Jonathan Farrington's Blog

The JF Guest Author Spot

Jill Konrath

Different Worlds, Different Realities

Back in the days when I sold computers, marketing people used to hate me. I worked in a regional sales office that was located in the same city as the corporate headquarters. Whenever a new product was introduced, marketing kicked off their road shows with us. Eager to show off their hot new stuff, they’d send an entire entourage to our facility. As salespeople, we were excited to learn about anything that could give us a competitive edge.

We’d spend hours listening to talking heads cover every excruciating detail of how the system worked, the multiple configurations available, its connectivity, how to demonstrate its capabilities and comparisons to the competition. Then the focus would switch to the marketing campaign that was being implemented. Finally they trotted out the sales collateral. There was always an impressive display of brochures, fact sheets, tech specs and more.

As the meeting would draw to a close, they’d always ask, “Does anyone have a question we haven’t addressed yet?” My hand was always the first in the air. I could see the shudder run through their bodies. They looked around the room, hoping to call on someone else. But, with both hands waving wildly, I was hard to ignore.

With deep resignation, they’d say, “Yes, Jill. What do you want to know?”

“Well,” I’d answer. “Actually, I have quite a few questions. I think this new SureFire! system sounds really cool.

It’s clearly on the leading edge and a big step for the company.”

Their heads were nodding as they listened politely, but you could see that they were waiting for the shoe to drop. It always did when I raised my hand. As marketers, you’re probably wondering why they dreaded what was coming.

Marketing is from Mars and Sales is from Venus

But the reality of the situation is this: Marketing is from Mars and Sales is from Venus. The organizations live in totally different worlds and have completely different perspectives on what’s needed for success. In way too many companies, communications between the two groups is minimal and alignment is non-existent.

You download Jill’s FREE ebook: “What Sales Needs From Marketing“ here

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies and founder of the Sales Shebang, is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and industry events.

For more articles like this, visit http://www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com.

Sign up for the newsletter and get a BONUS Sales Call Planning Guide.

Buy Jill’s book, Selling to Big Companies at Amazon. Visit the community for Women Who Sell at http://www.salesshebang.com.

Finally, do be sure to check out Jill’s “Sales Stimulus Package” which kicks-off next week – just click on the banner below for full details.

Today’s News: A friend recently invited me to join a new sales club, and so I duly investigated – I think this is a TOTAL SCAM. I couldn’t find out who is behind it and it appears cloaked in secrecy – check out Sales Club and tell me what you think? http://www.salesclub99.com/invite2/index.html

I have accepted an invitation to blog over at AllBusiness and I am joining my chums, Jill, Keith Rosen and Lori Richardson – http://www.allbusiness.com/

Tomorrow: It’s May Day, so expect something special to finish off the week!

Finding, interviewing and then selecting new members of staff is a key function that does not come easy to most managers.

In the old days, most decisions were made subjectively by interviewers looking for synergy with the interviewee: Do I like this person? Can I get on with them? Are they like me? Will they be a threat to me? Etc.

Then came personality profiling and psychometric testing, and we moved to an almost totally objective process of selection and the human element was virtually removed.

So which method is more likely to result in success?

Based on thirty-five years’ experience of recruiting and developing front-line sales professionals, I believe a combination of both is essential, and it is one of the reasons why I pioneered the development of ASP Profile in 1995. 

Here then are some tips and guidelines, which have helped me make more successful selections than unsuccessful ones….

This will be my last free ebook until September, so I do hope you enjoy it.

Today’s News: “The Question Is The Key” is the headline of Salesopedia’s interview this week…

“Dave Kahle is the author of Question Your Way to Sales Success and is passionate about the power of questions. He believes the single most powerful tool in a salesperson’s tool box today is the question. “It is the key that unlocks all kinds of benefits to the salesperson.” Dave details some of the science behind good questions and how you can influence the thought process of the customer without being manipulative. Are the questions you are using today contributing to your success or limiting it?”

As ever, just click on the banner below to listen in.

Tomorrow: I think i have uncovered a real scam – be sure to join me tomorrow for the full details

Niall Devitt

I recently passed the 100 post mark on my blog. To say that I have learnt a lot in between would be an understatement. To say that I have lots more to learn, would require an even bigger understatement.

It has been an enjoyable, frustrating and fascinating experience. I have gained readers; I have gained new customers and best of all I have gained many great new friends.

My posts have resulted in praise, in controversy, and in scorn. Readers have agreed with me strongly and readers have disagreed, with equal amounts of passion.

Perhaps, now is a good time to step back, and evaluate what has a 100+ posts taught me, about blogging and blogging for business.

Lesson Number 1 - Quality always Beats Quantity

With the amount of available information that is out there, you need to stand out from the crowd. To this end, it is always better to focus your efforts on the quality of your posts, rather than the quantity.

People now have a much shorter attention span, so to get them to actually read what you have written – requires that you offer something of real value. Spend enough time constructing each post, giving extra special attention to your headline (eye-catching) and your first paragraph.

Lesson Number 2 – Never Ever Sell

So many business blogs are merely a series or reworded advertisements for the particular business. It’s awful, awful, and awful and gives nothing of real value to the reader. Instead think Give! – give advice, give insight and give resource. Make your blog valuable, in the eyes of your readers.

So instead pose questions, stimulate debate, provide commentary, and invite other experts to write interesting posts. Remember, the more value your blog brings to your readers – the more lightly that these same readers will become your customers.

Lesson Number 3 – Popular won’t always mean Popular.

There can sometimes be a tendency to jump on a particular bandwagon, and post about what everyone else is posting about. While this can be sound strategy for more established bloggers – it is rarely sensible for new bloggers to follow suit. Where possible, try instead to come up with new ideas and new topics – or at least differing angles for your posts.

It’s perfectly OK to be controversial, so long as your opinions are considered, and that you truly believe in what you are saying. Be careful, because once you have committed a point of view to the public domain – you will need to be able to back it up.

Lesson Number 4 – Engage with Your Readers

The very best thing about blogs is that, they allow for you to engage and debate with your readers. If someone takes the time to comment and give their point of view, make sure to respond and thank them.

Don’t just engage with people through your own blog, instead follow them home to their blog and leave a comment. Reading and engaging with others bloggers, not only increases readership of your blog – but is a super super way of generating ideas for new posts. Be sure to credit the other person and invite them to continue to partake in the ongoing discussion.

Lesson Number 5 – Don’t Be Afraid to be Yourself

A big mistake many new business bloggers make is to try and write in a so called “professional manner” It’s much more important to try to be yourself and to let your uniqueness out itself in your writing. If you like a joke, well then – have a joke.

Don’t burden yourself with having to sound, or come across – all professional like. The most important thing is your message, and that you communicate it with language your readers will understand.

So it’s 100+ posts down, and hopefully many more to go.  I could say more, but I will save for it 200+.

Can I take this opportunity to say a BIG thank you, to the readers, to those of you who left such great comments, to those that republished my posts and to anyone from anywhere who ever stopped by.

Warning: By the way, Blogging is Bloody Addictive

Niall Devitt is the founder of Beyond the Boardroom (www.btbtraining.com), a leading Irish business development consultancy specialising in providing highly tailored solutions in the areas of sales training and recruitment. Having previously recruited and managed high performance sales teams in the IT and Financial Services industries, Niall understood that there was a need for a results driven sales training solution in Ireland.

He is also a Top Sales Expert  read more here

Today’s News: Fantastic FREE Webinar on Thursday, which is being presented by my fellow Parisien, Christian Maurer. This guy really does know his stuff .

This forty-five minute presentation is called “Where Is Your Revenue Growth To Come From?”

“In these challenging times, sales executives and managers tend to spend more time with strategic questions. They often try to find answers to these questions by using models designed to define growth strategies on a company level. These models have proven to be ill-suited for the purpose of defining sales growth strategies. A customer centric sales growth strategy model is therefore proposed as a framework on how to define sales growth strategies and identify the challenges linked to those strategies. The findings of this model can then be reconciled with the corporate growth strategies. The model also defines the type of resources (people) needed to execute those growth strategies.”

Register for FREE by just clicking on the banner below

Look out for a very important announcement regarding membership of Top Sales Experts next week- the site is currently being updated and is looking really good.

We have been talking about blogs and blogging today, so if you are an avid blog reader, don’t forget you can read all the best sales blogs in the world in just one location – just click on the banner below.

Tomorrow: I have been giving you FREE ebooks every week this year and tomorrow is my last gift until September. They will all be available on the new JF Consultancy site in a couple of weeks if you missed any.

Business people in the UK have devalued selling for far too long and some managers have convinced themselves that they would do better if they did not employ salespeople – after all good products sell themselves, don’t they? As a consequence, until very recently, salespeople have done everything possible to avoid calling themselves “A Salesman or a Saleswoman”. They have developed a series of euphemisms such as: “Sales Engineer”, “Account Executive”, “Technical Sales Consultant” etc. But nowadays we accept that we all sell everyday – doctors, lawyers, estate agents, architects and politicians.

The fact remains that anyone who is in business has to sell themselves and their products – and the so called “Captains of Industry” – Branson, Roddick, Marshall, Hanson, Gates, Dell and Co. are thought the best salespeople in the world.

It therefore follows that the quality and success of our salespeople will ultimately determine the success of our companies. Certainly the world has become more competitive and in order to survive and stay in business we need to continually expand and develop the skill sets of our sales team.

Sir John Harvey-Jones said “Most companies fail not in their attempts to be innovative or creative. In this country most of them fail because they undervalue the importance of professional selling”

Unfortunately, the task of selling never becomes any easier and as competition continues to intensify, sales people will face issues that can be extremely difficult to deal with e.g. decreased product uniqueness, increased competition within ‘safe’ markets, longer sales cycles and shorter product life spans.

Every organisation that intends to survive in the re-engineered environment, which arrived with the new millennium must, in my view, respond to those realities and recognise that there is not one critical sales related challenge which must be addressed but five and I will discuss these in a follow up post.

During a recent Top SalesExperts Roundtable discussion, I was asked the question: “Will professional selling ever be the same again?“ 

I responded: “No, of course it won’t for all the reasons we have discussed tonight.

It’s an old but accurate cliché – everything changes – nothing stays the same etc.

In my view, professional selling, and the key word there is professional, is about to take on a whole new image.

All of the dead and inefficient wood is being removed, and what we are going to be left with, will look a whole lot better.

As customers become smarter, more discerning, more knowledgeable and more self-sufficient, we will see a new breed of salesperson develop.

The order takers and glib talkers will no longer have a place in our sales world and in their place will come intelligent strategic orchestrators and business advisors looking to develop long term allies. They will use leading edge technology and they will succeed because they expect to. There is no turning back now.”

In Summary:

Our commercial functions, particularly the sales team, represent our forward line, (offence) and if they are not scoring regularly we cannot possibly achieve our overall commercial objectives – i.e. nothing happens until somebody sells something and all of that investment in costly accounting software, new office equipment, expensive IT systems etc. will count for nothing. We can therefore say with complete confidence, that selling really is THE key factor in the total marketing process.

Today’s News: You have precisely six more days to register your vote in the “Top Sales Article Of The Month”  so please don’t waste it – Kelley Robertson has built up a healthy lead, but will our expert panel agree with the public? Simply click on the banner below to vote.

You need to know that we now have a Top Sales Experts Public Group over at LinkedIn, where most of the TSE team are “residents” It is a very lively location, with lots of really good debate, and last week alone, thirty new members signed up. If you would also like to come and join us, here is the link

Tomorrow: I recently passed 500 (533) blog posts – that takes some doing! But tomorrow we hear from a good friend who has just made his century of posts, and the lessons he has learned. It’s funny, quirky and spot on – only here on the JF Guest Author Spot

According to Merrill and Reid there are four personality types or social styles – Analyticals, Drivers, Expressives and Amiables – and all four have their own unique approach to business, their own language and thought processes etc. As a consequence, the very best sales professionals have become adept at recognising which personality they are dealing with and adapt their approach and communication style accordingly.

In every boardroom, you will always find three of the four personality types, occasionally, all four: I have discovered over the years which personality is likely to fill which position on the board but more on that later.

The Driver: 

Let’s begin by looking at the characteristics of the Driver. Drivers are action and goal oriented, need to see results and have a quick reaction time. They are decisive, independent, disciplined, practical and efficient. They typically use facts and data, speak and act quickly, lean forward, point and make direct eye contact. Their body posture is often rigid and they have controlled facial expressions.

They rarely want to waste time on personal talk or preliminaries and can be perceived by other styles as dominating or harsh and severe in pursuit of a goal. They are comfortable in positions of power and control and they have businesslike offices with certificates and commendations on the wall. In times of stress, drivers may become autocratic.

The Analytical:

Analyticals are concerned with being organised, having all the facts and being careful before taking action. Their need is to be accurate, to be right. precise, orderly, methodical and conform to standard operating procedures, organisational rules and historical ways of doing things. They typically have a slow reaction time and work more slowly and carefully than Drivers. They are perceived as serious, industrious, persistent, and exacting.

Usually, they are task oriented, use facts and data, tend to speak slowly. lean back and use their hands frequently. They do not make direct eye contact and control their facial expressions. Others may see them as stuffy, indecisive, critical, picky and moralistic. They are comfortable in positions in which they can check facts and figures and be sure they are right. They have neat, well organised offices and in times of stress, Analyticals tend to avoid conflict.

The Expressive:

Expressives enjoy involvement, excitement, and interpersonal action. They are sociable, stimulating, enthusiastic and are good at involving and motivating others. They are also ideas oriented. have little concern for routine, are future oriented and usually they have a quick reaction time. They need to be accepted by others, tend to be spontaneous, outgoing, energetic, friendly and focused on people rather than on tasks. Typically, they use opinions and stories rather than facts and data. They speak and act quickly; vary vocal inflection, lean forward, point and make direct eye contact.

They use their hands when talking; have a relaxed body posture and an animated expression. Their feelings often show in their faces and  they are perceived by others as excitable, impulsive, undisciplined, dramatic, manipulative, ambitious, overly reactive and egotistical. They usually have disorganised offices and may have leisure equipment like golf clubs or tennis racquets. Under stressful conditions, Expressives tend to resort to personal attack.

And Finally – The Amiable:

Amiables need co-operation, personal security and acceptance. They are uncomfortable with and will avoid conflict at all costs. They value personal relationships, helping others and being liked. Some Amiables will sacrifice their own desires to win approval from others. They prefer to work with other people in a team effort, rather than individually and they have an unhurried reaction time and little concern with effecting change. Typically, they are friendly, supportive, respectful, willing, dependable and agreeable. They are also people-oriented.

They use opinions rather than facts and data, speak slowly and softly, use more vocal inflection than Drivers or Analyticals. They lean back while talking and do not make direct eye contact; they also have a casual posture and an animated expression. They are perceived by other styles as conforming, unsure, pliable, dependent and awkward. They have homely offices – family photographs, plants etc. An Amiable’s reaction to stress is to comply with others.

Most people’s first reaction after reading the four profiles is to believe that they fit into more than one category and this is absolutely right. However, everyone has a dominant style and no-one should believe that they fit into more than two because they don’t. Let me explain why:

The Social Styles Model:

Note where each style is placed, because this is important. The people, with whom you probably find it most difficult to relate to naturally, are your diagonal opposites on the matrix. So you do need to study the characteristics of your diagonally opposite Social Style.

Now, what I can share with you, is that the majority of professional salespeople are Expressives; so clearly, they are going to find it most difficult to relate to and communicate with Analyticals. That is a challenge in itself, because there will always be at least one Analytical within the formal DMU!

What is even more interesting, is that Top 5% achievers (yes, a favourite term I know) are Drivers! So you see, they have no difficulty getting onto the same wavelength as Analyticals, because they are side by side and of course they have total synergy with other Drivers, plus, they relate well to Expressives. But, they have little in common with Amiables.  Why is that so significant? Well quite simply, the Social Style that you are least likely to find in a boardroom is…….. yes, it’s an Amiable.
 
So, which Social Style do the various residents of the boardroom typically have?

Managing Directors are typically Drivers, as you might expect.

Finance Directors are usually Analyticals

Sales Directors are nearly always Expressives

Marketing Directors are also Expressives

Technical Directors are almost always Analyticals

And Finally:In Sales

Level 3, Top 5% Achievers, are normally Drivers

Level 2, Sales Professionals, are typically Expressives

Level 1, Emerging salesmen and women are almost always Amiables

It is of course dangerous to generalise and there will always be exceptions, however based on my experience, I have very rarely been mistaken using this concept of personality identification.

 
Today’s News: No doubt if you were unable to attend last night’s excellent webinar, you are kicking yourself today? Well, judging by the feedback and comments, everyone enjoyed it immensely, which is always a relief, because so much effort goes into these short 45 minute productions. Many thanks to my brilliant co-presenter, Keith Rosen, and of course, the back-room team, for such a superb effort. We raised the bar last night!

So, as a special treat, you can in fact listen in on the recording by simply clicking on the banner below.

Tomorrow: I am off on my travels again for four weeks, but worry not, I will still be posting daily and managing my usual routine – be sure to make it back on Monday, we will make the last week of the month very special – JF

The JF Guest Author Spot

Dave Brock

 
I work with sales executives and professionals everyday. Many of the organizations have invested millions of dollars/euro/yuan/yen in tools (CRM, Sales 2.0) and training. Yet the results aren’t there. The expected improvements in productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness just aren’t there. What’s wrong, why aren’t organizations getting the results? What does it take to get real performance improvement.

At the risk of biting the hands that feed me, the problem is not with the vendors, it’s even not with the sales people themselves. The problem rests with sales management.

Let me give an example. Just a couple of days ago, I met with several sales leaders for a Fortune 100 company. Over the years, they had invested millions of dollars in several sales training programs and a coaching program. I knew these programs well, they are truly outstanding programs (second only to those we offer—-sorry, I had to throw that in). Yet in meeting with these leaders, they said the sales people weren’t performing, they weren’t spending enough time planning or in front of customers, they weren’t getting the expected results from what they had done.

I expressed my surprise. I asked them: “What happens when you review opportunity, account, or territory plans with your people? What are you seeing on the templates your training company provides?” Their response, “We don’t look at those, we trained the people and hope they use them, but we don’t use them in our reviews.”

I went on and asked, “What about your coaching? That program has some guides and templates, aren’t those working for you? Are you using the review process they recommend?” I got the response I expected, but hoped not to hear, “Those are too time consuming, we squeeze coaching in when we can, but the business is too hectic. The program gave us some good concepts to think about when we do talk to our people.”

These executives were seeking my recommendations about how to improve performance—and as part of that they wanted a training program and some tools that would fix the performance issues.

As much as I wanted to propose a program to them, I had to tell them, “You don’t have a training problem. No training program I could recommend will address the issues that you raise. The ‘fix’ to this problem is easy—it’s you. You need to change your behavior, you need to change how you conduct reviews, you need to start leveraging the tools you have invested in, and expect the sales people use them as well. Use what you have or lose it!”

This isn’t unique to this company, I see it in too many organizations. If management isn’t using the tools that have been introduced to the sales people—tools intended to improve productivity and results, why should we expect our people to use them.

Management and executives have the obligation to use and reinforce the tools, training and processes put in place to improve performance. If you don’t use them, your people will never use them. It’s not their problem, it’s management’s problem. If you don’t integrate the tools, processes, training into the fabric of your business; if you don’t make it a part of your daily management process, you are wasting your money and your people’s time. You will not get the results you expect.

I feel bad about this opportunity, I hate turning away business. But they already had solutions in place, they just weren’t using them. The ‘fix’ didn’t require time or investment, it just required a change in management behavior.

Dave Brock works with organizations to help them achieve the highest levels of performance excellence. He helps them identify and execute new business, sales, marketing and customer service strategies. His goal is to have a profound difference on the lives and results produced by his clients.

Dave is the founder and CEO of Partners in EXCELLENCE, a leading business consulting company. He has held executive roles in IBM, Tektronix, and other large technology companies. He is an investor, advisor, and director of several high technology start-up companies.

He is also a  and you can read more about him here

Today’s News: You know there is only one event that everyone is talking about today – and it is still not too late for you to register for FREE!! Just click on the banner below.

Tomorrow: “Identifying The Four Residents In Every Boardroom”

“According to Merrill and Reid there are four personality types or social styles – Analyticals, Drivers, Expressives and Amiables – and all four have their own unique approach to business, their own language and thought processes etc. As a consequence, the very best sales professionals have become adept at recognising which personality they are dealing with and adapt their approach and communication style accordingly.”

Thursday April 23rd 2009 1.00 PM EASTERN (6pm GMT)

FACT: There has never been a more critical time for sales managers to lead from the front:

Most sales professionals, in most industry sectors, are struggling to meet sales quotas and there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel. The reality is that there are still plenty of opportunities  but the rules of engagement have changed – possibly forever.

Sales leaders, who have recognized these changes, are re-educating their sales teams and adopting a totally new approach.

Join two of the foremost sales team development experts in the world – Keith Rosen & Jonathan Farrington – for this hard-hitting coaching session created specifically for sales captains who have “100% commitment to doing whatever it takes to elevate their sales to a whole new level.”

Keith & Jonathan will highlight how you can:

• Leverage your personal strengths as well as the hidden talents of your team.
• Communicate, connect and captivate your team during each meeting or conversation.
• Utilize a proven coaching model to impact performance immediately.
• Engage in daily revenue-generating activities and stop doing the things you shouldn’t be doing in the first place.
• Master the language of leaders, to get people into action without resistance.
• Build internal coaching program and ignite a power team.
• Develop the infallible confidence of a true champion to model what you want your people to achieve.
• Recruit, retain and motivate your top producers and turnaround underperformers.
• Turnaround or terminate an underperformer in less than 30 days.

This not to be missed online event is on:

Thursday April 23rd 2009 1.00 PM EASTERN (6pm GMT)

NB: Following registration please ignore the redirect page, as this will ask you to pay and I am giving you this for free!!

OK, now onto today’s business:

Does Size Really Matter?- No,Not When It Comes To Winning Major Contracts

Extensive research recently completed by the Corporate Transformation Department at Luton University in England, confirms suspicions and beliefs that I have had for some time now.

In business terms, they claim that these findings represent a revolutionary breakthrough in understanding what makes a successful contract bidder.

Two key facts tell a worrying story:

 50% of them said it is important for them to win new business in order to fulfil their corporate plan.
  Yet four out of five companies interviewed win less than half of the bids they pitch for.

Conclusion: Most companies are not winning enough new contracts to meet their business objectives.

Not unnaturally, this would cause some anxious looks around the boardroom table if it were not for another key finding from the report……

You can download this week’s FREE ebook here:

Today’s News: Over at Salesopedia, Clayton Shold is in conversation with Jeff Koser:

Retool your Sales Department Now!

“According to Alan Murray in his The Weekly Guide to Managing Your Money article titled “2009 Could Be Better Than You Think”, published recently in the Wall Street Journal, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste”. This is a quote from U.S. President Barack Obama’s chief-of-staff, Rahm Emanuel while speaking at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO conference. These words also apply to your sales department!

What do Rahm’s words have to do with sales and selling more? Everything!”

Just click on the banner below to listen in:

Tomorrow: I am delighted to welcome the highly respected Dave Brock onto The JF Guest Author Spot

The JF Guest Author Spot

Steven Rosen

In my last post I told you about my lunch with a VP of sales who was frustrated because the members of his sales management team were focused so exclusively on results that they neglected the care and feeding of their salespeople.

That executive sees the role of the sales manager as developing his or her people to the best of their potential. I agree with his a longer-term view that by developing your people, you get improved performance and better retention and you essentially develop a pool of succession candidates.

So how exactly do you know if your managers are effective coaches?

1. Asking vs. Telling

You can tell much about a manager’s coaching ability by observing the interactions with his or her salespeople. If a majority of the interaction includes the words “do this” or “why are you not doing that,” your manager is in “tell mode.” This highly directive and subservient communication makes salespeople feel like robots and produces mediocre performers. Frankly, it strains their relationship with their manager.

Coaching is about asking thoughtful questions. It is based on the belief that individuals have the answers to their own sales challenges. The manager’s role is to help individuals develop their ability to self-direct and solve their own problems. A coach would spend a majority of the time asking “how do you think you can best accomplish this goal?” or “how would you like to address this opportunity?”

Spend 15 minutes in one of your manager’s sales meeting and you’ll quickly determine if the manager operates in “coach” or “tell” mode.

2. Time Spent in the Field

Like many of us, managers tend to spend their time on the activities they are the best at and most enjoy.  A manager who focuses extensively on administrative tasks like submitting reports on time probably is less comfortable coaching. The manager who finds creative ways to get into the field and spend more time with sales reps probably sees the value of this time. Remember that administration doesn’t generate revenue or help develop your salespeople and that time spent in the field improves your reps’ ability to be the best they can be.

Do you track the number of days each manager spends in the field?   The best coach likely is the one who does so most often.

3. Accountability

Coaching is about accelerating a sales rep’s growth and ability to achieve personal goals and reach full potential. It’s a four-step process that: (1) identifies opportunities for improvement, (2) gains commitment, (3) develops a plan and (4) sets an accountability meeting to discuss progress. Set aside one hour a month to review your manager’s field visit reports. Why not go farther and follow three or four field visits with the same rep to see if the accountability for the reps to carry out their self-improvement plan is being reviewed by the sales manager? You are looking for progress toward improving one or two areas of the rep’s development.

4. Sales Rep Engagement and Turnover

Many companies track two metrics: One, they perform an annual engagement survey in which the key is to drill down to the level of the sales manager. This provides insight into the differences between managers as well as the managers’ effectiveness in coaching their reps. Effective coaches will score much higher in sales rep engagement. Second, turnover is also a sign of reps’ relationships with their managers. In fact, 70% of top performers who leave will do so based on their relationship with their manager.

5. Get out in the Field

Spend a couple of days in the field each month and get to know your reps.   Ask them about the level and quality of coaching they are getting.  Another approach, the dreaded “co-work with,” involves sitting in with the sales manager and his rep for a day. You observe the coach at work and get a firsthand perspective on the coaching effectiveness. I have never personally done this but I do know a sales director who has utilized this approach and I applaud his resolve.

Here’s to good coaching!

Steven Rosen, MBA is the founder of STAR Results. STAR Results is a sales leadership consulting, training and coaching organization dedicated to leadership development in the Pharmaceutical industry. Steven works with sales executives to; hire top performing sales reps, develop a team of top sales managers and achieve greater personal and professional success

Steven is also a  and you can read more about him here

Today’s News: You have very little time, but you can still just about make it – today’s TSE Webinar, featuring Terri Dunnevant and Colly Graham goes live at 1pm Eastern (6pm GMT) Click on the banner below to register now.

Tomorrow: “Does Size Really Matter? – No, Not When It Comes To Winning Major Bids” This week’s FREE ebook for you

If you are involved in prospecting, then you will already know the challenges of persuading a prospect to give you the business.

Ultimately, there is a four-step process involved in buying that all of us follow:

1. We have to feel motivated to make a purchase, irrespective of its type or size.

2. At some point after we have become motivated to want to buy, we make a decision to buy.

3. Then, after we have made a decision, we want to feel convinced that our decision is the right one and at this stage we may seek approval and input from other people. Then we will make our purchase.

4. Finally, after making our purchase we seek reassurance.

Interestingly, if sales people have not nurtured newly acquired customers, this can result in ‘Buyers Remorse’ and the customer will get ‘cold feet’ and cancel their order.

Every step of this process requires careful handling, yet if the sales person lacks the ability to motivate their prospect to talk to them, let alone buy from them, the other steps become redundant.

According to a growing number of International “sales gurus” people are fundamentally motivated in two main ways:

1. What problem or pain they can avoid and move away from

2. What pleasure or benefit they can move towards

Imagine your alarm going off in the morning and you realise that you have to get out of bed. It is just too warm and comfortable where you are, so you give yourself another five minutes.

Then, after this time, you decide to lie in for another few minutes until you suddenly get a picture in your mind of your angry boss! The consequences of being late for your meeting with him, scares you into jumping out of bed.

Alternatively, imagine your alarm going off on the first morning of your holiday. The prospect of sun, sea and Sangria fills you with excitement as you jump out of bed to start your two-week vacation.

If a prospect feels content with their current supplier or their current situation, then it will be a huge challenge to motivate them to want to buy your product or service. That is why every pain your prospect feels is an opportunity for you. Your task, during the initial fact-finding stage is to uncover their ‘pain’ and help them to dwell on their problems.

The stronger the pain or the bigger their problem, the greater their motivation will be to move away from it. If you can convince prospects that your organisation can reduce one or more of their ‘pains’, then you will have suddenly discovered a powerful way to unleash their motivation to buy from you.

Today’s News: Message just in from Jill Konrath

Date: 4/18/2009
Subject: Can you join our call next week?

I just finished putting together a new program to help salespeople and entrepreneurs that I’m calling the Sales Stimulus Package.

The program has 13 of North America’s savviest sales gurus — who will share their highest impact ideas and strategies in a group of 13 1-hour teleseminars in May.

It’s all focused around building your pipeline and maintaining momentum in spite of the economy. Every session will be recorded and downloadable. There’ll be live Q&A, handouts, bonuses and tools, too.

The reason I’m writing is to invite you to the Sales Stimulus preview calls I’m holding on April 21st and 24th. The calls are completely free, and you’ll get to hear briefly from 8 of the experts. It’s an easy way to check out the info we’ll be teaching in the actual Sales Stimulus Package.

Go here to sign-up for the Preview Calls: http://bit.ly/v6xsB

If you can’t make the time, don’t worry. We’re recording and you can listen to it later if you sign-up.

Looking forward to seeing you there! Let me know if you have any questions.

Jill

P.S. If you want to see what the whole Sales Stimulus Package is about, here’s the link to the info page: http://bit.ly/sales-stimulus or http://bit.ly/5gfPQ .

Tomorrow: On the JF Guest Author Spot – Steven Rosen

The human mind is a computer. You programme your computer by the input you feed into it: learning, knowledge, experience and so on. If you programme your mind with images of failure, you will fail. If you build a bank of success images, your computer will direct you to success.

How do you build and input images of success into your computer?

By creativity…by thinking.

The aim of creativity is problem solving. That’s the essence of successful selling.

The foremost function of the mind is problem solving, we solve problems with our imagination and imagination is a function of our creative ability. A creative salesperson is a problem-solver.

The basics of the selling process:

• Determine desire

• Present the solution to satisfy desire

• Help the prospect find the right reasons for a favourable decision

Selling is nothing more than an exercise in problem solving. By constantly keeping your imagination and creativity at work, you will develop the best attitude for problem solving. You will build an unending source of ideas. You will become an idea producer and this will be your source of “value add” that will differentiate you from your competitor.

Differentiate Between Activity and Accomplishment

Activity relates to being busy but accomplishment equates to getting meaningful things done. It takes energy to fail. The successful salesperson channels their energy into creative, productive channels leading to pre-defined goals.

Accomplishment is measured by the amount of creativity involved.

And Finally: Value Added Asks:

“What service or benefit can I add to what I give my customer, other than my product?”

Not just service in the sense of speedy delivery, prompt follow-up and personal attention, which are normal adjuncts of any real sale…but a real plus idea, something extra of value to him beyond the immediate transaction…that goes beyond the nine dots of your job…

Value Add, through idea giving, is the ingredient that earns you the right to ask for the order, and to expect it!

Today’s News: What a brilliant start to the TSE Webinar Series  yesterday, Wendy Weiss was superb!

We have two more presentations coming up next week:

On Tuesday, Terri Dunnevant and Colly Graham link up, and you can find all the details by clicking on the widget below.

Tomorrow: It’s good to be back in Paris for a few days, and this w/e I am going to force myself to have some downtime – but I’ll be back again on Monday, so be sure to join me. You have a great w/e too! – JF