BY Kathy Crosett
Are you being intentional enough about learning? You might answer that question by stating that you’re constantly learning about new prospects. If you want to exceed your sales goals, you’ll need to invest in an additional type of learning.
Don’t Let Time Constraints Stop You From Learning
I can hear your protests already. There are not enough hours in the day. Learning is boring.
Those facts may be true, especially if you are stressed about meeting your sales goals. In our survey of sales professionals, only 20% indicated they’ve read at least two books on sales this year. Around 24% attended a sales-related webinar.
These activities are a great start. But you should aim to become more knowledgeable about the business world and commit to long-term success. Specifically, as Justin Bariso discusses in his Inc. article, build the five-hour rule into your weekly schedule.
The five-hour rule traces its roots back to Ben Franklin. Franklin was one of the most successful people in the early days of the U.S. Part of that success stemmed from the daily hour he spent on “reading, writing, setting goals, and tracking results.”
Half of the battle is making the commitment. Bariso suggests you set up a schedule that works for you. Some days you’ll have half an hour available, while your schedule on other days will allow for two hours.
How Learning Can Help You Achieve Sales Goals
If you’re determined to improve your close rate, become more knowledgeable about the industry you sell to. Our sales professionals’ survey reveals that only 23% recently attended a webinar to learn about their prospects’ industry. Most webinars last only an hour but can yield great intelligence.
In addition, the best apps can feed you real-time pre-meeting industry research.
With enough learning, you’ll accumulate knowledge and can demonstrate expertise by authoring articles. Only 17% of sales professionals report that they have written and posted articles about their prospects’ industry, according our surveys. Yet, 24% of B2B buyers state that they look for sellers who have shown subject matter expertise.
Remember that statistic the next time you’re tempted to fake your knowledge in front of a prospect.
The Importance of Perfecting Emotional Intelligence
Lifelong learning applies to all aspects of your professional life. You likely have already had training on soft skills. Maybe your manager has pointed out that you need to work on showing more empathy.
That can be a challenge when the same manager is pressing you to meet sales goals at month end. Soft skills like empathy don’t come easily to everyone but with the right mindset you can improve.
Read, watch online videos or attend webinars that will help you be mindful of the skills you want to hone. The messages you take from these learning sessions will help you remember to use your soft skills during every interaction.
It only takes a few moments to ask how a prospect is doing before you begin selling. In those few moments, provided you listen to your prospect’s answer, you may learn an important detail.
Those details will help you move the deal further down the pipeline. If you don’t understand your prospect’s situation and motivations, it will be harder to close the deal.
Commit to Improving Your Sales Skills
Another way to reach your goals is to improve your sales skills. Regardless of the level of experience you have, you may struggle with one or more sales skills.
For some people, business development and prospecting poses challenges. Other sales professionals put off closing deals. Learning how other people perfect sales skills will help you optimize your own.
Committing to lifelong learning and
