Being a Road Warrior: One Salesman’s Journey

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The journey of a salesman is a weary one. Your resolve is challenged day after day and your constantly faced with rejection and having to be “on” all the time. There are some tips I’d like to share so you can stay focused and enjoy the ride.

Stay Healthy
When you travel it is not uncommon to get worn down and become ill. Especially if you travel by air. Boost your immune system and eat a healthy diet even when travelling. Pack supplements like multi-vitamins and especially during the winter look for immune boosters designed for travel.

Stay Focused
Focus on your core value proposition and take time during travel on flights to jot down notes on how you can improve. By remembering your value proposition, you can think of new ways to approach clients if you did not do so well the last time around.

Review your Successes
As soon as you make a sale take the time to make notes on what worked. Keep in mind that a good sales person will change their approach to meet each client’s needs, but there are definitely many sales approaches that can be applied to most situations.

Review your Failures
Just as important as repeating what works it is almost doubly important to review your failures. Learn by your mistakes. Think about where you went wrong and keep notes so you can look for patterns. Make sure anything you spot as a red flag is set in your mind as something to avoid before it becomes a hard habit to break.

Remember Pain Points
Every client has pain points and trying to establish their pain points will help you solve their problems. Take advantage of travel time and lonely nights in your hotel room to think of questions to ask your client to establish pain points and have answers prepared to help resolve their problems. Resolving issues sells.

Keep Listening
Pain points can often be your “in” with a client and listening to their issues and responding to them involves commitment. You can’t try to rush them through their issues. Instead be patient, listen and ask pertinent questions to prove you are in tune with their needs.

Travel can be lonely but learning to embrace the solitude as well as use your down time wisely will help you not only adjust to being on the road, but excel at being a road warrior.

Doug Dvorak
Doug Dvorak is a sales coach with 20 years experience in Information Technology (IT) as a Sales Leader & Executive. Doug has led & managed several IT sales organizations: Boca Research, Eventra Software, IBM & Worldnet.His dedication to sales excellence led him to be named one of the Top Ten Sales Professionals in America in 1988, by Personal Selling Power Magazine. Doug is a member of the National Speakers Association, Doug is also a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) the highest earned designation from the National Speakers Association (NSA). Doug has presented to over 1 million people.

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