As a sales professional, I'm always looking for ways to improve my skills and stay up-to-date with the latest trends in the industry. One concept that has really resonated with me recently is the idea of the "art and science of sales."

On the one hand, sales is an art in the sense that it requires creativity, charisma, and the ability to connect with people. It's about being able to tell a compelling story and persuade others to see things your way. But at the same time, sales is also a science in that it involves gathering and analyzing data, testing different strategies, and continually refining your approach based on what works and what doesn't.

In today's world, the art and science of sales are more closely intertwined than ever before. With the proliferation of technology and data analytics, it's possible to gather and analyze vast amounts of information about customers and use it to inform your sales efforts. This allows you to be more targeted and efficient in your approach, but it's still up to you as the salesperson to use your skills and expertise to make that connection and close the deal.

Overall, the landscape of sales is constantly evolving, and it's important for professionals to be able to adapt and stay ahead of the curve. Whether it's through staying up-to-date with the latest technologies or honing your interpersonal skills, there are always new ways to improve and succeed in this exciting field.

Thanks for reading!

Using “Should” and setting expectations is wrong

Hear me out, I recently worked with an energy coach and one of the quickest takeaways is to stop using the word “SHOULD”. When you “should” do something you disconnect from your energy because you are not actively choosing to do it. Notice the difference when you say “I am going to go cut the lawn” vs “I should go cut the lawn” one is lighter than the other. I found myself getting stuck behind my own energy. I would constantly say at the end of the day. “I should go do my newsletter or I should update my website” but what would end up happening is my staying on the couch and getting further and further away from my goals.

My goal is to start managing my time better and accomplishing more in my day and I found that I wasnt taking advantage of the time I have.

#1 - Using “should” blocks your energy and creative power

Take notice of your energy when you “should” take out the garbage or “should” send that email. The energy behind it is usually heavy, you have to drag yourself to complete it. When a simple shift is applying or even thinking is removing the word should. You are choosing what you want to do and what you want to apply your energy too. I’ve found it works incredibly well and look forward to accomplishing more.

Setting expectations leads to disappointment if not properly addressed.

Hear me out, I’ve found that alot of pain and suffering comes from setting expectations because we all have our own interpretations. When we set expectations for an experience or a month or a day or a meal we are taking away from the enjoyment and directly applying our own opinion on how something “SHOULD BE”.
I expect nothing but success for my sales this month, or I expect this place to have the best fish and chips. When you get into the experience you are removing yourself from the present and taking away from the actual experience. As soon as you set a certain bar and your reality doesn’t match there is a gap between what you want to happen and what is actually happening = pain/suffering.

Setting expectations is a difficult game because we can’t predict what will happen at any given time but society put an emphasis on “My expectations are high”. If the expectations are not met it’s a slippery slope to try to enjoy or come back from. One of the most difficult things to do “enjoy the present moment” and how we do that is by being in the moment “as is” without expectations.

We went on our first trip with our 1 year old and my wife was bent out of shape worrying about how we will be on the flight. Her expectations were high. I informed her that by setting intentions we will be able to better adjust and without setting expectations enjoy whatever happens.

Setting intentions is a much easier way to avoid “the disapointment” when your expectations don’t work out the way they want to. Intentions are the same but not tying an “outcome” to your experience.

Set intentions and be intentional in your actions and since you can’t predict the future or control the universe, you can go with the flow and not be upset from it not going your way.

Summary

• When you use “should” you are not consciously choosing your energy or deciding what you want to do

• Expectations can lead to pain/suffering, if you are not careful and try to control the outcome. There is no way of predicting the future and if you find yourself upset by it not going your way. Set Intentions because they are not tied to the outcome and allow you to be in the present moment while dealing with anything that comes your way.

How can I get better?

Monthly Calendar outline

I always like the beginning of the month because you can relax… a little bit, It gives you time to reorganize, realign and get back on track.

I plan out the entire month and have each event on the calendar, I barely plan my sales, I know from my calls which ones have a strong chance of coming in BUT the beginning of the month gives me time to review game tape and understand what I was doing,

Looking at JUNE

Strengths

• Volume, I did ALOT of calls in June to have a strong healthy pipeline moving forward

• GAP Selling, improved my pitch by reading and evaluating my call.

• Follow up, very diligent weekly touches and every other day, call and email

Weaknesses

• Mindset - Yes, I know that having low sales does not determine my value and I am working on being better at managing my emotions

• Asking where they’re at, work on the financial aspect, understanding more about the business to be able to solve problems they didn’t know they had

• Belief - I often struggle with whats the point? I am selling people down the river, I have no idea how they’re doing. The main thing is Believing in our team and our product. I find I often flatline during the middle of the month because that’s when the cancellations come in.

My sales come in waves and I think the biggest one is just that.

Beginning of the month - calm

Second week - Cancellations / hatred

Third week - Quality demos to close

Fourth week - Close quality with expiration at EOM (Stress)

How do we solve this?
Start at the beginning of the month and don’t let the cancellations affect me, believe in the product and the process even though its broken. That’s really tough to do,

I sell on TRUST which is the most difficult thing ever because I don’t have examples, I don’t have results, so I understand the prospect. Sometimes it works, sometimes it’s not enough to bring people on the fence in.

Summary of how I can get better:

• Build a trust worthy process, BELIEVE in what we sell, (Learn more about digital or running an office)

• Strong follow up and get closes before the halfway point of the month

• Teach! I find when I share what Im doing It reinforces it more.

The ART & Science of Sales

One of my favorite lines when growing sales teams is that when the C Level and investors want to scale fast is we need to hire scientists not artists.
What does that mean?
Science is a formula, a step-by-step, REPEATABLE process that you can rely on to grow your sales team. It is the best way to grow a sales team and I’ve seen it happen firsthand. I’ve seen the quietest sales person consistently hit 100% of their monthly quota because they followed the process and can read a script.

Artists on the other hand can be incredible top performers but are usually gifted with great communication but when asked how to share what they do they can’t replicate it. Artists sales numbers typically are really high one month and low the next, they lack structure so when they have great calls then can capitalize but when the month is slow they are as well.

In my many years of experience I’ve found that there is a blend between the Art and Science of sales. Yes in order to consistently close you need to have a step by step repeatable process that works! You also need ART - Where you can connect with the potential prospect before the call has even started and have a “chameleon” like-a-bility to express the prospect’s challenges.

My biggest takeaways are that when growing your sales team you need to look for 5 things 3 Science related and 2 artist related.

1. Science - can they follow a script

2. Science - can they take feedback and coachable

3. Science - can they understand the industry and prospects challenges

4. Artist - Do they connect with everyone

5. Artist - Can they establish trust with anyone

I’d love to share more detail on the actionable steps on how to tell if someone has these specific traits. Send me an email at jordan.glover24@gmail.com

The #1 skill is Story Telling

In my opinion, the most valuable skill to have is the ability to tell a good story. It is the best way to caption attention and get people to listen to you. Great storytellers are fun to be around because they can take any situation and retell it to be captivating, engaging, and exciting.

The ability to tell a good story has to have three things:
1. Clear

2. Relatability

3. Anticipation

Painting a “clear picture” is the first thing that good storytellers have in common. It is easy to follow along, there is a description not too much but it registers in the listener’s mind and they understand. If the story is confusing “my sister’s friend from school her cousin” it slows the interpretation down when you can easily say my sister’s friend.

Relatability is when you can see yourself in that situation yourself and assume how you would handle the situation. You need to tie it into something they’re already doing or have so that they can imagine what it would be like.

Anticipation I define as not knowing what's going to happen next and being excited to hear the outcome. This means you have dramatic pauses to build anticipation “I couldn’t believe it and had no idea what to do next <dramatic pause>”

I’ve also found hints that tell you might need to work on your storytelling. If you someone jumps in says “let me tell it let me tell it”. If your significant other says “you stink at telling stories”. If you get a response with “oh that’s wild” “wow that’s crazy” You’re probably not painting a clear picture, you’re probably not relating and there’s probably no anticipation.

3 Takeaways from the best wedding speech I’ve heard

We were at a wedding this weekend and as you know the speeches can be okay, they can be boring and some are great. We have 7 wedding this year and we just went to our 4th and the groom absolutely blew the entire crowd away. I come to find out he is a professional copywriter and the story definitely checks out.

The family members who spoke before were good but what separated his speech is because he captivated everyone in the room. He used specific examples and