No motivation and thinking about changing careers

32 Year Old Sales Professional

Client Details and Situation

32-year-old sales professional who has been in sales after finishing college, about 10 years.

For the first half of his career sales were ok. The last half he was just getting by making an income, which was about 30% less of what others would make in the same industry.

He also stated that after finishing school he wasn’t sure what to do and the idea of sales appealed to him, so he jumped into it. His father set him up with a family friend that manufactured building supplies.

His motivation and enthusiasm were quite low, and he feels that he should either get out of the business or try to figure out how to increase sales.

Length of coaching: 3 weeks

Process

In our sessions I asked him to tell me about a time when he was motivated in the business he was in, at which time told me about the first few years.

We discussed value, goals, motivation to find out that he had a value conflict. A value conflict is when you are doing something that is not aligned with your belief system. He expressed his discomfort for asking people to sign an agreement because he thinks that it’s making someone do something that they may not want to do. He also felt that he was imposing when he called someone.

Upon asking more questions he told me that his heart is not into selling and that he wants to do something else. He also said that due the expectations put on him from family he stayed in the business.

Client – cited benefits

The client decided to leave sales and went back to school to get his teaching degree.

He told me that it was a tough decision to make and he knew inside that he wanted to get out of selling, especially after so many years. He also said that he dreaded having to start over and that he should have done years before.

In the end he came to the realization that making the decision to move was a right decision it was a major weight off his shoulders and that he sees a bright future ahead.

Wants to increase sales and needs help

39 Year Old Sales Professional

Client Details and Situation

Male sales professional 39 years old.

Has been in sales about 9 years. He wants to increase his sales. Has been at the same income for the last few years and has hit his peak.

Just doesn’t know what to do. He’s motivated but feels that something is missing and can’t get his finger on it.

Length of coaching: 2 months.

Process

I assessed him on every aspect of selling -mindset, skills, know how/capabilities, and systems to find the gap, the missing elements.

Mindset – had very positive attitude and when a negative thought would come up he had the ability to deal with them and change his thinking with self-talk. He also had a positive attitude towards his clients and does not pre-judge them.

Know how/Capabilities – he is aware and able to deal with well any situation that comes up and reflects on each sales appointment he goes on. He’s able to see the client’s situation and determine their needs.

Systems – he follows the sales process and using a CRM. Seems pretty on top of this.

Skills – He has the basic skills. There were a few crucial areas that he lacked. First, he makes too many statements vs. asking questions. Secondly, although he can find out the needs and pain points of the clients, he’s proposing some solutions too early causing objections. Third, once he finds their pain points he doesn’t analyze them or build up the value enough for the client to take- action and buy. He doesn’t show the client what it’s costing them by not taking-action. We were able to work on the skills he lacked. A lot of roll playing both with me and others.

Client – cited benefits

The salesperson practiced and worked on the skills that he lacked, as follows:

  1. Learned to turn statements into questions.
  2. Now he doesn’t provide a solution as soon as he hears the needs or pain.
  3. Once he hears the needs and pain he further digs down to analyze them by asking questions that leads his clients to see for themselves what its costing them by not taking-action and how what his company offers will pay for itself (ROI).

In our last conversation he told me that he is now closing more business, although he didn’t give me specifics.

Negative thinking and in a sales rut

43 Years Old Sales Professional

Client Details and Situation

43 years old male sales professional.

Full time sales professional for 18 years and is 100% commission based.

Over the past 6 month the client has seen a decrease in his sales numbers. He tried on his own and with help of his sales manager, was still not successful. To quote the salesperson:

“I was at a point in which I knew I had to do something. My sales started to slide, I went into a slump and the whole time thinking that everything would just turn around. I blamed everything else but myself. It was like the train stopped moving and I didn’t know how to get it going. The longer this went on the worst it went for me. Instead of focusing on selling I was focused on my situation. I thought about how bad my situation was.”

His wife said that he was talking negatively, was in a bad mood and was often withdrawn.

Length of work with client: 3 months

Process

Coaching process that allowed the client to reflect on his situation. At first, he thought it was his selling process that was causing the problem.

Through our coaching conversation the client became aware that it wasn’t his skills or techniques that were the issue. The big breakthrough was him owning up and taking responsibility that it was something about himself and not external issues.

To quote the client: “After reflecting on myself, I realized that it wasn’t all the stuff I thought it was, it was my attitude. What a rude awakening. My whole life I thought I had control of myself, but after years of selling I became a work machine. I gave up all the stuff I liked to do, it was work and family – no balance”.

Client – cited benefits

The client stated that he felt like he came out of a cloud and felt great and relieved.

He made some changes in his personal life, found balance, started thinking in positive terms vs. the negative and his sales started to rise again.

Unmotivated and complacent

49 Year Old Sale Professional

Client Details and Situation

49 Years old sales professional.
Sold his entire life.

Unmotivated and complacent. Went through divorce just over a year ago. Stated that the divorce had taken a big toll on him. Feels at times he has no sense of purpose. Feels overwhelmed and is having issues staying on tasks.

Not doing what is necessary to be successful in his career (i.e. cold calling, follow ups, staying top of mind, staying in touch with current clients). Sales have gone down.

Length of coaching: 5 months

Process

I worked on helping the client getting clarity and helped him see the big picture. We dealt with limited beliefs and assumptions, accountability, championing and goals setting.

In our coaching the client wanted to evaluate his purpose. I coached him to reflect to a time when he felt purpose, that he had it before and that he can have it again. It seemed that there was light at the end of the tunnel. We spent some time here.

I suggested that he should seek out a therapist to deal with the pain he suffered from the divorce and that we can work simultaneously, which he did.

We had weekly sessions. Accountability and setting small goals was crucial to move forward with his complacency.

Client – cited benefits

By finding clarity he was able to eliminate feeling overwhelmed and was able to take control. He was able to redefine his life and find meaning.

Once he was able to get clarity and see the big picture combined with setting small goals and accountability, it allowed him to move forward. Although slow at the start the client went from complacency to a functional performing sales person.

By working on his purpose, his motivation came back as one of the benefits.

In the process, he started doing the necessary task required for sales success.

By dealing with the issues that weren’t sales related, he was able to make a comeback in his sales career.

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