Wake Up & Sell (excerpt from Intro)

There are thousands of books on the market that teach people how to sell, but few address the inner state of the sales person as they attempt to execute the tactics and strategies taught by the experts. We wonder what goes on inside the sales person as he attempts to make a cold call for the first time; or, pulls up to the guarded entrance of a Fortune 100 company and presses to meet with the facilities manager even though she doesn’t have an appointment; or, stops a colleague, in the midst of a presentation to a board of directors, because the colleague has gone way off the agenda; or, finally, presses for a decision when the decision maker wants to ‘think it over.’

Sales people must be at the top of their game when in front of a prospect or client and yet, all too often, they are on automatic, operating out of habitual patterns that are often unconscious and designed to sabotage, not support, success in the moment. Let’s look at an example of how this works. A sales person, named Peter, is getting ready for an appointment with a qualified prospect with whom he doesn’t know. Just before the appointment, Peter’s sales manager tells him that he has to find out the budget that is set aside for the project they are discussing. Internally, everything inside Peter says “There is no way I can do this – it is so impolite to talk about money at the first appointment. I don’t even have a relationship with him yet. I know I should do it but I’ve tried to do it before and I just can’t get myself to do it in the moment.” What’s going on here? Peter likes to focus on building a strong relationship, sometimes too strong, before talking about money. He believes that people have to like him to buy from him so asking about money too soon in the process will turn people off. So here he is, the internal chatter is resisting but the external reality is that he can not walk out of the appointment without the information his sales manager wants. How do you think he ‘shows up’ in that sales call? Where is his attention? What non-verbal signals is he sending during the sales call? If building a relationship is where his attention habitually goes during sales calls, how can he do it successfully when he knows he must go out of his comfort zone and at some point, from his point of view, break rapport to ask about the budget?

Some seasoned sales person might say ‘just get over it and ask about the budget’ or ‘what a wimp, he’s not gonna cut it in sales.’ But what we know is that Peter is a very successful sales rep. He hits quotas, his customers keep coming back and they refer others to him and he rarely has complaints. Why? Because he is so astute at building strong relationships that his clients do like him and trust him explicitly. So what’s the problem? The challenge Peter faces is that he is working 12-hour days and it takes him three appointments to close a sale where it takes other reps 1-2. His sales manager believes that if he can just speed up the sales process by asking some key questions in the first appointment, he’ll get to the close sooner.

Our experience in working with sales professional over 15 years tells us that changing behavior is not about ‘just doing different behavior.’ If that were so, we wouldn’t have people with addictions, bad habits or destructive behaviors. Changing behavior starts with a journey inward to uncover one’s core motivation and the internal thoughts, habits and emotions that support and hinder selling success. Once an individual understands ‘why he does what he does’, he/she has a choice as to whether to continue the behaviors that do not support success or to select other behaviors that will produce the desired result. We call this moment of choice ‘waking up.’

How can we ‘wake up’ and choose behaviors that support our selling success? The Enneagram, a powerful and insightful system, provides insight into core motivation and offers a prescriptive path for individuals who want to change non-supportive behaviors. We have used many assessments, profiles and developmental tools over the years, but have found that the Enneagram system is unparalleled in its ability to get at the core issues that hinder personal and professional success. Used in sales, it offers even the most successful sales professional strategies that increase productivity, improve results and build strong and lasting relationships with clients.

We invite you to read this book and learn more about how the Enneagram can support your selling success. In Chapter 1, we answer the question, “Why the Enneagram?” and Chapter 2 provides an overview of the Enneagram system and its concepts. In Chapter 3, we’ve provided a short ‘quiz’ that helps you begin identifying your Enneagram style and in Chapter 4 we offer additional tips for discovering your style. Chapter Five describes each Enneagram style, how the style supports or hinders sales success, and specific strategies for ‘waking up’ and unleashing greater selling success. We’ve included a ‘Wake-Up Challenge’ at the end of each style for those who seek to raise their self observation to the next level and bring about ‘real’ change in their lives. Section Chapter Six offers ‘next steps’ for ongoing growth and development now that you know your style and what gets in the way of achieving the results you want.

It is our belief, which stems from years of our own personal journey and our consulting experience, that the journey inward is the only path that guarantees personal and professional success. We encourage you to embrace this inner journey for we guarantee that you will reap a multitude of rewards along the way!