Other $2 million sellers say the roots of their success are embedded in the disciplines they learned through instruction. In 1996, Ed English, who works for Mr. Rogers Windows, attended a seminar conducted by consultant and REPLACEMENT CONTRACTOR columnist Dave Yoho. English says that was the first time he had heard anyone recommend using a presentation book when working with customers. “I immediately bought $400 of [Yoho’s] tapes. I thought my wife was going to leave me because we didn’t have the money at the time,” English recalls. Within two years, he went from doing around $400,000 per year to $1.8 million in 1998, and exceeded $2 million in sales in both 2003 and 2004.
After his sales dropped to $1.2 million in 2006 from $1.8 million the previous year, Tony Pola decided last November to get more serious about his job “by going back to more training, more reading, more tapes, to keep the positive energy flowing in.” This year, the 43-year-old Pola is on track to bring in $2 million for Capizzi Home Improvement. Through July he was 57% over his seven-year sales average, despite the fact that his leads this year are down 20%, and 50% off from two years ago. He says “basic salesmanship” is the key to closing. “If you’re not 100% convinced that your product and your company are the best choices, there’s no way you can hit $2 million.”
CULTURE OF SUPPORT Pola and English readily credit much of their success to the strong support teams behind them. For example, Capizzi Home Improvement generates 30% of its annual revenue from change orders facilitated by two production managers who split their commissions with the salesperson who originated that business. At Mr. Rogers Windows, every Tuesday morning is devoted to “training, training, training,” West says. “We talk about closing methodologies, we do role playing, we replay last week’s closings and discuss what we could have done differently.”
Many companies also impress on salespeople that their earnings depend on being proficient at all aspects of their jobs, not just selling a customer a big contract. English says that when he’s not meeting with homeowners, he’s filling out paperwork, visiting jobsites, delivering warranty packages, and following up leads. “If you’re not organized, you’re going to self-destruct at $1 million,” Pola says. “I’ve seen it happen many times.”
Organization, however, is not the strong suit of most salespeople. Grant Mazmanian, president of The Pinnacle Group, which helps companies identify potential sellers at the hiring stage (see “Pick of the Litter,” below), observes that productive salespeople exhibit a form of attention-deficit disorder. “They hate paperwork,” he says.
Sales consultant Phil Rea advocates assigning assistants to relieve salespeople of some administrative burdens. For example, one salesman who Rea coached for five years — to what he thought was his maximum level of productivity — sold $300,000 more the year he took on an assistant. “And, he’s home every day by 4 p.m.,” Rea says.
YOUR LAST LEAD But if better training and organizational support are the main ingredients in a recipe that allows salespeople to excel, why are so many salespeople still middle-of-the-road? The answer is complicated, but those contacted for this article agree that it involves self-motivation, rigor, and consistency, all of which are pretty much in the hands of salespeople themselves, and all must be simultaneously in play for a seller to rise to the next level.
First and foremost, say their bosses, any salesperson aspiring to generate $2 million in business must shed all fear of rejection. “It’s all in their heads; they aren’t hungry enough,” Priest says. “That can be trained out of a person, but how much?” Other owners say that one big way that salespeople fail — and accommodate themselves to mediocrity — is by deciding that a lead isn’t worthy of their full effort. They take stock of the fact that the house appears shabby, the car old, or the neighborhood run-down, and use that as an excuse to blow off leads or give a substandard presentation. “Too many salespeople will walk by a lead like it’s a penny at the curb,” Rea says. Grosso adds that the best sellers are those who view every lead “as if it’s their last.”
Second, salespeople too often chase leads without formulating a game plan. “This is a business where you have to follow steps,” says Hersch, who compares what he does to a Broadway actor performing the same show every night but keeping it fresh for the audience. “It’s like ABCD: If you leave out ‘B,’ it doesn’t work.”
David Radulski, sales manager for P.J. Fitzpatrick, says $2 million salespeople “don’t take shortcuts,” meaning they treat every customer the same. His brother Tim, who sold $2 million in 2005, based on 412 appointments and a 49% close rate, says a typical Monday entails “mapping out my week,” which usually has him seeing two or three appointments per day. Tim, 46, mentions, too, that he really didn’t become productive until he fully understood the product he was selling.