Have you ever heard the saying, “Be creative – think outside the box?”  Well, I’m going to challenge that premise…I think to be creative and collaborative we need to think “inside the box!”

Think about it…in every decision and problem resolution, there is a ‘box’ we need to work with.   This box is the parameters or constraints that we need to solve the problem within.  It ‘frames’ the parameters and our possibilities. 

Here’s how it works:  Place the defined problem or decision needed in the middle of the box and then identify the four sides:

1. Time/Schedule
2. Resources – financial, people, etc.
3. Participation – the mental bandwidth and energy you need from others involved
4. Quality -  the qualitative expectation

Your solution needs to be found WITHIN those parameters.  They make up your box.  And if one of the sides of the box changes, the others must change as well! You need to keep your ‘box’ squared up.

How do you use this concept in sales?  An example for you:

We sell training, consulting and HR services for companies.  Our client asked us to submit a proposal to solve their problem of lower sales results from their sales team. The solution we identified collaboratively included 4 components.  To deliver the 4 components included :

1. a schedule for delivery,
2.  resoruces of people and dollars,
3. a need for time with key internal stakeholders and
4.  qualitivate expectations

When reviewing the proposal, the owner identified that the schedule needed to changed and timeline shortened.  Could that be accommodated?  In using the four sides of the box on  a flipchart, together we identified that if the timeline shortned, the other pieces that would need to change.  He didn’t want quality affected. He didn’t want to spend more money, so what he needed to do was to provide a higher level of participation to make it happen.

Without the box as a reference point and consideration, the discussion might have been much more difficult. 

We regularly use the ‘box’ in our discussions.  It keeps a focus on collaborative selling as this is something that is transparent and easily shared.

How can you apply it in yours?  You can use the box for:

• problem solving
• brainstorming
• looking at project delivery realistically
• Collaboration

What other applications do you see application for the ‘box’?  Please leave a comment. Let’s build our ideas for ‘thinking inside the box!’

p.s. A special Thanks to Arpad Hevizi of Celestica. In our discussion today he ‘evolved’ the use of the box and the ‘participation’ parameter was his contribution. Thanks Arpad!

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Filed Under: Collaborative Selling, Sales Productivity, Success Tips
Tags: Collaborative Selling, collaborative+selling, Problem Solving, Sales, Sales Tips

Today is World Pasta Day.  I’m not kidding – its a day “to draw the attention of the media and consumers to pasta. Communication should underline the fact that pasta is a global food, consumed in all five continents” according to many culinary websites.

What made me smile is that I just shared a similar thought with some participants a few weeks ago – it was an international group and we were discussing food. I had an ‘aha’ about noodles being in most every ethnic diet. 

When I saw this prolamation about World Pasta Day, two actions came to mind: 

1. The Bleeke family needs to eat pasta today.  I think gnocchi is our choice.
2. Its the perfect time to repost a popular post about a lesson I learned from making pasta! 

Mangia!

Preparation, Purpose, Persistence and Pasta

Long-term success involves preparation, purpose and persistence.  (This shared by Judy Murrah from Motorola.)  And I’d like to add a fourth “p” – pasta!

It’s no secret I am of Italian heritage, and my good friends – NONE of whom are Italian – missed out on my relatives’ great cooking.  So, on a REALLY rainy Saturday, I had a purpose.  To introduce friends (and my children of course) to some home-made pasta!  And they got to be part of the pasta making!

I prepared all the ingredients and tools (I thought) to make ravioli and pasta noodles.  Even though I haven’t made ravioli in over 6 years and pasta in more than 18,  (Without my Mom it wasn’t fun.)  I was pretty excited to show them the process.

I’ve had friends  help with pasta making before.  They have fun, we enjoy a great dinner afterward and then they let me know that they will NEVER help again.  Why?  It is very messy,  time consuming and there are a lot of details that make or break the finished outcome.  (Sound like  some of your work days?)

The pasta making process started with my children. Though they grumbled, they did well filling, cutting and forking the raviolis.  Then Kayla and Kara came and we moved to the pasta noodles.  Remember I said that I haven’t made pasta in over 18 years?  Well, rolling the dough and cutting it into pasta (love my manual Altea pasta machine) was good.  Where we got stuck was how exactly to lay the pasta out to dry.  This is where the persistence came in.

I know Mom had a way of wrapping it in to a nest on a floured surface so it dried nicely.  After 20 minutes it was obvious that wasn’t working for us, and we were going to end up with a big blob of dough stuck together.  Not to be deterred, three relatively intelligent women got their brains going and devised a drying rack – using hangers, wire, tape, etc.  I kept saying “I just can’t remember how she did this, but I know that she didn’t hang it!”

We ended up drying the spaghetti noodles draped over hangers positioned from the light fixture (see actual picture).  And it did work!  We then enjoyed a fabulous dinner (after hours of clean up) to savor our hard labor. 

What is the sales lesson in all this?  Persistence!  We dug into a tedious process for the reward of great food. We had to troubleshoot when barriers got in our way and we used team power to make it all work.

In your sales, do you stick with it through the objections, through the  bad appointments, unqualified leads, and technical issues to make it to the close?  It takes persistence to stay in there for the long haul.  It takes planning to eliminate as many obstacles as you can, and a clear sense of purpose of why you are doing this! (your solution, the value you bring or for winning).  And some great pasta along the way never hurts either!

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Filed Under: Sales Productivity, Sales Tips
Tags: Sales Productivity, Sales Tips

For the past 18 months I’ve heard Sellers and leaders use the economy as a reason for a lot things from:

• Poor results (No one is buying.)
• Lack of time (We’re short people right now.)
• Lack of product development (We cut our development budget.)
• Reduced time in the field with sellers or having sellers in for face time (Budget reductions.)

Notice how these are all focused on ‘less’ ?  What if  instead we focused on what the changing economy has created more of?  Opportunity!  Opportunity to:

• Differentiate among the sea of competitors stuck in  ‘less than’ mentality
• Innovation – processes, markets, products, mind set
• Tap into people that are available
• Trim waste – activities, processes, relationships
• Learn

Congratulations if you are succeeding in 2010!  Many sellers and companies are having record years!  If not, time to step back and consider what you are focusing on…Is it more or less? 

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Filed Under: Sales Productivity, Sales Tips, Success Tips
Tags: Sales, Sales Tips

KISS is the acrononym many use to remind themself to – “Keep It Simple Stupid.”

It’s an important message for me as I am so guilty of inadvertently creating complexity!  I can take something with two steps and turn it into 5.

And that once I pause, allow myself to think and simplify, I am more productive and less stressed!

Some of the complaints I often hear from sellers is that ‘others’ are making sales more difficult – that marketing, their manager, the prospects and processes slow them down and keep them from selling.

Now…there may be some truth to this…and as soon as we start making these excuses and blaming others…we give up all control over our own success!

So what can we do to make our sales as simple as possible so we can be productive?  Ask yourself a few questions:

• Where are my bottlenecks?
• List the steps it takes to complete the tasks or processes that have the bottlenecks.
• Are all the steps necessary?  Are there duplicates? Too many people involved that can lead to miss-fires and miscommunication?
• Who do you need to discuss your observations with to eliminate the inefficiencies and complications?
• Adjust!

John Miller of QBQ! shares a story of a very successful sales professional who did not use all the ‘tools’ and technology during his sales calls. Instead he knew that what worked for him was much simpler – a pad of paper and a pen to take notes when he was in his sales calls.  By keeping it simple, he was able to focus on what was most important – his customer!

So, as you think about your calls and responsibilities, how can you make them more simple?  Then you can make the KISS acronym – Keeping It Simple Successfully!

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Filed Under: Sales Productivity, Success Tips
Tags: maximize sales productivity, Sales, Sales Tips