Smile and Win Sales

Aug 312011

4,377 Views

Smile and Win Sales

As I was watching my 5 year old wrestle against another 5 year old I overheard their coach say something quite profound. He stopped the match and demanded the attention of my son’s competitor and said “smile… this is supposed to be fun… remember?” Wow… inspirational and for me motivational.

We live in an incredible time. Technology is growing exponentially. For most of us our “disposable income” is at an all time high! Freedoms, choices, and learning opportunities are being offered at a level never before heard of in history. These are happy times… right? Unfortunately when I look around… I’m not seeing happy. Where are the smiles? Why aren’t we having fun?

A wakeup call.
Years ago I literally “died” in church. Turned grey, no detectable pulse, out for the count. I was resuscitated and lived. A pivotal point in my life that made me reconsider my current path. I needed to smell the proverbial roses… to prioritize what’s important… and for heaven’s sake I needed to be happy and smile more! “Remember Chris… Life is supposed to be fun!” has entered my thoughts on many an occasion since then.

Coffee Killed the Sale

Sales 15 Responses »

Aug 282011

3,272 Views

Coffee Killed the Sale

I was involved in a fairly large opportunity where they had an eight member team that was to recommend the vendor. After a long process, where many times we thought we were in the lead, we loss the deal. Heart breaker. During the sales process Starbucks Coffee was offered. Not a bad thing right? Except my salesman did it almost every week, sometimes a couple of times a week, to the person heading up the decision. There were some serious politics between this team that we weren’t exactly privy to. Prior to one of the meetings this same salesman sent a message to all eight asking what they would like to drink. He said “I already know what Jill wants how about the rest?” At that point she went out of her way to not show us any “favoritism”. Prior to this she had been our advocate.

In another instance trying to woo a potential customer with a game of golf seemed to be working. For a while. As time went by my sales pro started to get nervous and offered another game of golf against my recommendation. It was flatly turned down as they now felt it was going against company policy. He then could not get them to return calls and/or emails.

While these two examples were not the only reasons for losing these deals I firmly believe they “tipped the scale” away from us.

Life after Sales

Motivation, Sales 10 Responses »

Aug 242011

3,354 Views

Life After Sales

If you’re like most of us you’re a workaholic. While you might not be in the office all the time… you’re taking text messages, answering phone calls, and/or working on your home pc around the clock. I will have at least 3 different projects going on at any time. This is the minimum requirement to make it anymore, right? Companies don’t think in terms of an 8 to 5 employee/manager. Many owners, especially small business owners, are expecting this of themselves as well.

The successes drive us and the failures challenge us. We push along until a kink in our plan comes along. This can take many forms and usually does. Family, friends, health, finances, changes, and/or death can be a contributor. The last was mine.

Linda was an employee of mine a few years ago. I’m not going to kid you she was a handful to manage but she was also a caring person with a big heart. I knew Linda some 5-6 years earlier as well through my support of a product her company was selling. While I don’t know all the details somehow she ended up alone with limited family contact. She had focused her energies on work and work had become her identity. With the announcement of her death it really hit me and made me reflect.

Time is Not Your Enemy

Sales No Responses »

Aug 192011

3,101 Views

Time is Not Your Enemy

I preach it… My boss preaches it… We have all heard it. “Time management is your sales success key”. Right? I mean let’s face it. Is this really possible? You’re working ten hour days as it is… or more. Meetings, events, training, proposals, contracts, and the list goes on and on. Then, as if that’s not enough, you’re hit with the last minute “stop everything and deal with it” issues. At the end of the week, reviewing what you did, once again you failed in getting crucial items completed. Why does this keep happening? More importantly, why should you keep trying?

Every single long-term top producing salesperson, manager that I have dealt with over my 20+ year career has mastered time management in some way. They fully understand that all activity is crucial to month end month out success. Over the years I found that there are common key elements that these top producers possess. Elements that can be learned and practiced by anyone with a desire to progress.

The common man is not concerned about the passage of time, the man of talent is driven by it. – Shoppenhauer

Belief, Focus and Action
In the previous article – Self Expediency is Key to Success – I talked about self expediency as a mindset. It’s a belief that if you don’t perform now you will fail. It’s a belief in the numbers and work ethic. You know that without this activity you won’t hit your goals. If you don’t hit your goals you won’t accomplish the things that your career can offer and you desire.

Power of Personal Recognition

Management, Sales 5 Responses »

Aug 162011

3,455 Views

Power of Personal Recognition Giving

My experience with giving recognition using certificates, trophies, and gift cards, quite honestly, has been somewhat blasé. I’m never sure it has accomplished the goal that I had intended. Many times it was received with a lackluster thanks. Maybe I was at fault with my presentation… criteria used? What has been your experience?

With that said… do the recipients still put their rewards in a conspicuous place for all to see? Of course they do because no matter how it’s presented everyone still likes to be acknowledged. My goal, and should be yours, is to take this powerful tool up a notch however. With a little tweaking and if properly executed recognition can be a great motivator and loyalty builder for any sales force.

For those Giving Recognition:

Personal Recognition is Necessary for Top Performance
Seems like a no-brainer to me and yet I don’t see a lot of this going on in smaller teams and when it does in larger teams it’s not very meaningful. The certificate presentation with a nervously presented generic praise is better than nothing but comes off insincere many times. So how do you make it meaningful and sincere?