Urgency - Let it rain, let it rain

Forefront Austin

This week on 'The Churn' we have been discussing the word 'urgency' and the idea that a champion sales professional knows how to apply urgency, even when it may not be present. This is how the pros move prospects through the pipeline, from initial contact, to a strong relationship, to a closed sale. They find ways to make the building of the relationship urgent, without being overbearing. And they find reasons why the prospect will benefit from their product or service and they put those reasons front and center.

This concept of 'urgency – even when urgency may not be present' works in another way for those of us in Central Texas, as it relates to our water supply. We have been under drought conditions for several months. Since we finally got some rain this week, I want to point my readers to some great material over at Forefront Austin. Forefront is one of my consulting projects and is a unique Austin business on a mission to make our community stronger, by helping engage our citizenry around important issues.

This months 'big question' is "What is the biggest environmental challenge Central Texans need to address in the next ten years?" As you might imagine, it is time to get 'urgent' about our water usage. I especially commend this article, titled Ten Steps to Conserve Land and Water. If you enjoy what you learn at Forefront Austin, be sure to sign up to receive our monthly distribution. Next months topic will be education and youth. How will generation Z change Austin?

Urgency - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Adapt the pace of nature:

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great American essayist and poet of the 19th century said, "Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience." A great salesman understands this wonderful quote. There is a certain rhythm to successful selling, like there is a rhythm to nature and to all of life. 

A champion salesman goes about things with the pace of nature. There is a sense of calm urgency when dealing with a successful person, not a sense of panic or anxiousness. You want your prospects and clients to sense your confidence and your pace. Every interaction is a chance to show someone that you are a person of purpose, a person who wants to reach out and help solve problems. Like the four seasons, you want your prospects to know that you will be back in touch and that you are always there, but not in a way that is overbearing or annoying.

On a tactical level, I offer these tips to being a person who portrays urgency, even when urgency may not be present.

• Have a great voice mail message. Make sure it is your voice and that you sound enthusiastic about what you do.
• Always answer the phone with a sense of purpose and interest.
• Return phone calls as quickly as possible and always the same business day.
• Use actionable language in your email communications.
• Every interaction is a chance to share a story of success.
• Create reasons to be in touch. People want to hear good news. Find it and tell it.
• Never end a meeting or a conversation without a follow-up agenda.
• Do what you say, when you say.

Urgency - Even when urgency may not be present

Be urgent!:

Transitioning now to the final building block of my ELU Squared pyramid. Over the past five weeks, we have looked at five of The Six Characteristics of the Champion Sales Professional. We have focused on (above all else) energy management (as opposed to time management), we have an understanding of enthusiasm as it relates to top sales people, we went old school with likability, we love what we do and we know it well, and then last week we talked about being unique so that your clients and prospects always remember you. This final piece, urgency - even when urgency may not be present, is perhaps the least understood of the six characteristics.

I think I first learned about urgency from my good friend and the very talented Ricky May. Ricky has had an amazing career in the sports business, ranging from minor league baseball (Durham Bulls) to college athletics (University of Louisville) to auto racing (Valvoline Oil and NASCAR). When I was first starting my career in sales, Ricky and I would speak by phone almost every day and the first words out of his mouth would always be: "Did you sell anything today?" It is really a pretty good question to ask yourself everyday if you have a sales job. It gets right to the heart of the matter, doesn't it?

If you read these short essays on a regular basis, and if your career is sales (or marketing) let me ask you a question and I will pick it back up tomorrow. What does it mean to apply urgency, even when urgency may not be present?