© Tom Wang | Dreamstime.com

If you’re going to be successful in sales over the long haul, there are four concepts you need to fully accept and buy into. Missing any one of these will either prevent you from getting off the ground at all, or, if you do get off the ground, missing one of these will sabotage your long‑term success and happiness.

Four Ideas to Take Control of Your Sales Career

• It’s not about chasing the sale.

Almost everything you chase runs away, and you probably don’t want any part of the things that don’t run away. It’s recently been proven that even Great White Sharks will swim in the other direction if you swim at them and most prospects are far more timid than your average shark.

Instead of chasing the sale, work on the connection and the relationship. Your objective here is to make it all about the other person. And by the way, there is no new relationship selling, it’s always been about relationships. The best salespeople, the ones who have had successful careers over the long haul, have not burnt out, and have led happy, fulfilling lives both personally and professionally, have always focused on doing what’s right for the other person. That said, are there some sale-chasers out there who have experienced some success? Yes, but it usually comes at the expense of other areas such as: their character, their reputation and their personal life. I’m also guessing they aren’t people you like or admire on a personal level. So in order to have a long, happy, successful sales career, take care of people and relationships and instead of having to chase sales, the sales will chase you.

• You have to be completely accountable.

You need to have several levels of accountability in place to ensure you do what you need to do in order to be successful. The most important is accountability to yourself. That said, even the strongest and most self-disciplined among us will allow ourselves to falter from time to time, so it’s important to have a second and perhaps even third layer of accountability. Your second level consists of people you work with and other professionals: this group includes managers and bosses, coaches and mentors, mastermind groups, and, in some cases, may even include your peers. The third level of accountability includes friends, family, and other acquaintances. All that said, ultimately the buck stops with you. Even with other people checking on you, it’s possible to cut corners, lie, and otherwise fudge things in your favor. You’ve got to push yourself and be willing to do whatever it takes to hold your feet to the fire even if that includes devices such as trap contracts and large fines.

• You’ve got to be brutally honest with yourself.

You have to see yourself, and your sales career, warts and all. If you don’t have the sales you need, the prospects you need, and the overall results you want, it’s probably your fault. Own it and do something about it. This doesn’t mean you have to beat yourself up to the point where you feel so bad about yourself that you can’t perform. At the same time, you need to get enough leverage on yourself that you push yourself to get the job done every day. There’s a happy medium and balance here, but I find that most people are not half as tough on themselves as they need to be. Most people will skirt responsibility and point the finger elsewhere when it comes to reasons for their failure. Accept responsibility, grab the bull by the horns, and get to work. Success or failure is completely up to you.

• You have to get organized and get control of your time.

Getting organized and getting control of your time begins with goals and a plan. Decide what your business goals are for the year and then break them down to monthly, weekly, and daily activity.

Organize, clean up, and set up your work area, files, computer, calendar, and other tools and then get to work. This doesn’t have to be complicated but it does take hard work and self-discipline to stick to your plan and do what must be done every day.

When you’re at work, work. And when you’re working, make sure it’s on the items that will give you the most return on your time, effort and energy. You should be working on the 20 percent of items that give you 80 percent of your results, all other items should be delegated or eliminated. In sales, most of your time should be spent prospecting, closing, or otherwise chasing business. Continue to improve your organization and time management until you are spending 80-90 percent, or more, of your time in these three key areas and then put checks and balances in place to keep yourself at that level.