What are you prepared to do?

by 'L. A.' Tony Kovach

As we have noted before, at the heart of any successful career or business, there are certain basics or fundamentals. Being on the Cutting Edge of marketing or sales begins with those fundamentals! You or I could have the smoothest marketing process, but if we are not prepared to do what it takes handle the marketing properly, we fail to tap the true potential of our investments.

What are you prepared to do?

There are certain books that I was asked to read early in my sales career. That reading time was NOT taken from business, work or selling time. Rather, it was taken from what might have been TV or other 'off duty' time. The time spent in reading was a career investment. I bought the books that follow and many others on my dime, it was my investment in myself, no company gave them to me.

• Think and Grow Rich, by Napolen Hill.

• See You at the Top, by Zig Ziglar

• Life is Tremendous, by Charlie 'Tremendous' Jones

• How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Caragie

The above just scratches the surface of the reading that I did - I have a few shelves of books on business, marketing and sales - not to mention the seminars and events, the audio tapes, etc. that I invested in over the years.

Later, as I began to do more managing and coaching along with (or later, than) personal selling, I bought books (or listened to audio books) such as:

• The One Minute Manager, by Ken Blanchard

• The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, by Stephen Covey

• From Good to Great, by Jim Collins

• How the Mighty Fall, by Jim Collins

But I also read inspirational quotations, books, and articles. Among them, The Thoughts of the Chairman, by Warren Buffett graces my book shelves perhaps a meter away.

You must feed the mind, and feed your attitude in order to feed your career and foster your success.

Now, on top of that type of reading, was the review of any sales processes that a company suggested (typically, factory reps coaching, or someone a factory hired) or that I observed or read about. I knew that reading or hearing something once was not enough! Just as a child or teen must rehearse over and over their ABCs, 123s, a foreign language or other math, science or other study, so too in sales. Repetition, routine drills, are part of athletics, acting and many, many other careers. Repetition is part of a successful sales career too.

So unless you have a rare photographic memory, don't think that you can read something once, and get it. Read, practice, repeat.

In many respects, my first sales trainer – in the insurance business - didn't spend a ton of time with me. Mostly, he told me to buy books, and suggested some titles. But what time he did share one on one, in hindsight, was often priceless. Among them were these gems:

• Imagine yourself as an actor on a stage in a live production of a play. This audience can only hear your performance one time. So you have to practice, practice, practice to make this performance your best one.

• Visualize your presentation from all perspectives. Imagine being above the room, looking down from the ceiling at all the people in the room, including yourself. You have to see it through the eyes of the prospect, as well as from the eyes of the company and your own eyes too. Choose your words wisely.

• Rehearsal – learning certain key words or power phrases - helps you pick the right words at the right time. If a customer ask you something you don't know how to handle in the best way, make a note, and ask others or devise yourself a good solution to that objection, issue or challenge.

I learned insurance the hard way. Door to door, cold calling, no leads! I was taught that you had to get inside, make a presentation and shoot for a one-call close, because there were 'no second chances.' Because the customer has a right of rescission with insurance, you naturally had to make the sale so convincing that they would not cancel after the fact. The goal was to have a long term customer relationship, so it all had to be 'win-win.'

So I was told to look at each sales encounter as a learning experience. Did you get in the door? If so why? If not, why not? Was the presentation effective? If so why? If not, why not?

In insurance and later in manufactured housing, I learned from my own experiences and that of others I could observe. What was good about what that person (or I) did or said in that sales encounter? What was poor or questionable? How can it be improved?

We often hear about people talking about acting with 'integrity' in sales or business.

Answers.com says:

• Integrity means that you adhere to a moral conviction, or code of honor, that won't allow you to do certain things that you feel would debase you.

• Wiki.Answers.com says: Integrity means holding to a strict moral code and not stealing, cheating, lying and so on. Example: He was a man who had integrity; you could trust him with anything.

• Another site says: The deeper meaning of the definition of integrity implies a level of living in wholeness and truth in all aspects of our lives.

So while I didn't consciously think about it at the time, I also read some history, philosophy, theological and religious books. The root of integrity is to be integral, united, whole. If we work, play, live and love with integrity, then this too silently comes across in our business dealings with others. I met business people who would put a Bible on their desk, and they would thump it during a sales process. Sorry, that wasn't for me – that struck me as being a form of 'acting' - or even manipulation. Instead, isn't what is important that someone show me through their behavior that we care about others, that we seek to be honest, that we seek to live truthfully even when the truth may be challenging.

Time, Time...using Time.

To wrap up this topic, let me share one more insight that I learned from an advertising manager in the mid-2000s.

This man worked for ad sales in the sports department of a sporting town. This gent was personally motivated in sales. When I met him, he was already in the manufactured housing business, but his experience in ad sales was still very insightful for our business too.

He said they did an internal study. How much time was spent by sales professionals actually selling? How much time was a sales professional 'nose to nose' with a prospect? How much time were they either on the phone or live with a customer or in their presence?

After weeks of all the members of this sales team literally timing themselves, they gathered the data and shared it with each other.

Do you think they spent 70% of their time selling? NO.

Do you think they spent half their time selling, nose to nose, live on the phone or in the presence of a prospect? No.

35%? Nope, not even close.

17% of the time, the sales person was actually with a prospect either on the phone or in person. Less than 1 hour out of 5 was spent actually 'selling.' Ouch...

Now certainly, a person has to spend x amount of time on the details of a sale. There needs to be time spent with your inventory and knowing your product. There is time needed in training, role playing, marketing, the basic disciplines of the sales profession, etc.

But to spend only 17% of the time actually selling, that is a shockingly low number. But when you think about it honestly, I'll bet it is fairly common among many operations. For some, that number might be (sadly) a higher percentage than some in sales in our industry invest in 'selling' today.

What are you prepared to do?

To be the best, you must invest in your mind, skills and attitude. To make 6 figures a year in sales, you also have to put that knowledge to work. In baseball, the best at home runs or stealing bases was often the one willing to strike out the most or get tagged out the most. Don't waste time. Get in the game! Maximize your opportunities! Make each sales encounter the best that it can possibly be!

What are you prepared to do? There is a simple answer to this question. You should do what it takes. # #

(Editor's Note: Tony is a founding member of http://MHSpeakerTrainer.org and has given dozens of live presentations and hundreds of training sessions for manufactured housing professionals.)

(Editor's Note: L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach is a member of MHSpeakerTrainer.org)

L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach is the publisher, marketing and sales consultant and business development director of MHMSM.com and MHProNews.com. Tony does contract marketing, sales and management, turn around and growth services for MH industry professionals and companies. See his LinkedIn profile at: linkedin.com/in/latonykovach. Contact Tony at 815-270-0500, cell 832-689-1729 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Tony is a popular speaker at Association and other manufactured housing Industry events.