Sally said, “Just four percent succeed”

I was talking to Sally about her new job in sales, one day. She said she'd heard that 96 percent of all salespeople quit sales within two years of starting. She didn’t want to be a statistic, and she'd do whatever it took to be one of the four percent who made it.

I think I know the reason most folks quit

She asked me why salespeople quit. I told her that, in my experience, they quit because they don’t see a way to play the game to win, financially or psychologically…or possibly because it just isn't as much fun as work should be.

It doesn’t have to be that way

Then Sally asked, “What do I need to do to succeed”? I told her that if she could work to (eventually) pass the audit I was about to give her, she was likely on her way to success.

You can see your opportunities and act

I also told her that, if she couldn't pass the audit, she would at least learn where she might want to look at improving her odds of success…and her  income, to say nothing of her self confidence and joy.

Here is the audit I gave Sally. Rate yourself on a scale of one to ten for each of them, with ten being near perfect (checklist alert):

• Your goals are clear and you review them daily.

• You have a reasonable product or service. You can understand why your target market would buy it.

• You have a sales and marketing process proven to work in your industry or niche.

• You know how many people in your specific target market you need to speak with to get a sale.

• You have a sufficient list of people who look like your “ideal customer” in a target list in which you are confident you can make your number, month after month.

• You know the specific pains and aspirations of your target market, and you know that your product or service can address them.

• You have a collection of offers that relate to every pain or aspiration you address.

• You know the outcomes or results that using your product or service will usually deliver.

• You have an elevator speech that works, reliably, to get people to say, “Tell me more.”

• You have a set of questions that you ask to find out if someone is qualified to need, want and afford what you sell.

• You are detached enough to walk away when a target is not really qualified to buy what you sell, even if you desperately need a sale.

• When they don't buy immediately, but have said, “Tell me more,” you get their contact information and “drip” valuable information on them that relates to how your product or service makes their pain go away.

• You understand how to use the phone in your business, and what to expect from using it.

• You have a Web site that talks to the target markets WIIFM (what’s in it for me?) and not what you do (do-do and wee-wee).

• You don't sound or act like a salesperson. You sound like someone who is seeking to qualify the target, in or out, for your product or service.

• You have a system to follow up with folks who have said, “Tell me more.”

• You spend most of your day (three to six hours) in selling and marketing activities.

• You don't have selling and marketing confused.

• You get enough rest and exercise to be fully-engaged when at work

• You are reasonably organized and efficient.

• You have goals that you are passionately interested in achieving.

• You understand that results come from action and not talk

• You get satisfaction from making a sale, and even more from achieving your quota or objective.

• You have a rewarding life outside of sales.

• You don’t work more than 50 hours a week.

• You do what you say you will do for targets, clients and your employer.