When faced with a physical ailment, each individual takes different courses of action based on their knowledge, experience, and intelligence.
In this way, many will make their own diagnosis by self-medicating; others will consult with friends who may have had a similar ailment in order to reproduce the treatment followed; others will consult with the pharmacist before starting the treatment they have decided to apply; and others, even more intelligent, because they know that health does not play or improvise, they will consult a doctor specialized in said ailment to establish the true diagnosis and initiate the most appropriate and effective treatment for the case.
Now, if you had a physical ailment: with which of these descriptions are you most identified?
His honest answer describes how he solves his problems in other areas of his life such as the professional. If you have chosen one of the first two examples, it is because perhaps you are trying to shorten the distance between your problem and the solution, or take the most direct route, incurring certain risks that you will have to assume.
The path to efficiency
The decisions that we can make fundamentally determine the result they produce after executing them, which will allow us to establish the degree of success of them.
In order not to err in such an important stage of the process, the first aspect is to establish with the greatest precision and objectivity "what is the problem that I have." Going further, we should try to determine "its magnitude and level of harm" as well as "what is causing it" and "why this situation has been reached."
The above described are the first steps inherent in. «Diagnosis» of any situation within the decision-making process.
If we want to know the meaning of the term «diagnosis», according to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy it is: «Belonging or relating to the diagnosis.//2. Med. Set of signs that serve to fix the peculiar character of a disease. //3. Med. Qualification that the doctor gives to the disease according to the signs that he notices. »
In sales management, diagnosis is what allows us to establish strengths to reproduce them and detect weaknesses to improve them, nothing more and nothing less.
From there you will be in excellent conditions to choose the most effective options and tools available for each case and organization.
A typical example of misdiagnosis in sales management is when sales decline or fail to meet planned goals. The first thing that arises in the minds of those responsible is to go out looking for "a sales course", unaware of other unresolved reasons that may be present in the activity itself.
The importance of a correct diagnosis
By improvising on something that we do not know or know with the necessary depth, there is a risk of making wrong decisions, suffering the consequences of said act of recklessness.
In medicine, we would be playing with health. In the business world, we are playing with the results to be obtained in the management that is carried out and compromising the future of the organization, both in its subsistence and growth as well as in its image.
Depending on the degree and level of mistake in our decisions, we will inexorably face its consequences, often irreversible.
For this reason, the key is in "the knowledge" that we possess, in "the experience" acquired, in "the objectivity" with which we analyze each situation to be solved, and in the absence of them, seek the most qualified sources to enrich ourselves.
Although this may take time, in situations that require very short-term solutions, it is very convenient to resort to "the specialists".
Conclusions
A constant in our lives is that we must constantly face different situations, which we must resolve through our best decisions to continue moving forward and evolving.
The consequence of good decisions in the different aspects of the sales management of any organization is translated in term of the results that you will obtain.
According to recent research (www.hellerconsulting.com/Envuesta_Ventas_2002.htm) it has been possible to determine that «improvisation» in sales is the main cause of malpractice in the exercise of the profession, both at the level of salespeople and managers or entrepreneurs in charge of the commercial area.
No one is perfect, but we are all perfectible. The experience is only valid for those who are humble and honest with themselves, allowing them to learn from them and grow.
It is one thing to be "intrepid," and quite another to be "reckless."
The intrepid one is the one who is not afraid of the dangers he has to face, representing an inherent feature of the entrepreneurial profile.
Instead, the rash is by no means considered, reckless, and exposes himself and throws himself into danger without thoughtful examination of them. He is the one who says, does or thinks without foundation, reason or motive.
An old saying, which surely many of us remember, pointed out to us: "When in doubt, refrain and ask questions." But it is not a matter of abstaining and not moving forward, but rather delving into the most qualified sources of resources that allow us to make our best decisions and move forward on the most successful path towards the destination of success that we deserve.
Bibliographic and training references:
E-book "The Professional Sale" and "The Professional Retail Sale"
E-book «Keys to a successful sale» for effective management.
Professional Distance Selling Course or Professional Selling Course "in company"
Management Consulting
© Copyright 2008, by Martín E. Heller
