2012 ~ Sales Management Strategy

Sales manager skills are a given in any high performing sales manager. You know the ones we are talking about? Hiring, firing, performance management, sales coaching, business planning, motivating a sales team to name just a few. None of these will be delivered though if your sales managers are unable to do this one key skill. What is it? Communicate.

In this particular article we will cover the powerful aspect of nonverbal communication which is an important first step to improving your communication skills.

I know this is logical and yet most sales directors will gloss over this 'basic' skill.The true power of communication delivered in a thoughtful way will enable the most amazing results. A dictionary definition of communication centres around the ability to transmit messages from one person or place to another. Seems reasonable? For a sales manager they will also need to ensure that the information they communicate then gets acted on by whomever they are communicating it to.

One pre supposition about communication is that you cannot not communicate. Let's explore that a little. We communicate not only with the words we speak, in fact the most powerful way we communicate with others is through our body language and voice. Albert Mehrabians classic research identified that 93 per cent of the way we communicate is through our body and voice. With only 7% coming from the actual words and phrases we use.

This seems to be particularly so when people have positional power. For instance in our case a sales manager and her sales representative. Ensuring that communication is congruent is key.

Using a practical example of sales coaching. If a sales manager is giving feedback and advice a softer open body approach and style will make a big difference to the result's that are achieved. A fixed body position and voice tone will not be as motivational for the sales representative on the other end of the communication. This is where the technique of mirroring body language can work to build rapport and trust in the communication process.

The good news is that powerful communication skills can be learnt. The first step is awareness about how you are currently communicating. What is the voice tone you use? How are you standing? How fast do you talk? How close do you stand to the person that you are communicating with? What is your eye contact like?

When you ask many sales managers this question some have awareness and many don't. A great exercise is to observe someone else. Watch the interaction and how it flows. By doing this you will have insight to your own and others behaviour. If you are really serious about improving the way you communicate non verbally, watch yourself on video. Many a presentation skills course has made a significant difference to how people communicate purely by showing the delegates how they physically and tonally communicate.

Addressing nonverbal communication consistently has one of the biggest impacts on your power to communicate in a way that is acted upon.

So what next? Time to take some action. As an initial first step, if you are brave enough ask your colleagues and even significant other how they perceive you, through your nonverbal communication. You might just be surprised.

Nic Hallett is the MD of Excel Enterprise one Europe's most successful sales training companies that help sales managers improve their Sales Manager Skills. To Find out more about the how Excel Enterprise work http://www.excelenterprise.co.uk/

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How to Know If You Are a Reactive Sales Manager

Monday, October 22, 2012 Manager, Reactive, Sales No comments

When I was recently coaching a group of sales managers in preparation for a sales force transformation, they quickly advised me they did not have the time to do any more than they were already doing. The demands on their time were far exceeding the usual working day and week.

They were an industrial products sales force with a wide geographical area to cover. The products were complex and a mainstay for many manufacturing organizations. It was a good business for many years but had stagnated for the past two or three years. The sales managers were mature and had held the positions for an average of ten years each. They industry experience and product knowledge was deep.

With the immediate barrier placed down and their minds closing quickly to any sense of doing things differently, it was time to explore what was really going on in their day. After some discussions regarding the tasks they were involved in, it became clear to me that they were not in control of their time and their priorities were definitely not aligned to the business requirements. In fact, they were applying an idealism of management that is most typically of untrained professional sales management.

We continued the discussion and moved to the subject of coaching their teams. Today that is an integral part of achieving sales force transformation and a skill they have to be applying. Interestingly, although they were excessively busy, they reported the spent only about 5-10% of their time coaching and I doubted that was real and it was potentially much lower. When then discussed field trips and the outcome was their attendance was more related to customer problems or "need to be seen" at major meetings basis rather than any designated coaching sessions.

This sales management team was not unusual and you can walk into many companies and get the same report card. So let's look at what they were actually doing as part of their role and its value to the role of sales manager.

1. Catching the Monkey. This is a common trap that all sales managers (and people) fall into. If you want to be busy then become a monkey catcher. Monkey catchers solve other people's problems for them and with your added value of being a manager; you can typically solve them faster than someone else. People become so impressed with your ability to solve problems they give you even more. The problem is that is not your job. Your role is getting things done through others.

2. Less is More. You want to be accepted by your team as a good leader and manager and not be categorised as one of those old time authoritarian leaders. Every person has a desire to be accepted or needed by others on some level. You didn't like being managed so you are not going to do it your team so you limit the sales meetings to monthly and allow people to demonstrate their talents in the market by working autonomously. The problem with that is, 'what do you actually do for a job if the team are self-managed?' We are not advocating authoritarian management, but we are advocating leadership and guidance.

3. Decision-Maker Extraordinaire. You want to be seen to be as a good decision-maker. You take action on things and you are always making decisions, quickly, decisively and making the hard calls. Problem is, if you had thought the problem or situation through before making the first decision, you may not have to have made the extra ten reactive decisions trying to pull the situation around to where it should be. Decision-making is not about speed, it is about the quality of the decision and its relationship to the overall strategy.

4. My Team is Experienced. You hired or have taken over a team of experienced talent. They know what they are doing and have deep industry experience. They don't need coaching as they are on the top of their game. Well the world is changing rapidly and the top seller yesterday may not be the top seller tomorrow. Your role is to keep them at the top of their game and ensure they have the latest and best skills possible to be competitive. Yes, experienced sellers don't need to hear that same grinding sales training that most offer, over and over again. They need specific skills that keep them attuned to their customer audience and the seniority of those customers. They need to understand the customer's priorities in purchasing rather than subjecting customers to rapidly dating sales methods.

5. Product Knowledge is King. If this was the case then there would not be an ineffective sales force in the world. Product knowledge is a must for credibility, development of solutions, understanding customer needs and making sound recommendations. Product knowledge is part of skill set and not the entire skill set. A person that does not understand the sales process, is not working to a proven playbook, spends many hours in front of the wrong customers and practicing poor sales behaviors is of little value to the company. Your role is to ensure you maximize the value of the product knowledge and have the person's sales behavior perfectly aligned to the sales strategy.

This type of sales management is acting in opposition to what the role actually is and they are not operating with any real business thinking in mind. They are working within the team and not leading and guiding them to deliver the strategy of the business.

For this sales management team the transformation will potentially be greater for them than their sales force team members. How much transformation would you personally need to go through to improve your team?

If you wish to discuss more about preparing your sales management for sales force transformation, contact the author Adele Crane directly. For more about sales force effectiveness read Adele Crane's latest book "Building the Most Effective Sales Force in the World" available through Amazon.

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Key Factors That Make People Buy

Sunday, October 21, 2012 Factors, People No comments

In today's competitive market, the ability of businesses to sell effectively often determines the successful growth of a business. If a business is generating large quantities of great leads, but cannot convert these into sales, that business will struggle. So before we start looking at the key factors that make people buy, let's firstly get a clear understanding of what sales is.

In any sales process, a minimum of two people are involved, one selling and one looking to buy a product or service. Sounds simple, doesn't it, but let's dig a little deeper. In this interaction between the buyer and the seller, where will the decision always be made? The only person who can place the order and then pay for the goods or service is the buyer, nothing happens until the buyer says, Yes. So with this in mind, surely the focus should be on helping the buyer make their decision! So much sales training available in the market tends to focus so much on sales techniques and ideas on how to question and close a sales deal, yet forgets the fact that the decision maker is not the salesperson, but the buyer. In fact, it could almost be said that there is no such thing as sales, only buying.

It has also been proven that any buying decision, no matter what the product or service is, is 80% emotional and only 20% logical.

With this all in mind, should the definition of sales not be; helping buyers make easier and more effective decisions?

With the above points all in mind, I would now like to take a look at the key emotional factors that will influence people's decision in making a purchase.

I will only be looking at the emotional factors here and accept that the logical factors such as price, size, delivery and availability do all play a part in the decision making.

So what are the emotional factors all sales people need to consider when helping a person make a purchasing decision?

• Making a positive connection with the prospective buyer.
They say that you only get one chance to create a first impression, and nowhere is that more true, than in a face to face sales appointment. How many sales people believe so much in the gift of the gab, that they forget to focus on the most important person, the prospective client. When first meeting a prospective new client, look around; take note of what you see that links to the person, read their body language, are they nervous, confident, how are they talking, tone, speed etc. From this the salesperson needs to decide their own approach to the sales meeting that puts the prospective buyer at ease.

This is one of the most crucial parts of any sales meeting, whether it is face to face or over the phone, get it wrong and no matter how good your sales technique may be, the sale could be lost.

• What problem are they trying to solve?
People only buy something when they need to solve a problem. It may be new equipment to manufacture, parts for manufacture, a service that will improve their business or anything else. What is very important to understand at this point, is that it is very often not the product that is most important to the prospective client, but what it represents to them. The focus of the sales person is to find out what the true nature of the problem they are trying to solve and what type of solution they are looking for. The key to finding this out, are very good questioning skills and attentive listening.

• What is the buyer's perception of the product or service?
When people purchase a product or service, salespeople need to understand that the majority of people will have some kind of picture in their mind of what the experience is going to be like before they meet the salesperson. As a professional salesperson, it is important that you find out what thoughts or picture is in their mind so that you can choose the right strategy to follow for that meeting. The more a buyer is put at ease and dealt with as a human being who has thoughts and feelings, the easier the sales process will become.

• What past experiences has the buyer had with the product or service?
One of the first things to find out as a salesperson, is what past experiences has the buyer had with buying the product or service. This is important as past experiences will have a large effect on how they react to the salesperson. This may not appear to be fair, but as humans we have behavioural styles that are fashioned from past experiences and we go into these styles without even thinking about it. These past experiences also set up expectations in the buyer and as a professional salesperson it is important to find out what these expectations are.

• What have they heard others say about the product or service?
This point is very similar to the previous point, but often comes where the buyer has not had many or any past experiences of purchasing the product or service, but has been told the past experiences of friends and colleagues. These will also set expectations with the buyer.

• What will the product or service allow them to do or achieve, that they currently can't do?
Often the way a product or service is positioned with a buyer is the key point on which a purchasing decision will be made, especially when all other aspects of the competition are fairly close. Positioning the buyer on the positive outcomes they could achieve with making the purchase will often make a stronger emotional connection and secure the sale. With some types of products or services it is vital that the salesperson positions the solution within the bigger picture of what can be achieved.

These are just some of the key emotional areas that many salespeople forget or are unaware to focus on when conducting a sales meeting, yet they are often the most crucial points that will set apart successful salespeople from all the others.

Many sales training courses focus heavily on the importance of asking questions in a sales meeting, but many do not give too much insight into what to ask questions about.

I hope that this article helps you improve your sales performance, but if you are looking to take your sales performance to another level of success, then give us a call and we would be delighted to come and help you.

For more information on this topic visit: http://www.team-results.co.uk/

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The Olive Oil Shop

Saturday, October 20, 2012 Olive No comments

This final stop has some important leadership lessons for your business.

And before I start, in all fairness, I will point out that this particular Charleston store had just opened its doors a mere two days before we stopped in to visit. Not that this excuses anything I'll share with you, but it helps explain part of it.

The store is just what the name suggests: a relatively small shop with about two dozen large metal containers of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and specialty items like white and black truffle oil.

There are also some other food items like gourmet chef blends, stuffed olives, peppers, and sea salts.

The store is located on King Street, the main commercial street in Charleston, with lots of pedestrian traffic, although it does need a better storefront sign because we walked past it twice and we were actually looking for the place!

What Needed to Change?

As you've probably already discovered, once you're turned on to "our kind" of marketing, it's hard to look at an ad, a sales letter, or even an entire business, and not identify five or six things that could be immediately improved, things we would easily label as "low-hanging fruit."

And since it was both Lorie and I in the store, we took turns as we walked around, kind of like a marketing version of "dueling banjos."

So, in no particular order, here are five ideas we shared with the staff there:

1. Half Portion-You could buy either a full- or a half-portion of any of the products, but the half-portion bottles hadn't arrived yet, so they could only sell you the full size. This meant that we (and other customers) didn't buy as many varieties as they might have otherwise. We suggested simply using the full-portion bottles halfway and selling them at the half-portion price.

2. Buy 2 Get 1 Free-This one should have been obvious to them. Since there were so many different varieties, and it was, frankly, difficult to decide which one to get, most people buying a single bottle would buy a second one if it meant getting the third one for free and being relieved of the difficult task of selecting just one.

3. Give Us Our Daily Bread-You got to sample the various oils and flavorings by opening a tap on the bottom of the canister and pouring some of it into the tiny plastic cups that were stacked alongside each one.The problem was that a fair amount of oil ended up on the floor creating both a dangerous situation (it was oil, after all) and excessive waste of both an expensive product (the oil) and a non-biodegradable one (the plastic cup).

4. What's for Dinner?-Anyone that buys unique flavored olive oil likes to eat. And people who like to eat generally like to cook. So why not hold regular cooking classes, where the recipes being prepared feature actual ingredients sold in the store? People would pay to attend the classes, and then pay more still to buy the ingredients so they can prepare the recipes at home.

5. Build the List-Nowhere in the entire sales process was there any attempt whatsoever to get our contact information. You've heard me say this, and I'll say it again: the only real asset you have that can't be replaced is the relationship you have with your customers. You can't even start to build that relationship if you don't keep in regular communication with them. And you can't do that without their contact information. At least get e-mail addresses where you can send a monthly newsletter, invitations to special cooking classes, gourmet weekends or even an invitation to join an "olive oil of the month club," giving even out-of-town customers the opportunity to provide revenue every month.

Step Up and Take Charge!

When we suggested these five ideas to the staff of the store, including the manager, a practice I tend to avoid because of the predictable results, they actually got enthusiastic about them.

But, they went on to inform me, they couldn't implement a single one because they had to check with the owner first.

Unfortunate. My own philosophy is that if you're doing the right thing for the customer, consistent with the values of the company, it's easier to get forgiveness than permission. They could have easily implemented the following ideas on the spot: (1) sell half-filled jars for the appropriate price; (2) test the buy-2-get-1-free offer and measure the results; (3) go out and buy a few loaves of nice bread; and (4) start collecting contact information.

A lot of this comes down to training, letting your staff know how much flexibility they have in being innovative, and recognizing and rewarding those who make a tangible contribution to the company's growth.

Ron Rosenberg is a nationally recognized expert on marketing and customer service, business coach, and public speaker. Maximize your marketing efforts and generate more revenue in less time with his Business Self-Defense 90-Day Success Program and Business Owner Survival Kit. Get free marketing tools, tips, and tactics at http://www.ronsbusinesscoaching.com/ or for details on our speaking and coaching programs contact us at 800-260-0662 or info@qualitytalk.com.

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Management - Skills Needed For Managing People

Friday, October 19, 2012 Management, Managing, Needed, People, Skills No comments

In order to achieve the success that you want to reach it is vital to follow a strict time management schedule. This will allow you to manage your time as effectively and efficiently as possible.

The first step is to follow a written plan such as a daily or weekly plan matching it with your monthly or quarterly plan as this sets realistic goals for each day. Review the plan the night before as you will be fully prepared for what lies ahead.

What is found generally is that, following the Pareto's rule 80% of unfocused effort generates 20% of results while the remaining 80% results are achieved with only 20% of effort. Therefore many people spend their days in a frenzy of activity but achieve very little because they are not focused on the right things. Talk to a colleague, business partner or your sales manager about what you should be focused on.

At the heart of successful time management it is an important shift in focus - concentrate on results, not on being busy as this will ensure you are getting rewarded for the time you spend on daily activities (Not been a busy fool).

The purpose of time management is to adjust the balance of time spent during the day in favour of high yield activities, especially true today as time is money and we need all of our energies focused on yielding a return on investment (ROI), in this case time and money is what we are investing - determine what you are getting in return?

Shift your focus

To shift the balance, first of all you need to analyse how you really spend your time during an average day. In order to ensure that most of our working day is spent on focused effort, think about your focus.

Question

What are the three most important activities that generate the greatest returns for you in your business and or sales role? And how much time do you spend in these activities in total per day?

Using your time wisely

Research has also shown that individual energy levels vary enormously throughout the day, depending on the blood sugar levels, lighting, temperature etc. each person has a set pattern that can be predicted and so by analysing your day more closely you can plan to be doing appropriate tasks at a time which best suits your energy levels. For example high return activities when your energy levels are at their peak and research when your energy levels are at their lowest.

You should ideally have a whole month planned in advance, with your goals set out clearly and it also helps to break the month down into weeks so that you can work towards your weekly targets very clearly.

Tips

Plan your day tomorrow - today this way you know exactly how your day should pan out and what to start on immediately as soon as you get into the office.

Time is money so spend it wisely ensuring you are getting the best return every time.

Proper Planning and Preparation equals success

P+P+P = a great return every time

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Coaching A Sales Professional on Time Management

Friday, October 19, 2012 Coaching, Management, Professional, Sales No comments

Sales isn't an easy line of work to master - it takes a resilient person, with a lot of patience, confidence and tenacity to make it in sales. So, if you're a coach, how would you coach someone who's hoping to become a sales guru?

This is where your capabilities as a coach are put to the test. How do you plan to pull every last bit of potential out of someone who's just starting in sales? Well, I am going to walk you through the first 7 steps to this process. These won't cover every detail, but they'll get you started. These steps will help you hone in on critical components to any salesperson's skill set. In this article, I will cover the first: TIME-MANAGEMENT ABILITIES.

Do your best to understand your client's time-management abilities. Most of a salesperson's schedule is managed personally, so if she isn't organized, disciplined and motivated internally - this is where you will need to begin. You will want to encourage her - these are skills she can learn, they do not have to be inherent. She just has to bedevoted to developing them.

To assess a client's time-management skills, consider asking these questions:

Are you a self-starter or do you appreciate when others tell you what to do?On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your level of self-discipline? (10 = incredible, 1 = poor)How do you organize your days when you don't have any pressing priorities?When do you find yourself feeling bored?How do you feel and spend your time when you don't know what to do?

Asking these questions will reveal where a client's at, in terms of motivation, organization and prioritization. In sales, these skills play a serious role in one's success. If you discover your client does this process well, great - move on. If she doesn't, it would be well worth your time to work on fostering her time-management abilities. A few simple things that will help:

1. USE A CALENDAR. Help your client determine what sort of schedule would work best for her. A visual schedule, on a phone, computer or planner will always work better than relying on one's memory.

2. CREATE REMINDERS. Work with her to setup a process, so that when important dates are around the corner, she's alerted, far in advance, so that she can take the right steps to prepare for whatever it might be. This way, she's aware and ready instead of sadly surprised when deadlines emerge and meetings pass.

3. TRY TO PRIORITIZE. Identifying what's most important to complete is critical. So, maybe helping her start with a simple to-do list, so that she outlines what needs to be done, stars what's business critical, and starts there. By doing this, she will ensure nothing falls through the cracks, and will always have something to work on, even when things are slow.

If you're a coach and you care about your client, helping them understand and manage their time efficiently will benefit them in the short term and the long term. This is a skill that pays it forward, personally and professionally.

Looking for more insights about coaching a sales professional? Download a complimentary coaching article at http://wcwpartners.com/free-coaching-for-excellence-article/.

Doug C. Watsabaugh, senior partner at WCW Partners, understands how to meet your unique performance challenges. You can reach Doug at: dwatsabaugh@wcwpartners.com or 1-888-313-0514.

Check out WCW's latest book, The SuperSTAR Leadership Model: Good Boss, Bad Boss - Which One Are You? http://wcwpartners.com/superstar-leadership-model/.

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How to Impact a Sales Team

Thursday, October 18, 2012 Impact, Sales No comments

A strong sales team is the backbone of every successful business. A company cannot stay competitive or generate revenue if they do not have strong leaders in place. Every individual in a company has their role and must be good at it. The CEO must be able to see at least five years out and make the appropriate changes needed to thrive in an ever-changing market. The sales manager must have the proper tools and resources to be able to lead a successful team. They must be knowledgeable in their industry, know everything about their products and be able to teach others how to master the sales process. There are many great sales representatives, but many cannot lead or teach a team. This is imperative if the sales manager is going to accomplish the company's goals and objectives. In this article we are going to talk about some of the best practices a sales manager can do to impact their team and help the company succeed.

One of the first things a sales manager should do is set realistic and attainable goals. You want to keep your team motivated and eager to do well. If the goals are not reachable they will become unmotivated and not work as hard to hit their goals. This is a best practice for any industry.

Once the sales goals are set, metrics must be put into place. Depending if you are leading an inside or outside sales team you must set daily and weekly goals for your team. We will talk about best practices for both inside and outside sales teams now.

First, we are going to discuss some basic metrics for an inside sales team. They are typically making outside calls to potential customers. Fifty calls a day is typically a good place to start. It gives them a number to reach and also gives them time to have detailed conversations to sell the products. Talk time is also something to measure. You don't want everyone just leaving fifty messages. This will not sell your product.

Second, if you are leading an outside sales team you want to make sure they set at least five appointments per week. This should generate at least 1-2 sales a week and a good goal to start with. Once the metrics are the place a good sales manager will offer continuous coaching so the sales team stays focused each and every week.

For more information please visit MyCEisOnline.com

For More Information MyCEisOnline.com

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How to Optimize Outbound Sales Effectiveness

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 Effectiveness, Optimize, Outbound, Sales No comments

Most sales professionals apply some kind of outbound sales strategy to generate leads. Since it is such an important area it makes sense to invest time, energy and money in driving improvement in this area in order to capture quality leads. There are quite a number of techniques and tactics that can be used to perform outbound prospecting- ways that would help you filter through all your leads and find the ones that are sales ready.

Outbound sales conducted through cold calling

Making cold calls is important when it comes to soliciting business from prospective customers. Invest in cold call training. You must not waste time on making cold calls to people who simply hang up on you or ask you to take them off your call list. Devote time to research your prospects and create a quality target list to call from. Proper targeting can help improve lead conversion rate.

When you make cold calls you are most likely to run up against a number of objections and hostility. Prepare for all the antagonism that you might be facing in advance and be ready with responses that would help you sail through the conversations as smoothly as possible. This could have a big positive impact on your sales figures.

It will be helpful if you can develop a telemarketing script outlining what you are going to say during the call. However you need not adhere to it strictly though. You can allow the top sell performers to build their own scripts. And if that can yield better results than the in-house scripts developed, share it with other members of the outbound sales team.

Prospecting is an important part of outbound sales

Investing maximum time on the prospects that are more likely to buy something from you is important rather than wasting your time on those that are not worth pursuing. Therefore it is advisable to frame a series of important questions based on which you can qualify the prospects and measure how much potential they have for purchasing. Focusing on the right prospect is essential. There would be different categories of prospects you would like to sell to. And as per the list segregation there will definitely be some who more likely will be better fit in terms of their need and ability to buy. Devote maximum time to these prospects to enhance outbound sales productivity.

Outbound sales outsourcing

You can outsource the outbound activity to enhance performance and attract new customers. There are several firms that provide cold calling lead generation services. You can avail these services to generate better results at a lower level of cost.

Conclusion

It is advisable to create some kind of performance metrics to evaluate outbound sales efficiency. Performance should be measured in terms of the number of calls made per day; the percentage of prospects contacted that result in sales and total number of calls made to the same prospects before a sale is made. Outbound sales method is crucial to business development. In fact despite the rising popularity of other marketing strategies, this customer facing sale stool is still considered very effective.

Celena Watson - Passionate writer and blogger. I have written on many different topics which include inbound sales, lead management, IT & services, outbound sales, demand generation and many more. For more info go to demand generation best practices

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The 'Rules of the Game'

Tuesday, October 16, 2012 Rules No comments

I love playing the game 'Monopoly™'. I also love playing 'Scrabble™'. In fact there just is nothing quite like the rush you can get from making just the right move at the right time!

Even if the 'game' is make believe and there are no tangible successes achieved (other than the adrenaline rush and the surge of serotonin) there is nothing quite as satisfying to me as getting Park Place and Boardwalk and putting up houses and then hotels!

And I can savor for months that eight letter word that used up all my tiles and gave me a fifty point bonus - especially if I hit the triple word score at the same time!

However, in order to win the game, regardless of the minor successes or plays, there are rules that must be followed. If you get the "go to jail" card, you cannot sneak that hidden card from the deck that lets you out for free. Someone will catch you - and it is just not right. (hmmm, no one I know has ever tried to cheat - have they?)

Living life and running a business is much like a game. There are rules that we need to follow - or "House Rules". For example, there are codes of ethics for many professions that can be called "House Rules". There are rules that societies and cultures impose upon us - such as the 'business handshake' or the small talk that many of us use when passing a colleague. "Hi, how's it going?"

Many of the rules of Business are unspoken - and that for many of us can make the game more difficult to play. Even after having run several businesses, there are still rules that I encounter that had I known earlier may have made a huge difference in how I ran my business - and how successful it became.

Over the last decade we have all watched businesses tumble from grace as a result of breaking some of the rules that we all agree to play by. Whistle-blowers have raised concerns about accounting practices, discredited businesses practicing dishonesty, and even brought to the forefront socially unacceptable behaviours of CEO's and other leaders, resulting in the company's demise.

So what are the basic rules? I think most of us know them. Be honest in your communications, treat everyone with respect, say please and thank you, recognize those who help you and spend less than you earn are some of the top 'rules of business'.

But there are many rules that remain unspoken - and in fact unknown by many business owners. Knowing and practicing many of these rules may be the difference between success and failure.

We are in the midst of incredible changes in the business world. Technology has opened many new doors for businesses. The economic changes we have seen on the last eighteen months have also affected decision making on spending and forced many of us to think differently about how we market, build and grow our businesses.

This new decade will bring with it a new, holistic business model where businesses are not just about making money. Successful businesses are making bigger contributions to their communities and adding value to the social fabric that ties us together. Socially responsible businesses are adding to the family by being more balanced and requiring less time of the owners and managers by integrating systems that make for less physical work and more accurate reporting.

Business owners are recognizing that their companies are run by people with lives and are building environments that benefit the employee and the family. And more importantly, successful business owners are recognizing that they must work on their leadership skills and take care of their own physical and mental health in order to build a business that brings value to all and is respected in the community of workers - and the world as a whole.

Like this article? Want to keep updated on new trends, tips and how-to's to help you build a successful business? Sign up to get the Roaring Women Review and get my book "Seven Simple Principles" in e-book format absolutely FREE! (Valued at $15.95) http://tinyurl.com/roaringwomen-news. This mind expanding, easy to read book will help you look at your business differently - preparing you for uncommon success!

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The Sales Call: Cold Calling Fear and the Best Solution Ever!

Monday, October 15, 2012 Calling, Sales, Solution No comments

If cold calling is part of achieving success in your career then it makes sense to master this skill. If you hate to cold call, or have a severe case of call reluctance, you're in good company. Strong sales strategies that incorporate sales calls are not going to deliver positive results if no one wants to make the necessary calls!

First of all, there's nothing wrong with you if you hate to cold call. Second, the anxiety that surrounds a fear of calling has so many potential underlying causes, deciding where to begin to help one eliminate this issue can be overwhelming. An effective solution must be individualized to work on a broad scale.

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is a simple, tremendously powerful solution anyone can learn. EFT is a self-administered treatment and each individual tailors their system to address the issues they feel hurt their performance most. EFT is a miracle-worker, in my opinion, and millions of people all over the planet will testify to mind-blowing, life improving results.

If you're a sales manager, equip your entire sales force, and all new recruits with a tool to overcome call resistance. Whether the fear of calling people is a mild case or a career killer, each professional is empowered to use this system to enhance their performance, build confidence, and create as much success as they can envision.

Some people fear success. Some fear failure. Others don't feel they deserve to earn large amounts of money. If erroneous beliefs are buried deep in one's subconscious, those folks end up sabotaging their own efforts to create a reality that reflects what they believe to be true about themselves.

We've all witnessed famous people and star athletes self-destruct. Fabulously rich celebrities who don't really believe they deserve their success will make sure they lose everything to soothe dangerously out-of-whack self-concepts. EFT is a solution that changes one's behavior by helping individuals release outdated, damaging emotional patterns of thinking and feeling.

Think of EFT as emotional acupuncture. EFT has been around since the early 1990's. EFT can be learned in under an hour and results can be immediate. The research behind EFT has proven that negative emotions we've accumulated over the years from a series of traumatic events are held within our bodies and minds. Sometimes events from our past may have been forgotten because they only lasted a moment or seemed trivial, even to the recipient.

We have an energy system running throughout our body; much like the vascular system. When we follow a tapping sequence on specific 'acupoints' on our body, old emotional issues that are holding us back, dissolve. Old traumas and unproductive emotions like shame, guilt, fear of success, feeling unworthy of success, can be identified and released.

Negative emotions build up over the years and remain with us, sometimes stopping us from having the success we desire today. As we acknowledge and release those emotions they usually disappear for good. If they resurface, another treatment is in order. Once learned, EFT can be continuously modified to address and improve just about any area of life.

EFT is worth the short investment of time and small amount of money for a career enhancement that will boost your performance forever more.

Kimberly Schenk is an Author/Executive Recruiter/Trainer. Cold Call Therapy is designed to help anyone eliminate call reluctance, or any negative emotion impacting performance, for good.
http://www.coldcalltherapy.com/

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15 Ways to Acknowledge Your Sales Management Team's Efforts

Sunday, October 14, 2012 Acknowledge, Efforts, Management, Sales, Teams No comments

You may think that you have the best sales management team around. But do they know how you feel? Finding little ways to acknowledge your employees' performance can go a long way to decreasing turnover and increasing the success of your organization.

1. Create a bulletin board in a highly visible place, e.g., the board room where your sales team meets, the staff room or kitchen, where you can post positive customer testimonials.

2. Ask the star members of your sales group to provide junior team members with sales training. It will show them that you appreciate their skills.

3. Did your team impress you with a new sales strategy this week? Why not recognize their efforts by organizing a "Chair Massage" day in the office. Hire a massage therapist to come on site to offer your sales management team their reward for another job well done.

4. Bring in a tin of homemade cookies. Leave them in the office kitchen with a note saying, "For my sales team, in recognition of your work this week on such and such an account."

5. Even simpler still, stop by the desk of someone on your sales team who has outdone themselves. Ask to shake their hand.

6. Make a donation to a charity in the name of someone on your sales group.

7. Ask your sales management team to give a noon-hour lecture on their sales strategy. This is a way of acknowledging the special knowledge that they bring to their work.

8. Ask your sales team for advice on a problem that has been troubling you. You may find your answer at the same time as you show your respect to your employees.

9. Let your sales management team manage their own schedules.

10. Recognize the accomplishments of your sales management team in your company newsletter. Mention employees by name.

11. Dedicate your annual report to a deserving member of your sales group.

12. Surprise a member of your sales team with a round of applause from everyone in the office at a pre-determined time.

13. Don't just acknowledge the successes of your sales management team. Also take the time to recognize efforts - even those that didn't quite pan out. Consider handing out a "Behind the Scenes" certificate of accomplishment to someone who has been working hard, but may be feeling discouraged.

14. At the end of the year, write a personal note to each member of your sales team, highlighting how they have contributed to the organization in the past twelve months.

15. Do you have a weekly or monthly meeting attended by everyone in your organization? Why not let different members of your sales team take turns chairing this event. At the beginning of each meeting, you can take a moment to explain why you have chosen to recognize the day's chair in that way.

Visit Fusion Learning for more information on their sales management courses.

Percey Evans is a freelance writer who works for Higher Education Marketing, a leading Web marketing firm specializing in Google Analytics, Education Lead Generation, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Mobile SMS Alerts, Social Media Marketing and Pay Per Click Marketing, among other Web marketing services and tools.

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Sales Objection - We Had a Bad Experience With Your Company

Sunday, October 14, 2012 Company, Experience, Objection, Sales No comments

Hopefully, you'll never hear these words. But sometimes bad things happen to good companies. Amazingly, if you can turn this type of prospect around, they will be your most loyal customer.

Buying your product is something your customer just wants to get through and then for the most part, forget about. They do not need to or want to worry; "Is my order coming on time?", "Has my sales rep scheduled our installation?", "Have you fixed the problems in your product?" As Jack Welch says in his book, Jack, "It's messy in the kitchen." Sometimes the problems in your kitchen boil over into the dining room. And you, the waiter, lose the tip.

You cannot do anything about what happened previously. What you can do is make it better right now. It's a multi-step approach. Start by apologizing. This will get you going in a good direction. It doesn't matter whose fault it was or who caused the problem. "Trina, I'm really sorry about your previous experience." Now, start to win them over by getting them to communicate and open up with you by asking, "If you don't mind, can you please tell me exactly what happened?" When people feel they've been wronged, they want to tell someone about it. Listen intently and sincerely. Take notes.

After they have finished, ask any clarifying questions to make sure you have a complete understanding of what went wrong. You continue; "Trina, I'm going back to the office, speak with the people involved and make sure this never happens to you again." If Trina is a decent person, and since you were willing to lend a shoulder to cry on, she will probably say, thank you. Now you can say, "While I am taking care of these issues can we talk about any current initiatives or requirements you have?"

This will work if:

· You go back to the office and take care of whatever it was that happened to Trina's company and report back to her that the problem is fixed or being worked on.

· You listen and empathize like a professional.

· You work your hardest to make sure it never happens again or at least give Trina a heads up if there is going to be a problem.

Sales Homework - Practice the lines above or write your own. Hopefully, you will never have to use them.

Sales Managers - One of the questions I like to ask a sales candidate is, "How do you sell a product you don't believe in?" The way they answer this question is a good indication of how they will handle the, "We had a bad experience with your company," objection. It's not an easy thing to answer. It requires a good, consultative approach. That requires a good, consultative sales manager.

My sales training course, How to be a Professional Salesperson, will teach you everything you need to earn more commissions than you ever have. http://www.training.sales-getters.com/

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6 Best Tools to Use in Ecommerce Websites

Saturday, October 13, 2012 Ecommerce, Tools, Websites No comments

Managing an ecommerce website can be a little hard if you do not have the right set of tools to use to check website errors, crawlability to search engines, traffic quality and quantity, and as well as management of individual web pages.

Google Analytics

Are you interested to know about web traffic quality and quantity? Are you interested as how your visitors browse the pages of your website? Signup for a Google Analytics account to check on the quantity of visitors you have from search engines, referring traffic from other websites, and also direct website visits. The only requirement for you to get a Google Analytics account is to get a Google Account from Gmail, get the analytics code and paste it to the body of your website, verify the code, and allow 24 hours for bots to successfully crawl to your website-for free.

Shopping Cart Tools from WordPress

If you have been using WordPress as a tool for your ecommerce website, you need not pay for an online shopping cart system to get your business going. All you need to do is to search for a shopping cart plug-in, install, and customize it to fit to your website. Don't forget to use high quality product images to make sure you grab the attention of your visitors.

Google Webmasters

Use Google Webmasters tool to check for errors, verify, and as well as submit your website URL for verification. Once you do this, you will always be sure to get information as to how your website is doing in the face of the search engines. You can also check for errors and fix the errors. You can check downtime issues and as well as 404, 301, 302, and 300 page errors.

Picasa

Picasa is one of the best free image tools we have today. You can edit or retouch your photos easily using Picasa and enjoy a good amount of storage for stock photos.

Merchant Account from PayPal

Studies show that allowing multiple methods of payment in ecommerce websites increase the amount of sales and profit. When you build ecommerce website online, always remember that there are different types of users whose preferred payment method is not the same for each one. Getting a merchant account in PayPal allows security of payments for both buyers and sellers and as well as pay through credit or debit card payments. PayPal also accepts bank transfer and payments using a PayPal credit which is easier for both parties. Transaction charges may apply but they're always at a minimum level.

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization helps ecommerce websites to have an edge against competitors when white hat SEO techniques are followed. Search Engine Optimization does not just end in one blow, but it is a continuous effort to be performed by internet marketers in order to stay on top of search engine rankings. Search Engine Optimization techniques include but not limited to On-page optimization, link building, article writing, anchor text writing, image optimization, and submission to different search engines.

Glen is a part of the NetIdnow team that helps individuals and businesses alike on how to build ecommerce website using WebStudio Website Builder--an ecommerce website builder integrated with a shopping cart system that allows people to make a website with or without HTML skills. Glen also enjoys sharing valuable information on SEO and Web Design.

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How Tuned Are You to Your Top Talent?

Friday, October 12, 2012 Talent, Tuned No comments

You hire Joe into a new role. It is a new position sponsored by the management to enter a hitherto new business segment. Joe is excited to take up the challenge. He believes he has the abilities to be successful in the role. Thanks to his sterling performance record over the last 5 years, the Vice President of the business has hand-picked him out of his current role to bootstrap this business. He has spent time in the market and possesses strong customer relationships. In transferring into this team, Joe believes his experience profile will be significantly expanded. He is aware that the newly carved out role has no business pipeline currently and that could negatively impact his first year earning potential; yet, it is worth the risk considering the management's vision to own the segment. Over time, he will make up for it when his efforts begin to deliver returns. Joe is excited about the business and is enjoying every minute of it.

And then, change strikes. The management team is reshuffled and a new set of executives take charge. The new management fails to see Joe's business in the same potential as was viewed earlier. The importance and focus provided to his business diminishes overnight since it is too small for them to give it their immediate attention. There are many more pressing challenges that need to be addressed.

Joe gets sulking. In business presentations, he is asked to deliver returns on the investment. His performance reviews are harsher as compared to his peers. They are going great guns, thanks partially to some of his efforts before he decided to switch roles. His salary increments don't seem to suggest the star that he was in the years gone past. Joe begins to get into a negative spiral. His energy and body language in the field begin to slouch and thoughts of survival take center stage. It begins to impact his sense of self-worth and the general feeling of well-being. Gone is the swagger, there is now a defensive posture in his body language. Disillusionment sets in. Joe ambles around for a few months in search of acceptance. With no such signals coming in, he resolves not to be unhappy and begins to look around for a change, internally and externally. Ultimately, at the next available opportunity, he quits the organization that until recently had seen a star in him.

What went wrong? Was Joe's performance not worthy of his potential in the new role? We don't know. Was the outgoing management's strategy incorrect in creating this role? If the incoming management team was not under tremendous hurry to 'set matters right', would they have been able to recognize Joe's potential and retain him? Going forward, would they hire a new person into this relatively insignificant position or will they abolish the post?

In trying to get an answer to these, we confront a bigger question - If this happens in your company, is your system attuned to read the early warning signals? Think about it.

For the last several years, Subbu Ananth has been associated with sales of tech solutions into large enterprises. He writes on sales management and organizational development. Comments are welcome at subbu4586@yahoo.co.in

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Outsourcing Lead Generation Services for Better Results

Thursday, October 11, 2012 Better, Generation, Outsourcing, Results, Services No comments

Market researches show that companies implementing outsourced B2B lead generation plans have greater chances of capturing quality leads than those using in-house services.

Using outsourced lead generation services means entrusting a vendor company with the responsibility of delivering quality leads that actually convert into lucrative sales. So naturally this means that outsourcing is results in greater conversion rate and improved business sales figures.

Efficient client profiling is integral to lead generation services

The service vendors apply numerous methods to find out every bit of useful information about prospects related to the demography such as their buying patterns, needs and behaviors. Most importantly, these service providers approach the sales process entirely from the prospects' standpoint and therefore make it easy for you to understand what exactly the prospects want. In fact the service provider conducts in-depth company research to find out the latest and the relevant data including the identifying prospect company's decision marker. All these finally help in efficient target marketing.

Lead generation services vendors provide you the qualified leads and therefore you need not waste your time pursuing someone who hasn't shown a clear need for your products/services, or who doesn't have the necessary budget to acquire them. Instead you can focus on prospects who are interested in what you are selling, need it, and can afford to buy it.

The service vendors perform due follow-up and nurture the opportunities until the time they become qualified leads. Lead generation services are designed to leverage several different channels to stay top of mind with these prospects till they are all set to make the purchase.

Use different channels for lead generation services

The service provider's teams usually adopt a multichannel approach to generate leads. A proficient and seasoned B2B lead generation outsourcing partner will make use of a mix of lead channels including networking, online and offline communication, list building from multiple sources, popular communication channels with the prospects' social groups, etc to maintain constant connect with the prospects. This considerably helps reduce the risk associated with the use of a single lead generation channel.

Comparison between in-house and outsourced lead generation services

Generally it takes a while to judge whether an internal lead generation team member is a good performer and in producing consistent results. It takes even longer to train him to the industry ways and your methods of generating leads. And if the person does not turn out to be suitable for the job you have start all over. On the other hand it won't take more than a couple of months to understand whether services vendor you have contracted is performing as per your expectation.

Very honestly most of the companies do not have a conclusive idea when it comes to defining a qualified lead. This can be a major problem and therefore it is advisable to hire outside experts who can provide assistance in developing proper processes and content to capture quality leads the right way. In-house teams are usually found to give hardly any importance to things like universal lead definition or customer insights.

Conclusion

Many companies today prefer outsourced lead generation services over in-house resources because these services are proven to deliver better sales leads. This in turn reduces cost and risk and paves the way for improved business growth. Additionally, availing such services means reduced time to market, enhanced sales leads conversion rate and greater return on investment.

Keeping all these scenarios in mind it can be safely concluded that outsourced lead generation services provide ample advantages over in-house solutions. And for this reason the industry is growing by leaps and bounds.

Celena Watson - Passionate writer and blogger. I have written on many different topics which include inbound sales, lead management, IT & services, lead nurturing process, demand generation and many more. For more info on online reputation management go to http://www.candorworks.com/online-reputation-management-services.htm

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Discover Why Small Business Search Engine Optimization Marketing Works

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 Business, Discover, Engine, Marketing, Optimization, Search, Small, Works No comments

Small business search engine optimization marketing on the local level is necessary in today's competitive market. As a small business, placing a simple sign in the window of your business, or a sidewalk sign just doesn't cut it anymore. I owned a small business myself on Long Island years ago, my idea of advertising was marketing in the local town newspaper. Sometimes inserting a coupon to advertise a sale product, depending on how many coupons I collected indicated the success of the marketing campaign. I never even had a website.

Years ago it didn't make good marketing sense. After all the WWW represented the World Wide Web, I needed to market to my neighbors. Well all that has changed, the World Wide Web still exists but it's become so large that search engines, such as Google are focusing on small business in local areas, as the next big Internet wave.

You Need Small Business Search Engine Optimization Marketing to reach the smart phone users.

Newspapers have lost readership to the World Wide Web, 70% of all cell phones are now smart phones. They are really handheld computers that are capable of taking pictures, video, and occasional phone call, numerous text messages, and searching the web.

We have become an information hungry society, we want something we want it now. We need to order anything we want it delivered to our front door. Small old-fashioned mom-and-pop stores are all but gone.

So how does a small business succeed in this market? You adjust to the changing trend or you struggle to survive. Those that have made the adjustment can't believe the new business they re receiving.

Successful small businesses advertise on a website, even the old-fashioned fat yellow book is now online. They realize that their user's fingers still do the walking, but they are typing and speaking messages into their smart phone.

The fastest way to get online is to quickly get a simple one page website in your local market. Hire someone to do this for you or take this project on yourself. One page websites are not difficult to build, however your expertise is running a business. It may be quicker and more cost-effective to hire someone to build you a simple one page website.

Unfortunately just having a one-page website or a 50 page website isn't enough, if no one can find. Your website must be optimized for your local area, and there are many companies out there that are willing to help you for a fee.

Let's be fair when you advertise in your local newspaper you paid a premium. Your ad was in the paper one time and was, gone. You advertise on your own website and it's displayed forever, or until you change it. You get to make the changes or hire somebody that will teach you how to make changes on your webpage.

Getting your website in front of potential customers becomes the job of a search engine optimization consultant. This is a very big title for a person who only knows more than you do about this particular subject, so don't let it intimidate you. As a small business you're competing against a much smaller market. If you want a higher

rating than your competitors, and you do! You just have to do a little more optimizing of your website than your competitors doing.

Small business search engine optimization is becoming more and more popular. If you wish to keep growing your business you will have to adjust. As a successful business person more than likely you have made many adjustments in the past, this is no time to fight it. Local website marketing is happening right now, I urge you to contact a local search engine optimization consultant now.
Warm Regards
William

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Sales Management - How Good Are Your Motivation Skills?

Tuesday, October 09, 2012 Management, Motivation, Sales, Skills No comments

Our fellow human beings are the most delicate, fascinating, unpredictable factors we encounter in business.

They are also the most important means and anything you can do to improve your management skills is a giant step towards success.

Treat them like peopleHarness their desiresTeach them howCriticise constructively

Pat them on the back

The person who is immune to the power of a sincere compliment has yet to be born, but make sure it is true and well placed. There is something praiseworthy about everybody; it is limited only by your knowledge of the person and your power of observation.

Examples
Anything they do well - tell themWhenever possible - tell them in public

Why? - did you ever get a compliment in front of your peers, and didn't you feel extra special when you did? That is the power of public praise.

Have you ever been pointed out or been introduced as - meet one of our best people and do you remember how good you felt. Everybody gets a" boost" out of being brought to the attention of others that is human nature and every person is human.

Remember to make a person feel important.

Pat them on the back and show respect for their knowledge and skills.

Everybody is ignorant only on different subjects, in fact every person you supervise knows in various cases more about specific things than you do.

By asking their opinion in matters on which they are an authority, you can cash in on their know how. It's an opportunity to show your respect for their knowledge and expertise, and you will give them the excellent feeling of having thought the boss.There is another advantage, that you are not above listening to your people but you are for idea swapping and that will encourage the kind of teamwork that gets things done.
Another way to show respect for a person's knowledge is to repeat one of their previous remarks, there is no greater tribute to a person's intelligence than when you repeat to them word for word what they had said.

So the third way to make a person feel important is to show respect for their knowledge.

Technique

Think of one of the people under your supervision, probably the least productive, now write you answer's.

Name__________________________________________________________________

What specific skill or achievement of theirs can I sincerely compliment?

In front of whom would they most appreciate being praised?

On what are they an authority?

What have they said recently that I can repeat to them?

Remember it is not enough to know the answers; you must use them at the first opportunity, because a knack for making people feel important is vital for the development of your managerial ability.

As important as it is to make a person feel like a human it is more important to know in what specific ways they are an individual.

Whatever their strong points are, it is your duty as a manager to identify it, encourage it and nourish it. It is equally your duty to know their undesirable traits in order to handle them better.

Why is everybody unique or different?

Each one of us is a product of altogether different forces, different upbringing and different experiences.

We are what we are because of two major influences.

Hereditary (The quality we are born with)Environment (The things that have happened to us in the process of growing up)

No two people have the same traits or the same experience in life, so the results over 3 billion individuals. Therefore you will never understand another person completely but you can do the next best thing - get acquainted. If you want to treat people as individuals then you will have to get to know them and that means you have to search and identify the broad outlines of their personalities by looking for typifying characteristics.

What are their traits?What makes them different from others?What are their basic attitudes?What are their special sensitivities?What are their needs and feelings?

These are the questions you must ask yourself in order to understand any human being.

Three ways to get the answers

Talk to them- nobody can tell you more about them than themselves

Talk in a chit chat level when guards are down and the real person comes out. Be alert for tips to the person's goals in life, their current problems, how they feel about their job their fellow workers and their family and listen carefully.

Be observant- study their actions, their behaviours and how they handle themselves.

Search for what is unique about the way they tackle a problem, react to criticism and follow through on an assignment.

Let them know you- mutual trust based on mature knowledge.

Be yourself in front of the staff.

Once you know something about what makes people tick you are ready for the second principle.

Second principle will follow next week - Harness their desires

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5 Fallacies of Sales Management

Monday, October 08, 2012 Fallacies, Management, Sales No comments

Sales management can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be. Over the years, I have seen both management styles succeed. Since there is a significant variance in the way in which sales managers operate, it stands to reason that there are misconceptions both by observers and managers themselves. I would like to list the 5 fallacies of sales management that tend to surfaces often in the workplace:

Must be the best sales person in the group. How often have you heard this? How often have you seen this implemented? Many times! Well, this concept is simply not true. So often though, the best sales people in a group surfaces as the front runner and eventual winner of the promotion to a sales management post. I equate this to sports. Was Vince Lombardi the best football player at his position prior to revolutionizing his sport? Scotty Bowman won 9 Stanley Cups as a coach but never performed above the minor league level in his sport. There are countless examples of my point. Placing the best sales person in the management position will often demoralize the candidate and rob the company of an important sales asset on the front lines. High level sales people tend towards tactics were as this talent is only a portion of the sales management role.
Needs to be the "Closer-in-Chief". This could be one of the most important of the 5 fallacies of sales management. We have all heard sales managers remind us to "bring me in when you are ready to close the deal". I am sure that there are many managers who excel in this area and their talents should be leveraged when appropriate. The truth is that closing, just like every other stage of the selling process, should be lead by whatever resource gives the team the best chance to win. Presuming that you, as sales manager, is the go to person for one specific aspect of the sales plan is a mistake.
Adopts the Cheerleading Principle. Motivation is crucial to any organization but is particularly true of a sales team. Given the high level of rejection they experience, plus the importance of many of their sales projects to the health of their company, maintaining a positive state of mind is important. Although I agree, that the leadership of the group must take some responsibility for this, I hold that as a professional, each sales person must take ownership of their own state of mind. Some of our motivation must come from within. The confidence to succeed ultimately can not be totally reliant on the sales manager's pep rallies or performance related rewards. Sustained confidence and determination to win eventually must come from within each of us.
Must approve all tactical sales plans. This may surprise some of you. It is a considerable responsibility to become the gate for all sales plans. Now, I'm not saying that a sales manager shouldn't participate in the sales plan development of the team. In fact, sales management absolutely must oversee the planning stage of any significant sales project. But do all strategic/tactical aspects of a plan require the sales manager's approval? I would argue that some leeway should be given the lead sales professional in terms of plan ownership. It would be very easy for a rep to relegate the responsibility for success to a sales manager who insists on approving every aspect of a sales process. Let the account managers have some ability to "make the call" on how the sales team should proceed in a given situation since they generally have a more intimate view of the details at work as well as the players involved. Delegate but checks, check, check as the Marines are famous for saying!
Fix only what is broken. No. No. No. This strategy turns a sales manager into a fire extinguisher, moving from problem to disaster. Before long, major aspects of a manger's responsibility suffer for lack of attention and become problems in the making. Sure, when things go wrong, we are expected to step in and guide the team to a solution. The visionary sales manager, though, is looking to expand on the positives. This manager takes a winning process and considers how it can be bettered or replicated. Authorship is unimportant whereas leveraging proven processes regardless of where they came from can be the key to consistent success.

Do not let these fallacies define your management experience. Know your strengths, get out of the way when it makes sense, and leverage the positives that can be reproduced. Do this and you will have side stepped the 5 fallacies of sales management.

If you are interested in or immersed by the sales profession, you may be interested in our articles and musings at Maximum Sales Solutions. We fuse decades of sales and management experiences with current innovations in technology, social media and advanced selling techniques. The result is an opinionated, informative and educational experience. Join Us!

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How to Direct Financial Narrative

Monday, October 08, 2012 Direct, Financial, Narrative No comments

One of the responsibilities of a business owner is to understand his business financials. You can gain control over your financial story by being the author of your financial narrative. You can do so much more if you have a comprehensive knowledge of your business. You can direct your staff to better manage your book and on how you wish to have your taxes done to meet your objectives. Your bookkeeper is your scribe and your accountant is your editor but you are responsible for the financial story of your business.

In order for any business owner to be successful, they need to be able to understand and make decisions from the three critical (or core) financial reports. The core financial reports are:

• The Income Statement (Profit & Loss)
• The Balance Sheet
• The Cash Flow Statement

The Income statement (Profit & Loss) - This is your business efficiency document. It tells you how efficiently your business is transforming revenue to profit.

What are the different parts of an income statement?

1. Revenue - It is the normal operating business money coming into your business. It comes from things like sales, billings, etc.
2. Cost of Goods Sold - Is a direct cost or variable cost, meaning it changes as the amount of sales change. It includes product manufacturing.
3. Gross Profit -Is also referred to as Variable Margin or Variable Profit - It is equal Revenue minus Cost of Goods Sold

Balance Sheet - Is the status where your business is at a specific point of time. It is your scoreboard.

Cash Flow Statement - It basically shows where cash went between the balance sheet and the income statement.

Five common mistakes to avoid in looking at financial statements:

1. Not looking at your financial statement on a regular basis - Get into the habit of looking at your financial statement on a regular basis
2. Not understanding the difference between cash flow and profit - Know that Profit is not cash.
3. Not knowing what to look for in each financial report - Know what to look for in each report and interpret it correctly.
4. Using automatic import functions in the accounting software and blindly accepting the classing and accounting placement decisions - Ensure accurate data importation in QuickBooks.
5. Confusing a non-standard naming in your Chart of Accounts - Ensure the information is able to be interpreted effectively.

All these three statements together tell: What is your business financial story? Where are you? Where have you been? And where are you going?

Evangeline A. Denila is a Freelance Writer.

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Engaging Your People in a Sales Quest

Sunday, October 07, 2012 Engaging, People, Quest, Sales No comments

Does your organization have a sales quest? If the answer is no, consider the idea. You might be surprised at what happens when your entire sales team agrees to pursue a dream, to make the dream a reality.

In the olden days, a quest was personal. You know what I mean. The knight rode off into the sunset on a white horse because he achieved his dream. In the modern world, a quest is a journey where a group of people agrees to pursue something by performing in certain way, resulting in the achievement of an exciting and rewarding outcome that benefits everyone involved in the journey. In addition, there must be a romantic element to the voyage that drives passion and belief.

If you have never done anything like this before, try answering these questions to get started. There is one other important point before you begin. A sales quest is not just for salespeople. It is for anyone who touches your clients, regardless of title.

The Questions

I recommend that you print this article and answer the questions in writing.

Who is driving this quest?Whom are you targeting with this quest?What do you want to accomplish?What must people be willing to do to be successful?What must people be able to demonstrate?What competencies must be performed exceptionally well to achieve the quest?What will people have that they do not have now by making a commitment to go on this quest?How will you measure progress?What would be worthy of notice if outsiders heard about the quest?

The Next Step

Once you answered the questions, sit down and wordsmith the document. Formalize the quest and share it with everyone who you want to ask to join in on the journey.

Some people may be reluctant to participate and some may totally reject the idea. Some people may watch from the sidelines and only agree to join in the journey when they see progress.

You cannot mandate that your people go on a quest; you must engage them and inspire them to join in on the pursuit. Sometimes you have to sell your people on a new and challenging idea. This quest illustrates a possible outcome of answering the nine questions.

The ABC Company east coast sales team will meet with every buyer in our assigned territory who requires our type of technology so that we can obtain dominant market share. We will overcome 100% of the objections we encounter, and will use comprehensive product knowledge to identify and solve client problems no matter how complex. Our closing rate will be exceptionally high because we use business acumen, relationship adeptness, value creation, and competitive differentiation when pursuing a qualified sales opportunity. We will receive corporate recognition for growing the company to achieve its full potential based on the number of annual installations. The other sales teams will admire and respect the commitment of our team to work on achieving this queue

Will this quest actually be achieved? Maybe over time, but that is not the point of writing the quest. It is more about the excitement, the possibilities, and the performance potential that comes from agreeing to go on the journey.

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How To Grow Your Recruitment Agency: The 2 Things You Must Focus On

Saturday, October 06, 2012 Agency, Focus, Recruitment, Things No comments

How to grow a recruitment agency is a common question when a group of recruitment business owners get together. The industry is filled with many high performing recruiters who decided to try their hand at running there own recruitment company only to find that they are now stuck. Everything is going OK and yet the growth and profits are not happening exactly as they wanted. This is usually because of a lack of attention to two key and vital things.

People and process. As any company reaches a critical mass attention must turn to these key areas.

People

The biggest overhead in any business and also potentially the most lucrative when it comes to impacting on your bottom line. In honesty recruitment company growth and success is led by the performance of your recruiters. A high biller can potentially make you millions. Logically then training recruiters is an important key step.

A recruiter's role is to bill as much as possible. Let's not beat about the bush. To do that they need to have amazing selling and influencing skills with everyone they come into contact with. From the candidates they attract in to the clients that they work with to ensure that the highest quality candidate fulfils the role.

Diplomacy, patience and drive are all needed in abundance. An important factor that still comes into play is the Management and coaching of your high billers. By their nature sales people (aka) recruiters are a bit different. They are used to persuading people. So your recruitment team leaders must make sure that they can handle this. An official performance management process will make sure that your recruiters deliver consistently. Hiring and firing is a waste of money. As recruiters you will know that. Having specific performance measures helps. A famous saying is what gets measured gets made,. Add into this a dash of motivation and additional advanced training and you will soon have a high performing team that does literally work like a well-oiled machine.

Process

Having a process in any business works. A systematic plan to follow works wonders. Have you noticed that some of the biggest employers in the UK use systems, checklists and processes? Imagine turning up at your local hospital to be surrounded by a surgical team that has no idea what is happening next. This might sound an outrageous example and yet think of how this can translate into your own business. A life may not be at stake though a number of livelihoods will be. Creating a system approach and way of thinking will impact in many areas of your recruitment business and is a great clue in how to grow your business. Any repetitive task need to be written down. Success leaves clues. Imagine have a defined process where you can pinpoint exactly what needs to happen to produce predictable results. This process style of thinking can work at all levels in your recruitment company. From your marketing, lead generation, people management, and employee reward and development system.

If you are stuck about how to grow a recruitment business. Sit down with a paper and pen and walk through exactly what is and is not working in these two areas and you will have a first start action plan for success. In summary if starting a recruitment agency is your goal, have a plan and make sure the first three things you explore are the 3 M's.

If you want to learn more about how to grow a recruitment business you can get FREE access to our tips by visiting Centred Excellence at http://www.centredexcellence.co.uk/

Nicky Coffin has over 15 years' experience growing her own recruitment agency and helping other recruitment business owners to do the same. If you want to know more about growing a recruitment agency Visit our interactive website at Centred Excellence.

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Fundamental Changes In Selling And The Way In Which The Modern Sales Person Operates

Friday, October 05, 2012 Changes, Fundamental, Modern, Operates, Person, Sales, Selling, Which No comments

Over the years businesses have been bombarded by numerous strategic models and management approaches. Just a few examples of such strategies that can be found on various management training programmes include: downsizing, relationship advertising and marketing, empowerment, total quality management, re-engineering and benchmarking. All these ideas have produced adjustments within our businesses and in also in those of our customers and so have also left a deep impact in the field of selling.

Perhaps one of the most significant changes is that, where clients are concerned, what used to count as "best" service from a supplier is thought of as standard service today. A good seller is expected by clients to:

1. Sustain consistent top quality without having any faults worth mentioning.

2. Tell the client regularly about the newest trends and also contributes to the client's being in a position to react to these trends rapidly and at a competitive price.

3. Go through the chain of value generation and look for opportunities to rationalise and pass on any eventual cost benefits to the client.

4. Keep their rates consistently at the lower end of the market scale.

5. Ensure that their production does not endanger health, is safe, and is kind to the natural environment.

These five increased demands have led to serious modifications in the way industrial field sales are carried out. The sales man or woman must move from being a simple profit maker into a problem solver. This change requires the sales man or woman to be able to supply complete answers to their client's needs. This will include a mix of goods and services, the correct info and comprehensive assistance and back up. There is no-one better suited to undertaking this new approach to industrial field sales than the sales person who is able to keep in close personal contact with the client.

Thus the modern industrial salesperson is progressively turning into the customer's advocate. They pay attention to your client's ideas, wants and also to their complaints and pass them on to the organization. As the client's representative, the field sales man or woman will start to have a bigger influence on how much can be charged for goods and services than in the past.

In the long run the industrial salesperson will increasingly turn into a market researcher. They will need to know intimately the full range of goods they sell, the level of competition and their prices, as well as the way the clients evaluate the organization's services in comparison with the competition.

Sales supervisors, sales management training experts inform us, must be conscious that these changes will also alter the conventional sales process that industrial sales men and women might be working with. The modern sales man or woman needs to build up a relationship of trust with each and every decision maker inside a customer's organization: persuading is out - convincing is in!

The sales man or woman has to go from being an information giver to being an information receiver. The client doesn't have to know every little thing about your company in the first instance, rather the other way round! To get this intimate knowledge of your client's company will require regular group discussions.

The modern industrial sales man or woman regularly takes on the role of co-ordinator of the customer-supplier relationship. They're the contact partner when customer support doesn't work, when a bill which has long been paid is demanded for the 3rd time, or when a guarantee promise isn't kept or the delivery time is overrun.

It should be really clear to you by now that entirely new demands will be made of the industrial salesperson:

The new industrial salesperson needs to be a great listener, analyst and communicator. He/She understands the customer and his wishes and will deliver these to his/her colleagues within the business.

For this the new industrial salesperson must be equipped to speak to specialists from departments much removed from sales, for instance research and development, both in his/her company's business and the clients.

The simple selling techniques, like closing deals and handling complaints, though still vital, will decrease in their importance. Having said that, co-ordination skill, talent for organisation and team capability will become far more important.

The industrial salesperson who's simply guided by quotas will soon belong in the past. The new industrial salesperson needs to be self-managed, self-lead and self-encouraged. As such they will also need to be managed differently and a refresher sales management training program might be valuable for any sales supervisors having to lead such industrial sales people.

Richard Stone (richard.stone@spearhead-training.co.uk) is a Director for Spearhead Training Limited ( http://www.spearhead-training.co.uk/ ) a company that specialises in running management and sales training courses. Richard provides consultancy advice for numerous world leading companies.

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Building Productive Sales Channel Partnerships

Thursday, October 04, 2012 Building, Channel, Partnerships, Productive, Sales No comments

A sales executive told me about the problems that his organization was having with making their channel partner strategy work. The list was long. I asked him, "Then why in the world do you have a partner program?" His response: "Because there is no other reasonable option."

Channel partner strategies are put in place for a number of reasons, including:

Provide access to new markets and customersLower the cost of salesOffer a richer, more competitive solution to the customerReduce risk

Your aspiration is that, in total, your joint partner proposition will allow you to uncover new business opportunities and enrich your offering. But with these potential benefits come a myriad of problems, including:

Channel contentionLess control of point of contact with the customerCompensation and incentives to direct and channel salespeopleCustomer satisfaction issues and responsibility for resolving themPricing issuesPartner loyalty and mindshare

How can you add more heft to your channel partner strategy so that the benefits take center stage and any problems that arise are easily managed? The best place to start is with the customer and build solutions that address the customer's needs and opportunities most effectively. A joint planning session with your existing channel partner around a specific account, market, or business-to-business opportunity can lead to actions that improve the results for all parties. A conversation structured around the following discussion points can be productive.

Target your markets.

Who are your most important joint customers?Which customer segments can most benefit from your products or services delivered in conjunction with your partner?In what way do you need to evolve and adjust your strategy to meet the requirements of your customers and marketplace?

Define your joint strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT).

For the solutions you jointly sell, what is your customer's biggest SWOT that you are focused on?What is the current SWOT for each of your organizations related to addressing your customer's most pressing needs?What are the biggest issues you have working together?

Reexamine your joint value proposition.

What are the biggest successes you had during the last year?What motivates your customer to buy?What are the biggest issues your customers have with your companies and your solutions?

Define your metrics.

What are the most important three or four things that you can work on together?Who will be responsible for them?What are the milestones to ensure that you address them?How will you be measured?How will you manage so that you activate joint initiatives effectively, keep momentum, and recognize progress?

Develop your partner marketing and communication plan.

What is the best way to jointly communicate your strategy to your customer and respective sales teams?What elements need to be included in your communication plan to ensure cross-organizational relationships and momentum?

By helping your partners strengthen their product portfolio, reduce risk, and grow their revenues, you will ultimately create the highest possible valuation of your business.

Jeanne Buchanan is a marketing and sales consultant for Critical Path Strategies, a sales training and consulting company that helps sales leaders improve the effectiveness of their sales organizations. She edited the how-to primer for sales leaders, Building a Successful Selling Organization. Please visit http://www.criticalpathstrategies.com/

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Goal Setting in the Workplace

Wednesday, October 03, 2012 Setting, Workplace No comments

A strategy for achievement

The starting point of all achievement is desire

What do you want?Decide what you want - goal - objective - needEstablish what you want - think in terms of your family - personallyDefine winning for you and develop goals that if achieved will win for youWhat will it take to achieve the goals, objectives or needs - be prepared to pay the price
Where am I and why? - AnalysisLook at historical data - last year etcEngage in analysis - what effort did I make - was the plan properly thought out etc
Develop a plan (CSP = Comprehensive Sales Plan)Take thinking and planning time to develop the critical factorsNew sales targetRetention of existing business targetsRatio analysis
List things that occur to you and your mastermind group
List in order of importance, 1, 2, 3, etc
Concentrate on two possibly three things at any given time, no more
Preparation - Organisation (Prepare yourself mentally and physically)Plan specific activities to manage in the critical factorsDetermine who will be doing what, when, how, and whereCalendarise activities as activities must support the goals, objectives or needsShow every level of the plan and what the plan means to those involvedMake a benefit list for each person involved in the planAm I willing to pay the price necessary to achieve the outcome and at this point you can only proceed if the answer is yes
Implementation - Action (DO IT NOW) Before you can change results you have to change activities and attitudesManage attitudes and activities to achieve the desired resultsControl your activities and attitudes and manage others activitiesIs this the biggest pay off activity I can be engaged in today and if not why not?Evaluate the skills with which you implement the plan and if they need improving then ensure they are improved to ensure success is achieved
Evaluate short term results See where you are towards your goals, objectives or needs - are you on track - ahead of target or behindDevelop a tracking system looking at the critical factors necessary for the achievement of your goals, objectives or needs.Ensure the tracking system addresses all of the critical factors
Reaction - Take Corrective Action
Your reaction can be positive or negative depending on where you stand towards your goals, objectives or needsIf you are not on track then change activities, look at alternatives and at this stage only minor correction may be neededRather than criticise the results ask questions about the activities and have enough faith in the team that if the right activities are taking place the results will eventually be right - or suggest alternatives
Re-dedicate to the original goal as your dedication to the original goals, objectives or needs are more important than your ability to achieve them.

The essence of all motivation starts with a meaningful goal

You need to understand the importance of meaningful business goalsIf you don't then doing a comprehensive sales goal (CSG) and a comprehensive sales plan (CSP) is quite meaninglessSet business goals first and then set a CSG and CSP once the business goals are setHaving a business goalGives a reason to buildCauses one to operate on a long term basis - inspiration might keep you going short rangeMake you job meaningful and funUnderstand it is OK to be selfish as long as you understand it takes people to help you get what you wantIf you hit your goal the business will always winPeople with meaningful business aim high goals automaticallyRecogniseRelateAssimilateGet into action
If you do not have long range goals, try to set short range goals as achieving short range goals to intermediate will eventually get you the long range goals

Winning is achieving your goals.

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The Difficulties of Managing a Sales Team

Tuesday, October 02, 2012 Difficulties, Managing, Sales No comments

Most sales managers would agree that "managing a sales team is harder than herding cats". The individualism common in the stereotypical examples of sales and domesticated cats makes the metaphor work rather well!

So that's the problem, now what do we do about it?

First we need to identify the qualities that make a great sales person:

Independent (will do things their way)Individualistic (their way doesn't involve you monitoring everything they do)Self-starter (they set their own priorities)Great questioners (they will question everything you try to tell them)Passionate about their work (they sometimes come across as angry)Persistent (they are very stubborn)Ability to negotiate (they can talk their way out of anything you try to tell them)Ability to overcome rejection (they will not care what you think about them either)Respond to needs (they will commit only to those things that they see as important)Storyteller (they can convince you that things are better than they are)

Those ten characteristics which make for a great sales person can clearly make them very difficult to manage. The more "Managerial" you become the more the negative side of those characteristics manifest themselves.

Let's consider the Sports Manager. Sports managers spend their time behind the scenes coordinating all business-related activities for the team that employs them.

Rarely is that the responsibility of a sales manager. Usually they are tasked with increasing sales and executing the day-to-day functions and decisions of the sales team. Sounds more like a coach than a manager. Right?

Maybe then what's needed is a shift in focus from functioning as a manager to functioning as a coach. After all is there a lot of difference in the characteristics of a high-powered sales person and that a high-powered athlete?

I think not!

What advantages will a coach have that a manager doesn't? A coach is seen in our society very different from a manager. Can we use those differences to our advantage?

Here's a slightly over simplified explanation: A manager sets goals, in the form of quotas on calls, presentations and sales, and holds you accountable to reach them. A coach supports, through training, practice and development of your skills, your efforts to achieve victory.

With that perception of the difference it is obvious why more sales people are more responsive to coaching than to managing.

Let's look again at those characteristics of a high-powered sales person through the eyes of a coach:

Independent - a coach loves an independent spirit because they are eager to work with independent people rather than the person who depends on him for the next 10 years.

Individualistic - a coach wants an individual rather than a one-size-fits-all sales person. Individuals bring flavor and expand your market.

Self-starter - a coach wants the sales person who sees the need and goes after it with everything they have.

Great Questioner - a coach will see the questioning ability as the greatest asset if when it is directed at the goals and objective of the company.

Passionate - a coach understands that passion is a part of the package which also includes some harder to handle issue but they all come in the same package.

Persistent - a coach will take what seems like a stubborn tendency and make it positively persistent.

Ability to negotiate - A coach will use the sales person ability to negotiate to "get" them to work for their own good.

Respond to needs - a coach understands how to help a sales person "see" needs as never before.

Storyteller - a coach knows the power of good stories and how to direct the sales persons to use them to accomplish his goals not keep him from them.

The difficulties of managing a sales team is that you're trying to manage! Try coaching instead, or you could just keep herding cats.

Like this piece on managing sales people? Eric would really like to hear from you as he puts together his next podcast on becoming a sales coach rather than a manager. To get to know Eric better go to http://ericmulford.com/

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