Sales Silver Bullet – Does It Exist?

I recently realised that there are people out there looking for the ultimate sales tip.

Sales directors look for a magic wand that will work wonders in revenue columns. Sales managers want something big that will change everything and unlock sales performance.  They search tirelessly for a sales silver bullet which, in my opinion, simply does not exist.

The path to sustained success in any field originates in concentrating on the small improvements one can make in the right place at the right time.

Sir Dave Brailsford, General Team Principal for Team Sky (GB’s professional cycling team), led the team to win the Tour de France. He believes in a concept that he refers to as:

“The aggregation of marginal gains is a one percent margin for improvement in everything you do.” 

I believe the same to be true of sales high performance. Focus on the small changes you can implement to a skill set, behaviour or attitude. Determine how you can increase the performance in ALL areas by 1%. Over time, these seemingly insignificant changes will demonstrate a rather significant, cumulative effect on outcome and results.