything
or making any decision simply because it is safe.
Things of value seldom are.“

Toni Morrison (1931 – )
American editor, writer & teacher
first African-American to win the
Nobel Prize for Literature

So you like to play it safe, do you? Well…stop it! Few people in this world, and in your industry, ever become famous by being wimpy. So take a calculated risk in your business that stirs up the pot a bit. Might you fail…absolutely!! But WHO CARES?! Isn’t there freedom in those two words?

You see, there really are only two types of people…spectators and players. So if you are sick of sitting in the stands and instead want to get in the game, do something this week that tells those around you that it’s game time. And then swing for the fences!

Okay, the year end sprint is in full swing. You have some choices to make, don’t you? Should you take on that extra project, tackle that nagging “problem” that’s been hanging over your head, iron things out with that co-worker who you walk by in the hall, or make that sales call to the account you have “absolutely no chance” of getting? The answer is YES! Because by undertaking in things that you don’t want to do, you will receive things that you didn’t know you could get. So this week, do something that seems painful but that you know is the right thing to do. And by next week, you will be happy you did.

“Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others; it is the only means.”
-Albert Einstein

If you are to influence others, the only way to have a lasting impact is by demonstrating through your own actions that you believe what you are communicating. If you sell Ford Cars for living, don’t drive a BMW. If you don’t like to be gossiped about, don’t gossip about others. And if don’t like being talked to like a four-year old child, don’t do it to your peers or subordinates at work. Why? Because if people sense that your words don’t match up with your actions, your words no longer have the power to influence. And once you lose the power to influence, you lose the power to positively impact your industry, company, family, church, division, department and more.

So this week, take 15 minutes to think of three people that you would like to influence.

Those three can include:

-A Family member or friend
-A Peer or associate at work
-Somebody with whom you have a rocky relationship

Then think specifically about how you would like to see them positively change. Then go make and demonstrate that change first in yourself. And while making that change, tell nobody what you are doing. Just sit back and watch as your example creates more movement in others than ever before.

President of Kansas City-based PRECISE Selling, Brian delivers seminars and internet training programs on sales, customer service, leadership and presentation skills to companies of all sizes.  To find out more, visit him at www.preciseselling.com or email Brian at bsullivan@preciseselling.com.