Jul 24, 2014 By Dave Kurlan

How to Create Perfect Sales Conditions

in Sales

“I’m living the dream.” At least that’s what they say when I ask them how they are. Or some version of “pretty good,” “great!” or “awesome!” or “couldn’t be better.” Salespeople are incredible when it comes to repeating expressions to describe how they wish they were.

I don’t get too high and don’t even talk to me about low. There’s pretty much just one speed for work, and that speed is fast and steady.

Can you keep your car steady at 20 mph? Of course—you aren’t tense, you can react easily and quickly to other cars, and the car won’t fight you at that speed.

Can you keep you car steady at 80 mph? There is much more tension, especially in traffic. You can’t react quickly enough to other cars, and the car is already fighting back. If it’s raining, snowing, windy, icy or dark, your car will fight you at 50 mph. But under perfect conditions, you can keep the fast car perfectly steady. I create perfect working conditions for myself, and as a result, I’m able to remain very steady as I move quickly and accomplish a great deal in a very limited amount of time.

One of the ways I create perfect conditions for myself is the way I use CRM. I live in it. I don’t consider my CRM application to be a tool that supports email, calendar and tasks. Neither is it something to update on a daily or weekly basis. Oh no. I create perfect working conditions whenever I am living inside CRM. It’s the first thing I open in the morning and it remains open, front and center, all day, every day. I update it in real time.

Elite salespeople make up the top 6% of the entire sales population. They are committed to best practices and the pipeline shows them where they are today and how far they are from their desired goals and/or required quotas. It shows them which part of their pipeline must be filled as well as the opportunities they must work on today in order to move them forward. The analytics show them where they are least effective so they can improve.

Elite salespeople consider email, calendar and task lists as tools that support CRM, not the other way around. When you begin to live in your CRM, update everything as it occurs, remain laser focused on opportunities throughout the day, follow your sales process to a tee, and make progress that you can measure, you’ll never go back to the way it used to be.

About the Author:

Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, the best-selling author of Baseline Selling, and a leading expert on Sales Force Development. He is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the leading developer of sales assessment tools. He is also the CEO of Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a leading sales force development firm. He possesses more than 30 years of experience in all facets of sales development including sales and sales management training, consulting, infrastructure, leadership, recruiting and coaching.