Having a Termite Sales Mentality and Fortitude
Ok, I know what you're thinking! Termites are gross, and what do they have to do with sales? Not to mention comparing salespeople to termites! It's the mentality of the termite and fortitude that salespeople should adapt, is what I'll be explaining. We all know termites are not only disgusting, but they're also very destructive. They are causing millions of dollars in damage year after year, especially in the Bayou area of the country where I live, being in Louisiana. Once they borrow their way into your property and build their nests, it's usually after eating most of the wood until the damage is known. Termites are very patient. They're not looking to eat the entire house in one day or a week. They'll munch and munch for months, if not years, until they've achieved total victory, having their fill of how many square feet they've conquered.
It takes the same level of patience in sales because it may take months to achieve total victory in winning that account. So your first goal is to find a way to borrow yourself into your competitors' account and establish a relationship with as many people as possible, from the gatekeepers to salespeople to other non-decision makers and, of course, then leading to the significant players. They're the ones who pull the trigger to hire you and the organization you represent, and building that relationship takes time.
Like the termites, you may go unnoticed by your competitor who owns the account and thinks all things are great, just like the homeowner that does not see what's going on behind the sheetrock. You and your organization are inside, and after each week and month, you're chipping away at the wood, providing that account with information and resources that their current vendor is not giving them. Again, this all takes time and patience, especially when you're trying to unravel a relationship that's currently in place and the business partnership has been for many years. I also highly recommend you read the book "How to get your competition fired (without saying anything bad about them) by Randy Schwantz." The book discusses creating a wedge to drive between your targeted account and their current vendor.
To be entirely realistic, not all of the deals you borrow yourself into will end in victory. For example, your competitor, who is also top tier in your industry, may have an excellent proactive service model in place, basically having more metal or concrete interior structures rather than wood for protection from sales termites like you. You'll have a hard time eating away at that account, but that doesn't mean giving up. Just understand that will be a super long project, and you'd instead focus your time on targets who have moist wood with no termite service agreement in place. Also, sometimes you'll be in a deal that you've eaten away it for months and months, and you're close to destruction of eating away 100% at your competitor's account, with victory in sight, of that account, becoming in your portfolio. Only to have that current vendor discover you like a homeowner who will quickly take measures to try and exterminate you like the termite you are in their eyes.
Being exterminated at the goal line will happen if you're not giving it your all when you're inside that account. If you're not building a solid business case and not asking questions to uncover the pain, you'll get located. Superior sales termites are the ones who can create some pain inside that account that the C-Level team could not feel before,like a doctor who finds something significant by going the extra step of running a scan on the patient. In contrast, the patient asks why because they feel nothing. That's how you win! If you do the sales job of what a Payton Manning does on the football field vs. Ryan Leaf. The news given to your competitor will be like news given to the homeowner when discovered. Sorry, we caught the termites, but the damage is irreversible. This section of the house is gone (the account is gone, they terminated us and have hired the sales termite's company). You'll have to rebuild it from the ground up.
In closing, Don't rush things. People want to be educated, not sold. Take your time. Eat away at that account piece by piece, month by month. If you're constantly infecting enough news houses in your sales pipeline, you'll be a happy, complete sales termite hitting your personal goals along with the company quota.
Remember, it's about building relationships, which do not come overnight. So make that relationship, not in a rush to make a cheesy sale sort of way, but genuine and authentic.
