What I am about to say can be executed by a new sales manager on their own, or via the direction of senior level sales manager.

The challenge of a new sales manager getting up to speed and succeeding would be a common problem for most companies because most have not done their homework.

Everyone would agree that in order to succeed you need a "plan." Well this is true of the position of sales manager; it too should have a plan.

If you are a sales manager, or have this position reporting to you, you should have a very complete document telling how to execute that job. Each task of the sales manager's job should be listed and described in enough detail so that anyone needing to fill in for the sales manager can run the show as it currently runs.

To make a new sales manager successful I would suggest that their first job be that documenting the tasks and execution of the position. The manager should discover the key things that need to be done, learn how to do them, and then document how and when they are to be done.

This exercise will get the new manager evaluating the duties of the position and learning how to do them at the same time. This task will also quickly reveal those things the new sales manager doesn't know how so that he can go to his manager to learn them.

As a new manager you should not worry about changing anything, unless there are major problems left by your predecessor that simply can't wait. The new manager should maintain a steady focus on doing and documenting the principle tasks of his job while developing this new relationship with the team.

The focus with team members should only be on "How can I help?" or "What can I do that will make you better?" Corrective actions should only be taken on at this point for the most serious of problems, those things that simply cannot wait. In the beginning, just helping is the best strategy.

It may take a week or two for the new manager to accomplish this task. The result will be a complete documentation of the sales manager's job and a manager who now knows all the critical things he needs to be doing and how to do them.

The "just help focus" with the team will have revealed a potential list of projects that may improve team performance. And, by focusing only on "helping" the team during early part of the relationship, there will now, hopefully, be in place a good working relationship between the new manager and the team.

The new sales manager will now be in a position to evaluate what is going on (maybe with the help of his manager) so that the critical and most important issues can begin to be solved. He will know his job and responsibilities and will have a working document that can be added to or improved as he works into the future.

The next step in the process would be to evaluate team skills and the sales process so that these areas can be optimized.

This concept is certainly not limited to sales management - companies should do this for every position (including salespeople). You will find this an invaluable exercise in creating success with any new manager (or employee). And if you are one of the few companies that has already done this, the manager now can execute this exercise with the benefit of that document achieving the same objective and possibly even enhancing what currently exists.

In a face-to-face card payment environment a well trained staff at the checkout can identify certain suspicious indications in a cardholder's behavior that can help prevent a potential fraudulent transaction from being processed. It is advisable that you do provide your personnel with proper training so that they know what signs to look for, in addition to following all other procedures for identifying fraudulent activity, such as identifying cards that have been tampered with, signatures on the sales receipts that do not much those on the back of the cards, etc. Keep in mind that identifying fraud before it actually takes place helps to avoid chargebacks against which you have no remedy. Here is a list of suspicious signs at the point of sale that you should look out for:

• Purchasing large quantities without much attention to details. If a customer is purchasing a sizable amount of merchandise, without much care for its size, color, or even price, that might be an indication for fraud.
• Ignoring free delivery. If your customer asks no questions or completely ignores a free delivery option, in favor of a quicker but paid one, this could be a warning sign.
• Attempting to rush the cashier into a quicker processing of the payment. Although your customer may really be in a hurry, such behavior can be intended to force the point-of-sale person to circumvent fraud prevention measures.
• Making multiple purchases within a short amount of time. If a customer completes a purchase, leaves the store and then comes right back in, he or she might be doing it because they believe that making multiple fraudulent transactions, each for a lesser amount, would not attract much scrutiny.
• Shopping either right after the store opens or before it closes. A fraudster might be shopping early in the morning or late in the evening, in the hope that the point-of-sale personnel will not be as attentive as during other stretches of the day.

You should keep in mind that, although suspicious, a certain behavior might be perfectly justified and explained in another, completely legitimate way. By themselves, none of the above examples constitutes a proof of a fraudulent activity. You should always use your observations of customer behavior in the context of the particular setting. Different establishments attract different types of customers and what is considered a normal customer behavior at one place might be interpreted as completely irregular at another.

Once you have accumulated enough observations to suggest that a fraudulent activity is probably taking place, you should contact your merchant bank's authorization center and make a "Code 10" request. You should keep the card in your possession, but only if it is safe to do so. If you feel threatened or uncomfortable, complete the transaction and make the call to your merchant account bank's center right after the customer leaves. Then follow the instructions your merchant bank gives you.

The marketing components that used to generate leads -- product, performance, promotion and price --are no longer effective. The tools for selling -- lots of sales calls, lunches, golf and give-always -- are expensive and inefficient. In the 21st century, selling and business development require the following:

* Prospecting Using the Internet
* Relationship Selling
* Network Selling and
* Investigative Selling.

Prospecting Using the Internet

Cold calling is dead. It's not productive. It's demoralizing. It's expensive. Prospecting in the 21st century involves setting the stage for people and companies to find you so that you can solve their problems. Flaunting advertisements and brochures is also a waste. Everyone goes to the Internet these days to find solutions to their problems. Therefore, the successful sales person will have to know how to use the Internet to generate qualified leads. Corporations should have an Internet program, but territory and product-line sales people should have their own Internet marketing program as well. And it's not about having a website, it's much more. This is the passive side of prospecting. This means that sales and business development professionals must set up an aggressive Internet Marketing process for their territory or product so that the people they want to do business with will come to them.

Relationship Selling

The other 21st Century prospecting element is the active side of prospecting. This is where you use professional relationships to find out about problems or opportunities where you can assist. There are so many opportunities for a sales person or account manager to discover within their existing and old/lost accounts. Using professional relationships make this prospecting method effective and easy.

Sales and Business Development people with professional relationships are seen as a resource to protect or enhance buyers' careers. These people will be open to give information and coach you for cross-sells into their business unit, associate divisions and/or other product lines. If you develop professional relationships, these people will give you qualified leads, buy more and more from you, and refer you to others.

Network Selling

However, one has to learn how to use these relationships to get networked to others. There are two focuses for successful selling in the 21 Century:

1. You must spread like a virus in your customers' organizations. I use the phrase - move up and out.

2. You must get to the profit-center leaders, C-level executives, and senior staff of the business units you sell into and develop professional relationships with these people to effectively close sales, cross-sell and be seen as the preferred supplier. Hanging out with the subordinates will never secure your position with your customers.

The only way you'll move up and out and connect with the leaders is by using your professional relationships to network you to others. People with whom you've developed credibility -- your Golden Network as I call it -- will help you if asked. But if they are not asked for a referral and introduction to others, they will rarely offer to connect you with the leaders and others you should be meeting. So you must ask for their help.

To make the networking process productive, what you ask for, how you ask for it, and where you look for help will make all the difference between getting to the right people and getting to useless people for your initiative. This process is Network Selling.

Investigative Selling

Once a sales or business development person connects with a person of value, using his or her network connection, the goal is to convert that individual into his or her Golden Network. In other words the sales or BD person will have to develop a professional relationship with this new contact.

People will consider another individual a professional relationship only if there is something in it for them. So a sales or BD person needs to investigate the critical drivers of their target contact in order to learn what this person values that s/he can deliver. Everyone is different and without knowing each individual's triggers, a sales person will flounder or worst yet, become annoying. But if the sales person can make the connections between the desires and the deliverables, a relationship can be established, and then this new contact will continue networking you up and out until you are connected to the leaders and their staffs.

The process for determining one's triggers is Investigative Selling. It requires knowing the questions to ask and how to ask them. Although this sounds simple, it requires finesse, skill and confidence. Investigative Selling also requires effective listening, and the ability to expose and entice. Both of these are advanced skills never taught in schools and rarely taught in product or sales training. So the successful sales or business development person will have to learn these Investigative Selling skills and be able to take them seamlessly to the street.

The sooner the sales or business development person masters these Internet Marketing, Relationships, Network and Investigative Selling Skills, the sooner sales will close and closing ratios rise.