I was getting in the holiday spirit and… it got a little goofy.  Sorry, but here goes anyway….

(Post brought to you by Jill Myrick, Owner of Meeting to Win.  Meeting to Win provides sales team meeting resources for sales managers and sales teams.  Visit http://www.meetingtowin.com/ to learn more.)

Twas the Recession Before Christmas

Twas the Recession before Christmas, and all down the hall

The Sales Manager was yelling, “Just make one more call”.

The reports were hung on the manager’s door with despair

And all hoped that in the new year their jobs would still be there.

 

The salespeople all tossed restlessly in their beds

While visions of resumes and job searches danced in their heads.

The manager with his laptop and his boss with his spreadsheet

Had just closed the door to evaluate the sales numbers of Sally, John and Pete.

 

When from the Home Office their arose such chatter,

The Sales Manager flipped on his e-mail to see what was the matter.

Scrolling down the screen with great velocity,

He realized corporate had just launched the latest company-saving …“strategy”.

 

The moans on the lips of the hard-working sales team

Proved to the manager that it was time to devise a scheme.

When, he realized something he would do without remorse,

He, with his team, would choose a path and stick to one course.

 

With a small, determined sales team, full of attitude and skill,

He knew they would succeed if even just by sheer will.

More powerful from trials his team they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

 

Now Sally!  Now Peter and Jackson!

On, Charlie! On, Randy! On Matthew and Paxton!

To the conference room!  With your creative ideas don’t stop!

We’ll end this year strong and start the next one on top!

 

And, then from the cubicles, he heard the team’s hoots

The gathering of pens and papers – they were now in cahoots.

As he drew in his head, and was turning around

Down the hall the manager saw enthused salespeople coming with a bound.

 

They were all dressed for battle, from their heads to their feet

They carried account reports and would not give in to defeat.

A burst of new energy they brought down the hall

And they looked like winners who always gave their all.

 

Their eyes how they twinkled! Their attitudes so amused!

No more knee-jerk corporate “strategies” leaving their customers abused!

They pulled up their chairs and let the ideas flow,

No matter how crazy, the momentum would not slow.

 

The morning turned to afternoon which turned to night

The white board was covered with ideas so bright.

It was refreshing to be free to think without borders,

They knew in no time their pipelines would be full of new orders!

 

It was time to narrow the long idea list to the most productive few,

Ideas that lead to success and that everyone could actually do.

With everyone’s “yay”,

The manager high-fived and then captured their plan,

Posting it on the door for the eyes of every woman and man.

 

They spoke not a word, but went straight to their work,

And followed the careful plan, without promise of perk.

And day after day, they stuck to their plan,

No matter the chatter, no matter the distraction.

 

At his Monday sales meeting one month later, the manager got to share

The plan they created had taken away all the despair.

The numbers were soaring!

And the team heard him exclaim as he called them to meet,

“Congratulations to you all, next year you’ll be the team to beat!”

10:56 am November 6, 2009, by Joy Johnston

By Laura Raines, for the AJC

With small but distinct signs of life in the economy, companies are plotting their recovery strategies for 2010.

“Recovery will not be restoration of the pre-recession market. Trying to get back to where we were will be like chasing a red herring,” said Jean Martin, executive director of the Corporate Leadership Council of the Corporate Executive Board, a global business research network.
It’s a whole new ballgame.

Read the rest here and see 6 things to look for in your company.

After reading, come back here and think about these questions:

• How are you and your team addressing changing customer needs over the past year? What is the plan to do this leading into 2010 and beyond?  Do you have a process to do this? What is the accountability plan?
• I interviewed a Sales VP from a Fortune 500 company about what sales managers need to be doing now.  I thought her answer was brilliant.  She said to “re-recruit your stars”.  She recognized that top performers were making less and maybe feeling restless.  She also knows that as companies rebuild, they will be seeking stars to recruit.  So, questions to think about: What are you doing to keep your stars happy? Do you have stars at risk? Why are they at risk? How do you treat top recruits? How can you treat your stars like top recruits?  Have you envisioned the perfect post-recession sales team? Who is on it? Who is not? What are the steps to build that team? What other questions should you be asking yourself?
• Tough times reveal people’s character, fortunately and … unfortunately.  How are sales managers making sure customers’ needs are still the priority even when salespeople need sales?  Who are the good examples on your team? How do you celebrate customer-focused decisions? Does the sales/keep your job pressure cause salespeople to do what’s best for their sales numbers over what’s best for your customers? How can this impact trust in your company?  Tough questions!  What other questions should you be asking yourself?
• Where does your account and customer information exist?  Are you using your CRM to it’s fullest potential?  If you lost a sales rep tomorrow, how much information about their customer activity would be available to you and the new account representative?  Are your reps using social media to communicate to and with customers?  Are you aware of all the tools they use?  How would a customer be impacted if you lost account information with a sales rep?  How can you improve the information about account activity in your CRM for the customer’s benefit? What other questions should you be asking yourself?

Sales teams that face reality with a proactive success plan are much more likely to have the competitive edge.  Get started at the very first signs of recovery. 2010 could be a record year. 

 

Post brought to you by Jill Myrick, Owner of Meeting to Win. Meeting to Win provides sales team meeting agendas for sales managers. Subscribe for a new agenda every week or visit our M2W Store and pick a sales team meeting agenda 4-pack to suit your needs.