July 30th, 2009
In my last blog, I mentioned I have been attending the National Speakers Association conference. What an experience! During three days we worked on keynote content, learned new ideas on platform delivery and observed some of the top professional speakers in the world. So, what does that have to do with sales management or my sales training programs?
Almost from the moment I arrived to the very last break-out meeting, the most common questions were: “What is your expertise?” or “What do you speak on?” It was wonderful to hear how many people could clearly articulate their value proposition or message. Unfortunately, there were others that simply struggled with expressing their message. It was absolutely clear who were the true professionals and who knew their business.
In the 12 years of consulting with partners, we believe the inability for salespeople to “stand up” and clearly and simply describe what their company does and why prospects should purchase from them is the No. 2 problem in the channel. As sales managers, we must build into our sales training programs, on a recurring basis, a process to keep your messages top of mind. The best training we recommend is to videotape each salesperson giving the company’svalue proposition. This should be done privately — one salesperson at a time. At your next sales training meeting, play each of the salesperson’s videos in front of your entire sales team. In most situations it will expose anyone whose message has an obvious lack of clarity. After that meeting, give everyone two weeks to rehearse and practice and then perform the videotaped exercise again. You will be amazed at the results. As sales leaders, it’s important to perform this sales training exercise twice a year.
Hint: We also highly recommend you post a sign or banner in your office with your message and work to reinforce this message to all of your employees.
You might also like to know about our upcoming Sales Leadership Summit, from Aug. 11-12, at Davidson Village Inn in Charlotte, North Carolina; for questions send me an e-mail or call 800-792-8346.
Ken Thoreson is managing director of the Acumen Management Group Ltd., a North American consulting organization focused on improving sales management functions within growing and transitional organizations internationally. Ken also motivates organizations with enlightening keynotes
Posted in Keynote Programs, Sales Kick Off Meeting, sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management, Sales Management Consulting, Sales Management Planning, Sales Management Systems, Sales Management Training, Sales Motivation, Sales Training | Comments Off
July 16th, 2009
I am leaving Saturday for Phoenix — yes, in July! It is the National Speaker’s Association conference and as a member, I decided to invest in my personal development.
During the day I will be listening to programs, attending break-out sessions and networking with my peers. At night I will be working on my client projects.
Going to this event is always very interesting. Normally, I am giving the keynote or leading a break-out session at a vendor’s or association’s conference. With WPC going on this week and other industry events, it is important that even with the economic challenges that you may be experiencing and even if cash flow is critical, attending these kinds of events must be considered a priority.
Learning new things, picking up one or two new ideas and even re-energizing your own mind can help you lead your organization during tough times. You may even gain insights into new sources of revenue that will propel your organizations as the economy begins to recover! “Invest in yourself” are the key words.
In our last blog we mentioned creating a personal development plan for each of your team. As a sales leader you need to have your own plan as well. On our Web site, you will find a link to our new book (look for the yellow widget) on sales and sales management. It contains hundreds of ideas that you can use to: 1) challenge your current thinking on sales/leadership and 2) open the minds of your sales team to new and different concepts in selling.
Every salesperson on your team should read it. Really, it’s great summertime reading! If you would like a copy of Acumen’s recommended list of executive books for your library, send me an e-mail.
Ken Thoreson is managing director of the Acumen Management Group Ltd., a North American consulting organization focused on improving sales management functions within growing and transitional organizations internationally. Ken also motivates organizations with enlightening keynotes
Posted in sales leadership, Sales Management, Sales Management Training, Sales Motivation, Sales Training | Comments Off
July 7th, 2009
To set the stage for the second half of the year, now is the perfect time to perform a formal salesperson review. We’ve found that in many organizations, other than measuring the percent age of quota attainment, salespeople aren’t formally reviewed as many other employees might be. Once we institute our programs, long-term sales success and less sales turnover occurs.
Effective sales-force management requires creating an environment for individual recognition, development and planning. In our “Sales Management Tool Kit” — a library of sales management Word/Excel documents — we use a process and tool to ensure that individual attention is paid to each salesperson. We encourage our clients to meet with each salesperson twice each year and complete a formal document that clearly describes the sales manager’s opinion of the individual’s performance, including actual sales vs. quota, but also attitude, sales training, sales professionalism, CRM knowledge, areas of strength and weakness, etc.
The key to this meeting is to understand the salesperson’s perspective and form a mutual agreement on the contents of the salesperson’s development document. This process is designed to allow the sales manager and salesperson to openly build a relationship based on honest communication, which leads to the real benefit of this process.
The ultimate benefit or objective is to create a mutually agreed-upon plan on which both the salesperson and sales manager agree to work together for the next six months. This action plan would include sales training programs, personal and professional goals, as well as any personal commitments that the salesperson wishes to make.
If you want to order the entire “Sales Management Tool Kit,” go to Acumenmanagement.com or e-mail me for the “Salesperson Development” document.
Meanwhile, are your sales contests working out? Are they creating fun, activity and sales? Let me know, and have a fun summer!
Ken Thoreson is managing director of the Acumen Management Group Ltd., a North American consulting organization focused on improving sales management functions within growing and transitional organizations internationally. Ken also motivates organizations with enlightening keynotes
Posted in sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management, Sales Management Consulting, Sales Management Planning, Sales Management Systems, Sales Management Training, Sales Training | Comments Off
