In this blog post I am going to offer some ideas on how to learn from the masters to accelerate your sales success. We have all heard of the horror stories of people who failed courses for plagiarism. We know this is not a good thing to do. Conversely, we all know that the research is at the heart of all innovations and breakthroughs. Also, the world’s best researchers can win a Nobel prize. This tells us Plagiarism is bad and Research is good.
Let’s upset that model. I started saying years ago that Plagiarism is when you ‘steal’ from one and Research is when you ‘borrow’ from many. What I do is practice Applied Research based on Pure Plagiarism!! I learn from the masters and apply those learnings to my business.
By now you are asking “what the heck is he talking about?” The message here is quite simple. Rather than trying to figure out everything yourself, why not take the time and effort to learn from those who have gone before you? Don’t take months or years to figure out how to be a sales superstar. Get your PhD in Sales and then apply those ‘classroom’ lessons to the real world and adjust as necessary to your situation?
Learn from the Masters
To the best of my knowledge, you cannot go to a traditional university and get a degree of any level in Selling. Some colleges offer diplomas or certificates in Sales but it is not mainstream. Regardless, why would you want to spend years in a classroom racking up tens or hundreds of thousands in student loans? You would be better served out there earning and learning at the same time?
My advice, if you really want to win in Sales, is to make a commitment to learn from the masters that are out there. Even if your company offers sales training, augment it. Find 3-5 mentors and follow their blogs, listen to their podcoasts, join their webinars, read their books and take their courses. No single approach or system or philosophy works for everyone, One size does not fit all! And yes be prepared to hear a sales pitch or two when you download/listen/watch all this free stuff but if you are in sales you can learn from those too!
Don’t believe for an instant that one book or course will change everything for you. It might but that is definitely not the norm. Try to pick a few ideas or tips or techniques or lessons from each book or course. Then immediately apply them in your sales situation. Some will work and some will not. Learn from each iteration and build and grow from each experience.
One of the challenges I had in writing my book was giving credit to the dozens or perhaps even hundreds of people I have learned from. I like to think that much of what I wrote is original material. Even then, those ideas and thoughts were shaped and molded from a combination of real world experience and likely thousands of hours in every type of training imaginable.
Always Keep Learning
And please do not ever believe that you have nothing more to learn. Top performing sales professionals are true masters of their craft, They are continually looking for ways to improve. You are either growing or shrinking – there is no standing still. Even if you are on the right road, if you are standing still you are going to get run over!
For me one of the things I look at every day to decide if it was a good or a great day is by asking myself ‘what did I learn today?’ If not already, become a permanent student of personal and professional development. The rewards you will ultimately reap will be countless and priceless!
Have a great week but before you go be sure to check out my online courses at https://www.takeactionsalesacademy.com
Also get my Daily 2 Minute Leadership and Sales Thought videos on my Facebook Group ‘Raise Your Sales IQ’ at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/399906394125860/about/
Have a great day and if you like this be sure to share with your networks!
