Do you know each of your people? The individual they really are, not just the person who works for you? Do you know their spouse's name? What about the kids? As much as we are individuals we also have common desires that motivate us.

In his theory “The Hierarchy of Needs” Abraham Maslow defines those common desires as:

Physiological- The desire for food, shelter, warmth and comfort

Safety- The desire to survive without threat

Belonging- The desire to be a part of something with common interest

Esteem- The desire for recognition of the mastery of tasks

Self-Actualization-The desire to maximize potential



These desires are the fuel of your salespeople. Some are further along than others. When they are new they are still looking for food, shelter and warmth. Your top people are striving for self-actualization. They want maximum results. Everyone else is somewhere between.

You cannot make all of them superstars. You can however find some common threads among your top producers. Help the others find them and you will be on your way to building a great team. Look for this in your top people and teach it to the others.

They are realistically oriented
They know when they are getting the job done and when they are not. You do not need to remind them, you need to help them. Beware of the salesperson who isn’t performing up to par and it doesn’t seem to bother them.

They accept themselves.
They are aware of their shortcomings, whether they have shared them with you or not. If you will find out what they perceive those areas to be and can suggest how to improve them you will develop a loyal employee.

They are spontaneous
The ability to “think on your feet” is paramount to the salesperson. Being flexible is a trait that successful people are proud of. Allow your salespeople to be spontaneous and think “outside the box”. You will learn and hear things that will astound you if you will give them the chance.

They are problem centered
Successful people identify the problem and then take the necessary steps to rectify, correct and improve. As part of the development of your sales team ask your people who have this area of strength to share with you and other members of the team how they handle problem situations.

They have an air of detachment and a need for privacy
Part of the psyche of successful people is they consider themselves to be “a cut above” and not like the rest. Don’t we always remark that the successful salesperson doesn’t have time to join the “pity party” or wait for customers? It isn’t always that they are busy, oftentimes it is simply due to the fact they do not want to be considered as just another member of the team. Assign them a task to assist you that they consider to be of vital importance to the mission and they will shine.

They are independent and autonomous.
This salesperson is the one who recognizes what needs to be done and sets in motion the forces to accomplish the task. They make great team leaders and mentors. This salesperson is the one who doesn’t look busy but always has deals working, is using the phone effectively and seems to get the most referral and repeat business.

They have an appreciation for people and events.
This salesperson is the one who is aware of his surroundings. He is a reader, learner and student of human nature. You will recognize him immediately because he is the salesperson who will make you aware there is a situation that needs to be addressed. Your other salespeople will turn to this person for advice or to share a grievance.

Most have had a life-changing experience.
A profound change in circumstance will make people aware of what is important and teach them to overcome adversity. (Ask your salespeople who served during wartime in the military or have experienced the death of one of their children how crystal clear your focus can become). By applying the mental toughness learned during their experience they succeed in spite of the circumstance.

They value intimate relationships
Successful people may know many, but have real relationships with only a few. They value these above all. If your salesperson considers you to be one of those chosen few guard it carefully. If for any reason they feel you have violated that intimacy you will lose them.

They do not confuse the means with the ends
They recognize what is good and what needs improvement in all areas of their work. They examine what steps, procedures and plans need to be in play in order to achieve the result. They recognize that success is the by product of effort guided by a plan.

Their humor is philosophical as opposed to hostile
Successful people can laugh at themselves and their humor is often self deprecating. Recognize that this person learns from humor and it is one of the forces that keep them grounded. Let them express their humor; successful people use it as a means to relieve stress, bring themselves back to focus and move on.

They resist conformity
Successful salespeople are always looking for a better way to accomplish the job. They know that just because it’s always been done a certain way doesn’t make it right or the best way. This is also the reason they have that air of detachment about them. They want to be viewed as different.

They transcend the environment
Successful people do not get caught up in office politics, nor do they want to. Their focus is on accomplishing the goal. They are the person who doesn’t fall victim to circumstance. This person is the one who says “I don’t care how many salespeople you hire, I will still be able to succeed and come out on top”. This person is a valuable commodity in helping others see the big picture.

The secret to finding these qualities in your salespeople is to get to know them.
Learn about them as individuals. If you are like most managers your time is limited. Time is all you have; it is what you allot your time to that differentiates us.

One university professor chose names at random from a telephone directory, and then sent these complete strangers his Christmas cards. Holiday cards addressed to him came pouring back, all from people who did not know him and, for that matter, who had never even heard of him.

In another study, researcher Dennis Regan had two individuals try to sell raffle tickets to unsuspecting workers. One individual made a conscientious effort to befriend the workers before attempting to sell any tickets. The other individual made a point of being rude and obnoxious around the workers. While on a break, the individual who had previously been rude to his prospects bought them drinks before trying to get them to buy tickets. The results of the study showed that the rude individual actually sold twice as many raffle tickets, even though the other had been so much nicer and more likable.

On another occasion, a man was stranded on the side of the road because his car had run out of gas. A young man pulled over and identified himself as a friend of the man's daughter. He took the man to get gas and then brought him back to his car. Of course, feeling indebted, the man said, "If you ever need anything, just ask." Three weeks later, capitalizing on the offer, the young man asked if he could borrow the man's expensive car. The man's best judgment screamed, "Are you crazy? You don't know if you can trust this kid to get it back to you in one piece!" But the mental pressure to satisfy his obligation to the young man won out over his better judgment and he loaned the young man his car.

The pressure to reciprocate is strong enough that when people don't return the favor, they are viewed with contempt and disgust. Accepting gifts or favors without attempting to return them is universally viewed as selfish, greedy, and heartless. It is often strictly due to this internal and external pressure that people conform to the rule of reciprocity.

Kurt Mortensen’s trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available! His message and program has helped thousands and will help you achieve unprecedented success in both your business and personal life.

A film-developing company thrived on the Law of Obligation. They would send a roll of film in the mail along with a letter explaining that the film was a free gift. The letter then outlined how the recipient should return the film to their company to be processed. Even though a number of local stores could process the film at a far lower price, most people ended up sending it to the company that had sent them the film.

The technique worked because the company's "pre-giving" incurred a sense of obligation to repay the favor. We often see this method at work when companies give out complimentary calendars, business pens, T-shirts, or mugs.

The same principle applies when you go to the grocery store and see those alluring sample tables. It is hard to take a free sample and then walk away without at least pretending to be interested in the product. Some individuals, as a means of assuaging their indebtedness, have learned to take the sample and walk off without making eye contact. Some have taken so many samples, they no longer feel an obligation to buy or even pretend they're interested in the products anymore.

Still, the technique works, so much so that it has been expanded to furniture and audio/video stores, which offer free pizza, hot dogs, and soft drinks to get you into the store and create instant obligation.

Pre-giving is effective because it makes us feel like we have to return the favor. Greenburg said this feeling of discomfort is created because the favor threatens our independence. The more indebted we feel, the more motivated we are to eliminate the debt. An interesting report from the Disabled American Veterans Organization revealed that their usual 18 percent donation response rate nearly doubled when the mailing included a small, free gift

In a local clothing store, the sales staff are trained to ask customers whether they want to have their suit jackets pressed at no charge while they are shopping. Of course, hardly anyone ever refuses. While they wait on their jackets, they naturally have to spend more time in the store, whereby they occupy themselves by checking out all the merchandise. Because the store is pressing their jackets, the customers feel more indebted to buy. Moreover, when they do decide to buy something, they are more likely to buy it from the salesperson who pressed their jacket

Another study found that survey takers could increase physician response to a long questionnaire if they paid the physicians first. When a $20 check was sent along with the questionnaire, 78 percent of the physicians filled it out and sent it back. When the $20 check was promised to arrive after the questionnaire was completed and sent in, only 66 percent followed through. The pre-giving incentive increased the sense of obligation. Another interesting result of the study was this: Of the physicians who received the $20 check in the initial mailing but did not fill out the questionnaire, only 26 percent cashed the check. Of the physicians receiving the $20 check who did fill out the questionnaire, 95 percent cashed the check!

This demonstrates that the Law of Obligation works conversely, as well. The fact that many of the physicians who did not fill out the questionnaire also did not cash their checks may be interpreted as a sign of their psychological and emotional discomfort at accepting a favor that they were not going to return. If they cashed the checks, they would have to cope with their indebtedness by complying and filling out the questionnaire. Rather than take on that uncomfortable sense of obligation or indebtedness, it was easier to sacrifice the benefit of gaining $20 altogether.

The Law of Obligation also presents itself in the following situations:

* Taking a potential client out to dinner or to play golf
* Offering free tire rotation or fluid fill-up between services
* Someone washing your car windows at a stoplight whether you want them to or not
* Generating money at "free" car washes by asking for a donation after the service is rendered
* A carpet cleaner offering to clean your couch for free

How can you apply the Law of Obligation to your industry?

Kurt Mortensen’s trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available! His message and program has helped thousands and will help you achieve unprecedented success in both your business and personal life.

Okay so you want to accept credit cards from your customers, and are interested in establishing a merchant account. Whether you own a brick-and-mortar retail store, mail order outlet, or internet shopping operation, there are a few things to consider when choosing a credit card processing provider.

First of all, you should make a list of several providers that offer the features you want, then compare the variable fees that may differ depending on the company you deal with. These fees include things like set-up, cancellation, and monthly minimum, and may be negotiable based on your unique circumstances.

Once you have determined the what your business will be charged for its merchant account, it’s often a good idea to do a few sample calculations to work out your total credit card processing costs during a good, bad, and average month.

Finally, you should read and double-check the contract, including small print and detailed terms. Don’t sign anything until you are confident that you understand all the fees, minimums, termination clauses, and other details. It’s important to keep in mind that merchant account providers won’t go over every single point with every single customer, and that it is ultimately your responsibility to read and understand the terms.

Management, and particularly sales management, operates on and obtains its results from the staff that are managed. This clearly puts emphasis on the behavioural skills required to promote good human relations and helpful attitudes. These skills are developed mainly from:-

• An interest in individual needs and points of view

• Readiness to direct time and thought to analysing attitudes

• A sense of justice or fair dealing

• Respect for the personality of others

To enable the staff that are managed to develop their abilities profitably for themselves and their company, good human relations alone are not enough. The manager has to define tasks, set proper objectives, and maintain firm control. The basic skills required to do these things are:

• Analytical Ability:

Information coming to Sales Managers is of all kinds, from verifiable facts to rumour. It is important to be able to sort the wheat from the chaff, to see the relevance of items of information to one another, and to draw conclusions which seem to fit the facts. Again, when a problem arises it is necessary to analyse it to seek its causes (is it a symptom of something wrong elsewhere?) and establish it’s true importance.

• Judgement:

All their decisions express the judgement of the manager on a situation or a person. Having analysed the available information he must then judicially weigh the evidence in order to decide on the best course of action. Few decisions can be wholly right or wrong. Most involve a balance of advantages and disadvantages - “Trade Offs”.

• Communication:

What is clear to them must be made clear to other people also. They should ask themselves what every individual needs to know, and why, what reaction they expect from them, and how they will know whether it has occurred. Good communication is not only a matter of clear thinking and expression. Since it takes place between at least two people the communicator should be able to see their communication through the recipient’s eyes.

However, these characteristics must be underpinned by the core competencies:

The Attainment of Targets:

• Always attaining targets by the time deadlines
• Knowing what to do and doing it, when performance deviates from plan

Ability to Get Things Done:

• A good “objective” setter, planner and above all controller
• Always finishing what they start

Co-Operation:

• The ability to work with others in a friendly co-operative manner - inspiring others to co-operate

Initiative:

• Having both the desire and the ability to ornate and develop constructive ideas
• A self-starter able to work with minimum brief

If I only had enough time or energy to dispel the latest and greatest myths to pop-up in the sales game!

I just happened upon another canard: If your prospect is well qualified, you can be an utter idiot at selling and still make a living.

I have a dog in my yard, a Bearded Collie to be exact, who gets very hungry and if I starve him long enough I think he’ll eat shoe leather.

It’s obvious that if someone has a strong enough or urgent enough need, he’ll sell himself.

We call those prospects “walk-ins.” They, effectively speaking, come to you.

If you’re in a maturing or competitive business, there aren’t that many “lay downs,” to find.

Anyway, this bit of errant wisdom is just another addition to the burgeoning literature of QUACK SALES PRACTICES, or shall I say, malpractices. Espousers of this drivel should be sued for malpractice!

We can add to this list one of my distinguished professors, someone who is the most quoted sage in management literature, the late Peter F. Drucker. He proclaimed:

“If you do a good enough job of marketing, selling becomes unnecessary.”

This is simply a more intelligent, but also wrong way of saying sell only to the qualified, to the ravenously hungry, to prospects that will close themselves.

Baloney!

Drucker got many things right, but this piece of bull was WAY off the mark.

Don’t buy it!

Best-selling author of 12 books and more than 850 articles, Dr. Gary S. Goodman is considered "The Gold Standard"--the foremost expert in sales development, customer service, and telephone effectiveness.

Customers and prospects have a great deal on their plates today. They have the demands of their customers, bosses, fellow staff members, suppliers and a variety of organizational, government, financial, department and industry issues that take a great deal of their time and energy.

When salespeople call on these busy prospects or clients they must realize that what they are selling is not the most important thing in that prospect’s life. Although what they are selling might be of interest and value to them they often just do not have the time to do the salesperson’s work, the follow-up.

More often than I can state over the years, when I have followed up with a prospect that has been considering my services, I have heard, “thanks for getting back to me. I had every intention of calling you but have just been too busy. Lets get this program rolling.”

Why don’t salespeople follow-up? And, what are the benefits of an effective follow-up strategy? Two critical issues that will determine the success of salespeople today. Why don’t salespeople follow up?

1. They fear a no or a rejection.

2. They believe if the prospect is really interested they will call and help the salesperson do their job.

3. They are too disorganized and are not even aware that they should follow up.

4. They lack a positive attitude about their product, service or offer.

5. They know the prospect is not going to buy, so why bother.

6. They believe the prospect is too busy to talk with them or to see them.

7. They are too scattered.

8. They lack confidence in themselves or their organization and its services or products.

9. They believe their competitors are going to get the business anyway.

10. They don’t have an effective follow up strategy.

11. They have nothing else to say or offer.

12. They knew they had a poor prospect anyway, so why bother.

Guilty of any of these? I have been, and I have been selling for over forty years. It is easy to fall into the – no follow up trap. It is just as easy to prospect effectively, present your product with confidence and professionalism and then the follow up is a natural conclusion to the previous step, if you didn’t close the sale on that visit, for whatever reason. Here are a few ideas to consider when you next follow up a sales call.

The customer forms his opinion of an organization based on the people that he works with and sees. For a company, this is the salesperson. The salesperson shapes and structures the customer’s view of the company. Thus, the advancement and collapse of a corporation rests almost solely on the performance of the salesperson. In turn, the responsibility of the qualifications of the salespeople rest on those who train them. This essay is devoted to help set objectives and find a good strategy for the sales manager.

The personal touch and customer service is back in style. More "face time" with the customer and focus on service is showing up as a trend in sales. The management of the sales force is changing as a result with more metrics in place for measurement of outcomes. Globalization presents sales management with the challenge of understanding how cultural influences affect certain business behavior.

Face time

Face time with the customer may be a key to long-term success of a sales force. Making your sales force more productive and minimizing their time in the office will increase revenue…theoretically. Assuming that the sales professional we're talking about is not an idiot who couldn't sell anything to anyone.

One way to get the sales force out of the office and encourage more productivity is to provide more freedom. Some sales professionals may want to hire an assistant, on their own dime, to increase their face time with customers. This can be a risky, but a worth while step for the sales professional. Even though they will be personally responsible for the assistants' salary, the sales professional can free themselves from the daily routine and time consumption of paperwork. This will allow the sales professional to return client calls much quicker, increase face time and ultimately sell much more.

Metrics & CRM

With new customer relationship management (CRM) software available via the web, the sales person can be more productive in the field without tying them down to a desk. CRM automates the recording of customer contacts and improves the development of products and services by analyzing existing buying patterns and streamlining access to customer data.

What does this mean for the sales force and sales management? Measurement opportunity! Organizations are realizing that in order to achieve their business objectives, increasing efficiency alone is not enough. Every company that sells products or services needs to maintain good customer relationships. In order to measure the "good" in "good customer relationships", organizations must review their sales force productivity.

One of the biggest mistakes many salespeople make is to assume. To believe that something is true without any verification, validation or evidence. In the area of the spiritual this is accepted practice and can be a healthy way to go through your life. In your sales career it can be the kiss of death. Assumptions are lethal. They give you confidence without any proof. They can set you up for disappointment, failure and at the worst breakdowns in communication.

I have heard the following more times than I can remember.

I assumed,

- that I was talking with the decision maker.
- they meant it when they said they would call me back.
- they understood the benefits of our product/service.
- they didn’t have a problem with our price.

Yadadada

There is only one way to determine what your prospect or customer;

Wants
Understands
Believes
Accepts
Feels
Likes
Does not like

And that is to ask them. Assuming vs. asking will guarantee a setback almost every time in your sales career. Asking, while you may not like the answer as least you are working from a position of knowledge and not uncertainty or unknown.

During the past several years no fewer than twenty-five of my weekly sales tips have focused on some aspect of the ability or need to ask good questions. If you want more information on this subject, my best selling book, Soft Sell, has an entire chapter dedicated to probing and asking questions. Or you can order my new special report – Sales Success – it’s all in the Questions. This 25 page document shares everything you need to know to integrate this critical technique into your sales approach. It is only $8.00 and I can email it to you as an attachment if you would like to order it. Just give me your order details by email and I’ll get it right off to you.

Many salespeople are great at probing and asking questions when they are trying to determine the status or circumstances of a new prospect. However, many stop this probing once they get an affirmative or confirmation that the customer is buying. Let’s say your prospect says, “Yes, we want to place an order now.” Do you stop asking questions or do you assume a yes is a yes and a now means now?

Let me ask you,

- Have you ever lost a sale that you thought was in the bag?
- Had to start all over again with a new contact at your prospect’s organization for any reason?
- Had a sale close in two years when you thought it would close in two months?

Most of the really successful people in sales that I know or have known are or were not geniuses. Many of them are not even very smart and some are downright stupid. But, all of them have two things in common:

1. They are ruthless in the pursuit of information through questions.
2. They constantly invest in gaining increased and improved knowledge of the sales process.

Getting a fast start out of the box in January is one of the best ways to ensure a successful sales year. Many salespeople get lulled into the holiday spirit (and there is nothing wrong with that), but tend to get a slow beginning after January 1st.

Why not get an edge on your competitors this January? Get to those good clients first. Follow-up on late December calls, decisions or postponements early. Call several new prospects on the first business day.

Pour it on. Make the first day back after the holidays your most productive of the past previous several months. The quick start concept is a valid way to ensure a great month, as well as the beginning of your best year ever. It is called momentum. Don't wait. Do it now.

In order to accomplish this (a great January), you have to be prepared. You have to plan. You have to be ready. And when is the best time to get ready? You guessed it - the last 2 weeks of December. That's the time to have your January action plan in place. If you wait to do it the first day back, it is too late. You lose.

I have never understood why salespeople believe they have to wait a week or two to get back into gear. If you have had a great 1998, fantastic. Celebrate. Enjoy a few days of well-deserved rest, relaxation, fun, etc. But come back raring to go, and you will be amazed at the positive results you can achieve just by being ready and willing to GO FOR IT.

This is an ideal time to beat your competitor to the punch, but the window doesn't last too long. Around the 5-10th of the month, they are also getting into action. Why not steal some business from them while they are partying? Why not close that tough sale while they are napping from a day of football and 5000 calories? Believe me, you will be glad you did. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by using the quick start approach to your new selling year. You may even surprise yourself, as well as your boss. Wouldn't that be kicker?

Here is a simple formula to follow if you want to exceed last year's sales results: Self-evaluation + plus planning + plus preparation + plus extra effort + plus a winning attitude = equals SUCCESS.

The pressure is on and management is breathing down it’s employees necks to finish the year hitting or beating their sales numbers for the year.

Why is it that management often believes that the constant fourth quarter push year in and year out is an effective way to reach their sales goals? There are three principles involved here that are having an impact on the success of this philosophy or approach.

Number one. You get the behavior you reward. Your sales team has had nine months to stay on track. If for some reasons either internal (policies, procedures, new product development or the lack of it) or external (competition or the economy) your organization is behind its sales objectives for the year, rather than fostering the stress-filled last quarter push syndrome year after year, why not take a closer look at what has been going on for the past nine months.

If you have not held people accountable for nine months why are you expecting them to cave into your pressure for the last quarter? Consider;

1.Are your sales objectives realistic or some pie in the sky number that no one really believes is possible. That your approach is to create an unrealistic objective and hope that people will achieve it.

2.Are your salespeople sloughing for nine months knowing that every year at the end of the year you will offer your prospects special incentives to buy, therefore making it easier for your sales team to achieve their numbers during the last quarter?

3.Is your management style such that you enjoy the pressure and like the rush of this push for three months?

Number two. If you are not familiar with the Pygmalion effect here is a short description. People perform according to your expectations of them. If they know that every year there is going to be this fourth quarter push you may be indirectly contributing to their more cavalier attitudes for the first three quarters. Number three. If every year you have this fourth quarter push, people are going to tend to want to relax for the first few weeks of the new year to catch their breath and to recover. The problem with this approach is that the beginning of each new year should be to get off to a fast start. It’s called the quick start concept. It implies that the pace of the rest of the year may be established during the first few weeks of the new year. If your people are playing catch up with follow-up actions and administrative stuff during this period they may not get into full selling gear until late in January or even February.

Thus the cycle begins again. To break this cycle why not consider a different paradigm - that each month is a calendar year on its own. In other words any short-fall in each month can’t be made up later in the year. This is more an attitude than a policy. But if you foster this mindset in your employees you may be able to spread your total sales out more evenly each year therefore avoiding this end of year push.

Keep in mind that the last 45 days of the year is one of the most stressful periods for most people due to the holidays. If you add to this stress with this end of year push you are only complicating people’s lives making it even more difficult for them to perform effectively.

Have you lost any good employee talent recently? Was it necessary to lose them? Why did they leave, was it for a better opportunity or because your organization needs a serious look at the way it treats is most valuable asset, it’s people.

Granted that during a person’s career, regardless of their expertise and experience, sooner or later people move on. It is a fact of corporate life. Presidents leave, managers leave, salespeople leave and administrative support staff leave. They leave for many reasons.

-They are bored.
-They don’t feel appreciated.
-They feel like they are worth more than you are paying them.
-They are tired of the corporate BS and politics.
-They no longer believe in the mission or purpose of their organization.
-They are tired of working for incompetent or selfish managers.
-They have been offered a position that is more in line with their career path objectives.

There are others.

Here’s the problem. When you invest time and resources in an employee and they leave before you get a chance to re-coop your investment, you have to start all over again with another new employee. When you lose a good employee this is also true but other employees may wonder why they are staying?

The major problem with losing good employees is just replacing them with a body, someone who can or will do the job but may not be a stellar employee contributing to improved effectiveness and performance.

The other problem is that good employees tend to leave before the bad ones. The good ones know they can and will find a better position that is more rewarding and challenging. The bad ones may tend to ‘hide-out’ in the organization for years. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to quickly grasp that if you keep losing your best employees and your worst ones keep staying that sooner or later your organization is going to be made up of a bunch of poor employees. Do you think this situation will have any impact on your overall effectiveness, performance, profits and future success?

Want to keep your good employees longer? There is a solution and it is really quite simple

-Treat your employees with respect and trust.
-Listen to them.
-Compensate them fairly.
-Communicate openly with them.
-Develop and train them.
-Validate them.

When did you last set a time to brainstorm with the members of your management team? Fresh ideas and ways of improving performance do not happen by accident. They come from devoting time to their creation, development and implementation. Too often we only seek new concepts or methods when the ship is sinking. Remind yourself that any change or process takes time to become effective, rarely will the results be immediate.

CONDUCT REGULARLY SCHEDULED MANAGEMENT MEETINGS

Once a month, more often if necessary. Discuss your strategies, what is happening in your department, what the plan is, what changes you are considering. Hold these meetings at a quiet location. Meet at a coffee shop or restaurant. Yes, it will take an extra hour or so but the time spent will be worth the results.

STOP BEING TERRITORIAL

All sales managers are competitive or they wouldn’t be in their position. Comparing your performance to others is part of what drives you. This can also be the very thing that limits performance. When you look at the leader board numbers do you ever consider picking up the phone and calling the person who is leading the pack and asking what they are doing differently that is producing such great results? Taking a look at the big picture, i.e. your entire organization vs. just your store or department, is the type of thinking that will grow your company and ultimately provide career advancement opportunities for everyone.

ASK YOUR SALESPEOPLE

You will be surprised at some of the ideas they come up with. Will you always get the best ideas? Maybe not, but at least you will know you considered everything before you acted. The simple act of asking for their input has a positive effect on how they see themselves and reminds them they are part of the team.

ASK THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU

Not only will you get some interesting food for thought, you might also learn what they think about your department and their perception of it. Many sales managers fail to realize that support positions, such as the receptionist, switchboard operator or office staff are like bartenders; they hear a lot about the customer’s entire experience. Talk to your support people on a regular basis.

Leadership has been defined as “the ability to inspire willing action”. Emphasis is placed on the willing. But to understand leadership, we need to delve a little deeper than that.

One thing which experience has proven over and over again down through the ages is that when any group of people are thrown together for any length of time or for any project, a leader will emerge from the group - one to whom they will listen and give their confidence and support.

Their position on the organisation chart or their title alone cannot make a person a genuine leader. They must have certain traits and skills, or they will surely fail. In business, it has been shown again and again that these skills can be learned and the traits can be developed in any individual who is willing to exert an effort based on strong desire and a true hunger for success.

Generally, a leader or teacher does not actually “develop” another person. They encourage and inspire that person to develop themselves from within. Thus, leadership is, in a large sense, self-initiated.

Once we understand and identify the methods and characteristics of admired leaders, we can take steps to develop these skills and traits ourselves. We can analyse ourselves -- honestly, ruthlessly, objectively – and identify which skills we need to acquire or improve (and those which we need to play down).

No One Is Perfect!

The perfect leader has yet to be born. We all have room for self-improvement. If we can agree upon what it takes to be a good leader - what are the traits of leadership, what are the skills - we will at least have made a good start. We should analyse every genuine leader we know and try to learn which qualities influenced us to consider them a good leader. We can probably agree upon at least five - you may have a leader in mind as we consider these.

Qualities of Sales Leadership:

Enthusiasm:

We will all agree that enthusiasm for what one is doing is one of the first traits. No man or woman can install much enthusiasm in anyone else for something about which they themselves are not enthusiastic. Genuine enthusiasm does not mean a glib, backslapping, plastic smile type attitude. More often, the genuine leader’s enthusiasm is likely to be of a more quiet nature - but it is there! It is shown by the manner in which they go about their work. Their manner of handling their job seems to say to everyone. “This is important! It must be done right. It must be fairly and squarely done! And -“You Can Do It!”

Unless a person feels right down in their bones that the work they are doing is worthwhile, they can never consistently (day in and day out) act as though they do. So, if they have any feelings or doubt about the importance of their work and cannot get enthusiastic about it, the trouble is in the person himself or herself. Whether they realise it or not, those around them sense their feelings, their attitude is showing!

Courage:

Leadership takes “guts”. The true leader has the ability to “take it” when the going gets rough. Often the leader has to “take it” for the whole organisation to keep its morale high. The leader has to face up to a new problem all the time. Indeed, many successful leaders invite difficulties just for the sheer joy of coping with them. The genuine leader approaches each day with a sort of “joy of battle”.

Courage in leadership sometimes takes unexpected forms; it may mean standing up to a principle. (Has anyone ever known a real leader who was a “yes person”?) It means having the character to stand up for what you believe in without comprising or cutting corners.

It may mean taking a bold approach to a new idea - sticking your neck out in support of something, which you think is worth trying. It means loyalty to your conviction.

Self Confidence:

An important requirement for the leader of today is self confidence. However, in making decisions about people, their motivations and the way they act or react, the leader can never feel completely sure they are right. The best they can do is to make a sort of “educated guess” based on the facts they can assemble and then depend upon their past experience and knowledge to interpret them.

However, a leader can be self-confident. A great help is to know and work within their personal assets and limitations. They know what they can personally do and what they are unable to do. They are willing to listen to other opinions, assess them and be big enough to adopt the meritorious ones even if they do not square with their original thinking. They can take small reverses in stride.

A self-confident leader is never satisfied with their present accomplishments, does not spend their time in useless longing for things they cannot have. Rather, they set about realising their immediate and realistic goals.

Integrity:

A leader keeps promises. They keep their promises to their associates as meticulously as those made to their superiors. They keep promises made to themselves, which are the hardest to keep and failure in this is the easiest to rationalise. They can keep all these promises because they never commit themselves rashly; but always within the limits of reality and their present capabilities in terms of personal ability. Part of this matter of integrity is certainly, unquestioned loyalty to their organisation - to its reputation as well as their own. Also they must have loyalty to their products and to their associates and loyalty to their industry. Loyalty to one’s associates is extremely important in any leader. They should never allow themselves or others in their group to ridicule, or down grade other leaders or people in the industry, as it is a sign of jealousy and this is one trait that cannot exist in a true leader. Part of this loyalty is a sense of stewardship - a feeling of responsibility for the welfare, progress and security of the industry as a whole, and that includes everybody who ethically runs a business, everyone in their organisation, their customers and their family.

Sales meetings offer regular opportunities to benchmark performance against plan, provide additional skills development, update the team on new product development and "pump them up" to go out and exceed next week's/month's/quarter's targets. However, the responsibility for the success of the meeting, lies entirely with the manager. Here then are ten suggestions for more dynamic sessions.

Suggestion 1: Insist on punctuality, for there is nothing which detracts from a meeting so much as people coming in late with lame excuses or returning late from a coffee break. Not only is this disruptive for the meeting but it is bad for group discipline as well and each time a manager allows this, they relinquish a little leadership capacity. Start the meeting on time to the minute. Do not wait for late arrivals and whatever you do, do not be late yourself.

Suggestion 2: Begin the meeting in the way you plan to carry on throughout - with a friendly smile and a dynamic greeting, do not commence in a flat uninspired monotone. Be informal, relax and encourage team members to do likewise. Do remember that a sales meeting is one of those few occasions where you can provide “collective motivation” so you need to be at your inspiring best.

Suggestion 3: Explain the objectives and always ‘sell’ the objectives by providing the team with good reasons why each item has been placed on the agenda. It is likely that you will want to discuss performance(s) since the last meeting and it is essential that you highlight success. Whatever you do never, ever, hand out criticism en bloc because that is the most morale sapping thing you can ever do. Rather deal with sub-standard performance one to one. However, do feel free to deliver collective praise in copious amounts whenever appropriate.

Suggestion 4: Use some kind of visual aid during each session. The most common and easy to use visual aid is a PowerPoint presentation; closely followed by the flip chart which allows you to be spontaneous should you need to be – one picture really does paint a thousand words!

Suggestion 5: Make quite sure that you achieve full agreement at the close of each session. You should aim to get full commitment from all present at the meeting, that they will definitely do what you have asked them to do. At the end of the meeting an action plan should be prepared and circulated to everyone present at the meeting. The previous meeting’s action plan should always be progressed at the meeting.

Suggestion 6: Make sure that at least fifty per cent of the meeting is taken up with some kind of sales training. You can deliver this yourself or you might consider using specialists from outside of the company.

Suggestion 7: Plan the amount of time you can afford to allocate to each session well before the meeting and be sure to stick to your schedule. One tip I always pass on, is to avoid the dreaded “Any other business” at the end of the meeting. In reality, if an item is worth discussing it should be a full agenda item, allowing for proper preparation.

Suggestion 8: Encourage everyone to participate by asking for their views and opinions or by giving them presentation projects to prepare in advance of the meeting date.

Suggestion 9: Do not do all the talking yourself. Salespeople (and most other people) hate to be lectured at. Ask questions and listen to the answers. Ask for opinions, and always question the reason for a particular opinion. Do remember generally people comprehend:

11% of what they hear.

32% of what they see.

73% of what they see & hear.

90% of what they see, hear & discuss.

Suggestion 10: Finally, do set an example as the meeting leader. The manner in which you package yourself, your cheerfulness, your positive attitude and the way in which you have planned and conducted the meeting - all these things will be noticed by even the least perceptive of your team. Do all these things well and you will strengthen your position as the leader of the group. Do them badly and you can forget about training and developing your people, for they will take not the slightest notice of anyone who does not practice what they preach.

Summary: As with all things in life, the success of your sales meetings will depend to a large degree on the amount of planning and preparation you are able to do, so do try to consider the following:

The Timing: Best day, time of the week/month/quarter, regularity.

Location: In relation to cost, facilities and transport.

The Room: Its lighting, ventilation, heating, degree of sound proofing, layout of table, comfort of chairs, seating plan, pencils and paper, flip chart, poster paper, markers, and of course, presentation equipment

Organisation: Arrange for breaks and refreshments.

It is said that 91% of people don’t complain. They prefer to obtain their revenge by not buying from a business that has given them an inferior product or a poor service.

They have a passive power and they know it!

The following is a true story – only the name of the business has been changed

Blooming Buds was a well established garden centre on the outskirts of a growing town. Two years before it closed it had expanded to include a café, a gift shop and an organic fruit and vegetable outlet. As well as employing a core staff of ten it took on a number of seasonal and part-time staff. The company didn’t have a customer service policy nor did it believe in wasting money on training. Customers seemed happy enough. After all they hardly got any complaints. No ‘everything in the garden was rosy’.

The manager should have been a bit suspicious. No complaints doesn’t mean that all customers are happy. Most of us don’t bother complaining. We just walk away and don’t go back.

The expansion, unsurprisingly, led to a variety of organisational and logistical problems. There were staffing shortages, managerial inexperience, reduction in quality etc. Gradually business dropped off but still, nothing was done about it.

The staff stopped telling the manager about some of the problems they had encountered because he wouldn’t listen. He invested heavily on advertising, and making sizeable capital changes. He never once thought of getting some feedback from the customers. Eventually the inevitable happened. The business had to close.

Opportunities to do what?

• Evaluate how well you are doing
• Identify weak points in your system and processes and put them right
• See situations from the customer’s point of view
• Improve customer satisfaction
• Create long-term loyalty – handling disgruntled customers well often leaves them feeling more positive about your organisation than before

One unhappy customer tells 10 to 15 others about their experience. If it’s really bad they’ll tell the whole world.

For every complaint that could be made, around 20 people don’t bother. This means 20 lost opportunities.

If you handle a complaint badly or with a ‘couldn’t care less’ attitude or, worse still, if you hide behind the ‘rule book’, you will lose that customer for good.

You can’t afford to lose even 50p because this will mount up according to something known as the “multiplier effect”.

As the biggest investment a business is likely to make is staff, any time lost to sickness can be costly. This cost must be measured not only in terms of lost production and sick pay, but also in terms of employee morale. Whenever an employee is off sick, there is a knock-on effect on those colleagues who have to cover.

Recent reports have highlighted that sickness is costing British businesses up to £1.75 billion a year, or roughly £500 per employee. Although the problem is far worse in the public sector, the private sector is still averaging 6.5 days of sickness absence a year per employee. Improved management of a company's sickness absence could mean serious savings.

Sickness reporting:

The first area to consider is the reporting of sickness. Before anything can be done to reduce absence levels it helps to know what they are. Everyone needs to know precisely what they are required to do if they are too ill to come in to work. Make sure employees are aware that they should phone, not leave a message, and speak to their manager or an equally senior person if they are not available.

Tell employees they must phone in as early as possible to advise why they are unable to make it to work and when they expect to return. It is not unreasonable to ask these questions and it may mean they are less likely to take that occasional day off.Unless their contracts of employment state otherwise, employees are only required to provide a doctors certificate for periods of absence exceeding seven days. But employees can be asked to complete an absence statement, which details when they were off and why. This can then be signed off and put on their employment file.

The return to work interview:

When an employee's returns from sickness, ensure that they have a 'return to work' interview. This should be done even if they have only had one day off sick. This is a simple but effective tool and will make employees think twice before taking an occasional day off.

The Bradford Factor:

Long-term sickness can be planned around and dealt with. The worst type of sickness, as far as a business is concerned, is the regular but sporadic day off. In order to be able to deal with this, an objective monitoring system will be required. It might be worth considering the Bradford Factor, which is not a hugely complicated scientific idea, but a simple means to highlight those who regularly take a single day off.

The Bradford Factor measures both the number of sick days and the number of absences. The formula is:

S x S x D = 'Bradford Factor'

(S is the number of spells of absence in the last 52 weeks and D is the number of days' absence in the last 52 weeks).

For example, an employee who takes 10 individual sick days in a year will have a Bradford Factor of (10 x 10 x 10) 1000. Whereas an employee who has a total of 10 days sick on one occasion in a year because of a virus or bad bout of flu will only have a Bradford Factor of 10. As it concentrates on instances more than actual day’s absence, the Bradford Factor allows a business to have a table of sickness. Those without satisfactory explanations for their regular short-term absences can then be dealt with formally through disciplinary procedures. As ever, it is essential that consistency is applied when dealing with sickness absence. It is worth remembering that genuine sickness should be dealt with in a sympathetic and understanding way, with particular attention paid to the Disability and Discrimination Act and its requirements.

In summary:

• Ensure that sickness absence is monitored.

• Make sure everyone is aware of sickness reporting procedures.

• Carry out a return to work interview.

• Introduce an objective measuring system.

• For persistent offenders, use disciplinary procedures.

• Deal with all sickness in a sympathetic manner.

• Be consistent.

Many salespeople believe that between Thanksgiving and January 2nd people stop buying and become preoccupied with celebrating and eating. Quite the contrary! People are more in a buying spirit than at any other time of the year. It doesn’t matter whether you sell computers, real estate, automobiles, widgets, office furniture or anything else, the world doesn’t grind to a halt just because it is the holiday season. Have you been operating under the belief that you are going to sell less or nothing at all during this period of time? If so you may be setting yourself up for failure.

There is a psychological principle that states – you get what you focus on and expect. If you are not familial with the Pygmalian Effect I suggest you check it out. To save you some time it is basically what I have just said – you tend to get in reality what you expect in your mind. There are several things for you to consider, so the bottom doesn’t fall out of your sales results during this time of year as well as give you a slow start into 2005.

1. Conduct an attitude checkup.

2. Do you slow down your prospecting efforts for these six weeks?

3. Do you believe it is harder to see people during the holidays?

4. Do you feel it is necessary to discount or lower prices more during this period?

5. Does your motivation, energy and commitment and wane during the holidays?

6. Are you too busy with other activities – parties, shopping, etc., etc. – to keep your selling edge?

Here are a few productive things you can do during the holidays.

1. Use this time to evaluate your previous year’s results. Where could you have done better, smarter, faster, easier?

2. Use this time to plan your activities in the new year and set realistic goals in all areas of your life.

3. Don’t stop prospecting.

4. Use your networking time effectively. You may meet a lot of people who can advance your career in some way.

5. Read more self-help books and listen to self-help CD’s during the holidays. Why not invest $50.00 on my 4 CD set - Soft Sell - it’s a classic, filled with great ideas from the all time best selling sales book ever.

6. Reevaluate your sales approach – what’s working and what isn’t and why.

I am not a Scrooge. I believe in spending important family time with those in your life who need and want some of your time and energy. I am only suggesting that you not significantly alter your sales strategies and effort just because it is the holiday time of year. Remember, while you are baking cookies, attending an office party, or shopping, your competitor may be stealing your business. The holiday season will be over before you know it. Don’t lose momentum during this time period.