In 2009 All Business initiated a new sales contest – Sales All Stars.  The goal is to promote the career of sales and to recognize those that excel in this very tough business!  I hope you have taken time to look into recommending someone you know for this award.

Yet, can’t we all become a Grand Champion in what we do?  What does it take?  The following Success Factors:

• Skill to perform to your best
• A strong work ethic to use your time and resources wisely
• A goal that is clear, written and attainable
• Competitive spirit to dig in and give it all you’ve got
• Emotional intelligence to weather the ups and downs

The following are also immportantk though not indivudal factors

• Having the right ‘goods’ that fit the situation
• Collaborative teammates who are supportive, skillful and in the right roles

I saw all of these in place last weekend – not in a sales situation – in a sporting event.  We spent 16 hours on a bus and 24 hours in a convntion center for the Jamfest Super Dance Nationals.  My daughter’s team came in as the unknown team from Wisconsin and were determined to make their mark.  The competition is over two days with scores only posted after Day One.

In their two genres – jazz and pom – they did well after Day 1.  Fourth place for Jazz and First place by a tiny margin in Pom.  We thought it was a good first day. Then were told that Day 2 is worth 2/3 of the total score at the end.  The coach, Kate Fabbri did a great job in coaching the girls and explaining what they need to do to advance to the win in poms and place in jazz.  She expressed her belief in them, review the judges’ comments and then got them practicing – they even raised their level of difficulty the week before.

On Sunday, the dancers (24 of them) spent time together getting ready to ‘bring it on’.  After the jazz, we knew they did well.  And for poms they performed better than they had all year (which is saying a lot since they haven’t yet lost this season).  It was energetic, spot on and the dancers looked like they were having fun.  The short story?  They placed with a 3rd medal in jazz and WON pom.  More importantly, they scored so well they were also named junior champions.

It doesn’t end there. The top scorers are also in contention for the GRAND champion award – which involves judges selecting the team they feel had entertainment value, etc.  The girls were named the Grand Champions!

Isn’t it the same in sales? We need all the Success Factors listed above to be the Grand Champion and win the big deals. And still having the right ’scores’ isn’t always enough. We need to bring that ’something extra’ to our sales calls that makes us memorable, trusting, and respected so that the prospect WANTS us to win with them. 

I hope you will make time this week to strengthen one of the Success Factors so you can be a Grand Champion in your sales this year.

Think about the most successful sales pros you know – do you see these Success Factors in them? What else would you add to the list?

It’s Monday morning.  I’m tired.  The weekend was long and ended with a funeral for a 39 year old mom with young kids.  What an energy zapper.  And I have a long To Do list for today including an important sales call (aren’t they all important?).

How about you?  Ready to go this morning?

Sometimes its hard to be productive when you have ZERO pep.  Isn’t it?  So what to do?  Going back to bed is not an option.  Taking the day off isn’t either.  So I need to find a way to dig in and find ‘it’ today!

Here’s my plan to find ‘it’:

1. Before looking at my long To Do list, I am taking out my goals.  I am going to read through them and remind myself of WHERE I am headed.
2. Then I am going to really think hard about the rewards I am seeking by achieving the goals.
3. And next I am going to look at my To Do list for today and this week and make sure I have activities listed out that will move me forward.
4. Then I am going to start with the #1 priority (this blog post was the first #1 and I am almost finished !

Just writing these actions has me feeling more energetic!  I think it is because I have a plan now.  That works for me. I will have a productive day

What you need to discover is what works for you? How are you going to get ‘it’ going today so that THIS week is productive and powerful?

If you want help in being more productive, starting with your goals can help.  I did complete the Timely Tips to Achieve Your Goals eBook.  It’s a quick process to help you write and plan to reach your goals.  An easy-to-use goal planner is included!  All you need to do is sign up for the Timely Tips ezine here to get your copy.  If you are   already a Timely Tips subscriber, I sent you a link over a week ago to access yours.  If you don’t have it – send me an email. 

Ready for more 2010 sales predictions? I am!  Each day this week I am sharing with  you predictions from top sales experts from around the globe. We started with two awesome sales women and yesterday gave time to someone ‘across the pond’ – thanks Jonathan!

Today, Jeb Blount, CEO of Sales Gravy and author of the book Power Principlesshares predictions from his perspective as the most visited job search site for sales professionals.

Jeb’s predictions for 2010:

1. Sales leaders will be faced with the challenge of retaining top sales talent as competition for sales talent heats up with sales employment improves on the leading edge of the global economic recovery.

2. Sales Professionals will find an improved jobs picture with companies hungry for seasoned sales talent. With more choices 2010 will be a great year to make a career move though base salaries, perks, and benefits may lag behind expectations.

Thanks Jeb!  For many salespeople that might be great news!  Lots of opportunity and an economic uptick.  If you know someone looking for work – visit the Get Back to Work Faster site.  Chock full of FREE resources to help in creating your own job opportunities.  

For leaders , job opportunities from your  competitors might bring changes you hadn’t planned for.  It’s not too late to start NOW to coach, provide open communication and most importantly RECOGNIZE and show appreciation for your salespeople.  It is true that people leave managers more than they leave companies – YOU have more to do with retaining your salespeople than the you might think. 

Tomorrow’s predictions might be a little ‘colorful’.  Can’t wait! 

01 – 01 – 10

I’m not exactly sure what it is about this date – but it is ‘new’, it is exciting and it seems fresh!

It’s the beginning of a new year and a new decade.  And I can’t wait!  I’m going to finalize goals this week in the following categories:

• Family and marriage
• Health
• Financial
• Relationships
• Business

Focusing on the order listed above.  I believe with putting the most important items first, it will be easier to set realistic business goals.

In fact, I’ve personally and professional experienced the power of goal setting and achievement so strongly, that I’m committing to a new eBook on Timely Tips for Goal Achievement in the next 14 days.  I’ll  let you know when it is ready!

Hope the first day of 2010 was a great one for you!

Added:  I just checked my blog stats – yesterday there was 1001 visitors.  More zeros and ones!  Interesting indeed.

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!

-     -     -     -     -

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. 

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. 

Goals.  We love them, we hate them.  And we need them!  When we started the 8 week plan to end 2009 strong, I encouraged you to set targets.  Now is a great time for a 4R Target check-up!   

Before the check-up – and to allow any of you just getting in on the Countdown to catch up – a recap of the first 4 weeks’ actions:

1. Take a hard look at where you are and answer questions that helped you identify and diagnose potential roadblocks.
2. Set specific targets and plans for reaching them. 
3. Focus on  accountability, activity, and action!
4. Your tool check up.

Now to the 4R check-up!  Having a target is extremely important – and checking in to verify progress and whether the target is the correct target is equally as important.  With 30 days until year-end, use the following process to help ensure you are on track to achieve your short-term goals!

• Review – read your goals and the plan to achieve them.  Are you on track?  Then move to Renew.  Not on track?  Revise or Recycle. 
• Renew- Recommit yourself to the goal and the time-frame.  Consciously think through the next steps and how you will feel when the goal is accomplished.
• Revise- If the situation has change – revise your gaol as needed.  maybe the timing is off, or the outcome needs to be edited or the people involved have changed.  It’s okay make those revisions and then you have a realistic goal based on today’s criteria.  
• Recycle- Yes, recycle.  Just because a goal made sense earlier, doesn’t mean it still does.  It’s okay to remove a goal from your priorities and replace it with one that is more meaningful.

When should you do this?  Today, tonight or tomorrow morning.  Make the adjustments or recommitment and hit it hard these next days.

How am I going to live today in order to create the tomorrow I’m committed to?
Anthony Robbins

Five FULL weeks left to achieve your 2009 goals!  Ready to make it happen?  You can still make great strides in your sales for this year AND set yourself up to start 2010 with a BANG!  This week’s challenge is to maximize the use of your “tools” to gain time and efficiency.

We started 3 weeks ago with the 8 week plan to end the year strong.  The challenge of the past three weeks was to:

1. Take a hard look at where you are and answer questions that helped you identify and diagnose potential roadblocks.
2. Set specific targets and plans for reaching them.
3. Focus on  accountability, activity, and action!

We still need to focus on accountability, activity and action – and to be smart with our activity and action by using the tools available to us.  What is a tool?  A tool is something regarded as necessary to the carrying out of one’s occupation or profession (this definition brought to you by dictionary.com).  So what are the ‘things’ necessary to carrying out your occupation?   This is a starter list.

The Basics:

• A telephone
• Email
• Some type of program to keep your notes, customer details (could be a database or a full CRM system)
• Written information that can be shared – this might be a hard-copy brochure or electronic documents

Advanced tools:

• The right people around you – a coach, a support system and internal team that supports your efforts
• Lead generation or prospecting tools

Doesn’t seem like a lot does it?  It doesn’t have to be!  The key to a good tool is your use of it!  A tool is only as good as its’ user – the input, the use and care of, the access to the tools is what makes them work.

Over the years in my work with companies, I have observed HUGE investments in the “tool” that is going to solve their problems.  In 2002 a Fortune 100 company invested millions in a new tool – and eliminated all other investments for 18 months to fund it.  Guess what?  This new “tool” didn’t do what they hoped, productivity did not increase and the productivity they lost during the 18 months was a huge LOSS!

Your tool check up this week is to look at what tools you have and how you are using them – in crunch time its not usually wise to figure out something new – its looking at how you are using what you have.  What are you now doing that could be more efficient if you spent 20-30 minutes this week in getting it up to speed? 

For example:  I have been very lax on inputting some details on prospecting activity into my database.  Tomorrow i have a 60 minute block of time just to get this done.  The efficiency this is going to bring is going to help me stay focused and productive the next five weeks.

So a tool check up is the challenge for this week.  What tool do you have that you are not using well?  How are you going to change that?

Speaking of tools – some free sales tools (and reviews on many more) can be found at www.smartsellingtools.com. 

Want to play a game?  I challenge you to a game of darts.  Ready to play?  It’s a little different than you might think.  You have 8 darts in my game.  Each dart represents an hour of your ‘regular’ work day.  Your success depends on how accurate you hit your target.  But wait!  The dart board we use doesn’t have numbers – you don’t know where to aim, and you can easily hit a target youdont’ want to, instead of the bulls-eye.  

Wanna play this game with me?  No? Why not?  It’s similar to the game I see sales pros, teams and managers play EVERY day. They work hard.  They work long hours.  They want to win. And still they end up wasting a lot of time and energy reacting and chasing. 

Sound familiar?  Without a clear, focused target to aim at, there is so much waste and likelihood of missing the target!  With only 7 weeks left in 2009 is it too late to set targets now?  No!

Last week the action to Countdown 2009 was to analyze and find where you really are.  This week’s activity was to help you determine where you need to go and what you need to do!

This week’s challenge is to be very clear on your desired results for 12/31/09.  We call this the Ready, Aim, Action plan. 

Ready

Take out pen and paper NOW.  At the top write:

On 12/31/09  I/My

It all starts with a target date and the focus on YOU!  You have more control (and potential reward) over what happens in this next 7 weeks than anyone else.

Aim

Then make 3 columns and title them:

Quantity/amount                     Result/Outcome              Reward/Benefit

• Column 1 – Measurement – What numbers do you want on 12/31/09?  Dollars?  # accounts, # prospects at certain points in your pipeline, # appointments?
• Column 2 – Result/Outcome – this is the result you want on that date.  Closed sales, contracts signed, appointments set, etc.
• Column 3 – Rewards – this the benefit of you achieving the result or outcome.  The more specific the reward, the more motivation you will have to take the necessary action.

Target examples:

• On 12/31/09 my annual closed sales are $750,000.  My reward is recognition from my company and manager, the feeling of success and my 5% bonus for reaching my goal that we will use to pay cash for our son’s tuition in January 2010.
• On 12/31/09 I have 12 contracts signed for delivered product in January 2010. My reward is knowing that I will start 2010 with a bang and that I will not work at all on the holidays and use that time to focus on my family.
• On 12/31/09 my 2009 goal is reached with ease.  My reward is that I will not have to scramble the last week justifying to management why I missed goal and what I am doing for next year. 
• On 12/31/09 My annual income is $250,000.  My reward is to fund my retirement account fully and to buy the flat screen TV for my bedroom that allows me more dresser space!

Action

With only 7 weeks to go setting the target is necessary AND action is what will get you there.  Next is to identify 2-3 actions you will take THIS week to move toward these goals.

Example for Target 1:

1. I will follow-up with Prospects A, B, C, X, Y, Z for the outstanding proposals.
2. Brainstorm with my manager on otpions I can offer to stalled sales for Prospects M, ,N. Make contact with those prospects.
3. For every meeting this week, I will spend 30 minuets preparing – researching any new information and identifying how to use the information in my contact.

That’s it!  It’s only about 60 minutes of time that will SAVE you so much energy and frustration.  Taking the 60 minute to follow the Ready, Aim, Action plan will make the rest of this week focused and productive.  And you will be well on your way to all the rewards you listed!

Chime in here…what is a goal you wrote?  What is your reward?  Do you think through your rewards and the ‘why’ you should reach your goals? 

I’ve heard lots of grumblings from business owners and Sales pros that they have their heads down and just need to ‘get through’ 2009.  They are looking forward to a great 2010. 

Wait!

It’s not time to give up on 2009!!  There are 8 full work weeks left in 2009 – that is 15% of the year left!  And in some industries, sales in the last 8 weeks can account for 30-40% of their annual sales. 

To help everyone – this is a plan I am following myself – I’m going to lay out an 8 week plan with specific actions each week for you to take so you can end this year strong AND begin to set yourself up for a fantastic 2010!  But I’m not giving you the whole plan at once - just one focused step each week.  Adding these actions to your already packed week is plenty for you to take on.

Week 1 (October 26, 2009)

A hard look. 

This week take a hard look at several areas that are going to help you identify and diagnose where you are right now, what is helping, what is in the way.  If you don’t stop and evaluate first, you won’t be able to define the right roadmap and actions for yourself.

For your hard look this week, you will need data and a place (paper and pen is good) to write your responses.   Look at your: 

1. Results for 2009 to date.  Do you notice any patterns?  How do the results compare to 2008?  2007?
2. Activity level.  How does what you are doing each week and each day compare to 2008?  2007?
3. Surroundings.  Who is with you?  What kind of support do they provide?  Are they lifting you?  Leaning on you? 
4. Beliefs and attitude.  Did you believe you were going to meet your numbers this year?  Did you believe you could achieve despite anything going on in the economy?  How has what you believed this year displayed itself in your attitude? Your actions?  Have you psyched yourself out of more success this year?
5. Goals.  Where are your goals right now?  Are they visible?  Are they written?  Do you have weekly activities identified?     

Next?  Answer these questions in response to your hard look:   

• What do you think/feel when you consider your responses?  How are you contributing or holding yourself back?
• Is your activity level high enough to achieve what you need to?  This doesn’t mean the number of hours you are working – consider the actions you are taking.  What can you do to make sure that you are focused and working on the right things?
• What have you surrounded yourself with?  Messages, reminders and people that can help you be more productive?  Or energy zappers?  What adjustments in your surroundings would help you focus and buckle down these last 8 weeks?
• Describe your attitude and energy level today.  How does this affect your contacts?  Your prospects?  Your follow-up activities?  Your confidence?
• Are your goals clear?  Have you committed yourself to measurable goals or taken a ‘let’s see what happens’ approach this year?  Are your goals written realistically?  Did you really consider where you want/need to end up?  And then put together a plan of action that will get you there?  What have you done to plan for obstacles that will need to be worked through?

Did you take this seriously and put your responses down on paper?  Or just mentally think these through?  It’s amazing how easy it is to fool ourselves into what we want to believe by not looking at specifics. 

As I coach sales pros and managers, I listen to their reactions to questions such as what I just laid out above.  Then we get out pen, paper and reports to substantiate their first responses.  Know what we find?  That the hard reality is usually 20-35% different than the initial response. 

So, if you really want to make the most of your time and efforts, get out hard data, write hard notes and NOW you have something realistic to work with.

We’ll build off this in Week 2 as we look at Setting the Target.

What do you think?  Is now the time to do this type of hard look?  Should we wait  until the end of the year?  Are you ready to write off 2009?