The Deceptively Simple Habit of $250,000/Year Sales Earners

Early in my sales career, I paid very close attention to the differences between bottom, average and top performers.

It was easy to tell the difference between bottom performers, and everyone else (these were the guys and gals complaining about everything).

But teasing out the differences between average (or even “good”) performers, and the highest achievers was pretty difficult.

There didn’t seem to be any “template” or “profile” for high performers. They were all very different, person-to-person.

The Anecdotal Observation

However, there is one thing I noticed about the most successful sales professionals.

During sales trainings, coaching sessions, or any other learning environment, they were typically quiet, listening intently.

And when the learning session was done, they were immediately implementing what they just learned… live… with a prospect.

The average performers — by contrast — were the ones expressing excitement for the new things they were learning.

Yet when they got back on the phones, they continued doing exactly what they had been doing before.

There was little-to-no implementation.

The Study: An Anecdote Becomes Validated

While this was purely an anecdotal observation, it turns out there was actually a research study behind this (I learned about this study years after this observation from Eben Pagan).

The study was done by Stanford. The goal was to find the key commonalities of sales professionals that earn $250,000 per year, or more.

It turns out, they discovered the same thing I did (though, their methods actually validated the theory).

It was very difficult to immediately tease out the commonalities. High performance comes in many flavors. It was almost as if the commonality was that they were all different from each other.

Amidst all the differences… they did tease out one… single…. commonality between these $250k earners.

Speed of Implementation

They all (no exceptions) had the habit of “speed of implementation.”

What does that even mean?

It means the time-distance between learning a new idea, and applying it in the real world was extremely short for these people.

They would learn something new, and BAM! Apply it almost immediately.

Their “average” counterparts would learn something new, get all jazzed up about it, but never really apply it.

So, here’s your homework assignment

Your Homework

STEP ONE: Follow Conversature on Medium (or subscribe to our blog). The entire purpose of the Conversature Sales Blog is to provide actionable sales insights and advice.

To pick up the “speed of implementation” habit, you need the “fuel” behind it, which is learning new ideas.

STEP TWO: When you learn a new idea ,make it a habit to apply it as soon as possible.

In fact, measure the time that goes by between learning, and applying.

STEP THREE: Do this for 30 days straight.

Habits are typically formed after 30 days of consecutive reinforcement.

Do this for a year, and your life will be completely different.

I just gave you your first opportunity to apply “speed of implementation.”

You learned something from this article, didn’t you?

Great! Immediately take action on that by following/subscribing, and start the speed of implementation habit-building process.

P.S. If you found this post helpful, would you mind recommending it and sharing it so others can benefit from this knowledge as well?