Sales POP - Purveyors of Propserity
Myth Busting Part I
Blog / For Sales Pros / Feb 11, 2019 / Posted by John Golden / 6284

Myth Busting Part I

7 comments

First three myths from my new myth busting series:

[icon name=”fire” class=”” unprefixed_class=””]Myth: I am busier than I have ever been!

[icon name=”fire-extinguisher” class=”” unprefixed_class=””]Reality: I am more distracted that I have ever been! – I have access to nearly every news & sports resource in the world on demand plus I have multiple social media & messaging apps of all kinds so I can pretty much distract myself so more efficiently than I ever could before. If I eliminated or at least restricted my use of any or all of these resources I bet I would find a lot more time in my workday that I could use to be more productive and less scattered.

[icon name=”fire” class=”” unprefixed_class=””]Myth: The Buyer Is More Informed Than Ever So The Salesperson’s Role Is Diminished

[icon name=”fire-extinguisher” class=”” unprefixed_class=””]Reality: Superficially yes this may be true. Buyers certainly have more access to information and insights into products and services than ever before. And yes they can draw more conclusions and comparison shop like never before. But what they don’t have is the insight the seller can provide into how a product or service has been used creatively by other customers (maybe even ones in the same industry) and how the product or service can be adapted to meet the buyer’s specific needs. So while it is true the buyer is more informed, they are also overwhelmed with so much information that a good, business-savvy salesperson can be even more invaluable to them.

[icon name=”fire” class=”” unprefixed_class=””]Myth: It is up to my company to invest in my development!

[icon name=”fire-extinguisher” class=”” unprefixed_class=””]Reality: They should but that doesn’t mean they will. That leaves me with a choice of taking my chances with organic growth which often translates into slow to no growth. Or I could do what successful people do and invest in my own development. Afterall who is ever going to care as much about my success or career trajectory as me. With all the online, on demand resources available to us today – everything from online courses, coaches, mentors, communities all the way to good old-fashioned books and articles – there is absolutely no excuse for not investing in ourselves (not to mention some of this stuff is even free). So next time any of us decided to spend an extra hour practicing our golf swing, or backhand return or whatever, perhaps that hour could go into improving our day job…you know the one that actually puts bread on my table.

About Author

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World's Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist. He has conducted over 500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine and has a podcast channel on iTunes that has over 350 audio interviews He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. He is also an Amazon best selling author of two books and In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Author's Publications on Amazon

John Golden, best selling author of "Winning the Battle for Sales" presents "Social Upheaval: How to Win At Social Selling" to explain how every B2B salesperson can add social selling methods to their toolkits, and why it is so important that they do so without…
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FROM THE CREATORS OF SPIN SELLING―TRIED-AND-TRUE STRATEGIES TO ARM YOU IN THE WAR FOR SALES SUPREMACY "I distinctly remember my first VP talking about 'campaigns' and 'targets.' Indeed, successful salespeople have made learning from military tactics an important aspect of their careers. In this engaging…
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Comments (7)

1

max goodwin commented...

Very interesting read, the main thing I got from this is that people should spend less time being consumed by distractions such as spending a lot of time on social media or going golfing with your buddies, and more time on honing into their day job and focusing on things that are truly important. I agree that there a lot of things that distract us in today’s world, and people should definitely focus more on the macro’s than the micro’s but at the same time, you should have some balance in your life and have fun. In order to have balance, sometimes you do need to take the day off and spend time off work. Then that can allow you to go back into whatever you’re doing with more energy and happiness, so balance is definitely the key.

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Vanden Patel commented...

As a young person that has grown up with the internet, I often find myself using social media as a procrastination method. I believe the best way to solve this dilemma is to find productive ways to be distracted. It is unreasonable to believe the brain can work at full capacity for 8-9 hours straight. Small breaks are essential to refresh the mind and reorient ourselves. Successful businesspeople can integrate the skills learned from non-business areas with their professional lives. Striking a balance between practicing golf swings and honing Excel skills is a must. Neither is more important than the other.

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Marc Anemone commented...

Interesting view points. When it comes to the first myth about not having any time, I feel like I can relate to this. Sometimes I feel like I can do hours and hours or work and get it complete in no time, and other times I feel like there are not enough hours in the day. I started to spend less of my time wasted on social media and more of my time being productive and that has helped with me time management. When it comes to the second myth about more informed buyers, I agree that any buyer can be more informed than a buyer from 20 years ago just because of the internet, but some people would rather be “sold” than do the research for themselves. I do not think the salesperson’s role is dimension because not everybody puts in the effort and some would rather be sold something.

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Parker Hargens commented...

Interesting article, the very first myth hit pretty close to home. I believe that I’m busy but at the same time the author is correct. Social media and other outlets can be a huge distraction and can easily knock off a couple hours in your day. The best way to combat this procrastination is to take a couple breaks every now and then or even set timers so you don’t spend the entire day browsing facebook. Put the time that you spend online into something productive so one can actually say that they are busy. A good business leader sets time aside so they could have leisure time if needed. Breaks are good but taking a break all day has no benefit.

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Leslie Mojica commented...

The first myth about being busy, i feel like if i did get my thoughts together and was organized and focused more, then i would not reply like that. Most of the time i take the time in the morning to organize my day, but other times it is not as easy. With the other two myths i would agree that you have to motivate yourself and your own development within your company for them to also take note in your development. A company should invest the time but most wont. If you go to work and to the bare minimum and leave without making connections them you will not succeed. Buyers can also be very informed in what you might be presenting to them but i agree that they do not know the insights on things that have been done with the product or service you are trying to sell. Even if you think it is a lost cause that that everything you try to tell your client he/she already knows there is always something that they dont. You have personal access to your company and know more information that those who dont work in your company, you just have to find a way to share the information in a way that is beneficial to your meeting and client.

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Tyler Pauletti commented...

This is a very interesting article. I do believe in what you are saying. Especially for us millennials, we get distracted with little things such as social media and going out with our friends. A lot of this time could be spent somewhere else where we would be more productive and be able to further ourselves and our career. In the end, it is up to us as individuals to take that extra step and push ourselves to our level of success. However, this article makes it easier said than done. It is not always about saying that we will do something, but actually carrying out this task and getting it done after all. It seems like the reality is pretty vague and is just stating overall morals that people should have about theirselves and career. Each person is different and the proposed solutions may be good for some people, but for others it might not work. People have to figure out what they are doing themselves and that is the best way to improve themselves.

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Dominique DiVito commented...

I agree with all the realities that were stated in this article. I think that a lot of people these days use social media and currently technologies as a way to make excuses. But in reality, we need to take a step back and see how it is truly effecting us. There are positives and negatives to these developments and it’s up to individual to figure out how to use them to their advantage.

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