Focus On What You Can Control in Online Sales

Jun 23, 2016 | By Mike Lyon

Working with Online Specialists over the past 7 years, I’ve frequently heard variations of the following:

“One of my sales reps never updates me on their appointments.”
“Why won’t this sales rep follow up with their prospect after their appointment?”
“I feel like I worked really hard to set up that appointment – but the the sales rep never emailed or called the customer before they came out.”
“I feel like the sales team doesn’t know what I do.”
“Why can’t they just update the CRM so I don’t have to nag them?”
“The sales rep was late for the the appointment I set.”
“I can’t get any info on the community opening soon.”

Online Sales Specialists, your struggles with your sales team are real. But remember, working with a team typically involves working with individuals who have varying degrees of enthusiasm, energy level and competence, as well as a whole spectrum of personality types. Given this reality, I have recently been advising Online Sales Specialists who are struggling with their sales team members to consider the “old school” Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr:

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.”

Let that sink in for a moment!

You can only change things that are within your control. It’s very hard, if not impossible, to control the behavior of others. At best you can encourage right behavior, share correct processes, and reward effective behaviors. But if you try too hard to control them you’ll just end up being like a “helicopter parent”, or as they say in Japan, a “Monster Parent”. And we all know how their kids end up.

So, what can you focus on? Here are a few things well within your control: