Above Quota Performance: Tips and Techniques to Becoming a Master Sales Pro
Steve Weinberg
Armin Lear Press (October 2022)

“People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!” Theodore Levitt

Long ago in Chicago, I sold new and used smaller trucks for International Harvester during the day and Chevrolet passenger vehicles evenings and weekends. The income earned during those four summers helped to finance my undergraduate and graduate school education. I learned so much from my mentors that helped me when I began a career in education (teaching English and coaching football and basketball at two boarding schools in New England) and then in business (corporate communications, business development, and customer relations).

Since then, what is generally referred to as “salesmanship” (the HOW) has undergone major changes because customers have changed. That said, the WHAT remains essentially the same: get and keep a sufficient number of profitable customers, many of whom become an extended sales force, what Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell characterize as “customer evangelists.”

In this recently published book, Steve Weinberg suggests that these are among the major reasons for a failure in reaching — if not exceeding — a sales quota:

o Insufficient or unproductive prospecting
o Not thoroughly qualifying leads
o Deficient preparation for calls and meetings
o Inadequate communication with prospects
o Lack of a compelling sales proposition
o Poor follow-up skills
o Did not communicate with the key decision-maker

“The latest solution is to focus on investing in sales enablement, a new function within the salesforce. [According to a Gartner article] ‘The foundation of sales enablement strategy is to provide salespeople with what they need to successfully engage the buyer throughout the buying process.’ I expect this will help improve sales success. But it is not enough.” Weinberg wrote this book in order to provide what is missing, to help as many sales pros as possible to sell more and sell it faster. “My goal is to have fewer greyhounds chasing the rabbits they can never catch.”

There’s no shortage of rabbits. He explains HOW to catch more sooner.

I agree that salesmanship (viewed as both art and science) has changed significantly, especially in recent years, because of the nature and extent of changes in how and where people complete their work (producing both products and services) as well as changes in the purchase process.

Various disruptive technologies have created unique opportunities for exceeding sales quotas but also, yes, they have created unique challenges. They include — notably artificial intelligence (AI); sensors and the Internet of Things (IOT); autonomous machines — robots, cobots, drones, and self-driving vehicles; distributed leaders and blockchains; virtual, augmented, and mixed reality; connecting everything and everyone (e.g. 5G networks and satellite constellations). Their greatest impact may be in the areas of finance, production, and distribution but sales pros who aspire to ascend or at least exceed quotas would be well-advised to see new technologies as enablers and partners rather than as threats or irritating distractions.

To these same sales pros, Alvin Toffler offers valuable advice in Future Shock (1970): “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” This book can increase your SQI significantly. Leveraging it is up to you.