July 15, 2024 • 37 mins
In this episode of the Prime Resources Podcast, BDR Head Coach and Trainer Shaun Weiss discusses the concept of creating an avatar for a top-performing sales professional. An avatar embodies the characteristics and qualities that make a salesperson successful. Shaun identifies five key traits of a successful salesperson's avatar:
- Sales drive
- Empathy
- Toughness
- Observance
- Being process-driven
In this discussion, he emphasizes the importance of being competitive, needing achievement, staying optimistic, and mental and physical toughness. Shaun also highlights the significance of empathy without going to extremes and the value of being observant and process-driven in sales. He suggests using the avatar as a checklist for self-assessment and seeking feedback from coaches or managers to improve performance. Shaun encourages continuous learning and adaptation to stay fresh and avoid falling into a comfort zone.
Time Stamps- 00:00 - Defining the Salesperson's Avatar
- 05:10 - Sales Drive and Competitiveness
- 06:38 - Balancing Empathy
- 08:32 - The Importance of Toughness
- 11:26 - Being Observant and Process-Driven
- 13:26 - Using the Avatar as a Checklist
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Of Bd founders Barry Burnett burnett used to
say nothing happens in business without a sale.
Well, sales was the subject of today's episode,
1 with Sean Weiss,
Bd head coach and trainer and sales specialist.
Sean and I talked about creating an avatar
for a top gun sales
(00:20):
professional.
What's an avatar?
Listen and find out it's kind of a
way to get inspired in sales.
It provides motivation
and and gives you kind something to shoot
for it. To be your best self in
sales,
while tying that back to your sales process,
(00:40):
and most importantly, your sales results
So
enjoy this episode The Sean Weiss,
find out what a
Avatar is, how you can use it in
sales.
Whether as an individual salesperson
or with your sales team if you're a
sales manager an owner,
or really anyone involved in your company can
(01:02):
benefit from this
episode
because we're all part of the sales process.
And as Barry said, nothing happens in business
without a sale.
So let's do this.
Enjoy.
(01:24):
Hey, Sean.
Welcome back to the podcast.
So glad you're here to talk about creating
an avatar for a top gun sales.
Professional.
You were the perfect person to do that
as our head coach and trainer and Bd
sales specialist really,
So I'd love to just jump right into
it and ask you
(01:44):
if you could kinda define what an Avatar
means.
Maybe that's a new term for some of
our listeners.
Yeah. Absolutely and and first off again.
So... Glad to be here and to to
talk about this topic because I think it's
really really important right now. So, you know,
when we're looking at
the avatar of a salesperson.
(02:06):
What we're really talking about is
the embodiment or the person
of
what makes some of those high performers out
there? Those top guns sales professionals.
What... What's the Dna? What's all the ingredients?
What are all the components
that we see
exhibited in some of those high performers out
(02:28):
there? And then how can we
take that and
utilize that with our existing staff that we
have in sales right now. Or even in
the future and moving forward when we're looking
to add our next sales professional. So really
coming into a clear cut definition of what
are all of those components that create that
avatar that ideal sales
(02:49):
high performing sales professional for our organization.
Okay. Yeah. That that makes sense. And I
think,
kinda reminds me of, you know, maybe people
might be a little more familiar with creating
a customer
Avatar,
of what their ideal customer looks like and
creating that profile. But here, we're just doing
that for our our sales team
(03:11):
and and how we're gonna interact on the
sales side, Is is that how you see
it?
It's exactly it. That is exactly it, you
know, that same. That same process when we
define who our target customer
is and who they are, we're doing that
here. What's that target? A high performing sales
professional look like?
What are all those characteristics that go into
(03:33):
why we're defining them as such?
Yeah. I, I love that. And I think,
you know, that's what top performing
athletes do
is a lot of times if they're an
up and coming athlete.
They'll look at the people that are at
the peak of their profession, then the Michael
Jordan of the Lebron James of the world.
And they'll be like, what is that guy
or gal doing?
(03:54):
To make them so successful and really breaking
it down and as salespeople,
no reason we can't do the same thing.
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, I'm I'm a
huge baseball fan,
controversial a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Mh. And I know Right. But, it in
that same... That same principle. Right? It and
it's so funny. Because you're gonna hear a
lot of this correlation that I'll use between
(04:17):
sales and sports because there's...
So much correlation
to him. But, you know, this off season,
the Dodgers added S Tan, and he is
known for his work ethic in just
his process that he goes through. And,
and he's joining a team of too
pretty good, you know, all stars in Mu
(04:38):
bets and Freddie Freeman and and and being
able to watch some of just the
spring training coverage of the team. You know,
they spoke a lot to that. Like, even
even, you know, 2 of these Mvp, you
know, all stars, and how much more they
were able to learn. You know, you'd look
at them and they get, okay, well, these,
these can show the younger generation, but they
(04:59):
even themselves are
not only teaching the next generation, but they're
also learning from others out there. So
it kinda goes to show us that, no
matter how good we are. There's always room
for improvement. Right? And and a lot of
these key points that we'll get into of
some of those characteristics.
So great point.
(05:20):
Okay. Well,
without further ado, you know, what do you
see as some of the key care?
Of a successful salesperson
avatar.
Yeah. Yeah. So I've got, you know, really,
5
Major points of what I think, you know,
in
in having
(05:41):
an an awesome opportunity to not only coach
sales professionals out there in our industry,
today, but also being out in in training,
you know, always paying attention to
to
statistics to
processes
and, you know,
what... Wire there's, the halves and wire they're
(06:03):
the have not because it seems like in
today's day, that's... When we, we've really got...
There's not a lot of middle ground. They're
either rocking and rolling or,
you know, kinda pulling up the rear. So
In looking at all this, number 1, what
I see is
for those high performers or, you know, number
1 ingredient into that. You know, that avatar
(06:25):
of what we're looking for, what we want
to build ourselves or our sales team into
is what does our sales drive look like?
How competitive
are we? Because that is definitely a characteristic
of a great salesperson is somebody that is
competitive. Here comes that sports analogy,
You know?
Do they have,
(06:47):
a need for achievement?
Mh. Are they always looking to get better
to improve?
For more, Just like, again, Mu Bets Freddie
Freeman. Saw S Tony. Look what everything he
he's doing. Yes, I've accomplished this much but
there's so much more and I want more.
Right? We wanna see that same that same
characteristic
(07:07):
ex exhibited in our in our sales professional,
and then to round out Sales drive too,
and we'll get a lot into,
mental tough because you really need this in
in this in this position. But you've got
to stay optimistic.
This position
is filled with rejection.
(07:27):
It is filled with nose,
it is filled with uncertainty.
You're betting on yourself and your abilities. And
in all that, you've gotta stay mentally tough,
and we'll, again, talk more about that. But
that optimism so important.
Number 2
is
what
I've heard referred to as an empathy scale,
(07:48):
and in this position,
having
empathy is is very important. Now,
there is negatives
on both sides of the spectrum, whether we're
less empathetic or whether we're more empathetic. You
know? And on the on the bad side,
when we when we have no empathy, you
know, society refers to that as a psycho
(08:11):
path. Right? They they they have no care,
You, for for for anything anyone.
But then on the other end, again, you
know, and that and that's negative 2. But
on the other end, too, when we when
we get into this hyper empathetic.
That can be a real spoiler for somebody
in the sales position.
Oftentimes where we see that come into play.
(08:33):
Is
where they are putting their own
feelings,
own
convictions,
onto the homeowner.
And so we can see things like,
not wanting to maybe offer that high end
product. Or that high end service
(08:53):
because they themselves personally
would not choose to buy that. So these,
their own convictions come into play We could
see it in the arena of offering financing
or maybe there's simone personal
beliefs.
And lifestyles that they live concerning debts.
But but that gets again, that gets put
(09:15):
on to
the buyer and maybe financing isn't being offered
and we're not providing,
a buyer with all of the options or
the avenues and pathways
to get them into the systems that they
really want. So, you know, there's gotta be
some middle ground to all of this because
empathy is important, but but too much 1
way or the other
(09:36):
could be a detriment in this position.
Number 3,
again, I've I've alluded to this already, but
is that not not only mental tough,
but also the physical tough as well.
And I've really come to learn how much
the physical side plays into, probably mental well
being, but just overall performance as well. So,
(09:57):
you know, mentally, we've gotta be
1 that that embraces failure,
we've gotta have this
this fail for forward mentality,
you know,
knowing that
we're not gonna get awarded every job, every
project, every contract, whatever it might be, but
but conversely, we
(10:17):
maybe as an organization don't necessarily want every
opportunity that comes our way. Right? So we've
gotta be able to mentally just block out
the negativity, put that singular focus on what
our desired goal is and and, you know,
have the memory of a goldfish, being able
to you know, approach each opportunity as a
(10:37):
new opportunity,
and just have that short term memory, You
know, I've been really attempting to play, more
and more golf. And I'm having to learn
how much that mental tough
comes into play, you know, on the golf
course, you you you you take you know,
a bad shot that first shot. You've gotta
let it go because it's gonna affect every
(10:59):
subsequent shot leading up to the green,
so you've gotta be able just to have
that, you know, that short term memory and
realize that those things are gonna happen. We've
gotta move forward.
You know. And then as far as, you
know, you know, the the the physical tough
too,
you know, our mind is a machine, and
it needs it needs rest.
(11:19):
You know, the body's gonna need exercise everything,
you know, hydration, all of those things that
that come into just
putting our best self out there, you know,
so that we feel we feel good about
ourselves and when we feel good about ourselves,
we feel good about
you know, being able to get that exercise
in or, you know, hey, I got a
(11:39):
great night's sleep or,
you know, I didn't didn't do this or
didn't do that.
You know, we're just gonna feel a lot
better. You know, and if you feel good,
you know, look good, you're gonna play good
too.
Number 4, and all of this is is
developing
an ability to
be ob observe,
(12:01):
developing the ability to
read body language, You know, We've we've gotta
be able to read
situations to re act to certain situations to
key in on things that we're seeing really,
really getting into your senses. Right? You know,
what what what am I hearing
you know, what sounds am I hearing even,
you know, smells or things like that. Any
(12:22):
of these things can help us kind of
play into various solutions or
help us to react in real time
that is gonna make sense in the in
the situation. You know, in some cases,
you could use the, you know, the term
kind of becoming a chameleon, but just being
(12:43):
able to adapt to these situations in real
time, and react to those situations in real
time based upon things that we're hearing, the
body language that we're observing,
whatever it might be. So... You know, that
that ability to be very ob absorbent and
to be
tuned in, you know, remove the distractions,
be tuned in,
(13:04):
to
to the buyer, be tuned into the environment
that you're in as well
because they will all speak to you And
they will all speak to you, We've gotta
be able to to take that in,
and dissect all that information, you know, at
a moment notice to be able to react
appropriately
to that.
And lastly,
(13:25):
and I think that this is...
Well, I think they're all important. But, you
know, this... This is is so important, and
I see this as
probably being 1 of the
more prominent reasons why
we have those that are high performing and
those that are underperforming
(13:45):
is
our intentional
to
be processed driven
in everything that we're doing. Right?
We've gotta have a method
to the Madness, and I believe
it was Edward... Edwards Edwards Demi that said,
if you can't describe what you're doing as
(14:06):
a process.
You don't know what you're doing. Right? So,
we've we've gotta have that intentional
to
have a process,
have
the mental tough
to have stick
to the process,
to not let our pre conceived notions or
(14:27):
thoughts or ideas,
dictate how we do things and
give us in a sense permission
to deviate from that process. We've gotta have
gotta have that
that
what do I wanna say here?
The ability to just
accept it and realize that the process,
(14:49):
was created for reason,
which...
I mean, a process in a sense is
a best practice,
and
that is designed to give us the net
result of what we're looking for, You know,
which in this case is
is a sale and subsequently,
you know, customer referrals as well, personal referrals
of us. So
(15:10):
you know, again, I think it's probably 1
of the most important things
is that,
intentional
to
adopt a process and stick to the process
every single time, no matter what.
Okay. So there's
some food for thought on,
characteristics of a
(15:32):
say effective sales avatar,
and, you know, these are just the things
that
Bd recommends,
you know,
is it okay for someone listening to this,
Sean?
They may, like, 4 of your 5,
and maybe they've got 1 of their own.
You know, they can personalize this. Right? Oh,
(15:54):
yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. And that's really what
you know, if you're listening to this podcast,
you know, this is just designed to
get the mind juices flowing here. Get some
ideas out there.
Because in reality,
what what everyone needs to do is, you
know, maybe take some of these as some
of those core foundational,
(16:15):
components.
But you know, whether it's individually or as
a sales team or as an organization, if
you will, you know, me and
you know, start throwing things up on a
board You know, what what what are some
of those words or or,
phrases or whatever it might be that come
to mind? It really describes
(16:36):
what makes that high performing salesperson,
you know? And
get those out there. So this is just
a start by no means it's the book
finished here.
This is getting everybody, you know, on a
path to to write their their own pages.
In their book of of what that avatar
looks like for them in their organization.
(16:57):
Yeah. What what a what a cool exercise?
For a a sales team, you know, for
companies that are set up like that, or,
you know, that a sales manager or an
owner could,
lead that discussion with the sales team. Who
who are we in sales? Who do we
wanna be?
I I think that's fantastic.
I kinda wanna circle back to some of
(17:18):
the ones that that you mentioned, though,
because I thought they were really good.
And
the... I'll let's do the last 1 first,
process driven.
You know, Bd r were we're big on
on processes.
Here, we love those things.
And
you mentioned using it as a tool to
(17:39):
improve
I I think when you have a process,
it's much easier to see
what went well and what didn't go so
well. Well, this steps went well. I wanna
keep doing that. This step didn't go so
well.
Now I don't need to hone in on
why that was and and how to improve
that. So I really like that element of
(17:59):
being process driven and making it repeatable.
And so I think that... That's a great
way to think about that. Any
additional thoughts on on being process driven?
Well, I think too, what we have to
realize is that
in that process, and this may this may
(18:19):
be part of
kind of some of the the positive
byproducts of starting this process, you know, individually,
or as a as an organization as well
is that we have to realize that, you
know, processes change over time.
And
and maybe there's
(18:42):
reason to find,
need for adjustment or change to an existing
process as well. Because what
what worked, you know, 2 years ago.
More than likely won't work today.
So not only
You know, we may... Again, we may be
an organization
like Bd. Right, that that is that is
processed driven,
(19:03):
but we also have to realize that, you
know, another core value that we have at
Bd is changed is essential and we must
always embrace it. And I think that that
that can become somewhat problematic. You for for
some
individuals out there that may be avert to
change,
and
may,
they have a have a a process that
(19:24):
they've adopted,
and are really unwilling to to take a
hard look at that and see, you know,
what what changes what positive refinements can I
make to that existing process because
we've gotta just know that, you know, the
the? The market's changing. The buyers changing, interest
rates are changing.
The economy is ever changing
(19:45):
and all of these things,
impact
our process
and and impact
how
the consumer buys, how they prefer to buy,
you know, 15, 20 years ago, financing
wasn't a big deal.
You know, nowadays, you know, most organizations out
(20:05):
there.
That are successful in sales are financing
well over 80 percent to 90 percent of
the jobs that they're doing.
And so if we were never
adjusting our processes in the past 10 years,
You know, we're gonna be missing out on
a lot of opportunity because
we're operating under an old process that's not
promoting
(20:26):
consumer financing. So... And and again, there... There's
there's a multitude of of changes, but
I have seen
just,
you know, coming out of the the Covid
hangover,
you, so many different things happening out there.
And so more than likely,
there are some needs for process adjustment in
our own organizations that can help us better
(20:46):
succeed in the future.
Yeah. IIII
love that point, and,
I think it's very very well said.
We gotta be processed driven, but willing to
change the process when,
when the time comes,
and circumstances,
account for that.
(21:07):
Yeah.
So 1 of the other
points that, of, kind of the sales avatar
that you mentioned. And we... And and it
may that your sales avatar could change over
time too. You know, just like we're talking
about with your process, and I know you
talk about the sales process a lot in
your top gun sales, excellence classes that could
lead. But to go back to the... To
(21:29):
Avatar points.
1 of the other ones you mentioned was
tough.
It made me think,
recently I had,
a door to door salesperson
come to my house.
And
it's kinda it was kinda of a little
bit of a funny story. So,
I actually thought it was my wife who
(21:50):
was knocking on the door because she had
gone out somewhere.
And so
normally, if it's a door to door salesperson,
I may not answer the door. Right? But
I thought it was my wife, so I
went to answer the door and so then
I was into... This conversation, you know, to
a degree, but the salesperson
was...
She did such a great job of establishing
(22:11):
a connection with me, this And the whole
time I was talking to her, I kept
thinking,
wow. She's been to all my neighbor's houses.
What a tough job. It's hot today. You
know, and she's walking the neighborhood.
And and so I just had a real...
I was just impressed by. You know?
Yeah. And and in the end, she actually
(22:32):
sold me something.
Sold me something. III bought from her. So
it it all it all worked, but... You
know, no doubt she had been turned down
a whole bunch of times. So that... It
just made me think of how tough you
have to be as a salesperson to
put up with the the nose as you
said,
but keep coming back, you know, and keep.
Bringing your best. And I think this avatar
(22:54):
piece
can be kind of a motivator and and
a and just that thing to shoot for
each time you start again.
Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, we have... We definitely have
a benefit in this environment where,
you know, we are being invited into somebody's
home via an appointment. Right? So
there
(23:15):
door to door sales is a is a
whole another animal right when it comes to
that because... Yeah. You're showing up una analysis
and and and you are unexpected and more
than likely, let's be real
unwanted because there's that there's an old rule
of thumb that you know, everybody wants to
buy, but nobody wants to be sold to.
And so you're trying to sell them something
that they don't even necessarily want to buy
(23:35):
at that moment. You
But but, yeah, you know,
just just knowing that, you know, hey, even
in even in our world,
you know, there there is gonna be,
there's gonna be rejection, but
you just gotta... You got trust that at
the process.
You've laid out there, is 1 that's going
to net result wins and, you know, just
(23:58):
like batteries get into batting slump and, you
know, things like that. Those are gonna come,
but you've just gotta trust
trust your your instincts, trust your training,
rely on that, go back to your fundamentals,
the foundations of what's made you successful,
and and we're gonna succeed.
Yeah.
So why don't we... Let's move on then,
(24:19):
you know,
So we got this idea of the Avatar
out there. You've given us some characteristics to
think about that that might make up our
sales avatar. So and you talked about how
that can be developed, you know, with within
the sales team of a company or maybe,
as an individual. You're just kinda brainstorming, writing
down some things.
(24:40):
Once you get that avatar kinda created
for yourself
how do you kinda use it on a
daily basis as you're going through your sales?
How does how does an avatar impact that?
Well I think it's a great checklist for
us. Right? Just like just like any points
of a process, you know, that we could
(25:01):
we could look back. Too. And and we
talk about this in our top down sales
process. But but doing doing you know, a
pre,
debrief with yourself too Excuse me. And then
and then a post debrief, you know?
And and given yourself, I mean, I in...
And in reality, we're gonna be our own
worst critic. But you know, giving yourself a
realistic look, hey, what what well and and
(25:24):
what might I have missed, you know, or
where my may I have followed short
on that call.
So, you know, again, just send a aside
time whether it be just, you know, on
on the
drive after the appointment, maybe to the next,
or back to the office. Again, kinda just
kinda preparing mentally.
Beforehand to, we can create ourselves in in
(25:44):
in the talk sales accents class we go
through this with it what we refer to
as a pre flight checklist
of having, a list of, of, steps within
our procedure and that that helps to prepare
a really short abbreviated list, bullet pointed,
a 1 page sheet that we can just
quickly reference and kind of review Hey, here's
here's everything I wanna be sure and and
(26:06):
hit and and, you know, these key
in critical steps.
In this process. So, you know, doing that
in and of ourselves, in addition to that,
1 thing that I think is is very
important
and has been really proven to be very
effective
with with the clients that I work with
and those that I've coached over the years.
(26:26):
But
you know, bringing somebody else in on a
ride along, whether that be, you know, an
owner or a sales manager,
somebody that can,
really,
help assess what we're doing, you know? And
maybe in a sense, really helping us in
a lot of cases,
sometimes see the forest through the trees. You
(26:47):
know, we often get really
shorts sighted and things like that. We may
overs step opportunity or or not key in
on certain things that are being said or
there may be certain
ticks that we might have. I've I've... Been
on sales right along where the salesperson at
the kitchen table, just clicking the ballpoint pet
up and down up and down. And just
didn't even realize that they were doing it.
(27:08):
And you could see the homeowner
and again, a little irritated right with it,
You know? So,
I think it's important that we that we
have that, you know, and we can all
benefit for us, but you know,
and this may be another great characteristic to
add to that, but we've gotta be coach.
We've gotta be train as well. So inviting
(27:28):
that coaching
into our process, you know, in real time,
I think is very important because
Yes, It's 1 thing to read the books.
It's 1 thing to take the trading classes.
It's 1 thing to attend. The meetings.
But when we have somebody there that's able
to
work with us and coach in real time,
(27:51):
I think it's gonna make all the difference.
And and it's been, again, proven to be
really, really effective
for
improving
sales results, for a lot of the professionals
that I work with when they've had that
sales manager owner, riding along that's been able
to work with them and say, hey, You
know, I noticed this. Your... I didn't see
a pickup on this, you may wanna try
(28:12):
this. And to be able to implement that,
whether it be in the future or often
cases in real time,
those changes and see positive results. I mean,
again,
or we're all looking to improve and get
better, and this is just 1 aspect that
we have to be open and willing to
do,
his to have
(28:32):
have those right along coaches right along trainings
out there to help us achieve our marks.
Yeah. I I think a ride along is
not something that should be feared,
but maybe something that that we should look
forward to as a as an opportunity to
improve. I I love that.
Lily. Yeah. And some of these things that
(28:54):
we've been talking about related to the sales
avatar
or a little bit
different than the sales process, you know, we're...
You you might hit all your marks in
the sales process, your company sales process,
but
were you ob observe it?
How empathetic were you to the customer.
(29:15):
The that's a different kind of thing that
maybe having an outside person to
give you some feedback on that, and I
think could be really helpful.
It it's it's the hundred percent necessary. Right?
Because, again, we may not even realize we're
doing some of the things
for leading
(29:35):
conversations or not reacted to conversations in a
certain way.
Because, again, these are just things that may
be,
natural for us. Yeah.
But they may be things that we need
to work on making adjustments on.
Potentially. So you're you're a hundred percent right.
Very important.
Okay. So how do how do we
is there a trigger for
(29:58):
maybe when we wanna
rethink our avatar or make a change or
or add something to it?
How do you think about that?
Well, I think definitely,
as we
collect
our data,
(30:19):
you know, or collect our sales performance data.
And if we begin to see
any type of
declines or
N.
Or improvements too. I think that that's a
that's an indicator of
you know, hey,
this this performance is improving.
(30:39):
Are you doing anything different? Right? What, what
might be able to be taken from that
and shared with with the other team. Oh,
you know, I've I've started approaching financing in
this way or whatever it might be.
You know, same thing as, you know, really
owners and sales managers as we're collecting and
and and analyzing the information
average sales, close ratios, average dates to close,
(31:01):
all of these things,
revenue per lead,
and we start to to see things dip,
I think as owners and sales managers or
even as as sales professionals, when we see
our own performance,
dipping,
because I firmly believe that as sales professionals,
we wanna know where we stand. We wanna
know how we're performing it and and that's
that's... We've gotta make sure we're we're looking
(31:22):
at that
and and checking that all the time, just
like batteries are gonna be paying attention to
their batting average and, you know, how they're
hitting in various counts or where where they're
where they're hot at, you know, in the
strike zone or where they're getting cold at,
you know, at the plate.
And, you know, either a as owners or
sales managers, you know, step it in saying,
(31:43):
hey, let's get out there on those right
along. Let's let's see
you know, maybe how we are devi or
seeing hey, There was no deviation.
We we did a really good job,
but the market shift.
So maybe we need to go back and
say, alright. Maybe we need to approach this
situation or maybe we need to...
(32:05):
You know, redesign some of these tactics that
we have here to achieve our strategy because
they're not working right now. And we need
to take another approach tactically
to, reach the strategy we want.
Yeah. I I think that's really smart at...
Tying this back to our actual results
and and using that as a
(32:27):
as a jumping off point to support us
as we're thinking about or Avatar or even
adjustments to the sales process which you got
into.
How did that call go? You know, Did
it... You know, do we make the sale
and and the Kpis that you mentioned, looking
at those and kind of having a a
holistic view
(32:47):
to everything,
and and being open to those areas of
improvement. So
that that makes a lot of sense to
me how you put that. Okay. And
but a challenge too, because it's not always
easy to
be open to that and
change our ways because we do get into
(33:08):
some routines.
And we do get into a comfort zone,
just like a, you know, we're doing a
baseball analogy.
Same thing. You know,
so how do we
stay open to that and and not fall
into a comfort zone.
Any advice you would give there,
Yeah. That's... That could be tough. Right? Because
(33:29):
what do they say when you
you start getting in the groove. Right? The
groove can become a trench, which become a
dangerous.
Hole that you can't get out of. Right?
So we've gotta be gotta be careful to
that. So I think I think doing everything
we can to
you know, partner with with a coaching firm,
like Bd,
(33:49):
that, you know,
individuals like yourself mad or myself,
you know, and other wonderful coaches and trainers
that we have that are, you know, staying
out there, staying fresh, keeping their to the
ground. You know, paying attention to what's, going
on out in the marketplace and things like
that.
You know,
stand staying fresh with various books or podcasts,
(34:09):
you know,
training it, you know, our top gun,
sales excellence class is constantly going through
refinements and adjustments because again,
what we taught in that class 2, 3
years ago won't work today. So, you know,
we're always looking at ways to to keep
the things fresh that what we bring,
(34:29):
to to the attendees
is
actionable things that are gonna... That they can
go back and put into place or
work on themselves. Right? Work on their own
avatar, work on, Again, what am I looking
for in the next sales professional. So you
know, really keeping your ear to the ground
with
(34:49):
what's going on out there. What's happening,
what's working well for others, you in in
in various markets.
And then, again, just, you know, always learning,
always researching, you know, reading books,
podcasts on and so forth.
Okay. Yeah. I'm I think that's that's great
advice.
In this whole conversation on
(35:11):
an Avatar, It makes me think... You know,
I've got a friend that's got a personal
mission statement.
And that's 1 of those things that he
always comes back to a different points in
his life.
How am I doing relative to that.
And and and I think this avatar idea
is a kind of another tool like that.
Where we can just kinda get re resent
(35:33):
and and be intentional. You mentioned the intentional
in what we're doing and get refocus
as we go and and kind of a
inspirational tool almost that you need
particularly in in sales at time. So I
just think this is a really cool idea
that I haven't heard talked about much sean,
(35:54):
Yeah. Guy. It's awesome.
And again, I think it's just a a
catalyst and a starting point for everyone out
there listening, you know, again, this is... Take
this. And this is this is unique to
every organization out there? You know, what is
what are the components What's that Dna look
like?
You know, use this as a starting point
as a launching pad for you and your
(36:15):
organizations for yourself for your company,
to really build upon this, you know, and
and keep this, a living breathing entity within
your company, knowing that, hey, we're always gonna
have to go back and and and re
look at this and make adjustments. The the
job's never gonna be completed We're always gonna
be continually refining.
Well,
(36:36):
I I'd say that's a pretty good
period for this conversation, Sean unless you got
something better than that. That was that was
a pretty nice summary.
No. This has been awesome. It's been a
joy A pleasure as always to spend some
time with you and talk about some of
these great. Topics we have. Yeah. No. Yeah.
The pleasure is mine, and and you bring
(36:56):
a lot of expertise in in real world.
The knowledge and experience to this and as
as you do all of our clients and
our our coaching clients and training clients. So
thank you. Thanks for making the time to
be here, and
thanks everyone for listening.
Of Bd founders Barry Burnett burnett used to
say nothing happens in business without a sale.
Well, sales was the subject of today's episode,
1 with Sean Weiss,
Bd head coach and trainer and sales specialist.
Sean and I talked about creating an avatar
for a top gun sales
(00:20):
professional.
What's an avatar?
Listen and find out it's kind of a
way to get inspired in sales.
It provides motivation
and and gives you kind something to shoot
for it. To be your best self in
sales,
while tying that back to your sales process,
(00:40):
and most importantly, your sales results
So
enjoy this episode The Sean Weiss,
find out what a
Avatar is, how you can use it in
sales.
Whether as an individual salesperson
or with your sales team if you're a
sales manager an owner,
or really anyone involved in your company can
(01:02):
benefit from this
episode
because we're all part of the sales process.
And as Barry said, nothing happens in business
without a sale.
So let's do this.
Enjoy.
(01:24):
Hey, Sean.
Welcome back to the podcast.
So glad you're here to talk about creating
an avatar for a top gun sales.
Professional.
You were the perfect person to do that
as our head coach and trainer and Bd
sales specialist really,
So I'd love to just jump right into
it and ask you
(01:44):
if you could kinda define what an Avatar
means.
Maybe that's a new term for some of
our listeners.
Yeah. Absolutely and and first off again.
So... Glad to be here and to to
talk about this topic because I think it's
really really important right now. So, you know,
when we're looking at
the avatar of a salesperson.
(02:06):
What we're really talking about is
the embodiment or the person
of
what makes some of those high performers out
there? Those top guns sales professionals.
What... What's the Dna? What's all the ingredients?
What are all the components
that we see
exhibited in some of those high performers out
(02:28):
there? And then how can we
take that and
utilize that with our existing staff that we
have in sales right now. Or even in
the future and moving forward when we're looking
to add our next sales professional. So really
coming into a clear cut definition of what
are all of those components that create that
avatar that ideal sales
(02:49):
high performing sales professional for our organization.
Okay. Yeah. That that makes sense. And I
think,
kinda reminds me of, you know, maybe people
might be a little more familiar with creating
a customer
Avatar,
of what their ideal customer looks like and
creating that profile. But here, we're just doing
that for our our sales team
(03:11):
and and how we're gonna interact on the
sales side, Is is that how you see
it?
It's exactly it. That is exactly it, you
know, that same. That same process when we
define who our target customer
is and who they are, we're doing that
here. What's that target? A high performing sales
professional look like?
What are all those characteristics that go into
(03:33):
why we're defining them as such?
Yeah. I, I love that. And I think,
you know, that's what top performing
athletes do
is a lot of times if they're an
up and coming athlete.
They'll look at the people that are at
the peak of their profession, then the Michael
Jordan of the Lebron James of the world.
And they'll be like, what is that guy
or gal doing?
(03:54):
To make them so successful and really breaking
it down and as salespeople,
no reason we can't do the same thing.
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, I'm I'm a
huge baseball fan,
controversial a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Mh. And I know Right. But, it in
that same... That same principle. Right? It and
it's so funny. Because you're gonna hear a
lot of this correlation that I'll use between
(04:17):
sales and sports because there's...
So much correlation
to him. But, you know, this off season,
the Dodgers added S Tan, and he is
known for his work ethic in just
his process that he goes through. And,
and he's joining a team of too
pretty good, you know, all stars in Mu
(04:38):
bets and Freddie Freeman and and and being
able to watch some of just the
spring training coverage of the team. You know,
they spoke a lot to that. Like, even
even, you know, 2 of these Mvp, you
know, all stars, and how much more they
were able to learn. You know, you'd look
at them and they get, okay, well, these,
these can show the younger generation, but they
(04:59):
even themselves are
not only teaching the next generation, but they're
also learning from others out there. So
it kinda goes to show us that, no
matter how good we are. There's always room
for improvement. Right? And and a lot of
these key points that we'll get into of
some of those characteristics.
So great point.
(05:20):
Okay. Well,
without further ado, you know, what do you
see as some of the key care?
Of a successful salesperson
avatar.
Yeah. Yeah. So I've got, you know, really,
5
Major points of what I think, you know,
in
in having
(05:41):
an an awesome opportunity to not only coach
sales professionals out there in our industry,
today, but also being out in in training,
you know, always paying attention to
to
statistics to
processes
and, you know,
what... Wire there's, the halves and wire they're
(06:03):
the have not because it seems like in
today's day, that's... When we, we've really got...
There's not a lot of middle ground. They're
either rocking and rolling or,
you know, kinda pulling up the rear. So
In looking at all this, number 1, what
I see is
for those high performers or, you know, number
1 ingredient into that. You know, that avatar
(06:25):
of what we're looking for, what we want
to build ourselves or our sales team into
is what does our sales drive look like?
How competitive
are we? Because that is definitely a characteristic
of a great salesperson is somebody that is
competitive. Here comes that sports analogy,
You know?
Do they have,
(06:47):
a need for achievement?
Mh. Are they always looking to get better
to improve?
For more, Just like, again, Mu Bets Freddie
Freeman. Saw S Tony. Look what everything he
he's doing. Yes, I've accomplished this much but
there's so much more and I want more.
Right? We wanna see that same that same
characteristic
(07:07):
ex exhibited in our in our sales professional,
and then to round out Sales drive too,
and we'll get a lot into,
mental tough because you really need this in
in this in this position. But you've got
to stay optimistic.
This position
is filled with rejection.
(07:27):
It is filled with nose,
it is filled with uncertainty.
You're betting on yourself and your abilities. And
in all that, you've gotta stay mentally tough,
and we'll, again, talk more about that. But
that optimism so important.
Number 2
is
what
I've heard referred to as an empathy scale,
(07:48):
and in this position,
having
empathy is is very important. Now,
there is negatives
on both sides of the spectrum, whether we're
less empathetic or whether we're more empathetic. You
know? And on the on the bad side,
when we when we have no empathy, you
know, society refers to that as a psycho
(08:11):
path. Right? They they they have no care,
You, for for for anything anyone.
But then on the other end, again, you
know, and that and that's negative 2. But
on the other end, too, when we when
we get into this hyper empathetic.
That can be a real spoiler for somebody
in the sales position.
Oftentimes where we see that come into play.
(08:33):
Is
where they are putting their own
feelings,
own
convictions,
onto the homeowner.
And so we can see things like,
not wanting to maybe offer that high end
product. Or that high end service
(08:53):
because they themselves personally
would not choose to buy that. So these,
their own convictions come into play We could
see it in the arena of offering financing
or maybe there's simone personal
beliefs.
And lifestyles that they live concerning debts.
But but that gets again, that gets put
(09:15):
on to
the buyer and maybe financing isn't being offered
and we're not providing,
a buyer with all of the options or
the avenues and pathways
to get them into the systems that they
really want. So, you know, there's gotta be
some middle ground to all of this because
empathy is important, but but too much 1
way or the other
(09:36):
could be a detriment in this position.
Number 3,
again, I've I've alluded to this already, but
is that not not only mental tough,
but also the physical tough as well.
And I've really come to learn how much
the physical side plays into, probably mental well
being, but just overall performance as well. So,
(09:57):
you know, mentally, we've gotta be
1 that that embraces failure,
we've gotta have this
this fail for forward mentality,
you know,
knowing that
we're not gonna get awarded every job, every
project, every contract, whatever it might be, but
but conversely, we
(10:17):
maybe as an organization don't necessarily want every
opportunity that comes our way. Right? So we've
gotta be able to mentally just block out
the negativity, put that singular focus on what
our desired goal is and and, you know,
have the memory of a goldfish, being able
to you know, approach each opportunity as a
(10:37):
new opportunity,
and just have that short term memory, You
know, I've been really attempting to play, more
and more golf. And I'm having to learn
how much that mental tough
comes into play, you know, on the golf
course, you you you you take you know,
a bad shot that first shot. You've gotta
let it go because it's gonna affect every
(10:59):
subsequent shot leading up to the green,
so you've gotta be able just to have
that, you know, that short term memory and
realize that those things are gonna happen. We've
gotta move forward.
You know. And then as far as, you
know, you know, the the the physical tough
too,
you know, our mind is a machine, and
it needs it needs rest.
(11:19):
You know, the body's gonna need exercise everything,
you know, hydration, all of those things that
that come into just
putting our best self out there, you know,
so that we feel we feel good about
ourselves and when we feel good about ourselves,
we feel good about
you know, being able to get that exercise
in or, you know, hey, I got a
(11:39):
great night's sleep or,
you know, I didn't didn't do this or
didn't do that.
You know, we're just gonna feel a lot
better. You know, and if you feel good,
you know, look good, you're gonna play good
too.
Number 4, and all of this is is
developing
an ability to
be ob observe,
(12:01):
developing the ability to
read body language, You know, We've we've gotta
be able to read
situations to re act to certain situations to
key in on things that we're seeing really,
really getting into your senses. Right? You know,
what what what am I hearing
you know, what sounds am I hearing even,
you know, smells or things like that. Any
(12:22):
of these things can help us kind of
play into various solutions or
help us to react in real time
that is gonna make sense in the in
the situation. You know, in some cases,
you could use the, you know, the term
kind of becoming a chameleon, but just being
(12:43):
able to adapt to these situations in real
time, and react to those situations in real
time based upon things that we're hearing, the
body language that we're observing,
whatever it might be. So... You know, that
that ability to be very ob absorbent and
to be
tuned in, you know, remove the distractions,
be tuned in,
(13:04):
to
to the buyer, be tuned into the environment
that you're in as well
because they will all speak to you And
they will all speak to you, We've gotta
be able to to take that in,
and dissect all that information, you know, at
a moment notice to be able to react
appropriately
to that.
And lastly,
(13:25):
and I think that this is...
Well, I think they're all important. But, you
know, this... This is is so important, and
I see this as
probably being 1 of the
more prominent reasons why
we have those that are high performing and
those that are underperforming
(13:45):
is
our intentional
to
be processed driven
in everything that we're doing. Right?
We've gotta have a method
to the Madness, and I believe
it was Edward... Edwards Edwards Demi that said,
if you can't describe what you're doing as
(14:06):
a process.
You don't know what you're doing. Right? So,
we've we've gotta have that intentional
to
have a process,
have
the mental tough
to have stick
to the process,
to not let our pre conceived notions or
(14:27):
thoughts or ideas,
dictate how we do things and
give us in a sense permission
to deviate from that process. We've gotta have
gotta have that
that
what do I wanna say here?
The ability to just
accept it and realize that the process,
(14:49):
was created for reason,
which...
I mean, a process in a sense is
a best practice,
and
that is designed to give us the net
result of what we're looking for, You know,
which in this case is
is a sale and subsequently,
you know, customer referrals as well, personal referrals
of us. So
(15:10):
you know, again, I think it's probably 1
of the most important things
is that,
intentional
to
adopt a process and stick to the process
every single time, no matter what.
Okay. So there's
some food for thought on,
characteristics of a
(15:32):
say effective sales avatar,
and, you know, these are just the things
that
Bd recommends,
you know,
is it okay for someone listening to this,
Sean?
They may, like, 4 of your 5,
and maybe they've got 1 of their own.
You know, they can personalize this. Right? Oh,
(15:54):
yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. And that's really what
you know, if you're listening to this podcast,
you know, this is just designed to
get the mind juices flowing here. Get some
ideas out there.
Because in reality,
what what everyone needs to do is, you
know, maybe take some of these as some
of those core foundational,
(16:15):
components.
But you know, whether it's individually or as
a sales team or as an organization, if
you will, you know, me and
you know, start throwing things up on a
board You know, what what what are some
of those words or or,
phrases or whatever it might be that come
to mind? It really describes
(16:36):
what makes that high performing salesperson,
you know? And
get those out there. So this is just
a start by no means it's the book
finished here.
This is getting everybody, you know, on a
path to to write their their own pages.
In their book of of what that avatar
looks like for them in their organization.
(16:57):
Yeah. What what a what a cool exercise?
For a a sales team, you know, for
companies that are set up like that, or,
you know, that a sales manager or an
owner could,
lead that discussion with the sales team. Who
who are we in sales? Who do we
wanna be?
I I think that's fantastic.
I kinda wanna circle back to some of
(17:18):
the ones that that you mentioned, though,
because I thought they were really good.
And
the... I'll let's do the last 1 first,
process driven.
You know, Bd r were we're big on
on processes.
Here, we love those things.
And
you mentioned using it as a tool to
(17:39):
improve
I I think when you have a process,
it's much easier to see
what went well and what didn't go so
well. Well, this steps went well. I wanna
keep doing that. This step didn't go so
well.
Now I don't need to hone in on
why that was and and how to improve
that. So I really like that element of
(17:59):
being process driven and making it repeatable.
And so I think that... That's a great
way to think about that. Any
additional thoughts on on being process driven?
Well, I think too, what we have to
realize is that
in that process, and this may this may
(18:19):
be part of
kind of some of the the positive
byproducts of starting this process, you know, individually,
or as a as an organization as well
is that we have to realize that, you
know, processes change over time.
And
and maybe there's
(18:42):
reason to find,
need for adjustment or change to an existing
process as well. Because what
what worked, you know, 2 years ago.
More than likely won't work today.
So not only
You know, we may... Again, we may be
an organization
like Bd. Right, that that is that is
processed driven,
(19:03):
but we also have to realize that, you
know, another core value that we have at
Bd is changed is essential and we must
always embrace it. And I think that that
that can become somewhat problematic. You for for
some
individuals out there that may be avert to
change,
and
may,
they have a have a a process that
(19:24):
they've adopted,
and are really unwilling to to take a
hard look at that and see, you know,
what what changes what positive refinements can I
make to that existing process because
we've gotta just know that, you know, the
the? The market's changing. The buyers changing, interest
rates are changing.
The economy is ever changing
(19:45):
and all of these things,
impact
our process
and and impact
how
the consumer buys, how they prefer to buy,
you know, 15, 20 years ago, financing
wasn't a big deal.
You know, nowadays, you know, most organizations out
(20:05):
there.
That are successful in sales are financing
well over 80 percent to 90 percent of
the jobs that they're doing.
And so if we were never
adjusting our processes in the past 10 years,
You know, we're gonna be missing out on
a lot of opportunity because
we're operating under an old process that's not
promoting
(20:26):
consumer financing. So... And and again, there... There's
there's a multitude of of changes, but
I have seen
just,
you know, coming out of the the Covid
hangover,
you, so many different things happening out there.
And so more than likely,
there are some needs for process adjustment in
our own organizations that can help us better
(20:46):
succeed in the future.
Yeah. IIII
love that point, and,
I think it's very very well said.
We gotta be processed driven, but willing to
change the process when,
when the time comes,
and circumstances,
account for that.
(21:07):
Yeah.
So 1 of the other
points that, of, kind of the sales avatar
that you mentioned. And we... And and it
may that your sales avatar could change over
time too. You know, just like we're talking
about with your process, and I know you
talk about the sales process a lot in
your top gun sales, excellence classes that could
lead. But to go back to the... To
(21:29):
Avatar points.
1 of the other ones you mentioned was
tough.
It made me think,
recently I had,
a door to door salesperson
come to my house.
And
it's kinda it was kinda of a little
bit of a funny story. So,
I actually thought it was my wife who
(21:50):
was knocking on the door because she had
gone out somewhere.
And so
normally, if it's a door to door salesperson,
I may not answer the door. Right? But
I thought it was my wife, so I
went to answer the door and so then
I was into... This conversation, you know, to
a degree, but the salesperson
was...
She did such a great job of establishing
(22:11):
a connection with me, this And the whole
time I was talking to her, I kept
thinking,
wow. She's been to all my neighbor's houses.
What a tough job. It's hot today. You
know, and she's walking the neighborhood.
And and so I just had a real...
I was just impressed by. You know?
Yeah. And and in the end, she actually
(22:32):
sold me something.
Sold me something. III bought from her. So
it it all it all worked, but... You
know, no doubt she had been turned down
a whole bunch of times. So that... It
just made me think of how tough you
have to be as a salesperson to
put up with the the nose as you
said,
but keep coming back, you know, and keep.
Bringing your best. And I think this avatar
(22:54):
piece
can be kind of a motivator and and
a and just that thing to shoot for
each time you start again.
Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, we have... We definitely have
a benefit in this environment where,
you know, we are being invited into somebody's
home via an appointment. Right? So
there
(23:15):
door to door sales is a is a
whole another animal right when it comes to
that because... Yeah. You're showing up una analysis
and and and you are unexpected and more
than likely, let's be real
unwanted because there's that there's an old rule
of thumb that you know, everybody wants to
buy, but nobody wants to be sold to.
And so you're trying to sell them something
that they don't even necessarily want to buy
(23:35):
at that moment. You
But but, yeah, you know,
just just knowing that, you know, hey, even
in even in our world,
you know, there there is gonna be,
there's gonna be rejection, but
you just gotta... You got trust that at
the process.
You've laid out there, is 1 that's going
to net result wins and, you know, just
(23:58):
like batteries get into batting slump and, you
know, things like that. Those are gonna come,
but you've just gotta trust
trust your your instincts, trust your training,
rely on that, go back to your fundamentals,
the foundations of what's made you successful,
and and we're gonna succeed.
Yeah.
So why don't we... Let's move on then,
(24:19):
you know,
So we got this idea of the Avatar
out there. You've given us some characteristics to
think about that that might make up our
sales avatar. So and you talked about how
that can be developed, you know, with within
the sales team of a company or maybe,
as an individual. You're just kinda brainstorming, writing
down some things.
(24:40):
Once you get that avatar kinda created
for yourself
how do you kinda use it on a
daily basis as you're going through your sales?
How does how does an avatar impact that?
Well I think it's a great checklist for
us. Right? Just like just like any points
of a process, you know, that we could
(25:01):
we could look back. Too. And and we
talk about this in our top down sales
process. But but doing doing you know, a
pre,
debrief with yourself too Excuse me. And then
and then a post debrief, you know?
And and given yourself, I mean, I in...
And in reality, we're gonna be our own
worst critic. But you know, giving yourself a
realistic look, hey, what what well and and
(25:24):
what might I have missed, you know, or
where my may I have followed short
on that call.
So, you know, again, just send a aside
time whether it be just, you know, on
on the
drive after the appointment, maybe to the next,
or back to the office. Again, kinda just
kinda preparing mentally.
Beforehand to, we can create ourselves in in
(25:44):
in the talk sales accents class we go
through this with it what we refer to
as a pre flight checklist
of having, a list of, of, steps within
our procedure and that that helps to prepare
a really short abbreviated list, bullet pointed,
a 1 page sheet that we can just
quickly reference and kind of review Hey, here's
here's everything I wanna be sure and and
(26:06):
hit and and, you know, these key
in critical steps.
In this process. So, you know, doing that
in and of ourselves, in addition to that,
1 thing that I think is is very
important
and has been really proven to be very
effective
with with the clients that I work with
and those that I've coached over the years.
(26:26):
But
you know, bringing somebody else in on a
ride along, whether that be, you know, an
owner or a sales manager,
somebody that can,
really,
help assess what we're doing, you know? And
maybe in a sense, really helping us in
a lot of cases,
sometimes see the forest through the trees. You
(26:47):
know, we often get really
shorts sighted and things like that. We may
overs step opportunity or or not key in
on certain things that are being said or
there may be certain
ticks that we might have. I've I've... Been
on sales right along where the salesperson at
the kitchen table, just clicking the ballpoint pet
up and down up and down. And just
didn't even realize that they were doing it.
(27:08):
And you could see the homeowner
and again, a little irritated right with it,
You know? So,
I think it's important that we that we
have that, you know, and we can all
benefit for us, but you know,
and this may be another great characteristic to
add to that, but we've gotta be coach.
We've gotta be train as well. So inviting
(27:28):
that coaching
into our process, you know, in real time,
I think is very important because
Yes, It's 1 thing to read the books.
It's 1 thing to take the trading classes.
It's 1 thing to attend. The meetings.
But when we have somebody there that's able
to
work with us and coach in real time,
(27:51):
I think it's gonna make all the difference.
And and it's been, again, proven to be
really, really effective
for
improving
sales results, for a lot of the professionals
that I work with when they've had that
sales manager owner, riding along that's been able
to work with them and say, hey, You
know, I noticed this. Your... I didn't see
a pickup on this, you may wanna try
(28:12):
this. And to be able to implement that,
whether it be in the future or often
cases in real time,
those changes and see positive results. I mean,
again,
or we're all looking to improve and get
better, and this is just 1 aspect that
we have to be open and willing to
do,
his to have
(28:32):
have those right along coaches right along trainings
out there to help us achieve our marks.
Yeah. I I think a ride along is
not something that should be feared,
but maybe something that that we should look
forward to as a as an opportunity to
improve. I I love that.
Lily. Yeah. And some of these things that
(28:54):
we've been talking about related to the sales
avatar
or a little bit
different than the sales process, you know, we're...
You you might hit all your marks in
the sales process, your company sales process,
but
were you ob observe it?
How empathetic were you to the customer.
(29:15):
The that's a different kind of thing that
maybe having an outside person to
give you some feedback on that, and I
think could be really helpful.
It it's it's the hundred percent necessary. Right?
Because, again, we may not even realize we're
doing some of the things
for leading
(29:35):
conversations or not reacted to conversations in a
certain way.
Because, again, these are just things that may
be,
natural for us. Yeah.
But they may be things that we need
to work on making adjustments on.
Potentially. So you're you're a hundred percent right.
Very important.
Okay. So how do how do we
is there a trigger for
(29:58):
maybe when we wanna
rethink our avatar or make a change or
or add something to it?
How do you think about that?
Well, I think definitely,
as we
collect
our data,
(30:19):
you know, or collect our sales performance data.
And if we begin to see
any type of
declines or
N.
Or improvements too. I think that that's a
that's an indicator of
you know, hey,
this this performance is improving.
(30:39):
Are you doing anything different? Right? What, what
might be able to be taken from that
and shared with with the other team. Oh,
you know, I've I've started approaching financing in
this way or whatever it might be.
You know, same thing as, you know, really
owners and sales managers as we're collecting and
and and analyzing the information
average sales, close ratios, average dates to close,
(31:01):
all of these things,
revenue per lead,
and we start to to see things dip,
I think as owners and sales managers or
even as as sales professionals, when we see
our own performance,
dipping,
because I firmly believe that as sales professionals,
we wanna know where we stand. We wanna
know how we're performing it and and that's
that's... We've gotta make sure we're we're looking
(31:22):
at that
and and checking that all the time, just
like batteries are gonna be paying attention to
their batting average and, you know, how they're
hitting in various counts or where where they're
where they're hot at, you know, in the
strike zone or where they're getting cold at,
you know, at the plate.
And, you know, either a as owners or
sales managers, you know, step it in saying,
(31:43):
hey, let's get out there on those right
along. Let's let's see
you know, maybe how we are devi or
seeing hey, There was no deviation.
We we did a really good job,
but the market shift.
So maybe we need to go back and
say, alright. Maybe we need to approach this
situation or maybe we need to...
(32:05):
You know, redesign some of these tactics that
we have here to achieve our strategy because
they're not working right now. And we need
to take another approach tactically
to, reach the strategy we want.
Yeah. I I think that's really smart at...
Tying this back to our actual results
and and using that as a
(32:27):
as a jumping off point to support us
as we're thinking about or Avatar or even
adjustments to the sales process which you got
into.
How did that call go? You know, Did
it... You know, do we make the sale
and and the Kpis that you mentioned, looking
at those and kind of having a a
holistic view
(32:47):
to everything,
and and being open to those areas of
improvement. So
that that makes a lot of sense to
me how you put that. Okay. And
but a challenge too, because it's not always
easy to
be open to that and
change our ways because we do get into
(33:08):
some routines.
And we do get into a comfort zone,
just like a, you know, we're doing a
baseball analogy.
Same thing. You know,
so how do we
stay open to that and and not fall
into a comfort zone.
Any advice you would give there,
Yeah. That's... That could be tough. Right? Because
(33:29):
what do they say when you
you start getting in the groove. Right? The
groove can become a trench, which become a
dangerous.
Hole that you can't get out of. Right?
So we've gotta be gotta be careful to
that. So I think I think doing everything
we can to
you know, partner with with a coaching firm,
like Bd,
(33:49):
that, you know,
individuals like yourself mad or myself,
you know, and other wonderful coaches and trainers
that we have that are, you know, staying
out there, staying fresh, keeping their to the
ground. You know, paying attention to what's, going
on out in the marketplace and things like
that.
You know,
stand staying fresh with various books or podcasts,
(34:09):
you know,
training it, you know, our top gun,
sales excellence class is constantly going through
refinements and adjustments because again,
what we taught in that class 2, 3
years ago won't work today. So, you know,
we're always looking at ways to to keep
the things fresh that what we bring,
(34:29):
to to the attendees
is
actionable things that are gonna... That they can
go back and put into place or
work on themselves. Right? Work on their own
avatar, work on, Again, what am I looking
for in the next sales professional. So you
know, really keeping your ear to the ground
with
(34:49):
what's going on out there. What's happening,
what's working well for others, you in in
in various markets.
And then, again, just, you know, always learning,
always researching, you know, reading books,
podcasts on and so forth.
Okay. Yeah. I'm I think that's that's great
advice.
In this whole conversation on
(35:11):
an Avatar, It makes me think... You know,
I've got a friend that's got a personal
mission statement.
And that's 1 of those things that he
always comes back to a different points in
his life.
How am I doing relative to that.
And and and I think this avatar idea
is a kind of another tool like that.
Where we can just kinda get re resent
(35:33):
and and be intentional. You mentioned the intentional
in what we're doing and get refocus
as we go and and kind of a
inspirational tool almost that you need
particularly in in sales at time. So I
just think this is a really cool idea
that I haven't heard talked about much sean,
(35:54):
Yeah. Guy. It's awesome.
And again, I think it's just a a
catalyst and a starting point for everyone out
there listening, you know, again, this is... Take
this. And this is this is unique to
every organization out there? You know, what is
what are the components What's that Dna look
like?
You know, use this as a starting point
as a launching pad for you and your
(36:15):
organizations for yourself for your company,
to really build upon this, you know, and
and keep this, a living breathing entity within
your company, knowing that, hey, we're always gonna
have to go back and and and re
look at this and make adjustments. The the
job's never gonna be completed We're always gonna
be continually refining.
Well,
(36:36):
I I'd say that's a pretty good
period for this conversation, Sean unless you got
something better than that. That was that was
a pretty nice summary.
No. This has been awesome. It's been a
joy A pleasure as always to spend some
time with you and talk about some of
these great. Topics we have. Yeah. No. Yeah.
The pleasure is mine, and and you bring
(36:56):
a lot of expertise in in real world.
The knowledge and experience to this and as
as you do all of our clients and
our our coaching clients and training clients. So
thank you. Thanks for making the time to
be here, and
thanks everyone for listening.
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