“Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don't have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don't have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.” ― James C. Collins

Mr James Collins is a wise man, and in his book Good to Great he talks about aiming for great instead of settling for good enough. This idea is very easily applied to prospecting potential customers in the world of sales and business development.  There might be lots of “good” prospects out there but only a handful that will be great parters for your organization long term. 

One of the biggest mistakes I see salespeople make is thinking everyone has potential to be their customer.  When you want to sell something and you really believe in your product it is easy to imagine how everyone could benefit from what you are providing.  Also, this mentality can be the fastest way to missing “great opportunities” and settling for good ones.

The reality is that there will be plenty of people that will not be your customer, and for good reason.  Your product offering and customer maintenance structure might not be the right fit for them. Recognizing and knowing when to walk away is what separates good sales people and great business development professionals. 

The fact is that if someone is a difficult prospect to work with pre-sale, imagine the headache they will create for your company once they are on-boarded. These types of sales end up costing your company more money long term. Short term, you might have made your commission, but long term it is not worth it for everyone involved.

The mentality shift that is required to walk away from the wrong potential for the sake of a short term sale is the same as the abundance vs. scarcity mentality.  When your thinking is scarce the belief is that you must sell to someone because if you don’t, another might not come along, you will miss your quota, the thinking is narrow.  The abundance thinking mentality is one that says there is plenty, and by doing the right thing and walking away from the wrong deal you are fighting to close, another door will open and the quota will be met and the pipeline will broaden.

In the start up community, some of the most successful business’s are the ones that choose to pivot letting go of what was for the potential of what is to come.  This abundance in thinking makes way for the opportunity, walking away from a prospect that is not the right fit for your product is the same exact concept.  

A few books you would enjoy if this context shift in thinking interests you are Good to Great, a classic and Abundance by Peter Diamond. If you send me a message and inquire I would be happy to send you either book as an amazon gift.  

I am very passionate about sales people pivoting to be business development professional, educating, researching and focusing on being strong industry resources. 

Please let me know how your business development career is going, do you find that by walking away when it’s right to do so that you create new opportunity? I would love to talk with you about your experiences. 

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Lindsey Rainwater, also known as Lindsey RainH2O, is a sought-after business consultant, leadership coach, writer and presenter to the fitness and wellness industry. For more information about Rainwater, follow her on Twitter@LindseyRainH2O

Mr. Malcolm Gladwell, the best selling author of the book Outliers suggests that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at any one task and to be considered a master at that craft. This level of fine tuning can take anywhere from five to ten years of dedication depending on the time you put into it.

As a Business Development professional, regardless of your industry, you will begin to be seen as a resource as you build long term relationships with your customers. They will begin to rely on you for more than the product you are affiliated with, and they will see you as a comprehensive resource for your industry. It has been my experience that having influence and being an industry resource is of incredible value; but where to start? How does one begin to create meaningful influence within their industry and build their 10,000 hours towards mastery?

Here are some of the ways I went about the process of creating influences and helping people along the way.

Practice and Share Your Journey.

On of my favorite ways to connect with people is on my blog! if you look back to the beginning of my blogging history about every 3rd post I wrote about what I was literally doing. You see, I was practicing and sharing what I was learning and teaching, simultaneously. I did not wait until I had everything figured out, I started writing as I was learning. Start with your own blog and begin sharing your findings. Once you feel comfortable with that, begin looking at possible speaking engagements or writing for a trade journal or local publication. Be willing to share your findings, expecting nothing in return, building rapport with anyone that finds your work. It was by sharing what I was doing that I learned more, and by way of sharing it with you, created value.

Read, Research and Invent.

In order to be a resource in your industry you must know what is going on and begin creating your own predictions as to where the industry is headed. One of the most attractive attributes of an industry influencer is they are not afraid to predict the future! Being a predictor is more about being willing to notice what is going on and share your own perspective on possibilities and be less concerned about your accuracy and more excited about your willingness to talk about it. Another way to expand your perspective is to read about what others are saying. Spending even 10 minutes each morning reading can sharpen your sword for the day ahead.

Mentor and Be Mentored.

Simply put, finding someone who knows more than you do as well as someone who knows less and then joining arms is so incredibly valuable to your life! I have found my favorite moments are when I am sitting across the table or on the phone with someone and I hear the gears “click” into place for someone and they “GET” what message they were meant to get. Being on the giving and receiving end of that is total soul food. If you feel you are under qualified to mentor, trust me, someone out there knows less than you and are looking to be helped in the same way someone is looking to help you. Giving without expecting anything in return is the best juice to keep the flow of your life going.

Like Mr Gladwell talks about, it requires patience to be willing to hone your message/craft. Today’s world moves so fast, we are all racing to an imaginary finish line that does not actually exist. This whole deal is a journey, and it has been my experiences that openly sharing your journey is one of the fastest ways to influences your network and create value for the people you meet.

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Lindsey Rainwater, also known as Lindsey RainH2O, is a sought-after business consultant, leadership coach, writer and presenter to the fitness and wellness industry. For more information about Rainwater, follow her on Twitter @LindseyRainH2O

Everyone has the friend that is known for interrupting.  You know, the one that interrupts you mid-sentence while you’re telling a good story to tell you ALL about them. By doing this, they think that they’re “relating to you”, while in actuality, what they’re really doing is hijacking your punch line and demonstrating that they’re horrible listeners.

As annoying as that type of listener is, a close cousin to the interrupter is the listener that is listening with an agenda.  When you listen with an agenda, you listen waiting for the person talking to walk you into your Segway to your product pitch or what you want to talk about instead of validating what they are talking about. This is a very common attribute displayed by many people in sales.  All too often, prospective customers feel comfortable enough to start down the path of their real problems, and as soon as the sales person hears the “in” they JUMP right into the middle of the story and hijack the conversation over to the land of products and solutions.  When most of the time, the prospect is wanting to be heard, understood and empathized with, solutions and products might fit down the road, but to start, they are simply wanting to be heard. 

I truly believe that salespeople are not filled with malicious intent when this type of scenario plays out. A lot of what guides this type of behavior is product excitement and a true desire to solve problems for people.  But just like the way you handle a first date vs a marriage of ten years, you ease into it and you “court” her BEFORE you ask for her hand in marriage, and get to know the person before you hop into products pitches. 

The Foundation of any relationship is communication, while listening is truly the juice that provides the flow between two people.  I would argue that the best sales people/business development professionals are the ones that know how to listen and then ask great questions keeping the conversation about the prospect.

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Everyone has problems; have you ever had a hard day increasing sales while providing a safe place for people to talk about their problems? Most people haven’t, because if you help create solutions to their problems by listening, you will have a customer for life.

A very practical and simple way to focus on listening is to make the conversation about the prospect. This sounds simple, but how do you do that? Here are a few tips to hone your listening skills:

Make Eye Contact
By focusing your attention on the prospect, it allows for a calmer mind and increases your listening ability, if you find you drift off, bring yourself back by way of eye contact. 

Practice selfless listening
When you find yourself wandering, think positively about the person in front of you and practice empathy, instead of letting your mind wander to how your products will fix their problems, bring your attention the the literal words they are saying and what the meaning is behind their words. 

Create your own meditation habit. 
Part of being a good listener is having a quiet mind and in my experience the best way to learn to quiet your mind is with a regular meditation practice.  Headspace is a great app that guides you through a wonderful ten minute per day meditation.  Fantastic for beginners or anyone really. 

When you are focusing on evolving your leadership as a business development professional, focusing on listening will help your ability to solve problems. 

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Lindsey Rainwater, also known as Lindsey RainH2O, is a sought-after business consultant, leadership coach, writer and presenter to the fitness and wellness industry. For more information about Rainwater, follow her on Twitter@LindseyRainH2O

As the role of the salesperson continues to lose relevance to today's buyer based on how people are purchasing, how does a salesperson evolve into what is more relevant? If evolving into a business development professional is the route to take, what is the first step?  Let’s begin by defining some key character traits of business development professionals and how they may be differentiate their message. 

Business Development Professionals Solve Problems
Leave the product talk at the door.  Gone are the days where what you are selling is the focus of your meetings.  WHY you are there is a far greater focus. Best selling author and speaker Simon Sinek has a wonderful TED talk called “Start with Why.” Click here to watch it.  He talks about how people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.  It is critical then that you know WHY you are going to visit the prospect you have a meeting with; is it because of your product? Then you might want to rethink your approach. 

Business Development Professionals Are Industry Experts
When you have a relationship and a rapport, you become a resource.  The other day I was looking for a new shampoo and conditioner. What was the first thing I did? I texted the girl that does my hair and asked her what her favorite product was.  We trust the people we have relationships with and we ask their opinion.  As a Business Development professional, you might sell treadmills and equipment, but you will more than likely be asked questions about flooring, lockers, front desk technology, you name it! Once you have a relationship, you will become a resource. When you focus on selling instead of consulting, often these items are overlooked and the opportunity to support the whole picture gets lost. 

Business Development Professionals will Walk away
One of the biggest mistakes I see salespeople make is thinking everyone has potential to be their customer.   It is so very important to know your customer, and realize that there will be plenty of people that will not be your customer.  The hardest part is knowing when to stop and walk away.  The fact is that if someone is a difficult prospect and difficult to work with pre-sale, imagine the headache they will create for your company once they are on-boarded. These types of sales end up costing your company more money long term. Short term, you might have made your commission, but long term it is not worth it for everyone involved. 

In today’s business climate solving problems, being an expert in your industry, and knowing who is the right fit for your product are fundamental necessities to long term success.  The leaders in Business Development will be known for developing long term relationships based on being helpful and being an asset.  Organizations that see the potential to evolve their sales roles will succeed long term. Those that do not? It will only be a matter of time before the old tactics will yield no results. This is by no means a comprehensive list of character traits, but certainly a good starting place.

Are you or your organization attempting to pivot from sales to business development? I would enjoy talking with you about your experience.  Connect with me here and let’s talk! 

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Lindsey Rainwater, also known as Lindsey RainH2O, is a sought-after business consultant, leadership coach, writer and presenter to the fitness and wellness industry. For more information about Rainwater, follow her on Twitter @LindseyRainH2O

I remember being 17 years old, I worked in a small health club in Arvada Colorado as the assistant manger.  It was at that job where I learned how to "close a sale."  I have memories of sitting in a small office room after showing a new prospective member around the club, of course, creating solutions to all their problems on the tour making sure all possible objections had been covered by the time we got to the office.  Because, as you know, the sale happens on the tour... or as it was said back then.  In that office I would shut the door, present the membership terms by writing it out on a piece of paper and then turn the piece of paper around and say, "let's get you started today," and hand the prospect a pen to sign on the dotted line.  I am smiling ear to ear as I type this because looking back, the scenario I just described is beyond hilarious! I can't believe it worked to tell you the truth, the number of memberships I sold was astonishing!

 The point in telling the story is to contrast the reality of today's tactics and consumer in comparison to the past ways of selling.  The "art of the close" over coming objections and any form of manipulation leading to the sale are all wildly outdated tactics and they no longer work! The consumer is much too smart for that.  Everyone is walking around with a computer in their pocket, the buyers are more sophisticated and the old school tactics are a thing of the past.  

The refreshing and vital truth is this; In a world where anyone can do their own research and find what they need to educate their buying decisions, the result is, the sales person no longer holds the power or relevance that they once did.  The opportunity is that the position of the sales person gets to evolve to a far more enlightened role of truly helping people and reducing the noise level of "pitches and ploys" to instead being honest and helpful.  Lots of people might not like this because it requires a level of honesty and truth telling that is foreign to some, but the long term side affect is this; you feel more fulfilled helping people than convincing them for your own gain.

Today's sales person is not a sales person at all, they are a Business Development Professional that is consulting buyers around solving problems and offering help.  

This topic means a great deal to me and you will see my writing start to pivot. To really encompass what it means to not only be a business development professional, but how you can expand your role to mutually benefit both your career and company's reputation.  The opportunities are endless and I am thrilled to share my perspective with you.

Are you a business development professional craving relevant conversation about your role? Let me know, this is one of my favorite topics and I would love to talk to you.

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Lindsey Rainwater, also known as Lindsey RainH2O, is a sought-after business consultant, leadership coach, writer and presenter to the fitness and wellness industry. For more information about Rainwater, follow her on Twitter@LindseyRainH2O