In today’s tough economy, sales reps are taking on bigger territories, working with higher quotas, and making more customer contacts than ever. But less than 55% of sales reps are making their quota. Sales managers can help their reps with these challenges in various ways. In this blog, I share with you 5 inspiring ideas from industry authorities. For these ideas, I add my own suggestions for how you can easily apply these concepts for …
There are only a finite number of productive hours in your day. Every leader is busy and often it feels like there isn’t enough time to accomplish everything you planned. Is ‘busyness’ your excuse for not investing enough time to build your business? Is it sabotaging your growth? How many of your hours are wasted on simple, routine activities that rob you of valuable time and distract you from your planned productive day? You shift …
There are 3 decisive touch points with each customer that determine if you will earn trust and future preference. Doing more than expected during these 3 key moments changes everything about how your customer feels about you. In truth, how your customer feels is more influential than the facts you present. We may think of ourselves as thinking creatures that feel, but biologically we are feeling creatures that think. (Jill Bolte Taylor: My Stroke of …
“There are a thousand ways to get noticed, but there’s only one way to really touch someone. And that’s to give them a reason to care, a story they can believe in. The truth is that what really moves us is feelings, not facts.” Bernadette Jiwa, author of “difference.” Discover more insights about re-imagining your business and reinventing your marketing through relationships, engagement and growth from the newly released book “difference.” Seth Godin endorses “difference” …
Bad things happen when profit is separated from Purpose. The negative consequences include poor quality, myopic focus and short-term thinking that can be destructive. Over time, organizations become consumed with surviving and reacting to the marketplace. Purpose can be forgotten, beyond the need to make money. Yet evidence is growing, particularly on Wall Street, that an organization’s commitment to fulfilling its Purpose achieves goals and elevates performance. “A great strategy without a compelling purpose is like …
Business planning is still a productive exercise. Not because the document created by the planning process is so effective but because developing the plan engages leaders from all functional areas in the company. Very few plans work as conceived; business is too unpredictable over a period of time. But companies are still accountable for getting profitable results so why do some succeed while others fail? Few strategies are actually implemented as planned. Real world circumstances …
Crisis creates change…change requires movement…away from what we know. The crisis may be occurring now or you see it coming, but you recognize that you need to move in a new direction. Are you afraid to move? Have you ever relocated? If so, then you know that change can be tumultuous. New place to live, new surroundings, new stores, new people – by moving away from what you knew you become disoriented. The disassociation makes …
Successful sales people see themselves as problem-solving business partners rather than peddlers. Building enduring customer relationships is their objective, not selling without knowing how customers will benefit. Sales people who seek to be problem-solving business partners first learn what makes their company distinctive in the marketplace and how their unique offering makes money for their company. Then, they leverage this knowledge to produce quantifiable value for their customers. A customer’s current process is their competition. …
In a recent posting, Seth Godin offered an illustrator’s analogy about visualizing goals. “If you can’t see it (in your mind, not with your eyes), then you can’t draw it.” (Drawing an owl – 1/7/14) Leadership is about communicating purpose, vision and direction. But it is also about helping your people engage so they can contribute to the big picture. As Seth mentions, there are thousands of concepts about how to lead people, how to …
Establishing new relationships requires authenticity and urgency to create an emotional link with a new contact. This bond is most productive when we connect with one another face-to-face, accelerating the development of trust. Email or social media can’t forge this link. An associate was musing how challenging it is for some sales people to establish new relationships. How can you succeed in a sales role when reaching out to new prospects is so challenging? Some …