Your Sales Management Guru

The Future of Your Sales Team     

This year, I anticipate we will see a reduction in external sales positions of around 20%: 10% will be lost for good, and the other 10% will move inside. I believe that this pattern will continue for the next three years, until we are left with less than 10% of the total sales population working externally. The reasons for this are obvious: Advances in technology mean that we can communicate just as easily from our desks, using video conferencing etc.

Jonathan Farrington www.topsalesmanagement.com

If Jonathan is right, your current sales process, current sales team and management systems will begin to change over the next 18-24 months.   He interviewed me regarding this topic last week and you can listen to the entire interview at the www.TopSalesManagement.com 

Briefly, I discussed how metrics will change, how sales training will be altered and that the efficiency ratios and cost of sales will be improved based upon the utilization of existing and new technologies.  As customers become more comfortable with technology, new salespeople come into the workplace and costs of running a sales organization grow (Gas=$4.50 Gal), sales leadership must consider new alternatives.

You will find the interview on the left hand side of the website. You will also find this site to be a wonderful resource for information on sales leadership from a select group of 15 sales leadership consultants from around the world, including myself.

I thought you might like to see the quote above to begin to stimulate your future thinking on your sales organization.   Jonathan is a global sales thought leader; the quote is from an editorial he wrote in our Top Sales World magazine. (You can download this free sales magazine at www.TopSalesWorld.com   It is on the left hand side of the website.

Ken Thoreson “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 13 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America.

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

Blog:  www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

Posted in Leadership Management, sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management Systems, Sales Management Training, Sales Training | No Comments »

Sales Leadership: Ten 2012 Sales Kick-off Meeting Idea’s

 While working with a client last week it became obvious that we are moving into the time to  prepare 2012 budgets, new compensation plans and something most sales manager’s don’t take enough time in developing;  their 2012 Sales Kick Off meeting.  

Already many larger organizations are booking their sales conferences for the first quarter where they will invite their sales teams, vendors, resellers/partners to hear their plans to make 2012 the “best year ever”.  Keynote speakers, breakout sessions, new marketing plans and product demonstrations will all be coordinated to increase enthusiasm, salesperson belief and excitement that the new year will bring.  I know this because I am booked for five events already.  However just because larger organizations are planning their formal conferences it doesn’t mean as a sales leader you shouldn’t be planning an event for your sales organization.

A yearly sales kick-off meeting can be organized as an off-site/overnight 2 day program or as simply as a ¾ to a ½ day event.  You should schedule them no later than mid-February. However the basics of any sales kickoff event should include the following planning ideas. These ideas’s are not in any order of priority.

1. 1.      You should announce theme for the new year. This should be a positive statement of your major objectives and something that can be reinforced throughout the year.  “Be Brilliant on the Basics” or Nike’s: Just Do It! Are two examples, comment below on your ideas for your sales theme for the year!
2. 2.      Include time for sales training on sales skills. You might hand out a sales training book, as a gift to each salesperson, this will be your first quarter “must read” book. You can use the book for extended sales training during your meetings. Also roll out your first quarter sales training plans.
3. 3.      Announce a first quarter sales contest. (see previous blogs for ideas)
4. 4.      Announce a 2012 yearly sales contest; this should be a big prize for exceeding the salesperson’s quota. Examples include:  a trip to a resort, a cruise or a trip to an island.  Remember these kinds of incentive programs are not expenses but paid out of incremental revenues/profits. The roll out should include written rules and pictures of the location, etc. See my book: Creating High Performance Sales Compensation Plans, for idea’s on sales contests. www.AcumenManagement.com
5. 5.      Describe and show your marketing plans for the first six months. This will show the salespeople how your organization is planning to support the sales team.
6. 6.      Schedule the president of your company to give a short message on his/her philosophy on sales and the culture of your organization.
7. 7.      You may or may not announce your new compensation plan at this event; it all depends upon the degree of change you are making. With minor changes, it’s a great time, with major changes schedule a separate meeting.  HINT: Do not roll out the new compensation plan as the last topic of the meeting; schedule it early in the afternoon, if your event is a full day meeting.
8. 8.      Make sure you make the meeting fun!   As the sales leader work on activities that create the right culture and teamwork, create a game that everyone participates in during the event.
9. 9.      Make sure each salesperson presents their “Business Plans” for the year, based upon the number of salespeople this can be done by breakouts into regions, smaller groups or as a single group. These business plans include not only forecasts but personal commitments to activity levels and professional growth.
10. 10.  Bring in an outside speaker. This could include a customer telling of their satisfaction with your firm, a sales trainer or a motivational message that propels your team to excellence. See for more idea’s: www.AcumenManagement.com

This is your time to bring a coordinated program that sets the tone for the new year. Make sure you take the time to do it right.  What additional ideas do you have? 

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!

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

Posted in Books, Keynote Programs, Sales Kick Off Meeting, Sales Management Planning, Sales Training | 2 Comments »

The death of the salesperson has been greatly exaggerated

The art of selling: “The death of the salesman has been greatly exaggerated” is the name of a recent article in the Economist magazine: http://www.economist.com/node/21533371 . After reading my blog, then read the article, I would enjoy reading your comments.

When I read the article I had so many emotions; as a salesperson for many years, a sales leader for 15 years and a sales management consultant for the past 14 years, this article went right to the point that many of us write about, speak about and attempt to impact the organizations we consult with on a daily basis.

Quick example: recently I purchased an iPhone from AT&T; first call, I walked into a retail facility: Result: great service, welcomed me to the store, shared friendly conversation, they helped me save money on my existing account, the salesperson even “walked” me to the door on each of my two visits.  They even responded to my emails. They had a well organized retail customer approach. Just yesterday I was in NYC, I walked into an AT&T store to purchase a carrying case for my new iPhone, still the same solid attitude, same sales process and training and follow through-they walked me to the door! They had a sales process & system and they were trained in the same mode that my Knoxville TN salesperson was trained. This approach showed me a strong sales focus and the power of salesperson impact on the transaction. BTW: I drove to the store to purchase the phone-rather than buying it over the web.

Sales is built on trust and confidence, in some minor products this can be accomplished by smart marketing, however, where the special B to B consumer or business person are involved someONE must impact them emotionally enough to cause them to take action. Where organizations are lead by an analytical they look at sales as Cost Centers, not Profit Centers. Professional salespeople do drive emotions if properly hired, trained and managed and should be the Profit Center of any organization.

Growth focused companies look at how to capture market share, grow net new clients and increase client penetration levels, however the point the article misses is why have some companies failed or why have some organizations grown? Those organizations that have focused on their front end-(sales focused)- have penetrated their existing customer base at higher levels and added net new clients at higher rates through a well crafted salesperson or sales process map.

HOWEVER: It is my belief that lynch pin for organizations, like Wurth, the company in the article, is that their sales leadership team must be focused on success. They have built a belief in their mission within the sales team and their products and have created a sales training system that reinforces their sales strategies, sales process and prospect buying emotions.

In my blog I have often written about the need for sales leadership to set the tone for the culture of the organization as well as the level of expectation. In fact recently in my blog I wrote that sales and sales management are the Critical Success Factors to lead us out of the negative economic conditions that exist today.

Bottom line: To make salespeople and their impact relevant, sales leadership must take a proactive approach not only with organization’s executives-to drive the need for salespeople, but in the day to day management of their team’s ability to execute.

Ken Thoreson “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 13 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America.

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

Blog:  www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

Posted in Leadership Management, sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management Systems, Sales Management Training, Sales Training | 1 Comment »

Sprint to the Finish—–It’s that time of year…

A shaky banking industry. Roller-coaster days on Wall Street.  Budgets being cut. Purchasing decisions being delayed.

With that economic domino effect affecting us all as 2011 begins to wind down, ending the year on a high note will be more challenging than ever. At Acumen, we’ve been offering the following advice to our clients and their sales teams:

Keep it in perspective. Recognize that if you are in the information technology sector, it is the best place to be in tough economic times. You sell what’s especially in demand right now: Solutions that can increase efficiency, cut costs and enhance customer relationships.

• Stay optimistic. Remember that clients and prospects are seeking help and you’re in a position to both reassure and assist them.
• Work harder. (Sorry, but that’s what’s needed.) Try to stretch yourself both in terms of attracting new customers and better serving existing ones. Sell professionally; execute brilliantly.

Meanwhile, the standard end-of-year scenario still applies, too. As always, this is when accelerated compensation programs kick in. More importantly, it’s when many management bonus systems take effect, rewarding executives for driving certain levels of pretax income to the bottom line or attaining their revenue targets.  and it’s no wonder that, just like every year at this time, sales teams feel like they’re in the last 100 yards of a big race.

Following are five additional steps to help you stay out in front as you approach the 2011 finish line:

1. Count the days. In the same way that consumers track holiday shopping days, know how long you’ve got left to sell this year. Doing the countdown adds urgency to the process for you and your prospects. (Hint: How can you use the remaining weekends to boost business?)

2. Consider all your resources. Can you turn to colleagues to strategize about opportunities and develop winning tactics? How about doing site visits? Can an existing client or a vendor contact help create credibility with prospects?

3. Plot-closing strategies. Think about why prospects need your solution and exactly how they’ll benefit from implementing it, whether it’s generating revenues, improving productivity or better serving customers. Then figure out a reason for them to act now. You may have a sense of urgency driven by end-of-year deadlines for quotas or bonuses, but you need to show prospects how moving forward at this point will benefit them.

4. Make contact twice weekly. Never let a week slip by between meetings with prospects. If you see them on Tuesday, see them again on Thursday. Stop by at a convenient time-but always have a valuable reason to visit, such as providing an implementation plan or a reference letter.

5. Keep prospecting. Sales organizations often drain their pipelines by the end of December. January may be strong with leftover business, but February, March and April typically lag. It’s important to ensure that marketing and prospecting levels remain constantly focused on future pipeline development. We recommend that you take your calendar and block out specific times for prospecting between now and year’s end.

One last tip for coping with today’s economy: In the downturn following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, I developed a short personal motto that successfully reinforced the need to keep moving forward. It was: “Take action. Stay positive.”  I suggest that you develop a similar slogan to help you navigate these difficult times. Having a strong foundation can make all the difference in how you end the year and position yourself for 2012.

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 clients throughout North America. Move up and move ahead!

Ken provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance.     

Ken@AcumenMgmt.com                   Website:  www.AcumenManagement.com

Blog:  www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

Posted in Books, Sales Kick Off Meeting, sales leadership, Sales Management Consulting, Sales Training | Comments Off

THE ESSENCE OF EDUCATION

By Ken Thoreson

This blog is from a chapter in my latest book: “Leading High Performance Teams” I thought you would enjoy it. As we move into the final months of the year ensuring your sales teams are more professional is critical to exceeding your goals. www.AcumenManagement.com

Developing well-coordinated training programs for new salespeople and existing salespeople alike can provide tremendous ROI.   

By Ken Thoreson

In working with clients, we at Acumen Management often find that sales-training programs suffer from problems such as inadequate new-employee orientation, sporadic and unfocused ongoing training  and nonexistent or ineffective role-playing scenarios. Many clients also lack any type of coaching or mentoring in the field, during or after routine sales calls.

The good news: Sales- training programs don’t have to be sophisticated or expensive. To ensure success, you need only a few basic components: a comprehensive plan that spells out your training program’s goals and components, a clear ongoing process and, above all, effective execution.

A Comprehensive Plan
Your plan should contain an outline for initial employee training on functional job requirements, company product and service offerings and corporate benefits, along with recurring plans for training existing employees.

Many organizations’ training plans are missing one key factor: making sure that employee interest and motivation levels remain high. This process, which involves helping team members commit to the organization and align their personal and professional interests, is known as “re-recruiting.”

The perfect opportunity to set a lasting tone is when new employees join your company. If you have customer letters of reference, have the newcomers read them. If you have awards, explain how you earned them. All new employees should have lunch or a meeting with the person at the highest level in their divisions; in smaller companies, that would be the president. Commitment, loyalty and the right attitude will begin to develop at these sessions. 

At Acumen, we believe in creating a detailed three-week new-hire training plan. Each week is broken down into specific training and knowledge-transfer components— with homework! The plan must cover everything, including:

• ·         Legal documents
• ·         Marketing case studies
• ·         Using the phone, fax machine and customer relationship management (CRM) system
• ·         Presenting and selling your organization via its brochures and PowerPoint presentations
• ·         Scheduled lunch meetings with key executives

… and more, based on your organization’s specific needs.

It’s critical that you clearly define each element of your training program and that the people responsible for each area sign off as each new hire has successfully completed the training.

 A Clear Long-Term Process
To ensure success, your training plan should be designed so that you’re continually updating your team’s abilities. The plan should cover the following areas: sales skills, product and services knowledge, company operations, industry awareness and, if appropriate, understanding of key vertical markets. 

Plan and organize your sales meetings for the entire quarter. Develop a comprehensive plan for repeatedly touching on each of the elements listed above over the course of the quarter (although not necessarily addressing all of them at each event).

The plan should also include personalized six-month programs that allow salespeople to set their own goals. This process helps ensure that individual and corporate goals are fully aligned. One of my clients requires its salespeople to attain several certification levels each year. In one instance, the salesperson has 15 minutes to review a case study before walking into a room where an actor plays the role of the client. Three independent professionals evaluate the salesperson’s performance, which may be videotaped for later review. The salesperson must receive a passing grade before moving on to the next level.

Effective Execution
To get your training program off the ground, first develop a written three-month sales training plan. Include a mandatory, predefined schedule; emphasize that employees must schedule their other meetings around it. Assign sales team members to present most training topics (if salespeople have to train others on a topic, you can be sure they’ll know the material cold). Schedule sessions with outside trainers at least once per quarter. Establishing a short-term plan and agenda ensures that you address current issues while meeting the goals for providing ongoing training.

Bottom line: Employees are a critical asset. Most software systems have regular maintenance check-ups and support agreements to keep them at current levels. Your employees require at least as much attention. Keeping your employees’ personal and professional objectives aligned with your corporate goals through training and re-recruiting will ultimately result in huge dividends. 

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!

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

Blog:  www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

Posted in Books, sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management Planning, Sales Management Training, Sales Training | Comments Off

This week I am posting a guest blog from Mark Hunter;  “The sales hunter”… It contains some real gems…

What Does Success Look Like?

By Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter”

It seems simple enough, doesn’t it — understanding what success looks like. Too often in the sales industry, we think of it in lofty platitudes, rather than concrete realities.  Want to harness what really defines success?  Grapple with the below questions — not to the point of frustration, but with an eye on inspiration.

• What does success look like?
• How will we recognize it?
• What are the obstacles we face in achieving success?
• How much is our industry growing per year, and what are the long-term trends in the industry?
• What do we do that our competitors cannot do short-term? Long-term?
• Who is our strongest link in the organization?
• Do we understand our cost structure well enough to understand the net profit gained from adding incremental customers?
• Who are the 20% of our customers who deliver 80% of the profit?
• Are we long on time or money?
• How stable is our customer base, and does our operating P&L reflect it?
• How long does it take to turn a new customer into a profitable customer?
• Why do people want to work for us?
• Do we have an effective “back-stop” plan in place to deal with key personnel?
• Would investors be attracted to our business model?

Sure, they are not “easy” questions, but they are worth their weight in gold if you can authentically answer them.

Mark Hunter, The Sales Hunter, is a consultative selling expert committed to helping individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales, and profitably build more long-term customer relationships. To find out more, visit www.TheSalesHunter.com.

Posted in Sales Training | Comments Off

 Sales Leadership: The lost art of discovery: Sales Training

 As I am finalizing a program for a client of mine I thought I might share my thoughts around sales training. While Acumen isn’t a sales training firm, as a sales leadership consulting firm we get actively involved in designing course work and helping sales managers developing their sales training programs. For those that have read this blog for a period of time you know we believe that sales managers should plan their sales training programs on a quarterly basis, listing dates, times, topics and individuals responsible.  Today I wanted to share another important aspect in salesperson development.

 The paragraph below is from an article by Dave Kurlan, a noted sales trainer, it highlights what I have noticed over the past 10 years, salespeople have moved into a product push rather than a relationship building style. Why is that?   Perhaps it’s the email/technology world we live in, short attention spans, or simply the lack of improving the level of professionalism of our sales teams.  I like to recommend that you “video tape” your sales teams at least twice a year, the first is to validate they can effectively sell your company in less than 3 minutes and second is to record them as they perform a role play around Discovery or asking questions.  A salesperson’s ability to ask key questions and then based upon the prospects answers, probe deeper to fully understand the individuals needs and the true business challenges are the key to improving sales.

 Get Your Veteran Salespeople to Take Baby Steps

 Posted: 08 Jul 2011 01:22 AM PDT

 The Pipeline Guest Post – Dave Kurlan

 We expect newer salespeople to be sales challenged, that is, not very effective when it comes to listening and questioning.  But the reality is that for at least 74% of the sales population, veteran salespeople aren’t very effective at this either. Here are some of Objective Management Group’s additional statistics from assessing more than 500,000 salespeople:
•    58% talk too much
•    58% don’t ask enough questions
•    84% present too early in the sales process
•    85% offer quotes or proposals too early in the sales process
•    86% take prospects at their word – they trust enough to not ask a clarifying question

 The questions I have for you today are:

 1)      When was the last time you simply went on a sales call to observe your salesperson’s skill level?

 2)      How are you building the skill level of your team?  If you want a Salesperson Development Tool, send me an email; Ken@AcumenMgmt.com

 3)      Have you trained your salespeople to listen, ask business focused questions and build relationships?

 I would enjoy hearing from you on your reactions and thoughts on sales training. Leave a comment below…

 Ken Thoreson “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 13 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America.

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

 Blog:  www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com

Posted in sales leadership, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management Training, Sales Training | 1 Comment »

Sales and Sales Management Resources for Everyone

This week’s blog is unique; first I am excited to announce that our blog was recently rated #19 out of the top 50 sales blogs in the US.  This list is a great resource any salesperson or sales manager, check it out. http://school.salescrunch.com/salescrunch-top-50-sales-blogs-2011/

Number two; I want to ensure you are aware of the an exciting five day event, May 9^th-13th

2011 Sales & Marketing Success Conference

This conference, which represents the most ambitious online event of its type ever staged, with thirty five sessions presented by some of the world’s top sales experts, over five days, will be all about succeeding, winning and exceeding expectations.

Against a backdrop of several years of below par performance – 50% of salespeople missed quota last year, for example – we want to stimulate growth, and provide the motivation and the advice that will help frontline sales professionals and their leaders, kick-start a new beginning.

We have come through the toughest financial crisis in history, and we believe it is now time to be positive and look forward.

I will be presenting on May 9^th, the first day of the conference at 2:15pm EST, my topic: Gourmet Living: a personal Recipe for Personal and Professional Success. Check out all the speakers and their topics and register today!  http://www.topsalesworld.com/salesConference/

We plan to charge just $5 registration fee per presentation, and we are limited to 1000 guests per session, so places will be allocated on a “first come – first served” basis. The daily schedules appear on the following pages    do please book early.

This is an opportunity for anyone operating in the sales space to make a meaningful contribution to the Japanese Disaster Fund (via the Red Cross. Can I count on your support? Together we can make a worthwhile *contribution.

Jonathan Farrington
Founder & CEO, Top Sales World

* We estimate that after administration charges levied by banks/PayPal, we will be able to contribute around 95% of all registration donations.

May 9^th programs

Jill Konrath

Kelley Robertson

Kevin Eikenberry

Ken Thoreson

Koka Sexton

Posted in Keynote Programs, Sales Kick Off Meeting, sales leadership, Sales Management Planning, Sales Training | Comments Off

What a grand week for Personal Leadership!

 Last week in my blog I wrote about the importance for sales leaders to focus on building belief and the need for your sales team have emotional commitment to your company and your products/services.  On Tuesday I spoke on the first day of a three day national sales kick off conference for a firm in Raleigh NC. Even though I was leading off the afternoon with a keynote, I wanted to sit in on the first two hours in the morning to get a feel for the audience and theme for the event.

The first item on the agenda included a welcome by the VP of Sales but what created the perfect atmosphere was he began to randomly ask ten salespeople about a variety of their success stories about 2010.  They had NOT been prompted.     It was great to “feel” the mood in the room change from one of interest in the meeting to one of warmth, pride, teamwork and excitement about 2011!  This is a sales driven organization that is adding salespeople, increasing sales and creative marketing programs. In our sales management workshops we speak to the need for sales leaders  to create an annual Drive Statement, a phase that sets the tone or theme for the New Year, theirs   was “Soaring to New Heights”, doesn’t that really make the point!   This is a sales driven organization that is adding salespeople, increasing sales, winning market share and one that many competitive salespeople want to work for, it was a great experience for me to share my time and ideas on driving personal and professional success with this sales organization. The VP of Sales for this firm included the personal aspects of leadership as well as the professional requirements that builds great teams.

Next I spent Friday-Sunday at the National Speakers Association conference in Atlanta attending their Winter Conference. They normally hold two events a year and as a member I truly enjoy these conferences. It is also very strange, normally I am speaking at a conferences or leading breakout sessions for my clients, at this event I am looking at schedules trying to determine what events I feel I need to attend, taking notes, holding hallway and lunch networking events and absorbing a ton of information.  People like Brian Tracy attended and so many other great people that are willing to share information to enhance the level of professionalism of the industry. I attended a full day session on Thought Leadership, presented by Matt Church; he flew in from Australia to share his insights into the consulting, writing and professional speaking business. Throughout the weekend I met and listened to a variety of individuals with a wide variety of experience and expertise, including Alan Weiss, Sam Horn, Mark Sanborn and the last morning just 2 hours before the conference ended, sitting at a table, I leaned over to chat with a woman next to me and she simply asked me a question about my business.  I shared some information and she gave me a Break Through Thought for my keynote that made my time at the conference even thought I came away with two pages of to-do’s notes.

 My point in mentioning this entire conference is to reinforce that you must always work to get better, read more, invest in yourself and you never know who will give you that gem of an idea that will help you win the next sale or change your life. 

Just a note: Our three new books on Sales Management are available and our Success Simplified book on my keynote are available on our web site.

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!

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

Posted in Keynote Programs, Sales Kick Off Meeting, Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management, Sales Management Training, Sales Motivation, Sales Training | 1 Comment »

Building Belief

This week’s blog is an excerpt from my latest book: Your Sales Management Guru’s Guide to: Leading High Performance Sales Teams. You can purchase the book on Amazon or at http://www.yoursalesmanagementguru.salesgravy.com

Are your sales inconsistent? Are you losing more opportunities than ever before? Does your sales team seem weak compared to those of your competitors?

Any number of reasons-from rapid growth to hiring mistakes-could be responsible for a “yes” answer to any of those questions. But in working with our clients, we often find that the underlying problem is actually an emotional one: lack of passion. Individual team members or the entire sales organization-or both-simply don’t have the combination of enthusiasm and belief that’s essential for success.

Salespeople have to be emotionally invested in their work with a burning desire to achieve. They must also believe that the company they represent is the best and the solutions or services they sell are of the highest quality. That belief must be genuine. It’s not just a marketing message, and it’s not something that they can fake.

With all the new products many vendors have launched in recent months (and will continue to release this year), that type of authentic belief is more important than ever for partners. Most sales organizations don’t do any belief-building activities, though. Or if they do, they only do so occasionally. Our experience shows that the most successful sales teams constantly undertake belief-building initiatives. Examples include:

Storytelling: People from different cultures and generations pass along stories about their ancestries, traditions and lore. Companies need to take a similar approach to capturing and preserving their histories. To do so, write down customer success stories when they occur. Put together detailed descriptions of your company’s role in helping customers implement new technologies, launch or salvage important projects or earn recognition from Microsoft. Then share these stories at sales meetings and other employee events. You can also use the best stories to recruit top performers and help orient new employees.

Monthly Meetings: When a company launches, its first employees typically feel that they share a mission. Everyone knows everything that’s happening and what’s needed to succeed. But when the staff grows beyond about 15 people, that sense of mission-along with clearly defined expectations and common beliefs-can be difficult to maintain.

We believe that monthly employee meetings are crucial for keeping everyone engaged and informed. (Larger organizations and those with remote offices may want to opt for quarterly day-long events instead.) Such gatherings give you a chance to remind your staff about your business philosophies, plans and expectations. You can also use them to recognize outstanding employees, perhaps honoring a Most Valuable Player chosen by the team at each session. Remember to make the meetings fun as well. Consider sponsoring games or offering door prizes. One company meeting I attended featured a surprise visit from an Elvis impersonator, who sang several songs.

Customer Visits: Each quarter, have your entire sales team visit a customer company that’s successfully implemented your solutions. Ask the customer’s executives to describe the impact your company has had on their competitive position or to review the savings they’ve gained from your products and services. You might also invite customers to share their experiences at some of your monthly meetings.

Reference Letters: Ask your best customers for testimonials. While such letters are, of course, highly useful as tools for future sales presentations, they’re also valuable for building belief in-house. Frame the letters and display them in your lobby or sales presentation area. Have new employees read them as part of the orientation process.

In our business, it’s all too easy to get bogged down with lost sales, missed project dates and other problems. Regularly reinforcing the positives goes a long way toward keeping everyone’s belief and passion strong and moving in the right direction.

 Ken Thoreson “operationalizes” sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 13 years, our consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America.

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 Training, Sales Training
Posted in Sales Leadership Training, Sales Management Consulting, Sales Management Planning, Sales Management Training, Sales Training | 2 Comments »