Sales Management

The Boss From Hell Quick To Criticize Slow To Praise

2009-03-04T05:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Nicki Weiss

So you have a boss who dumps all over you the moment things go wrong, but never seems to notice when things go right. Ouch.

Jamie is a hard-working, cheery, full-of-ideas kind of manager. She leads two high-functioning teams who support each other very well. So why does Jamie come to work with a stomachache every day? Why does her staff often feel paralyzed? It's because Jamie's boss, VP of Client Services, finds fault every day with Jamie and her team members. He seems to go out of his way to criticize. When the VP is away, the group functions like a well-oiled machine. When he is there, they gossip, avoid tough problems, and try to make themselves invisible.

As a defensive strategy, Jamie visits her boss every morning to take a reading of his mood and pre-empt any explosions. She tells him first thing what she and her team accomplished the day before, what issues they face, and how they are handling them. Sometimes the strategy works, sometimes it doesn't and the explosions come anyway. The constant stomachache is the price Jamie pays for trying to figure out how to please this overly critical boss.

Most of us can take a little criticism from our bosses from time to time when we've messed up, or haven't quite done something right. It can be tremendously demotivating, however, when criticism seems to be the only type of feedback we get, and we don't receive recognition for our positive contributions.

Chances are your boss isn't intentionally trying to demotivate you. It's doubtful that he has some master plan to make your life miserable. More likely, she has fallen into the all-too-common management trap of looking for things that are wrong instead of things that are right. Of course, this particular behaviour is not unique to managers. Many parents, coaches and peers (perhaps even you and me), fall into this trap.

If you have to deal with overly critical behaviour, there's a technique worth trying. The next few times your boss criticizes you, follow this three-step process:

1. Apologize

2. Let your boss know that you'll correct the problem

3. Finish off with a comment that gently reminds her that you do, occasionally, get things right. For example:

"Gee, and here I thought you were coming over to tell me what a good job I did on that last project." Say it with a smile, then go about the business of fixing your mistake.

It may take a few repetitions, but your boss should eventually get the message that you might like some positive encouragement.

Now, here's the part for the really courageous and truthful among you. You can actually tell your boss what you want. If you don't say anything, don't expect your boss to read your mind, or to be aware of how the constant criticism affects you. Say something like:

"I do appreciate feedback. It helps me improve. In addition to criticism, I also appreciate hearing about what I do well. It helps me know what to keep doing."

While you can't control how your boss talks to you, you can control the quality of your own communication, and how you respond. Good luck.

About the Author

Nicki Weiss is an internationally recognized Certified Professional Sales Management Coach, Master Trainer, and workshop leader. Since 1992, Nicki has trained, certified, and/or coached more than 6,000 business executives, sales managers and salespeople.

Nicki guarantees increased sales performance when sales managers become better sales coaches. Sign up for her FREE monthly e-zine, Something for NothingTM, which has powerful tips and techniques for sales managers who are ready to make this transformation. Sign up at http://www.saleswise.ca You can email her at nicki@saleswise.ca or call 416-778-4145.

Do You Know How To Fire Up Your Sales Staff When Money Isnt Everything

2009-03-04T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Tom Richard

Money is the only thing that motivates a salesperson, right? Well, maybe it is time to give your sales staff a little more credit.

If you are like most sales managers, you were probably promoted to your current position because you were a great salesperson. But can you remember what motivated you to work so hard? Was it for the hope of advancement? Was it your loyal determination to help the company succeed? Or was it your fiery, competitive spirit that made you want to outshine your colleagues?

Understanding your sales staff requires that you remember your own experiences as a salesperson and the roots that got you where you are today. Use your past incentives to motivate your salespeople, but also recognize that everyone is different and will respond differently to the same incentive.

Like your customers, your staff is made up of a variety of personalities, with unique factors that influence how and why they make a sale. Each take something a little bit different to really get their "A game" out of them. Understanding these differences will help you to create a diverse game plan that will motivate all your sales people by sparking each individual's desire to succeed.

It is best if you cover multiple motivational styles in all that you do. With salespeople you will find that many are motivated by recognition, achievement or just plain competitiveness. It is best that, in addition to money, you provide other outlets to motivate your staff. These alternatives may be more effective than just monetary incentives.

Think about it. When a salesperson receives money as a reward, where does that money go? Typically the money goes into a checking account and is used to pay bills. That is not memorable at all.

When you supplement your compensatory form of motivation with something a little less traditional, your salespeople will remember that far longer than any monetary reward. They will remember it longer because it will mean more to them; it is more important. After all, which is more memorable: receiving a paycheck, or being awarded with a prize or special recognition?

The extra level of importance and sentimental worth that is placed on these supplemental forms of motivation is the key to the effectiveness of your salespeople.

So the next time you sit down to try to find a better way to motivate your sales staff, get a little creative! Run a contest to spark their competitive spirit, or help them see their individual efforts as an important part of the company's larger goal. Whatever you do, make it big and make sure everyone has something to gain from it. Post these goals and give them a lot of attention. Your staff will draw from your excitement and will easily find the motivation to gain the incentive and to make that sale.

Tom Richard is the founder of http://www.TrainActive.com and also produces a free weekly ezine. Please visit his website for more information.

Whats On The Menu Today

2009-03-03T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Hans Bool

A restaurant is good example of a "company" that is dealing with the dynamics of consumer demands.

There are 545,000,000 search results (Google) for the term restaurant. Overture provides 100 different occurrences of restaurants that are most related to a location (New York, Washington, Baltimore, etc) or to a Type of Dish like Italian, Greek, etc. There is also a combination of both (Chinese restaurant New York). The keyword for Overture signals nearly 10,000,000 searches per month (for the word "restaurant" only).

Once you have started your culinary outlet you have chosen for both the location and the dish. The next question is; what is on the menu? This is a question all sales organizations are dealing with. A restaurant is not a typical sales organization, but sales is an important process. So the question is again;

What is on the menu?

The type of dish is not the issue. That choice has been made already. But serving the client is the issue. And this is more of a logistics problem.

You could leave the choice up to the client. You present separate items on the list and leave the client completely free to choose. This requires that you to cater for all the items on the list which is a costly operation.

You could also promote a standard daily menu, for which you will bet that 80% of the clients will go for. In order to pull your clients into this promotional direction you need to do something with the price...

If you have organized your restaurant in this way, you have chosen for the internal focus. Your operation is driving the business. The price is driving the clients (hopefully into the right direction) and you can stay in business until another restaurant pops up around the corner.

Until that moment you have time to think about a real CRM strategy.

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days. You can apply for a free demo account

The Highest Form Of Persuasion Revealed

2009-03-02T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Kurt Mortensen

Influence is a key element in mastering the techniques of Magnetic Persuasion. Influence is the highest form of persuasion. With influence, people are spurred on to action because of your character, not your maneuvers. Persuasion is what you do or say, but influence is who you are.

How does one gain this type of influence? How do you gain a strong enough influence over people that they will act simply because an idea came from you? How about having a strong enough influence over people that they are still compelled to move forward even when you're not around?

Presence is the ability to empower and influence others into believing in you, trusting in you, and jumping on the bandwagon. You give them the energy they need to bring to pass the results you want. You help them see themselves in the future carrying out your vision. They become excited and energized by your passion and enthusiasm. They are magnetized and motivated by your charisma. They are lifted and inspired by your optimism and expectations. In essence, you're a source of empowerment, encouragement, inspiration, and permanency to them.

For some, charisma is a mysterious attribute. It's challenging to describe someone who exudes charisma because there's really no way to quantify the effect this kind of person seems to have on others. It seems that you either have charisma or you don't. Charisma is not leadership, assertiveness, or enthusiasm and it's not exactly personality either. It's its own unique characteristic. Charisma empowers others to like you, even if they don't know much about you and even when there hasn't been enough time to develop trust in you. If you have charisma, not only do people want to be around you, but, whether they realize it or not, they also want to be influenced by you. Charisma gives you power, allegiance, and devotion with your audience, without leaving them feeling powerless and it creates instant support. So, are you born with charisma or is it learned? The answer to both questions is yes! Some attributes are inherent; others can be acquired.

The word "charisma" comes from the Greek goddess Charis. Charis' character was one of total beauty and charity. Today, the word has to do with an individual's magnetism, intensity, vivaciousness, and so on. Gerry Spence's said it best: Charisma is energy from the heart zone. If the speaker has no feeling, there is nothing to transfer. Charisma occurs when the speaker's feelings are transferred in the purest form to another. Charisma is not a diluted feeling. It is not disguised. It is a raw feeling. Charisma is the passing of our pure energy, our pure passion to the other.

People who are charismatic often hold us in awe. Their energy prods us, motivates us, and inspires us. They fulfill our need to have heroes. We feel better for having met them, seen them, listened to them, and interacted with them. Why and how do they have this effect on us?

So, how would one go about developing charisma? Here are eight ways:

1. Develop self-confidence in yourself and your message. Don't appear nervous or out of balance. Be confident that you possess self-worth and know your message.

2. Have a lighter side. Find your sense of humor and happiness. Have fun and don't take life too seriously. Learn to laugh at yourself.

3. Have great presence and energy. Project a presence of the Five C's of Trust: character, competence, confidence, credibility, and congruence.

4. Have a definite opinion about your subject. Be knowledgeable and make sure that knowledge is based on a solid foundation. Develop a sense of the audience's emotion and conviction for your subject.

5. Look good. Make sure your clothing, hair, shoes, and jewelry match your message's tone. Dress the part.

6. Be able to inspire and uplift. Be sensitive to people and their needs. Develop rapport with your audience. Connect with them and become a great listener.

7. Be organized and easy to follow. Make your points connected and your structure clear.

8. Be dramatic, unique, and enticing. Be interesting to be around. Make sure the things you talk about are exciting. Tell spellbinding stories.

Conclusion

Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income. It is the missing puzzle piece that will crack the code to dramatically increase your income, improve your relationships, and help you get what you want, when you want, and win friends for life. Ask yourself how much money and income you have lost because of your inability to persuade and influence. Think about it. Sure you've seen some success, but think of the times you couldn't get it done. Has there ever been a time when you did not get your point across? Were you unable to convince someone to do something? Have you reached your full potential? Are you able to motivate yourself and others to achieve more and accomplish their goals? What about your relationships? Imagine being able to overcome objections before they happen, know what your prospect is thinking and feeling, feel more confident in your ability to persuade.

Go to http://www.prewealth.com/iq and take the free Persuasion IQ analysis to determine where you rank and what area of the sales cycle you need to improve in order to close every sale! Take your test now at http://www.prewealth.com/iq

Kurt Mortensen teaches over a hundred techniques to give you the ability to effectively work with every customer that walks in your door. Professional success, personal happiness, leadership potential, and income depend on the ability to persuade, influence, and motivate others. Kurt Mortensen's trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available! Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income. Go to http://www.prewealth.com/iq and take the free Persuasion IQ analysis.

Managing A Car Sales Lot

2009-03-01T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

Many customers when they are out shopping for cars go to a car sales lot and walk up to the front. The first thing they see is about 10 guys nicely dressed standing there like vultures trying to sell them a car. At first glance they look rather lazy and waiting for easy prey. As a sales manager it is important to make sure that your sales force does not act like vultures. It is essential that you hire the right people and train them to work the lot in a zone defense pattern, rather than standing together and looking intimidating to the customers who walk up.

Running a car sales lot is not easy and it does take a lot of hard work to keep the salesman in line. If a salesman is to harassing to a customer they may simply leave and come back later or never returned and buy a car from a different sales lot. Unless you know for a fact that you are particular line of automobiles is so popular that it doesn't matter how your salespeople act you will lose lots of sales.

It behooves each and every one in the automotive industry to treat the customer with respect and not as prey. All too often we see car salesman at automotive dealerships simply standing around and waiting for someone to walk up for an easy sale. That is no way to sell cars. Please consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Retail Manager Productivity And Developing Your Team

2009-02-28T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Craig Cook

Retail Managers have a lot of information to process in the course of one day. They must decide what to act on now and what to save for later. Most of us are still expected to sell, be a leader and a team member at the same time. Depending on your management style and work ethic you may find yourself having more to do then time in a day. Letting go of some tasks may be a hard pill to swallow, but giving your team some of the control will free up some time for you to complete more important action items to achieve strategic goals, while developing a stronger team. As a manager your sole purpose for existing is to create sales. Therefore you should spend most of your time moving towards and creating that reality, not doing the same old thing every day.

Should it Be Done Now?

Priority (Now) vs. Goal Accomplishment (In between!) vs. Task (Later)

As all Retail Managers know, there is always something happening or changing at the last minute creating havoc in your life. New programs, promotions, meetings, conference calls, someone calling in sick and the list goes on as you know it. These are priority items which may need attention right away.

In between havoc and control are your goals. You are paid to create sales. "How" you do that are the actions you take every day relative to the respective goals. Managers must spend the most amount of time on these items as possible.

Tasks, your every day routine items. Tracking payroll, sales, statistics, maintaining organization and control of your environment and such. Preparing for meetings, conference calls and store visits from your boss all are routine tasks which should be done after priority and goal action items.

Who Should Be Doing This?

The first question you should ask yourself every time you do something is, "Should I be doing this?" Next, "Am I the right person for the job?" Then, "Is this moving me towards accomplishing my goals" and lastly, "Who would be better suited to do it and when?"

You may have to take some time to give clear instructions or training on the task at hand but consider it an investment of your time versus wasting your time when you do the task yourself. Next time this task must be completed you can point and shoot. Delegate it and move on!

The benefits are many. You have someone doing the task for you and they know more because of it. If you were to leave your store right now, would the ship sail forward or sink? Your ability to develop your team is a measurement of your leadership. You owe it to your self to do the things every day that accomplish your goals while developing your team.

Craig Cook is a Retail Manager and Administrator of http://www.retailmanager.org, a resource portal for Retail Managers.

Salespeople Are You Playing Moneyball By Measuring What Really Counts

2009-02-27T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Dr. Gary S. Goodman

"Moneyball" is a book that came out recently about Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland A's.

It takes a close look at Beane's successful stewardship of the team, noting that the A's have had one of the lowest payrolls in baseball, yet they've racked up an astonishing number of victories, putting them in the playoffs several times.

Beane and his staff are basically, numbers crunchers, quant nerds, if you will. They track every major league ballplayer according to certain performance categories.

But their snapshot of a hitter isn't based only on batting average, stolen bases, home runs, and fielding percentages. They look at on-base percentage, runs scored, and other measures.

This makes a player who draws a lot of walks, in addition to hitting for average, more valuable than a guy who only hits for average. It also rewards those who get on base any way they can, through errors and fielder's choices.

Beane's breakthrough is in highlighting less sexy, yet very significant statistics, which he claims are more reliable indicators of a player's value than other factors. Thus, he's been able to buy, at a discount, players for his cash-poor team, that are undervalued, under-appreciated, but who can make an important contribution to the A's, nonetheless.

This wisdom, knowing what statistics count, is incredibly important in sales, customer service, and other business areas. The real question is this one: are we measuring the right things, valuing our players appropriately, and putting our emphasis behind the best possible winning strategy or game plan?

Typically, we use measures and statistics that are traditionally used, that have been handed down to us. Seldom do we even take a hard look at whether they're serving us or disserving us. And even less do we throw them out and field an entirely new set of metrics.

My father, for instance, was the top salesman wherever he worked because he knew how to leverage his assets. He handpicked his own prospecting lists, which was the marketing side of his job, and then he called them to set appointments.

But what set him apart from his peers was his canny ability to know, through rational analysis, and after the briefest contact, who NOT to pursue.

He had a great ear for B.S. and for sincere interest, he knew the difference, and he never second-guessed his instincts.

So, overall, he saw fewer people, followed-up less, but he closed a higher percentage of deals, that yielded more commissions for him and more profit for the house.

A traditional numbers-crunching manager, and he had a few, would look at his activity logs and scratch his head. It wouldn't add up.

His approach to Dad would be to urge him to see more people; it was only logical, but wrong. Dad was seeing the best ones, ignoring the rest, but his NOT-DOING was the highest form of action.

Where is the statistic that quantifies DISQUALIFYING prospects?

We don't ask our reps, who did you choose NOT to see, today, and not to call back, and not to leave messages with, and not to take notes about, and not to dream of closing?

In baseball, Beane and Company examine the number of pitches hitters take without swinging; how deeply they take pitchers into the count. He measures NOT-DOING, which in this case is not swinging the bat, knowing when hitters take pitchers deeper into counts:

(1) They see better pitches to hit with a 3-1 count than with a 1-1, or 2-2 count;

(2) They wear out the pitchers, forcing opponents to rely on their less capable bullpen hurlers; and

(3) These advantages mean Beane's crew will score more runs and fatigue the other team by keeping them on the field longer, doing defense.

Dad didn't exhaust himself. He let his peers do that, and as long as they were under performing, he looked great, and he could claim higher and higher commissions as his rightful due.

He played "Moneyball."

Are you?

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of http://www.Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, "The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC's Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com

Are Your Sales Meetings Boring

2009-02-26T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Bill Lee

Many sales meetings are boring and a waste of salespeople's time, say the majority of salespeople I interview. A review of what's going on in the market is good to know, but to be effective, sales meetings need to be a lot more than that venues for quick market updates.

Inviting a vendor's sales representation to present a product training program never hurts, but if product knowledge were the criteria for success in sales, about 90% of the fledgling salespeople in North America who are about to lose their jobs would be top performers. While product knowledge is important, it won't turn a mediocre performer into a top producer.

What's missing in most of the salespeople I meet is a general lack of sales skill. But rarely do I see sales meetings focus on teaching salespeople how to sell more products to existing customers or how to penetrate a prospect who is giving the lion's share of his purchases to the competition.

Here are several ideas that will allow your sales force to leave their next sales meeting with enough ammunition to improve their performance:

1. Ask two or three of your top salespeople to join the manager or sales manager on a panel. Give the sales force enough advance notice to identify several sales obstacles they are facing and jot each of them down on a separate piece of paper. At the sales meeting, call out the question and allow the panel to respond with their most effective ideas.

2. Invite three loyal customers to attend your next sales meeting and answer questions from the sales force about what services they most appreciate from a salesperson and what it is about your company that makes them such loyal customers.

3. Invite each salesperson draw a number out of a hat to determine the order each salesperson will present a 15-to-20-minute sales presentation on a key product line that the company is emphasizing. What makes this approach especially effective is to capture each presentation on video. When the presentations are over, replay the video and ask the audience to critique each presentation.

4. Ask each salesperson to present to the sales force background and details on one of his or her key prospects. Invite the sales force to make suggestions as to what the salesperson might do differently to penetrate this account.

5. Buy a copy of the One-Minute Salesperson for each salesperson to read, then at the sales meeting, go around the room and ask the salespeople to tell the group what they plan to do differently after reading this little book.

6. Announce a sales contest that will reward the sales force with a weekend getaway if they achieve a measurable goal over a measurable time frame. Goals could include:

Bring in five new credit-approved customers who purchase a minimum of $10,000 over the next 120 days.

Identify each salesperson's year-to-date gross margin. Improve individual gross margin by one percentage point over the next 120 days.

Achieve a sales goal on an emphasis product line over the next 120 days.

7. Identify specific problems your company's typical customers frequently face and brainstorm specific techniques to help your customers overcome them.

8. Brainstorm what your company has to offer customers in your industry that your individual competitors cannot match. What sets your company apart from each of your key competitors?

Set a personal goal to make your company's sales meetings more fun and more effective in 2005.

Bill Lee is author of 30 Ways Managers Shoot Themselves in the Foot. $21.95 plus $6 S&H. All credit cards accepted. http://www.BillLeeOnLine.com email: blee@BillLeeOnLine.com

Customers Who Are Yours

2009-02-26T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Justine Curtis

What every business has in common is that it needs customers. Sounds a little basic but what do you really know about yours? Do you know who they are, what they like, where they hang out, what they do when they're not working? And if you know these things, are you targeting your sales message to your best customers? And if you are, are your new customers becoming good customers, buying again and again?

In this months issue we start a brand new series all about customers that will help you answer all of these questions and make your Internet Marketing more effective and profitable.

Customers Who Are Yours?

Who are your customers? Do you know who your best customers are? Do you know how much they buy, and when they buy it? Do you know how they use your web site?

How you gather the information to answer these questions can be a bit of a complex process. The clarification involves discussions between your sales and marketing departments, the web designer that built your web site and an amount of data analysis. Your marketing department should be able to clearly define who your best customers are and this should be backed up by sales data from your sales department. The web designer should be able to engineer a system to track the online behaviour of those customers.

What you need to identify first are your particular customer types. Customers fall into distinct categories. There are your most loyal customers, the ones who always buy from you and/or put in sizable orders. There are the sometime customers, those who purchase regularly from both you and your competitors and therefore have the potential to become better customers. There are the occasional customers who infrequently buy from you, particularly sale or special offer items. There are former customers who no longer shop at your web site and there are the browsers, those who have visited your web site but have never bought from you.

You can create a winning online presence by understanding how your customer base breaks down across these categories. The rule of thumb is the best 20 percent of customers generate 80 percent of revenue.

How To Categorise Your Customers by Profitability

· Finding your top 20 percent of customers.

To determine your top, average, and lowest-performing customers, rank customers by total sales over the past year. Create a cumulative total sales column, starting with the highest-revenue customer. Develop a cumulative total sales percentage by dividing the cumulative total sales by total sales for the year. You can now easily identify which customers generated what percentage of total sales and simply identify your top 20 percent.

· Determine whether customers are profitable.

To analyse these figures further you can determine a customers true worth by looking at their profitability rather than just their sales figure. It is worth calculating this figure if you market differently to different sections of your client base, as they will therefore have different associated costs. A customer is truly profitable when the revenue they generate exceeds the fully loaded costs (i.e., production costs, marketing, and overhead associated with servicing this customer).

A profitable customer = customer revenue (production costs + applicable marketing costs + allocated overhead) > 0

As this analysis shows, all customers aren't created equal. To increase your profits, you must target your marketing to those segments with the greatest profit potential.

How This Should Translate To Your Internet Marketing and Web Site

· Enhance your relationship with your loyal top customers. At a minimum, acknowledge the importance of your loyal top customers, who comprise around the top 20 percent of your customer base.

Regardless of the software used, information extracted from the analysis of your web sites performance should help improve your marketing. Some of your best customers may always visit a certain area of your site. That may mean it should be featured more prominently on the site. Your best customers might use certain services on your site. These should be featured in your marketing. They might look for more information on certain products. Maybe you should feature that information in your sales efforts.

Use special touches to delight these customers and humanise the relationship. Consider creating a rewards scheme or a special by-invitation-only offers for your very best customers. It can enhance the cachet of being a preferred customer. Don't forget that these customers also tend to refer other good customers.

· Improve marketing to "Sometime" customers. Many of these second-tier customers, the next 10 to 20 percent of your base, have the potential to become loyal top customers. Develop programs to make them feel special without sizably shrinking your margins.

· Maintain promotion to the "Occasional" customer. Constituting about half your list, these customers will often purchase for the same reasons they did before, barring any change in either your offering or their circumstances.

· Manage bottom-tier "Former Customers" proactively. The bottom 10 to 20 percent of your customer base probably hasn't recently purchased. You need feedback to understand why. Did they only purchase a gift? Did they have a bad experience with your company? Develop a plan to market to or drop these customers by segment.

Former customers can still be profitable, implement or extend a customer win-back program. Based on customer feedback, test different offers to restart purchasing. You already have their contact information and they already know your brand, so acquisition costs tend to be less than for a totally new customer. Every win-back creates a second customer lifetime value.

· "Browsers". These are a slightly different kettle of fish as they are not yet customers. The topic of converting these browsers into customers is covered in depth in our series of DIY Internet Marketing Guides available here: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/diy_internet_marketing_guides.html and will also be touched upon later in this series.

Ensure no profitable customer is left behind by tailoring your message to meet each customer's needs and potential. All customers aren't created equal and understanding the dynamics of your customer base is critical, especially as online retailing matures and growth rates slow. Finding ways to maximize the value of each profitable customer relationship is even more critical to maintaining business momentum and maximising your Internet Marketing activities.

Is your web site driving high quality, targeted customers to your business? Our proven Internet Marketing solutions make your web site work harder for you. For a complete range of Internet marketing and advertising resources to improve search engine positions visit Enable UK.

Stop losing customers to your competitors and make more money from your web site TODAY http://www.enable-uk.co.uk

To catch up with previous issues of this newsletter, visit: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/internet_marketing_newsletter_.html

Coming next month:

· October 2005 - Customers - Attracting Them.

Coming up in the rest of the series:

· November 2005 - Customers - Attracting Them - Part 2 - Out of the Box Ideas

· December 2005 - Customers - Converting Your Browsers Into Customers

· January 2005 - Customers - Keep Them Coming Back

· February 2005 - Customers - How To Reactivate Them

Till next month.

Enable UK
Internet Marketing Information and Resources
Make your web site work smarter!
Web: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk
Email: info@enable-uk.co.uk

If you have any questions about any of the topics raised or any other Internet Marketing issues, feel free to email me at Newsletter@enable-uk.co.uk I do my best to answer all emails or to cover the issues in future editions of this newsletter.

Feel free to forward this newsletter provided that it is sent in its entirety with all links intact.

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Career Tip 1 Act Like You Own The Place

2009-02-25T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by M. Glenn Shepard

I've owned my own company since 1988, and often hear people say they'd like to own a business. When I ask why, they give answers such as "So I can set my own hours", "To make what I'm really worth", or "So I won't have to answer to anyone". I tell them not to go into business for themselves, because they don't understand what owning a business really means.

While it allows the freedom to come and go without permission from anyone, it doesn't allow the freedom to come and go anytime the owner feels like it. Most business owners work more hours than their employees. The owner of a medical device manufacturing company in San Antonio recently told me that he can leave work any time he darn well pleases after he puts in his 80 hours a week.

The desire to achieve financial independence is certainly a good reason to go into business. In their book "The Millionaire Next Door", Tom Stanley and William Danko revealed that self employed individuals are four times more likely to be millionaires than those who work for others. New entrepreneurs hear stats like these and think they'll be the next Henry Ford or Walt Disney. What they forget is that Mr. Ford and Mr. Disney both went bankrupt before they achieved such stunning success. For every Donald Trump, there are thousands of business owners taking cash advances off credit cards to make payroll. Some estimates have placed the average annual profit of small business owners in the United States as low as $10,000 a year. While owning a business greatly increases the owner's odds of becoming a millionaire, it also greatly increases the owner's odds of working for less than minimum wage. I caution people who say that owning a business will help them make what they're really worth, because they might not realize how little that is.

While business owners don't have a supervisor to answer to, this doesn't mean they don't have people who hold them accountable. There are creditors who expect to be paid, customers who often demand the impossible, and sometimes a spouse who questions why they still can't pay the mortgage despite putting in 100 hours a week.

Hollywood has painted an unrealistic image of business owners. The mention of someone who owns a business conjures up images from greedy bank owner Mr. Potter in the 1946 movie "It's a Wonderful Life" to nuclear power plant owner Mr. Burns in the television show "The Simpsons". Owning the company doesn't mean sitting in a leather wingback chair all day and counting piles of money while all the workers bees make more; it means quite the opposite. You'll never hear a business owner say "That's not in my job description". Business owners refer to themselves as the chief cook and bottle washer because they have to do whatever needs to be done whenever it needs to be done.

Employers have become accustomed to employees who do the least they can to get by, which is usually what's printed in their job description. Because of this, companies add "...and all other duties as needed" to every job description. But those who excel in their careers don't need a job description to tell him what to do. They do whatever needs to be done, whenever it needs to be done, without waiting until they're asked. In other words, they act like they own the place.

Glenn Shepard lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and is the author of the #1 Best-Seller "How to Be the Employee Your Company Can't Live Without". He publishes a free weekly newsletter titled "Work Is Not for Sissies" to help people excel in their careers. You can get a Free copy of his newsletter and his special report "How to Avoid the Four Deadly Sins that Can Kill the Most Promising Career"" by going to http://www.glennshepard.com/free-resources.html

What A Nice Thing To Say How To Give Daily Feedback For Sales Performance Improvement

2009-02-25T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Jeff Hardesty

Remember the first time you walked into your sales office? How did it FEEL to you? Was it buzzing, energetic and upbeat? Did you sense a spirit of positive competitiveness?

Or, did you notice that the air had a weight of negativity to it? Did you suspect a lack of joy or camaraderie? Maybe you recognized that the positive vibrations were simply missing.

That's the power daily feedback can have. If it's being done constructively, it can affect the very "energy" of a sales office.

Daily feedback and improvement is all about developing the right culture. And professional selling has its own common language and culture. We use terms like "hourly rate," "definition of insanity," "circle back around," "lay the obvious on the table," "soup to nuts" and "who's got the 'R'."

So, how do you give daily feedback?

Simple. You spend 5 minutes with a manager/leader.

FOR 5 MINUTES, you use strategies and tactics to evaluate your status. You promote the "right" feeling in the atmosphere. Using common language buzzwords, you talk about accountability to results. And when results are not there? You REFRAIN from finger pointing!

It's celebrating "wins" aloud, but coaching through all the bases that must be covered.

It's congratulating the close of a sale, but asking if the proper steps were taken at the point of sale.

And why do we ask this question? It's because the proper steps are essential. They leverage more revenue, more testimonial letters and more referrals. In short, they improve the entire sales process.

Management must understand the strategic use of the office door. KEEP IT OPEN!

Daily feedback focuses on Daily Routines. Daily Routines, properly performed, WILL achieve weekly goals.

And weekly goals, routinely achieved, WILL maintain monthly results. Focusing on what's wrong or how to lay blame just doesn't "cut it."

Jeff Hardesty is President of JDH Group, Inc. and the Developer of the X2 Sales System®, a blended training system that teaches sales professionals the competency of setting C-level business appointments. Jeff has been featured in numerous National publications such as Business First, Dartnell's SELL!NG , Chief Learning Officer and Training Magazine with reference to Blended Learning Systems and improving sales teams Key Performance Indicators.

He travels the country conducting live X2 'Boot Camps' and Train-the-trainer sessions helping sales organizations get more reps to Quota in less time, shorten new-hire 'Ramp-to-Quota' and eliminate Turnover costs due to low sales activity. Jeff can be reached at jeff@convertmoresales.com. To view a complimentary suite of sales training ROI calculators and determine your sales team's Key Performance Indicators in line with your sales objectives visit http://convertmoresales.com/roi_calculators.php.

How To Work A Trade Show To Find Companies To Buy

2009-02-24T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Mark Smock

Often the more "creative" you are to find companies to purchase the quicker you'll find the "right" deal. "Working" trade shows offers an extraordinary opportunity to find and quickly qualify acquisition opportunities. To take maximum advantage of these "corporate shopping malls", you need to use proven techniques to make this methodology worthwhile.

As a business buyer you want to use the most creative means possible to position yourself to get the first shot at a viable business that can be purchased, preferably a purchase opportunity where you have no other purchase competition. Herein lies the most noteworthy justification for working trades shows within industries you seek acquisitions.

10 Reasons Trade Shows are "Fertile Ground" for Business Buyers

Any proactive business buyer will tell you that finding viable companies that can be purchased for reasonable terms is a "numbers game". Thousands of company candidates, that lead to hundreds of contacts, that lead to tens of acquisition conversations, that hopefully lead to one company acquisition. Trades shows offer an unparalleled opportunity to streamline the business purchase qualification process because trade shows are:

Industry Focused:
Only attend shows in industries you prefer

Geographically Biased:
Regional, National or International, take your pick!

Time Efficient:
You can visit with hundreds of companies in one trade show day

Cost Efficient:
For the cost of a plane ticket and a short hotel stay, you can qualify thousands of companies and many related trade associations.

Personal:
There is no better place to get face to face with a company CEO, who can say an immediate "yes" to a purchase inquiry, than a trade show

Interactive:
You can see, touch, hear, taste, smell company product and service offerings first hand watch them demonstrated by experts

Sales Personnel Intensive:
Sales personnel talk and talk not only will they keep Answering ALL your questions about the company, but they give you insights into how best to approach key management and whether they are viable acquisition candidates

Lead "Rich":
After "bonding" with booth personnel in a matter of minutes they will pass on other company acquisition candidate leads and refer you to specific people industry trend insightful: There is no better place to define the current status of a targeted industry. New products/ services and countless conversations tell all!

Relationship Starters:
Since you meet so many people face-to-face, you are able to start memorable dialogues, long term relationships, with key business decision makers. If reinforced with timely follow up after the show, these relationships can lead to eventual merger or acquisition discussions

When you are pursuing companies to purchase, you never know where your next deal will come from. Introducing yourself to hundreds of people, passing out business cards and company introduction booklets to trade show booth participants, can and will be passed onto other people not in attendance at the show. Your exposure to others can be exponential.

An excellent technique to guarantee your expressed interest in purchasing specific types of companies is proliferated among others NOT in attendance, is to offer a reasonable financial incentive, or "$ referral fee" to sales personnel working the booths. If they refer you to a company you eventually purchase, offer to cut them a check at purchase closing or to donate the referral money to their favorite charity.

Remember, sales personnel typically have hundreds of customers, probably also within the same industry you are interested in. They personally know many business owners who might be interested in selling. This referral technique can get you in front of many business owners in a very short period of time!

Don't Forget the Other Trade Show Attendees!

If you attend a trade show with the objective of also "working" the attendees for leads on company acquisitions you'll be amazed at who you meet and where those conversations eventually lead you to.

Be keenly aware of conversation dialogs between other show attendees and booth workers that are already in progress within the show booth. You can quickly determine who the booth visitor is and from what company they representname tags are priceless! If you hear something you like, or may be to your benefit, introduce yourself to the person upon their booth departure. This technique can generate many referral opportunities for you.

Other opportunities to interact with trade show attendees are conference seminars, luncheons and talks, and best of all, at the show snack bars. Be observant, read name tags, listen to and start conversations. Don't be bashful introduce yourself, give them your business card and company brochure. These conversations are typically amazing because people in attendance at these shows see you as a "fellow show warrior" and often embrace an opportunity to share show and industry perceptions, unique experiences at specific booths, or better yet, suggest individuals you should meet at a specific company, at a specific booth and they will encourage you to use their name when you introduce yourself!

Like in most selling situations, any business purchase lead you get from a trade show needs to be followed up in rapid fashion. Time is your enemy here. Be sure to re-contact your most viable leads within five days after the show.

Finding a viable company, that can be purchased, sometimes takes being at the right place at the right time. Working trade shows effectively will give you countless opportunities to be at that right place with the right person. Make this technique one of your primary methods to find quality company acquisitions.

About the Author:

Mark Smock is President of http://www.business-buyer-directory.com, the FIRST international business buyer directory of its kind. Business Buyer Directory provides a non-traditional means for worldwide that meet their exact registered purchase criteria.

The Evolution Of Sales Review

2009-02-24T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Rick Johnson

"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is a huge difference."

Lone Wolf Lead Wolf --- The Evolution of Sales is a book about practice that has been tested in the crucible of real life experience. It was originally intended for field sales representatives who worked in the wholesale distribution industry. As the book developed, it now speaks to sales representatives in all industries whether they are field sales, inside sales, or counter sales representatives. It even speaks about lessons that managers need to know in this new century.

Each chapter is a story, and some of them have case studies and other activities to help the reader translate the story to their own situation. Each chapter was originally published as an article in one or more industry publications so they have already passed the test of relevance.

The world of sales continues to change and the strategies that created success in the past are failing to generate success in the new world order. This book tells a simple, but powerful, story of managing change. There are those who are genetically programmed to play the game to win, rather than simply playing not to lose. Every reader needs to think critically so they can play their own game. Those that are firmly on the path of playing to win will recognize many of the lessons that are examined in this book.

To the superstar readers, you may not learn much from this book as you have made the hard won discoveries on your own. This will be an enjoyable read for most of you because the book ratifies your own learning and direction. To the old school sales reps who just want to be left alone and get a better price, you won't finish the book. Creating meaningful change always starts with taking responsibility for your own situation. At the most basic level, there is personal responsibility and there are excuses. There are sales reps who are 10th degree black belts at making excuses and you won't find any new excuses in this book.

This book was written for those of us in the middle: those who are driven to success, who are frustrated, but who are open and willing to learn. You have taken personal responsibility for your own career development and you look at sales as a profession rather than just a job.

Some of the stories deal with sophisticated approaches to supply chain management, including consignment and national account programs. These issues are above the typical pay grade of most sales reps. They are included because success in sales is more than personal effort, skill and talent. It is fundamentally about building and managing customer relationship equity. The Lead Wolf strategies described in this book will often require that the sales rep challenge their own management to innovate and provide creative solutions that help customers make money. The examples provide practical "how-to" solutions so your manager can't dismiss your views as whining.

Learning and personal growth are the only alternatives to the slow death of intellect. We have all seen the sales reps who have 20 years of experience but it is actually one year of experience repeated twenty times. We each make our own decisions about how much and how fast. This book was written to help those on the path of growth to rise to the next level. At the age of 56, I have learned that there is always a faster gun, and there is always a next level. My growth is limited by my own personal ability to see my own shortcomings and my willingness to take responsibility for them.

http://www.ceostrategist.com to get a copy --Copyright © 2005, Rick Johnson Author of "Lone Wolf Lead Wolf The Evolution of Sales" Dr. Rick Johnson (rick@ceostrategist.com) is the founder of CEO Strategist LLC. an experienced based firm specializing in leadership and the creation of competitive advantage. CEO Strategist LLC. works in an advisory capacity with distributor executives in board representation, executive coaching, team coaching and education and training to make the changes necessary to create or maintain competitive advantage. You can contact them by calling 352-750-0868, or visit http://www.ceostrategist.com for more information. CEO Strategist experts in Strategic Leadership in Wholesale Distribution. Book reviewed by: Mike Marks, Indian River Consulting.

Power Pointers For Story Selling

2009-02-23T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Kurt Mortensen

Nothing disarms and invites an audience in more than humor. We are instantly drawn to people we think are funny. We enjoy listening to humorous individuals and hearing what they have to say. Humor grabs attention, creates rapport and makes a message more memorable. It can also relieve tension, enhance relationships and motivate people.

If you've got an important message to share, humor can give you a huge advantage. The actor John Cleese once said, "If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you more open to my ideas. And if I can persuade you to laugh at the particular point I make, by laughing at it you acknowledge its truth." Don't use humor just to get a laugh out of your prospects. In humor, there is so much potential for influence. Armed with humor, you can provide special insights or teach important principles.

Humor must be used cautiously, however. If used properly, it will help your audience to like you. If used ineffectively or inappropriately, however, it can be a big turn off. The instant you irritate or offend your audience members, it's over. Nothing you say or do from that point forward will rectify the damage done. Worse, they'll always remember you as a bad comic. Be sure that you have good material before attempting to incorporate humor into your presentations. Also, cater your comedy to your audience. What would they find funny? What are some inside experiences they share that you could draw humor from? Use humor that will evoke chuckles and lightheartedness but that is still built on truth. It is a very wise idea to test the comedic waters on friends or family to make sure your humor works!

Another technique that is sometime used in story selling is the instillation of fear. As manipulative as it may sound, fear definitely motivates others when it is used properly. I would strongly caution against creating a false sense of fear, however. Doing so truly is manipulative, and by instilling false fear you will lose your audience's long-term trust. Use fear only if the threat is real and if it is in the best interest of the audience to be forewarned. For example, doctors sometimes have to be straightforward with their patients about the impending worst-case scenario if they don't get in shape. It's scary to hear, but the patient truly needs this information to be brought to her/his attention.

As much as we may wish it to not be the case, often it is only fear that will motivate and move someone off a path to destruction. There are less dramatic, but nevertheless fear-inspired, examples: Fear incites us to buy life insurance, to floss our teeth, to buy cars with airbags, to install home security systems and to purchase guns. Hopefully, fear will not be a persuasive tool you use with great frequency, but if you feel you can effectively use it to underscore a very important message, adhere to the following guidelines:

1. You must make your audience feel the anxiety and uneasiness that come from anticipating the possible, even greater, negative emotions (pain, grief, loss, etc.) that will become imminent if the problem is not dealt with.

2. Your prospects must feel not only that the fearful event is likely to happen, but also that they could be victimized by its occurrence. In other words, they must feel vulnerable.

3. You must provide a solution to the fear you instill. Give your prospects a recommended action to resolve the fear-inducing problem.

4. Your prospects must believe that they are capable of doing what is asked of them and that doing so will work for them.

Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income. Beware of the common mistakes presenters and persuaders commit that cause them to lose the deal. Get your free report 10 Mistakes That Continue Costing You Thousands and explode your income today.

Conclusion

Persuasion is the missing puzzle piece that will crack the code to dramatically increase your income, improve your relationships, and help you get what you want, when you want, and win friends for life. Ask yourself how much money and income you have lost because of your inability to persuade and influence. Think about it. Sure you've seen some success, but think of the times you couldn't get it done. Has there ever been a time when you did not get your point across? Were you unable to convince someone to do something? Have you reached your full potential? Are you able to motivate yourself and others to achieve more and accomplish their goals? What about your relationships? Imagine being able to overcome objections before they happen, know what your prospect is thinking and feeling, feel more confident in your ability to persuade. Professional success, personal happiness, leadership potential, and income depend on the ability to persuade, influence, and motivate others.

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

If you are ready to claim your success and learn what only the ultra-prosperous know, begin by going to http://www.PreWealth.com and getting my free report "10 Mistakes That Continue Costing You Thousands." After reading my free report, go to http://www.PreWealth.com/IQ and take the free Persuasion IQ analysis to determine where you rank and what area of the sales cycle you need to improve in order to close every sale!

Sales Manager Tip 47 Interested Prospects And How You Can Tell

2009-02-23T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

A good sales manager needs to train their sales Force to recognize when someone is interested in what the company is offering. A good salesperson should notice this instinctively. If a prospect is interested in what you are selling or what your company is offering then the salesperson should spend time with the prospect and answer all their questions and work on handling any of their objections. There are various ways to determine when a prospect is highly interested and desires what you are selling.

A good sales manager ingrains this thought process into each and every salesperson in their sales Force. This insures more sales for the company. Generally speaking you can tell when a prospect is interested in what you are selling or what your company is offering by their body language and the types of questions they ask.

Folks who are not interested do not ask very many questions about the product or service, even if they need such products and services. You see, people buy what they want and desire and not necessarily what they need. Occasionally a salesperson can tip the balance and get someone who needs their product or service to become interested in it and change the interest to desire and close sale.

However, this takes time and energy and a good sales manager makes sure that their salespeople are efficient with their time. Their time should be spent on prospects, which are interested and have a strong the desire in owning and or purchasing what the company has to offer and what the salesman is selling. Please consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

How To Effectively Manage Salespeople Who Are In Remote Locations

2009-02-22T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Andrew Rowe

If your organization has field sales personnel spread across the country or across the globe, it's very important that you provide them with the time, attention, and management that is required in order to make them effective. We see lots of organizations that hire expensive field sales personnel only to leave them to their own devices and provide them with little supervision, guidance, mentoring, or coaching. This is a serious mistake.

Here are some suggested things that you can think about in order to effectively manage your remotely-based sales people.

First of all, plan to spend regular time in their territory visiting customers with them. If you are not the person to do this directly, make sure that you have a sales manager or other members of your management team who can do this. A good sales person, no matter how senior, should have someone from the head office or from management visiting customers at least once every quarter.

Second of all, schedule regular sales meetings in order to bring your field sales people together. I suggest at least once a quarter if not once a month. This will give you the opportunity to train them, stay in touch with them, work through problems or issues with them, and provide an active level of supervision and engagement to them that helps them to be more successful. We see many companies cutting their sales meeting budgets trying to improve their overall expenses in sales and marketing, but sometimes when it comes to cutting sales meetings this can really mean that they're being penny wise and pound foolish.

Third, make sure that you schedule regular conference calls and telephone calls with your sales people to get updates. I suggest as a sales manager that if you're not talking to your field sales people at least every few days if not every week, then you're really not doing your job. Sales people need to have active communication with their supervisors. Some companies leave these people to their own devices and it just doesn't make sense.

Fourth, make sure you get yourself a good CRM system that gives you the opportunity to measure and monitor the activity and the performance of your sales people from remote locations. I suggest salesforce.com but there are lots of online web-based CRM tools today that can easily allow you to see what your sales people are doing and how they're spending their days in real time.

Fifth, make sure that you just take an active interest in building a relationship with each of your field sales personnel. If you're going to hire these expensive people you simply cannot afford to neglect them. Yet I see many companies who deploy sales personnel and simply leave them alone. This isn't a good idea.

So if you're thinking about how to improve your field sales performance, start with these ideas that I've given you. They make a lot of sense and experience has shown that they can greatly boost the productivity, motivation, and the sales results of your team.

About Cube Management
Cube Management provides sales acceleration services to emerging growth and mid-market companies in the technology, manufacturing, healthcare and business service sectors. The experts at Cube Management work across the entire spectrum of marketing, sales and business development to provide customized solutions that drive revenue and profit growth. Cube Management combines Strategy, Process & People to produce winning results. Download the Cube Management Recruiting Guide and the Cube Management Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Guide.

Whats The Objective Of Your 1st Sales Appointment

2009-02-22T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Jeff Hardesty

Have you defined what you want to happen at the conclusion of your 1st appointment? Only then can you actually set up a proficient sales methodology to achieve the defined objective more times than not. And with a pre-defined objective to your 1st appointment you can (1) set a realistic benchmark of success and (2) measure the outcome. It becomes part of your sales performance scorecard.

What is a 1st appointment to proposal ratio? It's simply how many times you gain commitment with your prospect to take the next step, as outlined by your sales process. Depending on your solutions-based product or service and your sales methodology, your 'Next step' may be one of the following:

An on-site demonstration
A trial period of your "widget"
A tour of your operations or manufacturing facility
A no-obligation survey
An evaluation and side-by-side comparison, apples to apples
A solution-based evaluation, apples to oranges

Whatever your 'Gateway' is, be sure to attach a business rule and definition to it, and then most importantly measure it. For example, let's look at a telecommunications company that provides voice, data and wireless services to their customer base. The objective of their first appointment is to gain commitment from their Target prospect to perform a diagnostic survey of their current services as it relates to their overall business imperatives and financial success factors for the current year and bring them back a 'Blueprint' of ROI based solutions.

With their 1st appointment objective 'Gateway' defined, they come to a decision to measure that gateway by having the target prospect sign a release form that enables them to contact their current service provider and request a specification report around line, data and feature connectivity.

The advantage of defining and measuring the first 'Gateway' is that it will provide you with a 'Reality Mirror' of how competent you are with the initial phase of your sales process. So if you have set a realistic benchmark company-wide of a 60% 1st Appointment to Proposal ratio and you have individuals below it, you can pro-actively provide them with targeted coaching and support tools to help them achieve the standard benchmark. And that drives more revenue.

If I walk into a sales division and diagnose their 1st appointment to proposal ratio is below 60%, I immediately know up to 5 specifics:

1. They are not calling on the Highest appropriate level of contact

2. They are not calling on the right type of company by industry or application

3. They have not defined a 1st appointment objective (A 'Gain Commitment' Gateway)

4. They have 'no message' or are poor at communicating the message

5. They are selling their services instead of selling the diagnostic steps in the Process and backing it up with 3rd party validations

The first two factors are directly related with whom you decide to call on. You probably know who uses your product or service, but you might need some business acumen training to better understand the critical financial success indicators of your prospect parallel to their Front Burner business objectives.

More than often not, a low 1st appointment to proposal ratio is related to a process of not calling on the highest appropriate level of contact. By that I mean understanding the level of responsibility within a company that has the most input into a buying decision. Who has the 'ownership'? Who is at the 'need to know' level? It may be more than one level or title, but it is important to resolve to a top-down selling process. A top-down selling process will raise your 1st appointment to proposal conversion rates because you are in front of the appropriate person from the start. That person has enough clout to sign on to the next step or to legitimately dismiss the process. If you are dealing with a subordinate level, to the degree of which you are will be the degree your conversion rate will expeditiously decrease.

There was a start-up company in a recently de-regulated industry that had accumulated 300 million dollars in investor money to build a business. Their primary sales distribution channel was a direct sales team. They decided to retain a sales training firm to set up all sales strategies, appropriate processes and training to execute to their revenue goals. Interesting enough, they promoted just the opposite of a top down selling process.

They promoted a strategy and process of initiating contact with business receptionists. That's right, the nice folks who sit in the lobby to answer and direct all the inbound calls. They felt if you promote yourself to these receptionists, flatter then with brand reference gifts, they would eventually lead you to the right person of authority to look at the sales proposition. After all, they know all the names and extensions, and who has what title. I guess you could call it a bottom up selling process.

At the same time, I was heading up a direct sales team competing directly with their services in the same geographical area. We followed the sales strategies and processes I am outlining.

Our competitor's sales cycle was longer and their average revenue per sale was smaller. Two years later, we had grown 509% and were acquired by a national company. That was the goal.

Our competitor filed chapter 11, let everyone go, and liquidated all assets. End of story.

The level of responsibility you decide to call on directly effects your 1st appointment to proposal ratio.

Here are (8) diagnostic tips to improve your '1st Appointment to Proposal' ratio.

1. Employ an ROI-based lead generator system that contains data recognition, classification, and custom extraction specific to your business offering.

2. Internally define what the objective of the 1st appointment is; a demo, a site visit, a survey or a proposal, set a benchmark of success and universally measure it.

3. Promote your Product/service offering in a way to provide a measurable soft or hard dollar ROI over time.

4. Call on the 'Highest appropriate level of contact' for your offering; one that that has fiscal authority if a proposal make business sense.

5. Use a diagnostic approach in your sales appointment to understand what your Prospect's business objectives are in the short and long term.

6. Get some 'Business Acumen' training to become proficient in understanding how fiscal people measure their business and support your business offering with relevant terms such as ROI, IRR and Payback Period.

7. Don't sell your product or service on the 1st appointment. Promote 'the diagnostic steps of your process' to evaluate the opportunity to increase performance, efficiencies or reduce costs.

8. Utilize a software proposal generator (non-Boiler-plate) that develops custom proposals specific to your Prospect's required deliverables and how your solutions will facilitate them getting there sooner rather than later. Show examples during your 1st appointment process.

Defining a specific objective for your 1st appointment, setting a realistic benchmark of achievement and measuring the outcome will begin to get you on track to an 80%+ 1st appointment to Proposal ratio.

Then support the sales objective by developing or outsourcing quality tools tied to technology and best practices to allow more of your sales employees to achieve superior benchmark results.

Jeff Hardesty is president of JDH Group Inc., a sales performance training company based in Powell, Ohio. He can be reached at jeff@convertmoresales.com

Calculate your sales team's 'Sales Performance Competencies' here =>http://convertmoresales.com/marketing_blitz.php

Submit your numbers for a complimentary 30-minute performance consultation with Jeff Hardesty =>http://convertmoresales.com/roi_survey.php

Sales Process What Can You Automate

2009-02-21T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Halstatt Pires

In the current complex and competitive market, managing the sales process is an important factor for most businesses. By automating a company's sales process and efforts, one can increase its productivity.

Sales Force Automation, or SFA, is a technique used in marketing and business that automates the business tasks of sales. Sales tasks that can be automated might include contact management, order taking and fulfillment, information sharing, inventory monitoring, sales forecast analysis, and employees' performance evaluations. Using SFA improves the efficiency and effectiveness of a sales team by streamlining and speeding up processes and eliminating errors. Through this technology, a sales force can have access to the latest information regarding customers' accounts and pricing.

SFA is almost like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) which covers a vast array of topics, including areas of sales effectiveness, customer service, and marketing management. Certainly in business, each second is valuable and you can't waste it searching for information. You can save time and money as Sales Force Automation provides optimized communication services. You also get complete management capabilities for applications and users. SFA helps you in improving customer satisfaction and it also increases sales force productivity.

Currently there are a number of SFA software solutions on the market. These software solutions help sales people take better care of their customers. They change routine aspects of sales and marketing functions such as lead assignment, contact follow-up, and opportunity reporting. Good SFA electronically manages all sales activities within a company. It is a methodology that enables sales personnel to concentrate on selling by providing tools to obtain very efficient information exchange in the sales cycle. Earlier sales force automation software installations were designed for the desktop or laptop and were not easily accessible by hand held devices. With the advancement in web based SFA technology, sales representatives can use Pocket PCs to record orders on the spot. These order details can be sent back to the system in real time over a network such as GPRS.

SFA can help sales people to manage customer interaction throughout the sales cycle, from primary contact through post-sale service. SFA applications serve two different users within a company, sales managers and sales representatives, who have changeable requirements. Sale force automation is essential in those industries where the direct field sales force tends to be high and account management is important. Pharmaceutical companies and manufacturing industries have obtained significant returns on sales force automation investments.

Before opting for any SFA software, research your options. A good sales force automation solution should have features such as multiple sales processing options and the ability to use multiple information sources. It should help in providing automation of customer assignments and field accessed decision support.

A sales force automation solution that is web enabled is at a huge advantage to those that are not. Web capability allows access to information and forms anywhere, anytime and also tools for accurate sales and demand forecasting. There must be strong security and flexibility to support new data and functionality without a large scale redesign of the system.

When choosing a sales force automation solution, keep in mind your clients and your sales force. Without flexibility to meet their needs precisely, you are likely to lose efficiency in the sales process. Choosing a flexible option will ensure your system will grow with your company.

Halstatt Pires is with the Internet marketing firm - http://www.marketingtitan.com - a San Diego Internet marketing and advertising company offering automated web site systems - http://www.businesscreatorpro.com - create web databases, e-commerce sites, business lead management systems and more.

The Art And Science Of Managing Expectations In Selling

2009-02-20T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Brian Lambert

It is very easy to fall into a trap with the customer by extending offerings beyond that of what the company infrastructure is able to supply in a reasonable timeline.

As a salesperson, you must manage the quality of the sales process. With this context of "quality deal management" in mind, the theme cannot be to do "whatever it takes to close the deal". There must be a balance. That balance is achieved through managing expectations with the future cusotmer and with your own organization.

The deal in question must be evaluated and built around a solution that meets the goals of the customer, your company, and the ethics of the salesperson. If expectations are properly managed, the deal will adhere to these tenets and be beneficial for all parties. If communication is compromised, production capacity or delivery is stressed or the quality of the end product is sacrificed and the deal is not beneficial for all parties and may damage future business opportunities.

Many sales professionals argue that it's their job to "load the cart" and the responsibility of the operations staff to figure out how to address the requirement. While too much business may be a good problem to have, proper deal management ensures that expectations are managed in a way that will not over commit a company's operations resources regarding delivery and that the end product is what is expected by the customer within the designated delivery timeline.

Proper documentation will ease the strain of effectively communicating between the customer and the operations staff. Signed and executed documents including delivery specs, dates, item codes, product descriptions, etc. should always be a part of the process when passing the baton to another division of the company and should be maintained in duplicate in the sales folder documenting the project. The Benchmarks for ISO9000 certification from a process standard are good references when considering the handling of documentation within a sales force.

Good communication on all sides is the secret to effective deal management. I cannot stress enough that the salesperson should stay involved with both the customer and the operations/delivery team throughout implementation to ensure that there are no gaps in expectations on either side. Staying in constant communication with the customer allows the salesperson to solidify the relationship with the customer and to mitigate any communication issues or points for interpretation between the customer and the operations staff. Also, continuing communications from the sales person helps the customer to not feel like "just another number" and can almost always increase the chances for add on sales.

Integrity is the key element in deal management. Maintaining the respect of the customer and the operations staff involved will always offer the best-delivered good or service. Often times a delay or setback is better understood by a customer that has received good communications and straight forward answers from their solution provider. There is no substitute for a quality in the sales profession.

Brian is the Chairman and Founder of the the United Professional Sales Association (UPSA). UPSA is a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington DC that has addressed the concerns and challenges of individual sales professionals. Brian has authored the world's first universal selling standards and open-source selling framework for free distribution. This 'Compendium of Professional Selling' containing the commonly accepted and universally functional knowledge that all sales professionals possess. The open-source selling standards have been downloaded in 16 countries by over 300 people. Over 30 people have made contributions.

Because UPSA is not owned by one person or any company, it is a member organization and guardian of the global standard of entry into the sales profession.

Find out about the membership organization and understand the processes and framework of professional selling at the UPSA Website at http://www.upsa-intl.org

Find out more about Brian at: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert_bio=Brian_Lambert

Or at http://www.brianlambert.biz

Are You Giving Customer Focused Sales Presentations

2009-02-19T05:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Tim Connor

The average attention span of the average adult is 12-14 seconds. If your sales presentation lasts more than 1 minute, don't flatter yourself thinking that most prospects hear or remember what you say.

In a recent sales survey, it was discovered that most salespeople cover 5-7 features during their presentation. When asked what the prospect remembered 24 hours later, they mentioned only one of the features. Guess which one? Not the first one, or the last one, but the one that related to their need, want, problem, desire or concern.

So what is the key to an effective sales presentation? Only cover the features and corresponding benefits of the issues that are of interest to the prospect. People buy for their reasons, not yours. They buy emotionally, and then justify their decision logically. Therefore a powerful presentation does the following:

1. It comes from the prospect's perspective.
2. It is interactive.
3. It is a conversation with an agenda.
4. It blends a balance of emotional appeal and logical reasons.
5. It is brief.
6. It lets the prospect tell you what he wants and/or needs.
7. It qualifies interest in the features as you move along.
8. It tests the prospect's interest along the way with trial closing questions.
9. It adjusts to the prospect's personality style.
10. It is customized and tailored to each prospect.

Most salespeople go into what I call a "feature dump." One of the biggest mistakes salespeople make is that THEY TALK TOO MUCH. How about you? Are you giving more information than you are getting?

Most good prospects are ready to buy before they tell you. Just give them a chance, and they will help you sell them.

Tim Connor, CSP is an internationally renowned sales, management and leadership speaker, trainer and best selling author. Since 1981 he has given over 3500 presentations in 21 countries on a variety of sales, management, leadership and relationship topics. He is the best selling author of over 60 books including; Soft Sell, That's Life, Peace Of Mind, 91 Challenges Managers Face Today and Your First Year In Sales. He can be reached at tim@timconnor.com, 704-895-1230 or visit his website at http://www.timconnor.com.

Sales Management And The Dealer Base

2009-02-19T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Rick Johnson

Wholesale distributors involved with a dealer channel that serves the end user have unique challenges in sales management. Ideally, this dealer channel should be strongly aligned with their wholesale distributors. That means a sharing of common goals and objectives with accountability on both sides of the equation. Dealers are not customers. They should be treated as channel partners. That means the wholesale distributor must focus on what the dealer is selling and not what they are buying.

Effective sales management in this channel includes planning sales growth, executing account strategies and using objective feedback to continuously improve performance and drive accountability. Maximizing success and profitability creates the necessity to manage this channel as a single integrated being. This means an effective sales process and structure must be in place which includes metrics, training and resources to support and improve sales performance for both the distributor and the dealer.

Effective sales management is not rocket science: "You measure results but you manage the activities that create those results." Although the transition from activities to results can be almost immediate in demand fulfillment activities, it can become an extended period for demand creation and account development. Consequently, managing results is like closing the barn door after the horses are out of the barn. It's just too late. The results you measure today are often created by activities that took place weeks and even months previously. To effectively manage sales in the dealer channel, it is imperative to define the specific activities necessary to drive results. By then managing those activities, success becomes much easier to achieve.

The key components of this sales management process are as follows:

Targeting

TOAD

Scorecard

Tool kit

Targeting should become a critically important sales practice for dealers and distributors - the difference between demand fulfillment and strategic demand creation, proactive selling. This is the process of selecting high potential accounts, developing penetration plans for each, and turning potential into achievable results. Targeting becomes a driving force for call planning and time management, as dealer sales people shift their focus to increasing market share by improving share of customer spend and new account generation. Today's customer is much smarter and better educated than they were in the 90's. Sales representatives must understand their customers' needs, find their pain and practice solution selling.

The Territory Opportunity Action-planning Discussion (TOAD) is the most important element in the process. It is the platform that creates timely feedback and a focus on meeting objectives. Sales managers should center these monthly discussions around performance improvement, coaching on best practices and providing support to the sales team.

A scorecard supports accountability and alignment throughout the network. It is a diagnostic tool and a motivator. It should include both results measurements (e.g. revenue, gross profit and market share growth) and supporting activity measurements (e.g. targeting activities, program compliance, training participation).

The tool kit is a library of best practice guidelines, reference material and other resources that anyone in the enterprise can peruse at his own convenience. The contents could include manuals, safety sheets, call budgeting, planning tools and account penetration strategy guidelines, etc.

As today's sales environment leans toward a more multifaceted atmosphere, salespeople must become strategists with a plan. This plan requires more knowledge about the business, better relationships and better solutions. Once you accumulated this knowledge, utilize it. Develop your penetration strategy around the customer's pains. What challenges do they face on a day to day basis? How do they make money? Where can you provide value, increase their ability to make profit. (This does not include price reductions). Employ all the resources in your company that are necessary to accomplish your growth objectives.

http://www.ceostrategist.com Dr. Rick Johnson (rick@ceostrategist.com) is the founder of CEO Strategist LLC, an experienced based firm specializing in leadership, strategic planning and the creation of competitive advantage in wholesale distribution. CEO Strategist LLC. works in an advisory capacity with distributor executives in board representation, executive coaching, team coaching and education and training to make the changes necessary to create or maintain competitive advantage. You can contact them by calling 352-750-0868, or visit http://www.ceostrategist.com for more information. CEO Strategist experts in Strategic Leadership in Wholesale Distribution. Sign up for Rick's monthly news letter "The Howl" email rick@ceostrategist.com.

Reputation Expectations

2009-02-18T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Kurt Mortensen

When people are aware of the good opinions others have about them, they want to live up to those opinions. This tendency is why we act out the roles that are assigned to us. If we receive praise, we want to be worthy of that praise.

The most effective psychological tool for getting someone to follow through on a promise is to let her/him know that you believe s/he is the type of person who will follow through. Using phrases such as "You're the kind of person who..." or "You've always impressed me with your ability to ..." or "I've always liked the fact that you..." invoke the powerful psychological law of internal consistency.

Winston Churchill, one of the greatest masters in dealing with people, said, "I have found that the best way to get another to acquire a virtue is to impute it to him."

There was a police officer who always seemed to be able to get even the toughest criminals to open up to him and tell him everything. His technique was to tell the criminal, "I know you have a reputation for being the tough guy who's been in a lot of trouble, but everyone tells me the one thing that stands out about you is that you never lie. They tell me that whatever you say, it's always the truth, no matter what."

Honestly assess how you think you make others feel when they're around you. Do you make them feel small and unimportant, or do you inspire them to achieve more? Your actions towards others will tell them how you feel or think about them. The German writer and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once stated, "Treat a man as he appears to be and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be." Reputation is everything in negotiation.

Have you ever noticed how the people you assume are going to be tough turn out to be just that? And if there is someone you're especially excited to meet, then when you do meet her she seems great? Often our assumptions and expectations about someone we're about to meet for the first time play out exactly as we've already mentally conceived that they would. When first meeting someone, you will send subconscious messages about how s/he is to respond and behave.

Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income. Beware of the common mistakes presenters and persuaders commit that cause them to lose the deal. Get your free report 10 Mistakes That Continue Costing You Thousands and explode your income today.

Conclusion

Persuasion is the missing puzzle piece that will crack the code to dramatically increase your income, improve your relationships, and help you get what you want, when you want, and win friends for life. Ask yourself how much money and income you have lost because of your inability to persuade and influence. Think about it. Sure you've seen some success, but think of the times you couldn't get it done. Has there ever been a time when you did not get your point across? Were you unable to convince someone to do something? Have you reached your full potential? Are you able to motivate yourself and others to achieve more and accomplish their goals? What about your relationships? Imagine being able to overcome objections before they happen, know what your prospect is thinking and feeling, feel more confident in your ability to persuade. Professional success, personal happiness, leadership potential, and income depend on the ability to persuade, influence, and motivate others.

Fishy Salespeople How To Finally Stop Handing Out Free Fish To Your Sales People

2009-02-17T05:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Jeff Hardesty

Do you remember the good ole days when sales managers used to just sit back and wait for their salespeople to come into their offices and ask for help?

Maybe they needed the old veteran to come in and nail down the close. Well, we all know you just can't do that any more. Sure, that would put a few more sales in the win column (in the short term). But in the long term what are you creating? Nothing but needy, dependent salespeople without an ounce of personal selling confidence.

Showing your people HOW to prospect, HOW to set appointments and HOW to close sales makes your job easier and everybody's paycheck fatter.

If that's the kind of vision you have for your sales team, then it's time to close down the all-you-can-eat fish-fry and open up the all-you-can-catch fishing school.

Wouldn't that be nice? You bet it would. AND profitable, too.

And so we've come to the reason for this article. You see, Self-Sustaining Salespeople are not found; they are developed. Sure, it still takes a certain style of person to succeed in this business, but once you find them, everything else can (and should) be taught. And it's all been broken down into an easy to follow step-by-step system.

But before we teach our future sales stars the secrets to prospecting and closing, we have to help them. HOW? We show them how to make the shift from just hitting their revenue goals to (with our inspiration) becoming Self-Sustained Business Professionals.

Did you notice I used the phrase "business" professional, not just "sales" professional?

That's because to be a superstar in sales, you have possess the proper insight and mindset about business.

That means having a keen insight into the details of your own business cycle, from pre-contact to revenue receipt, as well as an understanding of your prospect's world, and how it relates to their business objectives and what is important to them. Not you, but to them. You must understand how your prospects measure success.

Let me put that another way:

Sales Superstars must understand the business they are in. They must respect the business the prospect is in and they must recognize what the prospect values in that business.

To do that, Sales Professionals MUST become Business Professionals.

I've interviewed hundreds of sales people for every type of position. I found it funny that most candidates were quick to put down a "higher" level of achievement on their resume compared to their peers and the quota objective from prior sales positions.

However, when I asked them what their system and process are to achieve such "superior" results, most (amazingly) could not explain their results from a "business" level.

So, how do you do it? Inspire self-sustain business professionals?

I can tell you that just affirming the objective of executing to revenue is not enough to make it happen. Eavesdrop on any Monday morning sales meeting, and you will see that just about every Sales Manager has the same intention. They may not be "achieving" it, but is always their marching orders.

What those of us in Sales management really need to do is develop a customized Masters level curriculum in "Executing to Revenue" and "Becoming a Self-Sustained Business Professional."

To achieve that ideal, you need to indoctrinate every new sales employee to a system that develops a result-oriented plan, executes to proven tactics and manages the everyday conditions that tend to throw us off track.

Sound good. But can it really be done? And done quickly?

Well, the first step to becoming a self-sustained professional is running your business with critical metrics, processes and systems. Sounds a lot like the way an entrepreneurial business owner runs their enterprise, right?

In the Business of Core Competencies, I help sales individuals and management identify their essential components, and the performance metrics necessary for successful results.

We classify those metrics and discover how they are inter-related with each other and dynamic to preferred results. And by training specifically to these core competencies one at a time, we can control our destinies and routinely achieve our desired results.

You see, there are basically two kinds of people when it comes to results.

Those who point their index finger outward say it's not their fault things didn't turn out well. There were "conditional" reasons for their poor results. But, those who point their index finger inward evaluate what they could have done differently to avoid the negative outcome.

They know the difference between factors, which they can control and conditions, which are outside of their control. They seek out and modify routines and behaviors that are within their control, to improve efficiencies in gaining the required results.

So, ask yourself: Are you inspiring self-sustained professionals or management-sustained individuals?

Interesting question, isn't it?

Self sustained business professionals identify the essential elements and components that comprise your selling process. They realize how they affect your desired result dynamically, and make adjustments in routines and tactics to assure consistent results. No matter what month it is!

Now, here's a sure-fire method to identify self-sustained business professionals in your sales organization.

Evaluate the sales results for the month of December. Who was at or above quota? Realistically, December has only 13-15 selling days versus the normal 20-23 selling days in the rest of the calendar year.

December brings with it holidays, personal vacations, and general mental re-grouping for the new year. For most B-to-B selling individuals, if you don't have your number by mid-month or so, you might as well forget it.

But, if you understand your essential core competencies and performance metrics that lead you to desired results, you will customize a plan to achieve those results. You will start to execute to the plan prior to the holiday month, and your December revenue goal can be routinely met. And the same goes for a personal vacation month.

Makes sense doesn't it? Great! So, what are you waiting for? Go inspire those Self-Sustained business professionals on your team!

Manage Your Sales Or They Will Manage You

2009-02-17T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

If you own a small business, head up the part of large corporation or are thinking of forming a company you need to realize that if you do not manage your sales they will manage you. For instance if you are building a top notch business plan for investors to look at who might in turn fund this business idea of yours, you better make it really clear to them where your sales come from and who you will manage them.

In a small business if you do not manage your sales then, you find the actual sales numbers playing hell with your next months budget, advertising allowances and even your own take home pay. For those running operations at corporations if your sales do not perform, next, see ya, you are out of there and your replacement will have a shot of it. Moral of the story if you do not manage your sales they will manage you.

How do you manage your sales? Well you break down things to the minute details and set objectives and goals. You explain to your sales team what is expected and your staff what those do or die goals are to be and exactly what the check-points are to meet them along the way. All businesses big or small must manage their sales or they will manage them. Consider this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Five Tips For Hiring The Right Salesperson

2009-02-16T05:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Will Turner

Are you ready to make the right hiring choices? According to a recently released survey of 16,000 businesses nationwide, Manpower reported that hiring will improve in the fourth quarter of 2003. Specifically, the staffing company found that 22% of companies expect to hire more staff in the last quarter of the year. If you plan to hire any salespeople, you'll want to avoid some common hiring mistakes.

Hiring salespeople can be particularly challenging. When you think about it, it makes sense. Salespeople are good at selling and sometimes you can be sold a bill of goods. In any hiring decision, it's easy to make a mistake. In sales, your odds of hiring the right person are 50/50 at best.

To make sure you don't sabotage your chances of success, try these five tips:

1. Use an assessment instrument. A good assessment, and there are many on the market, will often tell you what your candidate won't. Make sure your assessment instrument matches well to the type of selling you do. For example, you don't want to hire someone who is great at transactional sales if you want your salespeople to build long-term relationships with clients.

To save money, an assessment tool should be reserved for your top choices and is not necessary for every candidate. Use the first interview or a phone interview to narrow your choices before deciding who moves on.

2. Develop a standard set of questions. Ask all of your candidates the same questions. It's easy to get sidetracked by an engaging candidate and not cover everything you wanted to if you are just winging it with your questions. Using a standard set of questions will also provide you with legal protection, should there be discrimination charges brought against you. Come up with a set of questions that all candidates are asked. Ten is a good number of questions to aim for, give or take a few. You want to be able to compare the answers of all the candidates to see who is a good fit for your organization.

If you're having trouble developing the right questions, remember to keep it simple and get help if you need it. An HR consulting firm that specializes in hiring or screening candidates can provide great assistance.

3. Don't divulge too much about your company upfront. A common mistake people make when hiring is to bring in a candidate and tell them all about the company. Then, they proceed to start the interview process. A savvy salesperson will "spit back" to you everything you want to hear using your own words to do it.

You can tell a great deal about a salesperson by the amount of homework they've done on the front end. So a good first question might be, "Tell me why you are interested in working at our company?" A good candidate will have researched your firm and prepared for the interview. Isn't that the kind of salesperson you want working for you?

4. Be tough. By being tough, I am not suggesting that you are mean or rude. Instead, you shouldn't dance around hard questions like "Did you always meet or exceed your sales quota in your former job? If so, how can I verify that? If not, why not?"

Another good question might be, "When I call your former boss, what will he/she tell me about your performance?" Whether you plan to call the boss or not, the wording of this question will let the candidate know that you mean business. Consequently, your chances of getting an honest answer will increase.

5. Do a mini-role play. It's easy for salespeople to answer typical interview questions like "What are your biggest strengths?" and "What are your biggest weaknesses?" It's much harder to role play and fake it with a "canned answer." Ask the candidate how he would handle specific sales scenarios.

For instance, if the salesperson was meeting with a prospect and at the end of the meeting the salesperson asked for the business and the client replied, "I need to think about it" or "We don't have the money in the budget." How would the salesperson respond? Using an objection about timing, price or the competition is a good way to separate the men from the boys, so you can see how the salesperson responds in a real-life situation.

Will Turner is the Founder and President of Dancing Elephants Achievement Group, a sales training and consulting company. Will has over 20 years of sales and sales management training experience and is the author of over 150 sales-related articles and programs as well as the co-author of the book, Six Secrets of Sales Magnets. Will can be reached at Will@dancingelephants.net.

Stop Sabotaging Employee Performance

2009-02-16T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Tim Connor

Many managers and executives sabotage employee performance systematically and regularly.

Why would they consciously or unconsciously sabotage organization success with this destructive management style? Change can be either a curse or a blessing. Most people fear, dislike and resist any change that they perceive threatens their security, future success or well being.

Regardless of the best corporate intentions or agendas surrounding any change in policy, procedure, re-organization or expansion, employees from the boardroom to the lunchroom tend to think the worst when change appears on the scene. Regardless of its purpose, need or anticipated outcome change is often a saboteur of individual performance and organization productivity and profits.

In order to maintain and or increase market share, competitive posture, or long term financial stability, while keeping customer satisfaction high and turnover to a minimum, it is essential that the perceptions, attitudes, values and expectations of your human resources be taken seriously into account. In my thirty plus years of experience as a trainer, speaker and consultant to a wide variety and size organizations worldwide I have discovered there are twelve key issues that sabotage employee performance and productivity.

They are,

1.Arrogance
2. Ignorance
3. Poor or no coaching
4. Poor hiring practices
5. Isolation
6. Clouded perceptions
7. Ego, Management style
8. Inconsistent communication patterns
9. Inadequate human resource development and training
10. Negative motivational climate
11. Poorly communicated corporate direction and goals
12. Not in touch with reality
13. Inconsistent feedback mechanisms
14. Corporate Culture.

Let's look at a few of these briefly.

Arrogance. This is the general attitude that the organization is invincible regardless of its abuses of customers, employees, the environment, vendors or competitors.

Ignorance. This is often related to arrogance, but it goes even deeper. It is being out of touch with the realities that exist within the organization as well as those outside the organization. It includes but is not limited to: a lack of effective understanding and/or use of technology, a lack of awareness of customer attitudes or perceptions, a lack of interest in employee position needs, desires, concerns or problems, a lack of understanding of marketing or consumer shifts or trends, a lack of awareness of competitor activities, objectives or agendas, and a lack of empathy for supplier issues, problems, needs, or desires.

Isolation. This is the approach of keeping employees, customers and suppliers at a safe distance so that your perceptions, opinions, philosophy and /or opinions are not challenged.

Clouded Perceptions. This is being unwilling to see past the visible and the evident to the underlying causes, symptoms or contributors.

Ego. This is the desire to be right, control, manipulate, hold on to rather than delegate power, authority and responsibility beyond your office door or trusted inner circle. It is having an open door policy, but a closed mind when people walk through it.

Management Style. This is the style in which management staff interact on a routine basis with other managers, support staff, customers and suppliers.

Communication patterns. This is the manner in which information flows throughout the organization. From top down, bottom up, department to department, inside the organization to outside and how outside-in information is distributed.

Human resource development. Simply stated, this is the overall philosophy about how much of your corporate resources should be invested in the skill development and attitude management of your people.

Lack of clear communicated direction. One of the greatest obstacles to effective employee performance is when your employees haven't a clue as to who you are trying to become, where you are going and why.

Poor feedback mechanisms. One of the biggest weaknesses of managers today is the ability to give both positive and negative feedback. Negative feedback should not be designed to punish, but modify behavior. Positive feedback is to insure that people know and understand the expectations and standards under which they are to function.

Culture. Corporate culture is the personality of an organization. It is the written and unwritten rules and expectations of behavior, interaction, and performance. It is the rites and rituals that govern peoples attitudes and activities. It is the corporate paradigm that permeates every strategy, action, and decision.

Let's go into a little more detail on the above items.

Arrogance.

To succeed in today's competitive ever-changing global environment will require:

a) a willingness to admit defeat and wrong decisions.
b) humility
c) flexibility
d) compromise
e) a willingness to let go of people, products, policies or procedures, regardless who

supported them, created them, hired them that are no longer in the best interests

of the organization as a whole. There will be a greater emphasis on what is best for

the health and welfare of the organization rather than who said it, decided it,

or supported it.
f) adapting to change regardless of how uncomfortable or challenging the new environment

may seem.

Ignorance.

The use of information is power. However, if you lack current information on market trends, competitor strategies and activities, customer attitudes and employee perceptions you will be operating in a vacuum. I recommend the following to ensure you are making the best possible decisions on strategy, finance, marketing, manufacturing and distribution:

a) use your field sales people as an information gathering resource.
b) conduct regular employee surveys to discover department, product/service, employee

and procedure strengths, weaknesses, and needs. These surveys should be conducted

confidentially and evaluated by an outside resource.
c) conduct regular customer audits to evaluate perceptions, needs, trends, attitudes,

problems and produce usage profiles.
d) meet regularly with suppliers to determine where the relationship could be improved e) network with other business leaders both in and out of your industry.
f) become a voracious reader of business and industry publications that directly or

indirectly impact on your present or future.
g) bypass your direct reports and regularly meet with support personnel to discover

prejudices, judgments, problems and opportunities that are being missed.
h) use your outside resources as information centers to fill in the gaps where your

prejudices or the prejudices of your employees may be jaded.

Isolation.

You can't run your organization successfully from behind your desk or locked in the boardroom. The job of management is to manage not hide. If I have heard it once I have heard it hundreds of times. "We have too many meetings at the upper level of this organization that are generally a waste of time." I concede that meetings are necessary but evaluation, implementation, execution and directed purposeful action takes place on the street, on the shop floor, in the distribution center not in the meeting room. I recommend the following:

a) start your day with a "walk-about". get to know your people. Be visible and

interested.
b) end your day with another "walk-about" for the same reason.
c) be accessible for people when they need information, decisions, feedback, counsel, to

vent, share, learn, grow, help with your insight, experience, knowledge and sense of

history.
d) have an open door as well as an open mind when people get there.
e) learn to listen between the lines.
f) ask lots of questions.
g) never be too busy to coach an employee who asks for help, advice or guidance.

Clouded perceptions.

Perceptions become reality. What is believed to be true regardless of whether it is true or not is acted upon as if it was true. When you make a decision, any decision, or form a judgment with less than a clear vision of what is really true, you are bound to make mistakes. Some mistakes at the top cost organizations very little, while others have put organizations out to pasture. There is only one way to ensure that your perceptions are in line with reality.

a) create an organizational environment where it is safe to share openly problems, issues

and concerns without the fear of retribution.
b) don't edit the information you receive regardless of the source.
c) remember disagreement doesn't mean disloyalty.
d) encourage disagreement.
e) don't criticize, punish or discipline employees for bringing reality to you.
f) some of your best employees will be the most outspoken. They may be difficult to

manage but they are worth their weight in gold, if you want to survive.
g. pay attention to your "gut" feelings, they will be right more than they are wrong,

regardless of what you hear or are told.

Ego.

Would you rather be happy or right? Uncontrolled egos have destroyed more enterprises than any other single ingredient. It takes a certain amount of ego to be successful when running a business, regardless of its size, but too much will earn people's wrath, contempt and scorn. None of these make for a healthy corporate environment. I recommend the following:

a) does your need for power, fame, control ever get in the way of sound practical business decisions?
b) are you more concerned with getting vs. giving credit?
c) are you more interested in being right than the health or success of a project, activity or your organization as a whole?
d) do you spend more time talking or listening?
e) do you tend to over power, intimidate or manipulate people toward your opinion, answer or method?

Management style.

It is easy to determine; if your overall management style is positive or negative, if it contributes to increased or decreased market share, greater or lesser profits and increasing or decreasing customer base, if it contributes to improved employee performance or increased stress and employee turnover. There are six questions to ask yourself:

a) is your organization a fun place to work?
b) do people look forward to coming to work?
c) do your people love their work?
d) are people waiting in line to join your organization or do many of your employees have their resumes on the street?
e) do people trust and respect each other or is mistrust rampant?
f) do your people take ownership of department and corporate outcomes or do they show

up, do their job and go home?

Your answers to these questions will give you a reasonably accurate assessment as to whether you need to modify your management style or if you are on the right track.

Communication patterns.

Do your people have to be in the right place at the right time to know what is going on in your organization? Are all your employees kept informed in a timely manner on key corporate decisions that affect them? Is there excessive redundancy anywhere in the organization? Are there mini kingdoms where people have circled the wagons and edit information before it leaves or enters a department? Do you have excess employee turnover? Are stress levels throughout the organization increasing? Is your corporate culture defined by, "you better get it in writing?" These are just a few of the symptoms of poor communication. I recommend the following ideas for your consideration:

a) remove any layers or blocks between employees and/or departments that may be

preventing "real world" information getting to the people that need it.
b) bypass your direct reports, and talk with support staff to test the integrity of the messages that are getting through to your organization or department.
c) ensure that there are no duel or mixed messages that are penetrating the organization.
d) correct destructive rumors that may be creating incorrect perceptions.
e) encourage the upward flow of unedited information.
f) listen and read between the lines of all communication.
g) listen for the emotion and feeling behind conversations.
h) weigh truth on truth scales and sincerity on sincerity scales.

Human resource development.

The investment you make in your people's skills and attitudes will come back again and again to your bottom line. It may not always be evident directly but it will show up in improved loyalty, morale, ability and overall performance. Training is an investment in a secure future not a cost. There is never a bad time to train and educate people. Training should be on-going and relevant. I recommend the following:

a) use inside resources for technical and industry training and out-source general skills and attitude training.
b) off the shelf training programs have limited benefit, consider only custom designed in-house programs when out-sourcing this activity.
c) training must be regularly reinforced. You can not change behavior for the long haul with a half day public or in-house seminar or video.
d) prior to developing a training or human resource development program survey the real needs, issues, problems and opportunities that are present with the group that will participate.
e) have clear focused objectives for any program and develop some form of measurement device no matter how simple or unsophisticated.

Lack of clear communicated direction.

Do your people, all of them, know where you are going, and do they care? One of the biggest obstacles to effective employee performance is a lack of awareness as to the direction or mission of the organization. Your mission is your general statement of purpose. What you stand for and believe in. It is your corporate identity. There is a right and need to know when it comes to corporate information. Not every employee needs to understand your financial statement, the details of future growth plans or acquisitions, however, every employee has a need and right to be privy to your general direction, and how they will fit into the new picture.

I recommend the following ideas for your consideration:

a) if you have not written a corporate mission statement, I encourage you to do so. When developing it, ensure that it is consistent with who your organization really is not who or what you believe it to be.
b) once written share it with every employee to ensure both understanding and acceptance.
c) put your top three goals in writing and see that every employee gets a copy.
d) constantly re-evaluate to determine if your activities, communication, tasks, objectives and agendas are consistent with your mission statement.

Poor feedback mechanisms.

Everyone wants and needs to know if what they are doing is correct and how they are doing it is acceptable. Negative feedback should not be designed to punish, but modify behavior. Feedback both positive and negative can dramatically improve performance and results. I recommend the following:

a) praise in public and private.
b) criticize in private.
c) don't ignore negative behavior. It sends the message that it is acceptable or tolerable.
d) annual reviews are generally a waste of time. Most are conducted poorly. Besides, if you have behavior that needs changing you don't want to wait a year to correct it. I suggest quarterly informal discussions on: expectations, needs, problems and issues either from the perspective of the supervisor or the employee.
e) feedback should be immediate and delivered in a manner to ensure understanding,

acceptance and ownership.
f) ask your employees to give you a review every time you give them one. If you think you are perfect or they don't know your weaknesses you are living in fantasyland.

Culture.

Culture is the personality style of the organization. It is the unwritten rules, rights and rituals that act as a filter through which every decision, project, task, goal and activity must pass. Corporate culture has its stamp on every person, policy and procedure. There can also be department, division and group cultures within the overall corporate culture. The impact of culture on the health, success and longevity of an organization can not be denied. I suggest the following:

a) conduct an employee culture audit. This can be done either formally or informally. It can be written or verbal. It can be confidential or public.
b) see if your culture is consistent with your mission statements' premises and philosophy.
c) is your culture changing? If so how? How fast? In the direction you would like?
d) remember all culture is top down. It flows down from the senior person in the group, department or organization. You must take full responsibility for it regardless of its nature or description.
e) if you want to change your culture it will take time, lots of time.

Well there you have it. Woven in the above concepts are the seeds of improved employee and organization productivity or the seeds of destruction. I challenge you to reflect on these ideas to determine in which areas you, one of your executives or managers or the organization as a whole needs modification or improvement.

Tim Connor, CSP is an internationally renowned sales, relationship, management and leadership speaker, trainer and best selling author. Since 1981 he has given over 3500 presentations in 21 countries on a variety of sales, management and relationship topics. He is the best selling author of over 60 books including; Soft Sell, Your First Year in Sales, Peace of Mind and The Male Gift Giving Survival Guide. His latest books just released are; 81 Management Challenges and Above Ground, A Story of Life's Gifts To You. He can be reached at tim@timconnor.com, 704-895-1230 or visit his website at http://www.timconnor.com.

Try Finding Salespeople With Charisma

2009-02-15T05:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Dr. Gary S. Goodman

I was watching a movie last night, one of these very standard horror flicks, and there were two female leads.

One is conventionally pretty. You look at her and see no obvious flaws. She could appear in an ad in Seventeen Magazine, and fit right in.

The other lead isn't pretty in any standard sense. Sexy, is closer to the mark, but not because she has any particular physical characteristic one would associate with that term.

She is just more interesting, magnetic, or what you could call, "watch-able."

My guess is we'll be seeing a lot more of her in forthcoming films, and much less of the pretty one.

Glenn Close, a very watch-able actor in her own right, whom I've seen on Broadway in two different productions, described Jeremy Irons, her co-star in one of them.

She said, "I like the way he disturbs the molecules when he enters a room."

Wow, what a great definition of charisma!

Isn't this what charismatic people do, whether we're watching them in-person, or on TV or in a movie theater? Think about the great actor, Robert Mitchum.

Mainly, he was cast in bad-guy or shady roles, but still, he was generally likeable.

Today, Christopher Walken comes across the same way. Even when he's evil, he's fun to watch.

There's only one word for that sort of unexpected appeal: charisma.

I'm convinced it can be cultivated. One way is through the study and practice of martial arts, yoga, and similar disciplines.

But if you're hiring salespeople, or others who need to be effective with wide swaths of the public, be on the lookout for charisma. You can't advertise for it.

But you can recognize it, and put their chemistry to work for you.

And then someone will be disturbing the molecules for a good reason.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC's Annenberg School, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Free To Succeed Effective Sales Leadership Using A Coach Approach

2009-02-15T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Nicki Weiss

About 2 years ago, I participated in a training program I'll never forget. The leader divided us into two teams. Each team's task was to fire a whack of darts into each number on a dartboard. The leader of Team A was given instructions that his team had to hit the numbers in a certain sequence. He then related the sequence, number by number, to his team.

The leader of Team B was told that her team could hit the numbers in any sequence. Her task was to encourage and motivate us (I was on Team B) to achieve.

We fired away. Team B won. Team A complained about their rules and that Team B won because we were free to hit any number in any order. They felt that the results didn't fairly reflect their ability.

What did we learn?

After the whining died down, we reflected on what we learned:

· Both teams were given the same goal: to hit all the numbers
· Those given free rein to reach the goal any way they wanted did it more quickly, effectively and enthusiastically
· Freedom, coupled with support, will inevitably result in higher achievement and commitment levels than dictated actions and steps.

CONSIDER THE IMPLICATIONS FOR SALES TEAMS

Sales people are promoted into management because they are fabulous, effective and motivated. However, when they become sales managers they often turn into the Team A kind of leader, telling their sales people what to do and how to do it, insisting that if the sales team just did it 'my way' they would achieve results. With this kind of leadership, most of the team starts a fast track to mediocrity.

News flash: No one likes being told what to do. Especially adults.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

One of the most critical roles a sales manager (or any manager, for that matter) can play is that of coach. A coach is more than a cheerleader. A coach holds people to a higher standard than they would for themselves, and then helps them get there. A coach asks questions, rather than offers advice, so that people can arrive at their own conclusions of how they want to proceed.

NOTICE...AND THEN NOTICE MORE

As you go about your week, consider the following questions around your ability to develop and motivate others. Let them inform and shape the quality of your interactions.

· What do I believe about the others on my team? (Capable? Incompetent? Can figure things out if given a chance?)

· What is my intent in working with this person? (Check off my 'To Do' list? Have fun? Learn from them? Have them learn from me?)

· What kind of relationship do I want with my team?

· How are my negative beliefs about team members leading to self-fulfilling prophecies?

· What does control mean to me?

· What would happen if I let go of some of my control?

· What does that look like in practice? (Asking more questions? Really listening? Allowing people to come up with, and implement, their own ideas?)

· What do I need to do 'more of' or 'less of' in order to develop and motivate others?

SUCCESS CHALLENGE: KEEP A JOURNAL

Spend five minutes each day writing a daily journal. Try posing to yourself one of the above questions, and then jot down your answer.

Writing in a journal can help you see some subtleties in your world you didn't notice before and can open up your mind to new ideas. This daily practice can keep you sharp, and on the path to success.

This article may be reprinted in its entirety with express written permission from Nicki Weiss. The reprint must include the section "About the Author".

About the Author

5 Keys To Building A Dynamic Selfmanagement Sales System

2009-02-14T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Jeff Hardesty

1) Identify Your Essential Competencies and Performance Metrics

If I asked you to list all the essential competencies that YOU are in control of - the ones that are absolutely critical for you to be successful in your sales positioncould you do it?

For example

Essential Competency or not?

" Converting conversations to appointments? (yes it is)
" What about filling out paperwork? No! (That's a related task)
" What about closing ratio? (Sure it is.)
" Degree of success in turning a first appointment into an opportunity? (absolutely)

Get the picture?

Now, if you truly want to adopt a self-management system that will work FOR you - not against you, you first have to "access" what is an essential competency and what's merely a related competency.

To do this, sit down and list any sales metrics and performance numbers inter-related to your competency numbers and your desired revenue results. (Hint: "Sales Cycle" and "Average Revenue" per sale are two.)

2) Diagnose Your Business on a Single Sheet of Paper

If I ran into you on a train or in an elevator, would you be prepared to tell me what you do (and how it benefits me or those I know) - in under 1 minute

That's called your 30-second commercial. Most people don't have one, yet everybody needs one.

One way to understand more of the obvious benefits your products and services bring to the table is to start to view and diagnose your business more scientifically. You will also see how the numbers work and which areas are most important to your short and long-term success.

Ask yourselfWhat happens if your closing ratio reduces by 30% and your average revenue per sale increases by $2500? How does that affect your desired results?

Write your competency measurements and sales metrics on a sheet of paper. Calculate ratios in line with competencies and average numbers in line with your sales metrics. Assign your revenue object or quota. Play with the numbers and ratios to see how they are inter-related and how they affect each other.

3) Calculate your 'Magic Number'

"Not setting enough new appointments on a routine basis" is like a malignant cancerous growth slowly eating away at the heart of most sales organizations - - Jeff Hardesty.

The reason for this is because most of us do not identify how many new appointments are needed on a weekly basis based on individual competency numbers and performance metrics.

That's like diagnosing with blindfolds on.

Every one is different; we all have a 'Magic Number'. And it's personal to only you. If you routinely achieve it, you will routinely meet your desired results. Since it is a dynamic number that changes from week to week, it's important to understand how it is inter-related with other competency ratios, performance metrics and desired revenue results.

It's important to include your 'Magic Number' in your self-management system.

4) Train to the 'Napkin Rule'

The 'Napkin Rule' simple means, putting aside all those sales automation systems for 30 days and keep track of your essential competency and performance metrics on a single napkin.

Compute updates daily. Store the napkin in your pocket. When the napkin fills up, transfer it to a legal pad to show month to date. Have nothing else on the legal pad except your essential competency ratios and sales performance metrics. After 30 business days, transpose the legal pad metrics to your favorite computer software spreadsheet, and track it for 90 days.

This simple but powerful "Napkin Rule" will help you become the CEO of your business.

5) Run Your Numbers, Don't Run after Quota

Concentrate on your numbers NOT your quota so you can diagnose performance trends before a revenue crisis. Then you have the power to institute strategies and tactics for immediate recovery.

Here's why.

Reaching and exceeding sales quotas consistently has very little to do with product, pricing and competition. But it has everything to do with 'Process'.

Identify the core competencies that are necessary to be successful in your sales routine. Then train to Powerful Routines to increase your ratios of effectiveness. Document these meaningful business metrics and review them weekly. Build a simple but dynamic self-management system and outperform your peers and competition while assuring your revenue success.

Sales Meetings Let Your Staff Do The Work And Get The Results You Want

2009-02-14T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Tom Richard

Are YOU as frustrated with your sales meetings as your sales staff is?

You fill the agenda with administrative crap, a bunch of whining and some pseudo-motivational words you picked up from somewhere. You give your staff a budget update and some suggestions on how to improve sales in the week ahead.

What about your sales staff? What are THEY doing?

Listening? Getting motivated to make some sales in the upcoming week?

I doubt it!

The problem is that you are speaking TO your sales staff instead of communicating WITH them. If they are an important part of the sales results, shouldn't they play an important role in the meeting?

The Plan

Making money isn't random.

Every business needs a plan to make money.

A great plan is one that focuses on producing results and holds EVERYONE accountable for achieving those desired results. This type of plan creates a production based organization.

Every business and sales organization has a target number that they need to hit either by the end of the month or the end of the quarter. Understanding your numbers and breaking them down into small, attainable chunks is the first step of creating a production based environment.

Every plan needs employees to make it work.

The most important ingredient, however, is the employees. To be productive, your employees need:

1.) Leadership

2.) Structure

3.) Systems

4.) The feeling that what they do matters

Your sales meetings should combine these factors to create an environment that will lead to productive employees.

Before the meeting, each person on the sales staff should create their own action plan. The action plan should be put in writing and should be developed by the employee, NOT the sales manager! This creates accountability, giving each member a sense of ownership and responsibility for achieving the goals of their action plan.

Unlike other methods of accountability, this action plan allows the salespeople to have the freedom to do it their own way while still keeping the objective in sight.

The Meeting

There are two goals of a weekly sales meeting:

1. Report production (How are we doing?)

2. Drive new production (How can we do better?)

Remember, the meeting should focus on producing sales results by highlighting each employee's contribution toward that common goal or number.

Therefore, the sales manager should simply facilitate these meetings and help celebrate successes. Nothing more! Let the sales staff get involved in the meeting by showing each other what they have accomplished and brainstorm ways to reach the common goal.

Report Production: How Are We Doing?

Your sales meeting should begin by having each member of the team present/report their production from the previous week. They should have the floor to themselves and report their contribution toward your goal, or number, and the team.

Think about this: would you want to stand in front of your co-workers/peers and show them your less than positive results?

NO! And your sales staff doesn't want to, either!

Your sales staff will be motivated throughout the entire week to be able to report positive data during the next week's meeting. They will WANT to prove to themselves and their peers that they are making a great contribution to the team. They may not make that crucial extra step for the sales manager or for the company, but when their friends and co-workers are expecting them to hit that number, they won't want to let them down!

This type of positive peer pressure will be more effective than ANY amount of coaching that a sales manager can provide. It is also better received; it motivates and inspires each member to own their goals and achievements within the system.

When each member is self-driven to do better, they will seek the leadership that is necessary for them to gain better results. The employee will take it upon themselves to turn to the leader for guidance and coaching. They will turn to the leader for sales answers.

This means that your staff will be more receptive of suggestions and advice. It also means that you won't be wasting your time giving lectures or reprimands to employees that you just can't seem to motivate!

Reward Production

This is also a good time to recognize and reward individuals that have produced results OR have taken action that will lead to results in the future. Most organizations fail to recognize and celebrate these actions that lead to results, and are missing a great opportunity to continually motivate and inspire their team members!

For example, if a team member hasn't actually made a sale, but has made several presentations to a number of people throughout the week, celebrate it! They are on their way toward producing positive results!

You know the actions that are required to make a sale, and you need to make the accomplishments of these actions just as important as the sale itself.

By letting each member shine and show their individual production, each team member will provide their OWN desire to produce results for the team!

Drive New Production: How Can We Do Better?

After everyone has given their report on their production from the week prior, it's time to drive new production and have each salesperson determine a new action plan for the upcoming week.

The best way to drive new production is to have a creative roundtable discussion about how the team can hit the goal number for the coming week. The sales manager should simply facilitate discussion. This isn't the time for you to bark orders or make everyone in the room listen to YOUR great ideas!

Allow each member of the team to choose how much of the number or goal they feel they can effectively be responsible for. Of course, make sure that the sum of everyone's individual goals is equal to or greater than the total weekly number.

This conversation is effective because every person on the team has the same goal in mind. There will be many new ideas presented in this style of sales meeting, because everyone will have a chance to brainstorm and give input.

Because each member will have a voice, each will feel like the team goal is their own personal goal, and will feel like they are making a difference. This style of meeting is effective because it provides the members of the team with the structure, system, and accountability they need to produce the results that you want!

By having a production based organization, you will be able to facilitate sales meetings that will keep EVERY member motivated to contribute to the team! Giving each member the chance to own their individual goals and brainstorm ideas will give them the drive and desire to do just what you hired them to doproduce sales!

Tom Richard is the author of a free weekly ezine on selling skills. To subscribe to this ezine send a blank email to subscribe@tomrichard.com Also Tom is the author of Smart Sales People Don't Advertise: 10 Ways To Outsmart Your Competition With Guerilla Marketing

Hiringa Vital Key In Sales Management Success

2009-02-13T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Virden Thornton

Recently, I was asked to spend some time on the telephone, coaching a client's administrative assistant on how to check out an employment candidate's references. After each in-person or telephone conference, I complete a brief written report going over the information discussed. The information that I gave this worker was so vital to the company's overall sales management success that I felt impelled to share the report in my periodic client e-mailings, feeling that it might be of value to others that I serve. The information is so vital to the management process, I decided to reproduce it here as well.

After over 22 years of advising managers, I'm convinced that the hiring process is the primary key to management success. If you hire right, your job of managing staff is made much easier. Here are the suggestions I made along these lines:

Julie:

It was good to talk to you yesterday.

As we discussed, the assignment you've been given by management to call each sales support candidate's references, is vital to the company's future sales success. As I teach in my coaching workshop, if you work hard at the hiring process, it makes managing staff members much easier over the long term.

You were right when you commented that calling references "is not that easy." I agree that there is resistance by many business owners and managers to giving out information in today's litigious business environment. However, the process we discussed can help you overcome this refusal to help you complete this important assignment.

The Steps To Checking References:

1. You need to obtain from three to five business references from each of the candidates approved by management.

2. Call the candidate's references and use the following script in your own words to obtain the information needed to make an informed decision in hiring a given candidate:

"We plan on giving (candidate first name) extensive training to help her (him) to be successful in this new position. Could you please help me with several suggestions on areas we need to train (candidate) so she (he) can make a smooth transition?"

3. Next, ask the reference to give you two or three names of other managers or co-workers who could give you insight into helping the candidate make the transition.

4. Then, call the reference's references and use the same script outlined in step two above to elicit additional information about the candidate.

It's so easy to make a couple of calls and then give up on finding information. You really need to work hard at this process to help management make sound decisions about the top candidates for a given position. This assignment is vital to producing consistent sales success.

VIRDEN THORNTON is the founder and President of The $elling Edge®, Inc. a firm specializing in sales, customer relations, and management training and development. Clients have included Sears Optical, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Deloitte & Touché, Bank One, Jefferson Pilot, and Wal-Mart to name a few. Virden is the author of Prospecting: The Key To Sales Success and the best selling Building & Closing the Sale, Fifty-Minute series books and Close That Sale, a video/audio tape series published by Crisp Publicantions a dividion of Thompson Learning. He has also authored a client acclaimed Self-Directed Learning series of sales, coaching & team development, telemarketing, and personal productivity training guides. To obtain a substantial discount on two of Virden's new manuals, 101 Sales Myths and Organizing For Sales Success, check the listings on The $elling Edge, Inc. website at: http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/book1.htm.

Note: You can contact Virden at: virden@TheSellingEdge.com

Sales Citizenship

2009-02-12T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Don McNamara

Executive Overview

Experienced sales managers are always on the lookout for new sales representatives who, among other attributes, possess good people skills and are pleasant to be around. There are two fundamental reasons they should select incoming sales representatives who have sound social skills.

Making You at Ease

Sales managers know those who can communicate effectively and put others at ease are prone to be liked by their customers and prospects. Generally this translates into more orders that are usually more profitable. Customers like doing business with friendly, cordial, respectful professional people. Additionally, there are significant other reasons for picking ones who are just plain "nice."

Realities

No company is immune to occasional mishaps such as incorrect billing, late and inaccurate shipments or less than desirable quality. Whenever miscues happen the customer's first call typically gets placed to their sales representative for problem resolution. Customers expect the situation to be researched and rectified with feedback on what is being done and what will happen thereafter to fix the situation. They expect timely information from the sales representative. There is not a customer who would refuse to give the salesperson the chance to correct the situation. And you can bet they will have more confidence in the individual who treats them with respect and empathy, is forthright and honest from the very first contact whether on the phone or face to face.

How Your Company Views a Professional

Now the bonus. Sales people who tend to be pleasant with their customers also tend to be pleasant with their own internal resources. Sales person involvement with their own support personnel, whether billing, shipping, production, engineering, operations, or any other internal group is as much a function of their role as is making sales. And those reps who are cordial and avoid laying the blame at the feet of company resources find their support personnel more apt to assist them than those who irritate those same resources. Your internal resources always spend more time and take greater effort resolving issues for those sales people who are easy to work with and are not into the blame game. In short, they appreciate being treated with respect just like the company's customer.

The fact is sales people who act in this fashion are considered team players and get respected themselves by both the customer and their support organization. Mentally, they operate with a spirit of cooperation; they take a "let's get it resolved together" attitude. They understand the importance of customer service and how valuable this activity is in total customer satisfaction.

The Bottom Line

The next time you recruit and interview a potential star performer look for the "manifested" skill of how they deal with mishaps that occur as a function of their everyday role. Without hesitation ask them how they guide the process of fixing a miscue. Identify their relative "pleasantness index". You will find you attract and retain those who take a proactive approach to problem resolution as well. You see it's in their nature to get things right - it is part of their "aptitudes and abilities."

Being pleasant, proactive and performing with resolve are "manifested" skills; you can identify them with appropriate questions while interviewing. Experienced sales managers know that these "manifested" skills are desired and required for overall sales effectiveness. They strive to identify sales candidates who have them already established. These are clear indicators of how well they will perform for the customer and for your organization since a predicator of the future is how they handle themselves in the present.

Sales Citizenship

When you find that person, you have found not only a future star, you have identified one who understands the essence of Sales Citizenship. This sales person will get more accomplished with less effort and sales management involvement. Not surprisingly, this same sales candidate is one who will sell more and have the fewest problem orders and accounts, because this person takes responsibility for external customer satisfaction and internal resource cooperativeness. They are grounded in the realities of business.

And may we hasten to add, you will hear complimentary comments about that new hire, which of course is an accolade for your own ability to find and hire a winner. Moreover, having a team of solid company sales citizens is an attribute of a highly competent sales manager.

Don McNamara is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) and is President of Heritage Associates, Inc. http://www.heritage-associates.net

Heritage Associates is a full service sales management consulting, training and coaching company. Don also speaks and writes on the art and science of superior sales management and top sales performance. He is the author of "Visionary Sales Leadership."

With over 30 years sales experience from the field level to executive sales management, in his career he has been an individual contributor, corporate sales training manager, regional manager, national sales manager and vice president of sales. Don is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants, where he serves as Professional Development Chair for the southern California chapter, and the National Speakers Association.

For a free e-newsletter contact Don McNamara at djmcn@heritage-associates.net or by phone (949) 230-4363.

Video Shop For Sales Success

2009-02-11T05:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Joe Jones

A national home builder needed to be sure his model home sales reps were taking prospects out into the community to show inventory homes and site lots. Some reps preferred to stay in the air conditioned model office, and merely give prospective home buyers a map or point them in the general direction - losing the opportunity to turn prospects into buyers.

The sales manager had a list of sales steps the reps should follow, so the reps knew what was expected of them. The builder told the reps they would be "mystery shopped" periodically, and all reps had signed an agreement to be shopped as part of their employment. The first mystery shops this builder tried included a written shoppers report turned in to the sales manager. The report included the shoppers opinion of how well the rep accomplished all of the steps in the sales process (including going out to show inventory homes and lot sites). The sales manager would then meet with the rep and go over the shoppers critique. This process resulted in some improvement but the reps frequently denied their actions from the mystery shopper reports. After several rounds of "it's the reps word against the mystery shoppers word", the sales manager decided to take a different approach. He hired a Tampa, Florida based performance improvement company (Professional Development Services, Inc.) to video/audio mystery shop his 25 sales reps. All of the reps were video/audio shopped and the sales manager discovered that 52% of his reps were not following the prescribed sales process. The sales manager coached each rep by showing the DVD recorded shop to the rep and asking the rep to give their own critique based on the video.

Several things happened as a result of the video mystery shopping process:
1) When the reps were told they would be video shopped, their performance improved immediately. This is known as the "Halo effect" in the mystery shopping performance improvement business.
2) The feedback sessions with the sales manager became much more specific and uncovered additional sales opportunities that had been missed previously.
3) After the first round of mystery video shops, reps followed the complete sales process 96% of the time (compared to 48% previously).
4) Sales reps admitted that the evaluation process was fair because it demonstrated actual performance compared to a shoppers, customers, or managers "opinion" of their performance.
5) This builder reports a 10% increase in sales closed within three months of initiating the video mystery shopping program.

Tips to consider if you are thinking about trying this process to accelerate sales performance:
1) Make sure your sales (and/or customer service reps) have a clearly defined process that they are required to follow with prospects and customers. This "checklist" will become an important part of the performance assessment session.
2) Don't use the feedback videos as a negative reinforcement "club" to penalize reps.
3) Make sure your reps have signed an agreement (usually part of the employment contract) that allows them to be mystery shopped if you are in one of the 33 "dual consent" states.
4) Don't try to create a false "Halo effect". In other words, don't tell reps they are going to be shopped when they aren't.
5) Make sure the company you employ to conduct the shops are experts at covert video/audio performance surveillance.

Joe Jones (not an alias) is President of Professional Development Services, Inc., a Tampa, Florida based sales and service performance improvement company. Joe has been in the customer relations training and development business since 1985. He was the Vice President of Business Development for Kaset International (now Achieve Global), the top rated customer relations training company in the US. Joe was President of the American Society for Training & Development Suncoast chapter and President of the National Speakers Association, Central Florida chapter. He may be reached at 813-960-1876 or joejones@tampabay.rr.com, or www.pdswebsite.com.

Traversing That Bridge Between Sales And Management

2009-02-11T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Jonathan Farrington

When a salesperson gains promotion to management the first thing they have to do is to quickly acquaint themselves with a new set of working relationships - and a new set of rules.

The salesperson's primary working relationships are with customers. However the sales manager's is with the sales force i.e. his subordinates.

Essential Attributes Include:

Successful Salesperson:

- Personal drive (Ego).

- Needs to win battles (Individual sales).

- Able to work alone.

- Persuades customers to see his/her point.

- Needs selling skills, personal skills and knowledge.

- Able to work away from the office.

- Works well with people and numbers.

- Good at implementing sales tactics.

Successful Sales Manager:

- Submission of personal needs to the goals of the Company (Corporate drive).

- Needs to win the war (Meet corporate goals).

- Able to work with others.

- Persuades the sales team to see the Company's point.

- Needs management skills and marketing knowledge.

- Needs to work at the office.

- Works well with people, numbers, paperwork and the corporate hierarchy.

- Good at developing sales and marketing strategies.

The most common danger in having sales managers who are basically super salespeople is that "relations with subordinates" including the critical tasks of development and supervision may deteriorate.

Lack of skills and resources:

Even when they do recognize the importance of developing their salespeople, many sales managers find that they lack the skills and resources to do it effectively. It then becomes easier not to bother.

An Overwhelmed Manager:

To make things worse, most sales teams consist of a number of individuals with differing levels of experience and ability, so the whole issue of team development becomes too daunting for the overwhelmed manager to contemplate.

The Answer? - Divine Intervention From Above:

Sales Directors who recognise that the different roles played by salespeople and managers require different skill sets; factor those differences into their recruitment and selection of sales managers. Instead of promoting top-performers purely on the strength of their sales performance, these Sales Directors look for management candidates who can demonstrate an ability to help others strategise, work effectively with customers, and build their self-confidence. These Sales Directors recognise that coaching competence is absolutely pivotal and feature it highly in managers' performance reviews and remuneration packages.

The moral right of the author, Jonathan farrington has been asserted. All rights reserved. This publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system or otherwise, unless this notification of copyright is retained.

Jonathan Farrington is a business coach, mentor, author, and consultant who has helped hundreds of companies and thousands of individuals around the world achieve their full potential and consequently, optimum performance levels in his capacity as Managing Partner of The jfa Group http://www.jf-assocs.com

http://www.jf-assocs.com
http://www.jonathanfarrington.com

Sales Management Training

2009-02-10T05:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Richard Romando

Sales management is an integral sub-system of marketing management. It translates the marketing plan into marketing performance. Sales management is described as the muscle behind marketing management. Sales management in a modern organization holds a multitude of responsibilities. Sales managers have to plan, direct and control the personal selling effort of the firm. A sales managers task do not stop with the achievement of sales quotas. He or she is also responsible for bringing in required profits.

In addition, the manager is also responsible for creating the desired image for the company and its products. In fact, a modern sales manager has to do marketing and selling. The firm expects the sales manager to assume a much larger role than the traditional responsibility of achieving sales quotas. Sales managers should be customer-oriented and profit-directed.

Sales managers set sales goals for their sales teams and bear the brunt of the responsibility for achieving the set goals. They assist the firm in measuring market potential and in developing sales forecasts and sales budgets. In addition, they have to develop the sales program and achieve the forecasted sales by implementing the program.

It is the responsibility of sales managers to build the sales organization. They must ensure that the sales organization is in tip-top condition, capable of effectively implementing the personal selling program of the firm and sales policies and strategies. In addition, sales managers are required to provide assistance in planning other aspects of the marketing program, like product mix, pricing, distribution, advertising and sales promotion.

Human resource management or man management is a major part of sales management. Sales managers are responsible for recruitment of salespeople, their training and development, work allocation and supervision, and morale and motivation. It is the sales managers who maintain the sales force as a top notch and live-wire force.

Sales Training provides detailed information on Sales Training, Sales Training Programs, Sales Management Training, Real Estate Sales Training and more. Sales Training is affiliated with Sales Force Automation Solutions.

Run A Productive Business From Your Caroffice

2009-02-10T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Neen James

The way we do business has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. More products and services are now being offered outside traditional premises. You no longer have to go to a bank to complete your transactions or home loan applications. Insurance brokers visit your home or office; retailers deliver products directly to your home. This change in distribution methodology has meant many of us now run a car-office.

While researching this change in business strategy, we interviewed several successful managers, executives and sales people who operate their business from their car-office. Karen Lasorda, Vice President for Corporate Business Development of Harleysville National Bank was a valuable source of information as she shared some of her winning strategies to ensure she is highly productive and able to meet her targets each month.

While there are many advantages of working from you car-office including flexibility, being truly accessible to your clients and being able to conduct multiple appointments in one day, a number of challenges were highlighted. These included:

Having the correct information with you at the right time. A major challenge of people interviewed was being prepared for all situations - for all clients.

Being able to locate valuable information or resources it is easy to lose things in a car-office.

Being unorganised. Many people have good intentions of getting organised however in a car-office environment, organisation is imperative.

If you find yourself in a car-office apply these tips to overcome these challenges and boost your productivity today:

Be self-motivated this is seems like common sense but if you operate your business from your car-office you need to be highly motivated. It is easy to be distracted by shops (especially those stores having a sale!), interesting food outlets for a longer lunch, coffee or catch up with friends. You should enjoy the freedom of working from your car-office but also respect it as if you attended a traditional office.

Avoid eating in your car don't allow yourself to 'eat on the run'. To be more productive you need to take adequate stretch and food breaks through the day. Enjoy your food, eat in a park, eat with a client or eat with your colleagues but avoid eating in your car. This will also help keep your car clean and smelling fresh.

Invest in an economical car as you will be travelling many miles ensure you have good mileage and the car is efficient. This can be a costly expense to your business if you are spending unnecessary money on your vehicle.

Use a 'week at a glance' calendar this valuable tool will help you plan your week and you can place this on the front seat of your car for easy viewing. This will enable you to respond to your clients needs quickly by knowing where you will be each week.

Prepare the night before each night allocate 10 minutes to prepare for the next days activities. Determine what customer files, promotional materials, product samples and information you may need. This valuable investment of only 10 minutes each night will ensure a smooth and productive day tomorrow.

Allow an extra 10 minutes travel time always add this extra 10 minutes to any travel plans you may have. If you think it will take you 20 minutes, allocate 30 minutes. This extra 10 minutes will be helpful if you have difficulty finding somewhere, encounter extra traffic or getting a parking space. This extra time allows you to arrive organised and not rushed. No one enjoys being late, always make a great impression with every appointment by arriving on time and feeling calm.

Keep a well-equipped glove compartment have a good supply of items you may need on the road. This could include also pharmaceutical needs for headaches, minor scratches, tissues, throat lozenges and vitamins.

Keep a supply of stationary in your car this includes spare notepads, blank paper, stamps, envelopes and thank you cards. Thank you cards allow you to quickly write a note to a new client and post the same day you have done business! This is a powerful way to be remembered by your clients.

Stock up on Business Cards keep a good supply of business cards, brochures and letterhead in your car-office - you never know when you might find a new client or potential business opportunity.

Keep your trunk tidy don't forget that clients may sometimes see inside your trunk. Keep this area clean and organised. Take time each month to vacuum this area of your car and remove any trash.

Keep your files in the trunk invest in an archive box or plastic container that will store up to 20 files. This will ensure all your valuable information is keep in a safe and secure place, out of sight and well organised if you need it.

Keep an emergency box this plastic container could include bottled water, street directory/maps, first aid kit, and small umbrella. Women may also like to include items such as spare pantihose, nail files, sewing kits and safety pins.

Wash your car regularly this includes inside and out. Your car-office also makes an impression with your clients. You may need to drive them somewhere or they meet you at your car-office. Always keep your car looking and smelling professional. Invest in regular car washes and clean the inside on a regular basis. If you don't enjoy this task, consider outsourcing it; always keep your car tidy.

Carry bottled water in your car-office we all know we should drink more water. Keep a supply of at least two bottles of water in your car so you are always hydrated and refreshed.

Find great coffee shops for meetings seek out several locations where you can meet clients or potential customers that serve great coffee, are quiet and conducive to meetings and provide easy parking. Get to know the waiting staff and owners - develop relationships with them so they will provide exceptional service for you if you are meeting with someone in their location. You may also like to consider establishing a monthly account with them so that you don't have any awkward moments when the check arrives at your table.

Allocate external storage space for an effective car-office you may also want to dedicate a place within your home for additional supplies of information, files, stationary, promotional material or product samples. Keep only the required items in your car to avoid unnecessary clutter and an untidy car-office.

By applying these tips to your car-office you will be more productive, increase yoru sales, meet your monthly targets and enjoy the freedom of a car-office.

Neen is a Global Productivity Expert: by looking at how they spend their time and energy and where they focus their attention Neen helps people to rocket-charge their productivity and performance. A dynamic speaker, author and corporate trainer, Neen demonstrates how boosting your productivity can help you achieve amazing things. With her unique voice, sense of fun and uncommon common-sense, Neen delivers a powerful lesson in productivity. Subscribe to Neen's free monthly ezine at http://neenjames.com

Franchise Sales Recruiting Of Laid Off Employees

2009-02-09T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

Because of corporate downsizing, many people have been laid-off or voluntarily taken early retirement packages and/or incentives. This happens when times are good due to mergers and acquisitions or when the economy is in the dumps and corporations are working to cut payroll costs. Almost all of these people have absolutely had it with corporate life; they feel burned and unappreciated. They realize that there is no such thing as job security. If a franchiser sales team gets the lead in time, they may still have good credit. If not, these laid off employees will have spent their savings on family crisis type emergencies and day-to-day living expenses. They will have either taken a job for less pay somewhere else out of necessity or be in a line of work totally foreign or unrewarding. Once this happens, they may no longer be in the market for a franchise.

These corporate victims may have never even considered owning a small business, but if they have, now is the time their desire would be the strongest. Since they won't know a thing about running a business, they will be very interested in what we have to offer, because we have taken all the guess work out of it.

Most franchise companies believe this to be their best market for franchise candidates. They have responsibility, families and don't have a way out. They are usually quite serious and are at the end of their rope. It's either sink or swim from here on out. The bank will take their house and cars if they don't have an income. They can't afford to lose, they have to win. They will dig in deep and give it 110%. Franchise companies need this level of dedication to grow strong.

The best thing you can possibly do for a person who has been laid off is give him/her a job. Their self-esteem and self-worth will come back and they will be whole again. No more mid-life crisis for them. They've been to the bottom and like a super ball; they will bounce back.

There are some drawbacks to this type of prospective franchisee and a franchisor needs to decide if they can over come these issues in their particular business model. Here are some of the drawbacks:

Many Are Out Of Shape

Many Have Never Done Any Physical Or Manual Labor

Many Are Introverts To The Third Degree

Many Are So Desperate That They Will Try Anything Even If They Know It's Not For Them

Many Have Defaults, Judgments, Bankruptcies Or Collection Accounts On Their Credit

Many Are So Analytical That They Will Sign The Franchise Agreement Based Upon The Numbers Instead Of Their Ability To Sell, Manage And Operate A Franchise

There are lots of good reasons why they should become franchisees however and why a franchising company should look to laid off employees as potential candidates to become franchise team members:

They Will Completely Understand Our Computer System

They Will Follow Our Manual/Model To The Ninth Degree

They Have Always Followed Systems Management

They Have A Knack For Perfection

They Don't Have A Strong Ego To Satisfy

They Are Used To Stress And Work Better When The Pressure Is Removed

They Are Used To Everything In Moderation, Which Is Great As Long As They Don't Over Do It

They Are Smart, Fast Learners And Will Read All Manuals

They Can Achieve Greatness As A Franchisee (With Our Proper Guidance)

So where some of these are major drawbacks, many are absolute advantages. Any franchise company who truly wishes to expand their numbers needs to look a the large corporation laid off employees lists. Think about it.

Lance Winslow

Building Your Sales Team For Greater Success

2009-02-09T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Daryl Des Marais

As a small business owner it may be hard to find and attract the right employees. Many variables may change, the labour market, the level of experience in the marketplace or finding the right specialty skills. So how can you have the right mix of people for greater success?

The answer is you need a defined plan of the position, skills and experience required. However it is not always that simple in finding the most successful employees that will propel your company further and achieve greater goals.

If it was that simply than everyone would be doing it.

The following are 3 important things that larger companies do when executing a strategic plan to find the right employees need to serve a certain marketplace.

1. You must define exactly what type of skills, experience and personality type you are looking for in each position.

Being a small business owner it may be hard to attract the appropriate employees due to wage concerns, labour market changes, taxes and various other expenses and variables. However, it is important to have a clear outline of what you ideal to minimum skills, personality traits and experience is that you will accept in a position. You can always train additional skills when you find the candidate that has an invested interest in your company.

2. Once you have a candidate that meets your requirements and future goals you need to have a specific outline in place for each position. An employee that understands roles and responsibilities more than just minimum standards is an employee that is willing to advance within the company and learn.

3. Once you have a defined an outlined plan you need to implement the plan, not only once a month, once a week, but always, everyday until the point that they know exactly what rewards they will achieve and what minimum results are needed. When employees feel that they can accomplish tasks on their own and take on additional responsibility on their own initiative it is of greater value.

Empowering employees can be rewarding but there also are many risks. Some employers may find it difficult to find this balance with changes in the labour force, competitors, or other day to day events in the business.

Over time in companies throughout history companies that have spent more time coaching their employees, empowering them and finding different way to reward them are usually more successful. Why?

We will explore this in a future article, 5 Reasons Why Employees Respond Well to Empowerment and Rewards.

Daryl Des Marais has worked in a management capacity in some of the fastest growing companies in North America and helped several business owners train employees and manager's to exceed expectations. He is a Growth Consultant with http://www.usabusinessgrowth.com

Want To Earn More Profits

2009-02-08T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Scott Morris

It's a simple yet common question, "How can I make my business more successful?"

Success can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people but when it comes down to it, the success of your business should only be measured by one thing - profit.

At the end of the day, it's not how many people came in to your store or phoned in. It's not even how many widgets you sold. At the end of the day, what truly matters is how much of a profit you made.

It would make sense then that your efforts focus on profit as the end result. With that in mind, there are only three strategies to increase profits for your business.

1) Increase the dollar size of each order
2) Increase the number of times people buy from you
3) Increase the number of people who buy from you

Most likely, your business is already primed to attack each of these three angles and implementing that attack should be fairly easy.

Let's say that you are the owner of Happy Wicks Candle Store. Let your customers know that for every $50 they spend they will receive a free 4-inch candle. When they are eligible for the free candle, offer them the option of upgrading the 4-inch candle to a 6-inch candle for only four dollars.

Implement a customer loyalty program. Whenever a customer spends $200 with your store they receive a 20% discount on their next order. Show loyalty to your customers, too. Create customer-only events and sales, even workshops on how to make candles at home.

Candles are also popular gifts. Be sure to place your contact info on each and every candle. This makes it easy for the gift recipient to purchase from you. Be sure to also use this tactic when co-promoting with similar businesses such as a flower and bath and body shop.

Looking at the example Happy Wicks Candle Store, the tasks of increasing profits was not a difficult one. Truly, it's a matter of putting systems in place that generate increasing profits.

Take a look at your business and examine the systems you have in place. Chances are there's undiscovered profits lying about. Put systems in place to gather those profits and you'll find your business reaching new heights of success.

Morris manages a quality collection of computer stores, home goods store store locator.

The Hidden Competition Avoiding The 2 Most Common Competitors

2009-02-08T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Debbie Jenkins

There are really only two types of competitor:

1. Obvious

2. Hidden

The obvious competitors are, well, obvious! You'll probably know who they are. You might even meet up for a drink with them and bump into them at networking events. You'll have analysed their offerings and differentiated yours. You know these guys. In fact if you're a Lean MarketerTM you probably know them better than they know themselves!

But what of these "hidden" competitors? Well, you know these too. They're: Mr Do Nothing and Mrs Do It Myself.

Mr Do Nothing - this is usually, but not always, a curious prospect. Mr Do Nothing, will speak to so many people that he paints himself into a corner of inactivity. He's too afraid to do anything because he's had so much advice. You can help him - make life simple. Take away the risks.

There's another version of Mr Do Nothing, and that's the guy who'll wait till the next big thing comes along. He can't decide now because next week there might be something different. He might meet someone who's cheaper, faster, bigger, better next week.

Mr Do Nothing quite often turns into a desperate prospect. He's waited so long that now it's actually urgent. He needs you NOW! Remember what I said about desperate people? Avoid them unless you want future misery.

Now, Mrs Do It Myself is a different kettle of fish. Quite often she'll start out as your curious prospect too. However, she has a very different agenda, she's information gathering. That way, when she does do it herself, she'll have picked the brains of all the best people around - in other words you!

How do you work out whether a hidden competitor is lurking? By building a relationship on a one to one basis. By offering incentives, then upping the ante by asking for payment for the next offering. Here are some techniques for each hidden competitor:

Outing a Mr Do Nothing

* Stop talking to him - he's happy to get advice and attention while he's not paying for it

* Ask for a decision - spell out all the stuff you've done so far and then say, "What do you need in order to make a decision now?"

* Do Nothing!

Outing a Mrs Do It Myself

* Again, stop talking to her unless she'd like to pay, of course!

* Ask outright, "Are You Considering Doing This All Yourself?" then judge by her response - if she is, say great! Good luck with it. If not then ask, "What do you need in order to make a decision to use us now?"

* Write or develop a product so she can do it herself - then sell it to her.

Speak Soon,

'Dangerous' Debbie Jenkins
debs@debbiejenkins.com

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Are You Running Too Many Poor Or Nonproductive Meetings

2009-02-07T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Tim Connor

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

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

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

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

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

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

Achieving closure in meetings.

If you have ever been to a meeting where more of the agenda was left on the table unfinished at the end of a meeting than was accomplished welcome to one of the most common meeting challenges. Getting closure on problems, issues, programs whatever. Why do meetings end without closure on items that are put off or pushed forward again and again? There are any number of reasons.

-Too aggressive of an agenda.
-Not effectively managing discussions, conflict or the contributions of the participants.
-Poor meeting leadership.
-People are just 'meeting burned out'.
-Meeting interruptions.
-A lack of overall meeting control.
-Not giving the participants a heads up in advance on what will be covered.
-Poor time management.
-A lack of an emotionally safe meeting environment where people can and do share real feelings, opinions and ideas.
-An ego run meeting.
-Unresolved personal agendas.
-A corporate culture of manipulation, secrecy or a lack of trust.
-The people who need to be present are absent.

These are a just the major ones. There are obviously many others. So what's the answer to getting closure on any meeting whether a three day strategic planning meeting or a meeting to discuss changing an out-dated policy or procedure? Why not take a closer look at the above list and see if the reasons why your meetings lack closure falls in one of those categories.

Another way is to conduct a post meeting evaluation or participant survey asking people for their evaluation of the effectiveness of the meeting. This will be a total waste of time if you don't have a safe corporate culture or your employees know you really don't want or can't handle the truth especially if you were running the meeting.

Here are a few other ideas to consider.

-Limit discussions on topics to stay on track.

-Do not move to a new agenda item until you have closure on the previous topic. Better to resolve one item even if it takes the entire meeting than to leave after a lengthy discussion on several topics and then adjourning without conclusions on any of them.

-Rotate who leads routine meetings. If it is a weekly staff meeting why not delegate the planning and running of the meeting each week to a different manager.

-Have a set of meeting rules in advance that everyone is aware of and ensure that everyone adheres to them.

-Control distractions, side conversations and interruptions.

-Don't have meetings during a meal, they waste too much time.

-Give people an agenda in advance of the meeting advising of them of what will be covered, the objectives and what they are expected to contribute

Setting and following clear meeting objectives.

Meetings take time. Meetings keep employees away from what they are generally paid to do; to perform tasks, responsibilities, roles or job functions. Meetings are either a total waste of time or valuable exercises.

Ask the average employee what is their biggest time waster and they will most likely tell you attending unproductive, unnecessary or just stupid meetings.

Expecting positive outcomes from a meeting when the objectives are not clearly established and communicated is a sure-fire way to ensure that you end up with a less than productive meeting.

There are all kinds of meetings held every day in corporate America.

-Hallway meetings. "Hey Harry let's talk about this issue or problem." -Weekly or monthly staff or department meetings. -Last minute meetings caused by an unexpected problem or a challenge. -Product review meetings, employee review meetings, training meetings etc.

Just because you determine a set of meeting objectives before a meeting doesn't mean you have to limit the discussion to the planned agenda items as long as you are adhering your meeting objectives. The purpose of meetings are generally to solve a problem, make a plan, determine a policy, get input, share information, arrive at decisions or direction or just keep people informed.

Meetings can be an extremely valuable tool for keeping all employees current with accurate information because they all get the same information at the same time leaving a lesser likelihood of confusion, misunderstanding or mis - communicated items. Or, they are an excellent way to get a consensus on a decision or a plan.

The problem arises when any of the following take place.

-People who need to be in the meeting are not there.
-People who don't need to be in the meeting are there.
-Meetings are rushed because people have to get to their next meeting.
-People don't know why they are at this particular meeting.
-People bring lot's of old baggage to any meeting.
-Discussion topics run wild with no apparent purpose.
-People vent for whatever reason having nothing to do with the meeting agenda.

A set of clear, simple, followed and communicated in advance meeting objectives, not necessarily the agenda - but that helps too - is one of the best ways to have a valuable, purposeful and productive meeting. Without them you will tend to wander, waste time and end without results.

Why are so many meetings boring, too long, ineffective, slow moving and generally produce few decisions and actions? There are many reasons. Here are a few:

1. Poor preparation.

2. Poor planning.

3. Poor leadership.

4. Poor listening on the part of attendees.

5. Hidden agendas that don't get out in the open.

6. Inability to make decisions.

7. Poor follow-up on meeting agenda items.

8. Top-down "shooting the messenger".

9. Bottom-up editing.

10. They were unnecessary to begin with.

11. Allowing too much or too little time for the meeting.

So what can you do to ensure you are not wasting your employees time, demotivating them with poor meetings and contributing to their poor productivity?

Here are twenty simple guidelines for conducting more effective meetings. There are others but if you will follow these you will be well on your way to more productive meetings for everyone in attendance.

1. Is this meeting necessary? Now? Why?

2. Carefully consider who should attend the meeting and why. What will they add or what do they need to take away from it. Do the participants you have selected to attend really need to be there? Or, is it that they always have attended this particular meeting and that's the only rationale for their attendance.

3. Have you carefully anticipated possible distractions, obstacles, problems, responses? And planned for them?

4. Who will chair or run the meeting? Why him or her?

5. What is the general theme or purpose of the meeting?

6.Typically, how do the attendees respond or react to your meetings? Why? What can you do to improve their reaction?

7. Have a written, clear, specific and action focused agenda.

8. Let people know the agenda in advance, so they can come prepared to ask questions or contribute intelligently.

9. Follow the agenda.

10. Stick to the allotted time.

11. Keep the meeting moving.

12. Stay focused in the present.

13. Constructively manage the different personalities attending the meeting.

14. Have closure on items or establish a specific time to meet again to address these tabled issues.

15. Hold those people who leave with assigned tasks or activities accountable.

16. Don't get bogged down

17.Don't shoot the messenger. Encourage opposing viewpoints and ideas.

18. Leave your ego in the coat closet.

19. Don't invalidate the participants.

20. Start and end on time.

Kids Shopping Cart Cars

2009-02-06T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

Certainly by now you have seen those new ultra-long SUV type shopping carts, where the kids sit in the plastic car in front and pretend to steer down the isles? They are excellent for Store Managers as it keeps kids from pulling items off the shelves. This causes unnecessary spillage, product loss and time to clean up the mess. Makes a lot of sense and the kids seem happy, stay out of the way and do not get run over by fast moving shoppers like you and I. Zooom!

One thing you may not have thought of is that retail merchandisers are now putting kids type products on the lower shelves. And companies selling things that kids like pay to be on those lower shelves instead of only at the normal eye level of kids sitting in shopping carts, which is closer to the eye level of adults. This means they are freeing up some of that high rent space and able to put more items lower, which they can charge for also, this is helping their shelf space programs that they sell to manufacturers of retail products.

Those who sell products may wish to be thinking here if you are selling to spoiled children who are now riding lower in the carts yelling; "mommy, I want, want!" In essence the children's department at the grocery stores is now split to two levels and the grocery stores are loving it in more ways than one. Think on this.

Lance Winslow

Your Sales Team Must Leverage Your Brand To Sell More

2009-02-05T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

If you are a sales manager then it behooves you to leverage your brand name to sell more and your sales team needs to understand this and use this to their advantage. This is where a good sales manager can really make the grade and increase the company's sales.

When a company has a strong brand the customers will already have considered doing business with your and wish to discuss what you can offer them. The door has already been opened due to hard work in marketing your brand. This gives your sales team a leg up on your competition, as it makes it easier to get a sales interview and even easier to close the sale once the terms and conditions have been ironed out.

Good sales manager always leverage the brand and your sales staff need to also realize that when they sell with your company you do not have to give away the store to compete with the competition on price on each and every sale. The prospects already if given the choice would go with your company over the other simply on strong reputation and brand. How do you know when your brand is that strong? Well simple really.

You as a sales manager will notice the number of incoming inquiries over the number of internal generated leads thru cold calling. This also means that the top sales professionals will wish to work for your company over the competition because they indeed realize that sales come faster and easier. This again is just one more way that a sales manager can leverage brand to build and maintain a kick ass top notched sales team. So, consider all this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Is Your Company Quotsellingquot

2009-02-04T05:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by James Little

Every single day, we are all in midst of a revolution that keep shaking the business foundation. No, it's not about the stock markets news, large scale corporate announcement that you are watching on television.

The revolution we are talking about is the very basic and the prime connections of business existence. It's what most people had forgotten; it is the Relationship between both external and internal "Supplier" and "Customers".

Business organizations who can really create new relationship with their customers will be realizing themselves with surpassed competitive advantage compare to others. This could also apply even the business is as small as a one man show business.

Basic Purpose of Business

The very basic idea of a business and selling process is just same as to almost every party involved in it. Whether you are the big CEO, Department head, manager, down to the sales assistant, it's all boils down to one basic element What we do primarily is "Selling".

Simple and straight forward, but yet most forgotten in our daily busy schedules and tasks The purpose of business and its existence is to find and keep customers, and to get them continue doing business with you rather than with your competitors!

The Old Game

The old game scenario is very familiars to all of us; sale person out there at the field brings in the sales for the business. They try to sell as much as they could to those customers that always trying to avoid of being "Sold"! Hey, like everyone else, we do try to get the best possible price, and resist being taken for a ride right? Don't you forget that as you are a customer to other too!

This old and dying business activity could be pictured out as sales team out there battling against competition for market share, and customers "Mind" preferential share. It is, for all intentions and purposes, sell exactly like competitors.

In such selling game, as any sales person will tell you There is never been enough! There is never enough time, customers, supportsetc. Yet, the same sales person will tells you that he or she is constantly being asked to produce more and more sales in the same world of never been "enough"!

In traditional organization, work is organized around management (mind yourself if you deny this). Work flows up towards the executive group. Employees work for the executive management group, not customers. The rewards and punishment system, reporting systems, re-enforcements and procedures.etc , not forgetting about pleasing, satisfying and taking care of the Boss.

Re-discover Business Purpose

To survive and thrive in this business revolution will need everyone in the organization to come together and re-discover to this basic purpose of a business. Mind you! This is the most critical part of everyone job way before you carry on with your regular tasks. This critical task and basic objective of business will makes the different between keeping the job or being let out of business!

This revolution will continue to change our business process, our role in it, and the competencies we need to equip ourselves with. It will overthrow all the beliefs that we have been holding strong to, it will also be shaking up the very nature as to why and what we work for?

Fight you way out

If your company is like most of others today, you have much greater competitions than ever before. The products and services you are offering right now are no different in the eye of you valuable customers. They are simply match point by point by your competitors, worst if it's of better offering!

The business task of finding and keeping its customers is like a high-risk game. If you lose out, the consequences of your customers going to competitors are much more critical now than any other time in recently business climate.

Business Function

CEO, Executives, Managers, ought to be realizing that their core job is not just to increase the shareholder's stock value, making all the fanciful of reports. The highest priority of their purpose is to sell, to find and keep customers. Selling is no longer simply a sales function within the company, it is, and will always be "The Function" of a company.

What actually caused this? The principal behind these selling and drowning are the increase competitions, customers with much wider choices of supply. Customers are getting smarter; and tougher with more choices of supply. You got to realize hard that customers of today context can truly buy better than most sales person could sell.

Customer Loyalty

You want loyalty in your customers? You must be dreaming daylight! This world today is the customer's own "Shopping Mall". There is no boundary in term of distance, language, connections. There are only "boundaries" of price, conveniences, a phone call away or internetetc.

It is no longer the old game where customers buy what is being supplied to them. It is the new rule where you got to supply what customers want or else they will go to competitors.

The point is that you simply can't win in this new game; the traditional beliefs that you hold strong to it, the sales process, the selling tactic and strategy are simply no match of this new breed of customers in this rising competition and crowded marketplace. Selling and keeping (or trying to keep if you are) customers by the old way is dying fast. So, what's next then?

The New Game

There is this "New" game emerging. It is more on customer-focused! No, we are not talking about what you are thinking or having in mind. This new game requires the entire business organization to be involved, and truly be involved. It is a higher level game, with more risks but also more rewards.

Now, everyone who has a stake in the business process has to come into this. It is a kind of creating and sustaining a partnership within the entire organization. It would be a transformative process which would eventually change how we see each others and how we could truly work together in the entire selling process. For some, it's like experiencing the new birth of a new kind of relationship. This is like building a partnership among all involved.

New Breed

What does this means for us as sale person; and as selling organization? Fundamentally, it means all of our roles will change. These new relationships within the same business organization are part of the solution to combat the intense competition out there in marketplace.

This is the opportunity for us as the new breed of "Sales Person" to be the "Customer Workers" of today. To some, it could be an uncomfortable period. Even those who "think" they'd like to change are finding themselves having to change their strong beliefs, and change beyond their own paradigms. Yes, it will create an intense level of insecurity among some when the entire business culture changed. But can you afford not to change and risk being punch out of business?

Is your organization ready to realize the fact that nobody sells anything to anybody; People are now buying from everybody and how your business organization going to parent within itself to take up this challenge. This itself is a huge different.

Give it a deep thought, is your business truly selling to your customer? Or are your customers are buying from everyone, which might not include your business organization? That's the different.

Get Your Business listed in Biz Network Directory for business leads. Network sites consist Web Resources Search and Business Info Center are also business platforms.

What Credit Policy Tools Are You Missing

2009-02-04T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Michelle Dunn

Did you know that a credit policy is a channel where you can control your bottom line, sales and income? By tweaking your credit policy you can make more money instantly.

A new book, "Become the Squeaky Wheel" by Michelle Dunn describes credit policies and outlines how you can create one for your business so you have more control over your bottom line, sales and income.

When a potential customer fills out a credit application you can get near-perfect information about that customer and how they pay their bills, and if they can afford more credit. Most consumers that take the time to fill out a credit application are serious about buying from you; otherwise they would just go down the road to where they can buy without filling out any forms.

After extensive research it was found that consumers that can obtain credit will even pay more for a product or service when they are extended credit and have great customer service. The faster, easier and smoother procedures will get the most and better paying customers.

The result? More sales, income and happier customers for your business. This can also result in word of mouth advertising from happy customers, and that is free.

Michelle Dunn has over 17 years experience in credit and debt collection. She is the founder of Never Dunn Publishing, LLC, is a writer, consultant and the Editorial Advisor for Eli Financial Debt Collection Compliance Alert Newsletter. Michelle started M.A.D. Collection Agency and ran is successfully for 7 years. She owns and runs Credit & Collections.com a free online community for credit and business professionals.

She has written 5 books in her Collecting Money Series. For more information on Michelle's services or to order any of her books please email her at michelle@michelledunn.com or visit http://www.michelledunn.com & http://www.credit-and-collections.com

Sales Management Techniques That Can Bring Results And Keep A Sales Manager Focused

2009-02-03T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Dan Goldberg

The position of sales manager often comes with multiple responsibilities. Each of which has a direct affect on the success of the organization.

The sales manager is frequently an active sales person, as well as an administrator. He or she must make sure quotas are being met, margins are in line, pipelines are full, salespersons are making their calls and individuals are realistically matched to their positions and territories.

An effective sales manager realizes that a person's behavior is the key to success.

How a salesperson behaves towards his or her responsibilities has a direct link to results. The individual who constantly complains about the state of the market, lack of leads and referrals, inability to get to the decision maker, etc. is usually better at making excuses than making sales.

The quandary for the sales manager ishow long should he or she put up with ineffective behavior?

In order to answer that question, the sales manager must first look at the reporting structure that he or she has put in place for the entire sales team.

All sales teams should meet at least twice a month. I prefer once a week. And each sales person must be ready to report his or her results to everyone in the room (or on the conference call). One easy way to hold each person accountable, while enabling them to communicate weekly progress efficiently, is to use that good old stand-bypaper.

At the weekly meeting each person should present his or her weekly "cookbook" or call sheet for the previous week. The sheet is broken into two different categories, one is titled Prospects and the other is titled Existing Clients. The two large categories are then sub-divided into smaller areas. Under Prospects, the column headings may read: Calls/Contacts (which would include telephone calls, e-mails, etc.), Conversations (this measures how many calls and contacts actually turned into discussions, either on the phone, through e-mail, or one-on-one conversations), Appointments, Meetings Held, Networking Events Attended and Sales Closed. Under the Existing Clients category the headings may read the same with a few twists, such as, Reorders, Stop-by Visits, etc. Each column is then divided into rows, one for each day of the week.

These "cookbooks" instruct the salesperson to list his or her goals for the week at the top of each column heading. During the week the salesperson puts a hash mark for each call, appointment, meeting, etc. that they have accomplished. The sales closed category, however, has the dollar figure for each particular sale. I also advise clients to keep a separate sheet for each day of the week, in order to list the names of the individuals called or contacted and with whom the salesperson had conversations.

At the sales meeting, each person photocopies and hands out his or her sheet to the others in attendance. This leads to accountability by one's peers and allows each individual to measure his or her results against those of the others in the group. It is vitally important that everyone is non-judgmental. The sales manager ultimately holds judgment, however at the weekly sales meetings people should be able to ask for help, find out how those who are consistently producing do so, and learn techniques to improve the production.

It is also important that attendees understand that communication is not limited to the weekly meetings, but that help is available, in fact encouraged at all times.

In addition to paper "cookbooks" the use of Customer Relations Software should also be used to add depth to the interactive salesperson/client/prospect relationship. All customer or prospect conversations, sales, and other interactions with anyone within your organization's sales or customer service process should be entered and summarized to enable the sales team, including inside salespeople, sales managers, new salespersons, customer service representatives and others within the company to have a complete understanding as to the current situation with every client or prospect. This includes specific problems, new orders, satisfactory comments, etc.

Besides the "cookbook" another effective tool is the "pipeline" sheet. This paper is used to report what prospects are in the salesperson's revenue pipeline. The headings on this sheet may read, Company (or individual), Potential Sale (in dollars), Possibility of Sale (in percentages), Contact Person, Last Contact Date, and Next Step.

This weekly sheet should also be photocopied and distributed by each salesperson to the others on the team. The "pipeline" sheet gives a snapshot of potential revenues and new clients. It is also a valuable tool in easing potential rough spots that a salesperson may be encountering. By laying out prospective companies and contacts one salesperson may find that another team member may have an alternate means of securing the sale.

These two sheets are also concise measuring devices for the sales manager. They permit a clear view of a salesperson's behavior as it applies to his or her consistency at following the techniques necessary in order to build a solid business.

While the revenue results may vary, the sales manager can see how new salespeople are performing on his or her way to growth and greater revenues and how longer tenured salespeople are performing in and out of his or her comfort zone.

With the weekly "cookbook" and "pipeline" sheets a sales manager will, over a defined period of time, be able to see who is, or has, the potential to produce, and who doesn't. These results and results indicator tools can then be used to decide which salespeople to terminate and which salespeople to keep and grow with.

A sales manager's greatest tools are the ability to motivate, communicate with and support his or her team members, as well as measure the results of the salespeople under his or her guidance and the ability to construct a timeline for the success the team and its members. Once processes are put in place, so that decisions can be quantified and qualified, the answer to the question posed at the beginning of this article becomes easy.

How long should a sales manager put up with ineffective behavior?

As long as the results and the behavior associated with them, within the timeline allotted, indicate it's time to let the person go.

One last thought. If you are a one-person organization, the tools mentioned in this article work equally as well to measure your own productivity, goals desired and achieved, prospects to contact, sales made, etc. You are your own sales manager and while you're not apt to fire yourself you may find that you need help in the form of adding another person, finding a partner, creating a symbiotic relationship with another firm, or getting coaching or training to overcome your weaknesses and increase you strengths.

The best thing isit's all there in black and white!

Dan Goldberg, MBA, is President of Dan Goldberg Consulting L.L.C. a training, coaching and business development firm located in the Philadelphia, PA area. He is the founder and former owner of "For Eyes" the highly successful international optical company and an internationally recognized keynote speaker. Dan is the author of the book "Stand Back A Second, Just don't fall off the edge," and of "The Six Steps To Solid Sales Success" and "The Seven Elements Of Successful Management" programs. He is Executive-In-Residence at Kutztown University and has been the subject of stories in Newsweek, Business Week, Playboy, Successful Business, Investor's Business Daily, major newspapers in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Boston, Baltimore, Miami, San Francisco, Oakland, St. Louis, Chicago, Los Angeles and many other national and local publications. In addition, Dan has appeared on Good Morning America and other national and local television and radio programs. You can contact him at dg@dangoldberg.com, visit his website at http://www.dangoldberg.com or reach him at (215) 233-5352

Live Sales Coaching

2009-02-02T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Linda Richardson

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

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

Let's examine your role during a team call:

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

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

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

Make sure the salesperson leads the call not you.

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

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

Debrief the call against those objectives and what you observed.

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

About Linda Richardson

Linda Richardson is President and founder of http://www.richardson.com, a leading sales training and consulting firm. She is a recognized leader in the sales training industry and is credited with the movement to consultative selling, which is the corner stone of Richardson's methodology. Ms. Richardson has written 9 books on selling including her most recent, The Sales Success Handbook. She has been published extensively in industry.

Higher Prices Lead To Higher Profits Part 1

2009-02-01T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Paul Lemberg

I know at first glance this sounds obvious, but it may be worth it for you to think about your prices. At least just for a moment.

How did you decide on your current pricing? Did you conduct market research to understand what prospects would pay? Or did you compare yourself to your competitors and base your price on that? Or was it a crapshoot, and random shot in the dark?

These are the ways most people do it, and they are all wrong. Because the price you set for your products and services is more important than you think.

The following few paragraphs are a bit number heavy, but stay with me because this will be really valuable for you to understand.

Let's say you sell a high margin product - information products and software are two good examples. Your price is $60, and your costs are $10 - that means your gross margin (selling price - your costs) is $50 each time you sell one unit. Let's say further that your overhead is $5,000 per month. If you sell 100 units you'll break even, right?

Now you want to sell more, and decide you can take some business from a competitor by lowering your price - temporarily. You lower it to $40 - a 33% price cut, and not uncommon.

Your costs remain $10 and your overhead is still $5,000, only now your gross margin is $30 - 60% of what it was before. And how many units do you need to break even now? 166! That's 66% more unit sales required to make up for the 33% price cut!

But what if you're feeling very aggressive and you cut your price in half (also not unheard of) to $30. Now you have to sell 250 units - just to break even! That's 2-1/2 times as many as before. How easy do you think that's going to be?

Let's use a different example - something that has real manufacturing costs. This time, your product sells for $100, and your cost of goods are $50 per unit, for a gross profit of $50. Same $5000 overhead, same number of units to break even. Now imagine you cut your price 20%, to $80, leaving you with $30 of gross margin. You need to sell 66% more units. Ouch!

What if you cut the price to $70. This 30% price cut means you have to sell 2-1/2 times more units - just to stay even.

Let's go further...

Competition is really heating up and you think that matching them cut for cut is the way to go. The price for this amazing widget of yours is now a bargain basement $60.

(Shucks, that's only 40% off your original price. Salespeople and business owners do this every day.)

How many units do you need to break even? 500.

Five hundred? That's five times your original number.

Do you really think you can sell five times what you did before - at least without significantly raising your overhead and your variable cost of sale?

How many times have you done just this in response to competitive pressures?

How many times have you cut prices because you thought it would help you sell more?

:(:(:(

What we've just done is a simplified version of what's called margin analysis, and I hope it gives you a glimmer of what can happen when you mis-price.

For the most part, your price cuts don't automatically enable you to sell 66% more than you did before, and generally - at least not in this universe - you don't sell 250% more, and never, ever do you sell 500% more with this kind of price cutting.

But there is some good news - and it's very good.

Let's look at what happens when you raise your prices.

Remember your high-margin product. It sells for $60 and costs $10 to make.

Through good product positioning and excellent marketing you raise the price to $70. That's only a 15% increase. Now you only have to sell 83 units to break even, and if you sell the same 100 units, your profits go from $0 to $1000. Nice increase...

And that "hard" product - the one with $50 of costs? Raise the price tag 20% to $120, your margins increase to $70, and now your breakeven drops 71, and you make $2000 if you sell the same number of them.

See how this works?

:):):)

You can do this same analysis in a bit more sophisticated way, considering your marketing costs, sales or affiliate commissions, travel expenses if you have them, and so on. You can see the actual pricing effect varies quite a bit depending on these details.

If you have a high-leverage, pay-only-for-results affiliate model, a very high gross margin and almost no fixed overhead, you have a lot of price flexibility. You can cut the price 25% and only need to sell 15% more! That's not too bad at all.

But only in that type of model. If you have a office, some staff, and a physical product - in other words, fixed overhead -lower prices can kill you - and you won't even see it coming.

And higher prices?

They can make you rich.

By now you are starting to see the tragic effects of mis-pricing on the downside, and the marvelously enriching possibilities of raising your prices.

This only works, of course, when you can also increase your value proposition...

Stay tuned for part 2.

Follow this link at the bottom of the page to get a copy of an excel spreadsheet to play with. Get the spreadsheet, plug in your own numbers. It will really blow your mind. Also, feel free to pass this article or the spreadsheet on to your friends and associates. They will definitely appreciate it.

Paul Lemberg is the president of Quantum Growth Coaching, the world's only fully systemized business coaching program guaranteed to help entrepreneurs rapidly create More Profits and More Life(tm). To get your copy of our free special report with detailed steps on how to grow your business at least 40% faster, even when you aren't sure what to do next, go to Paul's business coaching website.

Click Here To Learn More About Our Business Coaching Franchise

Managements Mixed Messages Were High Achievers But I Love Average Producers

2009-02-01T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Dr. Gary S. Goodman

I was conferring with a reasonably successful manager in the Banker's Life system.

Within the space of a few minutes, he disclosed two things to me:

(1) He is doing everything possible to create a high-achievement culture; and

(2) He loves his moderate producers because they are steady and reliable.

Of course, as you might detect, these statements are contradictory.

As a sales manager or a business owner, you don't want to send mixed signals to your people.

Are you overtly asking for (1) but secretly hoping for (2)?

If so, your staff will sense this, and to say the least, they'll be confused.

Confused "soldiers" don't march with the same motivation, or in a predictable direction.

If you want a top-ranked sales team you need to create messages that are consistent and back them up with action. This means making life difficult, to put it delicately, for underachievers, while giving them whatever help and resources they reasonably require to soar with the eagles.

At the same time, you want to offer DISPROPORTIONATE GOODIES to your high fliers. I recommend a stair-stepped commission or bonus plan that isn't neatly incremental.

When you get to the top flights, you leap several steps in sales compensation at a time, leaving your more earthbound peers in the proverbial dust.

Two forms of motivation are required to make and sustain a championship teams: positive rewards for the winners, and negative reinforcement for the losers.

As General Patton said in the movie, "America loves a winner and simply won't tolerate a loser."

In an achievement culture moderate or average producers are losers. Don't tolerate them for long, unless you want to send a hopelessly mixed message!

Best-selling author of 12 books and more than 750 articles, Dr. Gary S. Goodman is considered one of the world's foremost experts in telephone effectiveness, customer service, and sales development. A top-rated speaker, seminar leader, and consultant, his clients extend across the organizational spectrum, from the Fortune 1000 to small businesses. He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

A Standardized Company Sales Plan Good Idea Or Bad

2009-01-31T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Frank Rumbauskas

I came across an article today that explains how companies can successfully implement a company-mandated sales plan and be sure that all of the salespeople are following it.

I found the advice given in that article to be deeply disturbing to me, especially since it is new and not from a twenty-year-old book from the old school of selling.

The essence of the article is this: Companies that intend to implement a new sales plan must make it mandatory, must hold the salespeople accountable for following it, must let the salespeople know that managers will inspect to make sure the new plan is being followed, and that role plays should be done in training sessions to teach salespeople how to use the new sales plan.

I felt shivers down my spine when I read the part about how managers will hold salespeople accountable, and will inspect to be sure that the plan is being followed. I immediately got the picture of the stereotypical raving lunatic, "little dictator" sales manager who terrorizes his or her salespeople through micro-management and blunt orders.

Is this the kind of organization good salespeople would want to work for? I'm amazed that this kind advice is still being given in this day and age.

I also have a major problem with mandated role playing in training sessions. I hate role plays. I always have and always will. I think they're stupid and a complete waste of time. They're absolutely BANNED from my training programs. The biggest problem with role plays is that they're NEVER realistic. In fact, if you train a salesperson through role plays, he will be completely blind sided and blown out when meeting with real prospects who have real problems and real objections. All of the example sales dialogues I use in my programs have come from REAL sales appointments, those carried out by either myself or other salespeople I know and trust.

When I was in sales, I was almost always a top performer. The only times I was not a top performer was while working at companies that had a mandated sales process that I was required to follow. It always baffled me as to why companies that forced us to follow their plan would hire experienced sales reps. Why not hire inexperienced people right out of college? They won't have any pre-conceived notions of how to sell, won't have any prior experience or training, and therefore will blindly follow the company's system, no questions asked.

Here are a couple of realities that managers and sales directors must face up to:

1. If you want an experienced sales force with a proven track record, you must understand that they already know how to sell. How else could they possibly have a great track record? Attempting to force them to learn a new system and follow it negates their talent and experience and will immediately destroy their top producer status. Proven salespeople excel and perform at their very best when treated like independent contractors.

2. If you really want to implement and mandate a company sales plan, the only way to do that successfully and with little turnover is to hire people with no experience right out of school. And even then, you'd still be much better off with sticking to option 1.

If you want a successful organization, hire the best and place your trust in them that they know how to sell. They've done it before and can do it again for you. Don't derail their performance and undermine everyone's success by forcing something on them that is totally unnecessary.

Frank Rumbauskas is the author of the hit sensation "Cold Calling Is A Waste Of Time: Sales Success In The Information Age". His training and products teach salespeople how to generate hot leads without cold calling and how to keep their power and remain in control of sales situations. For more information please visit http://www.nevercoldcall.com

Not Enough Fresh Sales Leads Marketing Is The New Sales

2009-01-31T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Martin Wales

Your sales are down and leads are rare. The phone's not ringing. Let's blame marketing!

If you join this band wagon to rationalize your poor sales results, you need to step up and take responsibility for your own fate. It's amazing how often sales teams play the victim here. They blame the marketing department, team or an individual, for their lack of sales.

Don't get me wrong, I'm on your side. Often, in a typical, let's say "traditional" organization, there is disconnection between marketing and the sales organization. There is a lack of communication, team work and common goals. Sad but true.

Often, the larger the company, the less marketing serves the individual sales professional. In corporations, it seems the norm for marketing is to concentrate on selling "the brand" and not products and services. Corporate marketing sells 'the logo' to trigger trust and positive emotions when people see it. Not all, but most, traditional marketing leans on advertising which fails to work directly for you in attracting new prospects and leads.

In small to medium-sized companies, there is usually a very small marketing team or a single very, over-worked marketeer. Worst, as a business owner or independent professional, you don't have a budget and you do everything! Again, marketing is absent or not good enough to generate enough new opportunities.

The most important and singular point I'm making is that you must recognize and deal with "what is," to improve your situation.

Recently, I turned 40 years old. A friend said to me, "Don't worry, 40 is the new 30." If you want to improve sales and your commission, guess what? "Marketing is the new Sales!"

Understand YOU are your own marketing department. Accept it and take action.

Just like the decline (if not extinction) of personal assistants, sales administrative assistants and secretaries to support sales teams or individuals, there is less marketing support too. You type your own sales letters and other correspondence and keep your own schedule.

Today, you need to work on your own public awareness, lead generation and sales support materials and communications. With tighter budgets, less staff and more responsibility, it's up to you.

Any way you look at it, as a sales professional you must take charge. Sales superstars and expert managers know this. They devise a strategy and implement their own marketing systems, in addition to the brand-like corporate, marketing efforts. Marketing is continual communication to influence someone to take an action. Marketing departments do it through various means and on a mass scale, via print and media advertising and public relations. Single, sales people can market effectively through personal contact and working in the field. You can source new deals and increase lead generation within your existing sales process without as much pain or work as you think.

If you don't accept that you have to take action yourself and keep looking outside for leads and prospects, you're going to continue to fail to reach your sales objectives. The good news is that the technology and tools available today are powerful, affordable and effective for solving this challenge.

Keep an eye out for future Customer Catcher articles, where I'll give you strategies, tips and tricks for creating a profitable, Personal Marketing program to drive your sales skyward. You'll get the sales you want and become your own marketing machine with bigger, better and more immediate results.

Until then, think about evolving into your latest role because

"Marketing is the new Sales."

Get free help and advice at www.CustomerCatcherTips.com. . Martin Wales helps you increase your sales and profits with simple, proven tools and systems that get immediate results. If you want more customers, contact him at that get immediate results. If you want more customers, contact him at Martin@CustomerCatcher.com.

Dont Get The Holiday Blues

2009-01-30T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Tim Connor

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

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

1. Conduct an attitude checkup.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. Don't stop prospecting.

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

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

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

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

Motivation With Direction

2009-01-30T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by John Mehrmann

Motivation empowers performance. Motivation with direction empowers positive performance. It can be easy to generate enthusiasm amid success. How can you be inspirational in your communication during periods of duress?

How would you react to the following observations?

"We missed our quota by 50k this month, so you need to do an extra 60k next month to make up for it."

"We went over budget this month, so you need to reduce your expense next month."

"We only made 75% of plan this week, so you need to do 125% of plan next week to make up for it."

The good news about these statements is that the shortcoming is clearly defined.

The bad news about these statements is that there is no clear direction.

The result of clearly identifying failures or shortcomings without corresponding direction is often heightened frustration by all involved.

Rather than merely defining the gap or challenge, be prepared to collaborate on crafting solutions.

"We missed our quota by 50k this month. What can I do to help you achieve an extra 60k next month?"

"We went over budget this month. Let's review the budget together and look for areas to reduce expenses next month."

"We only made 75% of plan this week. Help me understand the reasons we were below plan and what I can do to help us achieve 125% next week."

Identify specific gaps, express mutual commitment, make a plan, write it down and do it. Does this seem simple? Does it seem obvious? It can be very easy to point out a problem to someone else and then simply walk away. Collaborating on a solution with planned activities to improve the situation requires commitment and obligation. Make a conscientious effort to continually invest interest in understanding shortcomings and spend mutual energy for making improvements. Your direction will inspire motivation with positive direction.

______________________________________________________

Words of Wisdom

"The beatings will continue until the moral improves." - Anonymous (unless you have heard it)

"All your power is in your people. Your job is enabling everybody to contribute to their fullest." - Alan R. Mulally, Executive Vice President, Boeing

"If you don't understand that you work for your mislabeled 'subordinates', then you know nothing about leadership. You know only tyranny." - Dee Hock, founder and CEO, Visa International

______________________________________________________

About the Author:

John Mehrmann is a freelance writer and President of Executive Blueprints Inc., an organization devoted to improving business practices and developing human capital. http://www.ExecutiveBlueprints.com provides resource materials for trainers, sample Case Studies, educational articles and references to local affiliates for consulting and executive coaching.

http://www.InstituteforAdvancedLeadership.com provides self-paced tutorials for personal development and tools for trainers. Presentation materials, reference guides and exercises are available for continuous development.

You may distribute this article freely, print it, sell it, or include it as part of a package as long as it is intact, unchanged and delivered in the original format with acknowledgement to Executive Blueprints Inc.

Smart Managers Promote Sales Rivalries

2009-01-29T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Dr. Gary S. Goodman

To be a successful manager you have to devise ways to bump sales up to a higher level, sustain them, and then do it again and again.

This requires resourcefulness and an astute use of psychology.

Smart managers realize at least a few things:

(1) Money is a motivator, but once a seller reaches a certain peak, it's hard to use money, alone to get him to soar even higher.

(2) Status is a potent motivator, and as a reward, it costs surprisingly little. And the prospect of losing one's status, is also a motivator.

(3) Most salespeople are competitive individuals. A manager has to channel this drive constructively, or it will be expressed destructively, jeopardizing the entire team.

(4) A successful manager will have many personalities. One of them is the face he shows in sales meetings. Another is one that is customized to each seller on his crew, and that one always remains private.

One of the best ways to light a fire under your salespeople is to light two fires at once.

Set up a quiet rivalry.

I've done it by taking the number two or three producer aside and saying:

"You know, Mary, I have a lot of confidence in your abilities, and I think, potentially you can outsell Lou, and frankly, I'd love to see that happen. It would be good for him!"

Check her response. If she smiles slyly, you've got a cohort in this little bout. If she gives you a deer-in-the-headlights look, then ask her, "What do you think it will take for you to do it?"

At this point, she should get the hint that you're throwing down the gauntlet. She has been tapped to step into the ring, ready or not!

You can tell her exactly what it will take, day by day, for her to achieve the victory. Then, you can track it with her, informally, with smiles, nods, words of praise, and other short-term expedients.

Once the game is on, group dynamics and the ego of your sales leader will do the rest of the work.

You'll feel like boxing promoter, Don King, after he has lined up a match involving titans. All you have to do is take your ringside seat, and count the purse!

The Three Most Common Mistakes Sales Managers Make

2009-01-29T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Dave Kahle

In most organizations, sales managers are the essential bridge between the company's sales goals and the realization of those goals. The gritty day-to-day interactions between the sales people and their customers are frequently filtered through the perspective of the sales manager on their way up the ladder. And the aspirations and strategies of the company's management must be imprinted by the realism of the sales manager as they come down from above. Sales managers are the conductors who carefully orchestrate the tentative entanglement of the sales people with their management.

It's an incredibly important and difficult job. Unfortunately, it is often the most under-trained job in the entire organization. Instead of providing information on the best practices and processes of the job, most companies hope that their sales managers will have learned enough during their days as a field salesperson to provide some roadmap as to how to do this job well.

Alas, only a small percentage of untrained sales managers ever really figure it out, arriving by trial and error and after hours of study at the best practices of an effective sales manager. The overwhelming majority find themselves caught up in the urgencies of the moment, the tempting details of all the transactions, and the continuing onslaught of crises and are never able to set in place a systematic blueprint for their success.

The net result? Few salespeople are effectively managed. All parties: executive management, sales manager and sales people, bounce from one frustration to another. Company objectives are met frequently by happenstance, salespeople are not developed to their fullest potential and sales managers lurch from one crisis to another.

Certain common mistakes often arise out of this unhealthy situation. As a long-time consultant and educator of salespeople and sales managers, I frequently see these three most common maladies suffered by sales managers.

1. Lack of a focused sales structure.

This is such a foreign concept to many companies that the term itself is unfamiliar. The structure of a sales force consists of all the articulated and unspoken rules, policies and procedures that shape the behavior of the salesperson. It consists of such things as:

-the way sales territories are defined
-the way salespeople go about their jobs
-the way markets and customers are targeted
-the way salespeople are compensated
-the methods the manager uses to communicate with the salespeople
-the expectations for the sales force
-the training and development system of the company
-the expectation for information collecting by the salespeople
-the frequency and agenda for sales meetings
-the sales tools used by the salespeople
and countless other such things

A highly focused, well designed sales structure can be one of the company's greatest assets, as it ultimately shapes the behavior of the sales force.

Most sales structures, however, haven't come under the critical review of the company's management. Typically, the structure slowly takes shape over time. Decisions are often made with heavy input from the salespeople, almost always in response to a single event. These decisions slowly become codified into the company's written and unwritten structure.

As a result, many sales structures are vestiges of years gone by, the legacy of salespeople who may not even be with the company today.

Why do you have the sales compensation plan that you have, for example? Is it because you crafted a strategic plan that directly compensates the sales force for achieving the company's objective? Or, is it because... it's the plan you inherited?

Why do some salespeople come into the office every week? Is it because you have determined that this is the most valuable use of their time? Or, is it because... that's just the way some of them like to do it?

Why is it that some of your salespeople are highly organized, with well designed file systems and effective ways to track their interactions with their customers, while others continue to get by with scraps of paper and yellow pads? Is it because you have invested in a system that helps them become well-organized and information-savvy? Or, is it because... that's just how it's worked out?

Can you see the point? Many of these structural issues - spoken and unspoken rules about how the salesperson does the job - have evolved by the salespeople in response to their own specific situations.

And most sales managers are oblivious to the impact of these decisions on the productivity and effectiveness of the salesperson.

I recently had lunch with a friend -- an entrepreneur who had successfully started and run a number of businesses. As we were discussing the pros and cons of organizing a sales force for his latest venture, he remarked that he has learned how easy it is to gradually cede control of the company to the sales force. One decision at a time, made in response to the passionate plea of an individual sales person, would form, over time, the structure that governed the sales side of the business.

I was impressed with his insight. That very observation described the number one mistake that sales mangers make - they accept the historically evolved status quo for the structure, and don't invest time in focusing it to provide the environment for sales success.

2. Lack of regular and systematic direction and feedback for the salepeople.

The relentless attraction of the urgent, and the demanding shouts of the transaction, like the pleading of a toddler, have a tendency to overwhelm the time and attention of most sales managers.

Sales managers often have the best of intentions. For example, they may need to do a set of performance reviews by the end of the year. But there is this big presentation in one account to attend. And another account wants to complain about some issue to the sales manager. Yet another needs the manager's touch to smooth some feathers, etc. And they really do need to spend some time in the field with the new salesperson. And, and, and... the demands of the urgent once again force regular face-to-face discussions about expectations and results to the bottom of the "to do" list.

As a result, most salespeople are left directionless and provided with little feedback on how they are doing. Of course, we publish sales numbers, but there are lots of reasons why a set of numbers can be up, down or sideways above and beyond the impact of the salesperson.

What do you expect of this particular salesperson? And how well is he/she doing? In most surveys of what salespeople really want from their managers, "direction and feedback" are often at the very top of the list. It's one thing to talk about some account or some deal, it's quite another to speak to the core issues of "my performance."

Sales is an isolated job. It is not unusual for a salesperson to spend as much as 70% of the work week by himself. All that isolation often leads to anxiety and self-doubt which often expresses itself through complaints and finding fault with the company.

All this negative energy can be prevented by providing the salesperson with regular direction, specific expectations, and regular feedback.

The old saying, "Out of site, out of mind," is too often the operational description of the typical sales manager. The salespeople are out there somewhere, doing their thing, while the tyranny of the urgent often occupy the manager's time.

As a result, salespeople are not nearly as focused as they could be; they default to unhealthy thoughts; and they spend too much time expressing negative energy.

3. Lack of an organized training and development system.

No profession in the world expects the serious practitioners of that profession to figure it out by themselves. Quite the contrary. Every profession has determined some minimal acceptable course of study, and typically has some event which signals the entry into that profession. It is for this reason that teachers, Emergency Medical Technicians, and ministers are licensed; that attorneys must pass the bar exam; accountants must pass their certification exam, etc. Unfortunately, that is rarely true of salespeople. In only the leading companies is there some required course of study for entry-level salespeople, and some event which signifies the successful completion of that study and their entry into the profession.

To even think this way is so outside of the reality of most sales managers that I can almost hear half of the readers of this article snickering over their coffee. "Some standard for allowing people into the job?" Incredible thought. But if you don't insist on it, you'll continue to labor with hit or miss sales force where every hire is ultimately a shot in the dark.

No profession in the world expects that once someone has become qualified to enter the profession, they then no longer need to invest in their own development. And every profession has expectations of the practitioners' regular need to systematically improve himself or herself. Can you imagine a teacher who never attends an in-service training? A nurse who never invests in continuing development? A minister who never goes back to school? A doctor who never attends a conference?

Even if such lackadaisical professionals could keep their jobs, you'd not want them to have anything to do with your family. You'd never put your health in the hands of doctor who hadn't updated himself since med school. You'd not want your children taught by the teacher who hadn't learned anything since graduation. You'd never put your lawsuit in the hands of an attorney who had never bothered to keep current.

The examples can go on and on. But you get the idea. The professional who doesn't regularly invest in his own continuous development is relegated to the dregs of the market.

So, why is it that overwhelming majority of sales managers do not require regular and systematic involvement in continuous development events for their charges? It may be that they don't see their salespeople (or themselves) as professionals. Or, it may be that they have never thought about it that way.

Regardless of the reason, the reality of this malady is that the quality of the sales force is not nearly what it could be, if only the sales managers required some minimum standard for their entry-level people, and then regular and continuous development of those who were on the inside. The wise sales manager will assemble a system for the education and development of his salespeople.

While there are as many other management miscues as there are sales managers, these three are the most common. Address them, and you'll be well on your way to outstanding success in sales management.

About Dave Kahle, The Growth Coach®:

Dave Kahle is a consultant and trainer who helps his clients increase their sales and improve their sales productivity. Dave has trained thousands of salespeople to be more successful in the Information Age economy. He's the author of over 500 articles and five books. His latest is 10 Secrets of Time Management for Salespeople. His "Thinking About Sales" Ezine features content-filled motivating articles, practical tips for immediate improvements, useful resources and helpful tips to help increase sales. Join for NOTHING on-line at http://www.davekahle.com/mailinglist.htm.

You can reach Dave at:
The DaCo Corporation
3736 West River Drive
Comstock Park, MI 49321
Phone: 800-331-1287 / 616-451-9377
Fax: 616-451-9412
info@davekahle.com
http://www.davekahle.com

How To Genuinely Double Your Sales In 30 Days Without Advertising

2009-01-28T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Christine Sutherland

Individual sales people, as well as sales managers and business owners, all share the same concern. How to sell more without burning everyone out, or paying too much for marketing.

That's a dilemma that has certainly been solved, quite scientifically, and I'd like to share it with you now ...

Executive Summary

Everyone knows that 95% of businesses fail within 5 years. Not so many people realize that even in the top 500 businesses in the world, within 2 years if history is any judge, more than 50% of them won't be there!

So size is no guarantee of survival, let alone success. To survive, a business must continually grow its sales, and the only way it can do that is to remain relevant to the market, and retain the capacity to communicate its relevance in a meaningful way.

Whereas one of our previous reports covered this question from the business marketing perspective, this short report now looks at how the sales person should integrate his/her own activities in order to leverage the whole sales process!

It's true that the notes provided in this report are necessarily simplistic such a subject demands a book! But at least by reading you'll see the steps that are required, and you'll certainly be able to make positive changes that will result in a better understanding of what it takes to achieve your sales goals, together with some solid steps to get there.

You Need to Understand, Much More Precisely, What Parts of What You Do Actually Work

We have shown over and over again that in every business there is a Unique Selling Equation (USE) that provides a kind of secret recipe for success.

Via brainstorming, either in-house with your team, or perhaps even by sitting and analysing the return on each sales activities you engage in, you too can discover that predictive USE.

This automatically achieves 2 important agendas.

Firstly most sales people find they save an enormous amount of time that they were previously spending on unproductive activities. It's very important to literally dump activities that don't "earn their keep"!

Secondly, once you have an equation that gives a predictable result, you have complete control over sales levels.

Do the Important Things More Often

This might sound simple but in fact it actually describes a cycle:

Schedule it >>> Track it >>> Analyse it >>> Refine it >>> Schedule it, etc.

For this to work, it means that there must be a documented system and that system is inviolable. For instance if you have scheduled in a crucial activity like networking, you don't go booking a client for that time!

Why? Because if you keep allowing clients to book over the top of scheduled selling activities, you'll soon run out of clients! A client who doesn't understand that is sabotaging your business, and that's as bad as winning a client who doesn't pay!

Sure, from time to time it's a necessity, but only in an emergency, such as a client leaving the country and needing to see you NOW. Don't allow your schedule to be upset because you'll literally "ruin the recipe" for reaching your sales goals.

Do it Better

To be more effective you must, without doubt, commit to being a learner. In particular give your attention to:

Learning more effective ways to describe your product or service.
This means getting inside the mind of your client and really understanding the true reasons he or she is buying from you. It also means understanding and using the exact same language as the client. To get a better handle on this, take a look at our free report "Why Better Marketing Strategies Add Up to More Customers Calling YOU".

Learn to understand body language and other non-verbal communication from the client, so well that you can:

Gain fabulous rapport even with tough clients
Identify an objection coming even before the client is aware of it and "cut it off at the roots"
Respond appropriately to more and more subtle buying signals

Dump "closing" and substitute "wrap-ups" instead.
These are much more natural and respectful ways of completing the sales transaction. Trust me, people are sick to death of closes, which often didn't work anyway. In addition many of them were quite offensive to the intelligence of the listener!

Learn how to replace cold calling by finding out how to get masses of interested and qualified clients calling YOU.
There are so many strategies to achieve this, and I recommend the above report, as well as our article on intelligent networking, also available free from our web site, in order to achieve this step. It's much easier than you think!

It Doesn't Have to Cost a Fortune to Get This Knowledge!

Believe it or not, all of this and very much more is contained within what is the most up-to-date, and also the cheapest, book on intelligent selling that you could possibly consider buying. Hot off the presses is "How to Double Your Sales in 30 Days and Keep Doubling Them".

This incredible 127-page manual comes complete with assignments for your progress, case studies, trouble shooting, and even tracking pro-formas to get the quantification/systemisation part down pat.

If you want, you can even get on-line personalised help, not only from me but from a working party of peers. If you're a business owner or sales manager, there's even a special forum just for you to deal with issues relating to team management and development.

Take a look at the contents and see for yourself by visiting http://www.speedbusinessnetworking.com/speedbook.html/.

Please let me know what you think!

Christine Sutherland is the CEO of Speed Business Networking, a membership-based site dedicated to providing hands-on help to SME's who are seeking a more immediate and responsive alternative to expensive consulting services.

Finding A Sales Force That Pays For Itself

2009-01-27T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Willard Michlin

The elements involved in building a sales force, especially one that pays for itself and also adds value to any business, are many and varied. The whole purpose and direction of a sales manager needs to be directed to creating a sales force that causes the employing company to expand through increasing sales.

This is done by the following general steps: Training sales staff to be able to sell the company product in large volume; correcting how sales presentations are made; handling any customer flaps his sales people make; and then testing and hiring more sales people, to create an ever increasing sales force. This is a continual process that a sales manager must be doing to justify his existence. If he doesn't, the company cannot expand.

Training to make a good sales person

"Training them to be able to sell the company product in large volume." A very wise American philosopher once stated that all a salesman had to do was to continue to try to interest the customer and the customer would eventually buy, if the sales man continued to try to interest the customer! Like all great truths, they are 'obvious' once stated.

So, what does it take for a sales person to continue to try to interest a customer, no matter what objection the customer raises and despite the sales person's own impulse to 'give up' after a while? Lets look at the elements:

The sales patter: The first of these would be a successful sales patter. Here we are talking about getting a hold of someone or several people who are successful, at selling to customers, in the target industry, or a similar industry. Once such person(s) are found, you need to interview them to find out what they DO that made them a success. We are looking for the actions they take and the things they do, not what they think.

The best person to interview for this information is usually the most successful sales person, right there in the company, if one exists. Notes should be carefully made of the actions they take to get a sale and these notes should be very exactly written up and turned into a patter that can later be drilled on new and old members of the sales force.

Advertising and preparation: Next, a series of sale recruitment advertisements need to be created for the local newspaper. The receptionist of the company needs to be briefed on what to do when calls come in. The adverts need to be big enough to attract attention and have enough mystery in them so that people actually call in to find out what its all about.

The receptionist should understand that all she is doing with calls from the advertisements is routing them to the person doing this project. She does not answer questions about what the company is and what is being offered. She simply arranges for them to come in for an interview at a scheduled time or collects their phone numbers so that they can be called back and scheduled to come in, by someone else.

The interview: When applicants for the sales position come in, their interview is very specific and to the point. There are certain very specific criteria that are being looked for in a good sales person. The two main one are, (a) can they persist along a given course? (b) Are they are interested in people?

That is an easy statement to make, to be sure. However, to find such people requires very exact interview procedures. The first step is testing. We use a series of 3 tests. One of these provide a detailed look into the 10 most important job related traits such as Stability, Goal attainment, Composure, Certainty, Activity level, Aggressiveness, Responsibility level, Correct estimation, Appreciativeness and Communication level.

The other 2 tests measure an applicant's ability to solve problems and how well they are able to following instructions a vital test for anyone operating machinery where understanding and following instructions are very important!

With the results of the 3 tests, one only needs to ask the applicant questions regarding his past job failures, past job successes and when they first decided that they wanted to be in sales. These answers, compared to the results of the 3 tests tell the whole story and can really make it very easy to select applicants most likely to succeed as sales people.

How the compensation is done: For this project to be successful and actually pay for itself, the sales applicant needs to be hired under very specific financial conditions. They need to be hired on a draw + commission. This means that they get a low amount of money weekly for a certain period of time and if they do well, they should be producing enough sales to repay their draw and start making money quickly, for themselves as well as the company. How this is worked out is key to the success of the project. If this is not worked out correctly, sales people will either not start, not produce and stay too long and drain the company or quit before their training is effectively completed.

The mastery of the conversation: A successful sales person requires one skill above all others. This is the ability to guide and control a conversation. If he or she can guide and control a conversation, it is then possible to continue to try to interest the customer and be successful at it.

For a salesperson to do this one action well, an in-depth 3-day training on the basics of conversation and how to guide and control a conversation, is vital. Communication between people (conversation) have very certain and definite laws, which if followed, puts a sales person in total control of a conversation without making the other person feel like they are being controlled!

Drilling the sales patter: After the sales applicants have successfully mastered the art of controlling a conversation, they now need to be drilled on the successful sales patter. If a full day is devoted to drilling them on this and they are drilled to a point where they easily and smoothly deliver their patter, without referring to notes or becoming tongue-tied or embarrassed, then and only then, will they be ready for the next step.

Get them out selling: After the above steps are completed and your sales people are ready to 'hit the streets', they should be divided up into groups of 3 to 5 people with one of them being the sales manager of the group. They are then sent out to find customers and deliver their pitches (sales patter).

This should be done in such a way that there is not great pressure on the sales people for the first few days. Tell them to go out and practice on any customer they find. The objective is to get them comfortable delivering their patter.

They are given realistic targets to achieve and when they flub and do not get results, they are corrected and sent back out by the person that is overall in charge of this project.

Failures: Not all will make it through this line-up. Correct them as much as possible and if they cannot make it, turn them loose and concentrate on the others that are making it. As the sales manager you also need to work on starting new groups through the process. Continue these steps until you have all the sales people you need to really boost the company sales.

Personnel: The number of sales force trainers required to train the company sales manager on this procedure and help him build his sales force is only 2 people. They will need to work in the company for 30 days. One of these would be the person overall in charge of the project. He or she creates the sales advertisements, get the people in, does the tests on them, interviews them and decide which ones to hire. This person also does the corrections. The assistant does the conversation-control training; the successful sales patter drilling and help the lead trainer with the corrections of the sales teams.

Summary: An effective sale teams can be built that pays its own way, enhances the company sales and increases the value of any business. The key to it all is having a hiring method and training program for the sales people that follows the exact laws involved in guiding and controlling a conversation.

About The Author

Willard Michlin is an Investor, Business Broker, California Real Estate Broker, Accountant, Financial Distress Consultant, Well known Public speaker and Administrative/Business Consultant. He can be contacted at his Ventura, California office by calling 805-529-9854 or by e-mail at kismetrei@earthlink.net. See other articles by Willard at http://www.kismetgroup.com; kismetrei@earthlink.net

How To Write A Business Plan Sales Section For A Mobile Service

2009-01-27T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

We all agree one of the most important parts of any business is Sales. We also know that to get sales we must advertise to let potential customers know of our offerings. When writing a business plan you must have a clear and concise picture of how you will generate sales for your business if you are to attract favorable loans and proper capital to succeed. I cannot impress upon you enough of the importance of these sections in your business plan. So much so that I want to offer you this sample to assist you in writing your business plan for your next most important entrepreneurial endeavor.

You will need to print this article and then read the paragraphs below and of course modify them to fit you business model. Carefully describing how you will go about your sales and which methods of advertising you will use to bring in your customers. Then construct your own Sales and Advertising Sections for your business plan. My sample is for a mobile car wash business that is a franchise and is pretty straight-forward, it will give you ideas and insights to complete your own. Continued Success.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sales

We will initially use direct sales as our primary sales technique. We will casually walk into businesses and offer our services. Other forms of initial contact will include fax marketing, e-mail, flyer distribution, car wash fundraisers and car wash free-bee give aways. We will follow the franchisor's recommendations on sales lines that are updated periodically on cassette tapes. We will play these tapes in our work trucks so all crew members can close sales and up-sell customers instantly in the parking lots and offices.

We will also follow the franchisor's pricing policies. When we find something that works extremely well in our territory we will push those services. It is in the Franchise Circular and Franchise Agreement that we must charge no less than $5.00 for a basic exterior car wash. The other prices can vary. We intend to retain the highest possible profit in the services we provide. We want repeat customers, so we will find a happy medium for our clients (supply and demand).

For promotions we will continually:

Give out car wash door prizes at civic group meetings, bingo nights, chamber of commerce, etc.

Plan car wash fundraisers at least once per month for kids.

Fax out car wash discounts on poor weather days.

Sponsor civic programs such as Neighborhood Mobile Watch Program, Arson Watch Program, etc.

Advertising

Our advertising will be extensive. Our franchisor will help us achieve additional market penetration up to 1.2% of the population (based upon a population average of 40,000) for every truck we are using. Their advertising help will include some of the following:

Bidding On Government Accounts

Direct Mailings of Previous Customers

Fax On Demand

Fleet Sales Campaigns (Every Three Months)

Internet Home Page Referrals

Radio Packages

We will spend our local advertising dollars very carefully on things like: Booster Club programs for youth sports, flyers and inserts in newspapers. All of our flyers will have local advertising on the reverse side. This will offset most or all of the printing costs. Our franchisor has proven over and over that these are the best forms of advertising for mobile automobile services.

Marketing Funds Distribution Breakdown

Insert Chart.

Media

Free publicity has always been easy for those companies that have new concepts and flair. Our company will have ultra high visibility. Our truck(s) will be bright yellow, have large signs and perform high profile car washing fundraisers for non-profits groups. Our crews will be high energy young men and women. Here are some of the places we will submit pre-written stories and press releases:

Chamber Of Commerce Newsletters

Contractor Newsletters

Large Company Newsletters

Local BBS Bulletin Boards

Local Cable Companies

Local Industry News

Local Newspapers

Local Radio Stations

Real Estate Multi-Listing Books

Our franchisor will custom make public relations material in the event our preinstalled press release files in Microsoft Word are not applicable to the given situation.

Lance Winslow

The Value Of A Glengarry Sales Manager

2009-01-26T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Dr. Gary S. Goodman

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

He announces a contest.

First place, you win money.

Second place, you win steak knives.

Third place, you're fired.

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

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

I've worked with them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results, results, results, results!

That's all he'll accept.

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

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

NOBODY GETS INJURED HERE. THERE ARE NO ACCIDENTS HERE!

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

He never spoke of it.

I DIDN'T GET INJURED. NO ACCIDENT HAPPENED HERE.

The Glengarry sales manager just won't tolerate anything but victory.

TO BE SURE---there's something to be said for that!

Best-selling author of 12 books and more than 800 articles, Dr. Gary S. Goodman is considered a foremost expert in telephone effectiveness, customer service, and sales development. A top-rated speaker, seminar leader, and consultant, his clients extend across the organizational spectrum, from the Fortune 1000 to small businesses. He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Tracking Your Sales The Sales Managers Most Valuable Tool

2009-01-26T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

If you are a sales manager you need to have the company and the front line workers always ask customers who come in and buy; How did you discover our company. Have you ever filled out a customer survey and there is always a box or lines to fill out which ask; How did you hear about us. This is most essential for marketing purposes, but even more important it can be a sales managers greatest and most valuable tool.

Tracking your sells and how they come in is one of the most important things a business can do and it is difficult to track too. But knowing this can help you better target your sales teams on where they can do the most good. Where they can focus their efforts. This is why I always say that; "Tracking Your Company's Sales is the Sales Managers Most Valuable Tool." Now then if you put a bunch of boxes on a survey you will often find that the new customer will check the wrong box?

Perhaps you have done this after purchasing software. And you checked that you saw it on Television, yet the company does not advertise on TV at all. Most larger companies know that new customers put bogus information on questionnaire surveys, but some smaller companies do not.

It is better to ask each new customer to tell you the "Story" of how you came to learn about our company. And then you will get much closer to the truth of it and once you do that information is invaluable to your sales force and focus. Consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Sales Amp Marketing Plan Strategies

2009-01-25T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Kenny Nau

Design and Implementation of a new Sales & Marketing campaign must be carefully thought through from the beginning. What message do you want to send about your company, products, and services? What are the anticipated results? What is the execution strategy? What is the cost ratio versus expected return?

These are just a few of the questions that run through our minds in the early stages of planning. If your goal is revenue growth and expansion, I believe you need to design, develop, and implement your Sales & Marketing plan on that foundation. Here is some criteria to consider while planning:

Identify your markets and your profit potential in the selected markets

Segment your markets by customer, service, etc.

What type of penetration is desired: existing, new, different, or all of the preceding

Design a plan to include procedures and controls to monitor and evaluate market penetration by segment

Determine and build internal and external sales strategies

Evaluate and plan staff training to generate internal monitoring controls, evaluation processes, and customer education if necessary

Plan to control revenue growth with product mix, product promotion, and customer pre-qualification

Evaluate expected sales and then ratio numbers to your sales staff's current compensation package to see if consideration is needed for additional or different wage incentive programs

Design controls to evaluate, monitor, and drive the highest level of profit possible

Determine the type of media and then budget advertising accordingly

Develop a backup plan in case of immediate campaign disaster

The results of a well-balanced and executed Sales and Marketing campaign can be resounding. Constant expansion of products and services, market area, clientele types, etc. all contribute to the continued growth and success of any company. Plan your work and work your plan!

Kenny Nau Director of Sales
PLUSS Corporation
http://www.pluss.net

Raise Concern About Sales Competition Not About Yourself

2009-01-24T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Shamus Brown

As you are reading this sales article, read very carefully. Because I wouldn't want you to think of a pig right now. No, do not think of a fat, brown, smelly pig right this moment. What are you doing? Do you have a picture of a smelly, fat, brown pig in your head right now? I thought I just told you not to do that. What are you doing then?

The mind can only process positive statements directly. In order to process a negative statement, one must first create a positive representation of the negative statement in the mind. To *not* think of a pig, you first had to see a fat, brown, smelly pig. Only then could you attempt to tell yourself not to think about it. Gee, by now though you've already thought of the pig, so what good is it to tell you not to?

So how does this relate to sales and persuasion? Let's think for a moment. Have you ever said something to a prospect like this: "Don't worry about the strength of our widgets. I assure you we have the strongest widgets in the industry"? You just told the prospect that there is reason to be concerned about the strength of your widgets! This statement either planted the suggestion that there is reason to be concerned about the strength of your widgets, or it reinforced the belief that your widgets are weak. The prospect may have never even heard of the possibility that Zebox widgets are weak. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own perceptions, that we forget what its like to be an outsider new to our company, products and services. Language patterns like the above severely weaken you by needlessly drawing attention to your weaknesses.

Words to remember: "Say it the way you want it".

Are there times when negatives are useful? Sure. Let's say you want to draw your prospect's attention to the lengthy implementation effort of your competitor's product. You could say "Zebox Technologies Widgets take forever to get installed. Ours install much faster." This might work if you have a lot of rapport with the prospect. But if you are presenting to a group, or talking with someone you don't know well yet, you could annoy the prospect and lose credibility through this direct attack.

Here's a more effective indirect language pattern: "So you're also considering S Widgets? We'll don't worry about whether you can complete your project on time in 3 months. All of our widgets install in 30 days or less. Just ask our customers." Through the use of a negative, I have just raised concern about my competitor's installation time, whilst highlighting how my company meets their rapid installation time criterion. And I have avoided using a direct assault, helping to maintain rapport and respect with my prospect.

Say it the way you want it, unless a negative is just what you need.

Shamus Brown is a Professional Sales Coach and former high-tech sales pro who began his career selling for IBM. Shamus has written more than 50 articles on selling and is the creator of the popular Persuasive Selling Skills CD Audio Program. You can read more of Shamus Brown's sales tips at http://Sales-Tips.industrialEGO.com/ and you can learn more about his persuasive sales skills training at http://www.Persuasive-Sales-Skills.com/

How To Avoid A Cloned Sales Force

2009-01-24T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Bill Lee

When I accept a consulting assignment, I insist on administering psychological tests to each of the managers and salespeople in the organization before I arrive on site.

I am no stranger to psychological testing. I majored in clinical psychology in college, worked in a clinical environment in my first job following graduation and brought testing with me when I joined the business world.

Psychological testing is about the closest thing to a crystal ball I have found to predict future behavior.

Don't misunderstand me, psychological testing is not perfect. It is not as accurate as, say, a blood test. However, it is by no means inaccurate, either. In fact, when I review an employee's psychological testing results with them, most are amazed at how much insight I have into their strengths and weaknesses from the way they filled out the test.

In my company, we have tested over 44,000 people, so we believe our success models are second to none.

I believe you will agree with me that it's important that managers take hiring seriously. After all, most managers resist terminating employees long after they have given up on them. Plus, when you consider that personnel-related expenses make up between 60% and 70% of most company's total operating expenses, it just makes sense to take the time to do the job right the first time?.

In the absence of testing, most managers make hiring decisions based on their gut feelings. They also tend to hire people in their own image. This is not to say that there's anything wrong with the manager's image, but it is not wise to hire everyone with the same or similar psychological characteristics because this causes cloning. And cloning creates inertia in an organization.

Psychological testing probably won't tell you much about a person you won't learn after knowing them for six months to a year, but by gaining insight into a candidate's talent and temperament before you put them on the payroll, you will save yourself both a lot of heartaches and money.

While psychological testing is not dirt cheap, it's one heck of a lot less expensive than making a hiring mistake. All managers have learned that it costs thousands of dollars when a hiring mistake is made, and that doesn't count all of the lost opportunity. So compare that cost to a couple of hundred dollars for a series of pre-employment tests.

What's your track record been at changing people? If you're like most managers, you are a miserable failure when you try to persuade or browbeat someone into being someone they are not; that is, when you try to get people to operate against the grain.

We're all more effective at our jobs when we are able to be ourselves and operate with rather than against the grain. Here are some of the natural characteristics we look for when hiring salespeople who have the highest odds of turning out to be "keepers."

1. Personality characteristics. Anyone can sell, but the odds of sales success are the highest when you hire a salesperson with the following personality characteristics:

High drive
Outgoing and persuasive personality
Strong sense of urgency
High energy level
Attentive to detail
Innovative
Good verbal skills
A natural willingness to live up to commitments.

2. High economic values. This is especially true if your company pays its sales force all or in part via a sales commission. If salespeople are not "hungry" they will not be motivated by an opportunity to control their income.

3. Strong work ethic. Willing to work the hours necessary to get the job done.

4. Passionate about the profession of sales. Genuinely enjoys all aspects of selling, loves people and is willing to work hard on their sales skills.

5. Industry experience. Note that we've listed experience last, not first. A track-record of sales success increases the odds of success substantially.

When it comes to your sales force, it is especially important to make sure that you have the right people on the bus. Taking business away from the competition without having to resort to using price as a weapon is a lot easier when your people possess the right talent and chemistry to get the job done.

Bill Lee is author of "Gross Margin: 26 Factors Affecting Your Bottom Line" ($29.95) and "30 Ways Managers Shoot Themselves in the Foot" ($21.95) plus $6 S&H for the first book and $1 for each additional book. To order, see Shopping Cart at http://www.BillLeeOnLine.com

Sales Management Whats Involved Part 2

2009-01-23T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Jonathan Farrington

Management Skills

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

- An interest in individual needs and points of view

- Readiness to direct time and thought to analysing attitudes

- A sense of justice or fair dealing

- Respect for the personality of others

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

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

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

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

And finally let's identify the core competencies of the very best Sales Managers

The Attainment of Targets:

Always attaining targets by the time deadlines

Knowing what to do and doing it, when performance deviates from plan

Ability to Get Things Done:

A good "objective" setter, planner and above all controller

Always finishing what they start

Co-Operation:

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

Initiative:

Having both the desire and the ability to ornate and develop constructive ideas

A self-starter able to work with minimum brief

Dependability:

Really dependable, thorough and accurate in everything they undertake

The Selection of People:

Ability to meet manpower quotas and surround themselves with good people

Skilled at getting the facts and making good judgements

Delegation:

Produce results through others - as opposed to trying to doing everything themselves i.e. delegate wisely

Planning and Organising:

Have written down objectives and plan in detail HOW those objectives will be attained

Anticipate problems and plan HOW they will be overcome

Vision:

Ability to look well ahead, be a good forecaster and consider the future, its opportunities and problems that will have to be overcome

Creativity:

Able to generate ideas frequently and always be working out ways and means of 'doing it better'?

'Selling' Company Policies:

Absolutely loyal under all conditions and a 'Company Man/Woman'

Always 'sell' rather than 'tell'

Human Relations:

Possess the desire to develop from a "Boss" to a Leader

Ensuring that people enjoy working for them and being a good team builder

Developing Subordinates:

Always practicing what they preach

Using all opportunities to show their people the benefits to them of reading, analysing, practising and improving

Problem Solving:

A positive thinker

Able to quickly pinpoint problems, come up with solutions and get the action going

Technical Knowledge:

Have an exceptional understanding of their speciality area and continually striving to improve that knowledge and keep up-to-date

Management Knowledge:

Have a sound knowledge of modern management techniques applicable to their field and continually developing themselves in this area

Knowledge of Policies:

Have a complete understanding of company policies and procedures

Common-Sense:

Have a highly mature approach to most situations, have and exercise a great deal of commonsense

Enthusiasm:

Possess a zest for the job and always seen to be enthusiastic Smile easily and have a positive, eager and responsive attitude

Ability to Work Under Pressure:

Be able to maintain enthusiasm and good attitudes when the going is tough

Summary

Pick up a typical report and what words do you find? Verbs like analyse, forecast, plan, assess and schedule are used in pursuit of organisations that are efficient, productive and predictable. What set of people are required? Obviously, people who are efficient, effective, proficient, competent, productive and co-operative. But we believe we need to go beyond we need to be inspired, motivated, creators, who are enthusiastic and able to consistently deliver against our key objectives. We should be developing individuals who are not afraid to challenge paradigms, who are prepared to go that extra yard in search of excellence and who understand that success is 80% attitude and only 20% aptitude.

For a group of people to remain "consciously competent" at optimum performance levels, they require frequent injections of stimulation, motivational guidance and prompting otherwise they can easily lapse into" unconsciously competent", or worse, "unconsciously incompetent"

The primary objective of a professional Sales Manager has to be: "To achieve consistently superior results, through the performance of every key individual."

The moral right of the author, Jonathan Farrington, has been asserted. All rights reserved. This publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system or otherwise, unless this notification of copyright is retained.

Jonathan Farrington is a business coach, mentor, author and consultant, who has helped hundreds of companies and thousands of individuals around the world achieve their full potential and consequently, optimum performance levels.

Prior to setting up his own consultancy, Jonathan earned his spurs succeeding in some of the most demanding and competitive market sectors. Challenging assignments took him from the Middle East and Africa to Europe and the USA, providing him with the opportunity to work with a number of the largest and most successful international corporations including: - IBM, Wang, Legal and General, Andersen Consulting, Litton Industries and The Bank of Tokyo.

In 1995, Jonathan formed jfa with the primary objective to deliver unique leadership and sales team development programmes to both the corporate and SME sectors. Since then, he has authored in excess of three hundred skills development programmes, designed a range of unique and innovative process tools and written extensively on organisational and sales team development. www.jonathanfarrington.com

Salary Or Commission Which Is Better

2009-01-23T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Claude Whitacre

Years ago, I had a conversation with a friend who was thinking of getting a job in sales. He asked me which I thought was better, Salary or Commission. This was my answer.

"Here's what a salary is: an agreement between you & your employer that they will pay you a certain sum per hour. Let's say $10 an hour. Your work will make your employer much more than $10 an hour, or you'll lose your job. So the agreement is; Your employer will pay you the FIRST $10 an hour that you earn for him. and he keeps the rest." Friend- What do you mean 'The rest'?"
Me- "If you get paid $10 an hour, but you generate less than $10 an hour in profits to your employer, how long do you keep your job?"
Friend- "Not long, I guess"
Me- "Right, in fact most employers make a multiple of your salary off your results. They have to, if they want the business to grow"
Friend "That almost seems unfair"
Me-" Actually, it's completely fair. If you agree to work for a specific amount & they give it to you, how can it be 'unfair'?"
Friend- "So what's so great about commission?"
Me- " This, You know the employer that pays you $10 an hour? He's on commission. Every CEO of a company, every self-employed person, every farmer, every landlord, almost every wealthy person in the world works on the profits of their work, we call it a commission"
Friend-"You make commission sound better"
Me-"It is better. You ever hear of someone getting promoted to 'Partner' in a business?"
Friend-"Sure"
Me-" The person was making a salary. When they become a partner, they now get a share of the company's profits; A 'Commission'. Commission is a Promotion. Commission is more"

That ended the conversation. It would make a better story if I knew what happened to my friend. I really don't know. We lost touch after that. But years later my Brother-in-Law asked me where I was employed.
I said "I'm not employed"
He said "You don't have a job?"
Me-"No, I have eight employees. They have jobs. I have a Company" That felt pretty good.

"Sign-up now for my FREE Retail Marketing course "Unfair Advantage Retail Strategies". You'll get retail advertising and retail selling ideas you can use today. About once a week, I'll provide you with valuable retail marketing strategies that have been proven and tested,(mostly by me). http://www.claudewhitacre.com

Sales Management And Managing Sales

2009-01-22T05:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

For those engaged in sales management and trying to control a group of self-starter type sales people you can just imagine how hard it is. In all the commotion, chaos and controversy they have to manage in shear terror of handling all that is coming at them.

Indeed sales management is not for everyone and managing sales is certainly not as easy as it looks, nor is it suppose to be really. Managing on-going sales efforts for a fast moving company, which is fully engaged takes a lot of savvy, strategic planning and a love of the never ending fast-paced game.

It is not for the weak and you certainly do not want to put anyone in that position in your company who is of low self-esteem or without a strong sense of personal character. Quite frankly a team of sales people would eat them for lunch and spit out the bones and they would be running your sales department and eventually be serving their own self-interests rather than the forward progression and profitability of the company.

The go between we call sales management and manages sales is a special type of person and they are an instrumental part of any company. Sales Management folks who manage sales for your company must be of the highest integrity and must work for the company, the sales people and the sale. Consider all this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Leadership How To Turn The Vision Into A Reality

2009-01-22T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Gina Gardiner

Be clear about where you are now. Audit your strengths and areas for development

Where do you want to be?

What needs to be done to eliminate the gap between your dream and the reality?

Prioritize Look for quick wins, consider those things which will have maximum long term impact. Build solid foundations, think of sustainability!

Set challenging but realistic targets. Aim high.

Communicate the vision, and keep doing so. Ensure that all stake holders understand and subscribe to the vision.

Who do you need to involve? How will you ensure they sign up to and stay committed to the vision?

Think about the language you use sound positive, if others think you are confident it can be achieved they will gain confidence too. Develop a "Can do" mentality within the staff. For every problem there is a solution, encourage others to see themselves as problem solvers not problem givers.

Create clear lines of communication which operate at every level and in all directions.

Break each priority down into small achievable steps, involve the team.

Who needs to do what by when? Set a timetable

Identify the roles and responsibilities for all staff; ensure that staff take ownership without creating a "jobs worth" approach.

Ensure that people are appropriately trained and that training is updated.

Build in the monitoring and review process from the start so you can evaluate performance and be prepared to adjust as necessary. (By creating a culture of development rather than blame huge potential will be released.)

Celebrate success; remember to thank people for their contribution. The best leaders give credit to the team.

Develop professional honesty within the staff, constructive feed back can be invaluable.

Educational Consultant, writer and life-coach Gina Gardiner loves working with others supporting them to make the best of their potential.

Gina was the Head Teacher (that is Principle) of a large, very successful Beacon school on the outskirts of London for over 20 years. The development of people has been central to the school's success and her passion.

Gina has a huge interest in education, she has led a wide range of training and facilitation activities with individuals, schools and other organisations, In her work as coach/mentor she supports people at individual or organisational level to develop confidence, leadership and people skills and effective delegation; empowering them to see themselves as part of the solution. If you would like to know more email: gina.gardiner@ntlworld.com

Gina Gardiner is also the author of "Live Well Eat Well With Celiac Disease" in this book she writes from first hand experience of being a celiac. For more information go to http://www.celiacliving.com

How Can You Know The Prospects Real Intent

2009-01-21T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Tim Connor

Intent and intention seems to be a hot topic these days. Wayne Dyer has a book on the power of intention, Brian Klemmer has a book on intent and I am sure there are more out there that I haven't read yet. Why is this such an important topic today? Is it more important than it was twenty years ago? Let's take a brief look at this critical area with a focus on the intentions of your customers.

What is intent? Is it goals, plans, dreams or hopes or is it something more, something deeper? Webster defines it as: firm, steadfast, fixed or directed. Having the attention sharply focused. I'd like to give you my definition: Intent is doing what you say you are going to do. You plan to lose twenty pounds and you do it. You plan to save 10% of your income and you do it.

What causes people to not do what they say they are going to do? Could be hundreds of reasons but here is one. They really don't mean what they say. Why? Are they fooling themselves? Are they not in touch with their own strengths and weaknesses? Here is the key. Whenever someone says they are going to do something and they don't, there is always an opposing intent involved that is stronger than the stated intent. It's that simple.

Let's look at the disconnect between what prospects and clients say vs. what they actually do.

-I'll call you on Tuesday afternoon. They don't call. Did they really not plan to call you when they said they would? Or, did some unforeseen project, activity, emergency or anything more important get in the way?

Often people who make promises or commitments can't always control the circumstances that may prevent their doing what they said they would. I'll send you the Purchase Order on Friday. The following Friday and still no PO. Maybe the person who made the commitment really didn't have the authority to make the commitment to you. Ah Ha! Here is the crux of dealing with intent in sales.

It is critical that you know whether the person making the promise to you has both the authority and the willingness to follow-through on their commitment. If not, don't act surprised when it doesn't happen.

Too often salespeople are willing to accept any promise or commitment a prospect or customer makes without probing further to ensure that there is both the authority and willingness behind the stated intention.

If a prospect doesn't follow through on a promise and you act surprised shame on you.

Why not look carefully at your reaction to commitments your prospects or customers make and your typical responses to these.

Do you just accept them at face value?

Do you challenge them?

Do you ask further probing questions to peel away the layers of the onion that may be protecting or hiding the truth?

Some people actually know that when they are making a commitment to you they have NO intentions of honoring it. Why? Maybe they are just subtly telling you that they are not really a prospect for you. Maybe they have an inflated view of their authority or power within their own organization. And maybe, they just lie a lot. Who knows. My point is, that every minute or hour that you spend wondering whether they are really going to call or you spend hoping they will is time spent in La La land.

Here are a couple of examples of follow-up questions you can ask when someone makes a promise of action to you.

- What could prevent you from calling me back? Getting the PO out on Friday? Whatever.

- On a scale of 1-10 where would you place your commitment to (either of the above). Why did you

choose that number?

-If I don't hear from you or get the PO what action would you like me to take on your

behalf?

This is just a start. Develop some questions or strategies of your own that you are comfortable with and will work at getting to the real intent.

If you don't have the skill, courage or willingness to take follow-up action on a stated intention from a prospect or customer then I suggest you may as well just get comfortable with wasting time and energy.

Tim Connor, CSP is an internationally renowned sales, relationship, management and leadership speaker, trainer and best selling author. Since 1981 he has given over 3500 presentations in 21 countries on a variety of sales, management and relationship topics. He is the best selling author of over 60 books including; Soft Sell, That's Life, Peace Of Mind and The Male Gift Giving Survival Guide. He can be reached at tim@timconnor.com, 704-895-1230 or visit his website at http://www.timconnor.com.

Praise Others Daily

2009-01-21T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Kurt Mortensen

Sincere praise and compliments can have a powerful effect on people. Praise boosts one's self-esteem. When you genuinely give praise, it releases energy in the other person. When you receive sincere compliments or praise, you get a smile on your face, your spirits soar, and you have a new aura about you.

I think of all the funerals I have attended, and how all of them ended with beautiful eulogies. Why do we have to wait until someone is dead to say something nice about them? As Ra1ph Waldo Emerson put it, "Every man is entitled to be valued by his best moments." Men will sacrifice their lives for praise, honor, and recognition. We crave and yearn for a boost to our esteem. We all wear an imaginary badge that says, "Please make me feel important." It is criminal to withhold our praise when we see someone, especially children, do great and honorable things. Yet then when they do something wrong, we jump down their throats. Have you ever thought about how we would never think of physically harming someone or depriving them of food and water, yet often without reservation we hurt someone emotionally or deprive them of love and appreciation? George Bernard Shaw said, "The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them." We should make it a habit to give genuine praise to someone every day. Don't wait for a reason or for something big to happen. Be generous with your praise. Praise makes others more open to persuasion.

Always be sincere. Even the most cunning flatterer is ultimately detected and discovered. Complimenting someone sincerely for something small is better than complimenting someone insincerely for something big and grand. If, instead of being constantly self-focused, we are attentive to others, we will always find building moments where we can deliver honest and sincere praise. Even Napoleon figured out that men will die for blue ribbons. Men will sacrifice their lives for praise, honor, and recognition.

Often it is more effective to praise the specific act rather than the person. This way, your praise is attached to something distinct and concrete. It is harder to be interpreted as flattery or favoritism when there is a specific and concrete thing you have praised. General compliments may have temporary effect, but can incite jealousy from others and create even more insecurity in the recipient because that person is often not really sure what they did to deserve the compliment. Then they feel pressure to live up to the standard you have set, even though they're not sure how or why it was set. They may even subconsciously fear that you will retract the praise because they don't know how to keep it.

Things really backfire when that person feels mistrustful toward you. Did you ever witness coworkers gathering to complain after a "pep rally" with the boss? Instead of feeling inspired and motivated, everyone griped about how the boss was full of it. Of course, during the meeting, everyone played along, but when all was said and done, not only did they think that the boss was full of it, but they began to wonder about their superior's personal agenda.

So how do you effectively give someone a compliment they can live up to without feeling anxiety? Instead of barking at your assistant, "Why haven't you finished these files?" say, "Thank you so much for helping me get these files done! I know I can count on you get them done in a timely manner." Because the latter statement incorporates your assistant's behavior into how you view her, you can be sure she'll follow through. Consciously or subconsciously, she will want to maintain the apparent image you have of her. Consequently she will continue that pattern of behavior so as not to disappoint you. As a manager or supervisor, your responsibility to praise and recognize your employees is paramount.

Regularly communicate the organization's changing objectives and priorities and show employees you feel they are important enough to be aligned with your goals. Invite new ideas from workers, stressing that there are always better ways to do every task. Trust workers by delegating responsibilities that give growth opportunities. Check with employees to determine what extra time or equipment they need, and work to provide them with these requests. Be fair to all. Playing favorites undermines morale. Praise each employee for any job well done; doing so orally is okay, but putting it in writing is even better. Want to know another plus? Sincere praise costs your organization absolutely nothing!

The Other Side Of The Profit Coin

2009-01-20T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by T.J. Schier

If your dayshift manager came to you and asked for more employees or to start an incentive program, would your response be, "Not if it costs me more money..."? If it might, this column is for you.

Let's take the adding labor issue first.
Say you want to lower service times. You figure it will require adding another cashier during peak times. Your numbers look like this: 3 extra hours of labor x $7 extra per hour in wages= $21 extra per shift. Now before you scoff at the idea of shelling out an extra $21, take a hard look at the numbers, engage in some analysis before writing off the idea.

Here's how: Track sales for the three hours with the additional cashier, and keep an eye on the check average. If your team serves 10 extra people per hour, each whose check averages $5.50, you could tack $165 more in sales for the three hours. Not bad for a 12.7 percent investment. That scenario doesn't even touch on the service implications service of adding another staffer. A few extra seconds between each customer frees cashier to actually use some of that suggestive selling training you've spent thousands on.

Use the additional dollars towards your fixed costsutilities, salaries, etcand raise the bottom line. What initially might have seemed like an expense has now become a revenue-generating asset and a valuable lesson in ROI.

Now let's look at incentives.
One of the most effective motivators of performance is offering a tangible sign of appreciation. Incentives fall into this category.

Designing an incentive contest where the cashiers earn one point towards a prize for every incremental dollar they generate is a no-risk proposition since employees only receive 'points' when they generate sales above the current average. Such contests are self-funding. You only pay for prizes when performance exceeds current levels.

For example: an employee who after 200 orders has an average check of $5.90, or $0.40 above the store's $5.50 average, earns 80 points for an additional $80 in sales. After five shifts of this performance, said employee will have earned you an extra $400 in sales and him/her 400 points. Spend 20 bucks on a gift card; you'll still walk away with $380 profit. If you know of a better way to turn $20 into $380, please write.

The above program not only offers an opportunity to give employees daily reinforcement of their performance (earning points), but also has a long-term, continuous impact as they save their points toward a prize.

You can use a similar approach to lower costs. Give the kitchen staff points for keeping food costs within a certain range. (But don't set that range too low. You don't want people cutting corners to earn a prize.)

Managers seem to have an innate desire to cut labor to save money, despite evidence that says it is a short-term payoff that could be damaging to service. Instead encourage your management team consider other options. "Need to add another employee? Fine, we need to see X result on the sales and profit lines." Teaching your in-store management team to focus on profitability analysis in this manner allows them to do determine the best way to spend their time and your money.

Profitability needs to be trained. Often times, managers focus on one P&L line without seeing the big picture. Suggestive selling might raise food costs, but it might also increase sales. Many managers may not see beyond the food cost line, however. Educating and training your staff to see beyond initial costs enables them to make sound decisions to drive the top and bottom lines.

If you want to cut costs, instead of capping sales and understaffing the kitchen, keep an eye out for wasted condiments, cleaning supplies, and so on.

Focus on driving more dollars into the register by teaching your staff and management a new train of thought. After all, the front line determines how much goes to the top line and how much makes it to the bottom line.

T.J. Schier is service professional, consultant and speaker with over 20 years experience in operations and training. Founder and president of Incentivize Solutions and podTraining, T.J. has helped numerous clients enhance their service and training programs and spoken to tens of thousands of managers, franchisees and operators in various fields. Visit http://IncentivizeSolutions.com/ for more info motivating today's employees, training today's generation and delivering outstanding guest service; or http://podTraining.us/, a unique new system and the foundation of 'i-learning' - using the device of today's generation, the iPod - to train your workforce.

What Is Sales Force Automation

2009-01-19T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Angela Tidwell

Sales Force Automation, also known as SFA, is a technique of using software to automate the day to day business tasks of sales, including order processing, contact management, sharing information, inventory monitoring and control, order tracking, customer management, sales forecast analysis and employee performance evaluation. SFA may be used in conjunction with CRM; however you should note that CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is not the same as sales force automation, they are in fact different terms altogether.

The Sales force automation (SFA) application is able to provide businesses with much better results than they would otherwise have. When searching for Sales Automation solutions it's infinitely important that the application you choose is comprehensive and easy to customize. Another benefit of SFA is that Sales Representatives can spend more time making the sale and less time in the administrative process, which is a big plus. It enhances the ability to manage time more effectively and allows for a better sales management program.

This technology can help your sales force better manage contacts, be more organized, and generate higher sales. If growth is part of your company agenda, then sales force automation is one of the best investments you could make for your company. Productivity and a good supply of qualified leads are important and companies are able to benefit much from the automation of their sales force.

Sales Force Automation (SFA) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM), have come a long way over time and it seems to be going back to a closer association with its roots. SFA is appearing everywhere in industry guides and in company marketing materials with a much higher frequency than it used to. Individuals are beginning to realize how important SFA and CRM are to their productivity and its ability to increase their profit base.

Any good sales rep knows the value of a good personal data assistant and new products that provide contact management have become every sales rep's best friend. That PDA that now has all your contacts, calendar, and memos, was made possible by contact management software. The same thing is being done with SFA as well. All in all, Sales force Automation is a cutting edge technology you can utilize for your own business.

http://www.emaximation.com

Managing Your Prospects Funnel Management As A Critical Component To Your Success

2009-01-18T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Marvin Himel

Bob Fitzpatrick was one of the most intense managers I have ever met. When he hired me at Lanier, he interviewed me from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. After the interview I went home and collapsed in the bed. Three months after Bob hired me I was the number one salesperson in his Southeast Region.

One day he flew into Panama City, Florida from Atlanta to ride in the field with me. His visit was unannounced so I just followed my regular schedule for that day. It was a Tuesday and our first stop was at one of my prospects that had a copier on trial. The prospect was the Pinnacle Port Condominiums twenty-six miles from our office. When we walked in the door I was greeted by the receptionist and told to go on back. I introduced Bob to the manager and the first words out of his mouth were, "I see more of Marvin than most of my employees." After we left Pinnacle Port we went to the Panama City Beach Police Station. As soon as we walked in, the officer on duty told us to go on back. I then introduced Bob to the Police Chief, Lee Sullivan. His first comment to Bob was, "I see more of Marvin than most of my officers."

On that one day in the field, we visited five companies and, completely unsolicited by me, they all said basically the same thing: I was there more than most of their employees. When I was driving Bob to the airport at the end of the day, he looked at me and jokingly said, "Marvin, people don't buy from you because they like you. They buy from you to get rid of you."

In every situation I had continued to add value by having a face-to-face meeting with every prospect at least once a week. At each meeting I made sure I had a legitimate reason to be there. I closed every one of the sales we visited that day.

Where prospecting ends, territory management begins. How you manage your territory, or your base of prospects, will determine how successful you are.

One of the greatest problems most salespeople have is losing track of prospects. This is especially true if the prospects are not going to buy in the near future. This is why salespeople have a tendency to experience peaks and valleys when it comes to sales performance. Salespeople work hard to close their hot prospects and then have to turn around and find more.

FACE-TO-FACE PROSPECT CONTACT

The only effective way to manage your relationships with your prospects is face to face. I understand this can be challenging for salespeople with large geographic territories. A great rule of thumb is that to maintain a greater than seventy-five percent closing ratio, you need to maintain face-to-face contact with your prospects. If you cannot maintain a face-to-face contact with your prospects, then your closing ratio will probably fall to less than thirty-five percent.

ADD VALUE ON EVERY CALL

Every time you meet with a prospect you should add value. Make sure you never find yourself in a position of calling on a prospect just to see where they are in their decision making process. Some examples of adding value are:

Ø Bringing a solution to a problem they may be having.

Ø Providing the prospect with additional relevant information such as an article.

Ø Introducing an additional resource such as an engineer.

Ø Giving a prospect an appropriate gift.

Ø Involving an outside vendor or strategic partner.

THE BEST DIFFERENTIATOR

A large number of face-to-face meetings with a prospect are the best way to differentiate yourself from your competition.

An interesting phenomenon occurs when you increase the number of face-to-face meetings that you have with qualified prospects. Our research has shown that the closing ratio increases an average of eight percent per additional face-to-face meeting. Below are the typical increases in closing ratio for each additional visit.

*Important note The closing ratios listed below are for qualified prospects.

Number of face to face meetings Closing Ratio

Three to Four	                                25%  Five						33%  Six						40%  Seven						45%  Eight						50%  Nine						60%  Ten						65%  Eleven						70%

After eleven visits the closing ratio will typically remain at about seventy-five percent. WHO IS A QUALIFIED PROPECT?

When I first got into sales, I was introduced to an acronym that has always helped me to determine whether a prospect was qualified or not. You are dealing with a qualified prospect if you can answer positively to the three criteria listed below.

Money does the prospect have a budget to buy your product and can the prospect afford the product?

Authority Are you in contact with someone who will be making the decision to purchase?

Need Does the prospect have a need for your product that will force the prospect to buy within a reasonable time frame?

If you can yes to these questions then you are dealing with The MAN and you are dealing with a qualified prospect.

HOW DO YOU KEEP TRACK OF YOUR PROSPECTS?

To manage your prospects and your territory, you need a system. The system needs to be simple and effective. One of the best territory management systems is the funnel. A funnel allows a salesperson to track prospects and move them forward in the sales process.

THE PROBLEM WITH MOST SALE FUNNELS

The problem with most sales funnels is that they do not force the salesperson to take action. Prospects end up sitting in a salesperson's funnel until they close or the salesperson takes them out. A typical sales funnel is set up based on an individual prospect's status.

WHAT TYPE OF FUNNEL SHOULD YOU USE?

An effective funnel should force a salesperson to take action. The prospects should be added to the funnel, not based on what the salesperson has done, but where the prospect is in their buying process. If I meet with a prospect today and they tell me they are going to buy next week I need to treat them differently than a prospect who is going to buy twelve months from now. How often I see a prospect needs to be determined by when they are going to buy, not whether I have qualified or proposed them.

ASSIGNING PRIORITY TO A PROSPECT

If a prospect is ready to buy right away then they need to be given more attention than a prospect that will not be buying for a long time. The problem is that most salespeople lose track of their prospects that are going to buy right away. The solution is to place your prospects in a funnel that assigns them priority based on when they are going to buy. Also included in the decision, is to place a priority level on a prospect by how qualified they are for your product. When you are managing your territory you should always strive to have a large number of prospects in your funnel that meet your minimum standards for investing a substantial amount of time. Listed below are some qualifiers for deciding on a prospect who meets your minimum standards:

Ø Revenue potential of the sale.

Ø Creditworthiness of the prospect.

Ø Where the buying decision will be made.

Listed below is a system for assigning value based on when a prospect, which meets your minimum standards, is going to buy.

Prospects Buying Time Frame Priority Assigned

Now to Three Months A

Three to Six Months B

Six Months to One Year C

WHAT DOES THE PRIORITY MEAN?

The priority you assign a prospect determines the amount of time and attention you focus on that prospect. It can also help you determine the amount of internal resources you should allocate to the prospect. Eliminating prospects, which do not meet your minimum standards, from your funnel is critical.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU SEE A QUALIFED PROSPECT?

Once you have assigned a priority to a prospect, it is easy to decide how often to see them. Let's go back to our closing ratio chart. If you see a qualified prospect a minimum of eleven times your closing ratio will be seventy five percent. Most major purchases in the United States have a minimum of a twelve-week selling cycle. The chart below outlines how often you should see a qualified prospect:

Priority of Prospect Frequency of face-to-face meetings

A Once per week

B Every other week

C Once per month

If you set these as your minimum standards then you are virtually guaranteed a seventy-five percent closing ratio.

DESTRUCTION PRECEEDS CREATION

I recently consulted with a company that sells telephone systems. In one of our first sales meetings we all agreed to the minimum standards for a qualified prospect, including potential revenue of $10,000. I then met with each salesperson to review their funnels. One of the first salespeople I met with was a young go-getter by the name of Marcus. Marcus came into our meeting extremely excited because he had worked hard to fill his funnel with accounts. He had fifty-three accounts in his funnel. The first thing I did was eliminate fifty-one of them. He only had two prospects in his funnel that had potential revenue of $10,000.

The good news for Marcus was that he now had time to concentrate on the two qualified prospects in his funnel. Two weeks later, he closed a large law firm for over two hundred thousand dollars in revenue.

As Marcus came to realize, if you focus on fewer, better-qualified accounts, your results will be much greater.

Marvin Himel has over 24 years of business and sales experience. Currently, Marvin is the president of Tiger Systems, a sales training company that specializes in the document imaging industry. To contact Marvin, call 904.242.9650, email marvin@cpedge.com

Disclosure Laws Favor International Terrorists

2009-01-18T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

The Federal Trade Commission has rule that are supposedly in place to protect franchise buyers from fraud from franchisors who might attempt to mislead them into purchasing a franchise. Part of the franchise rules are addressing required disclosure paperwork. In this disclosure document, which is required to be given to franchisees 10 days before any purchase is made are the names, addresses, phone numbers of all franchisees in the system. For smaller home based franchises this means home numbers, addresses and personal information.

I am very concerned about our company, The Car Wash Guys and the possibility that International terrorists might use our mobile car wash trucks as tools to distribute biological weapons. We use trucks and trailer units that have capacities in excess of 600 gallons and low volume, high-pressure sprayers. Our team has washed cars at office buildings, military bases, mass transit districts, rent a car companies, airports, malls, QSRs, grocery stores, shipping and distribution yards, truck stops, parking structures, golf courses, media buildings, etc, etc. We wash things like shopping carts, wheelchairs, school buses, trucks, aircraft, boats, awnings, concrete, decks, playground equipment, etc, etc. In a single day our crews may be at 10-20 locations, in a week each truck/crew maybe as many as 120 locations, throughout a given city. And we have set up franchises in 23 states so far and that means in a lot of cities. What concerns me here is this:

In our UFOC (Uniform Franchise Offering Circular) there is a list of franchisees, with names, addresses, phones numbers, and areas. It contains the perfect information of everything an evil-doer needs, except a map of how to get to the franchisees location. Even of more concern. Many of our franchisees own multiple trucks (units) and many park such units at their homes. They are not guarded they are just parked there. Someone could easily walk up and put something inside of the tank and walk away and our franchisees would then be spraying chemicals of mass destruction all over the city the next day. That would be bad. Not only from a franchisor's stand point and damage of brand name, but also from a stand point of what damage it could do to America. I am not alone in this problem. Think about TrueGreen ChemLawn, Pest control franchises, etc. We are all at risk, yet nobody is thinking there.

We have set up special precautions to protect our Water Supply Tanks, have other franchisors? I believe it is up to each franchise system to do a RISK EVALUTION of such things, put it in writing and protect ourselves and our franchises. The franchising community, together can do our part. Think about the idea of a direct mail franchise company, there are many like Money Mailer, Coupon Clipper, etc. Additionally; I propose a simple idea. Delete the section of the UFOC with listings of franchisees, names, areas and addresses. Until a more final phase of the sale and after the franchisor receives a ten-year background check from the prospect. Or perhaps only if it is asked for from the prospect in writing later. Putting out a list of everyone who owns a ChemLawn truck in the country is just stupid right now. How about the name brands which are American icons, like McDonalds. After all last time they went after AMERICAN AIRLINES and UNITED AIRLINES. I have already had competitors who pretended to be a prospect, later dump hydrofluoric acid in the tanks of one of my franchisees a couple of years ago to cause him to damage the paint on customers car so he could pick up an account from an auto dealer our franchisee washed for. We did not figure out what happened for quite a while and only learned of it after the damage and an employee of the competitor became disgruntled and told us. What if that were anthrax?

Even more scary is the fact that I had several former franchisees who were Muslim, who often discussed their despise of our government. Which I guess was probably them exercising their free speech, which is allowed of course, yet now it does not seem so innocent. There are so many franchises out their that have free access to facilities, such as; Shred It, AmeriSpec, American Leak Detector, Environmental Biotech, Merry Maids, Service Master, Terminex, ChemDry. I have personally seen the ease at which our company transverses through airport fencing, security gates, etc. They see the truck and the uniformed employee and wave us forward. Now think about this problem, our team without knowing it could deliver a bio weapon simply by an evil-doer dumping something in a tank. Very few lawn companies or termite pest control companies lock their tanks, I know this because our company washes these trucks, and rarely are their any locks on the tanks. The smaller the franchisee the more unaware they might be. Are all these companies sure they have trustworthy employees, and even if they are, do they secure and lock tanks and vehicles? Not just parked behind a fence, anyone can scale a fence. If an evil-doer is willing to die for his cause, I doubt if a fence will slow down or stop him/her. An evil-doer could also order services and hijack the truck or unit. Remember in San Francisco when Thieves would order a pizza from Dominos and then shoot and kill the delivery driver for the $50.00 in cash on him? There are so many ways to use a franchised unit to do these things. We must protect the franchise model, reputation of brand name and the American people. We should not make it easy by giving away all this information freely for no real reason. That would only hurt all franchisees of any system all over the country. The American Federation of Scientists announced that it deleted 500 pages of sensitive information on their initial review, and this is one of the most pro-freedom of speech supporters in the country.

These are our most brilliant minds. We are smart enough to follow their lead. With all this said, I wonder why we are putting these UFOCs on the Internet at FranData, why state agencies copy them for mere copy fees to anyone who asks and why anyone expresses an interest to buy a franchise can get one, with lists of all franchisees, addresses and phones numbers. Since franchisors cannot discriminate based on ethnic sympathies, we must give out this information freely. WHY? Some information is dangerous in times of such threats. We should make this a new policy today, not tomorrow, there is no time for committees, no time to talk about it. Just do it. If a franchisee wants to call on other franchisees they are certainly allowed to do so after things have checked out and after they submit a written request along with a background check.

Lance Winslow

Sizzling Sales Contests Offer Three Prizes

2009-01-17T05:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Dr. Gary S. Goodman

The good news about conventional sales contests is that there is a big winner, and generally, that person is very, very happy.

The bad news is that everyone else is a loser.

If you have a sales leader, someone who just keeps beating the pants off of everybody, then there's no suspense left, the moment you announce a contest. From that instant forward, every other member of the sales team is yawning, scratching his head, murmuring, "Why bother?"

Now, isn't that the exact opposite emotion that we want? Contests are supposed to motivate, electrify, focus people; not to make them more apathetic than before. But that's the tendency of winner-take-all competitions.

They're not competitions. They're coronations.

So, how can we avoid this problem and get everybody excited?

It takes a little more arithmetic, but here's what you do. Offer a three-in-one contest:

(1) There's a Grand Prize, and yes, that goes to the top seller.

(2) There's a Team Prize, that will be awarded based on the total production of all contest participants; and

(3) There are Personal Best Awards, based on whether an individual surpasses his performance peaks from the past.

Rookies as well as veterans can win. Everybody can win. And the neat thing is that you have created positive motivation for all, without de-motivating anybody.

Plus, when you have a runaway leader, well, nobody can give up because there are peer pressures, as well as individual incentives to keep working until the contest clock stops.

I've used this design and its power never ceases to amaze me.

As far as sales contests go, it's a real winner!

It Is Not Done Yet

2009-01-17T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Harlan Goerger

You mean to tell me another time extension is needed to get this done. Haven't you already had two extensions and increased budget for this project asks the president.

Yes we have and there have been all kinds of problems that have come up, we are not getting the support from the other departments or executives and the team is not pulling together retorts the manager.

Have you ever delegated a project and found yourself in somewhat the same situation? Many leaders do and ask what they could do differently to avoid this?

We will cover six steps that will help one delegate more effectively to the right person for the right reason and get their total buy-in to the project. The steps have been proven effective by successful Fortune 100 Executives from around the world. 1..

In my last article, Frenzied Time Management we discussed six absolutes for top performance. It separated the idea of motivation from the deeper concept of willpower. Today we'll take that idea into delegation and how to get more than just a job done, instead, let's create a new leader!

6 Steps to Project Buy-in:

1. Visualize the Outcome: If we direct someone to pickup the litter on the ground and put it into the trash can, we accomplish a task. The worker may view it as a task and part of their job, but are they motivated much less inspired. On the other hand, let's create a vision of how the grounds could look like a well groomed park and how that will make the employee feel. Especially if they have a choice in how it is accomplished.

As we look at larger projects, new product introductions, corporate expansions or a completely new division, we may find it so huge that it is difficult to get one's hands around it much less our minds. In these cases one needs to have the candidate break down the total vision into bite size parts so that they can start to visualize and relate to the project. The next step is combining the parts once more for a clear vision. Now the candidate can complete the next five steps.

2. Lay out the Obstacles: Far too often the hurdles and obstacles that we know will come up are glazed over in delegation. These later pop up on the unsuspecting candidate and immobilize some. For sure it causes delays, panic and tension. By having the candidate take the vision in step one and layout all the obstacles they can anticipate, they have a balanced picture. They now mentally determine if they are up to the task and avoid setting themselves up for failure.

This also helps them plan how to overcome these potential obstacles and turn them into opportunities if possible. If this sounds similar to Outcome Based Thinking, it is.

We also need to deal with the personal side of obstacles as well. What personal issues or changes might this project cause for the candidate? What will they have to change? What will it cost them personally? What would they do instead of this project if given the choice? Why?

3. Create a Commitment: There is a difference between being motivated to do something and committed to doing something. Many managers use incentives such as trips, bonuses and awards to motivate and get results. Often these work well for the short term and for a percentage of the group. But we want long term commitment, not just short term motivation. We need the candidates head and heart into the project! So how might we do this?

We need to engage the candidate in meaningful conversation. We need to ask them to reflect on their real feelings now that they have a clear vision as well as an understanding of the obstacles involved. Can they personally commit with their full head and heart?

I am not against incentives, yet when I talk to top performers that get most of the incentives, they indicate it was something bigger, more of a vision that drove their performance. They often looked at the incentives as the frosting, not the cake.

4. Choice is Needed: Far too many times I talk to frustrated people that feel they are handicapped by over policing or control from upper management. One capable young lady said, "I wish they would let me make my own mistakes so I could learn faster!" She later left the organization for a position with more responsibility and more freedom of choice. Often delegation is like child rearing. We are concerned for the child and their abilities and want to protect them from hurt or failure. We overprotect the child, over control and restrict them. Yet, how does a young toddler learn? My two and three year old grandchildren learn by experience. They climb, they try, they fall and they get up and try again. Are the people we delegate to that much different?

In the book Think and Grow Rich, a story about Andrew Carnegie talks about an executive that had just started with US Steel. He blew a project and it cost US Steel one million dollars. This is 1920 so I would guess that's about 100 million in today's money. He reluctantly goes to Mr. Carnegie's office expecting the worst. Fire you? says Mr. Carnegie, We just spent a million dollars training you! He became one of US Steels most productive executives.

Managers need to monitor, support and guide the delegation without policing or dictating. It is a balancing act.

5. Stop Loss: The delegation needs to include the ability for the candidate to determine their own stop loss. Any choice one makes can end up being a wrong choice. How it is handled can make a tremendous difference both long and short term. The candidate needs to determine when the project is going the wrong way prior to accepting the project. How will they terminate the project if it surpasses the stop loss point? What mechanisms both quantitative and social will act as trip levers on the project? This needs to be a self-regulated system designed and operated by the candidate.

This may be one of the more difficult points for some mangers in delegating. One needs to be willing to watch, support and advise without crushing the candidate. Remember, the previous steps will tell you if the candidate is the right candidate and if they have bought in with both head and heart.

6. Build a Desire: A French philosopher, Antoine De SaintExupery, wrote: If you want to build a ship, don't drum up your men to go the forest to gather wood, saw it and nail the planks together. Instead, teach them the desire for the sea. 1. What is this project really about? How does its vision tie into the organizations objectives and culture? Can this become a mission for the candidate? Is the candidate challenged by the project?

If your candidate for the project is still saying yes and is stomping like a thoroughbred race horse, you have the right person. Like a pro jockey, let the horse run, just support and guide them around the track.

For more on management development, sales, customer service or personal development check out our web site at www.BusArc.com or www.Hgoergerassoc.com

References:

1. Heike Bruch Sumantra Ghoshal, A Bias for Action

Mr. Goerger has over 25 years of training hundreds of people in sales, management and personal development. The programs he has developed create lasting change in performance. Harlan@BusArc.com

As A Manager Are You Consistent In Your Treatment Of Your Employees

2009-01-16T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Tim Connor

One of the key ingredients of good managers is the ability to maintain consistency in all of their roles and activities. Some of these include how they:

1. Deal with adversity.
2. Discipline employees.
3. React to crises.
4. Respond to threats both internal and external.
5. Coach employees.
6. Train and develop employees.
7. Communicate with employees and other managers.
8. Make decisions.
9. Delegate.
10. Plan.
11. Manage time.
12. Manage corporate resources.

Very few managers that I have encountered during my 25 year career as a trainer, coach and consultant have the ability to maintain a high degree of integrity when it come to consistency. There are always factors, circumstances and people that are able to pull these managers out of their ability to control this aspect of their career roles.

Here are a few benefits to maintaining consistency:

1. People will know what you expect.
2. People will know what you believe and why.
3. People will be able to be honest with you.
4. People will bring you bad news without fear of retribution.
5. You will achieve more.
6. You will enjoy life more.
7. You will live longer.
8. You will make more money.
9. You will better be able to influence people.
10. You will have more fun.

I recommend you develop a personal strategy, benchmark or philosophy to ensure you improve in your ability to be consistent. Please keep in mind this approach does not necessarily imply that you lose spontaneity, flexibility, the human touch, or the need to get irrational from time to time. I suggest that these times be few and far between and that they take place while you are locked in a closet somewhere.

Rotten To The Core The Story Of How The Best And Brightest Can Be Ruined

2009-01-15T05:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Aubie Pouncey

The objective of an incentive is to incite action within an organization using a device or mechanism that that allows the rewarding or recognition of behaviors. This can be accomplished by offering preferential treatment, money, privileges, promotions, verbal praise, or complements. With that states, I suggest the answers to the questions above are:

~ YES ~
~ YES ~
~ YES ~

I admit this topic is not the norm when it comes to the subject of employee moral. Usually this type of discussion involves companies that are not in tune with the pulse of their workforce and have severe performance issues that could be further aggravated by either non-existent or poorly functioning incentive programs.

The one thing you will not walk away from at the conclusion is that somehow recognition is wrong, or that employees should not be motivated, and that incentives are no longer a viable factor in performance related issues. However, sometimes while trying to do the right thing excessively well can actually produce the wrong results, for the right reasons.

I believe that the greatest management principle explains that what gets rewarded gets done. If you are not getting the desired result within your organization, ask yourself what behaviors are being rewarded. It's a very simple, but very powerful question.

I've practiced it, trained others on it, and believe it should represent the cornerstone in any improvement initiative. Over past 8 years, I've created countless bonus structures, incentive plans, and contests designed to drive sales performance, attendance improvement, attrition reduction, and quality initiatives for entry-level employees all the way up to senior managers. When I say, "I believe in recognition, and incentive programs", I mean it and have the experience to back it up.

I like to think of incentives and recognition as wonderful little gifts that are awarded to the best and brightest for going above and beyond or for one's voluntary willingness to perform a potentially undesirable function in attempts to assist the organization. Employees work for their agreed pay rate, and these gifts are sprinkled around to promote an environment of appreciation and good will for a job that is both appreciated and well done.

With all this good will in the air, what seems to be the problem? What happens in the midst of the chaotic business environment is the context of the incentive can become confused. Without context, the meaning and objective is no longer anchored and becomes subject to interpretation. These suggestive interpretations can originate from poor communication, lack of specificity, or failure to maintain the differentiation between job expectations and an incentive or reward. In a worse case environment, context and interpretation loss can create an informal employee contract where performance is no longer contingent on their agreed to wage, but rather on the existence and significance of an incentive.

To help your visualization I've included both obvious and subtle situations that can result from interpretation - context loss.

Attendance Trap To discourage absenteeism an incentive bonus is put in place, as a result employees come to work and have great attendance. Supervisors support this policy by encouraging workers to come to work so they do not miss out on the bonus. The employees continually receive this incentive, but then attendance improves for the organization, and the bonus is dissolved.

What is the context in which this employee will view this situation?

How will they view the value of attendance without the incentive?

Sales Slip An incentive program is put in place to boost poor sales performance. If an employee meets their sales goal, they can receive an incentive of several hundred dollars. Supervisors encourage their reps to do well so that they can be "in the money". This continues for several months. Employees are now expecting this as part of their income, but due to financial problems with the company, the incentive is discontinued.

What is the context in which this employee will view this situation?

How will they view achievement of their sales goals?

Supervisor Motivation As a super seller, an employee's consistent performance ensures her team is ranked among the best within the company. The employee has an attendance issue, but is solid player when present. The supervisor is lenient on the attendance policy, and chooses not to hold the employee accountable for fear the employee might come to work even less or eventually have her employment terminated due to poor attendance. Instead the supervisor discusses the value of being at work and says that the policy needs to be followed, but in conclusion congratulates her on her success with sales.

What is the context in which this employee will view this situation?

How will the supervisor be viewed?

Team Quality In this situation the associate comes across a rough and abrasive to customers, but his aggressive approach produces high sales numbers. The other team members are aware that his quality is below standard. The supervisor in an attempt to recognize his top-seller presents him with a certificate and $5 gift card in front of the team and shakes his hand for a job well done.

What is the context in which this employee will view this situation?

What is the context in which the employee and his team will view quality?

Lack of facts
An employee has a daily issue with taking excessive breaks. One day, the employee received kudos from a customer for doing a great job handing a tough issue. The manager hears about the compliment but does not know of the problem with the individual's excessive breaks. The manager in an attempt to recognize good performance makes a generic statement by telling the employee they are doing a great job and to keep it up.

What is the context this employee will view this situation?

A manager's error
A supervisor is continually recognized for strong leadership and decisive action. The manager in an attempt to keep this supervisor motivated continues to praise her excessively at every opportunity. The supervisor receives the employee of the month award and has excellent team statistics. The manager placed this supervisor on a pedestal that was unrealistic and could not be sustained. Soon the supervisor makes an error, and the manager has to coach her for the first time.

How will this supervisor view her manager situation?

How will this supervisor view this situation?

Additional tips and areas of caution for the above situations:

Use specific recognition, as opposed to blanket praise.

Keep employees grounded by reinforcing the fact that they are paid to do a job, and anything extra is not permanent, and represents a gift from the company.

Bending the rules or rewarding top employees with un-balanced performance can effectively disgruntle and suppresses your entire middle population.

Using an incentive in place of a performance management process builds a culture that only performs when rewarded.

Unrealistic standards only create a higher level for employees to fall from.

As you consider the above scenarios and examine similar situations in your own work setting, dwell on the importance of context, and how it applies. Focus on perception and understand that it is reality. Remember, while trying to do the right thing, you can get the wrong results. Above all, remember to use the greatest management principle as your guide:

What gets rewarded gets done. If you're not getting the result you are looking for, ask yourself, what's being rewarded?

http://www.righttolead.com - Have you earned the Right To Lead? Aubie Pouncey is a contributing writer and member of this new website. If you are interested in his ideas or are looking for effective ways to manage then you will be interested in this: http://motivators.righttolead.com