The US Declaration of Independence states that everyone is born with the unalienable rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Attaining success in today's business environment, on the other hand, comes with no such "rights" or guarantees. No salesperson can count on a job for life, leading edge products to introduce, or even being able to book business with last year's biggest account. No company can guarantee their salespeople security.

Some people might not like the sound of this, but it's true. Security comes from one's confidence in his own skills. Companies who don't adapt to the demands of the marketplace become extinct. Likewise, professional salespeople who do not have the knowledge, skills and pro-active business approach demanded by the market, cannot position themselves as worthy partners to the best customers. Without the confidence these qualities bring, a salesperson has no security.

Look Around You

You don't have to be a student of Darwin to recognize that survival of the fittest is the law of the global marketplace. Survival demands a thorough understanding of customer needs and market opportunities.

For companies, security is dependent on how pro-active they are in evaluating customer needs, their competitors' best attributes and all the various conditions that affect how business is conducted in their marketplace (new technology, the economic climate, etc.). They need to be able to provide their customers with solutions before their customers even know they need them. Companies who are determined to survive need to look past the goal of survival and set their sights on becoming leaders. Adapt, evolve or perish - any species not willing to evolve into a "higher" state does not have much of a chance. Any company not committed to leadership does not have much of a chance either.

Leading companies take responsibility for investing in themselves, to whatever degree necessary, to assure they can deliver on what is promised in proposed solutions. Leading companies act as sustaining resources to their customers. Beveridge Consulting Group's definition for a resource is "a place or point from which to draw from." To position itself as a place from which customers can continually draw support, a company needs to be committed to improving its own processes and people.

Achieving security as a salesman works the same way. To be secure in one's job, a salesman has to look beyond mere survival. He has to look towards being a leader in his company, in his field. He has to understand what skills are demanded by his customers and marketplace and he has to be willing to invest in himself in order to become a sustaining resource, a person his customers can rely on to satisfy their needs.

Are you committed to becoming a sustaining resource for your customers? Have you taken a close look at your skills lately?

Take a Close Look at Yourself

A salesman's skills are his security. Our field research shows that top performing sales representatives use a "gap analysis" to get on track to become leaders and assure themselves of surviving in a competitive world. In a gap analysis, you:

1. Determine the requirements of the situation, in this case, what skills would support becoming a "sustaining resource"?
   
   
2. Identify where your skills are at relative to these requirements.
   
   
3. Determine the best strategy for acquiring these skills.

Have your performed a "gap analysis" on your sales skills lately?

Following are some of the key skills needed to succeed in sales. How do you gauge your competence in the following?

• The ability to perform a thorough needs analysis on a customer's business.
• The ability to objectively analyze your marketplace.
• The ability to earn the right to consult to top decision-makers.
• The ability to develop value-added solutions.
• The ability to pull together and execute a strategy (based on opportunities in your marketplace).
• The ability to relate product capabilities to customer needs, and then to communicate them in a compelling fashion.
• The ability to leverage knowledge and relationships to penetrate an account.
• The ability to write a customer-focused proposal and justify the needed investment.
• The ability to manage your time; by day, week, month, and year.

What Can You Do To Close the Gap?

Once you've placed your skill set relative to where you are today, and where you must be in order to be a sustaining resource, you need to develop a plan to acquire these skills. Having the right skills will position you to compete, regardless of good economic times or bad.

The Beveridge Institute of Sales and Sales Management will help you perform a gap analysis on yourself. We will also provide you with a roadmap -- the tools, processes and support you will need to close the "skills" gap and assure your professional survival. For more information on the Beveridge Sales and Management Institute, click here.

This article is provided by The Beveridge Consulting Group www.beveridgeinc.com™