Keep

The greatest sales method for growing your business

Several years ago, my wife and I got hooked on watching the weight loss reality shows, Biggest Loser and Extreme Weight Loss. They are no longer on TV; I think due to some questionable techniques.

However, I learned one very important lesson from them.

No matter where you are, no matter how bad your current situation is, and no matter how far the goal seems from you, there is one solution that works every time. That solution can be summed up in one word “Keep”.

When I say it works every time, I mean that it works for everything you do. That includes selling to farmers or agribusiness buyers.

On these reality shows, the participants were in the worst shape possible. In some cases, they were over 300 or 400 pounds. Many had never been fit in their entire life. Yet, their coaches helped them apply this one method to reach their goals. It didn’t matter where they were in their health journey. Nor does it matter where you are in your selling status.

If you are on day one and comparing yourself to the top-performing salesperson in the company, this skill will help you surpass her results.

If you once had a large customer base, but they quit you or went out of business, the method of “Keep” will get you back on top. The struggle that most have with this method is that it doesn’t get you “back on top in no time at all”. “Keep” takes time. Hence the word “keep”.

On these reality shows, the participants struggle, get frustrated, run into setbacks, and almost always deal with more mental issues than physical. Sound familiar? It does to me. It’s just like myself and every salesperson I run into who is actually trying to grow their territory. We try or tried, but run into setbacks, roadblocks, and get frustrated. But our most difficult challenge is the mental strength to cold call, handle rejection, manage customer complaints, follow up with prospects, and “keep” going strong.

So, today, I would like you to practice just one of the following messages of “Keep”. Sure, you can implement them all, but that’s not the methodology of Keep. The methodology calls for you to take a small bite and then another, and another each day, until you look at the list a year from now and realize you are doing them all.

KEEP……

Trying
Calling back
Failing (no not intentionally, but be willing to fail. Fail smaller and faster to become better).
Improving (another word for improving is changing or adjusting your approach. Especially after you fail).
Growing
Asking (asking better questions in better ways, asking for what you want: the sale)
Closing
Following up
Networking
Prospecting
Organizing
Your prospect funnel healthy and moving

And the 13^th thing to “Keep” that struck me recently is to keep your customers.

Sounds pretty common sense. Why would I include it in a list of advice to professional salespeople? Because, every day, your current customers; the ones that you spent years and thousands of dollars to get; the ones that we have fewer and fewer of in the Ag world are leaving companies because of a bad customer experience.

We’ve all heard that it takes seven to ten times the effort to find a new customer versus selling a current customer. Whatever the number, we know it’s easier to keep customers than replace them. Rarely do I run across a salesperson that feels they lost a customer due to their selling skills. I’m sure it happens, but a large majority of customers will leave a company due to a poor customer experience. When I see this happening in a sales organization, it usually is not a quick fix. It is usually due to built-in issues within the culture of the organization. It can even be due to the leadership or owners of the company.

That is why the methodology of “Keep” has to be implemented. Culture changes take time. And you can affect it positively, by keeping at it.

Good luck on your journey of a thousand steps and as the saying goes, it begins with the first step! So, if you dare, get up off the couch or out of your home office and take your first step!