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In the late 1980s, Don Speakman was making a little more than $18,000 a year as an underpaid assistant at a printing company. He was struggling to make ends meet for his family. He was recruited for a sales commission-only job by a manager who thought he might be a good risk. Speakman became a rep and started the laborious process of learning to sell.
He was not alone; he had three friends to keep him company. These four musketeers started out by giving public seminars on retirement planning. But while his colleagues fell by the wayside, Speakman survived and thrived. Today, with annual commissions far in excess of $1 million, this Pittsburgh-based producer is a member of the exclusive Million Dollar Round Table’s “Top of the Table.” But the real reason to envy this high achiever is that he works only two days a week! The rest of the time he spends with his family or on whatever else strikes his fancy.
During the past 32 years of meeting peak performers like Speakman, I have studied the success patterns of the best of the best. These people consistently push success to ever-higher levels. These super-producers also have several unique characteristics in common. Here are a few of the traits and techniques that they use to outdistance the competition, work a whole lot less and make a whole lot more:
1) Put Your Activity on a Point System
Low activity is the single biggest reason that producers fail. That which gets measured, gets done. In my interviews with million-dollar producers, I discovered they all have tremendous self-discipline. Nearly all set daily—and sometimes even hourly—goals.
Top producer Belen DeJesus of Manila in the Philippines is one of the highest paid sales pros in the South Pacific. DeJesus has a knack for finding people with money, but not because she grew up with a silver spoon in her mouth. In fact, she started her career as a telephone operator with Manila’s phone company.
DeJesus realized early on that if she were to make a living in sales, she must not only set hourly goals but also develop a system for keeping herself committed to those objectives even when her enthusiasm wanes. Her method was to make 10 phone calls in the morning before her first cup of coffee. She would force herself to also ask each client for referrals before leaving the closing interview. Forgetting to ask would mean depriving herself of a favorite hobby for that week.
But Speakman went a step further. He also has an effective method of keeping himself on track. He works on a daily point plan. He assigns 10 points to a face-to-face interview, five points to a sales phone call and one point to dialing the phone. His goal is to hit 50 points—or he doesn’t go home.
Speakman believes that activity equals success. Who can argue with a guy who makes more than a million dollars in commissions? Sometimes he takes his sleeping bag to the office, knowing that a busy day is no excuse for avoiding the prospecting routine that makes him money. Speakman is like the postal service—he always delivers. The kind of discipline DeJesus and Speakman demonstrate is the stuff that makes true winners. It is virtually impossible to be stopped short of success when you are doing the right things so consistently.
2) Be a Client-Builder, Not a Quota-Maker
One of the things top producers consistently do is develop relationships for the long-term. The advisor who just wants to make quick money asks for the big sale first. The one who understands the importance of a relationship knows that big money comes only after trust is developed. When you have trust, sales happen naturally.
Concentrate on getting your prospect to buy the relationship with you rather than a wood floor or new coat of finish. Cost matters little. Clients will give you enough money to test the trust they have given you. Then they’ll observe how you treat them after the check is cashed, so protect those relationships like the precious assets they are.
In one study, the average sales rep talks to clients once every 19 months. If you told your prospects you would be in contact about once every two years, you would be on unemployment.
One of my coaching clients, Bill Smith, loves to hear a prospect say at the outset that he will only gain a portion of their business. He knows it’s only a test to see if he has built a relationship instead of a transaction.
3) Work With Clients You Enjoy
Many peak performers say not only do they target a market, they also focus on select individuals with whom they enjoy doing business. Both Speakman and my friend Guy Baker of Newport Beach, Calif., say the hardest people to deal with are the technical types like engineers, accountants and doctors. These professionals most likely have some product knowledge, but they are so analytical that it might not be worth the time to lead them through every detail.
The people you enjoy the most are often the same people who will make you the most money. To see if this is true of your book of business, analyze where the most money is. Think about these clients—do you really like working with them? If the answer is yes, and it should be, then spend your time finding more of those who fit the profile that emerges through your analysis. If the answer is no, start looking at the hidden costs of dealing with difficult clients. Think about shifting your focus to those you really enjoy. Eventually you will get a payoff not only in dollars but in peace of mind. But that is only the beginning. When you separate out the clients you want to duplicate, and keep in contact with them every three months by phone or in person, you will be able to build your business based on the clients you like instead of those you can only make money from.
Most sales reps think 78 percent of their clients are advocates (those who talk about you to their friends). In reality, only 15 percent are advocates. Advocacy is not built by doing a good job at selling them or product performance. It is built with frequency of contact and strong relationships.
The Bottom Line
Top producers have a different mindset than the less successful. They stay focused on their long-term goals while being obsessed in the short term with building solid client relationships. They are fanatically devoted to their own success, but they never put themselves ahead of their clients. They believe that people buy trust first and products second. They make hundreds of thousands, if not millions, because they always look for new business and care enormously about the people whom they call their clients. Emulate them, and you’ll find yourself in their ranks someday.