I have always maintained that my most favourite time of the day is what I call “my thinking time” It usually comes at the end of each day, and it is not confined by time constraints. It can be an hour, or sometimes two – occasionally it is more.

It is not only a time of reflection – looking back over the day, and confirming to myself that I achieved all of my key objectives – but also a passage of time that prompts me to look ahead; to plan; to strategise. People who know me well, will tell you that I produce an endless stream of new ideas. Some make it off the drawing board; some get parked up in the “pending” part of my brain, and others are simply discarded as not being viable at that time. But the point is that I think – I think a lot because I embrace change, and I actually enjoy it.

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.

For” foolish consistency” read “dull routine”.

Routine – doing things by habit, subconsciously, without thinking – is the enemy of success.

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 fruit of thinking is knowledge; and knowledge is the medium from which skills are built.

In skills learning, there are four steps:

Step One:

The “Unconscious Incompetent” They don’t know that they don’t know. The salesperson that is making mistakes, but is not aware of them.

Step Two:

The “Conscious Incompetent” They know that they don’t know. This is the beginning of wisdom. The salesperson that is aware they are not cashing in on their full potential and wants to learn how to improve.

Step Three:

The “Conscious Competent” They have learned and are aware of what they have learned – and they use it! They know why! The salesperson who knows how to make a successful approach call and can programme and execute their presentation to achieve their objectives.

Step Four:

The “Unconscious Competent” They have learned so well that they use their knowledge with a semi-automatic skill. Their skills have reached a level where they are no longer self-centred. They are free to devote their efforts to the needs of others. The professional salesperson who does the right things to get results, but functions without conscious attention to what they are dong or why.

Note that I say semi-automatic. Even the “Unconscious Competent” should have the ability and the sharpness to call forth self-awareness.

Purposeful self-awareness, plus a knowing application of skill, generates maximum personal horsepower.

The handmaiden of creativity is imagination. Imagination is the well that brings forth the new ideas that are essential to your growing success.

Today’s News: At least two great events coming up this week, and I am delighted to be able to gift you complimentary places:

First up today, I am guesting on Diane Helbig’s new radio show “Accelerate Your Business Growth” on Diva Toolbox Radio

I will be talking about the new generation of sales leaders and the challenges they face – The call in number is 724-444-7444 and the call access id is 72171. Oh, and it is live from 1.00pm Eastern – hope you can make it!

Tomorrow, we have the first Top Sales Experts Roundtable of the year -

2010 – It’s Time To Get Into Gear Early

Everyone knows that when you start the year early and you are hitting targets right from the off, it’s much easier to maintain that momentum.

Conversely, start badly and you can spend the rest of the year catching up, which is not only tough, but it can also be demoralizing.

For our first TSE Roundtable of 2010, we have gathered together five of our most experienced and inspirational team members, who will be offering you practical advice that you can implement easily, to ensure you really do get into gear early!

Join five of the most significant sales strategists in the world: Joanne Black, Nancy Bleeke, nancy Nardin, Lori Richardson – and me!

You can reserve your FREE place HERE

Well, what I really think is unprintable, particularly on a Sunday, but let’s just go with “Pathetic” & “Overrated”

I have travelled extensively, and endured some pretty horrendous experiences, but never in my entire life have I experienced such ineptitude; such appalling lack of anything approaching customer care; such an incredible absence of organisation – and all of that does not begin to convey my anger and my bewilderment.

It began on Sunday evening – December 20th. My son had arrived from the UK for a long weekend visit, via Eurostar, and had just managed to get through the Tunnel, before the four trains ground to a halt in there and so many passengers were stranded – but more about that shortly, because personally, I have nothing but praise for the way Eurostar have handled themselves – real customer care at work.

We knew that it was unlikely we would be able to get to the UK on the 21st via Eurostar, as according to the regularly updated bulletins, they were still experiencing difficulties. We therefore determined that our only option, was to drive to Calais,(around 250 kilometers) and get to England as foot passengers.

Setting off at noon, we made very good time, and were totally confident that we would easily make our 6pm crossing – that optimism was soon replaced by anxiety, as just two miles from the ferry terminal we hit the traffic jam, that was going nowhere – and I mean absolutely nowhere. In fact it took more than two hours for us to find our way to the P&O booking office, and that is where we encountered the first example of total ineptitude:

JF: “Good evening, we are booked on the 6pm crossing, but we have been stuck in traffic, what should we do?”

P&O Representitive behind counter (with a shrug of the shoulders) “I don’t know”

JF: “I am sorry (why was I apologizing? We Brits always apologize) if you don’t know, who does?

P&O Rep: “They don’t tell us anything, I have no idea when the next ferry will sail, maybe tonight, maybe not. You better go and join the queue over at the terminal”

So we made our way across the car-park and through nine or ten inches of snow, to witness a queue which extended out of the main building, around the block and back again. There were hundreds of would-be passengers, huddled in small groups, and anxiously awaiting some form of communication, some clue as to when and if they might sail.

By now, the temperatures had plummeted to around minus 6C, and logic persuaded me that not everyone in the queue could possibly have a reservation, most probably many of them had made it from Paris, after Eurostar cancelled it’s services, and they were hoping to buy a ticket. And I was spot on. Total, total, chaos!

I was not prepared to stand around in the vain hope that something might happen, so making sure Joe was following me closely, I fought my way through the thronged masses until we almost were inside the terminal – we had reservations, and I was determined that if a ferry was going to leave, we would be on it. I thought of  Dunkirk.

Gradually, we started moving – and two and a half hours later, we were boarding. But what an utterly miserable passage of time. No announcements; no staff in sight; no refreshments – just a sea of bedraggled, bewildered and exhausted human beings, who were being treated like cattle.

The girl at the ticket desk asked “Can I take your name?” I said “Why, are you fed up with your own?” I am not sure why, or how, but I always manage to see humor, even in the most depressing situations.

The crossing was uneventful. There were queues for everything – naturally. So my journey consisted of waiting in line for more than an hour for coffee and whatever else was left. I smiled when I saw a notice pinned to the Bureau de Change office – “Back in an hour” – the journey only took an hour and twenty minutes!

When the Purser announced that we would be docking in about fifteen minutes, I prompted Joe into action, so that we would disembark as soon as possible. We needed a taxi to the station, and somehow I doubted there would be many available. But in fact, we waited another hour, because there were no berths available for our ferry – I can only imagine that the Captain forgot to tell the Purser.

We were then told that buses would be waiting for us, and they would ferry us to the station - at last some good news. But first we had to endure a short bus ride from the ferry to the terminal. And it was another endurance. I asked the driver if in fact our information was correct, would there be transport to the station? “No mate, they stopped running at 9pm” It was now 9.05pm!

It seemed to take an age to load the bus, because the driver insisted on cramming as many of us as he could into every available space. I said “I am sorry, I cannot move any further down the bus with this heavy case” He replied “Well you shouldn’t have such a big case mate”  My resonse was rapier like ‘Well I was due to travel with Eurostar – you don’t think I would travel with P&O unless it was the very last resort, do you?”

Ha! There is something very satisfying about delivering a verbal knockout blow, and he looked visibly stunned, did our ”Surly of Dover”

So there were no buses and no taxis. We had just forty five minutes before the last train left for London, and Joe suggested we walked. It was two and a half miles to the station, it was now minus 10 C, and all the roads and paths were covered in ice. We had no choice, and I can tell you that my case, laden with Christmas presents, weighed twice as much after each mile. Joe was brilliant and split carrying duties with me – in fact, I think he managed at least 70% of the task.

We finally arrived home at 2.30am – fourteen hours to travel 250 miles!

So, P&O, you had an opportunity to stand up, to make a difference, to show you care? You failed miserably.

This is a quote from their website: “When you think of cross channel ferries, you think P&O.” Absolutely – it will take me a long time to forget!

No leadership, no organisation ………. you can be sure that I will never ever travel with you again, and I suspect hundreds, if not thousand of people feel the same as I do.

It is said that we Brits do not like to complain, but rather we vote with our feet. We also tell six other people of our experiences. Well now that I can just about feel my feet again – I will most certainly vote with them, and today, I didn’t just tell six people, I told a few thousand!

Next week, I’ll present you with a contrasting tale – why Eurostar enjoy such strong customer loyalty, despite the events over Christmas. They are indeed a shining beacon, in a sea (Channel) of  third-world like customer service.

Tomorrow: Normal service resumes, and I will have some complimentary places for you to attend two great events taking place next week.

The JF Guest Author Spot

Kendra Lee

I find events to be one of the most effective strategies to uncover qualified leads. The people who participate choose to come because they’re interested in your topic. You get to share your perspectives and recommendations, highlighting yourself as an expert they want to work with.

The prospects who attend feel as if they know you and want your assistance.

With today’s technology, events are inexpensive to run.  But if you’re going to do all the work to create great content with high value, you want to be sure that the people who are interested in it know it’s happening and how to sign up.

You won’t get the number of qualified leads you deserve if only 5 people attend! Here’s where social media can help.

Now I know what you’re thinking. I’ve been there, too. “Social media can’t possibly help me. I don’t have much time for it, don’t do it regularly, and am not connected to that many people.”

So what?

I ran an event just last month that had people I’d never heard of before in attendance. They found it from re-tweets of my tweets, comments others had commented on, and our postings across LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. These people weren’t connected to me anywhere. Social networking made it happen.

How? Let me share my strategies with you.

1. Post the event details on your website – This is your opportunity to say as much as you’d like about the event, including every fact. Point all your comments back to your website for additional information and registration. Not only do interested readers learn more about the event, now they’re in your website, too.

2. Comment and tweet – This goes without saying, but here are a few extras to ponder. People tend to prefer one social network over the others, but no target markets as a whole typically favor one over another. Given this, you want to be sure you talk up your event on every one you use. Comment about it in your LinkedIn status. Discuss it on Facebook. Tweet about it. Carry your comments over the course of days and weeks preceding the event, right up to minutes before it begins.

3. Post everywhere – Lots of people don’t realize that you can post events to LinkedIn and Facebook in special “Event” sections. Once you do, people connected to you are notified, and others outside your group see them when they use key word searches. Your network can forward the link on to others in their groups who might be interested, too.

4. Use links – as you comment and post, include links to the details on your website. Keep the postings brief and quick to scan. If you’ve hit someone’s hot button, they’ll click through to learn more and sign up. Use a tool like www.bit.ly or www.tinyurl.com to shorten long links.

5. Sign-up on LinkedIn – as people from your target segments enroll, shoot them a quick email and ask them to click in LinkedIn that they’re attending. Send them the direct LinkedIn event link to make it simple. Now all their connections see that they’re attending, expanding your message within your target market.

6. Leverage your network – ask your top clients and peer network to comment and tweet about the event. Give them brief phrases they can simply copy and paste. Have them note on LinkedIn that they’re interested in attending the event. Your message will reach out into their contacts, further extending your reach even though they aren’t attending.

Once your content is perfected, events are a numbers game. The more interested people from your target market that you can attract to your event, the greater the number of leads. Social networking can get your message out, bringing participants and leads to you!

Kendra Lee is a top IT Seller, Prospect Attraction Expert and author of the award winning book “Selling Against the Goal” and president of KLA Group. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group works with companies to break in and exceed revenue objectives in the Small and Midmarket Business (SMB) segment. Ms. Lee is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and association events. To find out more about the author, read her latest articles, or to subscribe to her newsletter visit www.klagroup.com or call +1 303.773.1285.

Today’s News: Over at Salesopedia, Clayton Shold is in conversation with Tibor Shanto…

“Tibor Shanto is a sales process guy. His company is all about helping sales people fill their pipeline and he’s passionate about understanding why and how people succeed. Hitting the New Year is a lot more than resolutions and goal setting says Tibor. More importantly it is about having a road map to get to your goal. Before you set your 2010 goals take a listen to some suggestions of what else you might consider to enhance your chance of hitting and exceeding your goals this year.
 
Tibor Shanto is the President of Renbor Sales Solutions. He works with companies in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. helping them increase their revenue though improvements in sales strategy and execution.” Click HERE to listen in

So here we are, the end of the first commercial week of 2010, and we have discussed so much…. the need to consolidate your existing client base; the need to regularly examine your ego/empathy balance; asked the question: “has professional selling undergone a personality bypass”; and yesterday, encouraged you to have the courage to leave your comfort-zone.

Ready to absorb a higher level of thinking, when it comes to your own development? Yes we are, Mr. Farrington/JF/Jono/British bloke/My Captain, I hear you shout, almost in unison. OK, here you go…..

When a colleague loaned me Stephen Covey’s “The Seven Habits Of Highly Successful People” many years ago, it took me about three months to get round to reading it – I now realize that I wasted those three months! In fact, I read it three times in order to ensure that I had fully digested the wisdom.

Whilst I cannot claim to have experienced an epiphany of “Damascus Highway” proportions, it did cause me to make fundamental changes to the way I conducted business. In reality, I was practicing much of what Covey suggests, but I was doing so in a fairly unstructured and ill-disciplined way. However, in what I now term my “Post Covey” period, I do ensure that I audit myself regularly and I would urge you to do the same.

Covey is also responsible for the book “Principle Centered Leadership” and many of his ideas and approaches relate to the management of people.

You are encouraged to consider, as you read through my summary of his ideas, (a FREE Ebook for you) how any of it might relate to your own particular situation as an individual, as well as a manager.

Covey’s view focuses on interdependence, on what he calls “mature interaction”. When we are truly interdependent, then we have achieved and are practicing all seven habits. The habits are in fact steps, leading us from dependent through independence to interdependence and making use of our innate human characteristics – moving us in effect from what Covey terms “private victories to public victories.”

In any situation, our natural human response is to look for similarities to situations we have previously encountered. In doing this, we fail to recognize the situation we are actually in and we fail to recognize opportunities and challenges presented to us. In effect “the way we see the problem is the problem” … which accounts for why we find ourselves repeating patterns of frustration and feeling unable to respond appropriately to situations facing us.

Einstein observed “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”

Covey develops this theme into what he calls an “inside-out” approach. This means to start first with self; even more fundamentally, to start with the most inside part of self – with your principles, your values, your motives and your character.

We each have, and can develop further, various assets. Covey’s view encourages wider recognition of these assets and the maintenance of them. Once we take for granted say effective working relationships, then we cease to actively maintain them. The result could well be a reduction in the effectiveness of the relationship and therefore of a very important asset. The key is balance between the use of any asset and maintenance of it.

So, my last tip this week, is read, digest and action this  – it has had a profound influence on my life, and it will have a profound influence on yours.

Today’s News: Lots of you were unable to make the Top Sales Experts Christmas Party- and as I promised Rita yesterday, here is a link, so you can listen at your leisure.

Interesting entry in a recent EzineArticles blog: Expert author Jeff Herring in his business blog said, “My position is that writer’s block does not exist. I believe people get caught up in it because it sounds so cool, and makes you sound like a writer. “Oh, I have writer’s block” etc. Do you know anyone that runs? Have they ever had runner’s block? They might not have felt like running, but they ran any way.”

Christopher Knight ( EzineArticles CEO and Founder) responded: ”Well Jeff, when you put it that way, being a runner myself, I know there are days when I don’t want to run vs. when I enjoy running…and the difference in feeling has a lot to do with my environment. When it’s sunny outside or when I’m eating very healthy, I’m more likely to enjoy running than when it’s freezing cold and I just had a burger for lunch.

I think after you’ve written many hundreds or thousands of articles, you have a writing muscle/skill that is so well developed that you forget that “newbies” who are just starting out experience something different than what you do when it comes to the feelings of ‘writers block.

For me, I have so many articles or writing ideas floating in my head at any given moment that all it usually takes is for me to stop, sit down at the keyboard and release my ideas. Usually, I’ll have a core idea or theme that has been brewing in my head before I even sit down to write the next article, blog entry or email newsletter issue.

I know that writers who fail to plan or fail to setup an environment that supports their article writing goals (if they have them) are more prone to feelings of writers block.

Perhaps if EzineArticles were Nike, instead of JUST DO IT, our slogan would be, JUST WRITE IT! ”

I couldn’t agree more and I posted a comment to that effect – I only get “writer’s block” on those occasions when I don’t want to write, and that happens so rarely that it is just not an issue. Like Chris, I have so many ideas floating around in my head all the time, I just wonder if I will ever find the time to “produce” them.

I do believe that if you are passionate about your subject/vocation, then writing about it and talking about it, is a pleasure.

OK – good weekend, and keep the comments coming. JF

PS: Kendra Lee is on The JF Guest Author Spot tomorrow, and then on Sunday, it is the first JF Uncut of the year – P&O, I am coming after you!

Having shivered under the dark clouds of financial uncertainty for so long, there was no incentive to leave our comfort zones, and go off in search of greater security. But with the first shoots of economic recovery now appearing, it is time to emerge and really challenge our lot.

I often quote this:

“Prince Rabadash’s army lay close behind them, Anvard ahead. If they did not reach Anvard before Rabadash and his horde, their journey, their entire lives, would have been wasted. The horses, Bree and Hwin (both of whom could, of course, talk) galloped. Certainly both horses were doing, if not all they could, all they thought they could do; which is not quite the same thing. But a lion appeared out of nowhere and with the spur of terror; Bree now discovered that he had not really been going as fast, not quite as fast, as he could.“

This extract is of course taken from “The Chronicles of Narnia”, that fount of a million, simple and usually overlooked truths, and it illustrates perfectly what it takes for some of us to be steered out of our comfort zone.

Perhaps of all the temptations we meet in life, money, power, sex, alcohol, drugs and fame, the subtlest of all is the comfort zone, that invitation to settle for less, to go for content when the stresses of over achievement beckon.

The way that takes you out of the comfort zone is the route less travelled by. Most of us when we come to that place where the two paths divide prefer the one that leads to safety, to warmth and to comfort.

Both in sport and in business, I have witnessed countless companies, friends, colleagues and team mates that underachieved, despite having far superior skills and talents when compared to others who have made it to the top.

The reasons have always been the same, fear of leaving the comfort zone and entering into the unknown, the land potentially of failure and rejection.

However, I believe there is another way to motivate individuals and coax them out and it relies on one simple fact; most people do not know what they want from life. Certainly, the majority working in a commercial field will say they crave success but without understanding what success means for them.

Of course, describing success is difficult, because it will be different for all of us. The definition I prefer is ‘The achievement of a worthwhile goal’

My experience is that you cannot have everything you want, but you can have anything you really want – you just have to know what it is.

Today’s News: Word just in about Lori Richardson’s “50-50-50-50 Tour”

So What’s the “Fabulous 50-50-50-50″ Project Anyway?

“There have been a lot of hints and some discussion from strategic partners, sponsors, potential sponsors, and friends about what is launching on January 1st. Here is the “low-down” as they say….

It’s clear that small business owners are looking, struggling, really – to grow sales, revenues, and profits. Some of us did OK, or even very well. Many did not. It hit me at the end of summer that some more focused efforts should be made to help small town, and big city, North American business owners grow their businesses. When small business grows locally, then communities are better off, and we all give more to non-profits. It is a huge win to help small businesses grow.

On January 1, I’ll be launching a 50 city book event tour – to talk about sales ……Read more

If you are a regular visitor here, you will know that for sometime, I have been increasingly alarmed at the apparent “greyness” within the selling environment.

For greyness, you can also read blandness; or stereotype; or unoriginal; or if there were such a word “samey”.

The assumption by so many young salesmen and women is that every customer is the same and every sale is the same – which of course, simply is not true – and if it were, logic defines that we wouldn’t need those salesmen and women, we could just have the entire sales process handled online by “order takers”.

Along with all this greyness and blandness and “sameyness” I have noticed something else – individual personality has also all but disappeared, to be replaced by an almost robotic- like seriousness.

What happened to warmth? What happened to enthusiasm? What happened to humor?

Let’s just pick up on that last one, humor. If you scroll down for a moment, in the left hand column you will see a logo  with something like 24th on it –I seem to have been stuck at 24th for weeks – I challenge you to click on that logo and read any or all of those blogs and please report back to me if you discover one hint, just the vaguest sniff of humor anywhere – you will not, why?

Is it because times have been tough – and actually remain so in many sectors – and we think it is inappropriate to enjoy ourselves? Is it because these days we spend more time communicating with our PC than we do with real human beings and we have lost the art? Or is it now considered uncool to be amusing?

Whatever it is, I am deeply concerned.

You’ve probably heard me say it many times before, but it really is true – people buy people first, and solutions/products/services second.

In most market sectors, product uniqueness is now rare – it never lasted for very long anyway; international barriers have disappeared, almost overnight; thanks to the internet, buyers have never been so well informed and had so many choices.

So in this world that I have just described, where the playing field has never been more level, what is the one distinguishing factor that sellers can use to differentiate themselves – and no, it isn’t Sales 2.0 tools – it is of course, our personality, our personal skills, our unique character.

Yesterday, good chum Jill Konrath – with whom I am usually on the “same length of waves” to quote my French housekeeper, said:

“In 2010, a salesperson’s ability to personally bring value to the relationship will become the primary factor in determining which company wins the business. In a world of minimally differentiated products and services, customers will choose to work with sellers who continually bring them relevant ideas, insights and information. If no salesperson stands out in this area, pricing will become the de facto determinant. ”

This then, is my next tip for improving yourself in 2010 – don’t be afraid to be yourself.

A word that I love is “Salespersonability” – I did not just make that up - in fact I read it somewhere years ago, but it accurately sums up what I have been talking about.

And you know, the most successful people in the business world have it – just think about that for a moment.

Today’s News: The only person on the Top Sales Experts team with a longer name than mine, Rochelle Togo-Figa, has a great event coming up:

Going from Surviving to Thriving in 2010!
FREE Teleclass

Are you ready to make 2010 your best year ever?

As you look back over the past year, you have much to be proud of. It takes something special to be an entrepreneur, especially during these times.

Maybe you’ve done many of the right things to grow your business, yet there’s something keeping you from achieving the full freedom, joy, and financial success you so desire.

Book your place HERE

Want to see some great  predictions for 2010? All round good egg  Nancy Bleeke gathered together some of the best sales brains on the planet, plus me, and asked us what we thought would happen in the next twelve months – catch it all here – Very happy to point you over there despite being called “a British bloke yet all-around collaborative and intelligent chap” I ask you, “yet”???

Tomorrow, I must tell you about Lori Richardson’s forthcoming “50-50-50-50″ tour – sounds like a lot of fun!!

The greatest barrier to success in the sales process is the “egocentric predicament.”

This consists of being overly and unnecessarily concerned with the self. Our ability to be perceptive and concerned about others is inversely proportionate to our self-concern.

When the self gets unnecessarily in the way, the fruitful cycle of good human relations stops producing.

The key to understanding and accepting others is to first understand and accept oneself – starting with the realization that, rather than striving for an unattainable “I should be” image, we should settle for our real self as “I am” – accepting shortcomings along with strengths.

I Am vs. I Should Be:

The following points provide a practical answer to the “I am” versus “I should be” conflict:
• Recognize it — and recognize that its source is rooted in the views of others.

• Either (a) accept your “I am” image or (b) decide on attainable, constructive steps to achieve “I should be” in the future.

• Our behavior is a reflection of our attitudes, and our attitudes grow out of our values. Each is an integral part of the other. Do your life values make it easy for you to put the other person’s interests first?

• Sincerity is a much-used word in relation to selling. Integrity is a kindred word. Integrity implies a consistent kind of honesty: acting outwardly the way you truly feel inwardly. That’s why sound values are so important to your success with others.

Remember: “People buy our product not so much because they understand the product . . . but because they feel that we understand them.”

There are many effective ways of doing this: The best way to create this kind of buying climate is to “transmit on their frequency.” This opens their mind to you and makes them willing – and eager – to listen.

A sincere, specific compliment on a point of real meaning to them gets the other person talking about things of interest to them. It opens doors.

“Before I sell my prospect what my prospect buys, I must first see my prospect as they see themselves.”

A Magical Word:

Empathy is the magical word in human-to-human interaction. It means feeling as the other person feels, not just with them. It means putting yourself in their shoes and shaping your attitudes accordingly.

Beyond getting the order, the plus factor in selling is to make people look good in their own eyes and in the eyes of others. Rather than sell to them, we help them buy.

We do this best by building their self-image. This helps them grow. And as we help others grow, we grow. To do this, we must be open and honest – this is the essence of good human relations.

These concepts are applicable to every facet of our lives, and in selling, they pave the way to the truest and most fruitful success.

One of the most significant pieces of advice I will give you in 2010, is to make sure you constantly keep an eye on your “Ego & Empathy Balance”

Tomorrow: Whatever happened to personality? Are we removing the human element from the sales process? When you remove “you” from humour, you end up with humor – is it only we Europeans who can still laugh at ourselves?

So here we go: For most people it will be the first day, of the first week, of the first month, of the first quarter, of a brand new trading year, and we really do need to get into gear early and go for it from day one.

Hopefully you will have conducted your own personal audit? No? You might want to take a look at this, because you really should have set your personal 2010 targets and objectives by now, but of course it is not too late.

Ideally, if you are in a front-line sales role or leading people who are, you will also have prepared an achievable business development strategy for the year – no? OK, help is at hand, here is your free guide.

Now we have those in place, we can talk about a few other things you also ought to think about, and I’ll be doing precisely that during the next couple of weeks.

So my first piece of advice is to begin by consolidating what you already have. Make absolutely certain that you build brick walls around your existing client base, in order to reduce the impact of aggressive competitor activity.

The motivation to do this should be strong. To begin with, it now costs fifteen times – yes, that’s what I said, fifteen times – as much to locate, qualify and sell to a new prospect as it does an existing customer.

In order for you to appreciate the significance of that number, try and calculate the costs involved with all the pre-sales activity that you were involved in the last time you won a new client/customer – and now subtract that from the gross margin you claimed on that deal…..significant eh! But it’s OK, your company probably absorbed those costs and it didn’t affect your commission?

So JF, can you give me three tips so that I can start building those brick walls around my best customers?

Of course.

In December, I advised everyone to consider conducting formal account reviews with all of their most important accounts – either face-face, or if that is not possible, then via the phone. It is a non-sales event, which will allow you to discover what business might be forthcoming from each client/customer in 2010. It will also differentiate you.

Not sure what is involved? Here you go.

Second, when was the last time you asked your clients/customers how often they would like you to contact them? And have you ever asked them their preferred method of communication- i.e. email/personal visit/telephone? Carry out a survey, you might just be surprised at the results.

Third, map out your most important client’s organisation chart, and then try to extend your area of influence. Why? Because most sales professionals tend to inhibit their influence in important accounts by making one or two strong contacts, and then believing they have it all sown up. This is folly. Most decision making units consist of more than two people, so whilst you are busy selling to one or two people who are already sold on you and your services/solutions, watch out for the politically astute competitor, who is gradually covering all of the bases.

Always remember that the one term that sets top performers apart is “customer focus.”

Outstanding sales results depend on the ability to think from the customer’s point of view and understanding the customer’s agenda, buying cycle and best interests.

Beyond a superficial reading of immediate customer needs, the very best salespeople work to gain a deeper understanding of both the buyer’s long-term goals and the overall business climate.

At the heart of customer focus is the art of listening constructively – top achievers are masters at capturing information and they also understand that customer focus means taking the customer seriously – believe me, to-day, the salesperson who clings to the product orientation of a decade ago is losing ground.

As client companies branch into new markets and unfamiliar territories, they are demanding unique, flexible solutions from their vendors – customised to support specific goals.

Another myth which can be exploded is that whilst customers value flexibility, being too flexible can undermine the sales relationship. On the whole, salespeople imagine that customers value a vendor’s responsiveness above all. However there is ample research which proves that their primary concern is reliability.

In summary, in order to maintain customer focus the best salespeople become facilitators, creating a partnership that extends the selling relationship within the customer’s company. 

Customer focus really does create competitive advantage – I can assure you!

Today’s News: If you are a Monday-Friday visitor, you will have missed my note about Nancy Nardin’s superb new EBook – “Increase Productivity In 2010″ which you can download for FREE here

My original idea was to share with you my aspirations for the whole of 2010, but then on reflection, if I take the last five years as any sort of yardstick, what has actually been achieved was quite different to the published blueprint designed at the beginning of the year.

In that respect, 2010 is no different. I do in fact have a very detailed game plan for the next twelve months – in fact I have a business plan and a strategy for the next three and five years – but it is no longer cast in concrete, because I have learnt the value of being adaptable and flexible – out of necessity.

So then, let’s look at what we are aiming to achieve in the first three months – Q1.

Yesterday, I shared with you my excitement at the prospect of launching, at last, the JF Sales Academy. I tell people that it took me most of 2009 to bring it all together, but in fact I have been working on it since 1996.

In the early days, it wasn’t a complete program, but rather four separate courses – Foundation, Advanced, Consultative, and Sales Leadership 0r Levels 1-4, designed only to be delivered live, in the classroom. So you see, I was already rallying against the “one size fits all” school of sales team development.

As I mentioned yesterday: “Amongst its unique features now, is its versatility – it can be delivered live in the classroom by qualified coaches; live online within totally interactive workshops; or in a downloadable recorded format, so that students can learn at their own pace, whenever and wherever they wish.

I believe that the end of program assessment and subsequent qualification will have significant value.

We have already begun the process of recruiting a global network of JF Partners, who will market, sell and deliver the program.”

This then, will be my primary focus in January, and if you are interested to learn more about what I believe is a very futuristic approach to sales team development, you will be able to download the full Prospectus here, within the next couple of weeks.

The second major project that will demand my attention in Q1 will of course be the launch of Top Sales World – a one-stop, sales hypermarket, for front-line sales leaders and sales professionals.

Clearly, as I have said all along, this is a significant project and it will also be a significant challenge! However, I am confident that the expertise we have lined up to assist us is highly capable of ensuring we bring it in on time, and within budget.

I also believe that Top Sales World will become the No 1 venue for sales professionals within twelve months, providing them with every conceivable resource they need to stay on top of their game.

I would love to give you a firm launch date, but because of the enormity of the task, and the number of people involved, I cannot. However, I do expect to be able to give you a glimpse of the design around mid-January, so stay tuned

In February, I will be in the Middle-East for much of the month, delivering key-notes and workshops – it is their conference season – because this year, I am going to be travelling more frequently, and accepting an increased number of invitations globally.

So there you go, I think that’s enough excitement for now – although looking beyond into Q2, it may just get even more interesting……

When anyone raises the subject of astrology at a party or social gathering, you can be sure that most people will raise their eyes to the heavens and mutter something about it all being a load of “mumbo jumbo” But I am not one of them.

You see, my mother was a very enthusiastic – and in fact a very good – amateur astrologer and she taught me an awful lot about this incredibly fascinating science. I cannot tell you that I have pursued my interest with anything approaching her zeal, but someone I regularly read is Shelley Von Struckel in the London Sunday Times, because she is very serious and very, very accurate. This is what she reckons my year is going to look like:

“Because you’re blessed with both an entrepreneurial spirit and a knack for being a team player, you’ll often be the first to explore new ideas, money-making pursuits or businesses. And with Saturn, which accents such matters, and the innovative Uranus both moving between the parts of your chart that focus on intriguing concepts and the resulting endeavors, this promises to be an exciting and rewarding year. Happily, because this planetary activity influences others, too, both those you already know and new encounters will be ready and able to join you in those pursuits. During the year itself, ventures may go through several versions — mostly because of changes in the circumstances you’re dealing with — but each will be instructive and enable you to refine your thinking. Regard this year’s activities, therefore, as a great adventure, and when the road takes unexpected twists, you’ll recognise them as an essential, and rewarding, part of the journey.”

We shall see…

Over and above all of that, I will still continue to post daily, with a guest post on Saturdays, and then on Sundays I intend to resurrect the JF Uncut post – my chance to get off my chest whatever has angered, dismayed or disappointed me during the previous week – irreverent? Certainly. Amusing? Probably. Sycophantic? Hardly. Join me and find out.

I am looking forward to working with the Top Sales Experts team in 2010 – of course – but I am equally looking forward to working with the expanded team here at TSA, where we have been joined by the immensely talented Nancy Nardin, who has already slipped effortlessly into the newly created role of Sales & Marketing Director. You may be interested to learn that she has just launched a superb new Ebook – “Increase Sales Productivity In 2010” which you can download for FREE here

Now we really are ready to get into gear and go for it!
 
Tomorrow, it’s business as usual, with blog post number 760 – I hope you will join me.

Well, it has been another incredibly exciting year, but 2010 is going to cap it – more about that tomorrow.

Yes, I know that most people had a tougher time than they were expecting, and many are still facing considerable hardship as they enter the New Year – our thoughts go out to them. All of this as a result of the worst economic downturn in history, but it could have been avoided.

I just hope the financial “fat cats” residing on Wall Street and in the City of London, who made so many irresponsible, and ultimately catastrophic errors of judgement, have some remorse as they queue up to collect another undeserved, and obscenely disproportional end of year bonus – but somehow I doubt it.

I said at the end of 2008 that my organisation would use 2009 as a “development year” so that when the first shoots of economic recovery arrived early in 2010, we would be well positioned to get into gear and go for it, and that is precisely what we have done.

To begin with, we effected a complete re-vamp of the Top Sales Experts site, adding new sections, and creating the VIP Zone. The most pleasing aspect of all of that has been the success of the TSE Masterclasses and Roundtables, because a long list of people, including me, wondered if the webinar/teleseminar market was saturated. In fact we quickly discovered that people will invest their time, if the presentation quality is high.

I have also been pleased by the high number of VIP members who are using the archived Masterclasses and Roundtables as a reference library, which of course they are.

As you probably know, because I talk and write about it a lot, Top Sales Experts will shortly morph into Top Sales World – again, more about that tomorrow.

The only significant change we made to the Top 10 Sales Articles site was to switch from a weekly competition to a monthly one, mainly due to time constraints. However, this certainly did not dilute the quality and judging by the interest in and the excitement surrounding the Top Sales Article of the Year final, this initiative is here to stay for many years to come.

I became less involved with some projects in 2009, which freed up time to accept additional responsibilities elsewhere: For example, in April, I accepted an invitation to blog for AllBusiness.com – The Sales Leadership Coach – which ultimately brought me into contact with the visionary editorial team there, and an invitation to Chair the AllBusiness Sales Star judging panel. It is a really great concept, and I know it is going to be a huge success.

I didn’t actually write many articles last year, but my previously published ones are still sending a lot of traffic my way, particularly those that have been picked up by Google: For example, over at Ezine Articles where I have 170 articles, they have notched up a grand total of 200k views, and one, “How To Create An Effective Business Development Strategy” has passed the 25k mark. So to anyone who ever doubted the value of sharing whatever knowledge and wisdom you may have, I say this, get on with it and start writing and submitting articles.

Other than Ezine, I must also thank the handful of other excellent sales communities who also regularly publish my work – Salesopedia, Eyes on Sales, SalesHQ, Best Management Articles, and The Sideroad – they all do a superb job.

However, my main focus in 2009 was on my brand new JF Sales Academy, which will launch early in 2010.

It was indeed a challenge to create a “complete program” that will take sales professionals from “apprentice” level up to “master craftsman/woman” in less than one year. Amongst its unique features, is its versatility – it can be delivered live in the classroom by qualified coaches; live online within totally interactive workshops; or in a downloadable recorded format, so that students can learn at their own pace, whenever and wherever they wish.

I believe that the end of program assessment and subsequent qualification will have significant value.

We have already begun the process of recruiting a global network of JF Partners, who will market, sell and deliver the program.

Finally, we almost completed the final phase of our ASP Profile re-vamp, which will allow us to provide instant results and reports. This is a very exciting development, and we are expecting big things for this highly innovative and sophisticated product.

So there you have it – 2009 in perspective. Not a year I would wish to re-live, unless I moved to a remote Pacific island with no access to the media.

I was lucky and came through relatively unscathed, but so many good friends and colleagues suffered, some quite badly, and I wish I could be sure that I did everything I could to be there for them. I did my best; I just hope it was enough.
Tomorrow, I will share my hopes, my objectives and my aspirations for 2010.