Jill Konrath

The minute I heard this #LikeAGirl ad during the Super Bowl, I knew I had to write today's post.

I’ve been rebelling from the day I entered this (still) male-dominated profession. I didn’t intend to. In fact, when I first started out, I tried really hard to do what the guys did.

But being pushy, wasn’t part of my nature. I hated pitching; it felt so self-serving. I detested anything that smacked of manipulation. And I never was able to bring myself to use the trite closing techniques that my male colleagues claimed were so effective.

I was repeatedly told that I needed to “play with the big boys” and to “get in bed” with my customers. I learned that it was a “war” out there; that my competitors were the enemy and my job was to destroy them.

I am pulling my hair out. Banging my head against the wall. Writing... erasing... writing again. I just can’t seem to get it right.

What’s causing me such distress? Words. My value proposition. How I entice people to do business with me.

I’m in the process of changing my website to emphasize my speaking. When my targeted prospects pop onto those pages, I want them to say,

If only it was that easy. Here I am, a wordsmith and sales expert, yet everything I write feels wrong. Awkward. Clunky. And, as much as I hate self-serving words, I still catch myself using them.

It‘s time for more straight talk today on goal setting. So let me ask you this: What IS your quota this year? How about your revenue goal? I‘ll bet it hasn‘t gone down.

Performance-Based Goals

Can be motivating – if you have the skills to achieve them.

In sales we‘re usually dealing with performance-based goals like, achieving 120% of quota or earning $200,000. Sometimes these types of goals can be extraordinarily motivating – especially if you‘re confident that you have the knowledge and skills to achieve them.

You know, everyone wants to achieve their goals, and everyone expects that they will.

But let’s be honest here: Typically about 50 % of salespeople fail to meet their sales quota. And as for you entrepreneurs, I’d suspect that an equal percentage aren’t bringing in the revenue you’d like.

So why do we so often fall short of reaching our sales goals and what can we do to change this?

It’s that time of year again when we all have a fresh start. And, everyone’s talking about goal setting – which is why I thought I’d chip in with a series of videos about what it takes to achieve them.

Right now, you might be thinking about how much money you’d like to earn. Or, you may even be staring at a comp plan that looks incredibly challenging to achieve.

But what no one talks about is one factor that can be a total game changer.

At the end of each year, I always take a look back to see what content really resonated with my readers.

Here's a summary of the most viewed and commented on blog posts in 2014. Enjoy!

I first met Mary, my husband's youngest sister, shortly after we started dating. She was the first person I'd ever known with Down Syndrome. To me, she looked funny, she talked funny and she chewed with her mouth open. It made me uncomfortable.

Back then, kids like her weren't mainstreamed. They didn't exist. And I had no experience dealing with this human imperfection. So I kept my distance, not wanting to interact with this flawed individual. But Mary wouldn't let me do that. She refused to give up on me. And her charm worked as she wormed her way into my heart.

One most challenging aspects of learning something new is feeling overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of what you don’t know. Your To-Do list is probably a mile long already.

And, if you’re like most people, you haven’t even made a dent in it. In fact, you’ve probably already added a few additional items. Every day you fall further and further behind.

In Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, authors Burmeister and Tierney state that a person typically has 150 different tasks on their To-Do list.

Learning something fast requires concentration. To make sense of it all requires you to really wrap your brain around it. So does coming up with a new strategy for a perplexing sales problem or figuring out how to enter a new market.

Distractions of any sort slow your absorption of new material. Every time you jump off-topic, you waste hours of time getting your head back into the task at hand.

Yet most sellers are totally oblivious to the
#1 distraction of all – checking email.

Recently, while speaking at the American Association of Inside Sales Professionals, I had a chance to chat with Andy Paul, author of the new book, Amp Up Your Sales.

We spent a lot of time talking about what salespeople need to do to succeed with today’s busy, savvy buyers. Keep on reading to find out what we talked about.

Enjoy the conversation ....