"I Want It All and I Want It Now.” Well, Who Doesn’t? | Pareto

With Bohemian Rhapsody hitting cinema screens worldwide at the end of last year we take a look at Freddie Mercury, formally known as Farokh Bulsara - frontman of the global hit band Queen. Born in Zanzibar and educated in India, he went on to capture his fans’ adoration from all corners of the globe.

Doing the unexpected was pivotal to Freddie’s outstanding career. From working as a baggage handler at Heathrow to leaving behind a Net worth of around $74 million when he died in 1991, it is undeniable that Freddie Mercury was a great salesman when it came to the ‘sell’ of himself. 

His extraordinary dress sense, his unique take on PR and his refusal to fit the mould all contributed to his rise to fame. In 1974, speaking to New Musical Express, Freddie responded to a question about his sexuality with: “I’m as gay as a daffodil, my dear!” - only 7 years after the legalization of homosexuality in England, this was no easy statement to make. But, Freddie said it anyway. Freddie paved the way for others to be unashamedly themselves and he showed a resolute willingness to push boundaries and not take no for an answer.

We’re taking a look at 4 lessons we can learn from Freddie’s success, along with 4 of our own core mission statements as the Market Leader in Graduate Sales Recruitment.

“Opportunities don’t just happen you have to create them.”

In today’s fast-paced world, you can’t afford to sit back and wait for an opportunity to find you. Being proactive and dedicated allows you to make your own opportunities, particularly when it comes to closing sales. Why? Simply put, selling takes confidence. Confidence is something that Freddie Mercury exuded in abundance. Working as a baggage handler in Heathrow didn’t stop him presenting his songs and pitching himself to Smile, the band he admired (and which was later to become Queen).

Freddie was an expert at seeking out the opportunity to grow and expand his band, and this rigorous commitment paid off. Queen went on to become one of the world’s best-known bands of all time, not to mention incredibly profitable for their era.

What can we take from this as sales professionals? We need to be continually disruptive within our industry. We can’t over-rely on existing customers or doing things the way they’ve always been done. We need to make a compelling case for our product or service and proactively up and cross-sell to maximise growth. We should continually be looking to learn and evolve our sales skills too. Successful sales reps use terms that inspire confidence such as, certainly," "definitely," and "absolutely" 5 x more than low performers. All our graduates are given training tailored towards developing confidence and delivering high-impact pitching.  

“Don’t be afraid to let go of the good to go for the great”.

This Pareto mission statement is all about having the self-belief to push boundaries. Our ethos is rooted in aspiring towards greatness. We don’t settle for anything less, which is why we are so proud of our many ‘Grad to Great’ stories.

Freddie Mercury most certainly wasn’t a man who settled for just ‘good enough’. One clear cut example of this was his handling of Queen’s first record label. When the band were told Bohemian Rhapsody would never work on radio due to it being far too long at almost 6 full minutes, they rose to the challenge. Freddie wasn’t content with releasing a ‘good’ song as the single. He was after greatness - he knew his audience and understood that what he had to offer was going to work. The fact that the song was a Global Number 1 Hit two times over speaks for itself.

HubSpot research found that 50% of prospects aren't a good fit for what you have to sell. That's a lot of rejection to have to deal with in your daily sales job. So, when applying Freddie's attitude to rejection to Sales Technique, we can take that we should take time to know and understand our prospect and their individual demands. We should also have belief in what we have to offer and then we can exceed our goals. All our graduates go through intensive training, for example our Negotiation skills training course. This section will empower delegates to take control of negotiation situations, whilst ensuring the results they engineer are of the greatest value to your business

“Together we are stronger.”

Great salesmanship and productivity don’t exist in a vacuum. Teamwork in sales can drive innovation and best practice forward. Queen was at their best when they all put forward their individual talents to excel the ultimate growth of the band forwards. 

In Sales, it is fundamental to remember that your team can support you. Yes, sales is about competition over collaboration much of the time, but, undeniably when great minds work together to close a sale we are enabled build stronger relationships with clients. Top performing salespeople are 10 x more likely to use collaborative terminology when talking to potential clients. 

Pareto’s bespoke training will allow sales leaders to become established mentors and motivators. When your team works in harmony you can expect to fast-track your ROI.

“Self-belief and application can take you anywhere”

Fostering self-belief is essential for success.  Freddie famously said: ‘There was never a doubt, darling, never.’ Freddie had the self-belief to drive him to use his unique, extrovert nature to create a unique PR persona that would be a success. People often don’t know what it is they need until they see it presented to them in a compelling way, so present your product or service with resolute self-belief in it.

Limiting belief is one of the biggest problems for a Sales Executive. The fear of not being ‘good enough’ prevents your sales team from pushing for the top spots. Instead of working to speak to the director or CEO, they might settle for a conversation with a junior thinking they don’t possess the intellectual acumen they need to talk confidently to the decision maker.

Accelerate is our bespoke training package designed with your profits in mind. We’ve been changing businesses for the better for over two decades and we can instil self-belief back into the people who need it in your workforce.

Do you need your sales team to be ‘more Freddie Mercury’?

Then you need Accelerate. If you’ve found that your sales team aren’t exceeding targets, or you're frustrated by feeling like business is stagnating then we can help. Our tailored sales training process will fast-track ROI and inject new energy and skill into your team. Drive your profits exponentially with our exclusive four-step training process.

Take the first step towards Accelerating your Sales Performance with a free consultation today.

Alternatively, you can call us on 917-397-4059