“I decided tonight I want to be a professional salesman.”

A big decision.  Particularly for a freshman in College.  He was winding down that first year.  Learning.  Growing.  Experimenting.  Tonight he shifted to a place of commitment.

His words moved me.  I truly felt inspired as we continued our conversation about his life choice and next steps.

I was meeting him for the first time last Thursday evening following my keynote to several hundred college students at Northern Illinois University. The content was focused on Accelerating the Transition from Campus to Sales Career.

This kid and so many of his classmates  are going to become BIG producers.  They have a huge head start thanks to the cutting edge professional sales curriculum offered at NIU.  They also have so much of the right stuff inside them.

In partnership with event host CDW I had the privilege of sharing a few ideas with these students to help jump start their transition into a successful sales career.  No doubt the class of 2012 is graduating into a climate of economic uncertainty and anxiety about the future. There is intense competition for every job.  There is intense competition for every sale.  These students know this and embrace it.  I actually believe it represents their most significant opportunity to compete and win.

These students/soon to be rookie sales representatives don’t have bad habits. The Sales 2.0 movement is transforming the professional selling landscape mandating a skills and competency upgrade perfectly suited to this next generation of sellers.  When the game changes enter a new generation of GameChangers. They are more prepared than you think, less entitled than rumored and ready to compete for your job and your client roster. They don’t see their limited experience as a barrier or disadvantage.  They might just be right.

Just about every student attending the event stayed around for the networking.  They had questions for me.  Wanted to connect with CDW and genuinely seemed interested in connecting with each other around a night dedicated to their future.  I couldn’t help but wonder how many veteran salespeople routinely sacrifice a Thursday night (or any night) and come out pocket for professional development and some hardcore practice to advance their own skills and competency?

I loved being back on campus because I love being around students.  I love the mindset of the student.  Curious. Inquiring. Listening. Learning. Growing. Improving.  If you want to succeed in sales today the student mindset is one you have to embrace to compete at the highest levels.  The best salespeople are students of the game.

What else are they?

Prepared:  Most new jobs, sales, wins and opportunities are secured not in the moment of truth but in the hours upon hours of preparation prior. GameChangers show up prepared.  They do the research. Prepare questions in advance.  Have a point of view, compelling position of value and compete to win every time out.

Interested: Sales isn’t about you.  Your prospects don’t care all that much about you.  Your product or service probably isn’t all that different from your competition and it likely costs abouthe same. GameChangers make the sale all about the customer. They spend a lot more time being interested than they do trying to be interesting and understand that selling is asking, not telling…selling is listening, not talking.

Consistent: Best practices.  Good habits.  Discipline. Systems.  Process. Hustle. GameChangers don’t do things right once in a while or every other week.  It is an every day, all the time commitment to excellence.

Connected: GameChangers develop meaningful relationships and a robust network of connections. They connect people to each other, ideas and earn influence by participating and providing value. They understand you cannot automate relationships but recognize the opportunity to expand, accelerate and impact relationships online though friends, followers and connections.

Committed:  GameChangers present to earn commitment.  Not to simply share information. Every meeting has an outcome objective and they work with the end in mind.  They are also committed to performance.  They deliver their number and compete to win regardless of the circumstances. No excuses. Just results.

That big decision?  Well, I couldn’t help but complement these students on their outstanding choice.  What great skills to develop.  There simply isn’t a better place to launch your career!

No idea, insight, innovation or invention will ever see the light of day without a salesperson who can bring it to the marketplace.  Master that skill, put up big numbers and you’ll have an abundance of opportunity for the rest of your professional career.  Sales makes business happen.

I saw limitless potential on display last Thursday night.  With the right organization, committed to investing to develop sales talent (CDW is a great example) this next generation of sellers has the opportunity to do big things in the world.

Will be fun to watch!

Many thanks to Team CDW for making this special night happen and including me!

 

{photo credit: Ven Sherrod}

 

Posted in Recruiting, Sales

Tags: Career, CDW, College, NIU, Sales, Sales 2.0, Sales Training

I am trending toward 70 live events/engagements this year, focused predominantly on the drivers of business performance (Leadership/Sales/Innovation) during this incredible time of transformation and change.

Each engagement is a little different.  We go the route of customization and focus on delivering a consistent experience.  That keeps me on my toes.  Where I like to be.

Occasionally we’ll insert an engagement into the lineup that is a departure from the conference or corporate event that challenges us to think different.

Going back on to a college campus next Thursday qualifies.  In partnership with premiere technology solutions provider CDW, Delta Sigma Pi, Pi Sigma Epsilon and the American Marketing Association I will be presenting Sales Shift: Accelerating the Transition from Campus to Sales Career.

This one is personal.  I want this evening to matter.  I recognize that sacrificing a Thursday night a few months before graduation is tough call for any college senior.  That fact that a few hundred have decided to do just that and join us at NIU is inspiring. I wouldn’t have done it.  That’s the honest truth. I would have been doing the Court Street Shuffle and that makes these future sales stars a little different from me.  Good for them.

It is also precisely why in making my own transition from campus to sales career I was 7 months into the shift with a goose egg on the scoreboard.  I couldn’t close.  I couldn’t even open.

I came dangerously close to making the transition back to my parent’s basement.  Selling baseball cards for beer money wasn’t the game plan but it was exactly where I was headed.  I had a little natural talent.  I had absolutely no sales skill.  Talent alone isn’t good enough.

Jim Rohn saved me.  He delivered an epic seminar that I still count as the single most transformational moment of my career. One night. Three hours. Jim opened the door.  He gave me permission and some powerful tools to jump-start my success.

I read Think and Grow Rich and the The Greatest Salesman in the World in the next 3 days.  (my homework from the seminar…I still have the notes).

That was the beginning.  I never looked back.  It’s funny how once you become good at something that begins to fuel your passion.  That is how it was for me.  I wasn’t passionate about sales or leadership until I was good.  That is also the truth.

Today it is even more important to be good.  Scratch that.  Today any VP of Sales is searching for the extraordinary.  Every spot on the roster counts.  Today you need to be better than good.  Average is over.  I know this because I asked.  I asked 5 of the strongest sales executives in my network what they want from new hire graduates.  What they expect.  What they need.  I will shed more light on that Thursday night.

Bottom line, they are looking for an edge. They are all very impatient when it comes to results.  They all are facing enormous pressure to hit a number.  They have no choice but to demand sales excellence and high impact performance out of the gate. That is also the truth.

In looking back today I was lucky.  That night with Jim proved to be transformational.  The decision to change happens in a moment.  That was mine. In preparing to go back to campus I plan to bring some of his timeless insights with me.

My Alma Mater has an Alumni Gateway at the corner of Court and Union Streets where Ohio University and the City of Athens meet.

The Alumni Gateway greets all who enter the campus with an inscription that reads:

So enter that daily thou mayest grow in knowledge, wisdom and love.

The inscription over the alumni gateway for those departing the campus reads:

So depart that daily thou mayest better serve they fellowmen thy country and thy God.

Beautiful words I have always remembered.  Today I am reminded of the significance in their meaning.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to connect and share next week.  I hope my words can serve to inspire.

I know these students will most certainly inspire me to continue to grow in knowledge, wisdom and love.

Posted in Sales, Uncategorized

Tags: Campus, Career, CDW, College, Graduation, Jim Rohn, NIU, Ohio University, Sales, Sales Training