The Labors of Selling
Posted by Frank Belzer on Mon, Jul 12, 2010 @ 07:35 PM
Apparently historians are now saying that the mythological character of Hercules was actually based on a real person. Interesting but not what I want to talk about. I want to draw some lessons from the actual 12 labors of Hercules. Each of these 12 labors required impossible tasks to be completed. If he failed of course he was dead - but if he succeeded then he gained something that would help him with a later labor. e.g. When he killed the Lion in the first labor he saved its' arrow proof skin which served as armor later. When he defeated the 9 headed hydra he dipped his arrows in its blood making them deadly to any creature.
So it goes with sales people. Victories are not just victories in themselves, they also pave the way for other victories which may have seemed impossible at one time. Sales people need to have the feeling of accomplishment and that success can lead to more. Here are a few examples that might equate to those 12 labors of Hercules.
- Making an unhappy customer happy and then selling them something else.
- Their first new business sale.
- Their first referral that leads to a sale.
- Their first one call close.
- They close a major / elephant size deal.
As sales people accomplish these they build positive records that can help them grow expedentially as sales people. Sounds like a good plan doesn't it?
