Some years ago I read and interesting story that illustrated why many of the sales and service industry professionals that invest their time and money in my personal telephone coaching sessions ( http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/personalCoaching.htm ) have until the coaching sessions have failed to move beyond an intellectual understanding of sound selling principles. Do you have the processionary caterpillar syndrome?
The renowned French Naturalist, Jean-Henri Fabre, in an experiment with processionary caterpillars was able to entice them on to the rim of a large flowerpot. Processionary caterpillars move through the forest in a long procession feeding on pine needles. They derive their name from their habit of following a lead caterpillar, each with its eyes half closed and head fitted snugly against the rear end of the preceding caterpillar.
Fabre succeeded in getting the lead caterpillar to connect up with the last one, creating a complete circle, which moved around the pot in a never ending procession. He thought that after a few circles of the pot, the caterpillars would discover their predicament or tire of their endless progression and move off in another direction. But they never varied their movements.
Through force of habit, the caterpillars kept moving relentlessly around the pot at about the same pace for a period of seven days. They would have continued even longer if they had not stopped from sheer exhaustion and hunger. As part of the experiment, food had been placed close by in sight of the group, but because it was out of the path of the circle, they continued in their procession to what could have been their ultimate destruction.
In their procession around the pot, they were blindly following their instincts, habits, past experience, tradition, custom and precedent-the way they always had done things. In reality, they got nowhere. As the adage states, "It is a form of insanity to do the same things over and over and then expect different results."
Like the caterpillars, many sales and service industry professionals mistake daily activity for accomplishment, working hard for working smart. In my coaching sessions we use self-directed learning manuals and weekly discussions about proven selling techniques and systems to help participants change their behavior and selling activities so they can sell more products or services. To change your sales behavior you need a plan and a program to move to a new level of sales excellence like the system we use to help our clients change their sales activities.
VIRDEN THORNTON is the founder and President of The $elling Edge®, Inc. a firm specializing in sales, customer relations, and management training and development. Clients have included Sears Optical, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Deloitte & Touché, Bank One, Jefferson Pilot, and Wal-Mart to name a few. Virden is the author of Prospecting: The Key To Sales Success and the best selling Building & Closing the Sale, Fifty-Minute series books and Close That Sale, a video/audio tape series published by the Thompson Learning, Crisp Learning division. He has also authored a Self-Directed Learning series of sales, coaching & team development, telemarketing, and personal productivity training guides. Check them out at:http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/Book1.htm.
Vi rden teaches for the Center For Professional Development, Texas Tech University at Lubbock, Texas and in the School Of Entrepreneurship, J. Willard And Alice S. Marriott School Of Management at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. You can contact Virden at: Virden@TheSellingEdge.com. or learn more about him at: http://TheSellingEdge.com
When Thomas Edison's light bulb finally burned for 45 straight... Read More
Mortgage leads are like a box of chocolates, you never... Read More
One of the best ways to increase your sales and... Read More
No matter what your age or stage in life, some... Read More
Performance and motivation are like chocolate & peanut butter; the... Read More
Do you find yourself making these kinds of assumptions?- "I... Read More
Selling is everyone's lifeblood whether they realize it or not.... Read More
If you're a business person you want to sell your... Read More
One of the best projects to undertake as an online... Read More
Want to increase sales within your company? It's not as... Read More
You've got yourself 10 seconds to HOOK your prospects or... Read More
An area many businesses fail to recognise as a way... Read More
1. Multiply your marketing and advertising efforts on the Internet.... Read More
The next time you're shopping for clothes in a department... Read More
All closes are not created equal. Top producers realize every... Read More
You deal with rejections, frustrations, disappointment, and possibly disrespect on... Read More
Solving people's and organization's problems is ultimately what business is... Read More
It has been said that a customer makes a decision... Read More
Traditionally, salespeople look for something in the office that begs... Read More
Training your salespeople to not waste time working unqualified accounts,... Read More
What does it take to make a sale lately?In Sales,... Read More
My experience has taught me that people want to buy... Read More
Ideal clients are the ones who are perfect for you.... Read More
Today's manager lives in a world where change has attained... Read More
In studies conducted by Motivational Systems of West Orange, New... Read More
During the introduction of the "Stop Selling!" philosophy, we typically... Read More
Too many sales letters are shaped into paper airplanes and... Read More
Mention the word sales or salesman and two out of... Read More
Maybe everything you need to know you can learn from... Read More
What do you do when you have a big sales... Read More
We are each responsible for our own success - or... Read More
A "Call To Action" is an invitation for your prospective... Read More
There is a new trend in the way wood decks... Read More
You have a choice. You can stand out or blend... Read More
Sooner or later, we all backslide into old ways of... Read More
I saw something in town the other day that just... Read More
I am writing this at the Philadelphia Airport on my... Read More
In the 1990's we lived on a farm in Iowa.... Read More
You've got yourself 10 seconds to HOOK your prospects or... Read More
Marketing is a skill. Once you master it, you can... Read More
Have you ever passed by a bakery display case without... Read More
One of the best projects to undertake as an online... Read More
I recently found myself suffering from a lousy cold; all... Read More
Almost all Internet Marketers have a basic idea of what... Read More
Friends buy from friends. Why? Because people trust that their... Read More
All closes are not created equal. Top producers realize every... Read More
In sales, you can work one of two ways. You... Read More
Assumptions can kill a sale. In my sales training workshops,... Read More
There's more to what he does than meets the eyeWith... Read More
This is a stupid question but it has to be... Read More
Unquestionably when the word hypnosis pops-up in a conversation or... Read More
Prospecting for future customers can be fun if you approach... Read More
Using cartoons can help brand your marketing and drive home... Read More
Some years ago I read and interesting story that illustrated... Read More
Most salespeople are under the false belief that the lower... Read More
Each of us sells every single day. We are all... Read More
For those of us working in the exciting world of... Read More
One of the biggest problems for many business owners is... Read More
Have you ever found a lead on a scrap of... Read More
If your mind is set, you will be unable to... Read More
Traditionally, salespeople look for something in the office that begs... Read More
I am a big believer that great salespeople generally realize... Read More
Ever lost a sale? Of course you have, we all... Read More
From a customer's perception, it's easy for a salesperson to... Read More
One of the best ways to increase your sales and... Read More
Since 1990 I have focused on the three primary barriers... Read More
Sales Training |