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Archive for September, 2009

One Salesperson’s Keys to Success – My Observations

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

For the past 6 months I’ve had the opportunity to witness a salesperson succeeding.  Of course, I know many salespeople succeeding, but this story really intrigued me.  First of all, this salesperson started a consulting business in their field 6 months ago.  They had no brand, about ten thousand competitors and no marketing budget.  Oh, and we were in the downward spiral economically. 

Flash forward 6 months and this salesperson has more business than they can handle and is now considering adding to their team just to keep up.

I am very impressed with how hard this person has been working and really started to think about the actual keys to their success beyond just hard work.  I started making a list of this salesperson’s activities, habits and characteristics and thought it would be fun to share my list in a blog post.

So, here, in no particular order, are my observations or what I am calling “one salesperson’s keys to success”.

  • Creative deal and pricing structures.  This consultant is in an old industry where they’ve always done pricing the same way.  He surprised prospective clients with better deal structures than they’d seen.  Don’t mistake “creative” for lower – these are competitive deal structures that are a win for both parties.
  • This salesperson is not afraid to walk away from deals.  If the deal isn’t in this person’s sweet spot, he actually walks away from it and spends time where he can be more effective – and valuable to his client. 
  • Cold, hard, disciplined sales activity. This salesperson knows what activity leads to sales results and he does that activity EVERY DAY.
  • Manages time effectively.  Plans his work and works his plan – seems so simple. 
  • Does not get slowed down by rejection.  He is able to expect some rejection and take it in stride knowing he is that much closer to a “yes”.
  • Uses technology effectively.  He is very selective about which technology tools to use and which would be “cool”, but just create more work or wasted time. 
  • Frugal.  He is only spending money where there is clear ROI.
  • Networking, networking, networking every day.
  • Chose a niche and sticks with it.  He is turning down business outside his niche.  Since he began doing this his traction in his niche is growing daily and his client list has doubled each month.
  • He sets attitude rules.  For example, if he loses a deal, he only allows himself to “mourn” it for 24 hours.  He uses business development activity to pull him out of mourning which turns into new opportunities before the 24 hours is even up.
  • He takes care of himself – he works out daily, eats right and even took a week vacation.
  • He doesn’t waste time on administration.  He set up a system that is efficient and doesn’t spend too much time on paperwork.
  • This person naturally has no call reluctance.
  • This salesperson has stayed in touch with past clients consistently for 15+ years.
  • He is a master at LinkedIn.  Daily he is on LinkedIn building and sharing his network. 
  • He asks for referrals every day – and gets them.
  • For some reason, Tuesdays were a discouraging day.  This salesperson figured out why (he couldn’t connect with anyone on Mondays and felt no progress) and did something about it.  He created a plan to stay motivated on Tuesdays and recognized that the week always improved.
  • Extremely and appropriately persistent.
  • Knows his ideal customer and pursues ONLY that.
  • Faces reality and addresses concerns during deal pursuits.  He recognizes when a deal may go south and addresses it with the client before he spends too much time.
  • Works a tactical plan.  This salesperson knows his strategic goals and then carves out time to create a detailed tactical activity plan.  When he gets to his office he “doesn’t have to think”, he just executes his plan. 
  • He really enjoys his business and his clients.  Making them happy and solving business needs genuinely motivates him.

These are just my observations of one successful salesperson.  If you are struggling currently, grab some ideas from this list.  Duplicate his success using his habits.  Happy Selling.

This post brought to you by Jill Myrick, Owner of Meeting to Win, LLC.  Get weekly sales team meeting agendas and create momentum on your sales team!  Visit us at http://www.meetingtowin.com/.

Posted in Uncategorized, best practice, down economy, efficient, management tips, performance, recession, sales activity, sales management, sales tips, tough economy | No Comments »

Kick-Off to Great Sales Team Meetings – FREE Workshop Download Available

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

Sales Managers, do your sales team meetings have “snooze” as the main agenda topic?  It’s not as easy as it looks to plan and execute interesting, interactive sales team meetings.  At Meeting to Win, we believe these meetings should equip your team to compete and win.  If yours aren’t doing that, continue reading….

(At the end of this post, Sales Managers can download a FREE  ”Kick-Off to Great Sales Team Meetings” Workshop Guide.  The guide will help you lead your team through the planning of great sales team meetings as outlined in this article.  Take “SNOOZE” off your agenda!)

sleeping in meeting

To begin having GREAT weekly sales team meetings, don’t try to do it all yourself.  Involve your bright team in the planning and executing.  After all, when done correctly, aren’t they the ones who are supposed to benefit from this time?  If so, they need to own responsibility, also. 

Let’s get started.  Carve out some time to work on your sales team meeting plan WITH your team.  We suggest doing this during your…. you guessed it, weekly sales team meeting.

Before this meeting, consult with some of your team’s natural leaders.  Ask them about the current sales team meetings and how they would improve them.  Let them know you plan to consult with the team on the topic and ask them to take leadership roles in that meeting.  The outcome should be a plan to have more effective sales team meetings that the entire team builds and then executes consistently.

During the meeting, welcome the team and thank them for their time.  Review your plan for the meeting and share the reasons you want to put appropriate effort into improving sales team meetings.  Ask your leaders you consulted with in advance to share their thoughts, also.

Now, it’s time to get to work.

Set a goal for this meeting.  As a team, what do you hope to gain from spending time on this topic?  At the end of the meeting, determine if you achieved that outcome.

For fun, ask each meeting participant to share their best and worst sales team meeting experiences.  Ask them what made those experiences the best and worst.  You’ll have a good starting point on how to move forward.

A very important next step is to set some meeting ground rules.  As a team, create a list of rules everyone should abide by.  We’ve seen the ground rules include (1) be on time, (2) no agenda hi-jacking, (3) everyone problem needs to be introduced with possible solutions and so on.  It is important that this list of ground rules be created and agreed upon by the team, not just the manager.

Now, what should you talk about? Content is critically important for a great sales team meeting.  The content you choose will determine how effective the meeting will meet the objective of equipping the team to compete and win.  Ask the team to share a list of topics they’d like to cover.  Now, figure out where to find information on these topics – guest speakers, books, product specialists, company sales trainer, industry magazines, websites, etc.  These topics will be what you use to build your weekly sales team meeting agendas.  (Meeting to Win provides Sales Managers with new topics and agendas every week!  To subscribe, visit us at Meeting to Win or visit our store at M2W Store.)

Next, as a team, create your next 4 agendas.  Ask different team members to gather topic information and lead sections of the meetings.  Everyone owns parts of the meeting which distributes the work and makes for much more interesting meetings.

Finally, set your team up for a bright sales team meeting future.  It takes effort and its worth it.  As a team, determine how the group will commit to executing productive sales team meetings moving forward.  You’ve done the hard part and planned it. Now, you need to execute.  Maybe each team member can own one month of the year or you can create a sales team meeting task force. Whatever works for your team, plan it and commit to it before you close this topic.

You have the blueprint for moving forward with GREAT sales team meetings.  Get the FREE  ”Kick-Off to Great Sales Team Meetings” Workshop Guide and get started NOW!

 

Post brought to you by Jill Myrick, Founder of Meeting to Win.  Meeting to Win provides sales team meeting resources such as topics, agendas, e-books and consulting.

Posted in agenda ideas, agendas, how to have productive sales team meetings, management tips, performance, sales management, sales meetings, sales team meeting agenda, sales team meeting agenda topics, sales team meeting ideas, team meeting, tips for meetings | No Comments »

Acing the Job Interview by Paul Castain

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Paul took some time to share his experience interviewing sales reps and wrote the article Acing the Job Interview.
Acing the Job Interview by Paul Castain:
Our world has grown increasingly competitive. While our ultimate destination might be a new job our first challenge is becoming more memorable!

Having interviewed over 1,000 professionals and spearheading the Sales DNA program at Consolidated Graphics, I have truly seen it all. I’ve also been the dude on the other side of the desk getting interviewed. There were times where I knew I nailed it and other times that I left thinking “I can’t believe I said that out loud!”

Today’s blog is about you, kicking tail, taking names and wielding a little something called IMPACT! So strap in folks, its a lengthy one but this is your career so there will be no corners cut!
Read the rest here.

Thanks Paul!

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Motivate Yourself – A How-To Guide for Salespeople

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

All salespeople have ups and downs. If your latest “down” is lasting longer than you’d like, it’s time to take matters into your own hands and …. motivate yourself.

Here are a handful of ways we know to motivate ourselves. I invite anyone to share more tactics. Take some action now and you’ll feel back on top.

First of all, you may be experiencing less success recently. This may be caused by the downturn in the economy. You have two choices. You can either give up and blame the economy. This doesn’t seem like a great option if you, like most people, need your job to sustain your lifestyle – i.e. regular meals, etc. So, what’s the other option? Take some action. The reality is that you still may lose your job,but you’ll be wiser and more marketable as you pursue your next opportunity. So, now that we all have our heads in the right place, what are some actions to begin with.

  • A fool-proof way to get fired up is to create a tactical activity plan. Hopefully,you know strategically what you need to accomplish and what success will look like (new customers, etc). Now, starting tomorrow morning, HOW do you get there. Create a tactical activity plan for the next week. Include who you are calling, who you are meeting, what you will say, what you will send, etc. Your plan should be outlined in calendar form. When you start your day tomorrow, you should go into auto-pilot mode just following the plan. Sometimes a down period paralyzes salespeople. ACTION is the best remedy for this paralysis.

  • Get out in front of your top customers. Look for ways to help them. It is such a pleasure to work with happy customers and make them even happier. You can’t help but feel motivated while working hard to help top customers.

  • Learn something new. Read a business book or a selling publication like Selling Power or Sales Gravy (http://www.salesgravy.com/). Look for new ideas and strategies to help your customers.

  • Attend networking events. These events are great opportunities to connect with other professionals and learn new things. The energy at these events is positive and salespeople walk away with new referral partners and ideas.

  • Set a goal you have the control to reach. For example, your goal could be to learn a new language or run a marathon. You may have outside forces hindering your ability to hit your sales numbers. Set a goal that you control 100% and enjoy the momentum you create.

  • Help someone less fortunate. Find a way to contribute to the less fortunate – read to children, pass out soup, volunteer at a career event or whatever is close to your heart. You’ll be making a difference and that is motivating.

Life engenders life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich.
Sarah BernhardtFrench actress (1844 – 1923)

Get moving, get motivated.

Post brought to you by Jill Myrick, Owner of Meeting to Win, LLC. Meeting to Win provides sales team meeting agendas to motivate sales teams. Visit us at http://www.meetingtowin.com/.

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Selling in an Unpredictable Economy – Article & FREE Meeting Agendas

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

Sales Managers, how can you equip your teams to sell in this unpredictable economy?

It is a new selling climate out there and salespeople are, in some cases, frantically adjusting to new challenges every day. Here are some practical ideas for helping your team navigate the craziness. (Following the article, you can also download 4 sales team meeting agendas on this topic. The Selling In An Unpredictable Economy meeting agenda 4-pack will help you lead your team through discussions and exercises to equip them to succeed through this recession.)

Equipping your team:
  • First of all, the team must recognize the changes. As a group, get together and share observations and experiences from the past year. Make sure everyone realizes there is a new world out there so they can begin expecting and planning for the trends instead of being surprised and simply reacting.

  • Then, as a team, discuss what new needs your customers have. More than likely their businesses have changed over the past year. Maybe they were expanding and now they are in cost-cutting mode. A sales team must recognize how their customers’ needs are changing so they can help meet those new needs. Going in with the same old “solutions” won’t work. Chances are your old “solutions” aren’t SOLVING anything for them now.

  • Sales teams should constantly be “interviewing” their customers and prospects. As a team, decide what this interview looks like. It could simply be 2 or 3 questions you ask each time you speak. Questions such as “what are your most important initiatives right now?”, “What must happen in your business for you to be successful this year?”, “What changes are you experiencing that are affecting your business?” etc. Stay on top of what customers are focused on and you can continue to provide value and help them succeed. Their business could be changing daily so sales teams need to be consistent in this interview approach.

  • Teams should have a disciplined approach to following current events in the economy and in their customers’ businesses. Each week during the weekly meeting, ask each person to share an overview of an article they read or a news report they saw. The team should be up to speed on economic trends that impact business.

  • Sales teams should share success stories when they are relevant for the current selling climate. If someone is able to help a customer meet new needs, they need to share that story with the team. Give examples of creative negotiations, new value propositions, or anything else that demonstrates how your products and services are helping a customer in a “new economy”.

  • On a similar note, teams need to share best practices. We’ve all heard the definition of insanity! Salespeople are trying new approaches, new activity levels and new strategies. Sharing what is working and what is not with team mates shortens the learning curve for the team.

  • Now, most importantly, figure out what the team will do differently moving forward. Each team member should leave these conversations and exercises with a tactical plan for moving forward. Choosing one or two new things to try is the best approach. Trying to “fix” everything rarely works. So, every conversation and exercise needs to end with “Now what?”.

It’s a new world – equip your team to succeed.

To download 4 sales team meeting agendas to lead your team through these discussions and exercises, visit our store here.

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