Sales Leadership: The Importance of a 2011 Sales Kick Off Meeting

 Perhaps 2010 was great year for your sales team or perhaps it was a struggle and a disappointment.

In either case starting to plan your 2011 sales kickoff event is an important action during November. Why?   There are many reasons to make sure this event is properly orchestrated.

1. Keeping your team excited and motivated is essential, a new year means all your sales numbers go back to zero -that can be emotionally draining for salespeople who for the past few years have struggled with challenging economic conditions.
2. A new year means you can celebrate your success stories from the previous year. You MUST focus on building belief that your team has “moved” forward and make note of all successes-even the minor ones.
3. You can announce your yearlong sales contest at your kickoff meeting. This needs planning and arrangement. The Guru is a big believer that every sales team should plan a trip or event for all quota achievers. If you would like a copy of a magazine column I wrote on sales contests, send me an email; Ken@Acumenmgmt.com. There will also be a chapter dedicated to it in my upcoming book.
4. Have fun. The event should include a speaker, music and an upbeat mood. The speaker could be a sales trainer or motivational program or even an existing customer how can provide a testimony of your great product/services. This will show your commitment towards investing in your team.
5. Create a theme for the sales kickoff meeting and use the same theme for the entire year. This theme should be your motto and something you can build on during the year at all your sales meetings. You could tie the theme into your #3 sales contest.  Let me know what you think are the best theme’s you have heard or used in your sales career.
6. There may be a new sales compensation plan announced. This is crucial and if the changes are somewhat new or perhaps negative to the salespeople, you must plan the roll out carefully. Never announce the new compensation plan at the end of your sales kick off meeting; you will want to roll out the plan half way through the event. The Guru is just finishing his third book on sales compensation planning, if you have questions on the roll out contact me.
7. You might consider having members of the technical or sales support teams attend portions of or all of the meeting. It builds teamwork and they may also be part of your program.
8. Arrange for the company president to speak and provide their vision for 2011 and commitment to the sales team.

Whether it is a half day event or a full day, a well planned, exciting sales kickoff event will go a long way towards “kick starting” your 2011.

Ken Thoreson “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America.

Ken Thoreson. provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance.           Ken@AcumenMgmt.com   www.AcumenManagement.com

Blog:  www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

Tags: keynote speaking, Motivational, sales leadership, Sales Training
Posted in Keynote Programs, Sales Kick Off Meeting, Sales Management Planning, Sales Motivation, Sales Training | 1 Comment »

During the past 13  years of working  consulting we have developed a list of traits and values that characterize successful companies:

 Corporate culture is deep and consistent

• Business strategies come first
• Business development effectiveness is essential 
• The best practices are consistent from industry to industry
• Sales is a corporate priority
• Structured process is key to success
• Teamwork prevails
• Training and recruitment are critically important
• Compensation is linked to corporate objectives
• Corporate image and branding is important

While this list is not necessarily in any priority of importance, a quick grade of your organization, (1-5, 5=highest), will begin to define how well you are building your organization.

 What we find with many entrepreneurs in the channel is they have developed a high level of technical efficiency, quality delivery systems and in some cases management systems that can report their effectiveness. What stands out in those organizations that are accelerating in growth and profits is the concept of leadership and motivation.

Many books have been written on leadership and its impact on a business, Rudy Giuliani’s book, simply titled “Leadership”, is a quick read and well documented on the fundamental elements of running an organization. In the book he speaks to his focus on fixing New York City and his lesson’s can be applied to everyday business. Highly recommend reading…

The key element of successful leaders is having a vision and passion for their business. We are convinced a defined and clearly articulated message of “where we are headed” is critical to ensure success. The definition of leadership speaks to this clearly: The ability to make things happen by encouraging and channeling contributions of others, taking a stand on and addressing important issues and acting as a catalyst for change and continuous improvement. Without vision and passion individuals and their organizations will drift and be captive to the marketplace.

 Leaders stand out, giving others their vision, creating hope, sharing success, addressing the issues that need to changed, holding people accountable and being focused on making everything work more effectively for their employees and customers.  When employees feel that the President and Management team are in alignment a natural energy will begin to filter throughout the organization and a sense of purpose will carry a winning attitude into the marketplace.

 We believe it’s the leader’s responsibility to maintain the active vision in the organization by focusing on the concept of belief. Belief in what your organization does why it’s the “best” in your market and why “we” as a team must work together for the common good. This focus must be reinforced continuity. Once example, we believe in monthly employee meetings where the leader has an opportunity to voice their message, reinforce their organizations value propositions, the desired culture and create an environment where the employees can feel the presence of leadership. Each department manager should speak to the pride within their organization and express “thanks’ to the other departments for supporting their efforts.

 Once a vision is created for the organization, the next focus for motivation is to create an atmosphere of accomplishment. Everyone wants to feel they are contributing to the success of the organization they represent.  Leadership must focus on three elements: 1) Define specific objectives for everyone in the organization, 2) Hold everyone accountable for achieving those objectives, 3) Recognize those employee’s  that exceed those objectives. Many Partners have a challenge with holding individuals accountable. This ability to focus on execution separates those who are managers from those that are leaders.

 The definition of management shows the separation factor:

Management is the skill of attaining predefined objectives with and through the voluntary cooperation and effort of other people.

 If you review the definition of leadership as compared to this definition of management you will see the difference.  Predefined objectives are set by Leaders who focus on being a catalyst for change and continuous improvement.  As owner’s we must be both leaders and managers!

 It is this careful balance between the business focus of accountability and building the emotional belief of the employee is what we call: “Align the Soul of the Individual with the Goal of the Organization”. Once employees believe in the vision of the company and how it can impact their personal self values and help them achieve their personal goals, the reality of building a highly motivated organization will occur. 

 Ken@AcumenMgmt.com

Tags: keynote speaking, Motivational, sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management, Sales Management Training
Posted in Keynote Programs, sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management Consulting, Sales Management Planning, Sales Management Training | 1 Comment »

No Regrets: Finding Your Recipe for

Personal and Professional Success

 (This is an excerpt from my upcoming book: Success Simplified with Stephen Covey

Wright:

Ken, tell me about your idea of no regrets, finding your recipe for personal and professional success?

Thoreson

 It began in my professional life, working as a sales leader and vice president of sales for more than fifteen years. For the past thirteen years, I have been consulting with clients helping develop high performance sales teams. In those roles as a sales leader and con, I had to understand both personal and professional goals; in addition, I had to understand their business objectives. I like to say: if you align the soul of the individual to the goals of the organization, it leads to success. Tying all of that together is a very critical step in understanding what the right personal and professional recipe must be for success. From a professional perspective, the no regrets concept moves into the personal level of assisting people to do more in their lives.

 Wright

Tell me how your sales management consulting moved you to a “no regrets, do-over recipe” strategy for success program.

 Thoreson

In developing individuals, both in the field and in the classroom, the coach must observe and correct the actions of the person he or she is developing. One of the greatest training statements a manager can learn to use is: if you had it to do (the action) over again, what would you do differently, if anything? In our workshops or in our consulting role we work with sales managers on re-enforcing the use of this statement.

 Typically, in sales role-play situations or after a sales call, the sales manager would ask that question. As a result, the salesperson would begin to self-assess what actions he or she would do differently. The reason this question is powerful and must be used constantly is the act of questioning one’s work it will create a self-managed team and personal development plan.

 From that perspective I recognized that we were developing people—not just sales teams—we were developing them personally. The concept of no regrets for personal and professional success came about by realizing how we influence people outside of the sales world and how to

motivate people to move beyond where they are today and improve both their personal and professional lives. My goal is to enhance the success factor for everyone.

 That’s how the idea moved from developing salespeople to focusing on how to live life with no regrets. If it were possible to do your life over you might change; unfortunately, none of us have that opportunity. My goal is for everyone to live their lives better!

 Wright

What would you say would be the greatest contribution to your professional success?

 Thoreson

My professional success breaks into four areas.

 1. Mentors. Personally, I’ve been fortunate to have individuals who shared great ideas, concepts, and have provided leadership during my life. Finding the right mentors becomes a critical issue for success and leveraging knowledge to improve your life.

 2. Risk. Understanding the affect of risk on one’s life is important. Learning to make that critical decision, taking the risk, and learning its affect is important. For example, imagine being in the Olympics and standing on the top of the ten-meter board just before you are to dive. What would you be feeling? You’d be feeling scared, worried, or most likely confident because you had practiced and competed for years. If you had never attempted that dive in competition it would be a risk—that leap—to make the dive. If you took the risk and made the dive, you would know the feeling of what I call “pushing through”—the idea of taking the risk and learning more about yourself, pushing yourself a little bit more. Pushing yourself beyond where you are in life allows individuals to experience the possibility of doing more and expanding your internal belief system.

3. Work. Personal and professional success require focus and work; that is reality. For success, you must commit yourself to achieve predefined goals and objectives in a timeline that is important to achieve. Achieving success through effective work habits and exceeding your success factors in your professional life become critical.

 4. Creativity. Creativity is coming up with unique solutions to problems and developing new ways to achieve better results. (I will cover this in more detail later.) The good news is that creativity can be learned!

 Creativity, work, risk, and mentors are four categories that each of us can develop.  They’ve been a significant influence in my professional and personal life.

 Wright

In your program, you use a concept of a “Thoreson Theorem.” Tell me more about that.

 Thoreson

 That phrase was conceived by another individual many years ago when I first began to speak about the power of positivity. Those who know me know I believe: Mondays are marvelous, Tuesdays are terrific, Wednesdays are wonderful days, Thursdays are tremendous, Fridays fabulous, and Saturdays are super. When someone asks me, “How are you today?” I’ll simply refer to the day. For example: “I’m Wonderful; it’s Wednesday.” That puts a positive spin on my life and my attitude. The person who perhaps asked me that question will also feel that positive emotion come back to him or her. My daily/weekly mantra became the first Thoreson Theorem.

 I have picked up certain phrases from other individuals. One is: there are no unrealistic goals, only unrealistic time frames. In other words, it is a great idea to set objectives or goals but many times we are unrealistic in the timeline that it will take too achieve them. Create a difference in your surroundings and develop a passion. Having an influence on the lives of others and having the opportunity to become passionate and excited about something becomes an important theorem. This action adds another layer to your life and is a key component to personal and professional success. The excitement and involvement brings individuals a new perspective on life.

 Another theorem is: your own actions create your own reality. You are responsible for your life and personal outcomes.

 A theorem is defined as an idea that’s accepted or proposed as a demonstrable truth; often, part of it is a general theory. I believe these kinds of statements become demonstrable truths as you live your life and experience life.

 I use Thoreson Theorems to reinforce my belief that it is important for people to understand the concept of self-improvement and personal responsibility. While the theorems above are general theorems and concepts that others may have created, I think it’s important to create your own personal mantra or motto for building your own successful life.

 KEN THORESON, Acumen Management Group, Ltd. founder and principal, offers 25-plus years of sales leadership and management and an energetic, interactive delivery style that fully engages audiences. He infuses keynotes and presentations with real-life anecdotes and client examples that impart philosophical and operational inspiration.

Over the past 12 years, Acumen’s consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated and rejuvenated the sales efforts of hundreds of early stage, turnaround and major corporations companies throughout North America. Acumen is adept at “operationalizing” its expertise in business and sales execution, channel management, revenue generation, sales analysis, forecasting, recruitment, and sales training to help organizations move up and move ahead.  

Prior to founding the Acumen Management Group, Ltd., Ken led development stage, entrepreneurial and national vertical software sales organizations as the Vice President of Sales.

Major Speaking Engagements

• Microsoft World Wide Partner Conference(s)
  • Sales and Marketing Executives International Conference (SMEI)
  • Microsoft Business Solution Partners Meeting
  • Ingram Micro VentureTech
  • Arrow Support-Net May Days
  • TechData/TechSelect Member Conference(s)
  • CAWorld
  • Cisco Systems World Wide Conference
  • CMP/VARBusiness XChange Conference(s)
  • Gartner IT Vision Share Conference(s)
  • SolidWorks World Partner Conference
  • SAP Partner Conference

For more information.

Ken Thoreson, President, Acumen Management Group, LTD

Ken@AcumenMgmt.com

www.AcumenManagement.com

Blog: www.YourSalesManagement.com

423-884-6328

Tags: keynote speaking, Motivational, sales leadership, Sales Training
Posted in Keynote Programs, sales leadership, Sales Management, Sales Management Consulting, Sales Management Planning, Sales Management Training, Sales Motivation, Sales Training | Comments Off

Strategic sales managers know they must be creative when it comes to developing a sales strategy. With fewer opportunities in most pipelines these days, salesforce management is increasingly focused on executing brilliantly on each and every sales opportunity.  

One component in sales team training is to perform a semiannual competitive assessment. Here’s a brief description of the steps to follow to accomplish this most important action to improve your win-loss ratios:

Step 1: With our clients, we like to recommend identifying the top five firms that seem to be involved in most sales opportunities. Certainly, this number can vary.

Step 2: Depending on the number of salespeople, we assign each competitor to one or more salespeople. They’re told they have three weeks to create a 15-minute presentation on each assigned competitor. This presentation should include the following headlines: “Your Strengths vs. the Competitor,” “Your Weaknesses,” “Why We Should Win” and “How We Could Lose.”

Step 3: Prior to the individual presentation, smart sales managers must “inspect what you expect,” meaning review each presentation. This ensures the content is what you want and that the salesperson has done the proper research.

Several hints to make this truly effective sales training: One, suggest to the salespeople that they request a brochure via their Web site (this will test how well it works and if there are follow-up calls). Two, copies of their Web site should be in their presentation. Three, identification of their value proposition/marketing message MUST be included (this helps you validate your unique value proposition). Four, a physical “walk by” of their office lobby to gain a perspective of their image is nice. And five, include any information from past Won/Lost reports. Some salespeople will even phone the sales offices and request to speak with a competitive salesperson to “hear” their sales pitch and report on what they learned.

One last hint: Sales managers should build a sales library of competitive proposals. Every time you win an opportunity, ask for copies of the competitive proposals. (If you’ve built the right relationship, there should be no reason not to receive them.) And if you lose an opportunity, always remember to pick up your proposal!

Ken Thoreson, president of Acumen Management Group Ltd., “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory and platform services have illuminated, motivated and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America. Move up and move ahead! Acumen Management provides keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance. 3f4qb8v9ge

Posted in Sales Kick Off Meeting, sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management, Sales Management Consulting, Sales Management Planning, Sales Management Training, Sales Training | 1 Comment »

Planning Your Sales Training

 In my soon to be published book on Sales Management, one topic I discuss in great detail is salesperson development and training.  Besides recruiting effectively, training and development are the next most important aspects of the sales leader’s job. While Acumen Management is not a sales training firm, we do focus on the facts that sales management MUST focus on sales training within their own firms.

With our consulting clients we recommend that sales managers must plan their sales training meetings 90 day in advance.  I am suggesting that sales meetings are not the same as sales training meetings.  Prior to each quarter we suggest spending 2 hours and carefully review the needs of your team and develop a program to address each issue. During the planning meeting the strategic sales manager will define each date, time, assigned trainer  and subject matter well in advance, this ensures that sales skills, product knowledge, company operations and industry information  are thought through and during each quarter, the expertise of your team is moved forward on each topic.  

I like to recommend that members of your sales team become the sales trainers.  What I mean is the sales manager should  not be the only sales trainer; assign specific people to train on the various topics that need training such as; CRM applications, sales skills training i.e. negotiations, and product/services information.  The important aspect to remember is for the sales managers to “Inspect what you expect”… meaning prior to your salesperson’s training event you must review their content and knowledge.  With sales training plans built out 90 days in advance, (normally the same sales days/times each month) everyone knows well ahead of time the scheduled events and can block out those dates/times in their calendars.

By planning your sales training in advance the strategic sales leader will be better organized in the developmental aspects of salesperson training and by assigning portions of the training to salespeople the sales manager can also gain insights as to who could be a future sales manager.

For potential ideas on new training topics to building into your training programs you might want to review this recent published article on the   top 10 trait buyer want from salespeople.  If the link does not work, send me an email for the article.   Ken@Aacumenmgmt.com

http://raintoday.com/Thoreson09292010.cfm

Ken Thoreson “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America. Move up and move ahead!

Ken provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance.           Ken@AcumenMgmt.com   www.AcumenManagement.com

Blog:  www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

Tags: sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management, Sales Management Systems, Sales Management Training, Sales Training
Posted in Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management Consulting, Sales Management Planning, Sales Training | 1 Comment »