“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but “NO” can never hurt me!”  What a powerful quote from the Go For No book by Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz.

Andrea gave me the Go For No book last week at the Sales Shebang in Chicago.  It is a ’short’ book that I read early Saturday morning as I sat on the patio enjoying the fantastic end-of-summer weather in Wisconsin.

Go For No is a story about Eric James Bratton (fictional) who discovers that his success increases exponentially with the number of Nos that he seeks each day.  Eric  finds that if “Yes is the destination, No is how you get there.”  The philosophy is that persistence pays off.  And most of us give up WAY too early – like after we hear No once, twice, or even three times!

Fenton and Waltz’ message is that we need to embrace failure (if we consider hearing “No” a failure).  They outline the Five Failure Levels and the number of people that stop there – meaning if we keep going we differentiate ourselves and will find more success at the end! 

What are these Failure Levels?

1. Level 1  The Ability to Fail -  100% of people have this ability. 80% of people stay here because they avoid any form of failure.
2. Level 2 Willingness to Fail – These people come to accept failure as a natural product of the process of seeking success. Only 20% of people make it to this Level
3. Level 3 Wantingness to Fail- Developing the desire to fail with the inner faith that growth follows. Fewer than 5% of people get to this level.
4. level 4 Failing Bigger and Faster – These people conclude that if failing is good, than failing faster is better!  And they go after big goals to make it worth their effort!
5. Level 5 Failing Exponentially – Bringing others along because if individual failure means individual success; group failure equals group success!

Sounds crazy to ‘want’ to fail – but reading the book reminded me of a story I heard many years ago from a trainer.

Bob was a couple of years out of college working for a manufacturing company in Detroit. He had impressed management enough to be given the lead in a million dollar project.  He was so excited and spent 10 months executing the project…which failed quickly.

Bob was summoned to the President’s office. With his head low, Bob entered the office with his ‘data’.  The President had many questions for Bob on How, Why and What. Then he asked ‘What would you do different?” Bob had some thoughts on that.

The President thoughtfully listened to Bob and then excused him. Bob was confused and said, “So, do you want to me clean out my desk today?” The President said “Why would I want you to clean out your desk?”

Bob replied, “Aren’t I fired for wasting the time and money on this project?”

The President chuckled and said “Fire you? Are you kidding? Son, I’ve just invested a million dollars in your education! I need to see a return on that investment.”

Wouldn’t it be great to work for THAT President?  Well, even if we don’t when take on the Go For No philosophy we have permission to TRY – and if it doesn’t work, that is more than OKAY – we are now closer to success.

I ‘grew up’ in the banking industry. Going for No was NOT okay with the President I worked for. We were careful…very careful….too careful! And unbelievable ideas and successes were missed. I learned a lot – and grew a lot but was also stifled.

After years I made a change…to the opposite end of the spectrum!  President Peter Reynolds at BRIO Toys (he now owns the Little Little Little Toy company) changed my possibilities. Peter was open to new ideas…and letting people try ALL kinds of things. That is where I learned how much I love sales – and the people who sell!  Without the permission to try things and possibly fail…I surely wouldn’t be in the career of selling and helping others sell better! 

I highly recommend you get a Go For No book – and the resources that come with it for yourself- and your team if you have one.  Don’t just read it once – read it again – digest the message. Determine how you can approach what you do with the Go For No attitude.

This week I am challenging myself to hear ‘no’ more often. Its a great week to put this into practice – with a focus on business development at work and transitioning  3 teens back into school – the Go For No mindset might just allow me to feel like a winner by the end of the week!

p.s. This is not a sponsored recommendation – I receive no monetary gain from recommending this book – its just THAT powerful.

p.s.s. I just returned from a local parade. I told the folks around me I was Going for No for all the freebies being tossed out. they couldn’t believe what I received! A Frisbee, water bottle, tons of candy, certificates from local stores, temporary tattoes, a bead necklace (not like at Mardi Gras and refreshing squirts of water.  Yes it was a  little silly ‘test’ with great reesults.  My ‘loot’ was more than double anyone around me (And I paid it forward and gave kids most of the goodies I collected too. I wanted to keep the water bottle…) 

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Filed Under: Sales Tips, Success Tips
Tags: focus, learning, maximize sales productivity, prospecting, Sales

The rain has finally stopped in Wisconsin and I am looking forward to planting my vegetable garden this weekend.  For the past 20+ years we spend a day ‘getting dirty’ in the garden.  The process is messy – and the yield later in July, August and September is well worth it.

It’s the same with our sales success.  The seeds we sow today may not bear fruit for a while, yet that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be constantly planting them. 

Too often I coach managers and sales pros who don’t have enough in their pipeline.  Once the pipeline looked ‘full’ they stopped sowing.  Big mistake!  We need to identify our ‘reap ratio’ and timing and then sow continuously to keep an even number of ripe prospects at each step of the sales cycle.

What do I mean? Well, in my garden for example, I only plant certain veggies once a season. While other veggies – like onions and lettuce – and some herbs need to be planted every 4-6 weeks for a continuous fresh crop throughout the season.

It’s the same in your pipeline!  Some prospects may bear fruit sooner than others.  The continuous monitoring of where the prospects are in your sales cycle will allow you to have a continuous crop of sales throughout the year.

Fortunately rainy days and weather don’t affect the sowing process at work as much as it does in my backyard.  It might be a dirty process of digging in to find the right leads, secure referrals and make those phone calls, but the yield (and $$) will be there if you sow the right seeds now.

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There’s a TV show on HGTV called What Not to Wear.  Stacy and Clinton host and work with someone nominated from friends/family for a makeover. 

It’s fascinating to watch the transformation over the four day process.  And there IS a process to the transformation:

1. Video footage taken by friends/family is shown to the person for them to become aware of what others see. 
2. A 360 degree mirror is used with the hosts assessing what works for them and what doesn’t. The mirror allows the guest to really see themselves from all angles. 
3. What’s helpful about watching the show is they not only show the ‘guest’ what NOT to do, they lay out simple ‘rules’ for them to apply with their clothing choices.
4. Finally the guest can choose to adopt the new rules and look as they shop and then head home for a welcome party where they show their new look to their friends and family.

As a business/sales coach I watch transformations happen much more slowly.  Though the process is the same to building or breaking a habit. 

• Awareness
• Assessment
• Application
• Adoption

These four steps are necessary to get to the end result – adopting a new habit or skill!  You might not have a skilled coach bringing you along the way – and the process can be uncomfortable – the key is to get through it and stick with it. 

So, what can you do with the 4 A’s? 

1. Awareness – observe successful salespeople. What are the actions and attitudes they have?  Make a list.
2. Assessment – open yourself to honest feedback from others. Manager, peers who see you in action, customers.  Ask them for feedback on what you do and what you should not continue to do.  (If you would like a short, free assessment to look assess – email me at nancy@salesproinsider.com – I’ll be happy to send you a 80 question assessment you can use as a baseline.)
3. Application- decide on WHAT you need to do – and do it!  Act on the feedback.
4. Adoption- this happens with time, repetition and reinforcement. Ongoing application of the right actions will lead you to consistently adopt them.

To truly adopt or break a habit takes between 21 and 35 days (depending on the study) – plan for 4-6 weeks of concentrated efforts.  The payoff?  In sales, 4-6 weeks of the right actions will bring more sales!

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Work and life events recently have reminded me of a scientific concept – Cause and Effect.  Our sales and leadership ”Effect”iveness is very much tied into our ’causes’ whether we like it or not.

What you put into your career, your activities and your life DO determine what you will get out of it.  Examples:

 The list goes on and on – we might not have control over every aspect of the effect – but how much more likely are you to realize the Effect when you take action on your ‘Cause’?

For this week, consider what your ’cause’ is…what effect do you want to have on:  sales, performance, your customers, your colleagues, your family?  Then with that goal/objective in mind – determine the input needed to realize the output at the end of the week.  You will be effective if  you back your cause with action and effort each day!

Join in – with the time of year, month (it is month end for many of us), etc. What are some of the Input you need to make to reach the Output you want?

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I have spent the last week working with AWESOME sales professionals – many newer to the career of sales.  Many sales manager believe that new people can be  ‘trained’ the right way and not have to unlearn bad habits.  Yet even the newbies can have’ills’ that will potentially keep them from success. 

Not a newbie? If you’ve been in sales a while (or a LONG while) you may have even more sales ‘ills’.   So, what are some of the ills? From observation and sales manager stories, most of them fall into two categories:

1. Not doing something that would lead to success.
2. Doing the wrong things that keep them average or below.

Really?  Is it that simple?  Well, it can be. 

These categories can be cured by two other “-ill”  words:

• Skills
• Will

Skills

You do not have to be a ‘born’ sales professional!  The skills needed to be successful can all be learned and developed!  What’s important it identifying the skills that are necessary in  YOUR type of sales and then building them.

It’s been found that most any skill can be developed in 50 days with practice – Vince Lombardi clarifies the need for practice with this quote:

Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.

Making the time and effort to identify WHAT is needed gives a higher dividend.

Will

The ‘will’ is your energy and motivation to act.  Without action, you will never reach YOUR personal best.  how to strengthen your will? 

1. Set goals. The power of clear goals is that it provides the target for your actions. You can proactively work toward something if you know where you are going.
2. Identify your rewards. What’s in it for you? What if you take the actions – even if you don’t want to – what will you gain?  Only you can determine that – and if you think money is the reward – think further. Think of the what the money DOES for you or GETS for you – that is the real reward and motivator.  More and more research is finding that the ‘intrinsic’ rewards are more motivating than the ‘extrinsic’ rewards of ’stuff’ and materials.  Think about what the ’stuff’ intrinsically does for you? 

In the upcoming weeks I will post additional information about the intrinsic rewards and what it takes to build skills – for now use this time to idnetify WHAT skills you need to build and the goals you want/need to achieve.

Curing Sales ‘ill’s is possible – but no “Pill’ will give you an instant cure.

Make today matter!

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How excited are you about the ‘pieces’ of your job?  Are you in the ‘fresh’ stage of finding it all exciting? Or a ‘stale’ stage where most days you think ‘Been there, done that?’

For me, the travel part of my job has become a bit stale. I didn’t even realize this until my flight this week. I was on my way to Florida to work on Sharpenz. The process was like many other trips until I sat down behind a dad and his daughter. These two strangers reminded me the true joy and wonder of flying!

The girl was bout 12, and from her comments, hadn’t flown since before 9/11 (she must have been a toddler!).  The dad was patiently, and with animation, explaining what was happening from the time we boarded.

He explained:

• How the seats recline – and that if you move them all the way back, it affects the person behind you – so be careful (love his consideration for meJ behind her).
• The de-icing process (it is still cold in Milwaukee in the mornings).
• How the light and air controls work.
• And on and on.

But the magic was at take off – the wonder she expressed as 100+ passengers, in a big ‘metal box’ lifted off the ground!

I smiled the whole time thinking – YES! This is awesome!  We can get from HERE to THERE so quickly in the sky!

As I overheard this exchange between father and daughter – I started thinking about other ‘pieces’ of what I do that might feel a little stale right now. How can I recapture some of the wonder about this career I have chosen and am honored to have!

What about you? What ‘pieces’ of your job might feel stale?  Want to try and capture some wonder too?

I came up with several tips:

1. Look at your job with wonder. I know CRM and sales reports aren’t fun…but imagine how that process worked just 20 years ago!  Faxes, handwritten reports, overnight mailings to the manager, etc.  What technology has done for so much of this is truly amazing!
2. Talk to a ‘Rookie” – ask them what they are enjoying or what pieces of the job they are trying to understand better.
3. Mentor someone! Taking on a mentor role can change your outlook. That’s why mentor programs are still growing –mentors get as much (if not more) out of the arrangement than the mentee!
4. Think about ALL those people without jobs right now – how excited they would be to have your job – even with all the stale pieces that come with it.
5. Make a list of why you do what you do. What is the value to others, the world, your family, yourself for the job you do?  Look at the list – would these people be better or worse off if you weren’t doing these things?

If none of these work to bring some energy and excitement (even a momentary glimpse) then it may be time for a new career for you.  We spend too much time in our careers to be stale for long. Rejuvenate, revigorate and rejoice for yours!  You might find some wonder in the process.

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If you live in the U.S. you may be hearing about March madness.  No, it isn’t people trying to hold on to their sanity as they wait for spring – its all about NCAA basketball!

As the hype begins and the country (or maybe its just the Bleeke family) gets ready for the tournament, we can all think about our own March madness at work. 

In March the reality of the year starts to sink in.  People have a lot of optimism in the month as companies and sales managers set goals.  February follows with lots of activity and a belief it will pay off.  And then March starts…and people start scrambling to make quarterly numbers, and wondering whether they have committed to more than they can deliver. 

Today I received an email from a professional friend wondering what I am noticing as a I talk with companies. Do I see ‘hope dissipating,’ he asked. Well, NO,  I don’t believe  hope is dissipating. I just spoke with two company presidents this week that said February ended with better than expected results. They believe the momentum will push the March numbers even higher.

The real question is, what do you believe?  Do you believe you are positioned for a great quarter-end? What you believe matters:

Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman -                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          not the attitude of the prospect.

W. Clement Stone

W. Clement Stone is a GREAT role model for those of us in sales. His story is told in his book “The Success System That Never Fails“.  W. Clement was also known to say that he never made a ‘cold call’, he made ‘gold calls’. 

But back to March Madness.  Strive to be MAD this month!

• Motivated
• Assertive
• Determined

With the right attitude and a MAD approach, you will succeed. And then your results (and your sales manager) will thank you.

P.S. Today starts a different March madness in my family. All three of my children’s birthdays are this month – starting with Jackson who turns 17  today.

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Tags: focus, Sales Tips

TGIF -  Thank God It’s Friday!  Do you feel like that this week? You don’t have to.  Let’s make today – FUF!  Follow-up Friday. 

Fridays are great days for follow-up.  Many people are at their desk today trying to wrap up their week and tie up loose ends before the weekend starts. It’s often a GREAT opportunity to for you to catch them!  You can make it a very productive day to:

• Send information of value to a prospect
• Telephone contacts in your pipeline – prepare in advance what to leave as a voicemail message (just checking in doesn’t cut it)
• Respond to emails that have been sitting for days
• Complete the paper work that you have not had time to do the rest of the week
• Prepare for next week’s calls
• Set appointments for next week and the week after
• Review your goals and decide what you will focus on next week
• Take 60-90 seconds and just sit and breathe thinking about what you HAVE accomplished this week.

For me today is about preparation and opportunity.  I have a really great sales appointment this afternoon that I am excited about.  It’s with a long-time customer of my sales training. Today we are broadening our discussion to see how I might help them meet their broader human resource objectives of recruiting, training and coaching a top notch sales team. I know I can help them move that needle to save time, money and their effort! 

A good sales appointment today will mean I have a follow-up Monday

What do you do on Friday to wrap up your week?

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I hope the series of Sales Predictions for 2010 that wraps up today has given you some ammunition on actions, strategy and maybe a boost of hope and confidence that THIS year can be whatever you want it to be.  As we wrap up the first full work week of 2010, I share my predictions for sales leaders and sales professionals. 

I am optimistic about this year – with a caution.  The business landscape is different.  There is hesitation on ‘is it over yet?’ and maybe a lack of commitment to MOVE.  This leads all of us in sales – really the driver of our economy in so many ways – to need to think differently, find different paths and collaborate more consciously.  And it will be worth it because there is a LOT of opportunity to ‘light up the sky’ with and for our customers!

My specific predictions:

Sales Leaders

Leaders at all levels will continue to have to do more with less.  Problem solving and finding proactive activities to equip and engage their sales team will be critical.  Retaining top and average performers will need attention as the markets start to show signs of strengthening and sellers realize there are new opportunities. 

Sales Reps:

The gap between high performers and mediocre performers will widen.  Top performers will seek skills, habits and tools to sell even more.  The ‘noise’ of social media and the internet will become louder.  Filtering to find the right tools and right information will be key to focus on what sales people need to do:  get in front of prospective buyers to determine how they can provide value with and for them.  Collaborative approaches in marketing, nurturing, selling and account management will reign.

And there you have it.  A full week of 2010 sales predictions from credible sales expertise sources - Jill Konrath, Nancy Nardin, Jonathan Farrington, Jeb Blount, Anne Miller and Alice Kemper.  What they’ve learned from their contacts with many companies and sales reps globally, and their attention to the economy allowed all of us a glimpse into what we can focus on this year to capture more sales.  If you’d like to have all the predictions in one, easy to access document for your review, click here.    

Now what?  Well, that’s up to you!  Your focus on setting your targets and goals for this year and then acting to achieve them is critical.  That’s why these next sales resources might be very helpful!

Timely Tips to Achieve Your Goals  – a new ebook I’ve written with a turn-by-turn route for you to set and achieve goals.  It even includes an effective Goal Planner!   

I’ve put all the best tips I have shared over the last 18 months into one easy to follow document.  I’m putting the final touches on Timely Tips to Achieve Your Goals and it will be available next Tuesday FREE!  Come back for the link.

The eBook will be ready in time to be a companion to the upcoming Top Sales Expert Roundtable on Tuesday, January 12th on Time to Get Into Gear Early!  (This roundtable can be free if you are a VIP member – only $25 a year! for dozens of sales sessions and tools.)  Plus, as a presenter, I have a free seats to offer you today!  (Who says the holiday gift-giving is over?) Click here to be a part of this roundtable that is sure to be helpful and entertaining.   

 One final FREEbie today, a FREE Ready-to-go sales training booster kit for you now.  Sharpenz…Half Hour of Power boosters were designed to help EVERYONE in the sales profession efficiently stay at the top of their game!  And YOU can get a free booster to equip, engage and energize your sales team!  Visit theSharpenz site for the FREE booster. 

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It’s January 7th and Day 4 of the Top 2010 Sales Predictions.  So far the predictions include hope that the economy is on the upswing and what sales leaders and sales reps should focus on to build their sales, company and market share.  Today we have two sales experts with a more years of combined experience than most of you have been on this earth. 

Anne Miller, author of Metaphorically Selling and the Make What You Say Pay blog and Alice  Kemper, President of Sales Training Consultants and Principal of Sharpenz, Inc. share their predictions.

For sales leaders:

A slow rebound in business as companies will still be gun-shy about spending money until employment picks up. (Anne Miller)

Leaders in any industry are going to see that they can gain market share from the weakest competitors.  Cream will continue to rise to the top with the inferior companies suffering greater than average loses and in some cases, going out of business altogether. (Alice Kemper)

Sales Reps: 

Success will come to reps who develop (prudent) pit bull persistence with clients; who think out of the box like Steve Jobs; and who  become MBAs on their clients’ business. (Anne Miller)

If they survived the last year and a half then they have developed skills to navigate the new terrain of this economy.  The most successful sellers will continue to seek opportunities within the new terrain.  Q3 and Q4 will reward sellers who have intelligently “laid pipe” through the tough times. (Alice Kemper)

I guess the messages here are that we need to help our prospects aim and fire and MOVE from ‘wait and see’ to leaders in their markets.  This is only possible by differentiating the sales force with great information, skills and tools. 

If what you realize you need to do is find more viable prospects, A resource for today - Ardath Albee shows you how to: 

• Build a foundation for eMarketing based on buyer perspectives.
• Develop contagious content to engage prospective customers.
• Increase your pipeline and nurture prospects till they’re sales ready.

You can click here to download two free chapters of eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale for some great ideas to get you started.  And if you are ready to order the book that is full of examples, tools and exercises to help you translate the strategy into practice to achieve dramatic results?  You can order on Amazon: http://bit.ly/6KfVM5

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