Category Archives: Management

04.24.13
by

Culture, Communities, Evangelists – Company Evangelism

15,792 Views.   Company evangelism is at an all time high. Businesses are not only expecting this of their leaders but now they expect it from all. Everyone… from the front receptionist to the part time warehouse worker. From engineering, accounting, sales, and operations. Is that fair? Is that even possible?

Culture, Communities, Evangelists – Company Evangelism

Getting the right message out for a new business, or any business for that matter, is crucial in today’s highly competitive market. Passion from the founder and leaders is imperative. Employee passion from their own experiences even better. They need to believe and, just as important, their peers, customers, friends, and families need to believe. They need to be moved enough to passionately tell others about what a great company, job, product, or service they have and offer. This is much more than a “like” on the company’s Facebook page.

Is this a fair request? Yes, and it’s crucial. We live in a “viral” world with unbelievable potential in getting the word out. Good or bad. And, in today’s marketplace, having nothing said by anyone can be detrimental. Especially if your competition has a plethora of evangelists. That’s why the company’s culture has to include evangelism. The problem is most companies really don’t understand what an evangelist is and who they are.

Continue reading →

04.06.13
by

Business to Business Sales Lead Appreciation

66,540 Views.   Over the years I would bust my behind with lead generators, network meetings, relationship building, lunches, Starbucks, etc. to get a qualified lead for my sales team. “Keep me in the loop” is the only prerequisite I ask in order for them to receive this lead. Simple right?

Not only did they not keep me in the loop… they acted like they found the lead later and had some sort of prior “relationship”. What is up with that!

Business to Business Sales Lead Appreciation

Rule #1: When someone gives you a lead internally, or externally, keep them in the loop. Why is this so important? Other than just simple manners and respect… It just makes good business sense. If I had a business contact give me a lead and met them later… I would not want to find out that we did not follow up on this opportunity from them. Obviously this would be embarrassing and most likely I would never get a lead from them again. Not good for business.

Continue reading →

03.17.13
by

Sales Training and Your State of Mind

101,960 Views.   Anyone that has sold for any length of time has developed comfortable sales habits. So… when a trainer or manager comes in and offers a new way to increase sales… they may not see the value. They start into a diatribe of exception examples of why the new training idea won’t work for them. Irritating and short sighted.

Sales Training and Your State of Mind

What they don’t realize is that this training session isn’t all about them. Someone in the room may find tremendous value in the material. By discussing the “faults” of the training, others start to feel less than interested in the subject matter. The message gets diluted and so does the training. Also, in their self absorbed mindset they miss information that could have been useful to their own sales career.

“There is nothing weak about valuing the opinions of others and asking for advice from time to time.” -Chris Lott

Are you that salesperson, sales manager? Candidly, I have been. Here’s what I learned that helped me get to a “next level” in my sales career by becoming trainable.

Continue reading →

03.15.13
by

Sales Loss Analysis

6,098 Views.   I would constantly hear the term “a teaching opportunity” any time someone made a mistake. At first this kind of bugged me to be honest. It seemed like a kinder, gentler way of saying they screwed up without saying it. As an upfront guy this tactful approach seemed… well… weak. But then as I thought about it more it actually made a lot of sense. These issues/problems should be times for teaching opportunities, not scolding’s, if you’re truly trying to build the best sales team possible.

Sales Loss Analysis

My Training’s typically consisted of announcements, training, reporting (accountability), and success stories. We analyzed what we did right so as to “clone” these success techniques if you will. During one of these meetings it hit me… what about deals lost? Wasn’t a “teaching opportunity” there as well? Of course there was and my version of Lee B. Salzs’ Quincy Reporting was born.

“Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I’ll show you someone who has overcome adversity.” -Lou Holtz

Two Items to Consider

1.) Spirit of this Reporting: After using this process for a while I found that you don’t want to create an environment for others to criticize. Learn and share only. Criticism is for one on ones.

2.) Take Action: Make this part of your normal sales meeting. Discuss as a team.

Continue reading →

03.13.13
by

Let Their Sales Light Shine!

7,010 Views.   Have you been tempted to manage and train your sales, sales management, teams to perform like clones? Are you doing this now? Be honest… If so, you’re most likely making a huge mistake!

Let Their Sales Light Shine!

In my last meeting… all were bobbing their heads and smiling in agreement with what I had presented. So I proceeded forward feeling warm and fuzzy that I had performed my duties flawlessly. I was pretty sure we would have an uptick in sales quickly. I knew if they would just follow what I said, and I mean exactly what and how I said it, everyone would be wildly successful!

Unfortunately, shortly after, problems started. Some in the field were not presenting their new found information correctly. Some went back to what they knew (comfort zone) and were not presenting the new information at all. Some made their own new presentation that was morphed somehow from what was presented. More importantly… others did exactly what and how I said it and failed miserably. Frustrating!

Continue reading →

01.06.13
by

Control Freaks and Micro Managers

10,670 Views.   We’ve all had them and maybe we were one ourselves. Maybe we still are? Managers that simply could not let go of any control. This goes for owners of businesses as well. You know the type… they’re pretty sure no one can do the job as well as them. They have the “If you want a job done right you have to do it yourself” philosophy. I wish I could tell you this applies to new managers only… unfortunately it doesn’t.

Control Freaks and Micro Managers

11 Signs That You Might be a Control Freak

    1.) Almost never think that you’re wrong.
    2.) Tardy people irritate you.
    3.) You’re stubborn.
    4.) You interrupt people and don’t even realize it.
    5.) Taking orders/directions from anyone is tough.
    6.) People disagreeing with you upsets you.
    7.) People’s messes really bother you.
    8.) You are easily irritated.
    9.) If people don’t take your advice your insulted.
    10.) It’s difficult for you to trust people.
    11.) Need to do everything yourself as much as possible.

Three Issues of Control/Micro Managing

Issue #1: If a manager has become too important to the end results that if anything happens to them the company suffers… big problem. There’s no backup… no redundancy. Possibly in time….. business failure.

Continue reading →

11.20.12
by

What Does it Mean to be Driven?

102,427 Views.   What does it mean to be driven? To have drive? Is it important to sales success? Where does it come from? Can it be taught?

What Does it Mean to be Driven?

One of the hardest challenges as a sales manager is hiring great talent. Even after multiple interviews, sales evaluation exams, and impeccable references contacted a less than hire can still happen. What makes them less than? I can sum this up in one word, Drive.

In my experience it is really hard to root out whether a person has drive or not. Most, if not all, potential candidates can talk the talk but very few can walk the walk. After a few months their drive, or lack of, is what usually starts frustrating me. Those that have drive and are driven, a breath of fresh air. The latter I started analyzing years ago and here is what I found.

Continue reading →

09.27.12
by

Become a Better Manager in 5 Steps

10,425 Views.   I have worked with terrible managers and have worked with a few that were remarkable. Those that were remarkable brought out a work ethic and creativity superior to those that weren’t in every case. Long term relationships were built and loyalty attained. What made them different?

Good Manager Bad Manager

Bad Managers
To be fair… there really isn’t a lot of training for a manager typically. They hand you a book to read and some reports to fill out and somehow magically you are expected to become a great manager. If you’re lucky they’ll provide some mentoring. This may not always be the best thing. You’ve been hired or promoted to get the sales production up and they’re offering a mentor that couldn’t get that done in the first place. It’s like the blind leading the blind many times. Let’s look at what affect a bad manager can have.

Continue reading →

08.30.12
by

Cutting Commissions to Train

92,424 Views.   “You could always not get paid”, “Your commission will be cut if you don’t…, You screwed up… which cost me.. and now is going to cost you!”. You’ve heard the threats I’m sure. Maybe even experienced the commission cut. How did that make you feel? Did you learn your lesson?

Manage by Intimidation

For the life of me I can not figure out how threatening a persons income has become a “stick” for sales training. And yet I have witnessed this time and time again by so called “managers”. Why would someone do that? Why would someone let them do that?

First of all I personally could never work for someone that would ever threaten my earned income to teach me a lesson. As I have said many times… the sales profession is tough. After finally finding and selling a client to only have that hard earned commission threatened… not for me. That doesn’t mean I would quit. What it does mean, however, is I would not let them get away with it nor should you. Let me explain.

“Incidents should not govern policy; but, policy incidents.” -Napoleon Bonaparte

You empower them
Maybe its partially the sales persons fault? Seriously… there are sales people that empower the manager by letting him/her get away with the threat. Once the precedence has been set it’s pretty easy for the manager to use this tool over and over again. Don’t let them ever cut your commission to teach you a lesson!

Continue reading →

08.03.12
by

Make Your New Hire the Best of the Best

5,712 Views.   The sales industry as a whole has always been a transitional career move/path environment. Today it’s more than ever. Managers, Owners, Presidents, and CEO’s are short fused with their sales teams. Sales members are looking at the proverbial “grass is greener” across all industries in defense. What I’m finding is there are plenty of qualified professionals to choose from in an 8+ percent unemployment environment. My problem is how to choose the potential best of the best. Here’s what I’ve learned.

4 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Hire Someone

4 Questions to ask yourself before you hire someone.

1.) Do you really know what it takes to be successful in your industry today?

2.) If not… then how do you expect a newly hired sales professional becoming successful with your organization?

3.) Will your training be relevant?

4.) Is your pricing, offering, and presentation thought out and pertinent to today’s market? Are you still sales training using older techniques?

If any of these questions hit home, before you invest in a new sales person, make a change and give yourself and them a chance to succeed.

Understanding the preparation and responsibility with a new hire’s success is important but it is equally important to find the right individual in the first place.

Where do you find them?
Linkedin and Facebook are my favorites with “word of mouth” or networking a close second. Having url links in your status updates to your company site/blog for more detailed information on the offering is necessary.

Continue reading →