It’s the “luck of the Irish” in Sales

It’s the “luck of the Irish” and you can’t ignore St Paddy’s day in an office with a Colleen and a Casey! 

Many people think that good sales people are lucky. Always in the right place at the right time. The ludicrous nature of that statement reminds me of a favorite quote of mine: “The harder I work, the luckier I get!”

What does being lucky mean anyway? To start with, its not about “luck” at all. It’s about how well prepared you are. How aware you are. And your attitude. People who appear lucky are really those people who are always on the lookout for great opportunities. They show a high level of awareness and they believe that good things come their way – In other words, they always have a positive attitude – AND they know exactly what to do when something good does come along Lucky people are prepared people. ow can you develop this lucky mindset? 

(1) Have a very clear picture in your mind about what you want. Before you can attract something into your life, you need to what you want to attract! Write it down, cut out a picture, look at it everyday, and visualize yourself with that goal complete.

(2) Believe that you deserve to achieve your goal, know that you are good enough to achieve your goal, convince yourself that you can achieve your goal. If you truly believe you can accomplish what you want to accomplish, you will succeed. You may not know how you are going to achieve your goal, and that’s OK, just believe you can and open your mind to all possibilities.

(3) Brainstorm situations and responses. Imagine all the situations you could find yourself in that will help you achieve your goal and craft responses to each of those situations. Yes, you are creating a virtual role play. For example, if your goal is to close a $1 million sale, picture yourself closing a $1 million sale and imagine what you would say to the customer as they are signing the contract. Play out the scenario in your head, practice it.

You can also help to improve your luck by practicing Reciprocity, or the art of “what goes around comes around”. Reciprocity simply is – what you give out, is what you get back. Others call it the Law of Attraction, or even “The secret”. You may have heard me talk about life givers and life suckers. Life givers practice reciprocity everyday. They give first, and then prepare themselves to receive.

How? For example, I am always asked how to get more referrals from their customers. My response? : “When was the last time you gave a referral to one of your customers, without expecting to get something in return first?”

If you do nothing for the rest of your life but give referrals first, I can practically guarantee that you will never have to ask for another referral for as long as you live. It doesn’t even have to be a business referral. A client could call you up out of the blue to say that they’re in town, and were wondering if you can recommend any good restaurants? Or you might be at their house one night when they mention how they never have time to get any landscaping done, and you can share with them the name of that great landscaper you know.The more you can pass around, the more it will come back to them in spades – and without ever once having to ask.

So, What can you give? 

(1) Recognition. Give your clients the recognition they deserve for winning a major award or achieving a business milestone such as a company anniversary, IPO, or a revenue number.

(2) Acknowledgement. Say thanks to your customers when they buy from you, when they refer people to you, or when they help you in anyway. Say thanks to people who you met at a networking event to show you appreciated their time, say thanks to a partner, colleague or employee who helped you out of a jam. Everybody wants acknowledgement and nobody is getting enough of it.

(3) Referrals to new clients. Are you helping your clients grow their businesses? Remember, if they grow you grow. How many new leads did you send to your client’s sales reps last year.

(4) Business advice. Can you provide advice or access to advice that your customers need to grow their business? What magazines, articles or other information sources can you refer your clients? Get into the habit of asking your customers how you can help them. This question will help you identify areas where your client is struggling outside your area of expertise and will help you connect them with the resources they need.

(5) People. A very successful businessman I know in Vancouver BC, (and my Dad’s former golfing partner) has a business building practice we can all learn from. Everyday at lunch Joe would take 2 people to the Four Seasons for lunch. The purpose of the lunch was to connect the 2 guests. Joe did not spend the lunch talking about his own business. Instead, he spent the lunch making a connection with 2 people he thought should know each other.  

Now, maybe you can’t do lunch everyday, or you don’t like the Four Seasons. That’s OK. Make a point of being the connector in other ways, once per week, once per month, over golf. Nick Newton and I (my accountant) spent one summer golfing together in tournaments with the following rule. I brought a partner he needed to meet, and he brought one I needed to meet. 

This week go about creating your own luck. Be observant, per prepared and give first, so that you can receive when other reach out to help you….and the luck ‘o the Irish to you!

Colleen