Is Your Eye On The Ball?

I can tell spring is about to arrive when I listen to my favorite sports radio show and I hear the ‘Hot Stove” league heating up. The show hosts go on seemingly forever about the same players and how they fit in to this years team. This week they started to play the pre-season games in earnest as all the players try to play themselves into mid-season shape by the first week in April.

In the selling world try to think about how you can use this time of year to do the same thing. What i mean is that we have all endured a challenging economy over the recent past. Just remember that when a person who is good at selling their services goes to work that the economy is always a lot better. At least it is for those who are in great mid-season selling “shape.” Read more…

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Super Bowl Sales Lessons

If you watched the Super Bowl a couple of weeks ago you saw a play that will probably go down in history as one of the boldest and gutsiest plays ever called. The play I’m taking about happened at the very start of the second half. It’s called the “onside kick.”

Most teams, especially in such a big game would decide to do the “normal” thing and kick off to their opponent. This gives the opponent a chance to possibly score first before they get the ball back. The play is usually reserved for moments of desperation at the end of a game.

There was no sign of despair when New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton did the opposite of the routine way, not this time, not this day. He boldly made the decision to not wait to get the ball back to start the half. Essentially he sent a message, “We will not wait for our success to happen. We are going to make it happen.” Read more…

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Do You Have a Policy Too?

How many times have you heard your prospect tell you that they have a “rule” or “policy” when they purchase? You know something like, “We have a rule, we never make a purchase on the first visit from a sales person.” Sometimes the rules that buyers have are dysfunctional and make little sense for you or them.

Also, the rules are often broken when they meet the right sales person with the right solution. So then the rules are only often enforced when they either don’t like the sales person or their solution.

As a professional sales person, you must have rules and policies as well. This is particularly true when you sell face-to-face and have to travel to your buyer’s location or home. The amount of time spent with buyers and the time needed to travel to and from where they are makes having policies even more important. Read more…

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The Speed Of Business

Are you ready to adopt the philosophy of “Do It Now?”  You may already be performing a “Do It Now’ service in your company but just not charging for it. This program can make the difference between being profitable of not if you use the correct strategy in terms of communication, pricing and bonuses.

A “Do It Now” program is not just a money grab by the company that is supported by the efforts of workers who go un-rewarded.

“Do It Now” is a premium service option that is a higher investment for the customer. Read more…

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The Language Of Losers

It was raining a torrent on this gray, cold day as John, a territory manager for a manufacturer’s distributor, scurried from his car and into the office of one of his clients. As he got in the door, he wiped the water from his glasses with a napkin he had in his pocket. Kathy, the company receptionist, was there to greet him. “Geez, it’s really coming down out there!” said Kathy, understating the obvious. “Tell me about it,” said John, “Hey, is Larry in today? I have some new products I need to show him.” He asked her without pausing. Kathy, knowing John for years has always stopped in on Tuesdays, ushered him into Larry’s office immediately.

Negative Talk Sets Low Expectations

“Hey Larry, how’s business going?” John asked the normally gregarious man. “Not too good, we’re extremely slow,” Larry answered in a depressed manner. Then Larry leaned closer to John and asked an all-too-familiar question that he has heard a lot lately, “Hey, off the record, how is everyone else doing out there?” Read more…

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Simple Thank You Is Not So Easy

Without a doubt, life today flies by at record speed and many of us get overwhelmed around the year-end holidays.

I wonder if many people in sales business have thought much about the people who are at the center of whatever success they have achieved?

I know I recently have. Those thoughts of kindness by everyone who has helped me have really stirred some great emotions inside of me. These emotions have inspired me to reach out to people who you may or may not think are worthy of my gratitude. In my book, everyone is part of the process of building my success and yes, setbacks. Read more…

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Please Share your Comments Below

 About the author: Joe Crisara is CEO of www.ContractorSelling.com a website that helps sales professionals to change their thinking and grow their sales. You can contact Joe by emailing him at joe@contractorselling.com

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I have always said that if I wanted to do something terrible to my worst enemy it would be to put them in a business where they had to manage people that have to sell their services and products without any training. That would certainly make anyone miserable for the rest of their lives. Yes, the sales professional of today has never had it harder.

Not For the Faint Of Heart

Managing the sales performance of a business and its’ greatest asset, their employees, is one of the most challenging and un-rewarding jobs that anyone could ever wish on a person. That is, if that person is left untrained and un-empowered to be successful. The biggest problem stems from the vast amount of things that happen on a day-to-day basis that come at you from the side. The average “civilian” wouldn’t know where to begin to deal with this kind of stress.

However, the job is much easier when you consider a basic principle of management. What is this magic principle that will make it so easy? Simply put, it is not your job as a manager to do the work. It is your job to inspire others how to do it and then coach them to maintain the skills necessary to continue to have predictable success in the future..

Do Your Job Not Theirs

I know this seems completely obvious to so many, but it is embraced by so few. Many of today’s sales managers have been elevated from a sales position themselves. Knowing what to do, they work too hard to “try and set an example” of how they want things done. They do this by jumping in and actually doing the frontline work. The mystified employee just sits back and watches the manager do their job and then becomes a de-motivated “paid audience.”

When management steps in to do a frontline employees job, it devalues the frontline employee and lowers their esteem. The business is then left with a deflated frontline employee who lacks confidence in their ability to sell to your customer. Not a pretty picture and certainly not your vision of the powerful frontline sales champion you are hoping to develop.

Create Sales Stars, Don’t Be One

You will never be able to implement new ideas that will grow or even maintain the sales revenue you want to achieve.  They should be able to sell at least as good if not better than you do as well. How will this happen? It is only possible if you stop doing the work and start expecting them to take over and get the results you expect. This is TRUE empowerment for any employee.

Some Cautionary Advice

Don’t expect everything to be done as you would. Just stay with the principles that you embrace when coaching them. After turning them loose, you might be surprised that their results are actually better than you achieved. When you are comfortable that they are achieving the results you are lloking for then take you new found free time to teach your employees how to master these systems even better.

Coach first and then turn them loose - It is malpractice to just have your employees “just figure it out.” Be clear as to how you see them doing their work and the strategy your team is trying to implement. Don’t just talk or preach to them. Listen first then ask them what they think they are missing. Only then should you provide the information they need.

Mistakes WILL happen - Mistakes will show you their level of understanding and mastery of the skills you are teaching. Mistakes are a gift in that they give you things to work on immediately. As a coach it is your job not to fix mistakes but instead show THEM how to. If nothing else it provides for great subjects for future sales training.

Think of yourself as a coach - No matter how bad the game is going, the coach never runs on to the field and starts to play. If things are not going as expected then make your game time adjustments and then send the players back on the field to try again with the new approach. Be aware that even the coach makes mistakes.

Use this information to become a better sales manager and to make your life easier. You will start to develop a leadership style that will inspire your employees to respect, honor and trust you. Your employees will then achieve a mastery that you never imagined would be possible.

Please Share your Comments Below

About the author: Joe Crisara is CEO of www.ContractorSelling.com a website that helps sales professionals to change their thinking and grow their sales. You can contact Joe by emailing him at joe@contractorselling.com

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What do your salespeople know to do when something goes wrong?   As a manager, is it your “policy” to get involved in every act of service recovery with a client, or do you allow your people to think on their own? 

I had a situation on one of my Webinars this week where two people had very bad experiences — technical stuff that was totally out of my control. Both were brand new clients, and I made an awful first impression.  They were both angry at first, each sending me not-so-nicely-worded E-mails about how much trouble they went through to get their staffs together, etc.   It was NOT a pretty picture.

Since I’m in charge, I had the authority to make good on the situation.  I immediately contacted each of them, told them they’d be getting their money back, AND that I’d be doing the very same program for them 1-on-1 via conference call at no charge, at a time that suited THEM best. 
 
Both were very grateful, commented about the speed to which I addressed the problem (within the hour!), and were willing to overlook the issues that happened. They’re both rescheduled now for individual times, and are looking forward to it.

Yes, I’m going to be out some additional time on my part, and for something that was completely out of my control.  I’m willing to sacrifice that for the sake of a client relationship.  Without the ability to react immediately, I would have lost that window of opportunity to actually “Wow” someone with my response.  

If your salespeople have to run back to get your approval before they can offer restitution, it may be too late to make the very best impression.   When your people make mistakes — which they will! – give them the authority to make it right, to whatever limits are appropriate.  You hired them for their ability to represent you well; make sure they’re trained to represent you correctly when things aren’t so well. 

  – Bill Guertin is CEO (Chief Enthusiasm Officer) of The 800-Pound Gorilla, a sales performance improvement company based in suburban Chicago, IL whose list of clients includes professional sports teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer.  Learn more about Bill at www.The800PoundGorilla.com, or follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/800poundgorilla.

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I had a sales management revelation while at a GREAT live concert event.  Thanks to Shine.fm Radio (www.shine.fm), I attended a sold-out Chris Tomlin show in the Chicago suburbs.

If you don’t recognize the name, there’s a good chance you’ve heard his songs.  Chris is one of the most popular Christian music writers and performers in the world.  Many of his songs are performed each week by worship bands in thousands of contemporary Christian churches around the world.  Imagine a Christian version of the rock band U2, and you’d be pretty close.  (www.ChrisTomlin.com) 

Since I’m a piano/keyboard player myself, I sometimes like to watch a live show and ask myself if I could jump onstage and cover the keyboard parts.  Since I’ve played every one of Tonlin’s songs a dozen times or more in our worship band at our church, the answer at this performance was yes.

It was then that I realized the genius of Chris Tomlin.

His songs are structured so that they’re simple to learn and play.  If you know a little about music and chord structure, you’d be able to pick up a Chris Tomlin tune easily.  For a church service, that’s important.  If the song is too complicated, people won’t sing.  If the music is too unpredictable, the band may not be able to pull it off with confidence.  

And therein lies the beauty of Tomlin’s songs:  They’re duplicable.

Some musicians perform their craft like no one else.  Paganini and Pavarotti, John Coltrane and Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen each had such unique performance styles that the world was astounded bytheir talents, but few could perform their material in the same way.  And then there are others that create music that is so universally catchy and simple, everyone can perform and enjoy them.

When I play a Chris Tomlin song, I can feel pretty good about the Bill Guertin version.  But give me a piece of precise sheet music like the “1812 Overture” or “Flight of the Bumblebee”, and I freak out.  When the notes have to be played exactly as written, I’m not nearly as confident.  

How do you manage your salespeople?  Do you give your people good direction and guidance, and allow them to flourish using your basic roadmap together with their own individual style?  Or do you insist that they play the sheet music — your marching orders — exactly as you’ve written it out?

Are you duplicable, so that others feel good about following you?  Or are you a virtuoso, so good at what you do that no one can follow in your footsteps?

More and more, I believe that this new generation of sales reps needs a set of guidelines, a clear, accountable goal, a solid role model, and the inspiration to develop their own success using their own unique set of God-given gifts and talents.  The very best leaders I see today are using this exact formula to develop the leaders of the future.

There will always be the virtuosos of the selling world.  As managers and leaders, however, I believer we are called to something much greater; the creation of confident, passionate participants in the “big show” of the business world.

I’d be interested in your thoughts.  Send me an E-mail at bill@The800PoundGorilla.com. 

– Bill Guertin is CEO (Chief Enthusiasm Officer) of The 800-Pound Gorilla, a sales performance improvement company based in suburban Chicago, IL whose list of clients includes professional sports teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer.  Learn more about Bill at www.The800PoundGorilla.com, or follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/800poundgorilla .

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