Climbing Toward the Stratosphere
Lessons from High-Earning Sales Professionals
By: Breandan Filbert

Inspiration in life is found in a lot of strange places. I am fascinated by how we are always finding life lessons as much in what not to do as what to do. This was my thought as I was talking with a prospective client. He was a sales producer in the pipe industry and was doing pretty well. He was closing about 25 percent of his final presentations (not the best, certainly) and was thinking life was good since he was making over $200,000 per year. I will call him “Bob.” Bob was actually leading the sales in the company, had been there the longest and had the most clients he would take out for golf. His entire schedule was spent golfing with his clients and vacationing on company time. Sounds like a great job, right?

Sales is one of the most interesting career fields in which you can enter. You can come from just about any background, jump in and make a heck of a lot more than you might in most professions without requiring a professional degree in that field. The sky is the limit! What afflicted Bob in his career was complacency. This was characterized by leading the sales chart in his company, repeat business from clients who had been with him for years, very few new accounts added monthly, and receiving commission on house accounts handed to him by friends in upper management. Bob was not the first individual I have encountered who earns among the top 10 percent of household incomes in our area yet functions at a small fraction of his capabilities. Science has proven we use less than 10 percent of our brain capacity, yet we find a select few individuals who have achieved so much more, just by utilizing their God-given talents and strengths.

My question is, what does it take to achieve real success? Is it looks, talent, intelligence? Or could it be simple work ethic and positive mental attitude as Henry Ford stated? This was what was in my mind when I decided to talk to sales producers who have reached a tremendous level of success in sales in a systematic fashion. And at what point is it measured as an “on-purpose” result and not accidental as in Bob’s situation? This is what prompted this issue’s topic. You will have the opportunity to meet a few producers who have achieved success in sales in a systematic, easily-duplicated fashion. The criteria for the interviews were: a sales position (not a business owner) with their primary responsibility to be that of business development, and a personal income of $400,000 per year, according to their W-2. You will find men as well as women featured in this article. You will learn a couple of interesting lessons from the women featured relating to their role models and mentors a little later in the article Ð so make sure you keep reading!

These are a few of the many characteristics of our “on-purpose” producers:

They are planners. Each one of our producers takes time each and every day to plan what needs to happen. These individuals are goal focused and systematic about setting aside time to develop next year’s goals and objectives. Kathy Koehler of Reece & Nichols Realtors has time set aside at the end of each day for next-day planning. Kathy tells us, “I write down the 20-25 things that I have to accomplish and then I check them off in my planner.”

They are entrepreneurial. Each producer approached their production as a business they owned and were responsible to. One individual I spoke with who preferred not to be named actually developed a product line to better service his clients and close more business. Michael Maher of ”The Maher Team” with ReMax develops his business not based on selling homes but managing a diverse portfolio of opportunities for his clients to invest in. He seeks service opportunities to align with an individual’s quest for the perfect home. The motto of The Maher Team is ”We’re not # 1, you are.” This has led to their success in sales, entering them into the top 10 percent of realtors in the KC market in only five years!

They love working on straight commission. Jeff Crooks of Sunbelt Business Brokers says, “I will never work for someone for a salary - I will not have someone tell me what I am worth; I determine my compensation. Each year I give myself a raise, I base next year’s sales goals on a minimum of a 20 percent increase over last year’s compensation.”

They are leaders in their organizations. Michael Maher states, “I don’t look at myself as a real estate agent; I look at myself as a leader who happens to practice real estate. I’ve always assumed a leadership role, taken it to heart and given 110 percent.” His focus is on managing the results of his organization. When I set the objectives of a sales producer and not a business owner, the interesting finding is that all of our “on-purpose producers” are business owners in their own organizations. They focus on accomplishing their goals through their people. They locate the right individuals and then ...

They are always recruiting. Our producers are looking for the right individual to balance their weakness. Jeff tells us, “My assistant is my right hand, my left hand and sometimes half of my brain. She handles the details of the paperwork that must be completed for our business.” Another producer describes his assistants as “layered.” He has a conversation at the beginning of the day of what tasks require his attention and during the course of business, his assistant brings the rest of the staff up to speed on what is happening throughout the day. He never looks at e-mail and his assistants keep him on top of what requires his attention and handles it immediately. Each one of our producers recognizes his or her strengths and delegates all other activity to their support staff.

They recognize the value of “pay-time” activity. Michael Maher finds his clients through referral relationships. He focuses on developing the one-on-one relationships that will send clients to his company who appreciate the level of service they receive from The Maher Team. Each one of our producers spends between 75 and 95 percent of their time in productive selling activity. This is defined by or searching for prospective clients or working with existing clients.

They recognize the roles of mentors to their success. Kathy Koehler tells us of her growth in her sales career as it was accomplished at a great rate. The year she made a major breakthrough in her sales results was the year she worked with another top producer in her industry who held her accountable for her activity. He would check in with her weekly on her calls and discuss the results. She found so much value in this exercise, she repeats it with each one of her team members each week. Cindy Laffey, a top-1 percent producer with Wells Fargo, tells us of her major growth opportunities from her relationship with Kathy Koehler. “She is a great mentor and has taught me so much in sales. A lot of my success has come from what I have learned from working with her and her team.” One interesting fact is that the mentors tend to not be specific to their gender. They look for the traits they wish to learn in their business and find someone who has mastered them without taking into consideration what they look like, sound like, gender, etc. Our producers are also highly competitive; they look to who is reaching great levels of success and work to surpass their activity.

They recognize the best methods of prospecting for the best “fit” opportunities. Each one of the individuals I interviewed said the best activity that leads to their success is cultivating the relationships with their current or past clients, which leads them to their next clients. Cindy says most of her time is spent managing the relationships with the referral sources for their business. She has team members who handle the details of the transactions and work with the individual clients who may have challenging situations that require a lot of attention and industry-specific knowledge.

They are not job hoppers. Each one of our producers has been with their company for five years or more, with some of them maintaining a relationship for their entire career in sales. They recognize the momentum that builds each year that they are in sales. They are consistent in their activity and behavior. When one of the super producers was asked which character trait he would attribute to his success, he stated, “Obsessive-compulsive behavior. I am now on autopilot. I do the same things each and every day, which has led to my success in the past and will lead to my success in the future.”

I hope you can imagine what an inspiring exercise this has become for me. Now imagine what the same thing could do for you. Many of the individuals who have been hugely successful in sales look just like you and me, they do systematic activity over time coupled with a systematic desire to do better each and every day than they have the day before. Think of what you could do if you selected one of these traits each month to begin incorporating in your business. What would your year look like?