Sales Management

Newsletter Marketing - An Inexpensive But Effective Way To Increase Sales

2009-06-10T02:59:00.002-07:00

Want to increase your company's equipment and service sales through marketing and promotional programs but don't have the big ticket budget for advertising or promotion?

Try using an inexpensive but effective Newsletter E-mail Marketing program.

What is Newsletter E-Mail Marketing?

The purpose behind newsletter marketing would be to promote your company's products and services, and to enhance its image and reputation as a professional, dependable, and knowledgeable entity.

Newsletter marketing offers some of the benefits typically gained from On-Hold Promotions, in that it informs the customer about promotional specials or new items and services offered by your company. But an added advantage to you is that your promotional message is delivered to your customers or prospects on a regular basis, rather than your waiting for your customers to hear your promo message only when they call your company and are put on hold. In addition, your newsletter's content gives your prospect motivation to open your newsletter and read it when he receives it.

How is all this accomplished?

A weekly--or monthly--newsletter with your company name, logo, and promotional information is created, along with news, tips, articles, advice, and information which are all selected on the basis of their potential interest to your customers. After your newsletter is approved by you, it is then E-mailed to a list of customers or prospects of your choosing.

Newsletter Format and Content

Your newsletter format is designed with these factors in mind.

Contents of each issue includes current and of particular interest to business people
New information, tips, news, advice, include articles and announcements about services, products, and new technology (excluding items which might promote your competitors, their services, or products), is chosen from professional articles and news releases, and replaces old copy from previous newsletter issues.
Your company name and logo are displayed in a prominent location on each newsletter intended to project the impression that the newsletter is created and published by your company, or at least that your company is an expert in this field.
Advertisements (except for your company promotions) from other vendors are not published in the newsletter.
Your Company Promotions

Each newsletter will feature a special column or space designed to promote your company, its products, and its services, such as:

Monthly equipment or services pricing discounts
Promotional information about your company, such as new equipment and services you are adding to your line
Special recognition, awards, or achievements of your company's executives or employees
Personnel or management changes at your company
Changes in company policies and services

Newsletter Service

A Newsletter service is one that is in business to help create and mail newsletters. In addition to mailing your newsletter, these services typically include reports that tell you which recipients actually open E-mails containing your newsletter.

How does this newsletter process work?

A simple four-step procedure allows you to choose your newsletter content and send it to selected prospects or customers, without printing costs or postage. All you pay for is a small fee for using the newsletter service (usually $.01 to $.02 per E-mail recipient). Or, if you work with a service that designs your newsletter and writes copy for you, there will typically be a small fee for that.

Step 1: You choose the template and format which you think will be of greatest interest to your prospects who receive your newsletter, along with a format which best represents your company, its services, products, and its policies.

Step 2: You create (and submit to your newsletter design service, if you have one) monthly specials, promotions, or news about your company (such as new products and service, upgrades, monthly pricing specials, etc.) which you'll want inserted into your newsletter template.

Step 3: Your template (if you use a design service) with your inserted company information is submitted to you for your approval.

Step 4: You E-mail your final template to a list of customers and/or prospects you have added to your E-mail list. (You can also print the one-page template to be used as a stuffer, hand out, or prospecting piece)

Using your newsletter for promotion in prospecting or in presentations to prospective customers

By including prospective customers in your Newsletter E-mail list, you keep your company name information in front of prospective customers, so that when they decide to purchase systems or service you can provide, your company will be one which the prospect contacts for quotes or information.

In following these simple steps, even a manager with little or no experience in newsletter marketing will be able to easily create an effective tool in marketing his products and services.

Garry Steck is publisher of Telcom Today, a newsletter for managers of telephone sales and service companies across the U.S., in addition to his 30 years as an independent telecom consultant. Among his most successful marketing programs, he lists newsletters as being near the top. He says a large portion of his new clients came to him as a result of his company's newsletters.

Sales Cultures - Is Your Sales Culture Heart Healthy?

2009-06-10T02:59:00.001-07:00

I know you've heard someone say, "We have a high performance culture here at Amalgamated. We have high expectations of all our people!" So, if you've been a member of a larger national sales organization how often did the term "high performance culture" turn out to have any benefit for you as the person in the trenches? Did the leadership team have high expectations of themselves on creating a sales culture that was not only good for shareholders, but also good for clients and employees?

Sorry for a little culture slamming, and I won't mention any companies, but here's the facts m'am.

"We have a high performance culture" usually means we are going to expect a lot from you. Okay, fine. But what can I expect from you in return? Can I expect a vibrant lead generation program? Can I expect to have a manager in my corner who will routinely carve time out of their schedule to help me succeed? Instead of telling me that I'm not doing enough can you tell me how to do more? Can I expect to have up-to-date sales collateral so my presentations help prospects visualize the benefits of our programs? When I bust my hump to over deliver can I enjoy even better rewards next year or will I bask in the sunlight with dramatically increased goals coupled with dramatically lower commissions? In other words, will you invest as much in me as I am being asked to invest in you?

First I would like to propose a definition of what an organizational culture is; The quality that arises in a person by virtue of belonging to a group. That person's behavior begins to reflect what they have learned through training and observing others in that group. With time, the members form agreement with what the group prizes as excellence. So with my definition of culture let me disclose something else. I am a huge believer in building a culture that benefits clients, stakeholders and employees equally. I believe strongly that satisfied employees will deliver a superior service, which customers will be willing to pay for...and stakeholders like that outcome.

So where do you begin to build a sales culture that will help develop a sustainable world class sales organization? Essentially there are four drivers;

Sales Effectiveness - A bundle of skills that arm each sales person & account manager with the tools they need to effectively help prospects navigate through a buying process and end up with needs that are satisfied. This isn't just about holding people accountable to having & using these skills. It's really about hiring people with high potential and then provided them with the training they need. This is much more than simply enrolling people in training. This is field managers who are experts in all the skill areas, and providing them the training they need to be excellent coaches in the field.

Reward & Recognition - There is a lot more to reward & recognition than a compensation plan & an annual outing. The compensation plan should produce a target income at sales goal attainment. Your peak performers should earn two or three times what your average performers earn. Why? Because sales people are great understudies and peak performers are the people you want them to imitate. Management reports should be shared throughout the organization and include not just the top performers but also the strugglers. The only people that should not make the standing report should be untenured sales people. Additionally there are all kinds of recognition vehicles formed around peer recognition, Sr. Management recognition and yes, family and friend recognition. For those recognized this affirms their contributions. For those that did not make the grade it affirms what the organization values.

Execution - Do all members of the team understand the sales strategy? Good communication is the key and good communication is not solely reliant upon the message...good communication is driven by understanding. Can people recite a summary of what the strategy is? Do they understand the role they play in the execution of that strategy? Has there been a set of metrics devised that will benchmark how well the organization is performing and how well each team member is doing?

Field Leadership - The Rosetta Stone of the quality of your sales culture is the company's investment in first level field sales managers. If you're expecting for your army of revenue generators to win battles you're going to have to invest in field support. Do your field generals understand their priorities? How should they be investing their time & energy? Is it 50% making sales calls, 30% admin., 15% forecasting and 15% coaching & developing people? If this is the reality of how people are spending their time your organization may never get any better than it is today. I have one question for CEOs and top Sales Officers. How many leadership training courses have you delivered to your field generals in the last 5 years? Don't hold them accountable for moving from a peak performing sales person to an excellent management leader. That's your job.

Is a heart healthy culture worth the investment? Only if you want the best sales people in your industry to aspire to work for your company.

The sales culture that develops in your organization cannot be controlled, but you can influence it dramatically. Your culture will be known for a theme, for it's character, for it's composure, for it's courage and yes...for it's care for people. You must deliver results, but how you go about delivering those results will define your culture.

Sales Performance Advisors delivers field ready tools to help sales people, sales managers, directors and executive management optimize their sales results.

How Sales Managers Can Make Meetings & Sales Teams Far More Productive With This One Strategy

2009-05-28T22:40:00.001-07:00

Sales managers spend a lot of time in meetings and attempting to motivate their sales teams. Much of this time is truly wasted and not invested because the focus is on existing problems such as failure to increase sales, declining customer loyalty, etc instead of focusing on solutions.

Problems in any organization are far easier to identify and in many cases re-identify. However, determining solutions and then executing those solutions is far more difficult. Possibly that is why there are endless meetings and far fewer results happening in many businesses. Sales Coaching Tip: Problem re-identification is another word for insanity - doing the same thing over and over again hoping for different results.

If you are facing the endless meeting behaviors as a sales manager, have you considered this one simple strategy to reverse those non-productive problem identification meetings - a proven goal achievement process reinforced with a proven goal setting tool.

For example, the weekly sales meeting discusses the ongoing problem of inability to increase revenue. Instead of beating this dead horse, write a goal statement that the sales team will increase sales by 2% during the next week. Sales Coaching Tip: Break large goals into smaller ones. Remember to eat the elephant one bite at a time instead of attempting to eat the entire elephant at one setting.

Before you jump into the action steps, invest the time to build the emotional buy in from each team member. List all the gains for achieving this objective as well as all the pains associated with failure.

Next work through all the known and unknown (potential) obstacles preventing that goal from being achieved. This is the time for active brainstorming. If your selling team is large, break them up into smaller groups.

Now bring the sales team back together and list all the possible obstacles on a white board or flip chart. Either collectively or again in teams start thinking about possible solutions for each obstacle. Then as a group determine the best solution for each obstacle.

Finally, identify time frames (dates) and delegation if necessary. At your next meeting, track your progress and make any course corrections. If the sales goal is achieved, set another. Use this goal achievement process to provide solutions and make those sales meetings truly valuable to everyone.

Chicago Sales Coach Leanne Hoagland Smith helps with sales skills to management development.

Read about Leanne's new book on sales coaching book. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, the Keys to Unlocking Sales Success.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Leanne_Hoagland-Smith

3 Tips Regarding the Right Dollar Store Merchandise For Your Store

2009-05-28T22:38:00.000-07:00

If you are about to start a dollar store one of the challenges you will face is determining exactly what dollar store merchandise to initially order for your store. Then there will be the challenges of decided which items to always carry, and which can be allowed to run very low if required by your ordering process or cash flow. To make this management task a little easier to handle, consider developing a set of rules for the ordering in your store. In fact consider incorporating the 3 tips that follow to make it even easier.

Tip #1) If you start a dollar store be sure to make consumables a top priority. In fact, always without exception make consumables a top ordering priority for your store. Items in this dollar store merchandise category include dish soap, auto dishwasher soap and other household cleaners, paper products including paper towels, bathroom tissue, and facial tissue, and health & beauty items such as toothpaste, hand soap, deodorant, and shampoo. These are the products shoppers need and will come back time and again to buy. However these items must be in-stock at all times to retain your shoppers and to keep them coming back.

Tip #2) Consider developing a plan to purchase replenishment merchandise for departments based on their sales. For example toys are always a big seller so don't ever allow them to run low. Make sure seasonal toys are in-stock as the season approaches. Party & gift is another department that always ends up as one of the top producing departments. This area generates a lot of store traffic, and the overall profit margins will often be among the highest in your store. Never allow core items to run low in these departments.

Tip #3) A valuable tool to use in the buying process is open to buy. That means you have an overall store budget that is based on a percentage of sales. Next track by-department sales and allocate money back to purchase replenishment merchandise based on the sales-by-department results. If one department ever needs extra money, reduce allocated spending for another department to cover. That way replenishment was always managed to your sales level.

If you start a dollar store be sure to incorporate these tips into your initial and follow-up ordering processes. They will make the challenges of carrying the right dollar store merchandise much less challenging for you to handle.

To your success when you start a dollar store!

Learn how you can Start your own Dollar Store Business.

Bob Hamilton is an entrepreneur, author, writer, business consultant and trainer.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_Hamilton

Sales Lead Management

2008-09-02T04:11:00.000-07:00

Sales lead management is a business activity that tends to be cast aside when the going gets good. When the current revenue stream is flowing great, sales lead management is the farthest thing from people's mind. Unfortunately, when marketing activities are put on hold the likelihood that they need to be used increases.

One of the most dangerous things that happens to professional service businesses when they start generating lots of revenue, is that sales lead management suffers. Typically what happens is the owner starts to work more and more hours. This results in lots of billable hours. But, an increase in billable hours often comes with a decrease in marketing hours.

Poor Sales Lead Management Is Poor Business Practice

Sales lead management is neglected when there is less time available. Attending networking events and doing follow-ups and sales calls almost disappear. Phone calls from leads remain unreturned for days, even weeks at a time. Slowly, concern for the business diminishes and is replaced with concern about writing invoices.

This lack of sales lead management is a sure sign of future death. You need to be constantly adding new opportunities to your funnel. Going to more networking events, getting new people in your database, and getting more proposals out there.

Not all sales lead management activities, though, need to be this time intensive. Direct mail is an excellent sales lead management technique that can run on autopilot. It is also financially affordable.

Regardless of what type of sales lead management you use, you need to be spending much of your time on getting people into your funnel. Qualifying leads as prospects. Getting the prospects and getting them signed up for work. You never know when you will need to turn those leads into paying customers. It is much easier to do so when they are already part of your marketing efforts.

The Bottom Line on Sales Lead Management

The type of sales lead management technique you use is not the most important issue. The important factor is that you use sales lead management consistently, regardless of where your business is at in terms of sales and revenue volume. When you have hardly any customers, to when you have more customers than you think you can handle, your sales lead management will make a difference in your long term success.

Copyright MMI-MMVI, Computer Consulting 101. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

Joshua Feinberg, co-founder of Computer Consulting 101, helps computer consulting business owners get more steady, high-paying clients. Learn how you can too. Sign-up now for your free access to field-tested, proven computer consulting secrets at Computer Consulting 101.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joshua_Feinberg

Dialer Evaluation - A Guide to Purchasing a Dialer

2008-08-25T22:25:00.003-07:00

Looking into buying a dialer and finding a vendor can be challenging, not to mention finding the right one for you. You want everything to be perfect. You should have everything that your company needs in that dialer system and vendor. But how do you do such a thing? You need to research and research well. Even the best of vendors and dialers can't make up for a lack of preparation on your side of the deal. You need to be well prepared for whatever is coming. The researching is your key to success.

Some of my other articles have gone over several of these areas, but I want to stress the point again and again: Research. Its like judging a book by its cover. A vendor might look fancy up front, but within the system, there could be quite a few loop holes and such, and you wouldn't want that running your dialing system. Know what the departments in your company need, and know what you need. Right it down on paper. Don't pay for what you will never use. Keep several vendors in sight throughout the entire process. If you only have one that you are eying and its not what it seemed to be at first, you are out of a dialer and provider.

When investigating, find out everything that you can about the provider. If they are the one that you will use, you will want to know how well they will run your software. Search on line, ask around your company, call the actual provider, question them. Everything wi

Customers Don't Buy From People They Like, They Buy From Those They Trust

2008-08-25T22:25:00.001-07:00

It is often said that customers buy from people they like. While we don't usually buy from people we dislike, there is one more dimension to this old saying.

Customers buy from people they trust

To illustrate this point further, let's look at how typical prospective customers react to new sales people making the first contact with them (otherwise known as cold-calling):

1. They find an excuse to hang up the phone as soon as possible
2. They make themselves very busy during appointments with sales people
3. They keep their mouths shut as much as possible when sales people ask questions
4. They will not refer the sales people to a higher authority even when such a need is clear
5. They often use delay tactics such as "If there is a need, we will call you" to appease sales people, etc.

These are, just a few examples, of customer's behaviours when they distrust the sales person. As such, to get customers interested and excited about what you have to offer, you first have to win their trust.

A Question of Lust

The reasons that customers don't trust sales people is very simple: they feel that the only thing that sales people care about is getting their money. Sadly, this "lust for the customers' money" is quite true with many sales people out there, AND customers can smell them from miles away.

When customers make purchases, what they really want in exchange for the money they spend, is substantiated value. That is, can the products or services they buy bring better productivity, reduce wastages or simply improve their quality of life.

Hence, the first step to build trust is this: you have to be perceived as being on the customers' side and pro-actively help solve customers' problems.

Here's a simple example. When most sales approach their prospective customers, they will say something like, "Hello, my name is xyz, and I'm from abc company. How are you today? I would like to show you a demo of our latest productivity-enhancing gadget. As I will be around your vicinity on Tuesday afternoon, can I come and see you around 2 p.m. or 4 p.m.?"

The problem with this way of approach lie in how these intended customers respond. They will either just say "not interested", or say yes and then get their secretaries to tell you "the boss has an urgent meeting, please leave your materials on the front desk, and we will call you when we have a need".

The reason for such responses from customers is that they don't trust what you said. They probably have seen just too many "productivity-enhancing gadgets", and hear too many "I happen to be just in your neighbourhood" stories and certainly will be too busy to meet just another peddler of gadgets. Furthermore, they don't trust you enough to tell you their "productivity" challenges, if that is what your product will solve.

To overcome such trust issues at initial contact, both sales people and their managers will have to work together to build trust and allay customers' fears that they will be rip off, or that they will be wasting their time.

From the sales person perspective, she will have to provide the customer what Miller Heiman calls a Valid Business Reason into her opening call, e.g. "Hi, my name is xyz. I understand that many companies in your industry are facing serious challenges due to the sharp increases in raw material costs. I'd like to explore with you if we can help improve your productivity, and thereby reducing your costs."

From the sales managers' perspectives, trust will have to be built beyond the initial cold-call. Customers are likely to increase their trust if they had seen testimonies and case studies of past successes, PRIOR to the initial phone calls from sales people.

Build Credibility, NOT Benefits

Traditionally, many companies focus merely on the "Features, Advantages and Benefits", none of which will work IF the customer does not trust you enough. Hence, sales people would have to build credibility during the course of the sales process, namely:

* Listen
* Do your homework and ask intelligent questions
* Provide Assurance to your customers

Many sales people tend to put too much emphasis on their company, and the products they offer, that they forgot to listen to their customers needs, wants and concerns.

To ensure that customers spend more time talking, sales people would have to ask intelligent questions. Typically, customers expect sales people to have done some basic research on the customers' web sites. Sales people can improve on this by going through customers annual reports (if they are listed companies) or source for news reports about these customers. If a prospective customer is a competitor of a current customer, you can find out more information from the latter. Web 2.0 social networking sites are also a great source of information.

While some sales managers may argue that spending too much time on the Internet will eat into selling time and hence, is detrimental to sales. However, going to a customer and not knowing what are the right questions to ask will make the customer feel you are unprofessional and incompetent, which is worse. Sales managers will have to get the balance right by allocating sufficient time for research as well as for selling.

Ultimately, customers will often have niggling concerns about buying from you. Rather than avoiding those concerns for the fear that addressing them will hurt your sale, the opposite is likely to be true. If customers have got any unanswered questions or concerns about your products and services, they will be:

* Less likely to buy
* Buy less
* Drive a hard bargain on your price

Hence, when you are approaching the closing stages of your sale, look out for symptoms that show the customer is nervous or uneasy. Then seek to address such concerns and provide the relevant assurances.

The Policy of Truth

Perhaps the biggest destroyer of trust is to "over-promise and under-deliver". The causes of this destruction are two-fold:

* Sales people make promises to customers on things that they cannot (or unsure if they can) deliver
* Companies who deliver less-than-expected levels of product qualities to their customers

For the former, sales managers would have to ensure sales people do not over-promise their customers just to get the sale or to reach their sales target. Doing so will severely damage the trust between buyer and seller, and will make it really difficult for future sales efforts to succeed.

For the latter, nothing de-motivates sales people more than having to answer customers' questions that they don't have answers to. No amount of sales effort will succeed if the company does not invest enough in quality to make sure customers get the value they pay for. When companies deliver shoddy quality, not only will there be decreases in sales, there will also be an immediate increase in sales staff turnover. It's not a question of "if", it's just a question of time. After all, who wants to to sell for a company that they can't even trust?

by c.j. Ng

c.j. is an Affiliate with HR Chally Group in China. Founded in 1973 through a grant from the U.S. Justice Department, the HR Chally Group provides predictive and compliant assessment system for management, sales, technical, customer care, and administrative talents. Unlike other assessments that just conducts personality profiles, Chally profiles what is exactly required by specific job descriptions and responsibilities and predict if these talents can succeed in future. As such, you'll get:

* Up to 40% reduction in staff turnover

* Up to 30% increase in employee productivity

* 85%+ accuracy in identifying effective performers

Prior to this, c.j. was Asia Marketing Manager for a Fortune 500 logistics company, as well as Corporate Training Manager for Ringier AG, Switzerland's largest media group, in China, where he was responsible for sales team development, and helped increase the % of new hires to close their 1st sales within 2 months by 30%, as well as increase overall sales targets by more than 50%. Visit http://www.psycheselling.com/ for more info.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=CJ_Ng

Succeeding As a New Sales Manager - A Workable Success Plan For Individuals and Companies

2008-08-04T22:22:00.002-07:00

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.

Fraudulent Payment Processing in a Card-Present Environment

2008-08-04T22:22:00.001-07:00

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.

Sales Management - Selling and Business Development in the 21st Century

2008-08-04T22:22:00.000-07:00

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.

Hiring & Retaining Great Sales People

2008-03-11T23:16:00.000-07:00

When companies are looking to hire new sales people for their organization, most concentrate on hiring the person with the most experience or with a solid history of sales success. As a sales recruiter, our job is to find the best business development, account manager or sales rep for companies. However, many companies are not prepared to make even the best sales person successful once they begin their new sales job.

Many company specific factors go into making sales people successful. Companies who have had a hard time retaining top sales talent usually have a few things in common:

1) A well designed Sales Compensation Plan

2) Ongoing Product and Sales Training

3) Coaching, Mentoring and ongoing support from their Sales Manager

Sales Compensation Plan

From our experience, most small and medium sized businesses do not have a well designed sales compensation plan. We find the plan either too generous for the sales person or too generous for the employer. Either way, if the compensation plan is not set up properly, either your business will suffer or you will not be able to retain good sales people. As a rule of thumb, you should not pay your salespeople more than 20% of gross profit. Any more than that and your business is paying too much.

Ongoing Product & Sales Training

Having worked for and with many large companies and it never ceases to amaze me how during training 90% of the time is allocated to the product. Sales training and the process of how to sell a particular product is usually a small component in corporate training sessions. While product knowledge is important, it is irrelevant if your people do not know how to sell its features and benefits. Invest in ongoing product and sales training to ensure your sales people have up to date knowledge on new products and services and so they have the sales skills to sell it!

Coaching & Mentoring

Hiring a salesperson is a big commitment of time, energy and money. Making a hiring mistake with a sales rep can be costly on all fronts, not to mention opportunity cost, damage to key accounts and missed opportunities. We talk to dozens of sales people on a daily basis and one of the main reasons sales people leave their job is lack of support, coaching and mentoring from their sales manager.

Ensure your sales managers are equipped with the skills to effectively coach and mentor your sales people. Most sales managers are promoted because they were the top sales rep and do not necessarily possess the skills needed to be a coach and mentor. Invest in sales management training for your sales managers to ensure their skills are up to the challenge.

The important thing to remember is that finding a great sales person is only half the battle. You need to invest in their selling skills, product knowledge and their sales managers to ensure you have sales people that are successful and stay with your organization for years to come.

Time Management - Sales Productivity's Black Hole

2008-03-11T23:15:00.000-07:00

I spent a number of years as a consulting nuclear chemist and radiation protection specialist at commercial nuclear power plants. Which means I love physics!

I've always been baffled by the concept of managing time, because from a physics perspective time can't be managed. The proof is obvious when we consider... it's impossible to manage our time so effectively that we get 25 hours in a day, nor is it possible to manage our time so poorly that we only get 23 hours in a day.

We can't find time or make time.

The only thing we have control over is what we do in the slices of time each day.

A great deal of people manage their day by using a to-do-list. Stop and think for a moment, traditionally, how do we create a to-do-list?

The phone rings, emails arrive, clients or prospects call, boss assigns a task, a coworker needs a favor, sales calls to make, follow-ups to perform, demos to give, proposals and contracts to write, not to mention; market research to conduct and articles and white papers to read. If new tasks pop up while we are engaged in any of these activities, just add them to the list.

Yes, we can rewrite our task list. Yes, we can assign numbers or letters to denote importance, but what does that have to do with being effective?

So many people confuse their to-do-list(s) with their priorities. They run around with their hair on fire, adding tasks to and checking tasks off the to-do-list.

The gravitational attraction of the mountain of information and activities competing for our attention is like a giant black hole gobbling up space in our head and time in our day. Finally, our busy day ends without completing the key sales activities that add prospects to the funnel, move deals closer to close and increase our capabilities as sales professionals.

So what should we do?

Instead of trying to better manage our time, we should focus on managing our effectiveness. Sales effectiveness is a function of our ability to identify and prioritize high impact sales activities that are in alignment with achieving of our objectives.

Stop focusing all your efforts on planning your day and start planning your week, month and quarter.

Develop objectives for your territory, sales and personal development
Set objectives for each of the key phases of your sales process
Define the success metrics and targets for each objective
Create a rolling 90-day action plan and organize tasks by objectives
Create a model work week - your weekly schedule
Move your tasks off the action plan and onto your calendar
Measure progress towards achievement of the objectives weekly
Say no to everything else

I highly recommend Sally McGhee's book Take Back Your Life using Microsoft Outlook 2007 to Get Organized and Stay Organized (she even covers work life balance).

So how do we identify the high impact sales activities?

Start by answering three questions:

What does a great day of selling look like?
What do you have to do to prepare to have that great day of selling?
What do you have to do to string more great days of selling back to back to back?

I'm very interested in what you think so drop by my blog and leave a comment.

Martice E Nicks Jr

Partner - Applied Concepts Institute, LLC

Professional Speaker, Master Sales Productivity Consultant, Coach and Trainer

Martice has 27 years as a successful consultant in government and private sectors. He focuses on optimizing and integrating systems that drive revenue and facilitate organizational performance. Martice has held multiple executive and management positions in companies including founding and self-directed teams. His approach brings a sense of urgency to drive positive behavioral change and most importantly-measurable business results. Clients realize between 15-30% increase in revenue in 90 days.

Create Events to Gain Customers

2008-03-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

If you have ever put on an event, you know that registration can be very tiring and cumbersome. If it is a large event, you will have a computer system that takes care of the registrations. The Web can also be used for registration just as it can be used to have people register for your newsletter. Event registration on the Web enables you to drive people to your site and then navigate to the registration page. This way they get a taste of who you are and what you do at the same time that they are registering. Unfortunately, not everyone will register from the Web site and you will still need to enter some names by hand. This is not a big task if your anticipated audience is fairly small, but for a larger event you will need to deal with the process differently. Services such as Aceteva.com make the process very simple.

When I was setting up the executive breakfast for my Power Marketing seminar, I had people go to the Power Marketing Web site to register. It was the only option they had. I found that a number of people wanted to register but were not computer savvy enough to navigate the process. I contacted them by e-mail and asked for their information and entered it into the registration form on their behalf. Only a handful of people did not want to do this for themselves.

In the long run, you can also have people pay for events on the Web at the same time. If you do not have the ability to take credit cards over the Web, you can use a payment service such as PayPal. It will take the orders and process the credit cards and even deposit the monies into your bank account.

Effective Teritory Management Is Not Rocket Science

2008-03-02T21:36:00.000-08:00

Many salespeople today will waste a great deal of time calling on poor prospects – trying to turn poor prospects into customers, or trying to close prospects that do not want or need what they are selling.

One of the key characteristics in more effective territory management is doing a better job of qualifying prospects prior to giving them your time, energy or corporate resources.

Let’s look at a few ways to better manage your resource of time and territory management.

1. Ask more effective questions earlier in the sales process.
2. Pay attention to answers to determine whether this is a good time to try and sell this prospect.
3. Develop a customer profile to use as a template for your prospecting.
4. Audit your sales call activity by dividing the number of calls you make in a week by the number of miles you drive in that week. This number will give you your call route effectiveness.
5. Spend more prospecting time getting referrals.
6. Develop strategic alliances to help you improve your prospecting activity.
7. Plan your call activities early in the week, month or day.
8. Don’t give poor prospects more time than they deserve.
9. Get up earlier.
10. Go to bed later.
11. Use this extra time for planning, thinking or evaluating your routines.
12. Develop a daily checklist of what you will need to be effective.
13. Keep accurate sales records. The more information you keep, the better able you will be to spot potential trouble areas.
14. Try to get more of your prospects to visit your location, plant or office.
15. Don’t spend time giving presentations to non-decision makers.

Even if you only do half of these, you will find your time will be better spent and you will experience better overall sales results.

Product Conversions Will Lead You To Acquisition Candidates!

2008-03-01T03:24:00.000-08:00

As a proactive business buyer, whether a one-time buyer or someone who acquires companies on an ongoing basis, you must define and pursue various creative means to locate unique companies that potentially offer you extraordinary acquisition potential, whether they’re “officially” for sale or not.

There is a proven adage in the sales profession that directly relates to business buyers pursuing quality companies to buy, “All the good salespeople are employed! The fact of the matter is, the best acquisition candidates are officially NOT for sale. It is not that they cannot be bought; it is just that the business owners have not made a conscious decision or reached a compelling level of justification to sell, nor have they applied any company resources to put their business on the market. Again, as in selling, sometimes all you have to do is ask!

Should I Look for a “Deal” or an “Opportunity”?

Most seasoned business buyers will tell you that they are not always looking for “a deal” in a business acquisition, but to purchase a company for reasonable purchase terms that offers a consistent, high return on investment, with little or no buyer competition (Notice that the term, “purchase terms” was used here, not “purchase price”.) To a professional business buyer, purchase price is important, but more often than not, the terms and conditions of a business purchase are most significant.

Astute business buyers focus on leveraging their investment dollars first and foremost, seeking to acquire controlling interest in a viable company for the least amount of their own money. Business purchase terms typically make or break the deal.

Understanding that the best acquisition opportunities are among companies not officially for sale, knowing that finding a business to buy that has solid return on investment potential and can potentially be bought with favorable purchase terms makes the most sense to a business buyer, it is now prudent to focus on developing a unique means to find like companies to buy.

“Product Conversions” = Great Acquisition Candidates

Business buyers should take a magnified look at how manufactured product improvements can and will equate to definition of extraordinary acquisition candidates. Products and services advance and improve as new technology is applied to them. Companies applying new technologies represent outstanding acquisition opportunities.

The focus here will be on the systematic definition of applications of new technologies for only manufactured products. However, understand that services, be they consumer or commercial oriented, are directly, positively, affected by advancement and improvement of manufactured products used in the service provided.

Manufactured products can be improved in two fundamental ways, with product content and/or with manufacturing processes. To clearly understand how this can lead to finding acquisition candidates, a business buyer needs to take a closer look at these product improvement fundamentals:

Fundamental Manufactured Product CONTENT Advancements:

Product Application Improvements:

Function, speed, durability, taste, smell, simplicity, strength, noise level

Product Sensual Improvements:

Finish, color, clarity, texture, seamlessness, design, packaging Product Ease of Use Improvements: Multi-uses, storage, temperature range, safety, ease of transportation

Companies that are on the cutting edge of converting their products with advances in product content and related design improvements, such as: metals to polymers, polymers to composites, and organics to synthetics represent outstanding acquisition candidates.

Fundamental Manufactured Product PROCESS Advancements:

Product manufacturing throughput improvements
Product manufacturing cost reductions
Product quality control improvements
Product assembly simplicity
Product packaging improvements and advantages
Product material waste reduction

Companies that apply the latest advancements in manufacturing processes, making new products that exemplify state-of-the-art “product conversions ”by adding product value for the same cost or significantly reducing manufacturing costs represent extraordinary acquisition candidates.

A business buyer should clearly understand the evolution and status of a product conversion in a macro market trend perspective and where or how a potential acquisition candidate obtained the technology before pursuing the company. If and how the company protects the technology is also paramount to their future growth potential and perceived enterprise value.

Additional Opportunities May Not Be Obvious, But They’re There!

Once a new product conversion is discovered or introduced to the targeted market there can be extraordinary, synergistic business opportunities for an existing business owner or potential business buyer if they immediately apply and protect these same product material or manufacturing process advancements to their existing or planned product offerings. This is especially true for products in different industries and in other geographic markets.

What you have just read is potentially a major “enlightenment” if you are a strategic business buyer. Looking at companies to purchase from a product conversion prospective can differentiate you or your firm from most other business buyers.

Being the “first” business buyer to see the potential of a product conversion at a specific acquisition candidate can potentially mean you are the ONLY pursuer of that company, effectively, uniquely, positioning you or your firm to acquire an outstanding company with excellent growth and ROI potential with little or no purchase competition.

Why We Buy - to Avoid PAIN!

2008-03-01T03:20:00.000-08:00

Our innate drive to maintain our “comfort zone” directly affects how and what we purchase. Pain versus pleasure, similarity versus unfamiliarity and comfort versus stress; self inflected or not, are all feelings and emotions that affect most facets of our lives. How we deal with such emotion volatility directly affects our motivations to buy things that make us feel better.

Humans prefer pleasure, avoid pain, seek familiarity and would rather be comfortable than stressed out. Jack LaLane’s famous exercise philosophy of the 1960’s, “No Pain, No Gain” does not apply to most of us.

We all like things to be “just so”, always in line with our expectations. Anything that rattles our comfort zone generally leads to an action response, a reaction, immediate pursuit of problem resolution. Herein lies a fundamental basis for sales professionals to leverage our natural tendency to seek and purchase things that help us avoid pain.

Selling is truly a Painful Process

Most selling situations involve collaborative problem or pain definition between a salesperson and a buying prospect. The sales representative ultimately attempts to educate the potential buyer about how costly it is to them of NOT having his product or service to eliminate their pains.

Many times in a buy/ sell situation the buyer does not know what his pains are, just the symptoms of the pain. Typically he knows he wants to rid himself of the pain but needs more information from the sales person to determine what it will cost him to do that. Cost manifests itself in many forms, time commitment, effort to be made or monetary investment to solve the problem.

Get Answers to These 5 Key Pain Questions

A skilled sales person must systematically qualify, or better, DIS-qualify the buyer early in the discussion to find answers to five basic questions:

1) What are the prospect pains? (They may not know!)

2) Can I, my product or service effectively eliminate the pains defined?

3) Is the buyer truly motivated to eliminate his pains?

4) Does the buyer have the financial resources to proceed?

5) Who ultimately decides to apply the available financial resources to these pains?

It is most logical that a sales representative must secure answers to these five disqualification questions BEFORE they decide to present their pain solutions, products, information or services to the buying prospect.

This decision to delay presentation, to postpone the “sales pitch”, contingent on systematic disqualification of the prospect takes extraordinary discipline on the part of the sales representative. Most average sales people immediately jump into their presentation having no idea what really are the prospect’s pains, if he’s motivated to fix them, can afford the relief or whether he has the authority to make the purchase decision.

Prospect “Pains” are not Unique

With a “pain definition” perspective incorporated in your selling approach you will quickly realize that many of your sales prospects have similar pains. You can categorize these pains, define their most common causes and solutions, then prepare in advance of your sales calls written or visual selling tools specific to each common pain. Each selling tool would be used only for a specific pain.

It is also natural for your prospects to have appreciation for others who had similar problems as they have. Anything you can do to document how you as a sales representative addressed another person’s like pains with your products or services will go a long way to justify their pending purchase. Written case histories of successful application of your product or service with previous customers are excellent selling tools.

Not “Features and Benefits” – It’s about PAINS!

So many sales technique training programs emphasize product or service feature and benefit “selling”. As a potential buyer it is nice to know all this, but prospects want the sales person to first listen to and understand their problems; how long they’ve had them, what its cost them and what they’ve done already to try to fix them. A potential buyer needs to do this first before they can fully appreciate any form of potential pain relief. (Again, save your sales pitch and get answers to the five fundamental pain questions defined here.)

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, once said, “We will do more to avoid pain than to gain pleasure”. This is particularly true if we are fully involved in pain at the time. With this prospect pain definition selling approach increases in your sales results are certain, resulting in significant pain relief for both the buyer AND the seller.

Motivate the Salesman By Helping Him

2008-02-26T02:10:00.000-08:00

The bigger tire firms restrict the dealers not only to a narrow profit margin but sell through countless distributive outlets, including their own stores. This further depresses both prices and profits. We, however, gave the independent tire dealer territorial exclusivity. We made sure the salesmen understood this.

But that still wasn't enough. The retail salesmen had been selling the well known tires so long, they had forgotten how to sell. Our client was an unknown name and the technical advantages of its tires were hard to teach to the salesmen.

We recognized that we had to conduct more than the usual product training and indoctrination program, and we had to do it fast. First, we wrote up some specific tire case studies that incorporated professional selling skills. Then, instead of having cumbersome meetings, we did the unusual. We rented a large van and outfitted it with video training equipment.

We drove from store to store in our van to do our motivational training. We found that the salesmen had been reluctant to commit their reputations to our product because they were weak on its technical advantages. We wanted them to have solid selling techniques backed up by sound product knowledge when they faced prospective customers. We wanted them to have the reeling of successful experience even if it was in a role-playing situation.

We spent more than an hour with each salesman going over the technical details, going over the sales cases we had written, and role-playing selling tires to each other and putting it all on videotape right in the van.

Then the salesman would review his performance and analyze it. After that, we erased the tape. We did that because we wanted the salesman to feel secure. Letting his boss see the tape would have only made the salesman anxious. And that is something you don't do to your best customer.

All this was long, hard work. We put thousands of miles on our van, traveling from one end of the country to the other. Why? Because those salesmen were our best customers. If we could motivate them, build their confidence in our tires sell them then they would sell the product. Essentially, this is what you do with your best customers. Removing the impediments to the sale is the first job of a company. And that first impediment is your salesman's reluctance to sell or his salesmanship deficiencies.

Further proof

Here's another recent experience of ours that points out the value in treating your salesmen in the same way as you would your best customers. Our client was a large distributor of steel, industrial hardware, electrical appliances, and plumbing supplies. Each salesman had a geographic territory and sold all lines. Our research showed that the salesmen were skimming only the surface of potential sales. Their sales line was too broad for any one salesman to be fully versed in all the products. So, instead of dividing the line by category and then having different salesmen call on each firm, we did the opposite. We divided the salesmen according to a specific kind of account steel mills, coal mines, contractors, and so on.

Soon we found we were getting deeper penetration in each of the lines because we were "market targeting." The more a salesman knows about a specific user/customer, the more he sells and the happier he is in his job. This approach enables salesmen to suggest new lines and pare the customer's inventory of lines he has less use for. Company profits and salesmen commissions increased markedly. Moreover, each customer felt that our salesmen were now experts in his industry. He was confident that our salesmen had the solutions, not just the catalogs.

What we did was to implement the attitude that our best customer is our own salesman. By targeting our sales strategy according to specific markets, and making each salesman an "expert" in his own area, we gave the salesman benefits and advantages just as we try to give to customers. Everybody comes out ahead.

Industry's best customer

There are many reasons why industry isn't terribly happy about salesmen. They cost money to maintain, they complain a lot, they sometimes inflate their expense accounts. But salesmen are the ones who move the products to the buyer, who make the sales that keep industry solvent. Yet, if industry wants high profits, then it must motivate its salesmen to an above-average degree.

One of the best ways of doing that is to treat the salesman the way he treats a customer. The salesman does not treat a customer as if he were an employee, and neither within reasonable limits should industry treat a salesman that way. He is the vital link between production and profit. If you do an excellent job of selling the salesman on your products and on ways to sell them better, he will almost inevitably do an excellent job of selling to customers. That's why I say that industry's best "customer" is the salesman, and he should be treated accordingly. Get him sold and you can sell the world.

Body Language - 14 Distracting Mannerisms That Can Cost You Sales

2008-02-26T02:00:00.000-08:00

Can you picture this body language? At a client meeting, Tom, the sales rep, is unconsciously clicking his pen. Sonia, his associate, is playing with her hair. Mark, the sale manager, is picking at his cuticles as he concentrates on what the client is saying.

We may not be aware of our mannerisms, but other people are. Distracting mannerisms can pull attention away from the speaker, and cause them to lose their train of thought. What's worse, we seldom realize our own mannerisms and the effect they have on others.

Here are 14 distracting behaviors. Are you guilty of any of them?

1. Scratching ourselves

2. Bite or licking our lips

3. Play with or stroking hair, mustache or beard

4. Picking teeth, fingernails or cuticles

5. Adjusting glasses, hair or clothing

6. Clicking pens

7. Bending paper clips or playing with rubber bands

8. Drum our fingers or tapping our feet

9. Whole body movements such as rocking, swaying or pacing

10. Jiggling pocket change

11. Clearing our throats

12. Frowning in concentration

13. Yawning with the mouth wide open

14. Twisting a ring, or removing and replacing it

These unconscious mannerisms send the message that we are tired, bored or distracted. We can catch ourselves and eliminate distracting habits so we look poised and professional. Ask a trusted friend to help you identify your tics and twitches.

You can undercut your words with your body language. If you tap your pen when you speak, the person listening to you will remember your pen. Sit still so you won't create distractions.

Whatever you do, from adjusting your eyeglasses to handing out a business card, avoid abrupt, jerky movements that make you look nervous or awkward. To exude self-confidence, keep all your movements controlled and purposeful.

Motivate the Salesman

2008-02-25T02:43:00.000-08:00

Body Language - 14 Distracting Mannerisms That Can Cost You Sales

2008-02-25T02:38:00.000-08:00

Transportation Agent - Sales Growth

2008-02-19T01:49:00.000-08:00

Asset based transportation sales forces are grossly inefficient. Totaling up salaries, health benefits, cars, training, and expenses then divided into the calls per day, $500 cost per call is the norm. Long call cycles to sale of 9-12 months are considered the norm in freight sales, putting the cost at +$5,000 for a transactional shipment rarely paying over $500. The slim margins of asset based transportation providers simply can not tolerate this practice. The independent transportation sales agent brings experience, superior skills and results to an otherwise ineffective/inefficient transportation sales marketplace.

The new trend is clear with transportation providers using cost effective independent sales agents that focus singularly on closing new business deals. Agents leverage their experience by avoiding asset based behaviors that kill sales such as ongoing reports, meetings for management, training without results, joint calls to satisfy organizational dotted lines, serving internal needs vs. client needs, sales contests, et al etc. Transportation agents understand the need to focus on market referral opportunities, vertical markets and shortened sales cycles as compensation is based on performance results. Sales agents know how to present offerings as measurably important to client needs, explaining within customer processes how a deal will work for them, with constant awareness of building justification to close the sale timely. Sales agents understand they are the catalyst to make a difference in creating new business. They must be convincing throughout the sales process to close deals...with the right targeted opportunity, the right decision makers, at the right time.

Professional sales agents focus their resources on activities that lead to closing more deals faster. Representing a portfolio of solutions of measurable value is a critical difference with sales agents in value creation for senior level contacts and their supply chain needs. Asset reps with limited value are relegated lower level influencers who are prone to decisions of convenience, and are simply unable to make business deals. Performance based compensation drives the right behaviors and therefore the right results with independent transportation agents.

The critical success factors that sales agents make happen every day are:

• Professionalism. No casual days, no branded shirts on calls, no cheapening of the product-services with goofy advertising specialties, no questionable entertainments. All business dress, always prepared to call objective, appointment efficiency, constantly dollarizing values for the client throughout process of making a deal.
• Prequalified targets. No cold calls, no spray and pray. Every target is researched through various industry information sources for prospects with multiple shipments and the appropriate decision maker contacts for higher call productivity and close ratios.
• Development of senior level contacts who understand measurable bottom line results. Referrals are leveraged for additional growth. Vertical marketing is implemented with every deal. The deal must be engineered to appeal to all influencers impacted by their supply chain of in and out goods.
• Engaging clients. Senior level decision makers have no time for the unprepared or limited value door knockers of asset transportation providers...these are pushed to low level contacts who lack the authority or influence for change but who asset reps love to hang with as non threatening and makes an appearance of doing their job. Access to senior level leadership requires an experienced agent leveraging excellent presentation skills, an understanding of matching right product-services to prequalified needs, leveraging client processes to make the offering a big deal, explaining financial implications, operational impact of savings/growth opportunities with a bold call to action that appeals to decisiveness, and deliverable/measurable values.
• Commitment. Every impression or action of a sales agent reflects their commitment to a deal, successful implementation and service support throughout the process/duration of the contract. Deals structured with visible win-win outcomes, accountability for both parties, ongoing reporting of performance value are required. Agents do not tolerate delay or indecision with influencers as these cause deals to unravel. Agents know how to keep senior players informed and part of the entire process. Lower level influencers often feel need to unravel deals to justify their positions and or maintain asset rep's pizza deliveries, specialty hand outs and unfortunately, sometimes much more.
• Sales Focus. The sea of books on selling, CDs/tapes, seminars or online training are long on fluff, humor and procedurals but very short on performance results or personal accountability. Freight companies often feel training is relatively inexpensive way to educate and/or motivate...essentially to justify sales management existence without facing the reality of addressing true sales performance. Sales agents already have the skills and knowledge it takes to be successful as new deals drive their compensation. While salaried reps are languishing in meetings, training, making reports or calling on unqualified contacts, sales agents are out closing new business.

Transportation providers that believe their front line salaried sales personnel are effective are mistaken. Buyers of transportation services have no time to sift through all the various provider presentations of products, services, or technologies. Senior leaders are now more receptive to the integrity and value of an independent sales agent who can consistently look out for the collective best interests of supply chain efficiencies. Transportation sales agency is the future for asset providers who want to grow cost effectively so they can focus on servicing client operational needs.

Motivate the Salesman By Helping Him

2008-02-19T01:47:00.000-08:00

Those "Ah-Ha" Moments As A Sales Leader

2008-02-18T03:11:00.001-08:00

One time someone asked me what were those "ah-ha" moments I experienced as a new region sales leader. I thought about it for a while and shared these three examples.

1) Understanding that "performance is progressive" was an "ah-ha moment" for me. In other words, recognizing what was good enough last week, last month and last year won't be good enough going forward if you sales team is going to increase their performance and contributions to the company's success.

Companies expect their people to grow and develop year after year. As they gain knowledge and experience the company expects more and better results. Simply put, a Sales Leader must instill the desire in each of his/her direct reports to focus on year over year performance improvement and then drive that sales person to those new levels.

Think about your role and responsibility in the area of "teaching" in everything that you do...use emails, voicemails, region meetings and spend time when you make calls with your ASMs to share best practices and coach your people on sales tactics and behavior that will make them more professional, more productive and more successful. Reality; when your sales people grow and develop so does our company's revenue and profits.

2) "Activity does not equal accomplishment", was another "ah-ha" moment for me. In other words, you need to make sure your team "is all about results not the amount of their activity".

Let me give you an example...sometimes a Sales Leader might direct his/her ASMs to make five calls a week on a certain type of customer. That is describing "activity" expectations but it is not establishing or defining expected results.

Bottom line, as the Sales Leader, you need to be crystal clear on your requests and the direction you provide...when you do, you will ensure your team understands the results you expect. If you are not clear, there is a chance they will focus on activity and not accomplishments and we all know that probably won't result in the revenue and profit growth the company needs.

3) "2 + 2 does not always equal 4" was one more "ah-ha" moment. The thing that you have to realize as a Sales Leader is this...your company can have the most wonderful, comprehensive and "can't miss" price, product, service and quality package in the industry and still not get the order!

The reason why? It is because there is a "history" at every account and that history is an important factor in the customer's sourcing decision.

For example, maybe your competitor took better care of your customer than your company did in periods of tight supply. Maybe they loaned the customer money at some point in time, or gave them extended terms, or allowed them to expand to different parts of the country when your company wouldn't.

The message is this...if you and your team don't understand the history at each account you can't shape your value proposition to address what is really important to the customer. Insisting that your people know the history (defined as: the behavior of your competitors and your company over time) of the customers they serve is fundamental to your sales person and your company's sales success.

What Is A Sales Pipeline And Why Is It Important?

2008-02-18T03:10:00.000-08:00

A Sales Pipeline is a useful concept used by Sales Managers, individual sales staff and the owners of small businesses to quantify the demand for their products and services. Regardless of what you're selling, by effectively managing your sales pipeline, you can smooth out customer demand and create a more stable sales cycle with more reliable results.

A sales pipeline works by placing cohorts of leads or prospects at the different stages of the sales process/sales cycle, and then measuring their progress through the pipeline, from unqualified lead to satisfied repeat customer.

Unfortunately for you and me, the pipeline has a tendency to leak. Leads and prospects fall out of the pipeline on the way, failing to become the happy customers we know they could be.

At a gross level, sales pipeline management is nothing more than estimating incoming cash flow. We look at our leads and prospects, make some estimates of the likelihood that they'll eventually buy our products and services, and feed that information along with their expected spend into our projections to find out how much revenue we're expecting to make.

But the real power of sales pipeline management becomes clear when we establish proper metrics and put processes in place to respond to changes in those metrics. To illustrate, consider the following story.

A retail sales client of ours once called us to ask if we could help him improve his company's sales. He explained that sales revenue was not high enough, and that his staff needed training in closing sales, so that they could close more sales and therefore improve sales revenue.

When we spent some time with his staff, it became clear that there was nothing wrong with their ability to close sales. Instead, we found that staff were finding it difficult to start or carry on a conversation with a customer. Most potential customers were walking into the stores, then walking out again without really having an opportunity to talk about the products they wanted to buy.

By analysing the sales pipeline and the particular points within the sales process where more customers were "leaking" from the pipeline, we were able to determine that the biggest problem staff had was not in closing sales, but in opening a dialogue with customers.

Once we established that, we ran some training courses and created training aids designed to assist staff in opening a sale and keeping a conversation going.

Year on year sales at each store increased by up to 20%.

There are several benefits to managing your sales pipeline effectively:

* By focusing on the entire pipeline instead of taking a short-term focus on closing sales, or getting a single high-value contract over the line, demand for your services will be smoother and your cash flow more reliable.

* Making incremental improvements of as little as 1-2% in your conversion rates can increase your sales by much more.

* An in-depth analysis of when and why your leads and prospects leak from the pipeline will pinpoint specific areas for improvement and help you get far more value for your training dollar.

* If you keep track of which prospects leak from your sales pipeline and which prospects don't, you can construct a profile of prospects who are more likely to buy and prospects who are less likely to buy. This knowledge will help you to focus your marketing material and allow you to more accurately qualify your leads, leading to a more streamlined, more efficient and less costly sales process.

* Once you have established an accurate sales pipeline, you can use it to plan for new product launches. If you were to plug all the information about your new product into an existing sales pipeline, you would quickly get a pretty good idea of how many leads you're going to have to generate to reach your new product's sales target. This will in turn assist you in deciding how to launch the product, and give you an idea of how much it's going to cost. If you're going to need 500,000 leads to reach your sales target, you're probably going to have to look at a mass market advertising campaign.

Sales Coaching - 3 Skills to Focus On

2008-02-13T02:26:00.000-08:00

A sales professional's success is determined by your willingness to invest in yourself. There are two areas for personal development that most will invest in, and one area only Top Producers invest in. Those who aren't Top Producers never even think to invest in themselves in this way.

That's not to say you shouldn't invest in all three areas because you should. The two areas you're familiar with are self-improvement and sales process training. The area you may not be so familiar with is customer focus.

Self-improvement development is designed to help you to increase your personal productivity, enthusiasm, and energy level. Yes, you need to be focused on doing the things that directly lead to business with enthusiasm for what you have to offer and with an energy level that reflects your commitment. Salespeople who are lacking in these areas tend to be very busy doing lots of "things", but have little production to show for their efforts.

Sales training development is essential. There's no question you need the skills to prospect, present, overcome stalls and objections, and close the sale. Without proficiency in these key sales skills you struggle only landing the occasional easy sale.

Client focus development is the critical difference between the average salesperson and the Top Producer. When you've developed your client focus skills you're able to: clearly understand the clients goals and get the client to openly share those goals with you, you're able to work with the client to develop a plan for the accomplishment of those goals in a mutually engaging on-going conversation, and you're able to develop a relationship with the client based on integrity and accountability leading to repeat business and referrals.

Sales Coaching - Outcome or Opportunity

2008-02-13T02:25:00.000-08:00

Do you view prospecting as an outcome or an opportunity? Do you think of prospecting in terms of a process or an event? The way you answer those questions makes a big difference in the results you experience.

Many people view getting the attention of a prospect as the outcome. That's not a good thing, and it causes you to miss many opportunities. Getting the attention of a prospect is simply an opportunity for you to develop and continue a relationship with that prospect.

Most people who treat getting the attention of a prospect as an outcome aren't able to capitalize on that attention. That's because to them the appointment was what they wanted and what they got. They weren't necessarily able to convert that appointment into a client and they didn't have anywhere meaningful to go with the prospect once the appointment ended.

Oops, big mistake. You get yourself in these dead end situations because you think of prospecting and the appointment as an event when you should be thinking of them in terms of a process. Getting the attention of a prospect is the first step in a process that builds a relationship with the prospect leading to a meaningful sales conversation where you're both there for the same reason.

You're both agreeing to the appointment to determine if there is a reason for you to do business together. To have a process for prospecting you need a multi-step, perhaps even multi-media, plan to continue to connect with the prospect adding value to the prospect so the prospect wants to continue the relationship and know more. Throughout the process you're conditioning the prospect to hear from you and to respond to you. And that gives you the power to turn opportunities into business.

Selecting the Right Recruiter for Your Sales Hiring Needs

2008-02-11T03:17:00.001-08:00

Due to the acute shortage of experienced, good sales people, more and more companies are looking to hiring such sales people (and sales managers too) through headhunters. Unfortunately, most of the results are quite disappointing.

The purpose of companies engaging headhunters is usually to seek direct and alternative ways to source for good candidates. Alternative in the sense that the candidate will not be reading about the position in recruitment ads. Instead, companies hope that headhunters will have a large pool of ready candidates, and in lieu of that, can actually make the cold-calls and poach the right candidates from other companies.

Unfortunately, many headhunters, including some international ones, tend to be rather passive in the hiring process. If they have a good pool of suitable people, that's great. If not, they simply take out an advertisement and publicise the vacancy, something which the hiring company could have done by themselves anyway.

In many cases, the consultants working for the headhunters tend to be also very junior, and may not have the right exposure to decide what will make a good fit for the hiring company. They may be susceptible to manipulation by some candidates, and in some cases, even willfully recommend the hiring company to meet up with less-than-qualified candidates, just to prove hey are doing their jobs.

As a result, most headhunters don't really add value to the hiring companies. That's no to say that all headhunters are bad. There will be times that headhunters can save time and resources while providing candidates that fit at the same time. It's a question about how you evaluate and choose whom to work with.

Here's a list of questions that you may want to ask yourself, or the prospective headhunter, before you decide hiring them:

* How is the track record of the headhunter? How many sales or sales management positions have they filled in the past year? Can they give you references from their other clients for similar positions?

* Do they understand your business, and the qualities and behaviours needed to succeed for the candidates? Will they know if the candidate will fit into your unique sales culture?

* Do the consultants have real work experience, or are they fresh out of school? Do they have a structured interview process that allows them to identify the good-fits from the rest?

* Do they pro-actively solicit good candidates in your industry? If yes, how well do they perform for such pro-active recruitment?

* Do they guarantee you a time frame for the search?

* Will you be updated regularly on the progress?

* Do they make reference checks? How do they make them? (note: your competitor will be most delighted if you were to hire their worst performing sales person, and hence may give glowing references!)

While engaging headhunters may save some time and resources, there is still a lot of groundwork to be done in the initial process. Headhunters should not be perceived as the "all cure" that solves all your hiring problems in an instant. Instead, the good headhunters will be your partners in identifying and planning for your long-term hiring needs.

Mistakes Companies Make When Hiring Their Next Sales Superstar

2008-02-11T03:15:00.000-08:00

When faced with declining sales and missed targets, many companies opt to hire a "sales superstar", one whom will do the wonders and rev up sales single-handedly. Unfortunately, most companies almost always end up with mediocre results at best, and sheer disappointment in most cases.

In fact, the notion of trying to hire a "sales superstar" is a mistake itself. Here's why:

The Elusive Sales Superstar

Usually, the term "sales superstar" refers to an ultra-aggressive sales person who simply doesn't take "no" for an answer, and is just fantastic in generating great sales results real quick. This kind of sales person represents only about 1-2% of the entire sales population.

As such they are very difficult to find. But finding them is just the beginning of more challenges. You will face issues such as:

1. Sales superstars are highly paid individuals, and to entice them to work for you will mean you will have to pay even more, for both fixed and variable pays;

2. As most sales superstars are currently happily making money with their current employers, and hence that means you will have to proactively reach out to them. The usual employment ads won't work, and even most headhunters don't go around poaching candidates. In worse scenarios, you get candidates who claim to be sales superstars, but are far from it;

3. The sales superstar you hire may or may not fit into the way you sell, or into your company culture. If that happens, and it quite frequently does, you simply end up with a very expensive dud!

Even when you hire THE sales superstar who's producing good results for you, you'll still face 2 possibilities:

1. Despite your sales superstar's Herculean effort, you still are not able to stem the tide of declining sales;

2. Due to your sales superstar's good efforts, you have now seen sales increasing as a result.

Most companies who have hired a sales superstar will eventually find that to increase sales and profits on more sustained basis, you will need a lot more than an individual's effort, and thus diminishing the sales superstar's impact on the bottom line.

However, it is the 2nd consequence that poses the most danger to the company. If you have one sales person who can single-handedly turn the tide for you, then you may have a situation where a significant amount of sales are held in the hands of just one person. If that is the case, your company may be taken hostage by this individual easily, i.e. whatever he/ she demands, you'll have to oblige, or else he/ she will just bring all your major customers to the competitor.

Why Not Build a High-Performing Sales Team Instead

Rather than hoping to find an saviour in the form of a sales superstar, what companies can do is to make sure that all sales persons hired are first equipped and then train in the skills that make them good sales people in your unique sales culture.

While you are highly unlikely to groom sales superstars in your own company, you may actually build a team that collectively produces much more than a superstar ever will. Here's how it works:

1. Compare the best performing sales person(s) with the rest (the middle and worst performing) in your company. Find out what are the qualities or behaviours that are ONLY present in the best people, which the rest are not doing;

2. Structure the interview processes where you look for past performance whereby the candidate has demonstrated such ideal qualities or behaviours;

3. If the qualities or behaviours can be learnt, structure your sales training such that everyone on your team can learn and internalise them.

In doing so, while you may not have sales superstars eventually, but you will get a team of sales people who are performing well above average.

Now, what if you are unhappy with the performance of the entire sales team, and in your view, there really isn't any quality or behaviour that you want your staff to emulate from your best sales person, there's still hope.

The HR Chally Group is a leader in the field of sales staff research, and they have identified the ideal qualities and behaviours that are needed for each of the separate pre-determined 14 sales and 8 management position categories.

The Sales Superstar Isn't Going to be Your Next Sales Manager

Some companies may now be thinking that if they haven't got any good sales people that they want to emulate, then perhaps they can hire a sales superstar and get that superstar to be their sales manager so that all can learn from him/ her.

Unfortunately, the sad story is that only 15% of sales superstars will be competent managers. Here are the reasons why:

* Selling is about getting things done through the customer, while sales management is about getting things done through the sales team;

* The sales superstar is a highly skilled specialist in the former, but not in the latter;

* When the sales team faces difficulties in getting better results, the sales superstar tends to fall back on what she does best, i.e. to take over the sale. In the long run, you'll end up with a sales team of one, the superstar herself;

* Sales superstars know that they are good, but they usually don't know why they are good. hence, they will find it difficult to reflect and analyse what makes them successful, and how to make others be as successful as well.

Indeed, sales superstars can be trained to become good managers. However, in doing so you are depriving the superstars to do what they do best, which is closing those deals!

Interestingly, the best candidates to be the sales managers that are required to coach the sales team to better performance tends to sales people who had shown drastic improvements over the course of her career. These people are usually not "naturals" when it comes to selling, but have improved their performances by analysing, learning and applying the skills that make other sales people successful.

Selecting the Right Recruiter for Your Sales Hiring Needs

2008-02-08T02:56:00.000-08:00

Mistakes Companies Make When Hiring Their Next Sales Superstar

2008-02-08T02:53:00.000-08:00

Selecting the Right Recruiter for Your Sales Hiring Needs

2008-02-07T02:58:00.001-08:00

Mistakes Companies Make When Hiring Their Next Sales Superstar

2008-02-07T02:55:00.000-08:00

Selecting the Right Recruiter for Your Sales Hiring Needs

2008-02-06T02:41:00.001-08:00

Mistakes Companies Make When Hiring Their Next Sales Superstar

2008-02-06T02:39:00.000-08:00

In fact, the notion of trying to hire a "sales superstar" is a mistake itself. Here's why:

The Elusive Sales Superstar

Usually, the term "sales superstar" refers to an ultra-aggressive sales person who simply doesn't take "no" for an answer, and is just fantastic in generating great sales results real quick. This kind of sales person represents only about 1-2% of the entire sales population.

As such they are very difficult to find. But finding them is just the beginning of more challenges. You will face issues such as:

Sales superstars are highly paid individuals, and to entice them to work for you will mean you will have to pay even more, for both fixed and variable pays;
As most sales superstars are currently happily making money with their current employers, and hence that means you will have to proactively reach out to them. The usual employment ads won't work, and even most headhunters don't go around poaching candidates. In worse scenarios, you get candidates who claim to be sales superstars, but are far from it;
The sales superstar you hire may or may not fit into the way you sell, or into your company culture. If that happens, and it quite frequently does, you simply end up with a very expensive dud!

Even when you hire THE sales superstar who's producing good results for you, you'll still face 2 possibilities:

Despite your sales superstar's Herculean effort, you still are not able to stem the tide of declining sales;
Due to your sales superstar's good efforts, you have now seen sales increasing as a result.

Most companies who have hired a sales superstar will eventually find that to increase sales and profits on more sustained basis, you will need a lot more than an individual's effort, and thus diminishing the sales superstar's impact on the bottom line.

However, it is the 2nd consequence that poses the most danger to the company. If you have one sales person who can single-handedly turn the tide for you, then you may have a situation where a significant amount of sales are held in the hands of just one person. If that is the case, your company may be taken hostage by this individual easily, i.e. whatever he/ she demands, you'll have to oblige, or else he/ she will just bring all your major customers to the competitor.

Why Not Build a High-Performing Sales Team Instead

Rather than hoping to find an saviour in the form of a sales superstar, what companies can do is to make sure that all sales persons hired are first equipped and then train in the skills that make them good sales people in your unique sales culture.

While you are highly unlikely to groom sales superstars in your own company, you may actually build a team that collectively produces much more than a superstar ever will. Here's how it works:

Compare the best performing sales person(s) with the rest (the middle and worst performing) in your company. Find out what are the qualities or behaviours that are ONLY present in the best people, which the rest are not doing;
Structure the interview processes where you look for past performance whereby the candidate has demonstrated such ideal qualities or behaviours;
If the qualities or behaviours can be learnt, structure your sales training such that everyone on your team can learn and internalise them.

In doing so, while you may not have sales superstars eventually, but you will get a team of sales people who are performing well above average.

Now, what if you are unhappy with the performance of the entire sales team, and in your view, there really isn't any quality or behaviour that you want your staff to emulate from your best sales person, there's still hope.

The HR Chally Group is a leader in the field of sales staff research, and they have identified the ideal qualities and behaviours that are needed for each of the separate pre-determined 14 sales and 8 management position categories.

The Sales Superstar Isn't Going to be Your Next Sales Manager

Some companies may now be thinking that if they haven't got any good sales people that they want to emulate, then perhaps they can hire a sales superstar and get that superstar to be their sales manager so that all can learn from him/ her.

Unfortunately, the sad story is that only 15% of sales superstars will be competent managers. Here are the reasons why:

Selling is about getting things done through the customer, while sales management is about getting things done through the sales team;
The sales superstar is a highly skilled specialist in the former, but not in the latter;
When the sales team faces difficulties in getting better results, the sales superstar tends to fall back on what she does best, i.e. to take over the sale. In the long run, you'll end up with a sales team of one, the superstar herself;
Sales superstars know that they are good, but they usually don't know why they are good. hence, they will find it difficult to reflect and analyse what makes them successful, and how to make others be as successful as well.

Indeed, sales superstars can be trained to become good managers. However, in doing so you are depriving the superstars to do what they do best, which is closing those deals!

Interestingly, the best candidates to be the sales managers that are required to coach the sales team to better performance tends to sales people who had shown drastic improvements over the course of her career. These people are usually not "naturals" when it comes to selling, but have improved their performances by analysing, learning and applying the skills that make other sales people successful.

Demanding And Commanding Your People - What's The difference?

2008-02-05T01:07:00.000-08:00

Early on in my sales career I was elected into a management position based on my performance in sales.

I was excited and at the same time not sure what to expect.

Now I know we have all heard the phrase, "Not all good sales people make good managers and not all managers make good sales people." Well, lets just say I believe some people can learn.

Unfortunately I was one of those people that had to learn the hard way.

I found myself in charge of several people that were twice my age (I was in my early twenties) and in places in their lives that found them along with their egos being checked by someone who was a much younger age.

Many of them of course did NOT like that.

Now rest assured I knew my sales job inside and out and that is one of the reasons I was put in the position but I wasn't the best at communicating the process to the team. I had little empathy for their learning curve of the position.

I found myself demanding respect of the team because I had such a lucrative sales career with the company and was "obviously" put in the management position because I knew the process. Of course that is at least what I was thinking at that time.

You're probably thinking to yourself, "Yup, I can tell you were a jack ass alright!"

Well that was mistake #1. Demanding anything of anyone who is in a 100% commission position is anything short of silly. Egos are at play here and if you think anything different you're mistaken.

Demanding a level of excellence is one thing. Demanding people act, do and handle things in a certain way goes against their personal creativity & personality in the sales process. That gives them a sense of satisfaction and enjoyment in sales to begin with along with the financial results too of course.

Let me give you my insight into the difference of commanding and demanding the respect of your team:

1. Commanding respect is made up of your posture. You can be confident of yourself and have a level of excellence that you strive for. You "set the bar" so to speak and you live up to that bar each and every day. People can just pick up on this believe me. It is an air of confidence about you that must not be confused with being egotistical.

You lead by example in your actions and attitude and you lead your team in a way that you would want to follow yourself. I now today know I will not ask of my team what I'm not willing or capable of doing myself. They know this and willingly follow as we develop them and their leadership skills as well.They know I have their best interest at heart.

2. Demanding respect is thinking people should follow your every whim and word just because you're in a position of leadership. Expecting people to do your bidding just because you have a title. This is where I found myself very early on and quickly I experienced the fact that people did not like it.

Regardless I learned that respect was earned even if you had a title.

Titles don't make people. People make the title. I like to say you're sailing a ship of leaders and your at the helm. Hence the word leadership. Be careful where you sail so that you don't lead everyone into a battle you can't win.

Empower your people. Let know know by your actions and your words that you have their best interest at heart.

Know there is a fine balance between having empathy for your teams learning ability and expecting a level of work ethic and excellence on their part. They can be inspired by you, your actions and your words or torn down by them just as fast.

Selecting the Right Recruiter for Your Sales Hiring Needs

2008-02-05T01:06:00.000-08:00

Effective Managers Stand Up and Go First

2008-02-02T02:43:00.001-08:00

I recently conducted an ad hoc survey in which I asked a number of salespeople what they thought about the managers in their company. While many said they like their immediate manager, and other managers in the firm, they reported that, in general, all managers are too busy doing other things (selling, administrating, reading reports), and do not take the act of managing (developing people) seriously.

The replies were not encouraging; those who work in large companies were particularly harsh in their criticism. The survey respondents craved a culture of accountability, in which managers who proclaim their commitments to standards of excellence and mission statements follow through on their pledges.

If you want others to perform their roles at a higher level, you must ensure that they know and believe that you accept the responsibility to perform your managerial tasks and duties effectively.

Here are four powerful ideas that could help you radically improve your and your team's performance (and revenue generation) in the coming year:

1. Create a questionnaire

Examine the following statements, one by one, from your salespeople's point of view. Do you consider each of these principles of good management an important part of your role?

As a manager, you:

* Act and live by the principles you advocate
* Act as a role model that people want to copy
* Are a person of integrity
* Enforce the company values
* Are 'part of the team' as opposed to a detached boss
* Motivate your people to stretch to meet performance goals
* Are concerned about long-term issues, not just short-term profits
* Provide timely, balanced feedback that helps your people improve their performance
* Are a source of creative ideas
* Help your people grow and develop
* Have regularly scheduled, one-on-one meetings, with each of your people every two weeks
* Make your people feel that they are members of a well-functioning team
* Emphasize cooperation rather than competition between work groups
* Are prompt in dealing with underperformance
* Arrive on time for meetings, and expect others to be prompt
* Keep your people informed about things they need to know to perform their jobs properly
* Encourage your team to initiate tasks or projects
* Are more often encouraging than critical
* Are fair in dealing with all employees
* Consult others when making decisions
* Run interesting, results-oriented meetings
* Act more like a coach than a boss
* Are publicly generous with credit
* Are an excellent listener
* Ask thoughtful, curious questions

Examine your priorities seriously ... and slowly. Carefully think through which of these principles could really help you make a difference, and how effectively you currently practice them.

Then check your assessment against the opinion of the people with whom you work. Create a questionnaire on which people can rate you from 1 to 5 on how well you deliver on your management goals.

2. Circulate the questionnaire

Give the questionnaire to everyone you deal with in your organization. Have a third-party (can be someone internal) tabulate the results and calculate an average rating.

3. Publish the average ratings

Circulate the combined ratings to everyone who filled out the questionnaire.

4. Call a meeting of those you manage and give the following speech

"I have sent you a copy of your current collective assessment of my managerial performance. We will repeat this survey a year from now. Meanwhile, I promise to get better at the management priorities for which I am responsible. Don't expect me to be perfect. Perfection is not a standard you can hold me to, and it's not a standard I expect from you."

"But here is my commitment to you. If I have not improved in my management performance over the next year as identified in these priorities, then I will step down as manager of this group and I will find you a new one."

"You have a right to expect that I will get better at the tasks and duties that are my responsibility. And I have a right to expect the same from you."

Demanding And Commanding Your People - What's The difference?

2008-02-02T02:41:00.000-08:00

Leading By Listening And Communication

2008-02-01T02:16:00.000-08:00

It seems it is a daily occurrence that people fail to communicate properly at work or home. Most places communication problems breed from ignorant managers, mentors, supervisors and mid-level directors. Credibility goes right out the window when lack of knowledge is exposed by subordinates. The result is a weak comprehension level of productivity from workers.

Listening is as important as speaking or sending a message. Communication involves sending and receiving ideas thoughts and feelings from one person to another person or more. The message is sent in a manner that the sender wants the recipient to hear or receive the meaning in the message. It is up to us to listen and interpret this meaning. If you can't pay attention to detail the indented message is lost.

There are many communication models that can be used and applied in the daily workplace. These models show problems in communication. Most problems start with listening. With communications these models identify listening most important over speaking and sending messages to the receiver. Speakers and receivers both need to listen.

A normal standard with communication models show people filter, identify, and attach meaning and importance to what they are listening to based on their personal interpretation, previous life experiences and relationships with peers. Responses from the communication message come from thoughts extracted from ones mind within milliseconds.

How many times have you experienced the feeling that someone was crazy or boring? It's fair to say this happens on a daily basis. We all know that the world revolves around meetings in the workplace. These are a norm in the office. The intent of meetings is to discuss and brief peers on goals. Everyone knows this isn't always the case. Most of the time nobody really cares and there aren't relevant details about the meeting or goals and standards. So the meeting veers to another direction usually with someone enjoying the sound of their own voice while everyone else is board to tears. Either way we are experiencing a filtration process and rejection of the messages in the meeting being sent.

Surely you have been to a meeting with a long-winded announcement to impress all the attendees. A long introduction soon turns into a boring ignored message by the listeners. But there are many non-verbal messages if the receiver is truly paying attention to detail. Listen with compassion, doing so can help you to relax and keep you patient. Rushing the message can end up rude and take the message in a new unproductive direction.

Listening is can be developed into a powerful skill. Messages are received and filtered based on our own unique thinking process. Our brain interprets the messages based on experiences and other cues, non-verbal, tones and suggestive expressions.

The ability to interpret the message, allows us to determine our responses. It is critical to pay attention to details in the message instead of filtering out too much and missing the true meaning of the message. Listening is a crucial active part in the communication cycle. Body language is the unvoiced communication component the shows volumes of communication for anyone to understand. It's definitely something to pay attention to. Body language is the "spark" of the messages. The more attention one places on the nonverbal such as body language, the more you can be aware of the true meaning of the message.

Listening must be an action by all receivers. There are many barriers that can interrupt or degrade the intended message. Some of these barriers especially external environment sounds, lack of sleep or drowsiness, can hinder this process. Language barriers are a common issue with continental and global communication. It's common knowledge that The English is the standard or international language. The Problem exists is the U.S. Why? Well most countries provide English studies to students. Europeans are known for their ability to speak multiple languages. While they are learning our language are we learning theirs? This surely causes huge language barriers. It seems the US is behind the language curve.

Take control of your listening environment. Establishing a safe, neutral place to hold meetings high importance it should be a common practice to secure the environment. Close doors, and windows, turn off fans and radios. Place signs outside the conference room to let others know to be curious.

Concentration is another variable in the listening equation. Focusing on the main idea, and reading between the lines can make or break a message. Mentally summarize the message in an orderly, realistic manner. Do not judge the message before you understand its meaning. This way you will not react to a message in an unnecessary manner.

Everyone has two ears and a mouth; it's up to us to use them properly. Listening is an active part of the communication process. By paying attention to the details such as body language and sound pitch in the voice of the speaker we can identify and grasp the meaning behind the message. The result will be a positive outcome from the communication process.

Effective Managers Stand Up and Go First

2008-02-01T02:15:00.000-08:00

How To Get Guaranteed Online Sales

2008-01-31T03:23:00.001-08:00

What is the most important element in getting guaranteed online sales? How can you get guaranteed online sales? What is the secret to getting guaranteed online sales?

Guaranteed online sales involve two main elements. First, you need someone to actually visit your website. Then, they need to be so enticed by the sales copy of your website that they purchase your product. This is how you get guaranteed online sales.

You can achieve guaranteed online sales by figuring out a way to get traffic to your site and writing enticing sales copy. You could use pay per click search engines, e-mail marketing, Google Adwords, or a number of other methods to get the traffic to your site.

Once you get the traffic you will want to have already written great sales copy so that your new traffic will purchase your product and create sales for you. This is probably the most important part of your entire internet marketing and earning an online income. Without good sales copy you will never get the sales you should get.

The secret to getting guaranteed online sales is to write your sales copy so that your visitors have to buy your product. You have to entice them by pointing out the benefits and how the product is going to increase their wealth, solve a problem they have, or fix something for them. You want them to have a feeling like they need this product and they cannot go on without it.

So as long as you can create traffic to your website and you have great sales copy on your website you will get guaranteed online sales. This is not a hard thing to master, but will take some practice.

Inside Sales Jobs: A Job Worth Seeking?

2008-01-31T03:21:00.000-08:00

Are you interested in inside sales as a career? Inside sales can be a very rewarding job if you so choose. What is the difference between inside and outside sales positions? If you think the difference is staying out of the sun, read on and discover if or why an inside sales job could be for you.

With inside sales you will need to not only sale a product or service, but be a representative for it as well. You will most likely be required to be on call to serve your current or potential clients in the event they have a question or issue. You will need to study your product or service very hard, and be able to meet the needs of the customer on demand. You will most likely do very little traveling with inside sales so you will get to enjoy plenty of 1 on 1 time with your office. If you would rather be more independent; travel more, handle your own scheduling, etc, than you may want to look into outside sales.

No matter what type of sales job you feel would suit you most, know that in sales, you basically get back what ever you put in. In sales, you can make as little or as much as you want. Most companies offer great benefits and starting salaries with little or no limit on income potential. In sales, Hard work will definitely pay off.

How To Guarantee the Positive Attention of Prospective Buyers

2008-01-30T01:42:00.001-08:00

How do you feel about telesales? Don't you think, "What an irritation - this salesperson hasn't earned the right to call me, interrupt me and try to sell me something that I can easily buy from any number of trusted friends if I wanted it?" That's exactly how I feel about salespeople who call me up and pitch me on their products and services. There is no reason why I should even consider talking to them, let alone do business with them. And yet, that's how 95% of salespeople operate these days. There is a better way.

Recently, I was interviewed by Heather Vale on her outstanding Success Unwrapped show. She did a wonderful job and she attended my seminar in Toronto last week. She is a Member of the international DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum, and a highly respected businesswoman. When she calls me, how do you think I respond? Very favorably, of course, I want to reciprocate. Right here, she gets exposed to many. She earned the right, impressed me and created massive value for me. Another Champion is Eric Gilbert-Williams, a Member who has contributed significantly to the growth of my business in Ontario. How do think I respond to any requests from Eric?

Whatever you're selling, even if you're selling yourself into a job opportunity, the same principles apply. Guarantee the positive, even eager attention of the person you want to sell to, using these simple guidelines:

1. Get introduced to them by someone whom they know, trust and respect.

2. EARN the right - use the Law of Reciprocity to sow before you attempt to reap. Only the brainless and desperate still believe that works.

3. Know the person to whom you are pitching - do your homework. I have been approached by some geniuses who haven't even taken the time to look at my website before calling me. Then you can push the right buttons and make them an offer they simply can't refuse.

4. Whatever it is you're selling, the person you are approaching has dozens of alternatives. Remember that and be prepared to differentiate yourself by adding massive, unprecedented value.

5. DON'T be CHEAP. Be prepared to spend some money to position and package yourself or you will simply reveal your desperation and ignorance. I had someone ask me to call him back so that he could save on the telephone call!

How To Catch The Interest Of Your Audience

2008-01-30T01:41:00.001-08:00

Here are simple tactics for you to generate the leads you need to increase your sales:

1 - Know your business.

People basically look for a company that knows everything there is to know about their field of business. When you position yourself as an expert in your niche, you'll be able to attract more leads to your business because they know that they can rely on you to provide them the solution to their needs.

Who else but you can better explain how your product works, right. Without knowing the facts and details, your clients would hesitate to buy something that you don't even believe in, enough to learn everything there is to know about the item.

That goes without saying that you have to be well versed not only with the type of market you're in, but most importantly, with the product you are trying to sell. Your knowledge will help you promote as well as influence your prospects' decision to purchase from you from your catalog printing pieces or even in the booklets you produce for your marketing efforts.

2 - Network your way to sales.

To spread the good word about your product, you have to network continuously. Meet people everyday, join social circles and organizations, attend functions and events, and more importantly, join trade shows and build effective displays while you're at it.

Networking also means getting to know your competition and how they work. Someone said to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Whoever said it is right. It pays to have knowledge of what's going on with your competition to better position your marketing campaign, especially your catalogs and booklets, to come out the best in your area of expertise. Learning the strengths and weaknesses of your adversaries can aid you in improving your own strengths.

3 - Customer service above all else.

Customers always look for the best service available. A courteous and pleasant business person is a better bedmate any day. When you want loyalty among your clients then the only way to get it is to make your clients so happy dealing with you that they won't see fit to go anywhere else.

And this also applies to your price. As cost is always a big issue for customers, be sure to have rates that are also customer friendly. Not only do you gain profit from your clients but more importantly, you'll have a network of his or her friends, relatives and lovedones when they feel satisfied with your business.

All in all, the key to having a successful marketing campaign that attracts your customers is actually better customer service that focuses on the needs of your target market. When you are able to acknowledge and provide solutions to their problems, then you don't need to do the math to know that what you have in your hands is a truly successful promotional strategy.

Best Qualities For Salespeople

2008-01-29T01:43:00.000-08:00

Being a salesperson is very much like being a performer on stage. Knowing what kind of person to hire as a salesperson is difficult sometimes; mainly because most people interview well, yet few perform well. To maximize your success in hiring a sales staff, there are some key traits to look for in interviewing.

First, is the individual likable? A salesperson is basically a personality. Fundamentally, the salesperson should be someone who you would like to be the face of the company. In my experience, it doesn't matter if the salesperson is black or white, male or female, fat or thin; what matters is if I would want to spend five minutes speaking to them. Attractiveness counts, of course, but an attractive personality and presentation is much more important. Ensure your new hires are likable folks.

Second, your salespeople need to fundamentally understand the sales transaction enough to close sales. Many salespeople are successful simply because they work in an industry where there is little competition. Others are good at building relationships and this ability carries their sales numbers. However, the best salespeople understand the simple transaction; establish interest, showcase features and benefits, validate yourself and your organization, close.

Third, your salespeople can be formulaic and mechanical, but they won't be winners. The winners believe in a "live without a net" approach to sales. This means the best people have the sales script in their head, but usually operate on an instinctive, personality driven and on-the-spot improvised approach. These people adapt their personality to the individual much like a therapist approaches a patient. Being not only a salesperson, but a partner in the emotional aspect of the transaction is very important. The best salesperson leaves the customer feeling a strong sense of empathy; almost as though they have made a new friend.

Lastly, and probably most important, your salespeople need to be persistent. They need to be so persistent that they never take no for an answer. This means 200 dials instead of 100. This means knocking on doors until one is exhausted. There is always a new prospect to speak with. There is never a time when there is no hope to make a sale. Find your persistent and aggressive people and you will find a quality salesperson.

Overall, these key traits above will be the best traits. Obviously there are exceptions. We have all seen very aggressive and even obnoxious salespeople with strong numbers. We have also seen quiet and shy folks who have a natural sweetness that lends itself to a strong closing ability. Empathy, understanding of the sales transaction, instinctive ability, and persistence; these are the most important factors to seek in your prospective sales representatives.

5 Things To Do Before Asking For The Sale

2008-01-29T01:42:00.000-08:00

Closing the sale can make the best of us get sweaty palms. What will happen? Will they say "Yes!" or will they reject your offering? Because this process is so intimidating to many non-trained sales people, it is often botched. Either you go in for the close too quickly, or you never ask for the sale.

Here are five things to discuss with a prospect BEFORE you ask for their business.

1.Be clear of the needs and/or concerns of your prospect. What problem are they trying to overcome? What do they want and hope for? Ask lots of questions to be sure you have a very good understanding of each client's circumstances.

2. Explain how your product or service will SPECIFICALLY help your prospect. What is the benefit to them? This should sound different for each prospect - because it is based on their own situation.

3. Find out how your client feels about your product or service. Most purchases are made based on emotion. Gage the prospects emotional response by reading their body language and asking questions to help you learn their reaction.

4. Discuss any objections the prospect has about your service or product. Be sure and address these objections and answer any questions or concerns they have. Be honest. If their objection is legitimate, acknowledge it and when possible offer a solution or alternative.

5. Be sure you are dealing with decision-maker. Find out early on if the person you are talking with is able to make the final decision. If not, get the decision-maker involved in the discussion as soon as possible.

Take the time to discuss each of these five areas with your prospect before you even think about asking for their business. Once you have thoroughly talked through these items, and you are getting a positive reaction, then be sure and ask for their business. Be direct. Ask them, "Are you ready to get started?" or "Which color would you like to order?" The more thoroughly you get to know your prospect and genuinely offer them a solution to their problem or need, the more likely you are to win the sale.

Sales Forecasting Is The Achilles Heel Of Business Planning

2007-09-22T02:34:00.000-07:00

Forecasting future sales is one of the most difficult areas for many companies. The challenge is to produce consistent and accurate advance information which can be used by production, stock and service managers to plan for future demands.

In practise, much of the forecasting work currently undertaken is very random, if not haphazard guess work. It is based on highly subjective reports of the sales people, often under short term pressure to predict acceptable levels of achievement in order to meet targets.

As a result much of the medium-to-long-term sales order forecasts are often made up of business projections based on nothing more scientific than optimistic guess work rather than on disciplined and realistic assessment of likely conversion of sales from individual customers.

Companies spend thousands of pounds and hundreds of man hours on their annual, quarterly and monthly budgeting and forecasting activities.

Financial management techniques and systems have developed apace in recent years but these have little input into the forecasting process, especially predicting short and long term sales.

The pressure for accuracy is growing. Jobs, investment and expenditure depend on making the right assumptions and predictions. Too often companies fail to spot in advance negative trends or competitive activity which impinge on their ability to win new orders.

Most forecasting, in the widest sense, is based on historic information with some allowance for highly subjective judgements such as the economic climate, trends in the industry etc.

The Achilles heel of even the most significant business planning methodology is an almost uncritical acceptance of what the sales team predict as imminent or long term business opportunities and their value.

Companies put complex and time consuming reporting procedures in place to capture data but can be extremely uncritical of the quality of the information itself which is provided.

Frequently the sales predictions - short, medium and long term - are highly suspect. They depend on the sales team’s personal, often highly subjective views, and often reflect the pressure for ‘certain sales levels to be achieved’

Predicting the real chance of winning a particular order will change the closer the customer gets to placing the order. Two or three months ahead the sales men will report the order as ‘in the bag’, closer to, the odds will often be reduced or even discounted. There is no discipline or consistency in the process. Orders ‘lost’ now will be replaced by ‘new’ opportunities conveniently two or three months down the line. These new ‘orders’ will be lost as the time for their confirmation gets closer. Thus, the organisation never has a realistic assessment of its potential sales.

What is missing is a management awareness of what is really happening to ‘vapour sales opportunities’ and a complete lack of system and discipline in predicting the real possibility of winning specific orders consistently. These ‘vapour sales opportunities’ represent unsubstantiated sales opportunities which can amount to anything up to half of the ‘pipeline’ business being reported to management from month to month.

Sales teams are relying on a base level of business coming in to cover up poor predictions and to replace lost orders previously anticipated. This is one reason that organisations frequently fail to spot downturns or changes in their business environment.

The solution is a proper structuring of reporting procedures. Apart from eliminating unqualified business this process can help the organisation be more responsive to real business and focus on genuine problems and opportunities which the process identifies.

Much of this procedure can be computerised. It is a complex process and requires consistency, minimising the scope for human fallibility and changeableness.

Selling & Marketing - The Secret to Developing a Thriving Business by Linking Strategy to Selling

2007-09-22T02:32:00.000-07:00

I know you.

You started your business because you are passionate about it. You’re better than most, maybe even the best at what you do and yet clients and customers are not beating a path to your door. In times of desperation you’ve even dramatically lowered your price and STILL you are not getting your fair share of the market, the share you know you DESERVE!

Sound familiar? Well let me share a little secret with you. There are four simple steps you need to follow in order to develop a thriving business.

The Waterfall of Business Development Growing a thriving business is a lot like running a waterfall rapid in a kayak. Sure there are lot’s of ways to get over that waterfall but typically there is just one that will allow you to pass without loss of life and limb! When it comes to running the waterfall of business development you’ll want to follow this path:

Step 1: Get the Right Names Step 2: Have Conversations with the Right People Step 3: Hold Meetings with Qualified Prospects Step 4: Deliver on Expectations…Profitably.

Told you it was simple. Now let’s get into the details

Step 1: Get the Right Names (Strategic Marketing)

Do you know your target market? I understand that you’ll take money from anyone, but who do you want to spend your precious resources marketing to? This may see counter intuitive but the more tightly you define your target market the more effective and efficient you will be at attracting the most qualified prospects. So how do you go about defining your target market? There are many ways, but if I were to work with you we would begin by defining your specific goals and objectives and your unique value proposition (UVP). Once your UVP has been defined we would develop your target market by matching the UVP to demographics, (size, industry, etc.) operating variables, (technology, frequency of use, etc.), purchasing approaches, (centralized, specific policies, etc.), situational factors (urgency, size of order) and personal characteristics such as attitude towards risk. Next, since no business operates in a vacuum, we’ll evaluate the competitive environment and the macro-economic environment. From this we will have clearly defined those “suspects” that are worth investing your precious time, energy and resources with.

Next we would develop a marketing strategy that uses the optimum mix of active and passive marketing strategies to generate sufficient interest in your offering. The optimum mix represents a balance between the target audience’s potential life-time value and your available resources.

Step 2: Have Conversations with the Right People (Prospecting)

Your consistently communicated highly targeted marketing message will resonate with a portion of the “suspects” it reaches. No matter how that initial contact was made your next move is to have a conversation to determine which suspects are really “qualified” prospects. By qualified I mean they are in sufficient “pain” and are interested in meeting you face-to-face to discuss their issues and what you can do to relieve their pain. Depending upon your personality this initial contact, typically by phone, will either be second nature or absolutely terrifying! Regardless, how effectively you conduct this phone call will largely determine your overall success in developing your business. If you don’t know what to ask, how to ask it, and how to get off the phone with a confirmed meeting appointment then please seek professional help!

Step 3: Hold Meetings with Qualified Prospects (Selling)

Congratulations! Your prospecting activities have you meeting with a highly qualified prospect. Now it’s time for your first face-to-face meeting and its time to begin the selling process. Selling is about questioning and one of the most common mistakes I hear people who are passionate about their businesses make is thinking that selling is the same as spewing features and benefits. Are you guilty of this? Then please stop, selling is not about “telling”! Throughout this initial meeting your job is to gather information, not give information. By the time you leave this meeting you should know: - The specific reasons (pain) why the prospect would like to do business with you - Roughly how much the prospect is willing to spend to get rid of the pain - How the prospect goes about making investment decisions. If the answers to these questions meet your requirements for doing business then chances are you are going to make the sale.

Step 4: Deliver on Expectations…Profitably (Business Marketing)

You’ve made the sale and now it’s time to deliver on the expectations you created with your marketing message at the top of the waterfall. You are an expert in your field, so this should be relatively simple, right? Not so fast! Do you have an accurate grasp of your; Cost of acquisition? Cost of product? Cost to serve? What type of pricing model are you using? Cost plus? Value? Competitive? Skim?

Well that’s it! You’ve successfully converted a targeted suspect to a profitable customer and you did by using the simple 4-step secret that I call the “Waterfall of Business Development". Join our Monthly Free Teleseminarseries to continuously learn more ways to develop a thriving business and don't forget to sign-up for our Free enewsletter to keep an eye on innovative tips and techniques that will have your business selling more and growing faster than ever.

Sales Managers - Don't Just Manage Down, Manage Up!

2007-09-22T02:30:00.000-07:00

As Sales Managers, much of our time is spent managing our sales staff. Training, forecasting, ride a longs. The list goes on and on. Our days are so busy, we are often taken by surprise when our VP or Senior Level Manager emails or calls us with an edict from on high. You know the call. Some new "thing" that the CEO or Board has come up with that your sales team needs to implement immediately. And what do you do? Without even thinking that deeply about the request, its validity and/or viability, you call an all hands meeting and roll out your plan to get this idea into action. Your being a good manager, right? Taking those orders from above you and disseminating them to your staff for implementation.

Oh, and one more thing. Before you can even hold your all hands meeting, they have two more great ideas and have changed the first one they gave you three times. Sound familiar?

This is where many Sales Managers (and managers in general) could utilize the "Manage Up" philosophy. Managing up is very similar to downward managing. The difference being, you are managing your managers/superiors as opposed to managing subordinates. Your time is valuable and you need to manage it properly to maximize your value to your organization. Interruptions to your short and long term game plan are inevitable. We generally think of these interruptions coming in the form of subordinates breaking our stride with mundane questions or fires to put out. We expect this and management training course after management training course teaches us how to deal with these issues. But has anyone ever trained us to deal with the frequent interruptions of our superiors? Let's look at this concept.

Briefly Analyze the Request

Don't just take the order and run with it. This isn't the Marine Corps. Generally, people in VP and C-level positions are there because of their highly advanced skill sets and business ac cumin. Given the nature of their "40,000 foot view", they sometimes forget the day to day pressure of running a sales team. An idea may seem easy to implement to them, but in reality, it may be a logistical nightmare and not practical or profitable at all.

Briefly look at each request and see if it makes short and long term sense. Not "will it be easy to implement?". That's not the criteria. Does it make sense from a business standpoint. Don't be afraid to go back and ask clarifying questions. Your are going to have to sell this idea to your team. Like anything you sell, you have to believe it is good for your buyer, in this case, your sales team to make a believable pitch.

Their time frame may not be your time frame

What are the time parameters your superiors have set on this project? Are they realistic given your current activity level and other commitments (trade shows, presentations, outside training, etc.). Don't be afraid to go back and open a discussion about adjusting the time frame. Remember, you are Managing Up! In reality, it is you who are in control of your day. Not those below OR above you. Have some input into how you will spend your time.

Be clear about outcomes

To often we take an idea from our VP of Sales and run to implement it without really being clear about outcomes. Again, don't be afraid to go back and ask clarifying questions. You are going to be judged on how well you carry out this task. Make sure you don't waste time and energy (both yours and your sales teams) going in directions you don't need to go. Be clear. Clarity and agreement on outcomes is of the utmost importance.

What if the idea stinks?

Now come on...don't tell me you've never thought this? We all have. No matter how much we respect the skill level and experience of our superiors, sometimes they come up with rotten eggs. Ideas that are so far removed from reality that they make you chuckle inside when you hear them. What do you do? Remember, we are Managing Up!

Listen attentively, analyze and ask questions for clarification. Maybe you missed something? Ok, so you didn't. It's still a stinker. Don't be afraid to let them know of your reservations. But you have to do it in a positive and constructive manner. And always let them know that even though you have reservations (make sure you have stated them clearly and concisely), you are willing to do everything in your power to implement their suggestion. Carefully document the process and make notes of any successes and/or failures. At a pre-determined time, have a follow up meeting and discuss the progress. If your VP sees that you have made a valid effort and the idea is not taking off, he/she will be more willing to rethink or even throw out the idea.

Conclusions

Your time is extremely valuable. Make sure you control the pulling on your time in both directions, up and down. Don't be afraid to Manage Up. You will be surprised at the feeling of freedom knowing that you are not totally at the mercy of someone else's whim, whether they work for you, or you work for them!

I hope you have enjoyed this article and find it helpful. Wouldn't this be a great key note for an annual sales meeting or managers meeting/training? Contact me at gary@salesmotivation.net and we can discuss how I can help you to better equip your sales/sales management team to succeed.

http://www.Salesmotivation.net was launched to fill the need for no cost, quality training and motivational material for Sales Professionals of all levels. Our goal is to train you, equip you, challenge and motivate you.

I have been a top producing Sales Professional for over 17 years. I have sold for large corporations and small start up companies. I believe that Sales is one of the most challenging yet rewarding fields an individual can choose. You have the ability to create your own destiny and determine your level of success. I take my profession very seriously, but have a great deal of fun achieving my goals. My wish is for you to do the same.

Hire a Sales Rep - Not a Product Rep

2007-09-12T01:07:00.000-07:00

A question I am often asked by my clients is should I hire someone who can sell but lacks industry experience; or should I search for someone who has been around the industry and has good product knowledge.

I advise them to hire a re who can sell, and teach them the specifics of the industry. Here is why.

I recently delivered am appointment setting program at a company in a vertical I do a lot of work in. In the audience was a lady whom I trained at a competitor some six months ago. Before she came over to peak with I remembered her clearly. She was very outgoing, and I remember she spoke to me at length when we first met, talking to me about her experience, and the challenges she faced in selling the products and services of the company.

It didn't strike me till this last encounter, that she had mentioned that she had deep experience in the industry. She knows a lot of people both on the customer side and the various providers. It was clear that she had a good understanding of the product, in fact her schooling was directly related to the industry, and she had kept her knowledge up by attending a number of continuous education programs offered by associations active in her industry. She was a keep participant, open to learning, mostly due to the fact that despite her "industry experience", she had only made her target once over 12 years, with four different companies, the current employer being her fifth in the industry.

What really got me to think about this more were tow prospect meetings I had the following day. One was with a VP of Sales in a "highly specialized" industry, who made a point of telling me that he only hired people who have product and industry experience. The other was with a Sales VP in the special chemicals field, who went out of his way to tell me that he will hire anyone that can sell, and is not very concerned about the individual's product or industry knowledge. Key for this leader was that he hired "sales ability" as he called it, "I can always teach them about the product, I need someone who can find the right people to talk to and know how to talk to them". He went on describe his sales process, how he measured activities and other sales related things that have helped him deliver year after year.

This reinforced a belief instilled in me by one of my first sales directors, who hired me despite the fact that at the time I know little about the industry he brought me in to, but he felt I could sell and to him that was the key thing.

Many people I work with would rather spend money on "industry" knowledge or experience rather than sales ability and attitude. But over and over I see successful companies focus on hiring those that can sell and have a winning attitude. They stay away from sales rep who may know people in the industry (let's hire their book theory). Often these are the same industry experts who know all the reasons why things wont work, people wont buy, and how you - the employer - need to change (sometimes everything) to help them sell.

We recommend to our clients that they hire "sales people" to sell, and focus on teaching them the industry or company specifics. The alternative usually leads to a lot of smart people who can tell you exactly why the numbers aren't there. They know everything about the product except how to sell. I often encounter people we train who tell us that "it is different in this industry"; you can't sell if you don't know this or that, or him or her. The only accurate part of their statement is that they "can't sell" and their organization is not willing to call them on it, especially since they hired them for the wrong reason.

Seems to me that if you need a CFO you're going to hire someone with a finance background, not industry expertise, why not apply that logic to your sales force. Hire someone with ability and attitude, you can teach them about product, it does not work the other way around. If your goal is to increase sales, go for a sales rep!

Tibor Shanto, is a Principal with Renbor Sales Solutions Inc., Renbor Sales Solutions Inc. enables companies achieve sustained growth, by focusing on critical aspects of revenue growth. By recognizing that an outstanding sales force is THE differentiator in today’s environment, our clients with our help, focus on the development of both strategic and tactical initiatives to foster a winning team that will out think, out sell and out perform competitors while consistently gaining market share.

Renbor’s Objective Based Selling (OBS) is a structured approach to delivering ongoing results and improvement by focusing the entire sales organization on a key set of objectives. The overarching objective for any sales organization is to achieve exceptional and sustainable revenue growth. This is accomplished by creating a culture of sales excellence built around the principles and processes adopted by world-class sales organizations.

Thoughts for Incentive

2007-09-12T01:04:00.000-07:00

Incentives are one of the greatest challenges most sales organizations face. While many start with the age old adage that “incentives drive behavior”, they still find it difficult achieving a plan that drives business.

One of the core challenges is that many organizations do not clearly define the behavior that they are truly trying to drive. While it is easy enough to say you want your incentive plan to drive sales, sales are not a behavior, they are an outcome. An outcome is a set of actions and client interactions that lead to a sale. Successful organizations have a clearly defined sales process that helps them in mapping out the actions that reps have to follow to be successful. Their goal is to have a process that lays out the steps for their reps and clients to have a value add relationship.

Their ultimate goal is not so much the sale, but having a road map that will allow their reps to consistently repeat the steps with each client that will lead to a transaction. If they have this map, they can use it when one of their reps seems lost, (declining sales, lack of prospects, etc.). They can also use to evaluate new candidates and ramp up their new reps by giving them a step by step map for the actions that will drive on going success.

Many of these organizations reward not just the outcome but the successful implementation of the process. After all, if you can follow a structured plan, reinforce it with skills and talents; the outcome is more likely than in an environment where you seemingly have to make it up each time you set out with a new prospect.

To achieve this, incentives may take on two additional forms to the traditional commission payment. First, some actually incent specific actions being taken. For example, in a high volume transaction based sales force, where prospecting for new names is key to achieving numbers, you can reward people for actually prospecting and pursuing new clients rather than relying on existing clients or marketing generated leads. While it is not advisable to pay for the act of prospecting, you can take advantage of methods such as scorecards, KPI, or MBO.

Second way is through investing in your staff, not just through skills development and training, but systems and tools to assure their success. What you may notice is that your best sales people respond to training most. As part of the manager’s coaching activity she can define those areas that will support the process and drive sales, and invest in training to directly impact those areas. When you bring on new systems, say a CRM, don’t just train them on features and functionality of the system, but also on what is in it for them when they use the system. Often tools are not used not because they are difficult, but there was no connection made to the direct benefit the rep will get from using it. Said another way how it helps them more sales in less time with less effort.

With both the above examples communication is key, not only as to why things are taking place, but the direct impact on their ability to earn tangible rewards.

Another effective means of mutual benefit from incentives is focusing on margins, while has been a standard in some industries, it is new to others. More and more companies I work with are paying commissions based on a percentage of margins rather than gross revenues from a sale. The advantages for the company are clear, and they can be for the rep too when done right. Where it has been successful, companies introduced it as a means of involving the rep in the health of the business, and getting them to accept greater responsibility and accountability for their actions. Of course greater responsibility and accountability goes hand in hand with greater autonomy to make decisions that impact the outcome. While many companies talk about “empowering” their sales reps, this provides an opportunity to put some teeth in to the mantra. Since the amount of commissions earned will be a direct result of the margins, give the rep greater flexibility in pricing. Shift their view from discounting and going straight to price in a sale to developing value. The better job they do in leading with value and validating the price, the more commission they will earn.

To ensure success, some companies are adding a couple of elements to the mix. Some pay a higher scale for higher margins. So if at list there would be 25% margin, and the average sale is fetching 15% margin, they add more incentive for sales coming in at 21% margin or higher, where a bulk of the gain above 17.5% goes to the rep, allowing him to more directly benefit, and more importantly driving the behavior that consistently results in higher margins.

Another way companies are ensuring long term relationships with their best reps and clients is to also measure reps on over-all territory margin in addition to sale by sale margins. This again empowers the rep to decide which client he may want to sell at a lower margin this time in order to secure an otherwise profitable long relationship. If the rep feels he can manage his territory and make up for the margin elsewhere, and is showing good judgment, both you and he benefit from taking a holistic view.

While margins are one aspect, another is pay back period. Many companies understand that it may take over a year before a relationship with a client begins to show returns. Most reps are ready to talk to the client about the ROI of their product, using any number of models to prove their products value. Often however, the same reps do not calculate the ROI for their own company, the pay-back period for that client, which often extends to 18 months plus. Many companies have a claw-back policy; this has a number of negative effects. Least of them is the cost of maintaining the plan, there costs associated with tracking, applying and administering the process. There is also the negative sense it leaves the reps with. Many of them feel that they have done the work when they sold the client, and that they are not directly responsible for the loss, especially if they can point to pricing issues with a competitor under cutting you to win the business.

Over the long term there are those who question if clawing back really delivers results or shapes behavior. Most reps work the incentive plan and find ways to deal with this issue, not always to the benefit of the company. They build in allowance for churn and manipulate timing, etc.

Some have turned to a more inclusive and positive means of addressing the balance between motivating reps and attaining strong ongoing business. Some split the potential incentive between growth of revenue in the territory and commissions paid for new revenue stream. This works in some cases, but runs into trouble in a mature market where the number of customers is not growing at the rate high enough to satisfy corporate growth. Market growing at 5% a year and the company is looking to achieve 8% growth. Add a strong competitor, and the pressures of market share, and you run the risk of encouraging discounting and reliance on commissions as reps work the plan and focus on new sales to out pace loss of revenue in their territory. Resulting in discounting, no growth in revenues and increasing payouts; how many of you paid more in incentives last year, but lost revenue?

Another alternative spreads the incentive over the life of the relationship. After all you don’t receive all the benefit in year one, why pay out the cost of the revenue streams all at once? In all other aspects of the business you accrue to match related revenues to expenses why not here. It is not a cap; the rep will earn full incentive as long as the company realizes full benefit. In fact, done right, as long as the client continues to perform for you as a customer, the rep will continue to receive incentive. After all, a new customer is much like an annuity that will pay-out over a period of time, why not have a reciprocal incentive plan that works in reverse. It’s amazing how the reps take a different view of the client and ongoing relationship.

Tibor Shanto, is a Principal with Renbor Sales Solutions Inc., Renbor Sales Solutions Inc. enables companies achieve sustained growth, by focusing on critical aspects of revenue growth. By recognizing that an outstanding sales force is THE differentiator in today’s environment, our clients with our help, focus on the development of both strategic and tactical initiatives to foster a winning team that will out think, out sell and out perform competitors while consistently gaining market share.

Renbor Sales Solutions’ Objective Based Selling (OBS) is a structured approach to delivering ongoing results and improvement by focusing the entire sales organization on a key set of objectives. The overarching objective for any sales organization is to achieve exceptional and sustainable revenue growth. This is accomplished by creating a culture of sales excellence built around the principles and processes adopted by world-class sales organizations.

CRM: Culture or Technology

2007-09-12T00:53:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked to present on the impact of technology on sales, has it helped, in what way, or has it had a negative impact?

After examining the issue with some colleagues and experts in the field, it became clear that technology is an enabler, and as such amplifies what is already there, and what is not.

I don't think that that there is anyone in sales today that has not heard of, used or been impacted by a CRM package of one sort or another, be it a simple contact management application with some added functionality, to a top of the line CRM that fully integrate with other enterprise applications.

Harvard Business Review: Avoid the Four Perils of CRM, stated that "55% of all CRM projects don't produce results", and went on to say that "According to Bain's 2001 survey of management tools, which tracks corporate use of and satisfaction with management techniques, CRM ranked in the bottom three for satisfaction out of 25 popular tools. In fact, according to last year's survey of 451 senior executives, one in every five users reported that their CRM initiatives not only had failed to deliver profitable growth but also had damaged long-standing customer relationships."

Yet by November 2004, one of the same writers in an article entitled CRM Done Right stated: "Senior executives have become considerably more enthusiastic about CRM. In 2003, Bain & Company's annual Management Tools Survey of 708 global executives found that firms actually began to report increased satisfaction with their CRM investments. In 2001, CRM had ranked near the bottom of a list of 25 possible tools global executives would choose. Two years later, it had moved into the top half. In fact, 82% of surveyed executives said they planned to employ CRM in their companies in 2003-a large jump from the 35% who employed it in 2000."

While the piece went on to suggest a number of factors, we've experienced a number of key things in our work with clients that are worth noting.

First, we very much believe and have seen numerous examples to support the view that Customer Relationship Management is a way of doing business. Most of our successful clients have a consistent view on Customer Relationship Management.

To them CRM is part of their culture, part of their corporate DNA. They see CRM as the proper alignment between software and process to effectively manage their relationships with their customers. The alignment is based on objectives:

Corporate objectives drive the sales organization's objective; which in turn are the foundation for regional/territorial objectives, and client objectives; when properly executed, these objective form the basis for each client/prospect interaction.

It is as much about process as it is about software. If you don't create a balance and alignment between the two, you will fail to manage the relationship with you key customers, and not derive much benefit from your investment. In fact we are working with a company that has spent in excess of $13 million dollars over the last 5 years implementing a CRM software with little tangible results to show in improved sales, increased productivity or understanding of their clients and how to mutually improve their relationship.

A study I read recently showed that over 80% of the CEO's surveyed said their sales organization had a process that was poorly defined or a process that wasn't being followed. A sales process is like a good map or a GPS if you will. Used properly it helps you determine where you are, if you are in heading in the right or wrong direction, also helps you plan what your "next step" should be to get to your destination. A well defined sales process gives a sales organization the same advantage. It should have logical and defined steps that allow both parties to develop a better understanding of each other and a set of questions that help you qualify or "disqualify" an opportunity.

When we meet with a new client we always enquire about their sales process. A VP we recently met responded: "why yes of course, we use XYZ" (name change to protect the innocent, us). Yet he openly admitted that he struggles with forecasting, prospecting, and his people were spending too much time with unproductive activity, in the little activity he was able to glean from the system. (Unfortunately no software will pick up the phone and do a cold call, I'm working on it.)

The clients who do use the software to support their process tell a different story. Activity is focused on the client experience. It is still true that getting new business from an existing client, is much more cost efficient than from new prospects. No I am not saying you should stop prospecting, but don't ignore those that have rewarded you with their business, show them some love, make it easy for them to deal with you, and hard to leave you.

A good CRM (software and process) provides you with a complete view of the client, allowing you to align your resources to best serve them. Reducing service calls, reducing time to respond, reducing the effort to take orders, reducing the cost of sale, increasing their satisfaction level and creating a mutual economical value add relationship.

The data available to you will also help segment your clients better, allowing you to decide where you want to put your focus, and which clients you may want to off load. Remember that some 30% or your lowest margin clients suck over 50% of your resources. A CRM done right can assure that you are retaining the right clients.

CRM system can also break down hierarchical communication barriers allowing everyone, not just sales to focus on the customer relationship, allowing top executive to get involved in meeting client expectation and driving revenue. Of course this will only work where the CRM culture is present. And in many companies that have rolled out the software without the process, with out the training, without the internal value proposition, it is not. As stated earlier it in fact diminishes the client relationship. Many companies are experiencing push back from the front line because they failed to show the ROI to the users. Like the clients sales reps want to know what's in it for them. There is a lot, if there is a supporting process focused on everyone's success, the company, the rep, the client. This can be achieved with a sales process that aligns around key objectives.

One last thing to consider, CRM systems are usually associated with sales organizations. But client satisfaction is the function of the whole organization. A truly successful CRM extends beyond sales to all groups with in a corporation, and as such, a key success factor is the alignment of the sales process with other processes impacting the client relationship.

Tibor Shanto, is a Principal with Renbor Sales Solutions Inc., Renbor Sales Solutions Inc. enables companies achieve sustained growth, by focusing on critical aspects of revenue growth. By recognizing that an outstanding sales force is THE differentiator in today’s environment, our clients with our help, focus on the development of both strategic and tactical initiatives to foster a winning team that will out think, out sell and out perform competitors while consistently gaining market share.

Renbor’s Objective Based Selling (OBS) is a structured approach to delivering ongoing results and improvement by focusing the entire sales organization on a key set of objectives. The overarching objective for any sales organization is to achieve exceptional and sustainable revenue growth. This is accomplished by creating a culture of sales excellence built around the principles and processes adopted by world-class sales organizations.

How Good Clients Are Lost

2007-07-09T02:18:00.001-07:00

At the moment I am meant to be working on a video about how to build a web site that will attract good clients. Everything has been thrown out of kilter because a piece of software I ordered three weeks ago hasn’t arrived.

Can someone explain to me how it can take three weeks to send a disc 250 miles? When I ordered it I explained that I needed it urgently and was prepared to go and fetch it, but they knew better and insisted that it would be with me in a week. I am a good client of this supplier but they let me down consistently and I can’t find anyone else who produces the software that they produce.

This is a typical instance of a small company where the driving force, the founder, works IN the business too much and doesn’t spend enough time working ON the business to make it function well.

It is always easy in a small business to get wrapped up in what you’re doing and take your eye off the effect that you are having on your clients.

The problem starts well before you even open for business. Ask yourself this question: “why did you decide to start a business like yours?” The answer is probably something along the lines of: “because it’s something I enjoy doing.” And that is the trap, you spend your time doing the things you enjoy. Well, why shouldn’t you? It is your business after all.

Yes, but it’s a business and the only way it will thrive and survive is if you find, win and retain good clients.

Somehow you have to find both the time and the inclination to spend time thinking like your good clients and talking to them. They are the life blood of your business – value them and treat them like your best friends.

Coming up in my video series are movies about how to attract good clients and how to sell to them with confidence and conviction. I am pressing ahead with the selling video because I can’t complete the movie scheduled for release this week.

I hope you’ll enjoy How To Win Good Clients by Selling With Confidence and Conviction. It is a subject very dear to my heart because when I started out I was really bad at selling. It scared the pants off me. But now I really enjoy the challenge. The turning point was when I learned how to make myself more confident. I’ll tell you more about how I did that in my next article.

Top 30 Aroma Chemicals Used In Making Fragrances

2007-07-09T02:17:00.000-07:00

Top 30 aroma chemicals used in making fragrances Based on about 800 popular fragrance formulations, which are used in Soaps, Detergents, Toiletries, House-hold products, Incense sticks, Attars, etc, we are able to provide a tentative data of global consumption of synthetic chemicals used in making fragrances.

The market data for Attars& Agarbatti is still not clear. The market data for the fragrance consumption for the regions like Middle East,Africa,some Asian region is also not clear.Hence,the data provided below gives some idea of global consumption of top thirty chemicals used in making fragrances.

We have also taken into account the global consumption of the raw materials used in manufacturing these products.

We have not considered terpenes like Alpha-pinene,Limonene, etc which are directly used in fragrances.

We have taken into account the fixatives& diluents into account as they form a major contributor in fragrance formulations.

There are about 40% of the same chemicals also used in making flavours. Some of the chemicals like Vanillin, Menthol, Eugenol, Limonene, Esters of lowers alcohol, Esters of lower fatty acids are as bulk as the chemicals mentioned below, but 80% of their global consumption goes in to making flavours. Hence we cannot consider them in to the top thirty fragrance chemicals.

The following chemicals are manufactured from the raw materials, which are originated from petrochemical source or natural source. Some of the products mentioned below are also used in polymers, drugs, pesticides, etc. Hence,the global consumption of such chemicals are much higher than what is mentioned below.

The following data concerns only with their consumption in fragrances.

1] LINALOOL& ITS ESTERS -8000 TONS

2] GERANIOL& ITS ESTERS -1200O TONS

3] TERPINEOL& ITS ESTERS -8400 TONS

4] ISO-E-SUPER -6000 TONS

5] GALAXOLIDE -4500 TONS

6] BENZYL ACETATE -12000 TONS

7] DIHYDROMYRCENOL&DERIVATIVES -8000 TONS

8] LYRAL -4000 TONS

9] BENZYL SALISYLATE -8000 TONS

10] DEP -20000 TONS

11] AMYL & HEXYL SALISYLATE -3000 TONS

12] HEDIONE -8000 TONS

13] PHENYL ETHYL ALCOHOL,ESTERS,ETHERS -14000 TONS

14] BENZYL BENZOATE -4000 TONS

15] CITRONELLOL& ITS ESTERS -6000 TONS

16] ISOLONGIFOLINE DERIVATIVES -2500 TONS

17] NITRO MUSKS -2000 TONS

18] CEDRYL METHYL KETONE,ACETATE & METHYL ETHER-3000 TONS

19] LILAL -5000 TONS

20] IONONES-BETA& ALPHA,GAMMA METHYL IONONE -12000 TONS

21] GERANYL NITRILE& CITRONELLYL NITRILE -5000 TONS

22] PTBCHA& OTBCHA -10000 TONS

23] ANISIC ALDEHYDE,ANISIC ALCOHOL& ESTERS -3000 TONS

24] IBCH& ICCH -3000 TONS

25] TONALIDE -3000 TONS

26] CINNAMICALEHYDE,CINNAMIC ALCOHOL&ESTERS -3000 TONS

26] COUMARIN & DERIVATIVES -2000 TONS

27] NAPHTHYL ETHERS -2600 TONS

28] DCPD ESTERS & DERIVATIVES -3000 TONS

29] ISOPROPYL MYRISTATE -2000 TONS

30] DIPROPYLENE GLYCOL& ESTERS -2500 TONS

3 Keys To Identifying A Sales Achiever In A Hiring Interview

2007-07-06T02:10:00.001-07:00

How can you identify the great salesperson in a job interview? Well, it’s not easy.

First of all, true sales virtuosos are scarce, even though there are many good salespeople and sales is one of the most common and necessary types of jobs. Also, research shows that the job interview is notoriously unreliable as a predictor of job performance. And it’s even worse if you are interviewing salespeople. Because if there is one thing that all salespeople – from the great ones to the average ones – have in common, it is the ability to interview exceptionally well.

So, how can you use an interview to increase your “hit rate” in hiring the best salespeople? Naturally, you want to look at their history, references, performance on pre-employment tests, and the like. You want to ask the usual interview questions (Tell me about yourself. Why did you leave your last job? What are your strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures? Etc.).

But salespeople are experts at getting past a typical interviewer. So here’s your challenge: How can you turn the odds in your favor? How can you interview in a manner that will reveal whether the person sitting across the desk from you will be first string on your sales team or will be a sales underachiever?

As a psychologist who has spent decades interviewing and counseling salespeople, I have learned that there are certain patterns that keep coming up so frequently in interviews that they have become highly predictable. Using the power of communication, here are 3 powerful interview tools to add to your interview approach:

# 1. “How will our company be better off if we hire you?” This is the mother of all hiring questions. It speaks to whether the sales applicant is focusing on your bottom line. Most applicants are primarily worried about how to explain themselves and how they come across in an interview. But you want to see if their major focus is on helping your company become more successful. Especially in sales, you are looking for someone whose has a laser-beam focus on bottom-line sales productivity – making money for the company, expanding the company’s customer base. You don’t want to hear about what this applicant did for Imbecile Machines in 2004; you want to know what he or she can do for you NOW. What they did in another job is only an example of what they can (presumably) do for you, not an answer to “Why should we hire you?”
# 2. Think about what is the most challenging thing about the job you are offering. Then say, “This job requires a lot of cold calling [or whatever is hardest]. Looking at your background, I’m not sure you can do it. How do we know you can do it and can keep doing it?” What you are actually doing here is presenting an “objection.” How does the applicant handle this objection? How they handle your objection will tell you a great deal about how they handle objections when actually selling your product or service.
# 3. Pick something from your desk (such as a pad of paper, a paperweight, or a pencil) and say, “OK, sell this to me.” This requires the applicant to do more than say the right things about themselves and about sales. It requires more than their often well-prepared responses to your questions. It requires them to actually do what you are hiring them to do. And who better to evaluate how they do it than you?

There are three areas to watch for in following up:

# A. Look for specific examples. If an applicant makes a strong claim but cannot think of a specific instance in their history that illustrates it, watch out.
# B. Look for what is avoided or missing. For example, training can consist of reading, coaching, participating in workshops, being mentored, and of course experience. If any of those elements are missing when the applicant discusses training, this is another potential red flag.
# C. Look for evidence not only that the applicant can perform the sales task, but also that he or she can do so on an ongoing basis. For example, if the job requires cold calling, and the applicant says they are good at cold calling, ask how much they cold call (how many hours a day or week, how many months on a consistent basis).

Adding all of the above ideas will increase the depth of your interview and give you more specific and better information to help you make a good sales hiring decision. And if you find that some variation works better for you in your particular situation, by all means use it.

How Good Clients Are Lost

2007-07-06T02:09:00.000-07:00

The Myth of the Working Sales Manager

2007-07-02T02:45:00.000-07:00

A Sales Manager's Responsibility Does Not Focus on Selling but it Does Focus on the Promotion of Sales

Sales managers are often promoted and then expected to continue to handle their most lucrative accounts. This decision is often made by management for the fear of losing major accounts. The new sales manager hardly ever protests as it is an affirmation as to his worthiness and ownership of those accounts. These decisions leave little time for coaching their sales teams or strategizing about future sales initiatives. Field sales people may end up with the perception that their personal growth potential may be limited. The sales person replacing the sales manager that was promoted may feel that the company lacks confidence in their ability to handle major accounts. This is not the kind of orientation you want to adopt when assigning new sales personnel.

What are the Sales Managers Real Responsibilities?

A fair question and the answer may apply universally across the majority of industries. The answer focuses on four key concepts:

1. Developing the Sales Strategy --- Creating a discipline within the sales force to identify specific growth targets which include:

• Increased penetration of existing accounts

• New account development , pipeline management

• New product introduction and promotion

2. Developing the Sales Force --- This key responsibility includes self development and required leadership skills.

• Coaching and mentoring

• Providing training resources

• Hands on buddy calls

• Monthly territory/account discussions and review sessions. (one on one)

• Policy & procedure enforcement

• Accountability

3. Managing Activities – Measuring Results --- Defining key activities and then managing those activities is a prerequisite to success.

• Designing a sales effectiveness process that requires account action plan activities that include but are not limited to:

--- Targeting

--- Goal setting

--- Opportunity reporting

--- Pipeline management

--- Performance scorecards

4. Advertisement & Promotions --- This is budget based and may be coordinated with marketing in many companies but should include the following:

• Open house

• Lunch & learn

• Client seminars

• Social and event selling

• Public awareness, speaking and writing articles

• Testimonials and referrals

Although the scenario outlined in the opening paragraph (Sales managers are often promoted and then expected to continue to handle their most lucrative accounts.) was very common ten years ago, it has slowly been changing as companies recognize the importance that needs to be placed on developing the sales force. Being the number one sales person is no longer the primary criteria used to determine who the next sales manager should be. Many companies now acknowledge that the skill sets required to be a good sales manager are different than those of a good field sales person. Sales managers today must be focused on coaching their sales staffs, strategizing about creating new business and delegating day-to-day operational issues to other staff members.

The Truth Is Simple

You can not effectively manage a sales force and have primary responsibility for the maintenance or development of specific accounts. It is like trying to win the super bowl with player coaches on the field and nobody on the sidelines looking at the big picture and taking care of the overall game plan. Quit scrimping. If you promote someone to sales manager; let them manage and pay them according to the profitability performance of the overall sales team. You also need to invest in skill development in the area of coaching and mentoring for your sales managers. In fact all managers need this type of skill development. Everybody talks about it but very few companies actually train their managers on coaching and mentoring.

Gaining the Respect of the Sales Team

I often hear the argument that a sales manager needs to gain the respect of the sales team by demonstrating their skill at selling by handling some accounts. That is a myth. More precisely; that is Hogwash. There is no correlation between a manager's sales ability and leadership skills. That is why promoting your best sales person to sales manager more often than not falls short of expectations. Indeed, if you were to adopt that theory you may initiate an ego contest between the sales manager and the sales team which could do irreparable harm. Think about this. How can a sales manager live up to the responsibilities outlined in this article and support his sales team through coaching and mentoring if he/she is out in the field selling directly to an account base? Sales managers gain respect and trust by demonstrating respect and trust in the sales team; not by trying to outsell or sell along side of them. The sales manager’s job is to be the coach and strategist. If the job is defined accurately as being a coach, then he/she doesn't need to prove their sales ability. They just need to gain the trust and respect by becoming a good strategist, coach, mentor and problem solver.

The Professional Sales Manager Characteristics:

The next time you are faced with hiring or promoting someone to the position of Sales Manager, use the following characteristics as a baseline for your selection process.

1. Highly Self Motivated

2. Optimistic

3. Excellent Relationship building Skills

4. Skilled at Team Selling – Team Building

5. Calculated Risk Taker

6. Listens Well --- 80% of the Time

7. Plans Well

8. Ability to Think Outside the Box Because They Know What Goes on Inside the Box

9. Always Lives Up to Their Commitments

10. Always On Time With Assignments

11. Exceptional Positive Attitude (Does Not Whine or Make Excuses)

12. Excellent Communicator

13. Inspires Excellence in Others

14. Strong Social and Interpersonal Skills

15. Commands a Presence

16. Honesty

17. Integrity

18. Develops Trust and Respect by Showing Trust

and Respect for others

19. Embraces Accountability – for Self and Sales Team

20. Knowledgeable of Selling Concepts and Best Practice

Building A Top - Level Balanced Scorecard

2007-07-02T02:44:00.000-07:00

A Top-Level Balanced Scorecard is a great tool to summarize an organization’s top objectives that stem from its Strategic Planning process. The tool has more than a decade of application and proven results, so a well-deployed Balanced Scorecard is a sure way to provide focus, accountability, communication, and a predictable way to achieve strategic goals.

The first step in building an organization's top-level Balanced Scorecard is to copy elements from its strategy map, if one has been created. A strategy map is a simple, visual depiction of an organization’s highest-level strategic objectives, grouped into high-level focus areas, called perspectives. These groupings should take the organization’s key "stakeholders" into account. The four most common perspectives that frame a company's strategic objectives are Financial, Customers, Internal Processes, and Learning and Growth. These may be modified to reflect different or additional stakeholders.

Perspectives become “buckets” into which the high-level objectives fit on both a strategy map and on a top-level Balanced Scorecard. Objectives are the eight to ten most critical organizational goals from the current year's strategic plan. They take the form of short verb-noun statements. For example, an objective under the "Customers" perspective could be "Improve Customer Satisfaction." These critical objectives may often be derived from a “SWOT Analysis,” which uncovers key Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats that should be addressed.

The next step in building the scorecard is to identify measures that will best determine if the company is on track to achieve each objective. Measures, also called Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or metrics, are the one to three strategic indicators of success per objective. Using the example objective above, "Improve Customer Satisfaction," a company could measure "Average Customer Satisfaction Score," plus one or two additional proven indicators for this objective, such as “Product Return Rate” and “Number of Customer Complaints.” The measure should also have a specified goal or target. By comparing actual performance data to this goal, a Stoplight Indicator can be triggered, which provides a quick visual reading – typically a red, yellow, or green arrow – of each measure’s current status.

Key to a good top-level scorecard is maintaining focus. By adhering to the maximum numbers of objectives and measures suggested above, focus will be clear. To help achieve these rules of thumb, keep in mind that day-to-day tactical or line-level quality measures should be contained in lower level, “cascaded” scorecards.

The final step in building a top-level Balanced Scorecard is to identify initiatives that will address critical areas of underperformance. Initiatives are time-specific projects with identified start- and end-dates that should be aligned to critical underperforming measures or objectives. These help close the gaps and turn red or yellow stoplight indicators green.

A few best practices to remember:

1. Perspectives, objectives, measures, and initiatives should all be aligned with the strategy to ensure that the correct road map will be followed.

2. Only the critical few (eight to ten) objectives should make it onto the top-level Scorecard and no more than three measures should be tracked for each objective.

3. Finally, a single, top-level scorecard will not drive results. Scorecards must be cascaded down and across the organization to really see results.

Sales Force Incentives

2007-06-28T04:17:00.001-07:00

Sales force incentives are a vital part of business and one of the best reasons is that they work. This is one of the few motivators that can rev up a sales force for pennies on the dollar. However it has to be well designed and executed to reap the full benefits and get the most out of your sales force.

The reasons sales force incentives are so effective, is that they appeal to the basic instinct of a true sales person. The need to compete, to be recognized for doing well and essentially having their ego stroked and last but not least the ability to acquire more stuff for doing what they love to do. A good sales force incentive program can almost always assure a business owner that they will get results, but there are several rules of engagement that they have to keep in mind. The sales force incentive requires a concise goal. This may be as basic as increasing sales, but there are other objectives that can be added to a sales force incentive. These range from generating new accounts to launching new products or even expanding your sales territory. The sales force incentives goals will greatly depend on where that particular business sees they are lagging behind the competition, or that there is an untapped market they need to explore.

The next thing a sales force incentive needs to accomplish is a clearly defined list or statement of accomplishments. In other words your sales force needs to know precisely what the amount of increase in numbers that are expected. Is it X number of dollars, or X number of new accounts? The comparisons can be from previous years or from the competition, however the current business climate and the potential of your sales team need to be taken into account. The sales force incentive can be trick in that, make it too unattainable and you end up demotivating the team , make it too easy and you will not make the returns needed to justify the money spent on sales force incentive.

The next important part of an effective sales force incentive is the budget. The budget should not exceed 10% of the projected sales increase, and should not be less that about 1.5-2%. This budget includes not just the sales force incentive but the promotion such as awards luncheon and also the administration of this program in the form of over time and the like. Also be prepared to be flexible in case it is very successful you might want to continue it or if it is not working, revamp it.

Picking the right sales force incentive is also crucial to its success. Cash usually works because most people like cash, and there is no cost to storing it. The down side is people tend to forget after it is put into an account or mutual fund, and it always a clear show of how much the company spent on the sales force incentive. Take a team on a vacation and you can also gain the benefit of building the team spirit while rewarding them. Not everyone will agree though that travel is a good sales force incentive since some people prefer to take vacations to get away from the people they work with. Merchandise is also good as long as the quality of the products match the sales force. Also the merchandise will be around for a long while to remind the team or individual of their accomplishments.

The main thing is to keep the sales force incentive duration short. People are better motivated in the short term. Quicker rewards will help reinforce the behavior desired by the company initiating the sales force incentive.

Tips on How to Make Sales Incentives Work for Your Business

2007-06-28T04:16:00.000-07:00

Your company’s sales team is arguably the most exposed and hardworking group in your workforce, and that’s just one reason why they need to be given the RIGHT incentives REGULARLY. And so yes, not just any incentive will do. What works for one company may not work for yours so it’s important that you take the time to know your sales team well and determine as well just what you’re capable of giving them.

Factors to Consider When Determining What Sales Incentives to Give

AGE – People’s likes and dislikes as well as their goals tend to differ as they age, and thus, it’s important to give sales incentives that will suit your sales team’s age range. If, however, they’re composed of different generations, then you need to choose something that will be ubiquitously desirable.

GENDER – Gender-specific sales incentives are tricky because you could be sued for discrimination, but they’re arguably more effective as well since you’re giving your sales team – man or woman – what they really desire. One way of solving the discrimination problem is by giving them the option to choose.

BUDGET – Naturally, giving away sales incentives shouldn’t bankrupt you. Evaluate your finances then determine just how much you’re able to spend. Having a budget will also challenge your mind and imagination to think out of the box and be resourceful.

Tips on How to Create Effective Programs for Sales Incentives

Sales Incentives Have Two Faces – And they’re called cash and non-cash incentives. It’s important that you offer both. Like it or not, people are generally easier to motivate if you’re offering both money and recognition in exchange of showing better job performance.

Motivation Comes from Within – Before creating any sales incentive program, you must also understand that no matter how hard you work on setting goals and determining prizes for employees, there won’t be any changes made if the employees themselves aren’t ready, willing, and able to change. Thus, be ready to be confronted once in a while with a few bad apples here and there. And when you do, don’t blame yourself: it’s those people – and not your program – that’s at fault.

Separate Sales Incentives for Short-Term and Long-Term Goals – You must prepare separate and appropriate sales incentives for your short-term and long-term goals. Cash and similar monetary incentives work better for short-term goals because they work like confectioneries by providing employees with a temporary boost of physical and mental energy. Stimulants for intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, will definitely work better for long-term goals because it gives your employees a reason to continue working the way you want them to.

3 S’s for Sales Incentives – When creating a sales incentive program, always make sure that it adheres to the 3 S’s rule: short, sweet, and simple. Anything complicated can discourage your sales workforce from bothering to change. And if you offer something sour instead of sweet, who’d want to work for it?

Take Advantage of Your Affiliations – If you only rely on your own resources to provide for sales incentives for your workforce, your options may be greatly limited. Thus, consider taking advantage of your affiliations. Negotiate with them for mutually beneficial contracts. Exchange favors.

Evaluate, Evaluate, Evaluate – And lastly, don’t stop monitoring the results of your sales incentive program. If you notice something that seems to have lost effectiveness, determine its causes then modify, eliminate, or replace it with something better.

Valuing the Client

2007-06-25T04:08:00.000-07:00

The present times demand on the part of the companies, a greater approach in the satisfaction of the client; fulfilling in most of the expectations that a product or service requires. But who go ahead but they are and they will be the companies that day to day are surpassing the expectations of the client.

How are they doing it?

· Fulfilling the specifications of the product or service.

· The product or service fulfills the objectives that the client requires.

· Good availability.

· With you deliver in time.

· With deliveries in time.

· The Value added to its products or services.

· Constant feedback client - supplier.

If we want to maintain the clients present we must put attention in the previous points, which will as well bring new potential clients for its company. To value the Client, is to know its necessities and problems, thus, we can focus our resources in an excellent product or service that will manage to cover the necessities and will solve the problems, satisfying to the Client.

The client who feels that their necessities or problems are solved by a product or service, did not let consume it while she continues fulfilling the objectives; new necessities or problems on the part of the Client can arrive; that in the Client-Supplier Feedback they must be considered by the Company (Supplier) to be updating the product or service in agreed to the necessities of the Client, otherwise, entered the field a new Supplier with a product that will fill to the new expectations of the unsatisfied client and that will finish moving it.

It is of extreme importance of maintaining one narrow Client-Supplier relation to be updated to the necessity-problems of the Client, to take into account any complaint by minim that we consider it, to put under it evaluation to give solutions. Solutions are what our Clients look for, give the solution him who they need with our products and services, and better even surpass what the client hopes of us. Thus we will have a satisfied Client and that is faithful to the product or service that we offered him.

It is necessary to be meticulous in which we do, often east aspect neglects when we thought “something small, did not concern…”, single we take the place from the client. When we are going to buy a product or service, we are well meticulous in everything, since we do not want to take to house:

”a shirt with a button less”,

“a car with a small ray in the painting”,

“a footwear with a lower number than other one”,

“a package with less pounds than the stipulated thing”

And the list can be enlarge, since most of us since clients we have happened in some similar or different case, but the common one of all is “do not concentrate well on this”. As Clients we would like to know that we have in our suppliers to confidence people, who did not give defective products to us, since they have his efforts trims in making the best product or offering the best service for the satisfaction of the client. So we do this, reality for our clients, focusing all our effort in an excellent product or service that offers that confidence that makes it be safe with us.

Let us play our role of good Suppliers (services or products), and will see our portfolio of satisfied clients and growing. The great corporations have like priority the satisfaction of the client, put that goal in our organizations and will see as it grows with happening of the days.

The Dirty Little Secrets Of The Failure To Leverage The Inside Sales – Customer Service Potential

2007-06-25T04:07:00.000-07:00

How can the distributor take advantage of existing relationships between Inside Sales/Customer Service personnel and customers? This age-old question has caused managers to implement a variety of approaches in the attempt to tap perceived potential, but many fail and the question persists. Why?

Most firms do not have adequate measures installed to determine who does what within an Inside Sales/Customer Service group. For lack of measures, it is not possible for management to define department productivity or level of activity much less individual productivity.

1. Without consideration for the level of inbound call activity, it is common for management to want Inside Sales/Customer Service personnel to use suggestive selling techniques during inbound calls. Further, some firms also assign outbound sales call responsibility.

2. The reality of many Inside Sales/Customer Service operations is: they are very busy handling inbound calls from customers. Their motivation is to handle each call as quickly as possible so they can get off the phone with the customer and take the next inbound call that is waiting for them. In a given day, one individual may handle upwards of 50-100 inbound calls and related tasks, e.g., taking and processing orders, mailing requested literature, preparing bids or quotes, expediting, providing price and delivery information, checking inventory, and so forth.

3. Although some Inside Sales/Customer Service people are better than others at using suggestive selling techniques during inbound calls from customers, this practice depends upon:

• product and applications knowledge, probing skills, knowledge of suggestive selling techniques

• having others in the department who are available to handle other inbound calls Even experienced personnel will stop this practice when incoming call levels peak. Why? Because they do not want to take the time during calls to talk with the customer, identify needs and interests, discuss options available, and make recommendations. In other words, they switch to a different mode during peak incoming call periods. Their motivation is driven by the need to handle each call as quickly as possible so they can take the next call.

One strategy used by some managers is to remove Inside Sales/Customer Service personnel from the 'order desk' so they can make outbound calls to customers assigned to them. For example, an hour a day is set-aside for several days a week for them to make these calls. However, when they return to the 'order desk,' they are faced with callback messages from customers who requested them. Although management may perceive this strategy as a method for increasing Inside Sales/Customer Service productivity, this approach must be well managed. Again, the lack of measures of this function is a direct cause of problems here.

Desired increases in productivity within the Inside Sales/Customer Service group have also prompted the installation and use of Voice Mail systems. Taken from the customer's perspective, what this often means is: the customer cannot get orders and other information requests handled at the customer's convenience. The customer has several options: 1) wait for a return call from the distributor; 2) FAX the order or request if possible; or 3) locate a different supplier who is organized for the customer's convenience.

The effect of many Voice Mail systems is to cut the distributor off from customers. In today's service economy, the practice of organizing the company for its own convenience can be the cause of lost orders and customers. Further, installing Voice Mail may preclude analysis, definition, and solutions to the real problem. A staff deployment problem may exist. Although Voice Mail appears to solve the problem by smoothing out peak incoming call times, customer inconvenience is at issue. The lack of appropriate Inside Sales/Customer Service measures is also the cause of:

• management misperceptions about the Inside Sales/Customer Service primary function. This is the distributor's front line. It is the customer's primary interface with the company. Through this job function, the distributor proves or disproves a commitment to service excellence.

• management tactics designed to increase productivity without consideration for their impact on existing customers. Any decision that cuts the distributor off from customers must be seriously evaluated.

• inappropriate compensation practices. If the distributor cannot measure individual productivity, it is not possible to recognize it much less compensate for it. If management wants to take advantage of the Inside Sales/Customer Service opportunity, the first step in this process is to evaluate what exists in that department today. Questions managers need to answer include:

1. Are existing personnel so busy handling incoming calls that the mind-set is to get off each call as fast as possible so they can take the next call? Conversely, do staff have time to sell on inbound calls? If not, what do we need to do to make time available to them?

2. Do we have the necessary base measures in the department to prove there is or is not time available to increase productivity? What measures do we need to install?

3. Have we trained our people to know:

• our products, value-added services, and what questions to ask customers to identify their needs and interests in using them?

• what promotions are available?

• what direct mail materials are available for them to mail to customers? What questions should be asked customers to determine their needs for our materials? What questions should be asked to identify if others at the customer's location need our materials besides the buyer?

4. Have we installed computer support systems that help prompt people to use suggestive selling techniques?

5. What measures do we need to install to identify individual performance and productivity so we can recognize individual contributions and reward accordingly?

Inside Sales – Customer Service is no longer just sales support and order takers of the past, Inside Sales - Customer Service has taken center stage with customers. It is the front-line to the customer, the back bone of the business, and the primary influence that proves your commitment to service excellence. Management needs to evaluate existing operations. Everything from corporate culture to attitudes, reporting relationships, support systems, recruiting specifications, to training needs are the proper focus of management attention. A new business model may be warranted to meet changing customer demands and expectations of your front-line. (Thanks go out to Peg Fischer & Associates for much of the information supplied in this article)

No Pain No Gain No Profit

2007-06-21T02:44:00.002-07:00

Pain is something we try to avoid as much as possible unless you are a masochist, champion or millionaire in the making.

To have more requires becoming more and becoming more requires growth. Talk to any serious athlete or body builder. They will tell you that most of their workout is just going through the motions. Yes, it keeps them in shape and playing at the same level but it’s the last curl, push-up or set of exercises that creates the results. The same holds true for your business.

You can tell a champion in any industry or walk of life. They have no interest in maintaining the status quo. When they set their goals it is always for more than they produced the year before. They understand that if you are not moving forward, you are moving backwards. And for a champion that is unacceptable.

To move forward requires doing more than you are doing right now. You are going to have to endure some kind of pain to grow bigger than you are. That is why it is called growing pains.

The pain could come from making five more calls when you would rather go for a drink with your co-workers. It could come in the form of taking leadership or sales training on a weekend instead of a game of golf. It might show up as missing "Desperate Whatevers" or the latest reality show. In order for creating room for more success you have to let something go. As Jim Rohn says, "You must suffer the pain of discipline or the pain of regret." Discipline stings a lot less and the pain softens when the rewards come in.

Take a look at your business or career. To move to the next level, where do you need to grow? Make a list of activities or actions you will need to increase, decrease and commit to doing whatever it takes. Remember, no pain – no gain – no profits. So get growing.

Don't Just Interview Sales Candidates- Interview Past Managers- Too!

2007-06-21T02:44:00.001-07:00

I was just spending a few minutes at the Chicago White Sox web site, absorbing some of the techniques being used by pitching coach, Don Cooper.

He was jumping on his staff for exhibiting too much of a laid back quality. Instead, he wants them to aggressively challenge hitters.

The article got me to thinking about the coaches I had in baseball. Some were laid back, others were micro-managers. I was trying to recall who I did better with.

I’d say it was the hands-off leaders that got my best performances.

My mind shifted to this business question: Why don’t we spend more time and invest more effort in interviewing past managers of our candidates? Don’t their styles also have a lot to do with the overall success of their “players?”

If I’m a salesperson, for instance, and it’s your job to recruit me, wouldn’t it be useful to know that my last manager elicited my best achievements by utterly leaving me alone and staying out of my way?

What if you’re next in line to become my manager and you believe there is only one way to sell, that it’s “Your way, or the highway?” You want everyone on your team to follow a set presentation and not to deviate.

But I’m your candidate and I’m not used to having someone like you breathing down my neck, or even monitoring my techniques at all. Won’t there be an inevitable clash down the road?

Perhaps we should not only check employment references in a standard way but also it would make sense to probe a little about the management philosophy and styles that were in place at the last locale.

Manager to manager, we might be able to learn valuable information that would enable us to hire with more intelligence and confidence.

Marketing Today - Helpful Hints for Understanding Your Future and Existing Clients

2007-06-13T03:34:00.002-07:00

There exists several unspoken secrets in the marketing world that you should be aware of when contacting prospective or regular clients. Familiarizing yourself and your employees with these principles can build confidence and help you to remember the business world’s big picture.

When it comes to marketing your business, walk into any possible situation with the approach that clients do want and need your services. Believe in your products and services and promote what you are offering confidently. Don’t let negativity or a few bad experiences destroy your vision of success. There may be other companies out there that are providing some of the same work that you are involved in, but strive to be the best. Let your clients know this.

Regardless of what business you are in, know that your clients want to feel better. They want an eye cream that minimizes wrinkles, and that makes them feel better. They want industrial appliances in their business for efficiency, and also so that they can feel better about their workload and energy usage. They want their hard wood floors resurfaced, so that their natural quality is improved… and so that they can feel better about entertaining and enjoying their home. Establish “making clients feel better” as a part of your company’s philosophy.

Make it easy for potential clients to reach you. Today, searching for a massage therapist, accountant, or printing company most likely means using the Internet. Create a web site. Publish your contact information. Have a cell phone. Be available for customers. Post your hours of operation. Be present at your physical location if you operate out of one. If you are unable to be present, hire someone to answer inquiries so that clients have a response. If you operate solely on-line, have enough personnel to make communication possible.

Understand that because of our globalized economy, many of your customers have more to manage than they desire. Consider the emails, faxes, telephone calls, written correspondence, and personal and financial issues that most of us deal with on a given day. Remember this, and have patience when marketing your services. If you reach out to a first time or repeat client, and they fail to respond, give them some time. Then, try again.

Treat each prospective client as though they were your best client, yet have the mentality that you can’t make every deal. Likewise you can’t realistically make every single person happy. Though, having a warm, positive approach is likely to attract people regardless.

Be clear about what you are offering clients. This will save confusion and client relationships later. If your Japanese restaurant only serves sushi, make this unmistakable. The people that want to eat there will do so whole-heartedly and will continue. Those hoping for something else will know this in advance. They may choose to take their money some place else, but in the end, they won’t have had a bad experience because of a lack of communication. On the other hand, they may decide to try your cuisine any way, or make a referral to someone else.

Possible clients are not always experts in your field. They may know what their goals are, but you have the education and experience to make that happen for them. If your client has never been to cosmetology school, their telling you how to cut their hair could be disastrous. Let them paint picture of the desired outcome, but assure them you have skills to materialize their wishes. In any business, often times what customers request or how they do so is not always what they really want.

Your prospects might need time to consider the best decision for themselves and those involved. Allow them the space they require for further research or exploring other possibilities. In the end, if you truly believe in your services, your confidence will emanate and attract clients.

Whether you communicate over e-mail, via the telephone, or in person, your clients are human beings. Both on-line and written communication can be interpreted as ambiguous. Be aware of this.

Remember the golden rule. Evaluate your own preferences for being contacted. How do you appreciate being approached? In what manner do you wish to be responded to? Have you ever needed time to process a decision? What are your needs in the role of a consumer?

These principles may seem simple, but in our hurry to accomplish what we would like to, they can be easily dismissed. Recharge your marketing batteries with these key points and prepare yourself for success.

Is Your Sales Team Paralysed By the Fear of Failure?

2007-06-13T03:34:00.001-07:00

Selling for a living can be living under a constant push for figures. If you are struggling as a team to hit your sales target you are under a huge amount of pressure to hit it…. or else, if you just about hit target you’re under pressure to improve and if you smash your target? You can guarantee it will be put up for the next month.

As sales managers we can fall into the bad habit of ‘passing down’ to our sales teams the pressure we are put under by our company. Is that an effective way of motivating our team and building a culture of success? Absolutely not! It is the worse thing we can do as a manager, in fact the more pressure we put our teams under, the more we increase the probability of missing our sales target by a long way. Why is that?

It sabotages your chances of success because you introduce the fear of failure into your sales person’s success ratio. It is that fear of failure which prevents sales people, teams and Companies hitting target week in week out. Does a fear of failure really affect your sales people so badly? Try this out, lay a length of 100x50mm timber on the floor and ask for volunteers to walk across it. Every one will be happy to do that with hardly any one loosing their balance. If you then raised that timber 50m into the air and asked for volunteers to walk across it with out any safety nets, how many would volunteer? None!

Although physically nothing has changed it is just walking across a piece of wood, the fear of falling makes it a completely different activity, in fact the greater your fear of falling is, the worse your performance will be.

This works just the same with our sales people, we could think that the more pressure we put them under to perform, the more seriously they will take it, the more effort they will put in and the better chance we have of getting good results from them but it very rarely works because of that fear of failure. On the other hand it is amazing what results can be achieved if you take the pressure off them.

I managed a team of sales people for a large telecommunication Company whose sales were achieved from door to door selling. This was a very tuff selling environment and we were under relentless pressure to perform. This meant every so often one of my sales people would suffer a crisis of confidence and go into a sales slump, the harder they tried to sell the more stress and anxiety they felt.

I used a very simple method to turn them round and get them earning money again. I would sit them down and tell them that I would sell the deals they needed for that day and the next day if I needed to, they did not need to sell at all, and in fact I did not want them to sell!

I just wanted them to go out and enjoy them selves for the day and get their confidence back, I wanted them to find nice people who they could have a laugh with, practice some small talk on, and share a joke and most of all have fun. They would go out with no pressure on them at all and guess what? They would have one of their best selling days for weeks because, just like walking on the piece of wood on the ground, there was no fear of failure.

As managers we need to find as many ways as possible to reduce that fear of failure for our sales people at the same time as initiating a thorough and comprehensive examination of the complete sales process.

Is Your Sales Team Undertrained? Ten Ways to Know

2007-06-08T03:01:00.002-07:00

If you are an business owner or a sales manager who is responsible for the success of your sales team, you know that it is necessary to constantly evaluate the team's performance. Your ongoing business success is determined by continuous training so that the team has the best tools and strategies available. When you evaluate your team's statistics, it's also a good idea to apply this simple ten question test to measure whether your team is undertrained and perhaps requires a little extra help. Every day you do your best, but is it enough?

1. Do members of your sales staff often lose more sales opportunities than they close?

2. Do you have a high turnover of your sales staff? (significant changes in under 2 years)

3. Is your repeat business lower than you would like it to be?

4- Could your customer satisfaction levels be higher?

5. Are your salespeople giving away profit margin too easily when trying to close a sale?

6. Do you wish your salespeople prospected and followed up more?

7. Do you wish your salespeople were more self reliant and required less supervision?

8. Have you noticed that many former selling techniques no longer work?

9. Do you notice high stress or even anger displayed by customers or salespeople?

10. Do you feel customers 'trust' your business less now than they did in the past?

Answering yes to even one of those questions suggests that some extra expertise might be required, but a significant number of yes answers might indicate a potential serious condition that is costing vital profit margins and precious customers. If there is an area in your sales team's performance that needs extra tools to get the job done for you, it's significantly more affordable to obtain those tools through additional training and professional development rather than replacing members of your team.

New To Sales Management? Begin With Your People In Mind

2007-06-08T03:01:00.001-07:00

Before you do anything, have the likely expectations of your people in mind. They will tend to define a good manager as one who:

• Is positive and enthusiastic

• Has vision (sees the longer /broader view

• Achieves their own goals

• Is well organised

• Making good – objective – decisions

• Delegate appropriately

• Provides good – honest – feedback

• Is fair and has no favourites

• Is open-minded and curious

• Listens (and is available to listen)

• Knows and takes an interest in staff

• Encourages/supports staff development

• Communicates well

• Shows confidence and gives credit

• Keeps people informed

• Acknowledges own mistakes/weaknesses

• Shares experience

Similarly, people will have firm views on the type of manager they do not want. Those, for example, who:

• Put themselves before their people

• Fail to set clear objectives/priorities

• Don’t appear to care about the team (a loner)

• Are secretive (or late informing)

• Procrastinate

• Are unapproachable

• Are not honest, open and fair

• Fail to consider people’s feelings

• Let their personal workload prevent team maintenance

This list and the preceding one could easily be extended and will be influenced by factors that are especially important in your job, organisation or function.

Make it your business to discover what is most important to your people.

New Post – New Employer?

Throughout your planning and progress you need to tailor your approach depending on whether you are moving positions within your current company or moving to a new one.

• Existing employer. Keep in mind that people know you. Your position relative to others will – must – change. You have to create a suitable distance between you and others, and not allow existing relationships (and friendships) to dictate the way things work. At the same time you are (still) part of the team, and how this manifests itself needs consideration. Beware of being arrogant. Do not throw the baby out of with the bath water – old alliances can help.

• New employer. The learning curve you face is inevitably much steeper. Beware of acting (or even of giving a view) before you have sufficient facts.

Always match your approach to the actual circumstances and be realistic about the situation you are in

First Things First:

Day one as a manager: a great deal to consider if you are moving into a new situation. You should:

• See your new manager early on: confirm your role and priorities and set up communications procedure between you both, especially to make clear how you check things during the first few days.

• Arrange introductions to other key people: if your work involves contacts with others (another department, people on the same time level as you, etc), make sure you know them and begin to cultivate a relationship from the word go.

• Meet your own staff: (more of this anon).

Once again, remember that you only get one chance to make a good first impression – especially in a new environment. This may be a cliché, but it’s true. So, consider the details and get them right. For example:

• Be sure to arrive on time (or a touch early)

• Look the part (think about what you wear)

Meet The People:

Make a point of speaking to everyone on day one. If this is not possible (for example, someone may be away) set a time for an initial word. This can be informal (just a word at their desk) or in your office or meeting room. It needs to do various things.

• Act as a personal introduction

• Clarify, briefly, how you see their role (or how the other person sees it)

• Dispel any immediate fears the team member may have

• Answer any immediate questions (or say when they can and will be answered)

• Begin to show you as the kind of manager you want to be

Ask questions and canvas opinion from the team about how things are going, what might need change, challenges for the future, etc

What Should An Effective And Professional Sales Team Appraisal Contain?

2007-06-05T03:34:00.001-07:00

I have always worked with the following formula:

Attitude + Skills + Process + Knowledge = Success

Therefore, when measuring my teams, I always ensure that I benchmark against that criteria:

A simplified example might look something like this (although I have to admit that my own companies’ measurement system is much more rigorous):

Personal

• Self-organisation & planning

• Motivation and attitude

• Ability to work under pressure

• Team playing and interpersonal skills

• Personal presentation

• Communication (oral/written/listening)

• Flexibility

• Initiative

• Performance vs. objectives

Sales

• Account management

• Business development

• Opportunity assessment -qualification

• Negotiation skills

• Presentation skills

• Strategic work

• Pro-activity

• Forecasting

• Achievement of targets

And for those with supervisory responsibilities you could add:

• Delegating authority

• Decision making

• Motivating - i.e. Creating enthusiasm and confidence

• Appraising and assessing

• Selecting and recruiting

• Coaching and developing

• Creativity

• Planning and allocating resource

• Representing

Next you need to implement a grading or scoring system – I use the following:

E - Poor: Definitely below acceptable standards; performance of job requirements is consistently deficient.

D - Fair: Improvement is needed to meet acceptable standards; performance of job requirements is inconsistent.

C - Average: Meets acceptable standards; performance of job requirements is consistent.

B - Good: Above acceptable standards; performance usually exceeds job requirements.

A - Excellent: Outstanding; unquestionably above acceptable standards; performance consistently exceeds job requirements.

In addition I translate these marks into scores, because that provides me with an overall numerical total which is so much easier to use when making comparisons:

I.e. using the above measurement scale: A=5, B=4 etc

In fact, I allow myself further “latitude” by using + or -, which in effect provides me with not five levels of rating but fifteen!

So now I have: E- = 0, E = 1, E+ = 2, all the way up to A+ which is now the equivalent of 14

This makes it so much easier to avoid the two common mistakes in rating i.e.:

Firstly, a tendency to rate nearly everyone as “average” on every characteristic instead of being more critical in judgement. The evaluator should use the ends of the scale as well as the middle.

Secondly, the “halo effect,” i.e. a tendency to rate the same individual “excellent” on every characteristic or “poor” on every characteristic based on the overall picture one has of the person being evaluated. However, each person has strong and weak points and these should be indicated on the rating scales.

What Else Should An Effective Appraisal Include? Mine Include All Of These:

Performance versus Commercial Targets

Specific Objectives vs. Results Summary

Quarterly Performance Rating

Commercial Targets For The Next Twelve Months

Specific Objectives For The Next Twelve Months

Performance versus Commercial Targets:

In this section, I review performance against all commercial targets for example:

• Revenue achieved.

• Overall gross margin.

• CCT (Customer contact time) as a % of TWT (Total working time).

• New accounts opened.

• Revenue increases from existing accounts.

Specific Objectives vs. Results Summary:

Specific objectives are all those targets that are “non – commercial” for example:

• Increase product knowledge in x areas.

• Profile any key accounts.

• Improve presentation skills.

• Attend a “Key Account Management” course.

• Become more involved with the induction of new recruits

Quarterly Performance Rating:

I have always believed in frequent reviews and as a consequence, I hold QBR (Quarterly Business Review) meetings at the end of each quarter. The scoring system is identical to the annual appraisal and in fact the QBRs provide most of the information and data for the annual session.

Commercial Targets and Specific Objectives for the Next Twelve Months:

A good appraisal should always conclude with agreement from both parties on the targets and objectives for the next twelve months. These do not have to be set in stone and can be reviewed at the next QBR; however it is essential that every individual buys in to what is expected of them.

Target setting is a vitally important part of a manager’s function because if targets are set too high that will only act as a demotivator: Equally, if they are set too low, typically that is all that will be achieved.

In the same way the high jumper just clears the bar and does not leap a metre over the top, salespeople sell to expectation and have no inclination to burst through targets – unless of course, there is a significant incentive on offer! Although that begs the question of why they were not challenged with a higher target in the first place?

Finally, it is important that the manager uses the occasion to send the apraisee away feeling good about themselves, fully motivated and believing that all of the targets that have been agreed are indeed achievable – a motivational summary works wonders, even if there were areas of concern during the meeting, always focus on the highlights.

Your Resume - What Employers Want To See

2007-06-05T03:33:00.000-07:00

The recruiting industry has changed dramatically since the mid-90’s when the Internet began to catch fire as a networking tool. Prior to the advent of online job boards such as CareerBuilder and Monster, your local newspaper had a monopoly on “help-wanted” advertising going back pre-Industrial Revolution (I remember a few years back being quoted $450 to run a 3-line ad over the weekend--for $50 more I could add a black border around it). Resumes came to you via mail or fax and the ones that got your attention arrived on expensive paper with signed cover letters--the presentation gave you as much insight into the candidate as the resume itself did. As an independent recruiter you were only as good as your database of candidates (which for most recruiters consisted of a Rolodex of business cards or a drawer full of resumes). You actively sought out individuals to network with, collecting every resume thrown at you regardless of the positions you were working on at the time. "Got a cousin in advertising sales? Have him give me a call!"

I think employers were more willing to take risks with less qualified candidates then (let’s say, pre-1998) than they are now. Hiring managers and recruiters recognize that online resources can provide them with exponentially greater access to candidates today than in years past. It’s not that the talent pool is deeper, it’s just more accessible (and more public) than it’s ever been. So the same company that might have been willing to take a chance on a good candidate from a different industry ten years ago now wants someone whose experience matches their position as closely as possible. I am a big believer that the best candidates for a particular position are the ones who would be taking a step up in their career by accepting. They are inherently motivated because they’re improving their pay, adding to their responsibilities and increasing their exposure. But today employers want over-qualified candidates—people who are actually taking steps down in their careers or at the very least, making lateral moves. Most employers will not admit to consciously doing this, mind you; but they do. They want to know with as much certainty as possible that the candidates have “been there and done that.” They want people with track records that mirror the exact challenges and expectations of their opening, particularly if they’re working with a third party recruiter to fill the position. The employer feels they’re paying big bucks for the recruiter to minimize their risk; therefore they should deliver candidates that are tailor-made for their role.

As an independent recruiter, it is my job to provide the client with the candidate solution they want. Every client knows the type of person they’re looking for, even if they’re not always able to describe them in great detail before we begin the search. They may need to evaluate a couple candidates before they can put into words their exact preferences, particularly when it’s a new position. Keep in mind the candidate solution our firm provides is the one defined by the client, and in my opinion it’s not always the one that may be the best long-term employment solution. As I discussed in a previous article (“Remember: You’re hiring them to work for you, not to date you”), many hiring managers allow their own personal biases to influence they way they evaluate candidates (often referred to as “gut instincts”) resulting in bad hiring decisions. My job is to provide the client with candidates that have a documented track record of success. The majority of companies we work with want candidates either from their own industry or industries that are a close parallel. Drilling down even further, they want to know that the candidate’s daily, weekly and monthly activities overlap with the expectations of the new position. This is why having a thorough, well-defined resume is imperative for today’s job seeker looking to advance their career.

I believe the criticism that most resumes are long-winded, over-inflated exaggerations of unspectacular accomplishments is completely unwarranted. Coming from someone who looks at thousands of resumes a month, the average person is more likely to sell themselves short, thereby limiting their potential opportunities than they are to misrepresent themselves on paper. Over the next couple weeks I’m going to be breaking down the modern resume and showing you how to increase your exposure and open up new doors in your career.

The Legal Form Your Business Should Take

2007-05-17T03:01:00.002-07:00

You have a choice to make on how best to legally organize your business, as a sole trader, partnership or limited company. Broadly speaking sole trader is the simplest and limited company and the most complex way of setting up a business, but each of the three methods provides advantages and disadvantages according to the type of business you operate. A professional advisor will be able to give you more detailed advice on which will be the most suitable arrangement for you. However, the following guidelines I have provided will help you in the early stages.

Sole Trader

The sole trader embodies the spirit of the small business person. It is you, on your own or just making a go of it. The bookkeeping and accounting side should be very straightforward, although it is always helpful to seek professional advice. You are however, totally responsible for any liabilities you incur in your business, which means you’re personal as well as your business assets may be at risk.

Partnership

A partnership shares many similar characteristics of a sole trader in that it is simple to establish, but as its name implies, it involves two or more people jointly running the business.

Although you do not have to formally register a partnership, I strongly advise that you draw a partnership agreement with the help of a professional. Among other things this will outline exactly who has put what into the partnership, how the profits will be split, who does what work, and what happens if the business is wound up.

On top of this legal basis, you must ensure that you can trust your partner(s), because in theory at least each partner is personally liable for all debts incurred by the business. Through no fault of you own, you may find yourself paying off substantial debts, which your partner(s) may have has run up without telling you.

Limited company

A limited company is different from a sole trader or partnership in that it is an entity separate from its owners. As such, you would not usually be personally liable for its debts because normally creditors can claim only the assets of the business (although you may be asked to give personal guarantee on certain loans and liabilities)

A limited company is a little more involved to create, and I also strongly advise that if you wish to set up a limited company you seek the advice of a professional (an attorney or accountant). You must register the company and have properly audited annual accounts.

Limited companies have the following characteristics and requirements:

(a) They need to be registered
(b) They are owned by shareholders
(c) They are managed by directors who are appointed by shareholders. In the majority of small limited companies the directors are also the shareholders.
(d) The rules for managing the company, including what the business can undertake and the power of directors are set out in a document called the “Memorandum of Articles of Association.”

As in a partnership, a limited company will often involve working with other people and again it is vitally important that you can trust your colleagues and will be able to enjoy working with them. Should the relationship breakdown, a business can be severely damaged, or even brought to its knees, while people try to untangle themselves.

When starting a business you should do a deep research and understanding on the legal forms I just supplied to you. These can be a make or break for the success and future of your business.

Mindfulness - For Business People?

2007-05-17T03:01:00.001-07:00

It may be the the most important thing you can do. Victor Frankl, in his book about his time in a concentration camp, talks about how a focus on the present helped him to deal with the discomfort of his immediate situation without being overwhelmed by the horror of his life as a prisoner of the Nazi's. Bhuddist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh emphasises being in the moment in his book, "The Miracle of Mindfulness". And Deepak Chopra cites 'Present Moment Awareness" as one of the "Seven Spiritual Laws of Success".

What is 'Being Fully Present'
A state of consciousness. A state of mind. A way of being. Being in the zone. Mindfulness. Whatever you call it, 'being fully present' means that you are fully absorbed and committed to what you are doing - NOW.

It is also probably true that being fully present can be a different experience for each of us, and indeed that it can be a changing experience for each of us. This implies that Being Fully Present can be a qualitative experience - factors can change how we experience it: Practice improves and deepens the experience and makes it easier; our state when we 'go into it' can affect the state we go into; it is a skill we can develop.

What are the benefits of Being Fully Present? What's in it for you?
To answer that question we need to consider it from a number of perspectives:

1. Your Life Will Have Meaning and Purpose
The philosophical, existential perspective. Consider your life as a conscious experience. Is it not true that the only conscious experience that you can have is the one that you are having now? And would that not lead to the idea that your life is being lived, now? That all of life is now?

So if we are not focused and completely giving ourselves to the present moment, are we not living a lesser experience, a watered down life? Don't you want to live your life to the full?

2. You are More Likely to Have What you Want.
Without focus on the present moment, we are less likely to succeed. If you do things with 50% of your mind on the task at hand and 50% somewhere else, you are less likely to get the quality of output - the result - you want. I know when I do this I usually end up being dissatisfied with my work. And, being a bit of perfectionist, that can mean that I don't want to use the output, which means that I have completely wasted my time. I needn't have bothered at all. How many times have you done something in a half-hearted way, put it down and never gone back to it? Or junked what you have done and started all over again? Each time you do this is a lost opportunity. If you focus on the task at hand, you will do it better. And if you are doing something at all, don't you want it done as well as possible? If you can do whatever you are doing to the best of your ability you are far more likely to succeed.

Now I feel the need to come in here and say that I am not referring here to the creative process. My creative process is often that I start something more than once, go round in circles, and generally look like I am wasting time and effort. What I have discovered about myself is that this is all a natural function of my creative process and is ok, even necessary. The point is, even while I am doing stuff that I don't use, I am doing it with full awareness and concentration.

3. We Are More Likely to Have the Relationships We Want.
Deep, meaningful relationships that enrich our lives and the lives of those we share with. In fact, being fully present in my primary relationships is the only way I have found to sustain them. (I then have to add the dimension of being there for the other person, so that my focus is on them not on me. But I couldn't do that until I was able to ground myself).

Perhaps the hardest lessons I have learned about living fully in the moment relate to relationships. I have been married twice and experienced many more relationships, and I can honestly say that if I had been living in the moment (for most of my life I didn't know about this at all, so that wasn't really an option to me except when I did it unconsciously, without trying) I could still have been in any one of those relationships successfully and happily.

4. Peace of Mind
Mindfulness allows you to be aware of what is happening, without being drawn into it emotionally. With mindfulness, you can maintain calmness of mind and choice of thought. If negative thoughts arise, you can divert your thoughts to more positive thoughts that garner good feelings. Say to yourself. "I want to feel good!"

'What you focus on, you become. So always focus on that which is the highest, brightest, happiest and most Noble of all Things - Enlightenment.' Rama

The detachment that can come with mindfulness helps you to remain calm in the midst of a storm. When something unwelcome or unexpected happens, there can be a tendency for the mind to become overwhelmed. This is triggered by a rush of brain chemicals and rapid activity in the brain. Immediately following this 'rush', you have a choice: reach for mindfulness or continue with the mental turmoil. With mindfulness you can find clarity of thought and rational decision making. Even better, you will reduce the stress of the moment. Reducing stress in the moment is a good outcome. The long term cumulative benefits to your health and emotional well-being of a reduction in stress are considerable.

How to Attain Mindfulness
There are many books and other resources to help you to become mindful. Here are some suggestions:

Meditate.
Meditation allows your inner self through. If you meditate by connecting to your breathing, using a mantra, or connecting your body in some other way by watching your body you are developing your abilities to observe and detach.

Focus on your breathing.
When you don't have anything in particular to concentrate on, or if the reverse is true and your mind is so full of 'stuff' you can't think straight, pull back from all of that, and just concentrate on your breathing. There's no need to change or alter your breathing, just give your full attention to it. Follow it. Notice how concentrating on your breathing brings you back to earth, quietens your mind and slows your body functions down.

Concentrate fully on whatever activity you are engaged in.
Thich Nhat Hanh suggest that 'when you are washing the dishes, be only washing the dishes'. Give your full concentration to the activity of washing the dishes. You may find that time seems to slow down and calmness sets in.

Be before you do.
Another way to say this is 'Be Do Have'. Before you launch yourself into an activity, consider your mental and physical state. What is going on now in your body? How is your breathing? Are your muscles tight and bunched, or loose and relaxed? How do you want your body to be for this activity?

What is going on with your thoughts? Are you thinking about what you want to think about, and in a state of mind likely to enable this activity, or hinder it? Are you fully aware?

Develop your Mind/Body Connection.
Using your awareness, and in a specific order, scan your body. You might start at the tips of the toes of your left foot and work up your left foot, your left ankle, your lower leg and so on in a similar way all the way up to your left hip. When you get to an area that doesn't feel how you want it to, pause and think about the feeling you want to have in that area until it starts to arrive there. Then move on, slowly. Pay particular attention to muscles and joints in your limbs, and to your organs in your torso. When scanning your head, pay attention to the muscles of your face and neck, and your scalp. If you sit down to practice this, you may fall asleep, it's so relaxing!

If you are sitting down, you can augment this by noticing the feel of the chair underneath your buttocks and the ground on your feet.

This practice will bring you back to the present moment and is very grounding.

Want to improve your Sales Performance? if you are a Sales Manager who wants your team to perform better, increase your Direct Sales or Channel Sales revenues and make your sales more profitable, Robert Neely can help you.

What!? You Don't Know This Stuff?

2007-05-17T03:00:00.002-07:00

Sometimes when we're familiar with a particular process, industry, route, whatever, we assume that everyone shares that same insight. The is especially true in the technology industry, where "tekkies" assume everyone else embraces the cyber-world as much as they do. I just saw a commercial for a cell phone company catering to seniors that lets users call customer service to add phone numbers, as opposed to just doing it themselves. That and the numbers are huge.

It's been my observation that the individuals that have not had to use the Internet to perform their jobs or complete their schoolwork over the last 10+ years (blue collar workers, stay-at-home Mom's, retirees, for example) have been the slowest to embrace technology. Back in the early to mid-90's when your employer introduced MS Outlook as their email client, you probably weren't given a choice as to whether or not could use it. It was a new way to communicate and everyone within the organization would be using it, whether you liked it or not. I think the common bond all technically-savvy people share is an appreciation for change. They embrace change, not just for the sake of change, but for a faster, more efficient (and sometimes a more enjoyable) way of accomplishing a goal. I'm still amazed at the number of small to medium-sized businesses that do not have a web site. I don't mean a rough, slapped-together website; I mean NO website AT ALL! In my mind this is as basic as having a phone number--actually I can envision a business surviving better without a phone number than I can a website. My brother was doing some work recently with a commercial painting contractor that's owned by an old friend of mine. He mentioned how they were struggling to find new clients and she needed him to help generate new business. I asked if they were getting any leads from their website only to find out the business doesn't have a website. He said that she had not invested in one because she felt the type of client they worked with did not use the Internet. Now keep in mind this is a specialized business catering to a commercial client doing $1MM + a year and covering a three state territory. I explained to him how in the last year, I've been able to connect with everyone from a residential drywall contractor to my orthodontist to a wholesale carpet distributor via a quick Google search. "Yeah, but you like using the Internet; she should probably just stick to the Yellow Pages." My first reaction was "Who in the hell still uses the Yellow Pages?" Interestingly enough, they just delivered the newest edition of the Yellow Pages to our entire office building last week and 50% of them are still sitting in front of the office doors--probably being used as door stops.

Sales Management

2007-05-17T03:00:00.001-07:00

Sales Management includes features for creating the sales force; organizing sales force, sales forecasting and planning, identifying potential customers, maintaining client information, and creating and managing schedules.

Sales management’s key functions are contemplated around procuring a clear perception into the activities of direct reports as well as the sales activities of the enterprise.

Key functions maintained by sales management are managing organizational sales structure and territories—crucial enterprises turnover; sales reporting and forecasting; quota management—handing assignments to sales representatives, implementing changes, etc.; and incentive management—producing compensation plan.

An organization’s sales management is enhanced through their workforces’ active participation to internal and external programs like symposiums—meetings or conferences conducted to discuss an issue; trainings—coaching people to a mode of performance in introductory, learning and transitional periods; and seminars—a gathering where there occurs information exchange and discussions.

These customized activities indulge the personnel’s yearning to gain more knowledge on individual productivity, team work, streamlining the sales process, sales performance precision, hiring sales champions, motivation methods that work, mastering the art of sales and sales coaching and tools, tactics, strategies for improvement.

The role of the sales manager is to provide an atmosphere where their subordinates can perform. They play a critical role in analytically examining, questioning and settling the sales productivity problems by creating structure and conscientiousness in the sales process.

To be good in these aspects, a sales manager must equip himself with the methodologies for planning sales activities and the know-how in using sound key performance indicators for managing the selling process. To increase sales productivity, concentration must be allotted to the sales process rather than consuming full focus on business outcomes.

Another character in sales management is the sales people or sales representatives. These are the people designated to solicit business in behalf of the organization in a specific territory.

To build successful sales relationships, a sales representative has to identify and attend to two necessities. These are the prospect’s psychological needs—intellectual concerns as to what makes him happy; as well as the prospect’s objective or business needs—the products, materials, equipments that are related to his profession, way of life, or hobbies.

In sales management the things that are taken into consideration are: the sales process—right variety to suit the business’s market and value delivery to consumers; psychological assessment—revolves around understanding and researching on the business and consumer needs; pre-approach planning and prospecting—understanding maximum value prospects and generating referrals; opening—engineering business affinities, establishing plausibility and gaining interest; and strategies—development of long- and short-term sales cycles.

A profitable sales management requires the comprehension of the prospect’s needs and the source of customer value. Active listening and questioning techniques should be applied to collect information on ways to further service and product value. And there should also be continuous personnel information upgrade to equip sales people with the right strategies and methods to top-notch sales and sales management skills.

Cold-Calling (Selling Ice To Eskimos)

2007-05-17T02:58:00.001-07:00

My career has been comprised of sales, sales management and recruiting. I've worked for some of the largest companies in the world: Wal-Mart, General Electric, Gannett, as well as a couple small ones and start-ups (including my current firm--no longer a start-up after 5 years in business). With the exception of one (the giant retailer) each company relied heavily on cold-calling to generate new business. My definition of cold-calling is when a sales rep targets a company and/or individual that he or she thinks meets the demographics of a potential buyer and then without invitation (this is key, hence the italics) either picks up the phone or walks into their office in an attempt to initiate a sale. Cold-calling is marketing, pure and simple, albeit a caveman-like strategy in an electronic age. I've been giving a lot of thought to this lately because until a year or so ago, our company relied heavily on cold-calling to generate new business. Our cold-calling efforts have delivered a decent chunk of revenue for us over the last few years, however last year I decided to abandon the strategy completely and I haven't looked back.

It is Thursday a.m. and so far on two occasions this week I've had a knock at my office door only to have four total strangers (two on each visit) walk into my 10"x10" office and proceed to launch into a sales pitch. The first pair was peddling a local tire dealership offering 90% tires (my car is under warranty at my dealership) and the second was for "guaranteed savings!" on my color printing (I probably print all of two documents a month in color).

All four used the same strategy: walk-in, get comfortable--one guy immediately sat down--and start talking at me like I'm a 9 year old. In both situations I had to stop them in mid-pitch to say, "Guys, I'm NOT interested. Thanks AGAIN for stopping by." You're probably wondering how these individuals got past our receptionist. Well, the short answer is we don't have one--we have a phone and a nearby directory. Our partner whose office is closest to the front door is usually the first person hit on by these door-knockers. He thinks it's cute to tell them that he doesn't have purchasing authority but to be sure to go see me because I hold the purse strings (not necessarily true)--so he can pawn "bad cop" responsibilities on me. But lately it's a role I'm embracing. I now recognize what an outdated, old-school, ineffective strategy cold-calling is and it is one of the main reasons turnover in sales is so high. I would like to personally apologize to all those purchasing managers and perceived "decision-makers" that I dropped by over the years to have a little chit-chat with, completely interrupting their day and wasting both of our time.

Companies continue to employ cold-calling for a couple reasons: first, they perceive it to be cheap (it's not) and second, marketing (legitimate, creative, permission-based marketing) is hard (not always). Over the next few days or so I'm going to be discussing how our firm has been able to successfully secure new business without cold-calling a single person, while at the same time continuing to use proactive recruiting, what some would perceive as cold-calling (it's not) to find the highest qualified candidates for our client's open positions.

New To Sales Management? Assess Your Team Sooner Rather Than Later

2007-05-15T02:24:00.002-07:00

You need to begin to get the measure of people early on. Beware of thinking you are an expert psychologist, but do:

• Listen to what people say and how they say it

• Read between the lines

• Check immediately anything that is unclear

• Address (or note) any apparent hidden agendas

• Be aware of the informal communications channels as well as the hierarchical ones

• Note any areas requiring further investigation

You need to get to know people, their working methods, strengths and weaknesses. This cannot be done in five minutes; start early and handle it objectively.

Beware of making, and acting on unwarranted, instant assumptions about people.

A First Staff Meeting:

Get the team together as soon as possible, on the first day if you can. Remember, your meetings speak volumes about the kind of manager you are. Plan to make them really effective, therefore.

• Set the time and date to be as convenient to people as possible (you may need to check this with a new group)

• Organise the administration (place, refreshments, acting to stop interruptions, etc)

• Issue a clear agenda in advance

• Make sure the agenda is worthwhile, fits the time available and is useful for those attending

• Tell people what you expect from them (for instance, if someone is to give you a run down on their section or work, let them plan how to do it from your clear brief)

• Set start and finish times – and try to stick to them (you are setting up habits here so be sure to start on time)

• Give people a say – listen – make notes and be seen to take an interest in their views

• Make any action points clear (whether for the group or for individuals)

• Link to the next meeting (you might set a date)

• Confirm anything necessary in writing

A meeting should motivate. People will wonder how your presence and style will affect them. Show them your impact will be beneficial. Spell out how.

The agenda for the first meeting will depend on your precise role. It is likely to include items such as:

• Your understanding of the team’s role and immediate goals

• Any necessary explanations for change (e.g. why you are now manager)

• The current position (progress, problems, opportunities)

• A chance to ask questions

• Details of, and reasons for, any immediate changes

• Reporting and communications procedures (e.g.: when and how you plan to keep in touch with individuals and the group)

• Action points on immediate operational issues

You should ask as much as inform, and not change existing procedures without good reasons (and knowing the facts). However logical changes may be, people will be suspicious (Will it adversely affect me?) so see, and explain things, from their point of view. Empathy is your greatest ally in the early stages of managing a group.

Early Issue: Early Action

Here is something to do as soon as possible (though always with a firm basis of information). Identify an issue waiting for attention and which is seen as needing attention. And sort it out.

Something where you can:

• Tell people you recognise it is a priority, one that must not be left

• Explain the basis of a decision

• Specify action to be taken (this could be a temporary measure)

• Take any additional action necessary (e.g.: confirm in writing, consult or advise further a field than your section)

• Get it off the department’s to do list promptly and definitely

You need a task that is seen as due (overdue?) for action, one that will also be seen as well resolved – an example of how you mean to go on. Select carefully, act in a considered fashion and this will not only clear an outstanding issue but will also say something positive about you.

Ground Rules

Consultation is important to the management process but there are times when arguments must be avoided and an authoritative approach taken. If every initiative involved lengthy consultation, time would run out, little would get done and we would all be in trouble.

You, might, for example, consult about departmental policy on dress code or what can be claimed on expenses. Then – for a while at least – what is decided (what you decide) assumes the status of a rule. It is expected that people toe the line, and no time is wasted on endless arguments about exceptions. In due course you may need to reassess the situation and possibly change the rules.

Customer Relationship Management

2007-05-15T02:24:00.001-07:00

The precise definition is Customer Relationship Management, in reality it means changing the focus of your business to become customer centric. Funny thing about that statement is most organizations believe they are already customer centric. Yet a great percentage of businesses both large and small haven’t committed to building long term relationships with their customers.

After being in the CRM industry for ten years, here is my definition: CRM is about engineering your company, it business processes, departments, workflows, customer service, and marketing, products and business intelligence for the benefit of increasing customer loyalty, and longevity. A properly implemented system can offer a ROI of up to over 900% or more in a two to three year period.

Let me say that CRM is not a box of software, some computers and a telephone. It is not a task you hand to your IT/MIS department and say lets do this!. CRM requires a knowledgeable consultant to help design, implement, customize, the CRM tools, and help train your staff on how to use the system.

An immediate analogy is the CRM consultant is much like the architect of home. It is spending time with the clients, learning the lifestyle of the customer, how the home will function, what amenities, décor and the esthetics, and of course budget of their clients. It is only then the architect will develop a blueprint, and maybe a model of the house.

You can try to build your house without a sound blueprint, and you may even end up with something that sort of looks like a house, but oops what happened to the second bathroom? What happened to the garage? Well you get the idea. It certainly wouldn’t be considered a good house.

I got my start in CRM at an early age. I worked for a finance company that made small loans to mostly blue collar families in Indiana. Our particular office made 6-8 loans each and every day. Most of our customers could easily qualify for such small amounts (usually $1000 to $3,000) with their local bank or credit union. The interest rates we charged were as high as 36%. Yet our office grew, and was extremely profitable because our customers came back time after time. Why you ask; because, we knew our customers on a very personal level. We knew their families, what they did for a living, we offered loans with custom payment schedules, and we were there when our customers needed us. We had relationships with our customers.

As I went into business on my own, I wanted to use computer technology that would not only help grow my business with new clients, but also generate referrals, and allow us to up sell, cross sell, and earn repeat business. It would take a lot of time and investment, trial and error until I figured out a winning combination. At the time in 1989 you just couldn’t go out and purchase a CRM package. The idea didn’t even exist then. I began with a copy of a database called Corner Stone written for MS DOS.

At the time it was state of the art, and a huge investment. Other associates of mine asked why not use a rolodex? What am I going to do with that data anyway? It was if just building a database of my customers was an foreign concept to them. I mean computers were just beginning to show up in offices to run Visi Calc (a spreadsheet application), and WordStar (a word processor).

I grew my mortgage brokerage and eventually “ACT!” came into the market. We installed it and used it with varying successes. We then moved on to a product called GoldMine, which was a much more robust system. It was then that I decided that I wanted to get into the CRM business and become GoldMine consultant.

That decision has led me down a path of spending a great deal of time learning what CRM is and what it is not. I have had the opportunity to work with some of smartest sales and marketing experts in the world and within a short period of time become one of GoldMine’s most successful resellers in the western states.

I left the world of GoldMine in 2001, for another business venture, but kept up with the changes in the industry. When Microsoft entered the business with their CRM tools I was impressed. Microsoft CRM in my opinion offers that toolset that allows a CRM consultant to offer a easy to use, extensible, application to help our clients realize a successful CRM project.

Improving Your Sales Force's Effectiveness Through Automation

2007-05-15T02:23:00.002-07:00

Many smaller businesses have advanced beyond back office automation using PCs and client-server IS platforms. More owners are looking at advanced sales automation software as a way of improving the productivity of their sales force as well as customer satisfaction. Salespeople are often more resistant to using PCs compared with those working in finance, logistics, materials management and other functions. Thus, business owners need to sell the benefits of automation to both their sales managers and reps. Sales has long been considered more of an art than a science, which explains part of the resistance. Also, some businesses find themselves with older reps who, though they have critical industry knowledge, did not grow up with computers. You could just load up each rep with a laptop and all the accoutrements:
• sales management software, including automated fax and e-mail capabilities
• groupware for proposal and contact information sharing
• templates for contact reports and follow-up letters
• product, price and delivery information that can be called up via an intranet link.
Why not let them discover the value for themselves? There's a good reason: Throwing sales automation software at the reps is no guarantee it will be used. Sales automation software has been growing of late, with close to $300 million a year in revenues. There's a reason: improved functionality and user-friendly features geared to what the reps consider their priority needs are the reasons behind the recent spurt in sales. Before pushing sales automation on your reps and territory managers, conduct an audit within the company. Here are some key steps to take:
• Ask your reps what they consider to be their three priority tasks in the field. Ask for their recommendations on how to improve their productivity. For example, which tasks are taking longer than they would like, or what are the bottlenecks they face in getting prompt and accurate information to prospective as well as current customers.
• Involve all of your key functional managers in a discussion of the order management and order fulfillment processes. Although sales force automation can begin with discrete tools such as contact management software, your business may really need a more integrated and more robust information systems architecture that will improve the entire order-to-delivery process chain in the company.
• Decide whether you should try to improve sales productivity as a single function or carry out a more extensive overhaul of your business' IS platform.
• When you survey vendor offerings, involve end-users in the discussion and trial testing of the software. Many off-the-shelf products allow sufficient customization for your needs. Some of the tools have more open-ended integration capabilities with other IS tools, and it is important to know how much integration is possible. You want to avoid investing in another legacy system that could end up walling sales off from other business functions. Finally, even when software tools and other IS enhancements are the right solution for boosting sales productivity and customer satisfaction, that is no guarantee you will get buy-in from the sales force. You need to motivate use and experimentation. Besides involving end-users in the discussion and evaluation of software choices before you commit to a vendor, there are three other steps you can take to assure that your reps accept the new system: 1. Assure the sales force that the time required for getting up to speed on the software will not reduce their income if they fail to make their sales numbers at the customary level. However, set a fixed period of time for the conversion to the new system. 2. Monitor the productivity payoff among the committed users, with before and after comparisons of their sales productivity. Productivity measures should not just focus on goods or services sold but include discrete task productivity, at least initially. For example, the time it takes to get letters written, or get correct pricing information out to customers. Then, communicate the benefits throughout the sales organization. 3. Go with a software vendor or systems integrator that will stay on board well beyond the installation to provide additional customization of the tool and training if needed.

Tough Reprimands -- How To Handle That One On One Discussion With A Sales Person

2007-05-15T02:23:00.001-07:00

All companies are in constant need of aggressive, creative and resourceful salespeople to have their products specified, accepted and used by customers. Without informed and capable field salespeople, no distributorship could hope to compete in the marketplace today.

How often have any of us stopped to consider the fact that good salespeople, the kind who can help a company really grow, don’t just happen to come along by chance or fate. There is no such thing as a “born salesperson,” because selling ability is much more than an intangible given that a person either has or doesn’t have.

Selling does require certain attributes in a person. He or she should, for example, be basically outgoing in manner and capable of making a genuinely favorable impression almost immediately. Also, the person must be intelligent, able to grasp ideas and details easily, retain them and recall them for use whenever necessary in selling situations. These factors and many others relating to personal and emotional characteristics are contributing elements in the makeup of the successful salesperson.

Non Performance ---- Now What?

So, all that being said, what do you do when one of your sales people just isn’t performing up to standards? The key to answering that question is determining the cause of the non performance. Start by reviewing the obvious. A sales person must have adequate tools, resources and leadership to maximize their effectiveness.

The review process is a critical component of sales effectiveness. This review should occur monthly for regularly performing sales representatives (reps) and even more frequently for those reps that are under performing. This review enables the sales manager and the sales representative to discuss, plan and measure success. In addition to possessing and capitalizing on certain natural talents and traits, the review process should encompass the following issues:

1. Knowledge of products, customers and customer organizations.
2. Skills in the application of this knowledge.
3. Development of a favorable attitude as it pertains to that knowledge and those applied skills.
4. Review of all Target Growth Accounts, Prospects and Long Term Target Accounts
5. Review of all opportunity reports or lack of
6. Review of specific territory objectives including sales to plan and gross profit to plan

Instructional Guidelines for the Under Performing Review:

I. Preparation

The sales representative (sales rep) and the sales manager should prepare ahead of time by reviewing territory objectives. Preparation should include reviewing personal performance on each target account, opportunities, sales to plan and gross profit to plan. A quick checklist of what went right and what went wrong for each objective will prove very helpful during the review.

More and more, the sales rep is becoming all things to the customer. Pressed for time, customers tend to require quicker and more complete answers to their inquiries, and they look to the salesperson to provide solutions, not just products. Selling skills tend to center on the ability of a salesperson to translate product features into customer benefits as they apply directly to the prospect’s problems. This in effect is the value proposition.

Lastly, a generally positive attitude is necessary to promote the maximum and optimum use of knowledge and skills in the selling situation.

II. Attitude Is the Foundation

It is agreed that the attitude of the sales rep is a key factor in their success. It is really the foundation for success. The critical question then becomes how to ensure that the best possible attitude exists on the part of the non-performing rep. If the individual is not receptive and has a poor attitude to begin with, very little can be done to create an atmosphere conducive to learning. This attitudinal problem must be corrected before another step is taken. If it can not be corrected then termination may be the best answer for both the rep and the company. However, don’t give up too soon. Sometimes the “devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know.” In other words, turnover is very costly. Besides, if it is something you as the sales manager or something about the culture of the company that contributes to the employee’s attitude and lack of success, then termination will only temporarily solve your problem.

III. Fundamental Steps to Address Attitude Issues

There are a number of fundamental steps that can be taken to improve the attitude of the employee. Some of these are:

1. Encouragement of maximum participation in sales meeting and other training opportunities.
2. Creation of enthusiasm by demonstrating support and enthusiasm.
3. Creation of confidence in the program by providing support and resources
4. Giving success examples – documenting case studies
5. Asking thought provoking questions (without prying into their personal life) with the hope that they will open up and allow the exploration that points to the real cause of their poor attitude and non performance
6. Personal skill development training that addresses people skills

If you can discover the cause and correct the attitude issue then hope exists for this employee. The proper attitude at the very least can help you determine if this employee is worth the investment of your personal coaching time, additional training and the deployment of other company resources. If the root cause of the attitude problem can not be determined and corrected, probation and termination certainly enter into the equation. Sometimes we just don’t hire right and need to correct our mistakes.

IV. Is Training the Issue

Generally, if you are good at the hiring process, non-performance can often be traced to a lack of or improper training. The training program should be designed to achieve maximum participation on the part of the sales rep; as much time as possible should be devoted to realizing this goal. This is especially true if you need to set up a special training program to help a non-performing rep. It has been proven time and again that active participation in sales training is one of the most effective methods of developing both an attitude for learning and an attitude for successful salesmanship.

V. Coaching for Non-performance
To help a poor performer the coaching process would include these five steps:
• Define the Situation Clearly - gather facts and identify performance results. Don’t sugar coat this or pull your punches. It is important that the rep understands the critical nature of this process and the necessity to improve on performance.

• Counsel - meet with the rep and make it clear that your goal is to help them improve their performance. Avoid blaming, reprimanding or delivering ultimatums. Show support and a belief that you can help the rep improve their performance.

• Ask the Sales Rep – Many times the sales rep knows better than you do how to solve the problem. Get their opinion on what they think they need to change. Don’t command an answer or give them instructions on what to do. Help them find the answers with your guidance

• Develop an Action Plan Together – Focus on the activities that are necessary to create the expected results. Make sure the plan has clarity; it’s all encompassing, comprehensive and achievable. In other words, look for short term wins and set up success milestones to encourage the rep to be persistent.

• Continuous Review – Once you have established a success plan it is essential to establish regular follow-up meetings to monitor the activities and make course corrections when necessary. This review process is outside the scope of the normal territory review process as it should occur much more frequently (perhaps even on a weekly basis).

• Take It Seriously -- When a sales rep is under-performing, the manager needs to hold them accountable. In some cases it may be necessary to reestablish expectations. However, if the expectations are not unreasonable and all the other reps seem to be able to meet expectations and additional training and coaching just isn’t working then “Termination” is a decision the rep himself makes for the sales manager. It’s usually better for the rep, better for the manager and better for the company. That is exactly why this process must be taken seriously.

The sales manager is not personally responsible for sales. However, he is directly responsible for the development of the sales force which generates sales growth. The sales manager is charged with the responsibility of setting proper expectations, developing systems to track and record sales activities and results and eliminating any excuse making when results are not achieved. A sales rep cannot perform without knowing what is expected of them. Expectations spell out what is required to succeed, and believe it or not but the majority of sales reps do want to be held accountable. The single biggest key to success is desire and desire dictates attitude. Unless the sales rep has an internal burning desire to succeed, nothing else matters.

When a Cold Call Isn't a Cold Call

2007-05-15T02:22:00.000-07:00

Just the term “Cold Call” has threatening, wasteful connotations in my mind. Yet, every sales person has to make this kind of call sooner or later. Most sales people would rather have bamboo shoots stuck under their finger nails than make cold calls. The reason is simple, “Cold Calling” carries with it an extremely high rejection rate. And, even though as professional sales people we realize that rejection is part of building our sales success, that doesn’t mean we like it.

Let’s start with the basics, cold-calling success is dependent on attitude. The first thing we need to do is realize that a “Cold Call” is really nothing more than a “Qualification Call”. This relates to attitude. Our goal (attitude about the call) should be only to gather information and not make a sale.

1. Determine the customers specific needs, the current distributors that fulfill those needs and how they match up with your company’s core competencies
2. Provide initial information on your company such that the buyer becomes aware of your stature and capabilities.
3. If the match is adequate, develop interest in the buyer for further sales contact. Conversational Tips:
Start your initial request or conversation by addressing the customer’s pain. This means you have to do some research on the customer and his industry.

"All I'm asking for is 10 minutes of your time, I honestly would not be wasting your time or mine if I didn't think our company could help you address some of your critical issues, improve profitability etc etc. Of course, you need to do your homework in order to make a statement that can be beneficial to the customer. Once you have determined that potential exists and you set an appointment for a face to face meeting, the following questioning strategies may be helpful during that follow-up qualification call. Questioning Strategy:

1. Introduce a direction statement to set the tone, for example:

“Mr. Buyer, today’s purchasing agent has to deal with inventory levels, inventory turns, delivery and price problems, cost of money and so forth. We have developed specific solutions for these problems and more.”

Of course, your questioning strategy in person is determined by how much information was gained during the initial phone call that set up your appointment. Often times that information is very general and superficial to the extent that the total or real potential isn’t fully understood.

2. Introduce the purpose of the call as an exchange of information, for example:

“Mr. Buyer, I think we may have a good match-up of resources. To be sure, I would like to ask you some questions about your operation and tell you a little about our company.”

3. Use some open questions to develop background information about the customer for example:

• “Mr. Customer, how do you market your product?”
• “Mr. Customer, can you tell me about your internal operation and how your paperwork flows?”
• “Mr. Customer, how would you rank delivery, inventory levels, price and service in terms of your specific priorities?”

Remember, research is important. The more you know about the customer going in the more powerful and directional your questions can become. The power is in the questions more so than the answers.

4. Every favorable response should be reinforced. On the not pad jot down a list of responses that you were able to support.

A follow-up note outlining your discussion with the customer and the required next steps will make you look like the professional you are. It will also differentiate you from the competition because most sales people just don’t follow-up their qualification calls with a written summary and call to action.

5. Use closed questions to complete your customer profile, acquiring as much of the following as possible. What/Who are ….

• Total annual purchases of products
• Major vendor preferences
• Purchases through distribution --- direct from manufacturers
• The customer’s current vendors
• Who is involved in purchase/vendor selection decisions
• Required lead times versus desired lead times
• Current inventory levels --- desired inventory levels
• Potential future markets for the customer’s product
• Current cash flow situation, desired credit line

6. Continue to reinforce every favorable response, logging them on your note pad. Reinforcing done at this stage becomes the outline for a capabilities presentation later.

Next Steps

Remember, your objective going in was to gather information and determine whether this prospect is a match and worth investing additional time and effort. Of course, if the opportunity to get an order presents itself you would be foolish not to pursue it.

Closing Commitments to Request:

1. A facility tour of yours or his.

2. A follow up appointment to make a capabilities presentation.

3. Opportunity to quote.

4. Buyer commitment to check your references.

5. An order, perhaps cleaning up some of the customer’s current backorders.

Cold calling may be the sales tactic that gets no respect. But it really can work -- if you do it right. Stop thinking of such calls as "cold" in the first place. "Qualification" is a more accurate description. Don’t forget, plenty of research is necessary before reaching for the phone to set up that in-person qualification call.

Fear of rejection is the main reason so many of these calls fail. A “Qualification Call” whether it is in person or by phone is nothing more than a way to introduce yourself and your business to a prospect. Yet even seasoned salespeople are intimidated by the tactic. Keep in mind, the last thing you want is to have a field sales person running around chasing smoke stacks without a prior phone call to, at the very least, determine if there is potential for the prospect to buy your products. This means that the qualification call should start on the phone. A personal qualification call should only be made if the information gained by the phone call determines that potential does exist. Inside sales can often be the driving force behind initial phone qualification. However, this does require training and support. It can also often evolve into a very proactive outcall program that supports new account development and market share growth.

Sales Lead Generation: 8 Powerful B2B Sales Lead Generation Techniques To Help You Reach Your Sales

2007-05-09T03:49:00.002-07:00

Most of the fastest growing B2B companies do not rely solely on just one sales lead generation method. They have a complete arsenal of sales lead generation tools at their fingertips, that they can use at any given time.

Here are my eight proven B2B sales leads generation techniques gleaned from helping over 170 B2B companies reach their sales prospects:

1. Sales lead generation using relationship marketing

Relationship Marketing is the approach underlying all of the “sales-lead-generation-success” methods. Relationship marketing simply refers to cultivating a personal, sales-winning relationship with your prospects. It’s about developing longer-term relationships with customers rather than individual transactions.

During my 20+ years of experience in B2B sales lead generation, I've discovered the key to picking up sales others leave on the table is to keep in touch with your prospects via a series of ongoing communications and offers throughout your prospective customers' consideration processes.

2. Sales lead generation through complementary partner referrals

By joining forces with complementary partners, you can instantly multiply your sales lead generation pool and make it easier for companies to engage in doing business with you. Out of all the sales lead generation programs available to you, complementary partner referral programs can generate the highest qualified B2B sales leads.

3. Sale lead generation using search engine optimization and Internet marketing strategies

Business buyers are more sophisticated and getting harder to reach than ever. Studies show that about 90% of business buyers start with research on the Internet, therefore it’s critical to have a well-tuned sales lead generation program that includes search engine optimization (SEO)/Internet marketing strategies to attract prospects at the beginning of their buying cycle.

4. Sales lead generation via telemarketing

Even though many people despise the thought of telemarketing, when executed properly it is a very effective sales lead generation tool. Telemarketing is a personal marketing and sales lead generation technique that offers a cost-effective, efficient alternative to field selling. However, it can be significantly more expensive than direct mail or email.

By including telemarketing in your B2B sales lead generation marketing plan, you can reach up to thirty decision-makers a day at a cost of $15 to $20 per contact. In contrast, with field sales you can reach only four or five decision-makers a day at an average cost of $392 or more per contact. Direct mail may cost as little as a dollar, and email is often much less. However, if you consistently prospect and nurture leads via phone, you will consistently generate qualified sales leads.

5. Sales lead generation with email publications

By creating your own email newsletter, you could send out industry news and tips to suspects in your market. Since you will be on your prospects’ minds more often than your competition, eventually, your sales leads will turn into actual sales.

If you subscribe to my e-newsletter, Sales Lead Report, you will see an example of an email publication that keeps my name and business in front of over 8,000 people every month.

6. Sales Lead Generation With Direct Mail

There is an entire industry of people like Dan Kennedy, Bob Bly, and Bill Glazer who are dedicated to business-to-business selling through direct marketing. Sales letters can be an excellent sales lead generation method. But, most sales and business professionals do not know how to use this lead generation technique effectively and efficiently.

The complaint is a common one among B2B companies that depend on direct mail and direct response marketing as their only sales lead generation program: "I'm sick of spending a fortune to send out thousands of full-color catalogs and direct-mail pieces only to get a measly 1% response rate. How can I cut costs and find a more practical way to get my target market to respond to my direct mail or catalogs?"

My clients have found that the best place to start revamping their direct response marketing is by determining who their best customers are, then trying to target their database marketing efforts at companies and individuals who are similar in nature.

7. Sales Lead Generation Using Print Advertising

When done correctly, print advertising can be a highly effective sales lead generation activity. When using print advertising as your B2B sales leads generation method, you must remember to focus your advertising's message on the benefits and applications of your products or services. Then let the layout and design of your ads enhance your company's image. And, don’t forget to only use publications that deliver messages directly to your targeted audience.

8. Sales Lead generation via Event Marketing

Whether you do it live, through the telephone (teleseminars) or via the Web (webinars), seminars and workshops are a great sales lead generation tool. People who attend your seminar have an interest in the information you are presenting and a need for your product or service.

The goal: Connect with customers in a meaningful way

By using these eight proven B2B sales leads generation methods gleaned from helping over 170 B2B companies reach their prospects, you will capture more sales-ready opportunities for your salespeople to turn into new business, meaning greater sales revenue and profits for your company.

Be a Successful Sales Manager not a Super Seller

2007-05-09T03:49:00.001-07:00

How many sales teams suffer because their sales manager is not doing their job at the right "level"? Sales figures suffer, sales people suffer and the sales managers feel pressured and possibly even stressed. I want to look at some of the reasons why this occurs and offer some initial ideas for how sales managers can carry out their roles more confidently and effectively - for everyone's benefit!

Why does this seem to happen so often? It does seem that the transition to sales management is one which can often prove a struggle! There is a long list of reasons, few of which are the fault of the person doing the sales manager's role. The organisation is probably a significant contributor to the problems facing the sales manager! A lack of clear succession planning is part of the equation. Maybe there is a limited understanding of what the role really involves, or should involve! The chances are that the senior management may share many of the misconceptions of the sales function and how it operates in a successful environment. Where sales is concerned, there is usually too much short-term thinking and a focus on results. I agree that the sales manager is there to achieve the targets and to work within a budget. However, to paraphrase the great Peter Drucker, "sales results are not an objective in their own right, they are an outcome of achieving the other objectives." Another tripping point can be an expectation that the new sales manager should be acting like a predecessor - provided they were successful and, typically, outgoing and told a convincing tale about how things would turn out!

In common with many other managers, the sales managers have probably been promoted into their role with little real preparation, guidance or training. This will be compounded if they were given the opportunity because they were one of the best in the sales team. (Rather than choosing the person with the right qualities to do the job.) Sales does have an additional time pressure, in that results need to keep being obtained from the outset. There is little time for a learning curve! Without the development support the newly appointed manager has a limited range of choices. A typical response is to think about role models we have known and adopt and adapt what we liked or respected about them. This is often done unconsciously as well as consciously. Entering a new role with more responsibility carries different pressures. These will cause most people to feel some degree of under-confidence. To overcome this, it is natural to do some things which will help to reinforce confidence. For many, this will mean finding opportunities to prove they are worthy of the new role. Where are these? Dealing with customers, chasing the large order and proving to the sales team why the manager should have been given the job!

This latter approach may help the manager feel more confident, or give then the buzz they had when they were a seller. It will probably also start to diminish any respect they may have from the team, especially if some of these orders are taken from their customers. It hardly does their confidence any good as they will feel undermined!

The root of the problem is frequently something as fundamental as the actual job description. How well does it set out the range of responsibilities and tasks? Does it define the competencies required to do the job well? The key outcome for a sales manager is to achieve the required sales targets and margins. This should be done by using the resources effectively, especially the sales team! Taking a few orders might help in the short-term and reinforce the ego of the sales manager, it will not provide an ongoing solution for under-performance with team members.

What can be done to improve this and make sales managers operate more effectively? Begin at the beginning with a clearly defined job description as mentioned above! This can be a great help with recruitment or promotion and might reduce the classic tendency of promoting the top seller. (A frequent recipe for disaster as they may not succeed in the role and end up leaving, or being asked to leave. On the way to this, they may have upset a number of the sales team who do worse and might leave!) This job description needs to emphasise that the role involves a variety of activities which are not connected with their own face to face selling. When it is clear what the competencies are and the sales manager can assess themselves against these, some form of development plan can be identified to close any gaps.

The sales manager needs to understand the overall strategy and know how to plan - especially in developing a sales plan. They have to be able to analyse the current situation, market and competition as a starting point. As part of their plan they need to evaluate the capabilities of the sales team and decide whether they have the appropriate structure to deliver against the strategy and plan.

If there is no clearly defined sales process, it will help if they can identify one and break it down to the main steps. From this, they can identify the critical areas to monitor and control. Knowing these points can give the early warning signals if their might be problems in achieving the results later and can also help with more accurate forecasting. There are plenty of software systems to help with this aspect, from the top end such as Oracle and Seibel through SalesTrak to ACT or Golmine.

From this, you can see that a key part of the role is desk-bound, making time to think, assess and make decisions. This is only part of the whole! While the desk time can help in identifying areas to set targets and goals, it is not the best place to evaluate the skills and potential of the sales team. The job description should establish some key performance indicators about time spent with the sales team on field visits.

Days spent with the sales team will usually have multiple aims. The primary one is to support and develop the sales person. Observing them with the prospects or customers, reviewing how the call went and then coaching them to improve. A key part of this is to provide useful feedback and support. (Not just blaming or criticising or saying how you, the manager, would have done it!) There is also an element of communication and relationship building to keep the seller informed of things within the organisation and also getting to know more about them. None of these is really achievable working from a desk and trying to manage by telephone and email! A minor part of the day is to also meet with customers and find out what they are thinking about the organisation and its service.

If the organisation has a key (or major) account strategy, there might be valid reasons for the sales manager to have direct contact with some of the personnel in the accounts. This should be at the direction of the account manager or sales person as they are in charge of the account. The sales manager is there to support them not to take over!

There will be some other time with the sales team, whether one to one or at sales meetings. The sales manager can use these to review performance, communicate, deal with problems and agree the way forward. The balance of the sales manager's time might be spent between doing their own administration activities and also interacting with other functions in the organisation.

Across all of these there is no emphasis on being the super seller!! The role is to be the sale manager. This means getting the results through the resources available - and the main resource is the sales people, whether in the field or on the phone. The sales manager needs to develop their management skills in analysis, planning, monitoring and then grow their leadership skills alongside these to develop and support their people. Learn to get motivation through seeing the team achieve rather than getting that deal! The job can become more enjoyable, the sales people are more successful and positive, and results improve. Do this and everyone is happier from the top down and through the sales team!

The Importance Of Working Together With Your Team

2007-05-09T03:48:00.003-07:00

The principle of working together with your team should underpin how you operate. Managing people doesn’t just mean acting as overseer, to see that they get their work done satisfactorily. It means involving people throughout the team in a creative role, to ensure that together you are all able to succeed.

Involving people on broad issues is motivational. Never underestimate people. Their views can enhance everything: methods, standards, processes and overall effectiveness.

Remember, managers are not paid to have all the ideas that are necessary to keep their section working well in a changing world, but they are paid to make sure that there are enough ideas to make things work and go on working.

Use your people and make it clear to them that you want and value their contributions.

Underpinning Success:

Some matters are of particular importance to the way a manger and staff work together. This is not the place to review the whole management process, but the following four areas are key and must be addressed correctly early on if results are to follow.

They are:

• Setting goals

• Project management

• Ongoing development

• Job performance appraisal

A quick look at each of these in turn…

Setting Goals:

“If you don’t know where you are going any road will do”

For all its familiarity and common sense this maxim is worth reiterating. No one and no organisation works well without clear objectives. The responsibility for setting many of them may well be yours.

Objectives will only be clear if they are SMART:

Specific so that they are clearly understood and no misunderstanding is possible.

Measurable so that everyone knows whether they have hit them, or not.

Achievable because if they are simply pie in the sky they will be ignored and you, and any future process of objective setting, will lose credibility.

Realistic in the sense that they must logically fit within the broad picture and be a desirable way of proceeding.

Timed without clear timing they will become meaningless.

The objectives you set must condition and direct what your people do. Make sure everyone has clear goals and they are committed to achieving them.

Project Management:

Many of the tasks to be done involve the complex process of people working together in a co-ordinate way over time. When this is headed up by you or involves you, make sure that the project is:

• Carefully and systematically planned and organised.

• Effectively executed.

• Precisely monitored.

• Fine-tuned so that contingencies and changes are accommodated.

Brought in on time, on spec and if appropriate, on budget

Your management of others will be jeopardised if the way you organise the work of the section in any way falters.

Ongoing Development:

Nothing is more important to people than their success. Time and again you hear people say something like “Above all, I want to work with a manager from whom I can learn”. The development of your people is not something to ignore or leave to training departments. The responsibility is yours. Make sure people have the right knowledge, skills and attitudes to do the jobs you want and to do them well. Development is not only about correcting weaknesses, it is about upgrading and taking people forward, not least to keep up with change.

Tell your people that you:

• Recognise that their development is important

• Will help them gain experience and extend skills And… • Create a visible system so to do

As the old saying goes you can either “have five years’ experience or one year’s experience multiplied by five”. People want the former. Show them you are the means to achieve it.

Use the development cycle:

• Analyse the job (what is needed to do it) • Analyse the person (their competencies)

• Look ahead, anticipate what new skills, etc. the job might necessitate in the future

• Define the gap – what must be done to create a good fit between the person and the job • Specify development activity, methods, budget and priorities • Implement action and monitor results

This is a rolling cycle. Keep clear records, make sure everyone is reviewed in this way and create a culture in which people value development and what it brings. Part of your job is helping people to learn.

Development is sufficiently important to people (as well as being important in its own right) for you to address the process and give out the right messages about it. You may, sensibly, not want to send everyone off on a course so consider other actions, asking:

• Should development be on the agenda for meetings?

• Can anything be done on-the-job? (In any case, a key part of the manager’s personal responsibility for development.)

• Can any ongoing actions be instigated now? (A simple monthly lunchtime session, perhaps.)

The culture of an organisation in terms of its attitude to training and development is important to people. Their view of it is, in part, dependent on you. Send the right signals.

Performance Appraisals:

In many organisations appraisals are poorly conducted and rated unhelpful by those who are appraised

Appraisals should:

• Be constructive, helpful and motivational

• Focus on the future

• Be a genuine opportunity for both parties to ensure that the period ahead (year, quarter, etc) goes well, perhaps better than the last

• Link to action plans for the future

Study your organisation’s appraisal system and learn how to conduct an effective appraisal meeting. This is good use of management time. Apart from helping you achieve results in a practical sense; it will also position you as a competent manager and differentiate you from others.

Management Processes:

Whatever processes you set up, will be seen as a sign of your style. If they meet with approval, trust is built. If not, they distance you from your staff.

You must ensure system and processes are:

• Fair

• Understandable

• Effective

• Relevant

• Time (& cost) effective

And are not:

• Bureaucratic

• Out of touch with realities

• Over complex

• Restrictive/contradictory

• Incompatible with other systems/common sense

Everything you set up (or maintain if someone else instigated it) must aid the effectiveness and efficiency of the section. Those who do the work will quickly see inappropriate systems as you making their jobs more difficult; not a way you want to be seen. As the advertising slogan of the Abbey National banks said, “Life’s complicated enough”

And Finally – The Four Vital Components: The trend during the last few years has been toward technology-based Customer Relationship Management Systems (CRMs). Research has shown that the benefits a company can realise from any such innovation are dramatically increased when four vital components are in place together:

• Technology (CRMs for example),

• A clearly defined sales process,

• Training and personnel development

• Performance-related compensation.

Often companies will invest thousands of pounds in CRM technology, sales training and performance-related compensation packages for their salespeople; yet forget about defining the sales process. As a consequence the investment made in other areas cannot be maximised unless there is such a process in place to underpin those three factors.

New To Sales Management? - How To Quickly Establish Authority

2007-05-09T03:48:00.001-07:00

Sometimes a new Sales Manager has to face awkward, contentious, embarrassing or tough issues. Difficult situations, you may have noticed, don’t tend to get easier if delayed or ignored. For the manager, dealing with such problems goes with the territory.

It is one of things people watch for. They wonder:

“How will this person react under pressure?”

”What happens when we stand up to this person or make something awkward?”

The answer is simple – show them.

It may be better if you pick your ground early on, by finding a situation that will demonstrate that you have the clout to succeed in management. Thus:

• Select a suitable circumstance (something you’re sure of and which matters)

• Make a stand, be adamant – explain, by all means, but stick to your guns

• Don’t back down (pressure to do so at this stage may be in the nature of a test)

• Let the word go round – this person’s no soft touch.

Forging Alliances:

All sorts of people, regardless of level and position, can be of help to you – now and ongoing. They may be:

• A source of information and advice

• A link to other people

• A provider of mortal support

• Part of the new mix social contacts you will need in your new role

Make a list, initiate contact as necessary and maintain contact at an appropriate level of frequency and in whatever way suits (e.g.: formal meetings, cups of coffee and e-mails).

Those people who may be of help include your immediate line manager, their manger, mentors, staff and assorted contacts and ‘buddies’, as well as those in specifically useful functional roles (e.g. training).

Ensure that the relationships you develop are two-way: you must give as well as take if they are to succeed. Strike a proper balance.

Matters of Discipline:

Discipline is unlikely to come up for a while. However, it is certainly important enough to deserve comment in case the matter does arise.

Never duck or delay matters of staff discipline.

Check the situation very carefully

If facts are not clear check them out but do not delay long and set a specific time for further action

Deal with the matter of itself (don’t feel you have to be lenient because it’s day one)

Take action and check it against policy (if a warning is necessary, for example, should it be in writing, how expressed, where filed and who should be copied?)

Remember the key task is to secure the future

Be fair and do not go over the top to register your power

Appropriate action is likely to be approved by the team. Being seen as a soft touch can create problems for the future.

How You Will Work With People:

There could well be matters you’re sure of and want to instigate early on. For example, you may want regular meetings, certain things put in writing, files organised in a particular way, and so on. Certainly, you may wish to make clear aspects of the management process itself; reporting procedures, checks and controls, regular and informal communications – how you will work with people one to one and as a group. All needs to be clear.

If so, and especially if processes change, then:

• Communicate formally (normally in writing)

• Explain what you’re doing and why

• Position it as a trial, if necessary (Why not? You can build in any good feedback and may possibly be grateful for an opportunity to make further changes, without it looking as if you don’t know what you’re doing)

Provide feedback and thank people for fitting in and taking the extra time. Show them how the changes will help you – and them.

Positioning Yourself As The Manager:

Ask yourself what characteristics will make you the sort of manager you want to be. What would your staff say?

Make a list. For example: being knowledgeable, confident, well organised, looking the part, efficient, decisive… whatever.

The list should point to the type of manager you intend to be and the characteristics you intend to project. It is not a list of what you are or are not. If there are any aspects you feel you should work at or emphasise, make a note of these.

By all means, tell people how you to intend to operate but remember that they are more likely to form an opinion about you based on what you do rather than what you say.

What is Wrong With My International Import Export Sales?

2007-05-09T03:47:00.001-07:00

Few years ago on a sunny Friday morning I was scheduled to meet with the International Sales Director for a medical equipment manufacturer. The meeting came at the request of the company president whom I met at a trade show in Canada. The aim of my meeting with the International Sales Director was to try and pinpoint the reason behind the inadequate Middle East sales performance. As the company president summed it up by saying "Our products are better than the competition but the competition is doing much better in sales to that market. My IS Director attended trade shows in United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The feedback from many Arabian companies was positive but did not materialize into good sales nor what can be considered a good starting relationship. We can use an outside opinion".

Before the meeting day I did some initial research about the medical company and sure enough their products were better in quality than their competitor and the pricing was competitive. The meeting took place in their conference room. Just the International Sales Director, one of his associates and me.

From the beginning I felt some tension coming from the IS Director. Why not? The meeting was called for by the company president and the IS Director probably felt that his leadership was in question and he would be answering to an outsider who would report back to his boss. To ease the tension, I opened the discussion by mentioning some of the admirable accomplishments he made by successfully building the International department and achieving remarkable sales in the European market. My source was a newspaper article that I found during my initial research. This move proved to be a great ice breaker and then more. The more he talked about this subject, the more his facial features and speech pattern projected victory, achievements, confidence, and of course friendliness and openness. It worked and it should always work. Reminding others of their previous successful achievements will not only empower them and proves that you appreciate and trust them, but also they will be more open to listen to you and hear what you have to say.

He started talking about their Middle East operations and mentioned that his company had participated in two trade shows, one in Saudi Arabia and the other in United Arab Emirates. During these trade shows their products received positive feedback from many Arab businessmen and soon after coming back to the US, he started corresponding with these prospective partners. It has been 10 months now and nothing had happened. Their sales to the Middle East did not show any significant increase and the negotiations did not develop into solid relationships. No agents nor distributors. He continued venting his frustrations and he gradually shifted toward explaining what he thought was the problem. To him, the problem was the Middle East market and its business culture. He continued saying how it was easier to deal with the European market and to setup partners.

After he had ample opportunity to describe the situation, it was my turn to ask some questions and to express my opinion. A few points surfaced during our discussion indicating that they did not do their homework before plunging in. They did not perform any research in regards to the business culture of the Middle East market, so they were not aware of what they should and should not do and they were not aware of the steps needed to establish a good business relationship. In addition, the IS Director, approached his prospective Arab partners with the same distribution agreement used for dealing with their European distributors. No effort was made to check its adequacy and reality for the new market. In short, there was neither research nor a plan.

He should not have used his success with the European market and the relatively short time it took to achieve that, as a measuring tool for the Middle East operation. He had successfully dealt with the European market due to the fact that he had worked and lived in Europe for 5 years before joining the US medical equipment manufacturer. He knew the market, the business culture, business circumstances, and all the vital information needed to succeed in doing business in Europe. Throughout the 5 years he spent in Europe he gained the experience and knowledge that made him successful, but he was not able to clearly see the insight he gained by living there.

How could he miss that fact? It is not all unusual to do that. By the same token, many companies when going global forget that their products are being introduced to a new market and it takes time for the sales volume to grow to its expected goal, just like when they started introducing their products to the local market! As a result of this "lost comparison", sometimes companies set unreasonable conditions when dealing with their international agents such as "high" minimum purchase requirements and "unrealistic" expected sales volume conditions. An overseas company purchasing goods for the first time would usually prefer to order a small quantity which will be used to test the product's acceptance in the market. Companies that insist on a set minimum even with the first sale, which is in fact considered a test sample, are closing the door on overseas sales let alone encouraging any possible partnership.

Since I knew that the IS Director has his hands full managing successful sales to the European market, I suggested assigning the Middle East market territory to someone else who could devote all of their energy and time on developing marketing plans, acquiring partnerships and increasing sales. The IS Director answered back that he had already thought about that and handed me a copy of an advertisement he had placed in a local newspaper. The advertisment read:

Middle East Sales Rep. Medical equipment manufacturer seeking energetic professional person to assist the International Sales Director in his Middle East operations. Successful candidate will handle correspondences, distributing company literature and making overseas calls mostly at late night hours. Experience in telemarketing and bilingual (Arabic and English) a plus.

Clearly the ad echoed what I thought was wrong with their approach to the Middle East market. This advertisement was calling for an administrative assistant not a Middle East Sales Representative. In fact I have seen many companies handle their international operations by simply asking someone to type a letter or send a fax. To these companies the interest in the global market will only grow if they notice an outcome first. A significant outcome though, will not come from such approach and hence these companies’ correspondences are going somewhere but certainly not global.

Sell to Your STRENGTHS!

2007-05-05T02:35:00.001-07:00

I just got off the phone with one of my book readers who claims to possess an unusual “acoustical” gift.

Sounds are important to him, he remembers them well, and he can easily do vocal impressions of John Wayne and Richard Nixon, to name a few.

Assuming he’s right, which media should he emphasize in his marketing?

Obviously, he would make a good telephone communicator, right? And cold calling should be a walk in the park for him.

Someone who is a great writer could pen articles and books and I’m sure his or her emails would be nothing less than sparkling.

People who make wonderful first impressions face-to-face should be naturals at networking, wouldn’t you agree?

Great public speakers should conduct seminars and offer speeches to various groups of potential buyers.

Each person, in other words, should highlight his gift, and make sure to exploit it for all it’s worth.

But people don’t do this, for what I believe are five reasons:

(1) Most folks don’t really know their strengths, and what they’re better geared to than other things.

(2) People who think they know their strengths are often wrong. That would-be-phone guy, the one with the amazing ear for sounds, is currently struggling with his cold calls. He admits to letting prospects seize control of conversations. I spoke with him over the course of 15 minutes, and listening isn’t his problem. He doesn’t sound CONFIDENT, and so he doesn’t seem credible, which is a mighty problem if you’re selling financial services.

(3) Our entire educational system is obsessed with eliminating weaknesses; not with accentuating strengths. The barely passing grade on the child’s report card is analyzed to death, while his excellent grade in another subject is nearly ignored.

(4) We don’t respect skills or abilities that seem to come to us, effortlessly. To an extent, we even feel a little guilty for not having to work as hard as other people for mastery.

(5) We get bored with what we have already learned to do, and relish challenges and difficulties.

Public speaking was famously ranked the number one fear of Americans, ahead of death, itself, in the BOOK OF LISTS.

Clearly, if you’re afraid to address groups, you’d be a fool to build your sales and marketing campaign around public speaking.

Likewise, if you have phone fear, don’t try to dial-and-smile your way to success.

Direct mail may be your cup of tea.

Take time to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses and when you have, forget about fixing your shortcomings. While personally rewarding, it’s not nearly as useful as selling to your strengths!

6 Ways to Have a Successful Event

2007-05-05T02:34:00.003-07:00

Organizing an event or a workshop to the public is the best way to increase your company contact network, generate more sales, and get your company known to the public in the shortest possible of time.

There are 6 things that you must take note of so as to get the best results from your event:

1. Who are you inviting to your event? You must know the target audience for your event. For e.g. your event is an Internet Business focus group. Do you know the gender, age group, and income level of your invitees?

It is important to know who customers are, so that you can suit the theme of your event to the audience.

2. Make your event meaningful. Do not pitch your products and services straight away. Teach them something that they do not know. Provide them with meaningful and valuable information before you start to sell your services or products.

3. Try to get as many people to your event as possible. If your budget allows, make your event as impressive as possible, so as to add credibility to your business.

4. Get a good event management company to host the event for you. You will not want to hire someone who will screw up the whole event for you. Get a good emcee that knows how to control the flow of the event, and has the ability to repeat any product offers to your guests effectively.

5. Remember to network around! The main purpose of organizing an event is that you can network your invitees face to face. Make them feel welcome and appreciated and they will be your loyal customers in the future.

6. Follow up quickly. After the event, send a personalized “Thank You” email to your invitees. Ask them for feedback and suggestions, so that you can improve the next time round.

A good event or workshop planner will ensure that all the 6 things mentioned above get done. If you do not have time or confidence to fulfill all the above, do hire a professional event management company to help you to do organize the event.

Shyness-A Habit That Hurts More Salespeople Than Smoking or Drinking

2007-05-05T02:34:00.001-07:00

80% of Americans are shy in at least in some situations, according to Dr. Phillip Zimbardo of Stanford University, who reported this finding in his book, SHYNESS.

That makes shyness a more universal disability and a more vexing problem than excessive smoking or drinking.

I’ve trained boisterous, burly 250 pound salesmen who have no trouble exuding confidence when closing deals face to face, but they break into a cold sweat when they’re asked to get on the phone and make a few calls.

How can you cope with this malady and succeed?

I have a different take on this topic than most, because I see shyness as a HABIT, and not as an inborn personality characteristic. I consider it a set of behaviors that we repeat because we find the results rewarding.

How can that be?

Well, let’s imagine a backyard barbecue. A shy person could elicit attention and sympathy because she doesn’t seem to be having any fun. Attention is reinforcing, and one can get it on a fairly consistent basis by acting shyly.

Moreover, shyness enables us to avoid what we anticipate will be even more painful episodes and encounters. If you can sidestep having to serve on that industry conference panel you’ll reduce the possibility that you’ll look foolish before an important professional audience when it’s your time to stand and deliver.

Every time you avoid a disastrous outing you might reward yourself by silently saying, “Whew! I dodged another bullet!” and feel relieved.

The key is to work at breaking, or at least better managing, the avoidance habit.

Instead of saying “no” to potentially face-losing encounters, we should practice saying yes. By doing what Dr. Albert Ellis calls “shame attacking” exercises, we can peel away our resistance to acting more extroverted.

For instance, as a kid I recall being shy, taking rides with my parents and hearing them, and their friends, remark, “He’s so quiet!” I assure you I was the loudest guy on the playground and athletic fields, but yes, the art of conversation with adults wasn’t my strong suit before adolescence.

I had to work at public speaking to overcome my fear of it. I did just that and before long I enjoyed performing, in forensics, debate and in drama.

Building on my new communication skills, I put myself through college and graduate schools in sales and management and even taught public speaking at the university level for several years.

But I have found that shyness is an ongoing battle, and we never totally and completely defeat this foe.

In other words, if we don’t practice shyness attacking behaviors on an ongoing basis, relentlessly, we will RELEARN and succumb again to our shyness.

For example, there have been times in my consulting practice when I haven’t had to sell very often. A few big clients, and some very successful indirect marketing initiatives, have been lucrative enough to keep me involved delivering programs without having to repeatedly sell more of them.

So, from time to time, I’d get rusty and more significant, my sales reluctance would build to the point that I would have to force myself to cold call. Of course, once I succeeded, I reminded myself of how effective I am, and I zapped any timidity that had built up to that point.

You may have heard the expression that the best way of taming our fear is to perform repeated acts of courage.

If you’re shy, and you want to succeed, this isn’t an option.

It’s a necessity.

You may feel especially vexed by shyness if you tell yourself that you shouldn’t be feeling it. Looking back at having wrestled with it successfully, before, you might feel some shame that it is bothering you again, particularly if you're in a high-profile setting in sales, management, consulting, or professional speaking.

I suggest thinking of battling shyness as the dues you have to pay, periodically. If you haven’t chipped-in for a long time, you simply have a bigger balance to pay off, but believe me, you can do it!

Sales in Today's World

2007-05-05T02:33:00.002-07:00

How many times have you heard "The only reason he got the business was because he golfs with the owner." Well more than once I am sure. So is that the foundation for a great sales person. Absolutely!! Networking and knowing your customers is the key to success. As you start to build your client base it is a necessary step. Once you determine your target clients, you must get in their and introduce yourself to as many people as possible from the dock worker to the president. This is essential to have a firm foundation as you grow your business. In business, people change jobs all the time and if you only have one contact at a company you will be out the door as soon as your contact is replaced.

But if you have done your job and networked throughout the organization you will be a valued resource. Not just another sales person. Offer your services to accounting-make their job easier. A few ideas EDI billing, pre-auditing and batch billing. If they have a billing discrepancy fix it quickly. Get acquainted with the IT personnel. Offer computer solutions to make their day to day work easier. Meet with the people who utilize your product not just the person who is buying from you. Find out what they need to create a better work day. It all goes back to the famous saying if they like you they will buy from you and the more people who like you in an organization the less likely you are to lose the business in fact you will gain as they grow and develop. Selling is a process that networking is a key element. Good luck and good selling!

Dealing with Difficult to Collect Debts

2007-05-05T02:33:00.001-07:00

Bad debt is not something anyone enjoys but believe me, it is listed as a financial statement item for a reason. Because it happens from time to time. A client may appear to be the nicest and most cordial of clients, but when it is time to pay, they are no where to be found. What can you do about it?

The Example: Let's say for example that you have a new client. This client would like you to perform Service "A". You complete Service "A" and bill the client. You wait for a few days (if you are emailing the billing) and nothing. You have decided to wait a couple of weeks. Then you send a reminder invoice thinking the client has either misplaced the original or never received it. Again, you wait awhile before you email them to ask for payment.

An email returns to you and they reply, "Yes, I received it and I didn't agree to this dollar amount. Revise the invoice to a lower price and I will pay it." Uh-oh...this isn't a good sign.

You decide to tell the client that the fee for Service "A" stands and kindly remit payment. No response.

Before you know it, the client is furious and feels you are ripping him or her off.

Okay, STOP.

The Basics: Before Service "A" is performed, did you get a contract together to spell out what the service is and what the fee shall be? Did the client sign it? Okay, then you have a leg to stand on. You say you DIDN'T get a contract signed before starting work? YOUR MISTAKE!. And, to add salt to the wound, you don't have a leg to stand on in court.

Depending on the dollar amount, you could take your client to small claims court to collect your fee. Unless you have a straightforward contract that is signed by both of you, odds are you wouldn't win. Not to mention there are court fees and costs associated with small claims court.

How to Collect: Refrain from getting into a name calling contest or hurling accusations and ultimatums. If you HAVE A SIGNED CONTRACT - Decide what you want to do. If you are willing to go to court, then notify the client in writing and allow them one more chance to pay. If they refuse, then off to small court you will go! If you DON'T HAVE A SIGNED CONTRACT: Ask them kindly once more via email or certified letter (return receipt) and ask for the client to remit payment by a certain date. Try to work out some sort of arrangement to get your fee, whether it is monthly installments etc.

Client Refuses to Pay, PERIOD: Say hello to the general ledger account, "BAD DEBT" and remember the experience. When money is involved, it is unlikely that you will make the same mistake twice. Wish the client well and ALWAYS maintain your professionalism. Let them know that you are writing the fee off as Bad Debt and let it go.

Next time, I bet you won't have to say "hello" to bad debt anymore!

Xerox Business Systems

2007-05-03T03:00:00.002-07:00

Xerox is known all over the world as being the # 1 photocopier manufacturer. The Xerox Corporation is a company that has definitely proved thought its practice that the “right management” and the ability to be flexible can lead to a great success no matter how stiff the competition is. The history of its outstanding management starts in the 1980’s, when the company changed its market strategy and introduced a new kind of management that lately transformed into their fantastic quality management practice.

Their program “Leadership through quality” against the Japanese competitors set new quality standards for the market and opened their way to success. The program established the manage-for-results as the primary goal for all of the operations within the company. The expected results were improved productivity and increased revenue growth achieved through the quality-oriented strategy. After experiencing difficulties on market before the company opened a new era in management and created a model that will lately be followed by almost every single one company.

The quality philosophy of the company- the customer-demands orientation- is one of the most remarkable traits that makes Xerox an upstart company. The customer-based orientation was the first one at that time, due to the major orientation of the companies on the quantity, not quality of manufacturing. This philosophy is completely based on the quality of every aspect of the company’s activity, including the final product. It starts with the employee’s management and ends up in the final result of their work – Xerox products. This final result started being evaluated from the objective point of view of a customer. The three factors that are taken into account the most are: the customer, the process and the people. The goal of the company was, is and will be “Total customer satisfaction”.

Basically saying the customer was to become the “quality controlling team” of the company. This philosophy is reflected in their introduction of Total Quality Management (TQM). The main change that this management philosophy brought to the Xerox Corporation was moving from a production-based over to a customer-based company. The Total Quality Management of the Xerox Corporation includes principles that are used by the company’s employees and directors: strong customer focus, entrepreneurial spirit of the employees, integrations through market focus and quality control. Nowadays, owing to this philosophy the company is eager and able to meet all the requirements that the customer has. The satisfaction of the customers became the criterion of evaluation of the company’s work.

Hiring and Training of New Sales Staff

2007-05-03T03:00:00.001-07:00

How do you train your sales personnel? Perhaps a better question would be…Do you train your sales personnel? As silly as this may sound a lot of organizations hire a salesperson and tell them to go get it. I have personally dealt with such an organization and this was considered the norm. Why? Because they have always done it this way! I suspect a lot of individuals have heard this comment from other organizations.

Past experience has shown me that the normal way a lot of small companies hire salespeople is by word of mouth or recommendation from a friend or customer. More times than not this method is flawed from the beginning. Depending upon your industry or product offering you may have experienced something like the following dialogue.

Question: “Do you know anyone you would recommend for a job”?

Answer: “Yeah, Joe has been with me forever and he needs to make more money and I cannot afford to pay him. He would be great for your job. OR

Question: I need to hire a new salesperson to call on your account and several others in this area. Do you know anyone who would be a good fit?

Answer: Why yes, my son (Daughter) is looking for a job and they know this business well. They will make a great salesperson.(Watch out for this landmine)

There are many more examples but hopefully, you get the picture. Why do we as business owners or managers spend so little time hiring the individuals who will represent us in the marketplace? Keep in mind I am not speaking of Fortune 500 organizations because companies in this arena spend a lot of money and hours interviewing and investigating. Small or medium sized businesses sometimes do not believe they have the time or money to recruit and hire properly. This is a tragic mistake.

The mistake is compounded when after hiring a warm body for the position the owner, sales manager or whoever is available may train the new employee for at least 2 days. Sometimes this training takes place in a distribution center where the new employee may be subjected to negative comments from various individuals. Perhaps if the new employee is lucky he will be placed with a marginal salesperson and told to ride around with him or her for a few days. The marginal salesperson is chosen because the top performers do not want to be bothered nor do they want to give away any “secrets.” The marginal salesperson knows all of the right language to use on a sales call and he will be everyone’s best friend. A lot of coffee may be consumed and a lot of the world’s problems may be solved but your products will not be sold and the new employee will learn quickly how to perform bad habits.

Should the new employee be astute enough to ask he or she may inquire as to sales manuals, product sheets, account information sheets etc. A typical organization will have some of these items but not all. New employees may receive all manner of explanations as to why the territory has not much available information. The employee may even be told that the lack of information and performance is the reason he was hired. He has to turn this train wreck around. Not wanting to appear timid the new salesperson will gather up as much bravado as possible and shout to the rooftops how he will be the savior for whom the company has been looking. All the while he may be thinking, what kind of mess have I gotten myself into?

The owner or sales manager most likely will sit back and wait for the rain to fall from the sky because this new salesperson told everyone he is the best thing since sliced bread and he will show the existing sales force how to make hay when the sun shines. ( Pardon the use of metaphors.) Reality will set in around the 60th day of employment when the new salesperson has done very little to earn his keep (with good reason) and the owner or manager will begin to get a little nervous. At this point the owner of my old company used to tell me to “put them on the get well program.” Translated this meant to reduce their draw from a living wage to starvation wages. This move usually achieved the desired result. The new salesperson quit and the process began anew. By the way, at this juncture the adage defining madness as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, needs to be stamped on a decision maker’s forehead.