Radical Consistency Separates Sales Professionals From Sales Reps, What Say You?

larry levine Feb 27, 2023
Radical Consistency Separates Sales Professionals From Sales Reps, What Say You?
"Consistency is the belt that fastens excellence in position. If you don’t do it repeatedly, you’ll not excel in it.”
Israelmore Ayivor

What are you repeatedly doing to create sales excellence?

You can control what you can control, and you can't control what you can't control.

You may not like hearing this, you are 100% responsible for how you show up.

Therefore, on a daily basis, are you showing up prepared and committed to sales excellence?

If you were asked you to describe your work ethic, what would you say? Is it strong? Is it in need of some attention or would you even know?

Now remember, the mirror never lies only the person looking into it. So, tell the truth when it comes to your work ethic, your habits and your consistent pursuit to sales excellence.

Sales professionals are consistently consistent.

Craig Groeschel's book, The Power to Change, Mastering the Habits that Matter Most is a must read.

To quote, "Successful people are not lucky. They're consistent."

In Selling From the Heart, I write about how many in sales are inconsistently consistent, and thus the results show.

As Craig Groeschel goes on to say, "Successful people do consistently what other people do occasionally."

Successful people start and maintain the right habits and keep doing them.

Same applies to salespeople.

There is no secret hack, trick, tip or short cut to success.

It's the combination of disciplined habits, consistency and radical levels of self-accountability.

"Successful people start and maintain the right habits and keep doing them."
Craig Groeschel

Malcolm Gladwell wrote about consistency in his book, Outliers: The Story of Success. He studied successful people and uncovered one common attribute explaining their success. The answer was 10,000 hours.

Gladwell mentioned, "People who became great at something put in 10,000 hours of practice."

Let's stop for a just a moment... How many in sales, sales management or sales leadership have amassed 10,000 hours of practice?

Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.
Proverbs 13:11 NLT

Let's breakdown the Proverbs message into sales terms, "how fast can I succeed, or at least get to quota, with doing minimal amounts of work, effort and commitment?"

What sets of values, beliefs and desires do you have around working hard?

Thomas Edison nailed it,

"There is no substitute for hard work."

What are your daily habits, routines and rituals?

Are you committed to yourself?

As silly as that sounds, a strong work ethic along with self-discipline starts with the consistent commitment you make to yourself.

SALES PROFESSIONALS ARE RADICALLY CONSISTENT

“Small disciplines repeated with consistency everyday lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.”
John C. Maxwell

When it comes to sales excellence, consistency separates the good from the great.

How often have you observed someone in sales having a banner year, or a series of phenomenal quarters, only to follow it up with spats of mediocrity and below average performance?

Consistency separates the successful from the unsuccessful and sales professionals from sales reps.

Radical consistency will change the course of your sales life forever!

Dictionary.com defines consistency,

"Steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc."

Therefore,

  • Consistency allows you to measure results.
  • Consistency yields accountability.
  • Consistency builds upon your reputation.

Unfortunately...

Salespeople today are consistently inconsistent.

WHY CONSISTENCY IS IMPORTANT?

"The key to success is consistency. And right now, the only way for you to actually take action is to believe in yourself."
Zak Frazer

Are you lying to yourself?

To accomplish what you tell yourself requires massive amounts of discipline.

Words with no action and discipline lead you down the path to nowhere.

Discipline means consistently doing what you tell yourself you will do without procrastination and without the excuses.

  • Do you tell yourself that tomorrow you will start prospecting, but the next day you postpone prospecting?
  • Do you promise yourself to start sales practice, but you fail to start?
  • Do you promise yourself to take better care of your clients, but then find yourself looking for excuses not to do what you promised yourself to do?

Being consistent in sales builds trust. 

Consistency is mission critical, especially in challenging times when people crave certainty and reassurance.

Consistency is the foundation for long term sustainability.

Consistency builds self-confidence.

Consistency opens the sales door to new opportunities.

Consistency helps you to develop new habits.

How can you make any real changes in your sales life, improve your sales life or make any consistent progress if you're always lying to yourself?
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THE MENTAL STRUGGLE

Short term thinking combined with instant gratification squashes any aspects of consistency.

It's concerning that when many in sales fail to gain immediate results from their actions, they start playing mental gymnastics as to why they should continue those actions.

Case in point, prospecting. And I will let all of you stew on that one.

And why my favorite quote from Selling from the Heart rings true,

Salespeople have hypnotized themselves into believing what they are not doing, doesn't work.

Why do many in sales find it difficult to remain consistent?

Call it lack of focus, vision, purpose or passion; many simply lack commitment and discipline to stick with something short-term for long-term gain.

Just stop the excuses and get to work!

There are no silver bullet moments when it comes to a commitment too consistency. 

Consistency, it's all about small incremental improvements over time. The results you're after will eventually come, however; they'll come over an extended period of time when you commit to consistently doing the right things right.

CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY TO YOUR SUCCESS

"What comes into our mind, comes out in our life"
Craig Groeschel

Sales professionals realize the greatest power lies in the present moment. They understand consistency demands attentiveness, presence and a positive mindset.

It demands they remain disciplined to the moment without exception, no questions asked.

Consistency breeds...

Accountability - Becoming consistent makes you accountable for your actions. There's no one else to blame if you are the one doing the activities needed to meet your goals.

Relevance - Maintaining consistency in your actions can make you relevant and build upon your reputation to others. Consistent hard work leads to long-term results, and isn't this what you want?

Trust - Becoming consistent in your life helps build your trustworthiness with other people. It's so easy to preach to others, but it might be harder to do what you say. People who "walk the talk" and are congruent look credible and trustworthy in the eyes of other people.

Success, it's not a light switch you turn off and on

SALES PROFESSIONALS CREATE A CONSISTENCY PLAN

Creating consistency requires planning and practice.

Sales professionals are forward thinking. They plan, prepare and practice consistent behaviors. They understand their core activities are built around their values, purpose, a plan and goals.

If for any reason their priorities are not in alignment with these areas, they acknowledge it and realign to it.

Are you connecting with your core values, your personal mission, or the quiet voice in your head?

  • What is your mission statement?
  • What are your values?
  • What are you grateful for?
It's how you consistently start the morning that determines how you finish the day.

What specifically can you do to maintain consistency?

What is your plan?

Craig Groeschel so eloquently says, "The path to public success is always paved with private discipline."

As we think about discipline, let's refer to Hebrews 12:11 NLT,

No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening - it's painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained this way.

CONSISTENCY REQUIRES ACTION

"The path to success is to take massive, determined action."
Tony Robbins

A professional prepares each day with consistent action. They mentally prepare themselves with daily doses of self-reflection.

They ask of themselves:

  • What actions do I need to do to achieve my goals?
  • What actions and activities do I need to repeat to achieve my goals?
  • What am I filling up my soul with to help me hit my goals?

Sales professionals are laser focused. They have a clear idea of what needs to happen to achieve their desired outcomes.

What are your desired outcomes?

They understand what consistent repetitive activities they must do and then they take massive action.

What are you doing right now to take massive action?

CONSISTENCY, WHAT SAY YOU?

Your sales life is too precious to waste. Your future rests solely in your hands. You and you alone decide what you'll focus on. 

You and you alone choose to be distracted.

You and you alone can only decide to take action.

You must hold yourself radically accountable. The hardest part of being self-disciplined is doing it every day.

You may not see immediate results but over time and with consistent action you will build the foundations of a meaningful sales life.

In a sales world where trust and credibility are anemically low, think about the following:

Consistency in your character develops integrity.

Consistency in your attitude creates trust.

Consistency in your self-leadership builds influence.

Consistency & Discipline... this defines sales success.

Originally published on Larry Levine's LinkedIn.

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