Sales and Sales Management Blog

August 19, 2010

On Being an Optimistic Realist

Filed under: attitude,motivation,success — Paul McCord @ 11:02 am
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Pessimists.  I don’t understand them.  My wife is a pessimist.  At times she drives me crazy.  I get calls and emails from far too many sellers and sales leaders who are pessimists.  I don’t understand why they persist in selling, a vocation that will drive an optimist nuts, much a pessimist. 

I’m an optimist—an unadulterated, unapologetic optimist.  But I’m also a realist.   

That realism part sometimes comes across as pessimism to some.  As I was speaking to a sales leader of a mid-size wholesale company last week, I pointed out that his sales team was failing to take advantage of one of their company’s primary strengths and even though they were on target to chalk up a nice increase in year over year, they were leaving far too much money on the table..

Instead of trying to figure out how his team could take advantage of a significant competitive strength, my sales manager friend became defensive.  He accused me of discounting the achievement he and his team had made. There was no way he said, that he would let my “negative” point of view poison his team members.

I’ve run across many a seller who either accepted personal responsibility for everything that happened to them or refused to accept any responsibility for anything negative that happened in their life.  One group’s attitude is, “I must have complete control of my life.  If I don’t close the sale it must have been my fault; that way I can correct it and guarantee it won’t happen again.” 

The other group’s attitude is, “I’m a winner and if I lose it’s because something out of my control prevented me from winning.  If it weren’t for that, I’d have closed the sale.”

I believe both of these attitudes are attempts to maintain optimism.  I also believe they are unhealthy and detrimental to success.

In fact, I’ve had more than one seller tell me that what I call reality, they call pessimism.  If I point out a potential danger or issue that a client must look out for, to some I’m being pessimistic.  If I include a warning that a particular strategy or tactic might not be appropriate for all or in a given situation, to some I’m being pessimistic.  If I reprimand, to some I’m being pessimistic.  If I point out failure, I may as well have just shot them.

In other words, for some sellers and sales leaders, those of us who don’t wear rose colored glasses or live in la la land are pessimists, bringing them down, stifling their enthusiasm.  There is no room in their life for anything that isn’t upbeat and “positive,” including reality.

Of course, the opposite is also true.  True pessimists have little or no room in their life for reality either.  For them, if it isn’t doom and gloom, they want no part of it.  They simply aren’t happy unless miserable.  If I point out opportunity, they counter with the obstacles to achieving success.  If I give encouragement, they complain about yesterday’s rejection.  If I suggest a new strategy, they point out the failure of their last strategy.

For one group there is no such thing as failure; for the other, nothing but failure.  For one group, hope is the strategy; for the other, there’s never hope.  For both groups, reality is the enemy.

In my world there are positives and negatives.  There is hope and expectation—based on preparation and training.  There is success and failure.

I expect good things to happen, but take proper precautions to deal with the possibility that the results won’t be everything I hope for.

I acknowledge and learn from my failures (yes, there is such a thing as failure). 

I rejoice in and learn from my successes.

I recognize danger—and opportunity.

I control what I can—and acknowledge what I can’t.

I know my limits—and reach beyond them—and willingly and knowingly accept the risk.

Unfortunately, I know of some managers and trainers who wear rose colored glasses; who refuse to acknowledge to themselves or others that reality exits; who are doing a terrible disservice to the sellers they train, coach, and mentor by intentionally or unintentionally teaching them that optimism is a denial of anything negative or not “positive.”

These rose colored glasses optimists tend to be poor to average producers—but always “on the verge” of a big month.  They just need a little more time.  They always have a prospect who is about to make the giant purchase.  Their big deal is always just around the corner.

They aren’t very teachable (after all, there are no problems to be overcome).  They aren’t well prepared (they’re already prepared, everything’s great). Many don’t work very hard (don’t worry, I got everything under control).

Although I’m sure this perverted view of optimism has been with humans since time immemorial, I do wonder if the “there is no such thing as failure, “everyone’s a winner and gets a trophy,” and “I’m OK, you’re OK” attitude of the past three or four decades has infected more than in past generations?

Although you might not be able to eliminate this perversion from your existing sales staff that has it, I’d certainly advise any sales leader to actively seek to avoid hiring salespeople in the future who have a perverted sense of optimism.  It may seem gung-ho during the interview, but it won’t produce the results you want in the end.

July 8, 2010

5 Motivational Aids—Keep the Passion Flowing

Filed under: career development,motivation,success — Paul McCord @ 11:13 am
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If you want to be successful you have to be motivated. 

What is motivation?

Is it desire?  No.  We all desire things—happiness, success, money, love, whatever; but just because we want it doesn’t mean we’re willing to do what it takes to get it.

Is it vision?  No.  We can all envision ourselves with the things we want without taking the slightest step to acquire it.

Is it energy?  No.  There are millions of salespeople spending endless amounts of energy everyday toward their goals but not reaching them because their energy is misspent.

Is it commitment?  No.  There are millions who are committed to success who fail daily.

Motivation is a unique combination of desire, commitment, and energy—let’s roll these into a single quality called passion–to reach a goal no matter how difficult it may be or how long it may take to reach.

Passion—that unique combination of desire, commitment, and energy—in and of itself can virtually force you to succeed by demanding you do those things necessary to be successful.  Passion won’t let you rest.  It won’t allow you to quit.  It won’t allow you to become sated until you’ve reached your goal.

Passion demands your best effort.  It pushes you to go beyond the satisfactory to the extraordinary.  It forces you to reach heights you thought impossible.

Passion is pretty heady stuff.  It keeps you on the edge.  It sharpens your senses, keeping you alert to opportunities.  It awakens the creative juices.  It helps keep the doubts and worries at bay.

Unfortunately, passion isn’t limitless.  It has limitations and weaknesses.  Although strong, it must be reinforced or you risk having it burn itself out.

How do you keep your passion burning?

Here are 5 down and dirty ways to reinforce your passion and keep it burning strong:

  1. Love what you do.  There is no substitute for doing something you absolutely love doing.  If you can hardly wait to get out of bed in the morning to get your day started you’re already half way to success.  Certainly we can’t all be engaged in something we absolutely love, but if you can, even if only on a part-time basis, go for it.
  2. Set tangible, realistic short-term goals.  The more often you see tangible progress, the easier to maintain your passion.  Set short-term, realistic goals.  If you consistently see small goals being reached, you’ll soon begin to see large goals being reached.  By the way, reasonable goals don’t mean easy to reach goals.  Goals should consistently stretch you and your abilities.
  3. Visualize outcomes.  Athletes use visualization for a reason—it works.  If you are afraid of making presentations, visualize yourself making great presentations.  If you fear cold calling, visualize yourself being successful at cold calling.  Visualization is a form of practice.  In a study a couple of years ago researchers found that students who only visualized practicing a piece of music were as proficient at playing the piece as students who had actually practiced the piece on the piano.
  4. Use positive affirmations.  Repeating positive affirmations strengthens and reaffirms your internal belief system.  We cannot do what we do not believe we can do.  On the other hand, if we sincerely believe we can do something, no matter how ‘impossible,’ our brain can find ways to get it done.  Once we believe, our brain begins to go work to figure out a way to turn our belief into reality. 

    Our brain will believe what it hears and what our eyes see.  If it has heard and witnessed failure for years and years, it believes we will fail.  Fortunately, we can change that.  It will take time.  We will have to consciously retrain it.  We’ll have to give it positive reinforcement through what it hears—our positive affirmations—and what it experiences—our small successes as we reach our short-term goals.  But just as it learned we are a failure, it will learn we are successful—but this time we can control what we feed our brain.

  5. Use outside reinforcement.  Motivation—passion—is internal.  It isn’t something that is created externally.  That doesn’t mean that external stimulus can’t reinforce our internal motivation.  The problem is that external stimulus such as motivation books, tapes, seminars, and such burn out quickly—usually within just a few days, sometimes within just a few hours.

    That quick burn doesn’t mean external stimulus can’t be valuable.  It can be extremely valuable.  A motivational tape can give us a great burst of energy prior to an important presentation; a motivational seminar can get our creative juices flowing in new directions; motivation quotes can realign our minds at moments of exhaustion or weakness. 

    Keep favorite motivational tapes and quotes ready at hand.  Take the opportunity to attend motivational seminars and presentations.  Remember the ‘high’ is fleeting—but you can drink of it anytime you need it.

Companies spend billions of dollars every year trying to find the magic motivational bullet.  They’ll never find it because it isn’t something they can order in from a motivational speaker.  We either have it or we don’t.  But if we don’t, we can take the steps necessary to find it and nurture it.

And it isn’t expensive, difficult, or time consuming.

Find your passion and you’ll find your success.  If you’re a sales leader, help your sales team members find their passion and you’ll find your success.

February 20, 2009

Guest Article: “New Day, New Jet: How to face each day with courage and fly to your highest potential,” by Waldo Waldman

Filed under: attitude,motivation,sales,selling — Paul McCord @ 10:28 am
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NEW DAY, NEW JET: How to face each day with courage and fly to your highest potential
By Waldo Waldman

The air conditioned briefing room felt as cold as ice as I waited for the arrival of my instructor.  I was a bundle of nerves.  One more ‘busted’ check ride would put me one flight away from washing out of Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT).  My dream of becoming a fighter pilot hung by a thread.  I began to doubt myself.

What if I mess up again?  What if I forget to call ‘gear down’ on final approach or fail to apply the proper spin recovery procedures? I repeatedly chair flew the maneuvers over and over and knew what needed to be done but kept re-playing the previous flights I failed in my head. I second guessed myself and my confidence dwindled. The sweat poured down my back.

In walked the instructor who would decide my fate, Major Jerry Free.  A former F-4 fighter pilot who had little tolerance for mediocrity and laziness, he stood 6’3 with buzz cut hair and shiny boots.  I was intimidated to say the least.

Not knowing what to expect, I stood at attention, braced myself, and saluted smartly.

He saluted back, looked me in the eyes, and reached over to shake my hand. “Ok, Waldo – it’s a new day, new jet! Are you ready to pass this flight, or what?”

He smiled.

Suddenly, the energy of the room shifted and I instantly felt more confident.  All the stress and anxiety I had bottled up exploded out of me like a bullet.  My mind became clearer as I thought to myself, “I can do this. Today, I’m going to fly like an eagle.” Major Free believed in me.

New Day, New Jet. Wow! I never heard that expression before. But somehow, those four words and the man who spoke them instantly changed my attitude from Fear to Focus…from anxiety to action. I was ready to fly.

Some of you may be facing similar predicaments in your life that are testing your resolve, skill, and focus.  Perhaps you are experiencing financial challenges or are having concerns at work as your company and clients adapt to our volatile economy. Missed sales quotas, budget cuts, and lost customers plague us.  No mission is ever perfect, and neither are we.

We’re all human and have our limits. But sometimes, when we’re stuck and full of doubt, we underestimate our power to overcome adversity and perform at our best. We focus on our past failures and can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel of success because our vision is darkened by our fear of future failure. We pull back the throttle of performance instead of pushing it up. In essence, we let our past define our future. This is the greatest challenge we face when dealing with adversity.

But I believe there is no reason for us not to live up to our potential each day and perform at our best. Fear and doubt are distractions that can de-motivate us and pull us off course.  Don’t let yesterday’s failure define you.  It’s how you respond that counts.

And while I do believe it’s critical for us to remain positive in tough times, no amount of motivation is going to replace the fundamentals of hard work and preparation. You have a job to do. You have the aircraft and are ultimately in control of your own jet.  The question is: Are you better prepared to fly today then you were yesterday?

Success begins with self trust. 
As you strap into your jet each day and conduct a pre-flight ‘attitude check’, ask yourself:

  • Am I focused on my past failures or my past successes?
  • How have I improved from yesterday to today?
  • What actions will I take today to plant the performance seeds for tomorrow?

You can’t philosophize your way to success.  The world (and your customers) are growing tired of rhetoric and philosophy.  Today, we need performers who can get the job done. 

But sometimes, no matter how much you prepare, it’s impossible to break the performance barrier on your own.  So here’s the next and most important question you should ask when fear and doubt hold you back from flying your jet: Who are the wingmen in my life I can call on to help me fly?

Winners Never Fly Solo.
Wingmen inspire us.  Wingmen give us hope and lend a “helping wing.”  Wingmen reflect our greatness back at us and help us release the brakes holding us back from success as we face each new day with courage. They don’t fly our jet for us but rather give us confidence in our own abilities. They alter our mindset from “I can’t” or “I won’t”, to “I can” and “I will.”

My challenge to you is not to be inhibited from calling out to your wingmen for some encouragement when you’re not quite up to that tough mission.  Ask for help. Be vulnerable.  We’re all taking hits.  Today it might be you.  Tomorrow it might be them.

But don’t forget to be a wingman to others, as well. Keep an eye out for your colleagues who are struggling and who might benefit from a little lift as they prepare for that job interview or big sales presentation. Like Major Free, be a shining light and inspire them to realize their fullest potential.

In business and life, yesterday’s clouds can block us from seeing today’s blue skies.  Let us not forget that each day is a new day and we’re blessed to have a jet to fly.

In the end, I passed my flight with Major Free because he made me realize that I was good enough to fly.

You are good enough. You’ve got wings. And you’ve got wingmen.

It’s a new day, new jet. Now go and fly!

Never Fly Solo!

Lt. Col. Rob “Waldo” Waldman is a former combat-decorated fighter pilot with corporate sales experience. Known as “The Wingman,” he is an inspirational peak performance speaker and uses fighter pilot strategies to build teamwork, leadership and trust in highly competitive environments. Waldo’s clients include Aflac, Hewlett-Packard, Nokia, Bank of America, John Hancock, and Home Depot.  His book Never Fly Solo will be released in the Fall of 2009.  To download his Top Gun Motivation mission briefing, visit motivational speaker, email info@yourwingman.com  or call 1-866-925-3616.

 

January 20, 2009

A Pep Rally Isn’t Sales Training

Filed under: motivation,sales,Sales Management,sales training,selling — Paul McCord @ 5:30 pm
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Last fall I was invited by a potential client to attend one of their company’s training seminars.  The session was presented by a well-known name in the industry who spent two hours with the company’s top salespeople.  The session’s topic was generating business in a weak economy.

It was expensive for the company-this gentleman didn’t come cheaply.

It was expensive for the salespeople-it took them out of the field for three days.

After the presentation, my host was pumped.  His evaluation of the presentation was that it had gone better than he had hoped.  He had a trainer everyone recognized and admired.  His sales team was excited and ready to hit the streets.  His team members knew what to do and sales were going to pick up-they were going to go through the roof.

Three months later, his analysis is that the session was a massive waste of money.

Why did his program turn out to be such a disappointment?

Focus.  More accurately, focusing on the wrong thing at the wrong time.

My host had confused a motivational presentation with sales training.  He bought a short-term shot in the arm instead of long-term behavior change.  He paid for an emotional high instead of new tools and new techniques. 

The session he paid for was full of fun and laughter.  His sales team was captivated during the entire two and a half hours.  The presenter had wonderful, memorable stories and a boatload of well-turned phrases.  The audience loved it-and they were pumped, ready to hit the streets.

It was great entertainment and motivation.  But it wasn’t training.  Rather than sales training, it was a pep rally with stories of how salespeople successfully-and some unsuccessfully-used a few prospecting strategies.  There was no training on the how, just entertaining examples of the why.  It was sales vaudeville. 

Certainly, there is a place for this type of presentation in sales.  When a company is seeking serious, in-depth training isn’t the time. 

I’m not saying that a training seminar cannot be fun or have humor.  I’m not arguing that a training seminar should be devoid of a motivational aspect. 

However, there is a distinct difference between a training seminar or workshop and a motivational presentation.  And although both have their place, they are not interchangeable. 

I got a call last week from the host of last fall’s seminar. His company is launching a new product in a few weeks.  He’s now looking for a solid, well-defined sales training program to precede the launch.

Again, his timing is way off.

Last fall when he brought in the motivational speaker, he needed a sales trainer.  Now, with the launch of his new product, he really needs a motivational speaker-the pep rally-to get his team excited and pumped up to hit the streets with their new product.  Now’s the time for the short-term burst of energy that speaker would provide.

Timing is just as important with sales training and motivation as with any other aspect of business.  Which you employ depends on your goals.  In this company’s case, the goal is to whip up the troops and get the new product off the ground quickly.  The initial success of the program is the focus, not long-term sales skills.  Last fall, the focus was on creating long-term sales success.  Unfortunately, they misidentified the right product last fall, and almost did the same this time.

Don’t hire your speaker or trainer unless you have a very clear vision of what you want to achieve and what they can provide-it can be a very costly mistake.

October 13, 2008

Attitude, Expectations, and Reality

Filed under: business,Economy,motivation,prospecting,sales,selling,success — Paul McCord @ 5:14 am
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“I have to work harder than before, but even so, my sales this month will be better than last October’s.”

“My prospects and clients are certainly feeling the pinch of the economy and they’re fearful.  But I also closed the biggest sale of my career last week.”

“Despite the news and the hype of the last two or three weeks, I’ve only seen a slight decrease in our sales.  Our salespeople have to be much more selective in qualifying prospects and they have to spend more time building value into the sale, but our customers are still buying, they’re still getting the financing they need, and their companies are still profitable.  It’s tough, but not nearly as bad as what you’d believe if you just listened to the news.”

“Seems like everybody wants to just sit and wait it out and see what happens.  Everyone is afraid.  No one knows what to do at this point, so our sales have fallen off the chart the past couple of weeks.  I really don’t want our GM to talk to the salespeople because there’s a sound of panic in his voice.”

“I’m finding it more difficult every day to make sales calls.  No one wants to make a decision and even some who would be willing to go forward aren’t sure they can get the funds to do so.”

“I’m working hard.  I’m willing to talk to people I would have passed over just a couple of months ago.  I’m spending a lot of time talking but I’m not getting anywhere.  I’ve even found myself reverting back to doing some pretty hard sell stuff trying to get something going.”

The above are comments about selling during the last two weeks from several of my clients from various parts of the country, each in a different industry.

Like many others, I’ve spoken to many salespeople and managers over the past couple of weeks who blame the economy on poor sales.  Their words indicate they are struggling, their voice indicates defeat. When we talk about strategies to overcome sales resistance and to find and connect with quality prospects, they complain that I’m not being realistic, that I just don’t understand their situation, that in their industry in today’s economy it isn’t rational to expect to maintain their sales volume or their pricing structure.

Yet I have other clients in the same industries as those who claim it unrealistic to expect to maintain their sales volumes, who are still selling at or near their previous levels-one who signed the biggest contract of her career just last week.

Which ‘reality’ is reality? Is it the reality of those whose voice communicates defeat and hopelessness–or is reality really reflected by those who although they say the market is tough are producing at or near their pre-crisis levels?

I believe that both realities are, in fact, reality.  More correctly, I believe that the ‘reality’ of defeat and hopeless is a self-fulfilling prophesy, whereas the ‘reality’ of “it’s tough but the sales are still there” reflects the actual marketplace.

Let me explain why I believe that.

When we begin discussing the specifics of their activity, those who foresee doom and gloom and whose sales have plummeted, have:

  • Spent less time prospecting than they did prior to the economic ‘crisis’
  • They are less selective in whom they speak with, hoping against hope to find someone interested
  • Their conversations are more hard sell than they had been previous to acquiring their current attitude of desperation and depression
  • They expect the prospect to refuse to make a decision at this time

Not surprisingly, they get exactly what they expect.  By making fewer contacts with less qualified prospects and then trying to strong arm a sale, they are seeing their sales fall drastically.  They are getting the exact results they not only expect but have set themselves up to get.

On the other hand, when I speak to those who are doing well in this market I find that they:

  • Have increased their prospecting activity
  • Are more selective in qualifying their prospects
  • Are spending more time working with prospects to understand their needs and issues to build more value into the sale than they had previously
  • Are taking additional time and care to build relationships prior to seeking to sign a contract
  • Understand that although the market is more difficult, there are still more quality prospects in the market than they can take care of-their job is to find them

Yes, these men and women are working longer and harder than they have in quite some time.  But they aren’t seeing the drastic decrease in business many others are.  And, yes, they expect to be successful.  But that expectation is balanced with a serious dose of reality that says they must work both harder and smarter-they must invest more time and effort and be much more selective in how and where they spend their time.

The current paralysis that a great many are seeing in the marketplace is only two or three weeks old.  It is very likely-a foregone conclusion-that the market will get tighter before it begins to get better.  But for a few, the current market driven by fear-for both prospects and clients-isn’t hindering their production.  Not because they’re lucky or because they have some magic formula, but because they haven’t allowed the ‘reality’ of the ‘crisis’ to stop them from selling.

They have to spend more time prospecting.  They have to work harder.  They are having to develop new skills and new strategies.  But they aren’t letting the perceived ‘reality’ of the negative and hopeless create their reality.

You need not accept the defeatist ‘reality’ either. You will have to invest more time and be more selective in finding and connecting with quality prospects-but they are out there.  You will have to invest more time in building solid relationships and building more value into each sale.  You may well have to invest in training and coaching to learn more effective prospecting and sales methods and strategies.  It isn’t easy and it takes commitment, innovation, and perseverance-but it works.  Just ask those who are finding the current market to be just as lucrative as the market was before the ‘crisis.’

September 25, 2008

Guest Article, “How to Become a Winning Sales Ace,” by Waldo Waldman

Filed under: motivation,sales,selling — Paul McCord @ 4:55 am
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How to Become a Winning Sales ACE
By Waldo Waldman

If you want to test the true character of a person, see how they respond to adversity.  Watch how they handle the pressure of a lost sale, an angry client, or a difficult boss.  What do they say?  How do they act?  What is their emotional state?  Do they freeze up and get angry, or do they buckle down and increase their focus and commitment?

The same holds true for those who would assume the mantle of leadership in business.  When adversity hits, how they respond in the market will determine their ability to stay in business and win. Leadership – both on a personal and organizational level – ultimately drives the actions taken amidst crisis and change.

Today’s economy is full of adversity. I call them “missiles of business and life.” It seems we are being fired at every day. Rising costs of fuel, shrinking budgets, demanding clients, and a lack of qualified (and loyal) employees all create an intense and constantly changing environment. As soon as we think we defeated one missile…BAM! Another one is fired.  As soon as profits start coming in…BAM, another competitor enters the fight.

The missiles will come and you will be fired upon. It’s not a matter of if, but when and how often. The key is NOT to get shot down!

This week we saw one of the most reputable giants in the financial industry – Lehman Brothers – get shot down.  Just a few years ago, who would have thought such a thing could happen?  But it did. And it will happen again. It’s just the nature of business…and life.

In fighter combat, the best pilots who are able to adapt to adversity and change are called ACES. They prepare relentlessly and are the most focused and committed under pressure. They are the respected and accomplished leaders in their squadrons because they don’t run away when fear knocks on their door. They buckle down and ultimately take action.

The right action.

Here are a few WingTips that can turn you into an ACE and help you avoid getting shot down on your next mission:

A: Attitude + Action.  Attitude does not determine altitude. Attitude plus Action does. Being positive and enthusiastic is a critical component of success, but your customer ultimately rewards your actions, not your positive attitude!  An attitude that breeds confidence is a by-product of disciplined preparation and mission rehearsal. When dealing with a price objection, last minute competitor, or late product shipment, it’s the commitment, focus and sense of urgency you have to fix the problem, provide value, and deliver results that counts.

C: Customer: Success in business is not about you, your company, or your product. It’s about your customer.  Prior to each meeting, gather the latest, up to date intelligence (from multiple sources) and commit yourself to meeting the needs of your customer. Be original. Come prepared with questions. Learn about the person you’re meeting.  If you’re not focused 100% on your customer – your target – you shouldn’t strap on your jet to fly. (By the way, it can’t hurt to learn about your Competition too …but only after learning about your customer.

E Environment: Every mission is unique. What works with one client or industry, may not work with another. The environment in which you and your customer operate will ultimately determine your tactics.  Was there a recent merger or perhaps some lay-offs at the company you’re meeting?  How’s their stock price? What’s the nature of the industry you’re operating in? Who are you meeting?  Who is the decision maker? What resources (wingmen) do you have that can help you prepare for your meeting? Never sell by the seat of your pants!

Take it from somebody who’s been shot at in real combat, the winning ACE’s in business and life prepare for the worst, but then expect the best. They acknowledge adversity and develop the confidence to overcome it by hard work and focus. But being an ACE is not easy.  You can either “push it up” on your throttle and defeat the missile, or pull it back and risk getting shot down. It’s your choice.

I hope you’ll push it up!

Waldo Waldman builds team unity within organizations as a high-energy leadership and inspirational speaker. A former combat-decorated fighter pilot with corporate sales experience, Waldo brings an exciting and valuable message to organizations by using fighter pilot strategies as building blocks for peak performance, teamwork, leadership and trust. His clients include Aflac, Hewlett-Packard, John Hancock, Nokia, Bank of America, NY Life, and Home Depot. To download Waldo’s Top Gun Motivation mission briefing, visit http://www.YourWingman.com

September 24, 2008

Now Is The Time to Suit Up for Battle

Filed under: business,Economy,motivation,sales,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 6:00 am
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I’ve received several emails and phone calls from clients wanting to know what they should be doing right now.  Should they be battening down the hatches?  Shrinking their sales teams?  Waiting to see what happens in Washington this week?  Heading for the mountains with food rations and ammo?  Others indicate they feel too depressed and fearful to get out of the office and into the field-what good will it do anyway?

As Wall Street smolders, Congress grandstands, and the business community frets, our lives continue.

Are you spending more time checking the news and than finding prospects?  Are you more worried about the economy than your pipeline?  Are you frozen in place, mesmerized by the teetering financial markets?

The spectacle in Washington and New York is important.  What’s going on is going to impact all of us-and we probably aren’t going to like the impact one way or another.  However, no matter our view of the proceedings, we have to continue to sell, to find prospects, to put food on the table.

We must maintain our focus.

When it’s all said and done, we’ll still be doing what we’re doing today-although, admittedly, it may be harder.

Although the future is murky, the present isn’t-our job is still intact, our responsibility today is the same as it was days, weeks, or months ago.  We still get paid the same way.

More importantly, there are still prospects out there.  There are still individuals and companies making money, needing products and services.

There are still prospects out there working hard to grow their families and grow their businesses.

We must do the same.

Put aside the newspaper.

Turn off the tv and radio.

Forget the Internet news sites.

Ignore the hysteria.

I don’t mean forget the issues or stick you head in the sand.  Certainly there are fears of recession-maybe even worse.  But when the work day starts, we have to get to work.

We have to concentrate on our business and let the rest go.  We must focus our efforts on our prospects, our clients, our sales.

If the world comes to an end during the workday, we’ll find out soon enough.

For many of us, this will take a great deal of discipline and self-control.  Certainly we’re all concerned about the economy, our jobs, and our families.  Even though the future may be murky, we know what we must do today.

For those of us who have lived through the turmoil of the economic crisis of the 70′s and the Savings and Loan debacle of the 80′s, we have some history to help bolster us.  For those that didn’t, take some solace in history-this isn’t the first crisis-and it won’t be the last, since we never seem to learn.

Set your focus on developing and expanding your sales business.  Take heart in knowing there is a very good possibility your competitors will be sitting at their desks fretting over the economy, watching every twist and turn of the proceeding in Washington, skipping a heartbeat with the slightest up or down of the big board.  Take advantage of an opportunity to act while your competitor is stagnant.

The more you allow yourself to wallow in fear and become sluggish with worry, the harder it is going to be to break out and get back to business.

Now is not the time to lose your focus.  Now isn’t the time to wallow in self-pity or to succumb to fear.  Now is the time to suit up for battle, to hit the streets harder than ever,  to take advantage of your competitor’s lose of focus.

September 19, 2008

Guest Article: “Successful Selling and the Theory of Relativity,” by Lee Salz

Filed under: career development,goals,motivation,sales psychology,success — Paul McCord @ 7:58 am
Tags: , ,

Successful Selling and the Theory of Relativity
by Lee Salz

Albert Einstein formulated the theory that says that space and time are relative concepts rather than absolute concepts. For example, consider a car speedometer reading at 65 miles per hour. How fast is the car going? This question seems like the beginning of the joke of who is buried in Grant’s tomb and you are expecting a punch line. No joke here, I assure you. As a matter of fact, most would respond 65 miles per hour. This is the correct answer if and only if you are comparing the car to someone who is not moving. However, if you compare that same car to the car driving next to it that is driving 55 miles per hour, your car is only moving at 10 miles per hour.

So, what does that have to do with sales? When you look at your sales performance, to what standard do you compare yourself? Is it to the others on the sales team? Is it to your quota? Is it to a sales record that has stood for 10 years in your company? Maybe you look at your performance relative to your income goals?

While any of these comparative points are important, they all have one thing in common. They limit your potential. How good can you be? If you set a ceiling to that, you will never know. Yes, hitting your quota is important. Achieving your income goal is also important. But could you achieve more? Could you be better? The car moving at 65 miles per hour is moving pretty fast, but only relative to a non-moving entity. Your competitors are moving right along with you. Maybe you are in the lead, but competition does not stagnate. To them, maybe you are only moving at 10 miles per hour.

Compare that same car to a jet. The speed of the car is not overly impressive. The jet can get you from New York to Florida in a couple of hours. The car needs 24 hours to reach the same destination. Competitors get smarter. Customers get smarter. And you have to get better if you are going to be successful. What worked yesterday is not going to work tomorrow. Self improvement is the only way to do it.

There are no ceilings in sales unless you place them there. One of my favorite quotes is, “When someone says it can’t be done, it only means that HE can’t do it.” Every day people accomplish the seemingly impossible. How do they do it? Simple. They don’t compare themselves to any standard. They have no limitations. As I write this, I’m flying on a plane. If the Wright brothers believed in ceilings, I’d be driving. If Bill Gates believed that people would never own a personal computer, I’d be writing this on a typewriter.

To further make this point, I thought I would share a personal story. When I was in the eighth grade, my family moved from New York to New Jersey. (Where to start with the jokes…) At the time that we moved, I was an excellent student, A’s across the board. Shortly after moving, I injured my knee playing baseball. I ended up having two knee surgeries and spent my entire freshman year of high school on crutches. Here I am living in a new state, going to a new school, knowing next to no one. I lost my focus.

I became friendly with a few kids who were not very good students. They were nice kids, not troublemakers, but they did not perform well in school. During my freshman year of high school, I set my personal worst records for grades, but I was able to rationalize my performance. My grades were nothing to write home about, but I was scoring better than my friends. From that relative point of view, I was doing fine.

Towards the end of my freshman year, I became friends with a different group of kids. These friends later attended Wharton, Harvard, Emory, and Bates. All prestigious schools…  Relative to them, my grades were a disgrace. They never made me feel badly about it, but I felt uncomfortable. Their success drove me to rediscover myself. During the remainder of my high school and collegiate career, I elevated my game to top of the class. I credit much of that with changing my approach to relativity.

Nature also uses the theory of relativity. If you put a fish in a 10 gallon tank, the fish will only grow to a certain size. The surroundings of the fish limit its size and growth. Put that same fish in a larger tank and the fish will continue to grow. Want to get better at golf? Play with better golfers. Want to run faster? Train with better runners.

What limitations are you putting on your sales success? Are you failing to achieve your quota? Are your friends on the team missing their quota too? Do you accept that because you are all failing? Or do you compare yourself to a higher standard? What are you doing each and every day to improve yourself? Is your goal just to be better, or is it to be the best?

You are the only obstacle to your success. Get out of your own way and enjoy the results.

Lee B. Salz is a sales management guru who helps companies hire the right sales people, on-board them, and focus their sales activity using his sales architectureR methodology.  He is the President of Sales Architects, the C.E.O. of Business Expert Webinars and author of “Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager.” Lee is an online columnist for Sales and Marketing Management Magazine, a print columnist for SalesforceXP Magazine, and the host of the Internet radio show, “Secrets of Business Gurus.” Look for Lee’s new book
in February 2009 titled, “The Sales Marriage” where he shares the secrets to hiring the right sales people. Lee can be reached at lsalz@SalesArchitecture.com.

July 22, 2008

Guest Article: “Compensate to Motivate,” by Lee Salz

Filed under: Compensation,motivation,sales,Sales Management,selling — Paul McCord @ 8:09 am
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Compensate to Motivate
By Lee Salz

When I speak to business executives, one of the challenges I often hear is that their sales team is not doing the things they feel are most critical to the success of the company. I then ask to see their compensation plan. After a thorough read, I share my impression of the message of the compensation plan and ask if this is their intention. That’s when things get scary! They look at me blankly and say, “No, our intention is for our sales people to…” For them, the disconnect has been exposed.

What many forget is that the blessing of sales is that a compensation plan doubles as a job description. However, that blessing is also a curse as a compensation plan doubles as a job description. As one executive shared after going through the aforementioned exercise, “We want our sales people to focus on selling our new product to our existing clients. Yet, we are compensating the sales people in a way that they are better off pursuing new clients.” He got it!

The incongruence of sales compensation is one of the biggest disconnects in companies. Executives sit in a board room with strategic plans of grandeur, but the plan collapses when they don’t address the compensation for the sales troops. It is a very simple equation. Sales people invest their time on activities that drive their compensation. Plain and simple. The thought that sales people will actively and consistently perform activities that are not in their best financial interests is naïve.

Further complicating matters, there are instances where sales people are compensated for delivering certain results while their managers are compensated on a different set of results. Thus, the sales managers are driving their team consistently with their compensation message, but inconsistently with their sales team members. It creates the visual of the sales manager pushing a boulder up a hill trying to get their team to focus on activities that contradict their income. Best of luck!

When structuring sales compensation plans, a company should strongly consider the goals for the company. Working backwards, the goals for the company drive the structure of the sales compensation plan. Thus, they should be directly aligned. If the company’s goal is to gain adoption of a new product in the marketplace, the plan should reward sales people for accomplishing this feat. If the goal is to increase revenue with their current clientele, the plan should reward for that. Anyone should be able to read the plan and derive the intended message.The second consideration, when structuring sales compensation plans, is that sales managers and sales people should have alignment with their respective results. If one is compensated for adding new clients and the other for selling a new product to existing clients, and it does matter which is compensated for which, the incongruence causes a paralysis of performance.

Making this more daunting is that in complex sales environments, those that have protracted buying cycles, the standard salary and commission model does not create enough of a framework to ensure that the sales team performs the right activities every day. How do you structure the plan so that the team is motivated to do the right things every hour of every day?

Employers also face a challenge of hiring sales people who are concerned about the length of time of the buying cycle in contrast to their earnings. The standard solution is to bridge the gap with a draw. As you probably know, there are two types of draws. There is the recoverable draw which is, in essence, a loan against the sales person’s future commissions. Then, there is the other, the non-recoverable draw which is money, free and clear, to the sales person for some period of time. Nothing good comes out of either of these. The recoverable draw, almost always, puts the sales person in a financial hole. They wake up each morning knowing they owe the company money. No one enjoys the feeling of debt. The non-recoverable draw, often times, creates an earnings cliff. Let’s say that the draw is for three months at $2,000 per month. In month four, the sales person probably experiences a significant fall-off in their earnings. The end result is relationship damage between the sales person and the company and a poor corporate investment. How do you structure the sales compensation plan to bridge the earnings gap when recruiting new sales people?

The challenge of motivating sales people and bridging the sales earnings gap can be solved with a creative compensation approach. In the 1980s and 1990s, the big buzz term was MBO (Management by Objective). Business people were provided with a series of objectives, and following a performance review, were compensated for achievement of such. What if the MBO concept was applied to sales compensation? What if you created a Sales Behavioral Objective or SBO?

If you are reading this and think that I’ve just created additional sales cost, think again. I’m proposing a reallocation of the dollars paid to your sales team. A percentage of the dollars normally budgeted for commissions would be allocated for an SBO bonus.

Consider this. A company has a typical buying process with its clientele that is six months long. They pay their sales people a base salary of $60,000. At 100% of plan, the sales person earns $90,000 or $30,000 over their base salary. However, no commissions are earned in their first six months of employment due to the buying cycle. The company, as a means of managing sales behaviors and attracting strong sales talent, budgets $15,000 of the $30,000 of commissions for the SBO bonus. The sales person is then eligible to earn a $3,500 bonus each quarter in year one.At the beginning of each quarter, the sales person has a formal review where the results of the prior quarter are shared and the mission for the second is presented. The SBO changes from quarter to quarter based on the tenure of the sales person and the needs of the business. The SBO is also not a “gimme.” 100% accomplishment should be a stretch goal, but achievable for the sales person.

In the first quarter, the overall mission is getting the sales person assimilated into the company’s environment. The measurements of success at the end of the quarter are: a business/territory plan, the ability for the sales person to call on prospects, and knowledge of the products. As measurement of achievement, the company provides a written test on product knowledge, a scored, mock sales call, a scored, mock, sales presentation, and review of their business/territory plan. Based on the sales person’s accomplishments, they will receive a percentage of the $3,500 up to 100%.

In future quarters, a points system is put in place, making the SBO entirely objective, tied to performing the activities deemed critical for the success of the business. In each quarter, the goal is for the sales person to achieve 100 points. The main objective in the second quarter for this company is to have face-to-face meetings with qualified prospects. They are looking for their sales person to have twenty face-to-face meetings in the quarter as a way to jump start their sales pipeline. Thus, the SBO compensates five points for each meeting held. At the end of the quarter, whatever percentage the sales person delivers of the 100 points, with a minimum achievement of 75%, is paid as a bonus. This includes those who over perform. Why penalize them for doing more of the right things? What about quality? How do you know they are doing the right things in the prospect meeting? Hopefully, you measured their proficiency in doing those things in the first quarter.

The SBO program, in future quarters, is designed by identifying key, measurable sales activities aligned with the needs of the business. Place weighting on the activities commensurate with your expectations of the sales person.

Some of you are probably thinking, “No way, I pay for results!” Well, results are a function of doing the right things each and every day. Results are not miraculous. They are formulaic. The reality is that you have skin in the game with the SBO. As a business executive, you and your team are tasked with determining what it takes for a sales person to generate the results you desire. If you have done your job of identifying the success metrics and the sales person achieves those, the results take care of themselves. The SBO is not just for year one since the challenge of managing sales behaviors is perpetual. One important key is to budget enough dollars for the SBO bonus that it gets the attention of the sales people, but not so high that it overshadows commissions.

The bottom line is that the SBO program gives you the tool kit to channel the energy of the sales team toward achieving that goal. It also provides you with a mechanism to attract sales talent to your company where, right on day one, they need to perform to earn dollars over their salary. One other benefit of this program for those companies with lengthy buying processes, the SBO provides you with a way to assess the sales person’s performance in a way that you can identify, more quickly, those who will not be successful in your company.

One thing is for sure, the executive team of the company in the story knows that if they paid a sales person $15,000 SBO bonus in year one, year two and beyond are going to be stellar.

Lee Salz is the founder of Sales Dodo, a training and consulting company dedicated to helping companies, sales managers, and sales people adapt and thrive in the ever changing world of business. He uses the metaphor of the dodo to show what happens when one fails to adapt. Those who adapt, thrive. Those who don’t become extinct like the dodo bird of ages ago. Visit his website at www.salesdodo.com.

Lee is also the creator of Business Expert Webinars, the premier source of great sales, management and leadership training via webinars.

May 22, 2008

Guest Article: “Harness Your Desire to Break Bad Sales Habits,” by Jeb Blount

Filed under: career development,goals,motivation,sales,selling,success — Paul McCord @ 6:41 am
Tags: , , ,

Harness Your Desire to Break Bad Sales Habits
By Jeb Blount

It’s reality. Salespeople fail. Maybe even you. Sadly, thousands of salespeople are fired or quit each day because they failed to attain quota. When you ask these salespeople what went wrong most are quick to point out that their failure was due to some external factor, which prevented them from achieving their goal. Poor territories, bad managers, difficult environments, lack of training, and defective products are fodder for these conversations.

However, when studying successful Sales Professionals in those same organizations, we find, that when faced with identical difficulties, they still managed to succeed. Why did some salespeople succeed where others didn’t?

The answer is simple. The successful salespeople have developed the habit of looking inward for inspiration, motivation, and accountability when things get difficult. They have developed the disciplined habit of finding solutions to problems while the less successful people have developed the habit of finding excuses for failure. I’m sure for some this seems a bit harsh, but the truth is the truth. Success or failure has a lot more to do with our thoughts and actions than the difficulties we face.

A habit is defined as a pattern of behavior that is followed regularly until it becomes automatic. In other words we do things we are comfortable with and we keep doing them. When we do the same thing over and over again an amazing thing happens: we get the same result over and over again!

Unfortunately, many people become so comfortable with their habits that they will continue the behavior even if that habit is causing them to fail. This is called a bad habit and anyone who has worked to quit smoking or even correct a poor golf swing, will attest that bad habits die hard. In many ways, failure is just the manifestation of our bad habits.

Stepping out of a comfort zone is very difficult and one of the core reasons so many salespeople find themselves moving from company to company and failing time and time again. Despite the training each new company provides, despite the coaching, despite the mentoring from successful Sales Professionals, eventually these salespeople revert back to their old habits and ultimately failure. The good news is, that though difficult, it is possible to break this cycle of failure. But to change your habits, you must first change your thoughts and actions. And who has control of your thoughts and actions? You.

Four PowerPrinciples for Positive Change

Identify Your Bad Habits: The first step to creating new, winning habits is identifying your bad habits and examining and understanding your behavior. In this process you must be honest with yourself. You must place the responsibility for your failure where it lies.

Harness Your Desire: The next step is to mentally make the status quo untenable. As long as you are more comfortable with where you are than where you want to be it will be difficult, if not impossible to change. To make positive changes you must harness your desire. That means defining what you want, writing it down, and becoming laser focused on that goal. A burning desire to achieve a defined goal is the one key that unlocks the door to the formation of powerful new habits.

Invest in Your Mind: Just because you want to change, need to change, and desire to change doesn’t mean that you have the skills to change. Thanks to the Internet and sites like www.SalesGravy.com you can now browse the minds of millions of individuals with the click of a mouse, instantly. There are thousands of books written about success, sales, and self help. There are also Podcasts, eZines, printed magazines, and seminars. Take every opportunity to learn new skills that will lead you to new habits.

Get a Coach: Perhaps the most powerful step you can take towards positive change in your life is to get a coach. There are coaches everywhere and, as long as you are coachable, a great coach will help you break through your self-imposed barriers and will illuminate the path that will lead you straight to the success you deserve.

Jeb Blount is the author of PowerPrinciples and has over 20 years experience in sales and marketing. As a business leader he has extensive experience turning around and righting troubled organizations. He has a passion for growing people and the unique ability to see potential in everyone. Over the span of his career he has coached, trained, and developed hundreds of Sales Professionals, managers and leaders. He is the moderator of Sales Gravy, a popular on-line community of sales professionals.

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