Establishing your own personal development plan

No matter how comprehensive the training programme provided by their employer, salespeople need to establish and implement their own personal development plan. Bob Apollo highlights a few key considerations:

• 1. Set clear goals. What do you want to achieve in your sales career? Where do you want to be in a year, in five years, and at the end of the journey? What would it take to get there?
• 2. What’s holding you back? What stands in the way between you and your objectives? Seek feedback from your manager and your colleagues. How could you eliminate any self-limiting attitudes, behaviours, or beliefs?
• 3. What skills do you need to develop/polish? Where do your opportunities tend to get stuck? What skills or competencies might you need to develop? What can you learn from your role-model colleagues?
• 4. Where are you going to get your inspiration from? Salespeople need to be always learning. What books should you read, and what experts should you follow? Seek recommendations from your manager and your colleagues.
• 5. Write down you plan. You will probably never achieve your aspirations unless you write down your goals and your plan, review and, if necessary, revise them regularly, commit to achieving them, and measure your progress.