The Sales Pro Insider Building Performance Profits and People

On the eve of a new year, I found this quote by Bill Vaughnn comical!

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.

Whether you are sad to see 2009 go or not doesn’t matter!  It is over in just a few hours.  The real point is what you plan to do with 2010. 

Oprah Winfrey’s quote on this topic:

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.

I wish each of you a couple of days to recharge and figure out how to get 2010 ‘right’ for you!

Happy New Year!!

A thought on perspective – some IT professionals  I worked with were reminiscing about the 10th anniversary of the Y2K panic that caused all of them to work NY Eve on 12/31/99.  The different perspectives on the threat of 1/1/2000 was interesting indeed. 

Filed Under: priorities, sales tips

A few days left in 2009.  What are you doing?  From the number of Out of Office notices to messages sent yesterday, many of you are enjoying time OFF!  Yeah for you.  I hope you are rejuvenating yourselves!  For those still ‘in’ this week- its a great time to to close 2009. 

 How?  If you aren’t able to get in front of prospects and decision makers (though I do have 2 sales calls via telephone tomorrow), its the PERFECT time to do all the activities that we say we are too busy to do the rest of the year.  A recap of the actions and then tips follow.     

1. Organize.  Yes, the dreaded organization.  Take time to go through files, drawers, stacks of paper.  
2. Set goals.  Many say there is no time to do this the rest of the year.  Today is the day!
3. Plan. Once the goal is set – putting together the plan is next.
4. Rest.  Give your body and mind time to regenerate.

Tips for each action:

Organize – it’s more than straightening and getting things out of sight.  Start with this 3-step process:

1. Review.  What is in your hand?  Scan it over and then,
2. Decide what to do with it.  Is it something you will need again?  If you discard it, would you have access to it in some other way without it taking up your ’space’? 
3. Keep, toss or file.     Yes, each item – once you get started this is only seconds per paper, item, etc. 

Once you have control of the stuff – set up your files for next year – electronic or paper files.

Set goals.  I’ve written about goals many times, they are THAT important.  A few posts to help you: Ready, Aim, Action and  4 Rs of a  Great Goal Process,  

Plan.  Planning is a different activity than setting the goals.  The goal is the target, the plan is the how you will get there.  If you would like a copy of an effective goal planning form, email me and I’ll send you a Word document.  This document not only allows you to write your goal (an important part of goal achievement) it also has places to write your actions and planning considerations. 

Rest.  As a person who ‘gos’ full steam all the time.  The resting is something I have had to condition myself to.  And I realize the benefits every time.  Make time to get enough sleep, get your ‘head’ out of work, enjoy yourself and others without work pressures!  A previous post speaks to the benefits of rest.

And there you have it.  Make these days work for you!

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Special Note:  If one of your goals for next year is a more productive sales team – we have a great resource for sales boosters!  Sharpenz…Half Hour of Power sales boosts.  Get a FREE Booster here.  And then take advantage of the 30% off sale through 12/31/09- a full robust training library for under $1000!  A great way to use year-end budget dollars. 

Filed Under: focus, goal setting, maximize sales productivity, productivity, sales tips

We wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or whatever you celebrate at this time of year.  For us, Christmas is magical.  Most people seem to be in a good mood, ramp up their giving spirit and take some time off from work.  I hope you are one of them.

Thank you for your readership this year, for your comments and encouragement.  My wish for you is that you get ‘enough’ next year.  Enough of what you need to sustain and grow you.  Enough to have more to share with others.  And enough to keep you happy and healthy. 

Lynn Zimmer of the Sales Pro Insider team wrote a recent message about gifts that is worth sharing.  Lynn heard a woman stating that she has made the most of her ‘bonus’ 33 years of life after a terminal prognosis.  Lynn wrote:

It caused me to reflect on the many gifts that I can give to my family, friends and business associates that don’t need to be gift wrapped. 

The gift of listening:  Take time to listen to other people.  In our world of multi-tasking, we many times overlook the importance of giving someone our undivided attention.  When you ask a question take time to really listen to the answer.

 The gift of time:  Mentally slow down and experience the moment you’re in.  Savor the special moments…and share them with the people you’re with.  It’s hard to do when you’re pressed for time, but definitely worth it!

 The gift of thanks:  Take a moment to give sincere thanks to everyone who has helped you this year.

 Christmas gift suggestions:

To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.                                 

  -Oren Arnold

  “Re-gifting” can be one of the best gifts of all.  Share these gifts with your customers, family and friends and experience the richness that returns.

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Thank you Lynn for the great gift suggestions!

Merry Christmas – or Holidays to all!

Filed Under: customer loyalty, priorities

These last few weeks have been great for prospecting.  People seem to feel ‘they’ve made it through 2009′ and are looking for ways to advance their business in 2010.  Our ongoing nurturing all year is now paying off with callbacks, appointments and commitments.  Yeah!

One of the sales calls I had a few weeks ago, I’d like to repeat over and over and over.  Why?  Because the prospect was looking for ONE specific service and by the end of our conversation we were discussing multiple.  In dissecting why the call went so well (a good practice so we can repeat those actions that worked), I found that I had: 

1. Listened to the intent of what he wanted to accomplish, not just WHAT he wanted to do now.
2. Waited.  Instead of offering him a recommendation immediately (which I could have on the ONE item), I expanded the discussion with further questions that uncovered some underlying information that was truly what needed to be addressed first.
3. Asked permission to ask questions that weren’t directly related to what he called about.
4. Summarized the broader picture and the frustration and costs associated with it.
5. Presented the solution directly tied into his situation and the value he would experience in the long run.
6. After he said “Yes, this is what we need to do first, isn’t it?”  I expressed confidence in his choice and what he would gain from it. 

It was a lot of effort to keep to task.  And it was one of those situations where I hadn’t time to prepare – he called me out of the blue.  But I had just been preparing for another meeting and quickly pulled my list of questions out.  I also have a list of questions that I can quickly adjust on the spot to a situation such as this. 

I’m sure you’ve had some of these ‘magical sales moments’ too.  What did you learn from them?  Making the time to dissect and extract WHAT and HOW happened, will help you repeat it again the next time.

Now to continue making calls today and follow the six actions above.

Hope your day is productive too! 

P.S.  Yes, he did accept the recommendation – which was a 75% higher sale than the original request  

Filed Under: Listening, prospecting, sales tips

2009 was an interesting year for many businesses.  It was also an interesting year for many salespeople!  Some have ‘made it through’, some have soared, some are without jobs as we head in 2010 and most everyone is working harder than ever to maintain.  In trying times, the lessons we learn can serve us well in the future. 

Some of what was hard these last 18 months was that many professionals had not experienced this type of economic stall.  They didn’t know what to do.  So, as the year ends I put together the top 5 Sales Lessons we can take away from 2009.

1. Rules have changed.  Sales cycles are longer, the need to know your business, not just your products is key,
2. ‘Winging it’ grounds you.  If you need to soar to succeed, lack of preparation or ‘winging it’ weighs you down.  Preparing to make the most out of every contact is what makes the difference between long-term success and possibly being out on the street.  Use the Internet and relationships to find information on the person, the company, the industry that you are calling on will make a huge difference in your sales conversations.
3. Performance  (something about .    Many companies cut people. With few exceptions, they cut under performers or people that didn’t fit. 
4. Nurturing is necessary.  Staying top of mind with your prospects or customers was key in 2009.  They might not have had the budget or been on hold for a large part of the year.  And as they start surfacing again looking at 2010, they will go with the people that have kept in touch and tried to provide some value this year.
5. Creativity and flexibility mattermore than ever.  Creativity in approach, in how to give value, in other uses for your product or service, in gaining leads, are needed.  Flexing the way you’ve always done something could have been the difference between a sale or a stall.

Learning these lessons and defining a plan for capitalizing on them for 2010 is necessary.  What can you do? A few things:

1. Find a winner (or two).  Who has succeeded this year?  Ask them how they did it. Determine what you can replicate in your business.
2. Process and prepare.  What type of process works best with your customers and prospects now?  What are all the touchpoints, the objectives, the information you need to learn and to share?  Lay out the process and then prepare for each visit.
3. Perform!  No excuses.  Make the time, take the actions, get the training you need.  Companies more than ever will pay for performance.  If you don’t have the results, your earnings will take a hit.
4. Stay top of mind.  Drip marketing is huge these days.  Identifying the right tools and ‘touches’ to communicate and keep yourself, company and solutions in front of people -even if they aren’t buying now – will continue to differentiate you and position you to be “the” first call when the time is right.
5. Measure and evaluate what you are doing and the results you achieve.  Numbers will tell the story if they are regularly looked at.  Then you can constantly tweak and refine HOW you operate.

Each of these alone will help capture more sales in 2010.  Focusing on all of them will provide you a foundation for more sales in 2011 and beyond, no matter what the economy.

What do you think?  What lesson did you learn in 2009?  What are you going to do about it in 2010?

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And if you wouldn’t mind voting one more time for me at Top 10 Sales Articles. Voting ends on Monday for the Top Sales Article of the Year!  I’d like a good showing – the article, Sign of a True Sales Pro has now been read by over 3500 people in the last 6 months – the message also contains another sales lesson.   

Filed Under: maximize sales productivity, recession proof sales, sales tips

Today’s post is all about giving a lift – to your confidence and spirit!  It’s the time of year where people are busier than ever – year-end work stresses, holiday prep and for many of us, dealing with  unfavorable weather – all can make for a ‘bah-humbug’ day.   

Yesterday, a group of professionals each joined our workshop with a bah-humbug after another.  I thought “Oh  boy, this could be a long HOUR!”  But, once we got engaged in discussion, started focusing on actions we have control of and listened to each other, there was a much lighter spirit as they left the workshop.    

Six ways to lift your confidence and spirit today in 5 minutes or less:

1.  
   1. Think about one person who has helped you this year.  One person who somehow made something easier or better for you.  Call them or write them a note of appreciation!
   2. Look at your goals for 2009 (you do have them in wriring somewhere, don’t you?) – instead of focusing on the goals that are not wher eyou want them to be – for a minute – concentrate on a goal you achieved or made significant progress with.  Take a FULL minute to think about this accomplishment.
   3. Watch these videos:  Smile and Move and ifyou need hlep with a smile, these 4 ladies will help, if you aren’t smmiling after this 1 minute video, I’m not sure what can help!
   4. Read the following quotation “All the great blessings of my life are in my thoughts today.” Phoebe Cary  – What if your blessings were in your thoughts?  Wouldn’t that give you a lift?
   5. The following websites are full of positive news – find one story to read: 
      • Happy News - Real  News. Compelling Stories. Always  Positive.
      • Daily Good - this even has a Business section!
      • Upbeat  - Positive, Optimistic, Inspiring News for All Ages – Read about Gracie, you’ll feel better.
      • Optimist News - What a great name!
   6. And maybe my favorite, Eat a piece of chocolate.  It really does have mood-lifting benefits!  And if you want an extra boost – share a piece of chocolate with someone else – watch how it lifts them too!

That’s it!  Actions for you, actions that will also lift others and in only 5 minutes your lift will give you more energy, confidence and spirit to tackle the rest of the day.

And if you want to lift my spirits – I’d appreciate your VOTE!  An article I wrote, The Sign of a True Sales Pro, was honored as the Sales Article of the Month in May 2009.  Now it is contending for the Top Sales Article of the Year.  the competition is stiff and I’d like a great showing!  It will take less than a minute for you to vote here.   Thank you so much!

Filed Under: learning, priorities, productivity, sales tips

I remember the public service announcement that used to be on the TV/Radio at 11 p.m.  “Parents, do you know where your children are?”  Well, the curfew signaling the end of 2009 is nearly upon us, so my public service announcement is:  It’s mid-December, do you know where your sales stand?

For this final FULL week (if you will be out for any of the  year-end holidays), its time to MAKE it happen.

M - Move!  No idle time this week.  Make your to do list to contact everyone! 

A - Advance! Ask for a decision to what comes next (is it review of a proposal, a decision to use/buy, a meeting time?)  Advance the prospects to the next step of your sale!

K - Know what your objective and approach is for every contact you make. The more clear you are, the more effective your contacts will be.

E - Extra.  Yes, this is the week to for extra! Extra effort, extra time, extra care.  It all matters!

Simple, isn’t it?  Put the peddle to the metal as they say.  A fitting ending to the entire series of Countdown 2009.  To review the past 7 weeks:

I’m charged and ready to roll (which is why I am still working this evening – I don’t want to stop!)  Not only to complete this week -but all the contacting has me set up with appointments for the first week of 2010!

What abut you? Do you WANT to make it?  Consider this Yiddish Proverb:

 If you don’t want to do something, one excuse is as good as another.

Then decide. 

Filed Under: focus, goal setting, maximize sales productivity, sales tips

Have you been to a holiday party yet this year?  No doubt when you do, you will find all kinds of interesting ‘people watching’.  To make sure you aren’t one who is talked about for months afterward, today’s post offers some advice on keeping your professional image at a holiday party.  

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Guest Post by Lynn Zimmer of Sales Pro Insider, Inc.

The holiday season has started and many holiday gatherings have begun.

Whether it is your company or a client hosted event, holiday events provide an added opportunity to strengthen your relationships and to network with other members within the organization.

View this as an opportunity to have the majority of your decision makers in one place at one time.  With that said, remember that moderation is the key to your success at these events.

According to business etiquette expert, Hilda Klinkenberg, the cardinal rule during the holiday season is to remember that no matter how festive the occasion, it’s still about business.

Here are some ideas to help ensure an enjoyable event:

1. Hold drinks or small plates of food in your left hand, so when you shake hands, your hand isn’t wet or cold.
2. Mingle; introduce yourself to someone you don’t know. 
3. Visit with multiple individuals, being careful not to “monopolize” one individual’s time.
4. Talk business at holiday events, but don’t “talk shop.”
5. Dress appropriately for the occasion. 
6. Before you leave, find your host and thank them for the invitation.
7. If you make any verbal commitments to people you have visited with, write them down when you leave, so that you remember to follow-up.

Success is simple.  Do what’s right, the right way, at the right time.

Arnold H. Glasglow

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Thanks Lynn – good tips for all of us to keep in mind.  Personally, I have seen #5 abused so many times, I’m not sure what is appropriate these days!

How about the rest of you?  What are more tips?  And how about your most intersting people watching at a business holiday function?

Filed Under: networking, sales tips

Have you ever considered what it takes to get the result you really want?  Sometimes its just a matter of degree!  

There are all different degrees of professionals – hot ones, cold ones, lukewarm ones.  What makes hot, hot?  It can be the seemingly little things like:

1. Follow-up
2. Process – having one and sticking with it
3. Caring to communicate the way the OTHER person needs to communicate
4. Using resources wisely and effectively
5. Having a mentor or coach
6. DOING, instead of talking and thinking about something
7. Setting goals – and a plan to achieve them
8. Making the time for rejuvenation – keep the batteries charged!

The difference in degrees was powerful this morningl  I live in Wisconsin and for days we have been warned of a huge winter storm.  The kids were all set for a snow day today (Mom was too – but guess what?  We were on the edge of the front that kept us at 34 degrees – meaning we had more rain than snow! 

That means school is in session here, but just a mile west it is not because they have over 10″ of snow!   I tried to explain to the very disappointed high schooler that sometimes the difference in getting what you want and reality is…just a matter of a degree or two!

What do you think? What are some of the little differences in degree that makes a GREAT professional great instead of good?

Filed Under: learning, sales tips

A full two weeks, if not more, left to work your sales magic in 2009!  Today’s post is to help illuminate your way  through these last couple of weeks.

We started on the 2009 countdown six weeks ago and if you have been following along, I hope you are finding success.  We are – as of this morning, our proposals and sales are now 13% higher than in November – a great step on the sales road!

As I look at the preceding actions in this year-end process, I think the biggest ‘oh my goodness’ came in Weeks 1 and 2 and now we are in execution mode! Here are the links to the first weeks’ posts:

Today we took the time to take a momentary stop in the action to lift our heads up and look again at how we are doing.  I knew it was time for a process check - sometimes I can be so singular focused on moving forward  that I lose track of the bigger picture and take short cuts.  I was reminded of this tendency this weekend. 

Ever have your Christmas tree decorated and then days later notice a part of the tree is no longer lit?  Diagnosing why and which lights are really burnt out is always tricky – we need to be careful not to ruin the other decorations on the tree as we try to get to the light strand.  It is a delicate process – and painstaking to test each bulb to find the culprit (and this with lights that are not supposed to go out when one bulb burns out).

I tackled this process on Friday night.  I determined the outage was just part of a long strand on lights.  Then I started the process of testing each dark bulb – only to get to the end and find that even after replacing the only bulb that was burnt out, the strand did not light! 

My husband told me to change the fuse.  I humored him though I didn’t believe that could be the problem -  and changed the fuses which took a while because I didn’t have the proper tools – and still no lights.

What to do?  I started at the end and worked backwards this time.  Know what I found?  That a few of the bulbs at the beginning were not pushed in all the way – when I corrected that – voila’ – lights!   How much quicker I would have discovered that if I had followed my process and started again at the beginning!

What does that have to do with our sales countdown and what we should do this week?  Sometimes we need to step back and look at our process to make sure that we are moving forward effectively and efficiently.  Ask yourself these questions:

1. Am I taking shortcuts in my process right now?  Are they smart-cuts?  Or just short-cuts?
2.  Is that going to get the results I need today AND in the long-run? 
3. Who else is pointing out things I should do that, without thought of process, might detract me and delay me from the goal?
4. How am I using the tools available to help me work through my sales process?

What did you discover as you considered these questions?  Now, on to what to do with your answers!

1. Identify the adjustments you need to make today to ensure processes that work are working for you.
2. Eliminate the “noise” of others telling you what to try different (this blog post exceptioned).
3. Use your tools!  These might be tech tools or people ‘tools’.
4. Work your process!

After this illuminating review, spend this entire week working your process-make your contacts, do your followup, etc.  Action, action, action.

Filed Under: focus, maximize sales productivity, sales tips