What are you striving for? What does it take to get your attention? What excites you? En route towards your definition of success, how will you know when you've arrived?
Please do not be insulted by these questions. They're designed to equip you with knowledge, and help you in the pursuit of your goals, and aspirations. Success leaves clues. So does failure!
When you know what motivates and drives your efforts, you will become aware of what naturally inspires you never to give up.
In 1946, Roger Bannister wanted to be the first person ever to run the four-minute mile.
With his knowledge and athletic ability, he devoted all his spare time to the track. He became an accomplished middle-distance runner. The fascination at the time for all middle-distance runners was the four-minute mile.
It was commonly thought back then that to run that distance that fast was unattainable. They said that it was humanly impossible. That apparently spurred Banister to try to do the “impossible.” He did just that by running a mile in three minutes and 59 seconds.
How did he do it? What challenges did he overcome? How many times have you been told you cannot do something?
Follow these steps to peak performance, and you'll reach your goals:
- Know what you expect from your efforts
Put a “price” on your efforts, and calculate what you are going to sacrifice to accomplish your goal. Each time you greet a customer on the showroom floor, put a figure in your head of how much you expect to earn. Do not base it on previous experience. Master your trade. Know what you expect your reward to be. Most people think they are solely motivated by money, and initially perhaps so, but that will not sustain your long-term performance. Identify your prize.
- Become a pacesetter; include others in your pursuit
Roger Bannister broke the record with pace setters. Amazingly enough, within two months one of the pace setters also broke the record. Put your staff in subgroups, and watch them individually excel towards a group target. People will perform more when held accountable for a common goal.
- Study auto retailing
Know what has worked and minimize your setbacks. Evaluate your performance up to this date. Eventually selling turns into continual pursuit of learning and unlearning.
- Put on “blinders” to eliminate distractions
This technique is priceless. Think about how horses run races. Always attach your figurative blinders to focus on your target. Consider how you will get there, how many customers you need to deal with to reach your goal? This will minimize your distractions and maximize your potential.
- Prepare for opposition and adversity
When you know your purpose, and your path is clear, opposition is the fuel that inspires you and improves your performance. Lou Holtz says, “Adversity is another way to measure the greatness of individuals. I never had a crisis that didn't make me stronger.”
- Never allow the newness to wear off
Think about your very first day at work. What was you level of commitment? How can inexperienced sales people come into a field with no experience, especially automotive retailing, and outperform seasoned sales staffers? First, they do not know any better, Second, they are excited. Keep that feeling of excitement. You'll create the positive energy required to increase your performance.
Master these steps. Decide what motivates you and what you expect your reward to be for your efforts. Make a personal commitment that you are not going to give up nor let yourself down.
Become the person that you always wanted to be, no matter what the obstacle.
You'll be glad you made such a commitment and so will your dealership.
Ron Coxsom, a motivational sales trainer, is a 20-year veteran and president of GME Consulting Inc. He's at [email protected], 615-231-0030 and 866.coxsom1 (269-7661).
