Practicing Plasticity as Salespeople – The Four “A’s”
Building on Seth’s Godin’s Blog
6 minute read
Mike’s Note: I read Seth Godin’s daily blog daily. You should too. It is a blog to make you think outside of the box. His latest blog is about plasticity. My definition of plasticity for salespeople is the ability to adapt to changes in his/her market environment or to possess agility when in his/her various customer situations. Seth’s blog simplifies it below:
“It’s pretty easy for some kids to switch gears. They can go from sad to ebullient in seconds, and switch contexts without much fuss. Others have more trouble.
As we get older, our natural ability to thrive in a new situation can decrease. But, like a muscle or a skill, it responds to practice. The same is true for organizations. As the world changes faster and faster, it seems clear that organizations (or individuals) that prize plasticity will thrive.”
Plasticity in sales involves the Four A’s of attitude, ability, adapting and agility.
How might you increase your plasticity in selling to be more successful and create win-win solutions for you and your customers? I believe it first begins with consistency of attitude to learn and grow in the ability to practice and refine your core selling skills and processes that you master to sell and exceed customer expectations. Football players, basketball players learn and practice the foundational skills of their game to improve their ability when adapting to different competitive situations. When the sports person becomes really proficient, they become increasingly agile. Just think of Lionel Messi or Michael Jordan. I learned the Four A’s through mountain biking by first crashing a lot and but with practice became more agile when cycling over difficult terrain so I could enjoy cycling in Slickrock in Moab, Utah.
A consistent positive attitude to improve your sales ability is the foundation to sales plasticity.
Salespeople who are consistently open and able to adapt to market and customer situations become agile in closing sales quicker and with less negotiating.
Salespeople can improve their plasticity - the ability to adapt and change - in several ways to enhance their effectiveness and success across the “Four A’s.” Here's how you can cultivate plasticity to be more successful in sales….. and life.
First, sign up for Seth Godin’s blog here. Read Seth’s blog to get you to think out of the box.
Practice Continuous Learning:
Stay updated on your industry/market trends, and new products (yours and your competitors). Set aside at least an hour per week to Google, and use Gen AI to research market and customer changes.
Sign up and attend workshops, webinars, or podcasts that expand your knowledge horizons. TED talks are a good resource.
Read widely about sales techniques, psychology, and related fields by signing up for blogs. This at first may a hit or miss. Find blogs that are helpful and dump the ones that give you garbage.
Be an Adaptable, Respectful Communicator
Learn to adjust communication styles to suit different customer personalities. I suggest you take a DISC and Motivators Profile from ELAvate to increase your awareness of communication styles and motivations to buy.
Practice active listening by asking good questions and empathizing with your customers
Embrace Technology
Stay open to new sales tools and technologies – Use Gen AI weekly (Chat GPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity) to get various insights on topics you may want to research.
Learn to use your company’s CRM systems, analytics tools, and social media platforms fluently & effectively (for B2B sales concentrate on LinkedIn).
You may want to take up computer gaming to sharpen your mental acumen.
Develop Cultural Awareness:
Learn about different cultural norms and business practices of both companies and countries.
Take sales assignments that allow you to sell across country borders.
Accept overseas assignments and move!
Adapt your approach when dealing with customers from diverse backgrounds.
Stay open-minded and respectful of cultural differences. Read Dr. Fons Trompenaars’ book “Riding the Waves of Culture” to gain insight on selling and reconciling sales dilemmas across cultures.
Improve Your Emotional Intelligence
Develop self-awareness and the ability to manage yourself across the 5 dimensions of EQ. ELAvate has a very good EQ profile for you to gain awareness to improve your perceptions of your EQ and the EQ of your customers.
Practice sincere empathy to better respond to customer problems, feelings, and needs.
Remember poor EQ is a lid to learning!
Get a Sales Coach to seek and apply feedback
Find a good experienced sales coach to learn from. If your current sales manager is not a good sales coach that improves your “Four A’s,” quit and find a manager that does!
Regularly ask for feedback from customers, colleagues and vendors.
Be open to constructive feedback and willing to make changes in your ability and agility to sell.
Step out of the Sales Box to Master Cross-functional Knowledge
Learn about other departments in your organization (marketing, customer service, logistics, HR to name a few).
Take on new roles or projects outside of the sales department.
Understand how your product/service is developed and supported. Get involved with product or market testing.
This broader interdepartmental knowledge can help you adapt your sales approach more effectively with diverse customers and corporate cultures.
Begin Each Day with Meditation, Mindfulness or Stress Management
Learn stress management techniques to remain adaptable under pressure.
Start your mornings with meditation, exercise and or outdoor activities.
Stay present and focused during sales interactions with the attitude of being curious and that you can learn from every interaction.
Some stress is healthy. Learn to embrace stress as a way to change and grow.
Cultivate a growth mindset that views challenges as opportunities for learning.
Network and Learn from Peers:
Engage with other salespeople from different industries to learn different approaches to selling and connecting with people.
Join local professional networking groups like Vistage.
Participate in virtual sales forums or groups to exchange ideas.
Be open to mentoring or being mentored beyond sales – whole life mentoring on personal leadership, being a parent.
Volunteer in an area that interests you. Give back to society and your country.
There are many suggestions here to improve your sales plasticity. Why not choose 3 or 4 from this list of suggestions to work on. Put a plan in place to improve your “Four A’s:” your attitude and ability in selling to become more adaptable and agile for the remainder of 2024.
Michael J. Griffin
ELAvate Founder
Sales Productivity Coach and Trainer
Practitioner of Plasticity