Guest post by Ralph Barsi, Senior Director, Global Development @ ServiceNow.
In The Art of War, military general and strategist, Sun Tzu, wrote, “To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands.” Your biggest resource is yourself.
His lessons centered on our preparation and readiness for any battle we face. In fact, his aim was to help us become “unassailable,” so that no threat was insurmountable.
Sun Tzu’s lessons can also be applied to challenges today’s salespeople face. You see, if you stay ready you won’t need to get ready. Do you have the people, the technology, and the willingness to serve your customers to the best of your ability? If you are to stay on top of your game, you must have the innovative ideas and tools to overcome challenges.
Sales Leaders and Reps: How well do you leverage resources to overcome these challenges?
Common Challenges in Sales
- Engaging net new prospects. How effective is your personalization at scale? Or, backing up, how’s your personalization in general? You won’t be able to keep pace if you don’t prepare appropriately.
- Earning your next role. How well can you reconcile your qualifications and competencies against the role(s) you aspire to earn? When we don’t grow, we stagnate.
- Building your brand in the marketplace. How good are you at overcoming obscurity and serving as a trusted adviser in your field? Love for your brand and transfer that to your employees. Their belief in and buy-in regarding why your brand is unique adds value to every interaction.
- Ensuring your awesome reputation precedes you. How consistent are you in helping others solve their problems or get where they need to go? A driving passion to help your customers makes all the difference.
Here’s the good news: The answers are in front of and within you. As Earl Nightingale once reminded us, we stand on acres of diamonds. You’re living among an abundance of resources you may not even see. Open your eyes and use what is right in front of you!
Work on yourself harder than you work on your job. Open your aperture and see all that’s around you. Pull from unlimited resources to accomplish your goals and serve others.
Join my session at Rainmaker. We’ll explore critical and creative-thinking exercises, problem-solving techniques, and best practices that the best salespeople in the world leverage to succeed. You will leave with a set of ideas and tools for overcoming challenges and elevating your game. Apply them and you’ll become unassailable.
For more from Ralph Barsi on how Sun Tzu’s lessons apply them to problems today’s salespeople face, join us at Rainmaker – the sales engagement conference – March 11-13 in Atlanta! Ralph’s session, “No Excuses: Resources vs. Resourcefulness,” will take place Tuesday, March 12 at 2:30 p.m.
