Monday, February 05, 2007

Successful Major Account Management

For a long time the only objectives I used for major accounts were very specific business objectives. “We will increase turnover by X%”. “We will introduce 2 new programmes and increase our profitability by Y%". I began to understand that these business objectives were not enough. Multi-level objectives has proved very powerful in winning and keeping business. There are four levels of objectives and together they create objectives that excite and motivate the team and which are also very practical.

First we set visionary objectives. We picture what the result could be if everything went well. We discipline ourselves not to be limited by history or today’s issues. The outcome is a very strong vision of what the account could be like in 2 or 5 or 10 years.

Secondly we set relationship objectives. Everyone in the account team needs to know what we want the relationship to feel like. Imagine you could hear your customer talking about you in two years time. What would you want to hear them saying? It might be statements like “We trust them completely”, “They always give us new ideas”, and "Things do not go wrong often. But when they do they always make things right quickly.” We have found that these relationship objectives help us do everything in the way we should and in the way the customer wants. In the past it was more difficult to be consistent and customer-centred.

So far, we have talked about quite “soft” objectives - how we want things to feel. The first two objectives are about emotion and imagination but we need some “hard” objectives as well. The third level is the level of business objectives. These objectives are specific - very clear. “By the end of this year we will have increased sales of product A by 25% on the last year’s volumes and maintained our profit margins.” They are also measurable (if we cannot measure them, how will we know how we are progressing?). They must be agreed within the account team and maybe even agreed with the customer! They must be realistic - other people will be depending on our forecasts. Finally they must have a time-scale. Those business objectives provide the strong disciplines that we need to know in order to understand whether or not we are succeeding.

The final level of objectives is the level of stage goals. We may say that we will achieve a result of X by the end of year 2 within the key account. If this is to happen we need to be planning where we should be at important dates.

If the objective is to be selling five products to the customer by the end of next year and we’re selling two today we probably need to plan to have three in place by this October, four in place by next March and five by next September. The stage goals make sure we are on target and allow us to solve problems before they become impossible to solve.

We have found that using these multi-level objectives helps to motivate each major account team member but can also help us significantly increase the amount and quality of business being done with key accounts.

Strategies:

If objectives show us where we are trying to go, strategies show us how we can plan to get there. Strategy is part of the long term plan. It is not too detailed. It focuses on ways of working, not the detail of what will happen in this or that sales call.

When setting these strategies we have found it useful to ask three questions:

What strategies do we need for this major account?

What should each strategy say?

How do we communicate them so that each member of the team is committed to them and carries them out?

The Short Term Plan:

It is important to think long term in major account management but there is a danger that we spend all our time analysing and planning and never do anything! The short term plan keeps us active and effective.

The long term plan is concerned with why (objectives) and how (strategy). The short term plan focuses on who does what, when.

The timescale for the short term plan will vary from business to business but many organisations find that a rolling three month plan reviewed monthly is very effective. This means that late in April you plan events for May, June and July. Late in May you plan for June, July and August etc. The first month is usually in detail, the second two months are more in outline.
For a long time the only objectives I used for major accounts were very specific business objectives. “We will increase turnover by X%”. “We will introduce 2 new programmes and increase our profitability by Y%". I began to understand that these business objectives were not enough. Multi-level objectives has proved very powerful in winning and keeping business. There are four levels of objectives and together they create objectives that excite and motivate the team and which are also very practical.

First we set visionary objectives. We picture what the result could be if everything went well. We discipline ourselves not to be limited by history or today’s issues. The outcome is a very strong vision of what the account could be like in 2 or 5 or 10 years.

Secondly we set relationship objectives. Everyone in the account team needs to know what we want the relationship to feel like. Imagine you could hear your customer talking about you in two years time. What would you want to hear them saying? It might be statements like “We trust them completely”, “They always give us new ideas”, and "Things do not go wrong often. But when they do they always make things right quickly.” We have found that these relationship objectives help us do everything in the way we should and in the way the customer wants. In the past it was more difficult to be consistent and customer-centred.

So far, we have talked about quite “soft” objectives - how we want things to feel. The first two objectives are about emotion and imagination but we need some “hard” objectives as well. The third level is the level of business objectives. These objectives are specific - very clear. “By the end of this year we will have increased sales of product A by 25% on the last year’s volumes and maintained our profit margins.” They are also measurable (if we cannot measure them, how will we know how we are progressing?). They must be agreed within the account team and maybe even agreed with the customer! They must be realistic - other people will be depending on our forecasts. Finally they must have a time-scale. Those business objectives provide the strong disciplines that we need to know in order to understand whether or not we are succeeding.

The final level of objectives is the level of stage goals. We may say that we will achieve a result of X by the end of year 2 within the key account. If this is to happen we need to be planning where we should be at important dates.

If the objective is to be selling five products to the customer by the end of next year and we’re selling two today we probably need to plan to have three in place by this October, four in place by next March and five by next September. The stage goals make sure we are on target and allow us to solve problems before they become impossible to solve.

We have found that using these multi-level objectives helps to motivate each major account team member but can also help us significantly increase the amount and quality of business being done with key accounts.

Strategies:

If objectives show us where we are trying to go, strategies show us how we can plan to get there. Strategy is part of the long term plan. It is not too detailed. It focuses on ways of working, not the detail of what will happen in this or that sales call.

When setting these strategies we have found it useful to ask three questions:

What strategies do we need for this major account?

What should each strategy say?

How do we communicate them so that each member of the team is committed to them and carries them out?

The Short Term Plan:

It is important to think long term in major account management but there is a danger that we spend all our time analysing and planning and never do anything! The short term plan keeps us active and effective.

The long term plan is concerned with why (objectives) and how (strategy). The short term plan focuses on who does what, when.

The timescale for the short term plan will vary from business to business but many organisations find that a rolling three month plan reviewed monthly is very effective. This means that late in April you plan events for May, June and July. Late in May you plan for June, July and August etc. The first month is usually in detail, the second two months are more in outline.

Sales Managers: The Goal of Every Encounter Is Open-Field Selling

I could spend a lifetime correcting the mistakes other consultants offer as prized selling tips.

In the class I conduct at UCLA Extension, “Building Your Consulting & Coaching Business,” I do some of that, but there are so many errors and so little time.

But a few misperceptions I just cannot let pass without comment.

I happened upon one today as I was reading a self-appointed sales guru’s article.

He said that at the first meeting with a prospect your goal SHOULDN’T be to get an order, to make a sale. That first chat is merely, “exploratory.”

This gent would be the kind of surgeon who doesn’t want to cure disease, he just wants to do exploratory surgeries to see what’s wrong and then to make recommendations.

Great, leave the healing to another doctor, for a later date, if the patient survives that long!

Or, he would be the car mechanic who confirms that you need to have a part replaced but he doesn’t keep it in stock. He’ll have to get back with you when it comes in.

That is absolutely the wrong approach for everybody.

Simply put, we should accomplish as much as possible with every customer engagement, whether it is during our first telephone conversation, an exchange of emails, or a face-to-face meeting.

Try to take the shortest path to a sale; that’s my recommendation. If you’re detoured, well, make an adjustment, and then get right back on that superhighway to a “yes.”

Like a football player whose team needs a few yards for a first down, go for that, to be sure, but always keep one eye peeled downfield, because you just might break free and score a touchdown.

I could spend a lifetime correcting the mistakes other consultants offer as prized selling tips.

In the class I conduct at UCLA Extension, “Building Your Consulting & Coaching Business,” I do some of that, but there are so many errors and so little time.

But a few misperceptions I just cannot let pass without comment.

I happened upon one today as I was reading a self-appointed sales guru’s article.

He said that at the first meeting with a prospect your goal SHOULDN’T be to get an order, to make a sale. That first chat is merely, “exploratory.”

This gent would be the kind of surgeon who doesn’t want to cure disease, he just wants to do exploratory surgeries to see what’s wrong and then to make recommendations.

Great, leave the healing to another doctor, for a later date, if the patient survives that long!

Or, he would be the car mechanic who confirms that you need to have a part replaced but he doesn’t keep it in stock. He’ll have to get back with you when it comes in.

That is absolutely the wrong approach for everybody.

Simply put, we should accomplish as much as possible with every customer engagement, whether it is during our first telephone conversation, an exchange of emails, or a face-to-face meeting.

Try to take the shortest path to a sale; that’s my recommendation. If you’re detoured, well, make an adjustment, and then get right back on that superhighway to a “yes.”

Like a football player whose team needs a few yards for a first down, go for that, to be sure, but always keep one eye peeled downfield, because you just might break free and score a touchdown.

Tough-Love Sales Management

Sales managers are far too deferential, way to easygoing.

Let me rephrase that, if I may.

Many of them, despite their tough, take-no-prisoners auras, are wimps.

They’re afraid to MAKE their people make sales.

Sales, generally speaking, don’t happen by themselves. They’re not received, or accepted, or handled, or experienced.

They’re MADE.

Like transforming coal into diamonds, salespeople require pressure to become wealth producing.

Either salespeople pressure themselves, or managers pressure them, or both.

But left alone, like most things in nature, salespeople die on the vine, wither, and shrink from view.

It is the role of the sales manager to prevent that, to struggle against inertia to make people do unnatural things.

Sleeping late; that’s natural. Blowing off otherwise good leads because of laziness or poor work habits—that’s natural, too.

Never giving up, creating something out of nothing, making people say yes when their natural tendency is to say no; these things, are UNNATURAL, BUT NECESSARY.

A sales manager that is reluctant to get into his people’s faces like Coach Bobby Knight used to invade the space of his privileged players; is a wimp.

A sales manager’s goal is not popularity, but productivity.

Get into your people’s faces, today, and don’t let up.

Like a strict teacher who is ridiculed today, everyone will thank you tomorrow.
Sales managers are far too deferential, way to easygoing.

Let me rephrase that, if I may.

Many of them, despite their tough, take-no-prisoners auras, are wimps.

They’re afraid to MAKE their people make sales.

Sales, generally speaking, don’t happen by themselves. They’re not received, or accepted, or handled, or experienced.

They’re MADE.

Like transforming coal into diamonds, salespeople require pressure to become wealth producing.

Either salespeople pressure themselves, or managers pressure them, or both.

But left alone, like most things in nature, salespeople die on the vine, wither, and shrink from view.

It is the role of the sales manager to prevent that, to struggle against inertia to make people do unnatural things.

Sleeping late; that’s natural. Blowing off otherwise good leads because of laziness or poor work habits—that’s natural, too.

Never giving up, creating something out of nothing, making people say yes when their natural tendency is to say no; these things, are UNNATURAL, BUT NECESSARY.

A sales manager that is reluctant to get into his people’s faces like Coach Bobby Knight used to invade the space of his privileged players; is a wimp.

A sales manager’s goal is not popularity, but productivity.

Get into your people’s faces, today, and don’t let up.

Like a strict teacher who is ridiculed today, everyone will thank you tomorrow.

Sales Managers Should Dump Their Weak Sales People

Sales are much different than other departments in a large corporation. You must make sales and if someone is not pulling their weight you need to dump them and replace them with a seasoned sales person who WILL make lots of sales. There is no room for political correctness. Just because a salesperson is a certain gender, nationality, religion, sexual preference, color or creed should not make any difference, all that counts are sales; lots of sales. Provided of course they are not over promising what the company can deliver.

All too often sales forces these days look like the United Nations, one black person, one Hispanic person, three females, one American Indian, two Asians and one token gay guy. It is a bunch of silly hypocrisy. Look they could all be gay guys if they get the job done. It should not matter. What matters is good solid sales. Some big ones and many of the bread and butter sales that your company relies on, without that nothing happens and your company falters to the strength of the other market place competitors. Sales is therefore no place for the weak, tree-huggers or faint of heart.

Is this to say that quotas of minorities are stupid ideas? YES! Get the best sales force, make sure they perform, follow-up, have knowledge of the company’s products and services. If not CAN THEM, there is no room for dead weight; everyone must pull the numbers. If you have weakness in your ranks you will build upon it, if you have the strongest players you will build strength in your Sales Department to make it happen day in and day out. Consider all this in 2006.

Sales are much different than other departments in a large corporation. You must make sales and if someone is not pulling their weight you need to dump them and replace them with a seasoned sales person who WILL make lots of sales. There is no room for political correctness. Just because a salesperson is a certain gender, nationality, religion, sexual preference, color or creed should not make any difference, all that counts are sales; lots of sales. Provided of course they are not over promising what the company can deliver.

All too often sales forces these days look like the United Nations, one black person, one Hispanic person, three females, one American Indian, two Asians and one token gay guy. It is a bunch of silly hypocrisy. Look they could all be gay guys if they get the job done. It should not matter. What matters is good solid sales. Some big ones and many of the bread and butter sales that your company relies on, without that nothing happens and your company falters to the strength of the other market place competitors. Sales is therefore no place for the weak, tree-huggers or faint of heart.

Is this to say that quotas of minorities are stupid ideas? YES! Get the best sales force, make sure they perform, follow-up, have knowledge of the company’s products and services. If not CAN THEM, there is no room for dead weight; everyone must pull the numbers. If you have weakness in your ranks you will build upon it, if you have the strongest players you will build strength in your Sales Department to make it happen day in and day out. Consider all this in 2006.

Managing the Sales Floor in a Box Store

One of the most difficult things to do is to manage the sales floor of a large box store, especially when the corporate office keeps cutting your staff, apparently to cut costs and increase profits. Yet when a Box Store is understaffed you need to work a lot harder and this is not always as easy as it seems. Why? Well it is human nature when one person is talking to a sales clerk asking a question, that someone else will think to themselves; Maybe they can answer my questions too, I have been looking around for over 5 minutes.

Of course this means that the sales clerk must work twice as hard and they soon learn this and some of them go into hiding, looking busy stocking shelves or re-arranging shelves in order to do less work, without over taxing their brains. It is therefore smart to do two things you may not have considered as a Sales Manager; Hire only really personable and quick thinking sales staff for your floor; those with a little approachability and constant helpful nature and smile. Secondly, do not rely on the Secret Shopper Program to see if your sales people are up to snuff. If the company is cutting back your sales staff they are most likely cutting costs on the Secret Shopper Program too.

It is therefore recommended to have your friends volunteer to come into the store and report back to you. Most friends will do this and you can see if the sales floor staff is on top of things and knows what they are doing. If not please do yourself a favor and get rid of them, as they are doing your store no good and costing you a promotion for missing same store increases in your sales goals. Consider all this in 2006.

One of the most difficult things to do is to manage the sales floor of a large box store, especially when the corporate office keeps cutting your staff, apparently to cut costs and increase profits. Yet when a Box Store is understaffed you need to work a lot harder and this is not always as easy as it seems. Why? Well it is human nature when one person is talking to a sales clerk asking a question, that someone else will think to themselves; Maybe they can answer my questions too, I have been looking around for over 5 minutes.

Of course this means that the sales clerk must work twice as hard and they soon learn this and some of them go into hiding, looking busy stocking shelves or re-arranging shelves in order to do less work, without over taxing their brains. It is therefore smart to do two things you may not have considered as a Sales Manager; Hire only really personable and quick thinking sales staff for your floor; those with a little approachability and constant helpful nature and smile. Secondly, do not rely on the Secret Shopper Program to see if your sales people are up to snuff. If the company is cutting back your sales staff they are most likely cutting costs on the Secret Shopper Program too.

It is therefore recommended to have your friends volunteer to come into the store and report back to you. Most friends will do this and you can see if the sales floor staff is on top of things and knows what they are doing. If not please do yourself a favor and get rid of them, as they are doing your store no good and costing you a promotion for missing same store increases in your sales goals. Consider all this in 2006.

Why Not Take The Sales Quiz To see How You Are Doing?

Sales Quiz

Why not give the following sales quiz to your sales staff. It will give you an idea of their understanding and application of some of the critical issues, concepts and techniques that have an impact on their sales performance and results. If you feel your team could benefit from an in-depth Custom in-house sales training program, please give me a call. I will be happy to discuss a custom curriculum for your staff with you. Please give me a call if you would like the answers to this quiz.

Other quizzes are also available on the following topics: Customer Service , Relationships, Management, Happiness, Success, Motivation

See the end of this quiz for the answers.

1. One of the biggest mistakes salespeople make is________________________________________

2. Attitude is important in sales

Sales Quiz

Why not give the following sales quiz to your sales staff. It will give you an idea of their understanding and application of some of the critical issues, concepts and techniques that have an impact on their sales performance and results. If you feel your team could benefit from an in-depth Custom in-house sales training program, please give me a call. I will be happy to discuss a custom curriculum for your staff with you. Please give me a call if you would like the answers to this quiz.

Other quizzes are also available on the following topics: Customer Service , Relationships, Management, Happiness, Success, Motivation

See the end of this quiz for the answers.

1. One of the biggest mistakes salespeople make is________________________________________

2. Attitude is important in sales

The Value of a Glengarry Sales Manager

In the movie, “Glengarry Glenross,” the sales manager is a jerk, an acerbic cynic, a malevolent force, a take-no-prisoners, I-don’t-hear-your-excuses, kind of guy.

He announces a contest.

First place, you win money.

Second place, you win steak knives.

Third place, you’re fired.

Is this guy for real? Are there sales managers who act like this?

Of course, there are. I haven’t met any as a consultant to Fortune 1000 companies, but they’re out there.

I’ve worked with them.

And, though it’s a little contrarian to say this, there’s something important they have to teach salespeople and other managers.

In a word, they embody what everyone in selling needs: CERTAINTY.

If you are certain, definite, unequivocal about the value of your product, your service, your company, your place in the universe, your right to earn a big, fat paycheck, then the world is your oyster.

As they say, people will step aside for a person who knows where he’s going.

On the other hand, if you’re riddled with doubts, and you wear your insecurities on your sleeve, then you have a big problem.

The Glengarry manager won’t hand you those knives, he’ll hurl them at you.

Like a hard-bitten drill sergeant or that dour taskmaster of a teacher you had in high school, he won’t cut you any slack; he’ll just cut you from the team.

Results, results, results, results!

That’s all he’ll accept.

Like one of those old-fashioned cops with bursting biceps, his swagger discourages most problems from ever ripening into existence.

I had a martial arts instructor who was like this. Somebody asked him about the potential for injuries in training and he shot back:

NOBODY GETS INJURED HERE. THERE ARE NO ACCIDENTS HERE!

Tell that to the guy I drove to the hospital for a dozen sutures to his chin, but even in that fellow’s mind, after the surgeon was done with him, if you asked him what happened, he wouldn’t quite admit it really happened.

He never spoke of it.
In the movie, “Glengarry Glenross,” the sales manager is a jerk, an acerbic cynic, a malevolent force, a take-no-prisoners, I-don’t-hear-your-excuses, kind of guy.

He announces a contest.

First place, you win money.

Second place, you win steak knives.

Third place, you’re fired.

Is this guy for real? Are there sales managers who act like this?

Of course, there are. I haven’t met any as a consultant to Fortune 1000 companies, but they’re out there.

I’ve worked with them.

And, though it’s a little contrarian to say this, there’s something important they have to teach salespeople and other managers.

In a word, they embody what everyone in selling needs: CERTAINTY.

If you are certain, definite, unequivocal about the value of your product, your service, your company, your place in the universe, your right to earn a big, fat paycheck, then the world is your oyster.

As they say, people will step aside for a person who knows where he’s going.

On the other hand, if you’re riddled with doubts, and you wear your insecurities on your sleeve, then you have a big problem.

The Glengarry manager won’t hand you those knives, he’ll hurl them at you.

Like a hard-bitten drill sergeant or that dour taskmaster of a teacher you had in high school, he won’t cut you any slack; he’ll just cut you from the team.

Results, results, results, results!

That’s all he’ll accept.

Like one of those old-fashioned cops with bursting biceps, his swagger discourages most problems from ever ripening into existence.

I had a martial arts instructor who was like this. Somebody asked him about the potential for injuries in training and he shot back:

NOBODY GETS INJURED HERE. THERE ARE NO ACCIDENTS HERE!

Tell that to the guy I drove to the hospital for a dozen sutures to his chin, but even in that fellow’s mind, after the surgeon was done with him, if you asked him what happened, he wouldn’t quite admit it really happened.

He never spoke of it.

Sales Managers: When Should You Fire Your Best Salesperson?

There are just some topics that you shouldn’t bring up in polite company.

I could name them, but I’d be out of line.

Yet I can’t resist speaking about this one topic of special relevance to sales managers everywhere.

When should you fire your BEST salesperson?

This is a question that comes up more than you might think, though it is as taboo to openly ask as “When is the boss going to croak?”

Salespeople, especially top producers, are the sacred (cash) cows of organizations, large and small. They’re revered, spoken of with respect, pampered with perks like quarterly and annual meetings in exotic and exciting locales.

NOBODY wants to get in their way; nobody who is rational, right?

After all, aren’t they doing the heavy lifting for everyone else?

But sometimes, as that expression says, “You can’t live with them, and you can’t shoot them.”

So, when does this happen?

You just have to consider firing your best sellers when:

(1) They challenge your authority and they undercut your ability to motivate and manage the rest of the team.

(2) They flaunt the rules, encouraging their weak-minded and less talented peers to follow-along.

(3) They say, “Stick-em-up!” They insist on receiving sweeter commissions and hidden perks that will make management seem to others to be biased and double-dealing.

(4) They’re boasting to others about how they’re going to join the competition or set-up shop for themselves.

(5) They operate unethically, paying-off customers for doing business with them.

I faced this challenge when I was a fresh sales manager for a large publishing company. Recently promoted, I wanted to prove myself by boosting sales, but I was stymied every step of the way by an envious also-ran who had lost out to me for the promotion.

I made the move, sales dipped temporarily, but then I built them to unprecedented levels.

The “best” seller, as it turns out, was preventing his peers from reaching for more, outdoing their personal bests.

There are some things that just have to be said, and one of them is “Happy Trails!” to someone who ushers in both the best of times, and the worst.

There are just some topics that you shouldn’t bring up in polite company.

I could name them, but I’d be out of line.

Yet I can’t resist speaking about this one topic of special relevance to sales managers everywhere.

When should you fire your BEST salesperson?

This is a question that comes up more than you might think, though it is as taboo to openly ask as “When is the boss going to croak?”

Salespeople, especially top producers, are the sacred (cash) cows of organizations, large and small. They’re revered, spoken of with respect, pampered with perks like quarterly and annual meetings in exotic and exciting locales.

NOBODY wants to get in their way; nobody who is rational, right?

After all, aren’t they doing the heavy lifting for everyone else?

But sometimes, as that expression says, “You can’t live with them, and you can’t shoot them.”

So, when does this happen?

You just have to consider firing your best sellers when:

(1) They challenge your authority and they undercut your ability to motivate and manage the rest of the team.

(2) They flaunt the rules, encouraging their weak-minded and less talented peers to follow-along.

(3) They say, “Stick-em-up!” They insist on receiving sweeter commissions and hidden perks that will make management seem to others to be biased and double-dealing.

(4) They’re boasting to others about how they’re going to join the competition or set-up shop for themselves.

(5) They operate unethically, paying-off customers for doing business with them.

I faced this challenge when I was a fresh sales manager for a large publishing company. Recently promoted, I wanted to prove myself by boosting sales, but I was stymied every step of the way by an envious also-ran who had lost out to me for the promotion.

I made the move, sales dipped temporarily, but then I built them to unprecedented levels.

The “best” seller, as it turns out, was preventing his peers from reaching for more, outdoing their personal bests.

There are some things that just have to be said, and one of them is “Happy Trails!” to someone who ushers in both the best of times, and the worst.

Live Sales Coaching

“Live” coaching is coaching that you do based on your observations of your people. Certainly it is critical to look at the metrics of how salespeople are performing against objectives to guide your coaching. Equally and maybe more important is to sit down and work with your salespeople to find out firsthand what they are doing, what they know, and where they need support so they can achieve the metrics.

Since most of you have come up through the ranks of sales as top performers, you may be tempted to keep on selling during team calls. But the role of the sales manager is not to sell but to develop others to sell to achieve their objectives. In reality it is sometimes necessary for you to sell, but “when and how” is what differentiates great sales managers from sales managers who continue to be great salespeople.

Let’s examine your role during a team call:

• First, make sure there is a compelling reason why you are going (i.e., add value, coach, show commitment, uptier …).

• Then make sure it is a team call and don’t go in place of the salesperson or you may have difficulty extricating yourself.

• Before the call, clarify roles by asking the salesperson what he/she thinks the roles should be and then give your view.

• Make sure the salesperson leads the call — not you.

• Remember, all team members on the call must have a role and that, while there can be only be one lead, you must have a role. Together, look at the agenda and decide what it will be. For most sales calls, the salesperson should lead 85 to 90% of the call.

- As said before, there will be times when it is necessary for you to assume the primary sales role. For example: developing brand new salespeople, a very important opportunity/final presentation which calls for your skills (assuming in this case the sales manager is more skilled — which is not and should not always be the case — Think about a coach for a top athlete — the star athlete is the better performer, but the coach is nonetheless essential.). But you assuming the sales role should be an exception, not the rule. By preparing, debriefing, and coaching your salespeople, you will accelerate their development.

Debrief the call against those objectives and what you observed.

“Live” coaching is the best way to get the information you need and accelerate the development of your people. You will take a big step in making the challenging transition from exceptional salesperson to exceptional coach.

“Live” coaching is coaching that you do based on your observations of your people. Certainly it is critical to look at the metrics of how salespeople are performing against objectives to guide your coaching. Equally and maybe more important is to sit down and work with your salespeople to find out firsthand what they are doing, what they know, and where they need support so they can achieve the metrics.

Since most of you have come up through the ranks of sales as top performers, you may be tempted to keep on selling during team calls. But the role of the sales manager is not to sell but to develop others to sell to achieve their objectives. In reality it is sometimes necessary for you to sell, but “when and how” is what differentiates great sales managers from sales managers who continue to be great salespeople.

Let’s examine your role during a team call:

• First, make sure there is a compelling reason why you are going (i.e., add value, coach, show commitment, uptier …).

• Then make sure it is a team call and don’t go in place of the salesperson or you may have difficulty extricating yourself.

• Before the call, clarify roles by asking the salesperson what he/she thinks the roles should be and then give your view.

• Make sure the salesperson leads the call — not you.

• Remember, all team members on the call must have a role and that, while there can be only be one lead, you must have a role. Together, look at the agenda and decide what it will be. For most sales calls, the salesperson should lead 85 to 90% of the call.

- As said before, there will be times when it is necessary for you to assume the primary sales role. For example: developing brand new salespeople, a very important opportunity/final presentation which calls for your skills (assuming in this case the sales manager is more skilled — which is not and should not always be the case — Think about a coach for a top athlete — the star athlete is the better performer, but the coach is nonetheless essential.). But you assuming the sales role should be an exception, not the rule. By preparing, debriefing, and coaching your salespeople, you will accelerate their development.

Debrief the call against those objectives and what you observed.

“Live” coaching is the best way to get the information you need and accelerate the development of your people. You will take a big step in making the challenging transition from exceptional salesperson to exceptional coach.

Are You Running Too Many Poor Or Non-Productive Meetings?

There are numerous meetings that take place every day in organizations. There are informal spur-of-the-moment meetings. There are weekly staff update meetings. There are monthly executive briefings. And there are board meetings, training meetings, strategic planning retreats, meetings with clients, staff and suppliers.

Most meetings generally take too long, cover too little, end without specific plans, objectives or outcomes and waste time, money and resources. I believe that “meeting” is an important business function. Meetings get people together to share information, ideas, problems, activities, solutions and feelings.

One of the common complaints of many employees (including managers) is how many meetings are held that are a waste of time, energy and company resources. These meetings can be anything from an organized once-a-year corporate annual meeting or retreat to those spontaneous meetings where people say, “let’s take a few minutes and get together and see if we can work this out, solve this or come up with some creative ideas.”

What would you guess is the total number of man-hours spent in meetings in your department or organization in a month? Just multiply the total number of meetings every day for a thirty day period, by the number of people in those meetings by the length of time then divided by 60 and then multiply by 20. If you can handle it you can also take your average hourly wage (that includes the payroll for executives and managers who may be not be on an hourly wage) and multiply that times your total number of hours. This exercise might take a few minutes and don’t do it if you are on any kind of cardio vascular medication.

My research indicates that most managers and executives spend too much time in meetings and not enough time taking actions or making decisions that will solve the problems that cause the need for another meeting. Actually my research found that 63 % of managers said that most of the meetings they attend are redundant, a waste of time or poorly run.

Most meetings generally take too long, cover too little or too much, end without specific plans, objectives, decisions, outcomes or results and often waste time, money and resources. I believe that meeting are an important business function. Meetings get people together to share information, ideas, problems, activities, solutions and feelings. But poor meetings will often have the opposite effect.

There are numerous meetings that take place every day in organizations. There are informal spur-of-the-moment meetings. There are weekly staff update meetings. There are monthly executive briefings. And there are board meetings, training meetings, strategic planning retreats, meetings with clients, staff and suppliers.

Most meetings generally take too long, cover too little, end without specific plans, objectives or outcomes and waste time, money and resources. I believe that “meeting” is an important business function. Meetings get people together to share information, ideas, problems, activities, solutions and feelings.

One of the common complaints of many employees (including managers) is how many meetings are held that are a waste of time, energy and company resources. These meetings can be anything from an organized once-a-year corporate annual meeting or retreat to those spontaneous meetings where people say, “let’s take a few minutes and get together and see if we can work this out, solve this or come up with some creative ideas.”

What would you guess is the total number of man-hours spent in meetings in your department or organization in a month? Just multiply the total number of meetings every day for a thirty day period, by the number of people in those meetings by the length of time then divided by 60 and then multiply by 20. If you can handle it you can also take your average hourly wage (that includes the payroll for executives and managers who may be not be on an hourly wage) and multiply that times your total number of hours. This exercise might take a few minutes and don’t do it if you are on any kind of cardio vascular medication.

My research indicates that most managers and executives spend too much time in meetings and not enough time taking actions or making decisions that will solve the problems that cause the need for another meeting. Actually my research found that 63 % of managers said that most of the meetings they attend are redundant, a waste of time or poorly run.

Most meetings generally take too long, cover too little or too much, end without specific plans, objectives, decisions, outcomes or results and often waste time, money and resources. I believe that meeting are an important business function. Meetings get people together to share information, ideas, problems, activities, solutions and feelings. But poor meetings will often have the opposite effect.