The failure to "see" is one of the most lethal sales pitfalls. It causes salespeople to miss targets completely, hit targets by accident, or somehow lose sight of targets altogether. The following illustrates how important seeing is to salespeople.

I recently worked with a group of low performing Small Business Bankers, those who were in in the bottom quartile of a bank-wide ranking system, barely hitting their Scorecard targets. The goal of the training was to help them recognize the root causes of their sales performance discrepancies and coach them on strategies and skills that help could them improve and succeed.

Before we got started I tested their sales sight by asking the question, "What factors do you feel are causing you to under perform?" As I went around the room I was astonished to hear the Business Bankers blame their "bad' markets, the unattainable Scorecard goals, uncompetitive interest rates, client indecision, lack of marketing, and other external forces. I did not hear the Business Bankers blame their own lack of skill as indicated by statements such as "I could be doing a better job of managing my sales process" or "I need to learn how to gain appointments with prospects" or "I need to deepen relationships with my current clients." It was readily apparent that these Business Bankers had lost an important perspective; they could not see how their own behavior and skills, not the external environment, were the root causes of their performance gaps. I knew I had to change their perspective before we could change their behavior and skills.

The sales landscape is changing all the time. It is difficult to see and recognize the target in all the confusion. Frequently, objective self-assessment and coaching are ways sales people, even the most successful ones, can increase their sales sight to prevent and reduce sales "blind spots." Before placing blame sales people need to first ask, "What could I be doing better to increase my success?"

Last summer I had a lesson on "seeing" that in many respects relates to the topic of selling and how we develop as sales professionals.

I signed up for a course through the New Hampshire Institute of Art on landscape painting in pastels. Let me say right now that I do not define myself as an artist, but agreed to take the course as a way to spend time with two of my artistic sisters and niece. My artistic outlet is photography and have recently begun to photograph trees.

The landscape pastels course was offered plein-air (outside) so we set up our easels in front of a landscape selected by our instructor. Our instructor, a highly accomplished New Hampshire landscape artist, pointed out that she selected the location because it had all the values (as defined as the relative lightness or darkness of a shape or area) needed for a "good" pastel painting. Here's what I saw: A pond surrounded by assorted grasses, bushes and pine trees with shades of greens (the bushes and trees) and blues and grays (the sky and pond water). That's it. After squinting to see values, and getting some initial instruction on how to sketch values, we proceeded to draw and paint.

After what seemed to be a few hours, I overheard the instructor critiquing my niece's work. She said, "I really like what you are doing here with the layers of color; the pinks, greens and reds you selected are outstanding." I glanced over at my niece's work and saw the beginning of the most beautiful pastel composition with layers of striking color (pink!) and value. It was obvious that we weren't seeing the same scene.

I heard the instructor step up to my easel. She was silent for several minutes before she spoke. During the silence, I tensed up. I heard a sigh. Then she spoke. Here's the conversation:

Instructor: What are you doing?

Me: Painting the scene.

Instructor: Show me what you see.

Me: I'm not sure what you mean.

Instructor: What is this right here (She pointed to the mass of green on my paper)

Me: The bushes over there.

Instructor: I'm not seeing what you see.

Me: OK. What should I do about that?

Instructor: Start painting what you really see.

The instructor was right. My first painting did not look like the landscape in front of us; it appeared flat and dull as the greens and blues took on the appearance of mud. My first excuse was to blame the the landscape. I started to say that it was "uninteresting" with only trees, bushes and a pond, but as the words were forming, I knew they were ridiculous. After all, my sisters and niece had painted the same scene with awesome results. Through additional coaching and feedback from the instructor, I learned that the problem with my painting had nothing to do with the subject, but everything to do with with my lack of artistic skills, especially the ability to see.

Similarly, when sales professionals fail to step back and see different perspectives they run the risk of developing lethal "blind spots".

Pablo Picasso said it well, "There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence transform a yellow spot into the sun."

Since the landscape painting in pastels course, I've been studying the landscapes more closely and seeing more, really seeing more form, more color, more value, and more beauty. Perhaps I can turn a green spot into a tree.

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About the Author

Catherine is co-owner and President of The Bluestar Group LLC, a skill-intensive consulting and training company specializing in maximizing sales performance by developing effective sales strategies, tactics and highly refined skills. For more information, visit http://www.thebluestargroup.biz