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The Worst Case Scenario

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

It seems that when some make the transition from revenue-producing sales rep to sales leader, they forget some very important realities.  They no longer want to hear about the realities of the field.  They want to call those “excuses”.  I admit, I like to look at everything and determine the worst case scenario.  This does not bum me out, it actually makes me feel better to have a game plan should the worst case scenario play out.  It never does and it still feels good to be prepared.

The reality is that things happen that are disruptive.  Some of these things the reps’ own companies do to them, some are economy driven, some are customer driven.  Yet, leadership still expects the reps to turn in 8% revenue growth.  If you kick a marathon runner in the knee at mile 13, that runner may not beat his previous finishing time.  That’s a reality.  I don’t believe that sales reps like to “make excuses”.  I believe they really want to explain their performance, good or bad.  Being able to explain why something happens is a key ingredient in duplicating the good results and avoiding the poor results.

So, I challenge sales leaders to face reality. Among other things, the following is a list of things that ARE disruptive:

  • Moving territory lines.
  • Adding or taking away accounts.
  • Pulling them out of the field for training.
  • Asking them to complete a whole new set of reports.
  • Introducing a new CRM.
  • Giving them a new product to sell.
  • Reorganizing your sales team.
  • Changing compensation.

And the list goes on.  I challenge sales leaders to face the reality of disruptions instead of pretending like they won’t be disruptions.  It’s delusional to think the sales team won’t be distracted.  They are human beings, not machines. 

Instead, look 30-90 days out and figure out what is coming down the line that could possibly cause distraction for your sales team.  Figure out the worst case scenario in terms of how this disruption may impact your sales results.  You can’t see everything coming so at least get out in front of what you can see.  Get your team together and face reality together.  Expect to be distracted and proactively figure out how to sell through it.  You’ll reduce distraction and your team will have fewer “excuses”.

Face reality and your reality will be much brighter.

Stop Playing It “Safe” – Ask for Commitments

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

(This week’s Meeting to Win focus is on Playing to Win instead of Playing to NOT Lose.   Meeting to Win provides a new, fresh sales team meeting agenda every week for our Subscribers.  Start having productive sales team meetings that result in superior sales performance with Meeting to Win.)

For some reason, there is often a sense of comfort when a prospective client asks us to do or provide something – see a demo, send me information, etc.  We believe we have a solution that may meet their needs and we take their request as a sign that they may also believe that.  As sales reps, happy to stay engaged with this prospect, we march off to provide the requested information.  This prospective client may very well want this information and have a real plan to evaluate our solution and actually make a go/no-go decision on purchasing from us or not. 

On the other hand, they may be making this request for any number of other reasons – and we may be playing along for any number of reasons.  Those reasons can include:

  • They are too nice to tell you that have no intention of spending a dime with you.
  • They are busy and the fastest way to get rid of you is to send you on an errand.
  • They are really good at kicking the tires, but have no history of actually buying. 
  • They stay in the eternal sales cycle never actually moving forward on anything.  Professional window shoppers exist in every company.
  • They are afraid if they tell you “no” that you will keep trying to sell them.  No one enjoys being on the receiving end of this tactic.
  • Your pursuit makes them feel important (ugly truth alert!).
  • They think they have some power to make this decision.  Meanwhile, someone else is actually making the decision at some other level.
  • We feel “safe” to simply stay engaged in the sales cycle.  We have something to report on our activity tracker, in our pipelines and during our team meeting updates.  We’ve bought another week of activity.
  • You look so happy when they ask you for something.

Those just a few of the reasons sales reps are asked to run these errands.  How do sales reps stop being gophers?  One way is to lay out the next few steps or commitments on both sides.  Next time you are asked to run an errand, ask what decision they plan to make once you provide the requested information and by when.  For example, if they ask to see a demo of your software.  Find out what they hope to gain from the demo (the demo may not be what they even need) and what decision they plan to make upon seeing the demo (no-go, take the next step, involve other decision makers, etc) and by when they plan to make the decision (is there even a timeline?). 

It feels “safe” to stay engaged and really….it’s a collosal waste of time.  Stop playing it “safe” and start helping your clients make decisions that will ultimately help their businesses succeed.  Get commitments before you run the errand – everyone wins when you have an efficient process. 

(This week’s Meeting to Win focus is on Playing to Win instead of Playing to NOT Lose.   Meeting to Win provides a new, fresh sales team meeting agenda every week for our Subscribers.  Start having productive sales team meetings that result in superior sales performance with Meeting to Win.)

Playing to Win or Playing to NOT Lose? (Includes Sales Team Meeting Idea)

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

I am getting ready to play my first tennis match in over a year and a half.  As I look forward to the match, I am reminded of something my father said to me during one of our matches years ago.  Something that I have thought about during every match since when I feel like I am on defense more than I’d like to be.  He looked frustrated and said “You’re not playing to win.  You’re playing to NOT lose.”  He described exactly what I was doing.  I was back running down shots, going right where he wanted me to go, just getting the ball in play to live for another point.  He was in charge, setting the pace and … having more fun than me.  During that match and countless others since then, I have had to change my mindset mid-match and play to win instead of play to NOT lose.  For me that means, charge the net, put some shots away, get on the offense, control the pace of the game and, in many of those cases (still not against my Dad…), win.  Even when I didn’t win, I walked away knowing I did everything I could and was proud of my game, effort and attitude.  There was no risk I hadn’t taken and, therefore, no “what ifs”. 

I took my Dad’s insightful observation into my sales life, too, and, man, did life get more fun.  Instead of sitting back following the process, chasing the RFP, settling for meeting with non-decision makers, wondering what the competitors were doing, giving discounts and sounding like 80% of other reps out there, I made a clear effort to “charge the net”. 

How do you know if you are playing to win or playing to not lose?

Are you:

  • Following the buying process blindly without challenging steps that don’t help your cusotmers make good decisions?
  • Meeting with people who can’t make decisions?
  • More worried about your activity report volume than the quality of your activities?
  • Spending time on RFPs that restrict your ability to sell by limiting your ability to diagnose and share solutions?
  • Constantly running off to fetch the next thing your prospective customer needs with no commitments from them (”send me a proposal”, “do an assessment”, “send me a brochure”, “come do a demo”, etc)?
  • Coming in second or third place?
  • Getting surprised late in sales cycles?

Or are you:

  • Creating opportunities by shining light on problems prospective customers didn’t know they had?
  • Challenging dysfunctional buying processes that hinder your customer from getting the best possible solution?
  • Sharing solutions your clients didn’t know existed to problems they didn’t know they had?
  • Bringing new ideas, industry expertise and innovative solutions to the table?
  • Getting full price for the value of service you provide?
  • Getting creative on negotiations?
  • Risking offending non-decision makers to get to the actual decision makers?
  • Addressing sales cycle slow downs head-on and honestly?
  • Not afraid to walk away?
  • Not afraid to say and do the right thing no matter the outcome?

It is so much more exciting to play to win.  It takes more energy and guts, but it is so worth it.  Charge the net this week!

Sales team meeting idea:

  • At your next sales team meeting, ask each team member to bring their current pipeline.
  • Ask each person to examine their pipeline for opportunities to “charge the net”.
  • Each rep should pick one deal and take a well-planned risk.  Get to decision makers, challenge a bad decision, ask about the competition, exit an RFP opportunity, etc.  As long as the risk will ultimately help you help your customer make a better decision (even if it’s not you), then take the risk.
  • Each rep should walk away with one risk to take within the next week. 
  • Plan to report back on the outcomes of the team’s risk-taking.  Not all will go well – that’s why we call it a “risk”.  So be it…

Play to win. Charge the net.  Have more fun.

(Post brought to you by Jill Myrick of Meeting to Win.  Meeting to Win provides sales team meeting agendas for Sales Managers who want to take their team to the next level.  Play to Win, Not to NOT Lose is the April 2, 2010 Agenda Topic.  To get a new sales team meeting topic each week, visit us at http://www.meetingtowin.com/ to subscribe.)

10 Things You Don’t Know

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

(This week’s Meeting to Win sales team meeting agenda is called 10 Things You Don’t Know.  To join us and get new sales team meeting agendas weekly, visit us at Meeting to Win.)

Salespeople are wise to focus on their existing customer base to impact success during economic recovery.  Competitors are getting creative and aggressive and existing relationships could be up for grabs … unless…you treat your existing clients like new customers.  Think about how you treat new customers. 

During economic recovery, treat your customers like new customers by trying the following things:

  • Conduct a thorough needs-analysis with them to make sure your solutions still are solutions. Their business has likely changed like the rest of the world.
  • Find out where they need help and deliver.
  • Figure out how your company can better service them – clear billing, better response on customer service issues, etc.
  • Bring senior leaders to face-to-face meetings to thank them for their business and show how valuable they are to your company.
  • Sincerely thank them for their business.
  • Share new ways to solve old and new problems.
  • Share industry expertise.  Help them be innovative.
  • Help them help their customers succeed.
  • Learn everything you can about their business – you’ll recognize ways to help them the more you know their business.
  • Be attentive, present and part of the team.
  • Commit to quarterly business reviews to hold yourself accountable to the results you promised.
  • Make sure they know all that you can do for them.  (Exercise: Think of 10 things your top customers may not know about your offering that may help them.)  Figure out how to share all your services without giving a sales pitch.  Your competitors are sharing this information.  It’s best to share this information in response to a business need they have.
  • Be someone they can’t live without.

Competitors are gunning for your clients.  Treat your existing customers like the gold that they are.

(To get sales team meeting agendas with exercises and role plays on topics like 10 Things You Don’t Know and other great selling topics, join the Meeting to Win community by subscribing today.)

When is it OK to Micromanage?

Friday, March 19th, 2010

“Micromanagement” is a 4-letter word to most sales professionals.  Most sales reps strive to get to the point where their bosses “leave them alone as long as they get the job done”.  There are times when micromanagement is actually helpful. Two of those times are (1) during the first month on the job or (2) when a sales rep is underperforming. 

During these two time periods, Sales Managers have the responsibility to help their team members succeed.  One “micromanagement” activity that I have seen work over and over during these two time periods in a sales career is the AM/PM Check-In Meeting. 

Each morning and afternoon for one month at the beginning of the sales day and at the end of the sales day, set a time for the sales rep to call the sales manager.  This should a 5-10 minute call with a set agenda.  This is less than an hour a week a Sales Manager and sales rep can invest in the success of a territory.  The AM Agenda should include the rep’s plan for the day and the PM Agenda should include an update on the activity they planned and executed.  This AM/PM Meeting provides needed, regular guidance and accountability as a rep is building their business.

Invest in success with the AM/PM Check-In Meeting and watch the territory grow!

Post brought to you by Jill Myrick, Owner of Meeting to WinSubscribe and get a new sales team meeting agenda packed with skill-building, sales-producing topics every week.