About this episode
Ann, please give us the Cliff Notes (condensed) version of your career Ann has been an executive coach for the past 10 past years Prior to beginning her coaching practice, Ann was a speech pathologist who worked with brain injured patients for 25 years Ann earned her bachelors and masters in speech pathology at The University of Michigan Ann and Joe Lynch have a sales coaching/training program that helps transportation and logistics professionals sell more services Please explain the term "bring your A game" The term "A game" is typically used in athletics and it means bring your best game, the right attitude, a winning, focused, positive mindset "A game" is now used broadly and refers to the attitude, effort, and skills required to slay the moment What is the first way to bring your A game to sales Leverage your experience with similar clients / similar type of companies Specialize in a certain market segment like e-commerce or hazardous materials transportation, which will make you an expert in the industry Research a specific industry and build your knowledge base so that you can feel very confident and comfortable when calling on someone within that industry What is the second way to bring your A game to sales More opportunities/more sales leads create a feeling of abundance and confidence Lots of sales leads helps salespeople feel like they are "on a roll" (positive momentum) Lots of opportunities brings a certain swagger to a salesperson Fill up the pipeline and you will feel like you have a margin of error Having lots of sales leads is like "fresh air" – another chance to make a sale What is the third way to bring your A game to sales? Knowing your blind spots – areas of low awareness that may trip you up Understanding your blind spots is important, but even more importantly, you must have strategies for addressing your blind spots Strengths and weaknesses are often very closely related People often have a weakness that is the flip side of their strength Example: Joe is a good communicator which is helpful (strength) unless he talks too much which becomes a problem (blind spot) Strengths will get you most of the way there and blind spots will prevent you from winning What is the fourth way to bring your A game to sales? Being aware of your emotional state and how it is affecting you positively or negatively is very important People wrongly assume that emotions can be ignored or buried, but your emotions will impact your sales performance so it important to get in touch with your emotions, especially the negative ones When you recognize the underlying cause of the emotion, you can take action to address the problem or at least accept/cope with it What is the fifth way to bring your A game to sales? Get comfortable (and prepared) when you are not "feeling it" - when you feel tired, uninspired, fearful, intimidated or overwhelmed In difficult moments, athletes rely on what they practiced, soldiers remember their training and good salespeople will follow their process (if you need a process call Joe Lynch at 517.375.0631 😊) Waiting for the right moment, when you feel fully inspired and brilliant is a recipe for failure If you want to feel confident, act confident and your heart and mind will follow your outward actions Ann, any final thoughts on ways to bring your A game to sales? You must find ways to act even when you are not feeling confident and positive Your A game doesn't come like a lightning bolt from the sky, you must learn to create your A game when you need it Learn More: Ann's Twitter: https://twitter.com/annholmnet Ann's website: http://www.annholm.net/ Joe Lynch's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephlynchjr