For sales managers, developing others’ abilities is even more important today than it ever has been – indeed, it’s the emotional competence most frequently found among those at the top of the field. This is a person-to-person art, and the effectiveness of counseling hinges on empathy and the ability to focus on our own feelings and share them.

Research suggests the best ‘coaches’ show a genuine personal interest in those they guide, and have empathy for and an understanding of their employees. Trust is crucial – when there is little trust in the coach, advice goes unheeded. This also happens when the coach is impersonal and cold, or the relationship seems too one-sided or self-serving.

Coaches who show respect, trustworthiness and empathy, are the best. One way to encourage people to perform better is to let others take the lead in setting their own goals, rather than dictating the terms and manner of their development. This communicates the belief that employees have the capacity to be the pilot of their own destiny.

Another technique is to point to the problems without offering a solution – this implies the employees can find the solution themselves. And people hunger for feedback, yet too many managers, supervisors and executives are inept at giving it or are simply disinclined to provide any.

Virtually everyone who has a superior is part of at least one vertical ‘couple’ in the workplace. Every boss forms such a bond with each subordinate. Such vertical couples are a basic unit of organizational life. Therein lays the blessing or the curse – this interdependence ties a subordinate and superior together in a way that can become highly charged. If both do well emotionally – if they form a relationship of trust and rapport, understanding and inspired effort – their performance will shine. But if things go emotionally awry, the relationship can become a nightmare and their performance a series of minor and major disasters.

While vertical couples have the entire emotional overlay that power and compliance bring to a relationship, peer couples – our relationships with co-workers – have a parallel emotional component, something akin to the pleasures, jealousies and rivalries of siblings.

If there is anywhere emotional intelligence needs to enter an organization, it is at this most basic level.

Building collaborative and fruitful relationships begins with the couples we are a part of at work. Bringing emotional intelligence to a working relationship can pitch it towards the evolving, creative, mutually engaging end of the continuum.

Failing to do so heightens the risk of a downward drift towards rigidity, stalemate and failure.

JF Guest Author Spot

Dave Kurlan

I’ve provided examples before of bringing seemingly lost opportunities back from the dead. That may be the reason a client asked me to help bring one of his company’s deals back from what might be a near death experience.

I’m not going to reveal the details of this opportunity (yet) but opportunities like this usually have some common themes.

• it wasn’t sold the right way
• incumbent involved
• much competition
• purchasing driving the process
• not the leading choice
• may have failed to reach the decision maker
• compelling reasons not uncovered
• process based on price
• higher priced product

If the deal was a man, he would have already coded out and the team of specialists would be on the way to the hospital room right now in an attempt to resuscitate the patient. They would try everything, including paddles, to bring him back. The patient, half-way to the other side, might just like it over there, where heaven is just a stone’s throw away. The doctors experience a whole lot of resistance from dying patients who lack the desire to return to earth. On the other hand, if the patient is a fighter and wants to come back, the doctors have a chance of creating a miracle, courtesy of the array of tools they have at their disposal.

Get the picture? The deal is a dying patient with no will to live. Unless you approach it that way, you’ll fall in love with your strategy, use the wrong tactics and waste your time trying to save a deal with a do not resuscitate order. Instead, acknowledge the odds, find out whether the deal can even be resuscitated, and if there’s any chance at all of bringing it back, have every possible tool available at your disposal.

The doctors have a litany of things that can go wrong and they know, without hesitation, what to do if any of those things actually occur. You must anticipate every possible objection and have every possible question ready to lure those objections out so they can be questioned, addressed, challenged, and overcome.

Let’s play doctor!

Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author and sales thought leader. His insights and innovations are responsible for the legendary accuracy and highly predictive nature of the sales specific candidate assessments, and sales force evaluations produced by industry leader Objective Management Group. www.davekurlan.com

The JF Guest Author Spot

Jill Konrath

You know what your prospects are thinking — all the time? Every time you interact with them, they’re evaluating you and asking themselves: “Is this a person (company) I want to work with on a long-term basis?”

If they feel pressure from you, the answer is no.

If they feel like you’re trying too hard to be liked, the answer is no.

If they don’t think you understand their business, the answer is no.

If they get overwhelmed by what you’re saying, the answer is no.

So what makes them say, “Yes, I want to work with you!”

To be most effective in sales today, it’s imperative to drop your “sales” mentality and start working with your prospects as if they’ve already hired you.When you do, it shifts your relationship to a whole new level from the very start.

Case in point. Several years ago a regional engineering firm contacted me about helping with an upcoming presentation. They’d been invited to make a presentation to a buying team, along with five other companies. As a regional firm, they were delighted to be included with all the industry giants.

When I first met with the lead engineer and business developer, they truthfully didn’t believe they could win the business. Their goal was simply to make the final three. They asked me to help them make a good showing. (Of course, my goal was to help them win!)

We began by reviewing the Request for Proposal (RFP) that the prospect had issued. They wanted tons of information about the company, its background, their qualifications, clients, and more.

It was clear to me that their competitors were going to come into that meeting with a whole deck of PowerPoint slides and cover that information in excruciating detail. Borrrrring!  And just imagine their prospects having to sit through six of those presentations in one day.

I told my client, “We’re going to do something different. Your job is to go into the meeting as if they were already your customers.”

They didn’t understand what I meant. I explained it more: “Let’s assume they gave you the contract. What would you do next?”

Well,” they said. “We still have lots of unanswered questions based on reading their RFP. Plus, it seems like there are some contradictions. And, we’re not exactly sure that what they’re asking for is the best way for them to achieve their goals.”

“Great!” I answered. “Then that’s what your meeting will be about.”

Flash forward two weeks.

My clients flew to Chicago for the big meeting—their one and only chance to make it to the finals. They entered a room, filled with stern-faced decision makers seated grimly around the table. Clearly these people were already bored to tears.

To kick off the meeting, my client said:

“All the information you requested about our company is in this handout. We’ll gladly answer any questions you might have about it.

“But what we’d really like to do today is focus more on your challenge and what it’s going to take to resolve it. We have some questions that we believe may have an impact on achieving your desired outcome.”

With that opening, he caught their undivided attention. The first slides focused on their current situation. My client asked pre-planned questions on vital topics to verify his understanding of the status quo and learn more in-depth information. These simple-to-answer questions were designed to get the prospects talking.

After that, my client brought up several key issues they’d uncovered in reviewing the RFP. This led to a discussion on root causes versus presenting symptoms.

My client then offered new ways to tackle the problem that were less disruptive. Finally, they challenged the prospects’ thinking on some “must have” criteria, suggesting options they thought might work better. This stirred up another highly engaging conversation.

In short, they started working on this $400,000 project during their presentation.

The results? Remember, my client hoped to make it to the final three and had never even competed against the biggies before.

But the actual outcome was even more surprising. Instead of going to a second round of more intensive presentations with the finalists, my client was awarded the contract within the week. Because everyone on the committee wanted to work with them, they canceled their final presentations.

So many people are afraid to give away their ideas before a contract is signed. But often that’s the best way to win the business.

What would you do for a customer that you’d never think about doing for a prospect?

Are you holding back something because you’re afraid they’ll steal it? Are you approaching your meetings as a chance to really “strut your stuff” or are you getting to work?

For many sellers, this is a new concept. Think about how you can be more collegial — even before you start working together. It’s worth it.

Jill Konrath, author of SNAP Selling and Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into new accounts, speed up sales cycles and land big contracts. She’s a frequent speaker at sales conferences. For more fresh sales strategies that work with crazy-busy prospects AND to get four bonus sales-accelerating tools, visit http://www.snapselling.com/

News: You have just a couple of days to check out this month’s ten top sales articles before we announce the winner – there really are some excellent contenders for January’s “Top Sales Article of the Month” over at Top 10 Sales Articles

We all understand that generally speaking, referred prospects will accelerate through the sales pipeline at a much faster rate than other types of opportunities, and they will also be more receptive towards providing future referrals.

So, what are the biggest barriers to getting referrals?

If asking for referrals has not been included and communicated in the sales process, this will deter salespeople’s focus as they will see asking for referrals as a ‘nice to do’ rather than a ‘must do’. This in turn usually means that there is no rigorous method for measuring and monitoring how many referrals are generated and what the conversion ratios are for closing referred customer business.

Energy goes where attention flows, so without specific attention to this salespeople are unlikely to invest their energy in this direction. (Even if they are firm believers in the positive impact that referrals can create!). For many salespeople asking for referrals is uncomfortable because they feel unsure about how to do this effectively, and they aren’t confident they will get their desired response.

If people don’t know how to do something and they believe that what they are doing will damage their existing relationships, then it’s better to avoid it all together. Additionally, if salespeople make the common mistake of asking for referrals too early on in the relationship this can result in more refusals that further erode salespeople’s confidence.

Therefore, to optimise the use of referral-based selling the following components are vital:

1. Asking for referrals and acting on them needs to be incorporated in the overall sales process.

2. Metrics around referrals should be sought and evaluated on a regular basis, because this contributes towards furthering the rationale for generating them.

3. Development and training needs to be delivered to the sales team so they can maximise the impact of referrals and feel confident with this skill.

When is the best time to ask for referrals?

People will freely give referrals when they have benefited from your product/service and have an established relationship with you. This rarely occurs during the initial meeting because whilst they may like you, they haven’t yet validated what you can do for them. That’s why asking for referrals should be when the relationship you have established is strong enough to ensure their trust and belief in you.

Assessing the strength of your existing customer relationships can be very subjective unless there is a meaningful set of relationship criteria in place. Although these will vary from organization to organization, they may include factors like:

- Communication frequency with key influencers
- Satisfaction with product/service
- Speed of response to queries/problems
- Length of relationship

The customers with the highest scores (based on the relationship criteria) are those that should be approached for referrals.

What is the best way of generating referrals?

1. Prepare a description in the form of a criteria list that specifies the type of person or organization that you are looking to approach. This should be based on the profile of your “Ideal Customer.”

2. Evaluate all your customers using a relationship criteria and identify a list of those with the highest scores. For every customer your aim is to generate a minimum of 5 referrals. Therefore, if you have 25 customers on your list, your target number of referrals will be 125.

3. Contact each customer on your list and take the pressure of them by explaining that you don’t want to sell to them, you would like their help.

For example: “Do you know anyone who is (specify your criteria) that would be interested in learning about how our products/services can benefit them?” Preface your question with a softener such as: “I wonder if you can help me” or “I would really appreciate some advice.”

4. When customers give you referrals, ask their permission to use their name when making contact. Alternatively, where your relationship is ‘rock solid’ ask customers to make the initial introduction by letter or email. Often customers will give a glowing testimonial and create a relevant context when introducing people.

5. Thank customers for referrals and keep them apprised of your progress. This creates a positive association towards the giving of more referrals in the future.

Problem solved!

News: Do join me over the w/e, when two “very big hitters” in the sales space and jolly good chums, Jill Konrath and Dave Kurlan will be filling the JF Guest Author slots.

Me? I am working on topsaleseverything.com – “Want to share JF/Jono/Joanathan/Mr. Farrington?” I hear you pant with understandable excitement – “Soon, very soon” I reply, obviously resolved to not telling you any more than you need to know at this stage!

“There is a difference between leadership and management. Leadership is of the spirit, management is of the mind. Managers are necessary, but leaders are essential. We must find managers who are not only skilled organizers, but inspired and inspiring leaders.” Field Marshall Slim

The fact is that you can buy someone’s physical presence, but you cannot buy loyalty, enthusiasm or devotion. These you must earn. Successful organizations have sales leaders who focus on the future, rather than cling to the past. Leaders bring out the best in people. They spend time developing their people.

Here are the qualities of a leader (in my opinion)

• Leaders have a clear vision of what they are working towards. They don’t keep their vision a secret – they communicate it to their people.

• Leaders are consistent – they keep their principles and values at all times.

• Leaders can and will do what they expect of others – they are prepared to walk the talk.

• Leaders are not threatened by competence – they enjoy promoting people and are quick to give credit to those who have earned it.

• Leaders enjoy developing their people into leaders, not followers – they train people to take on more challenging tasks and responsibilities. They develop their people’s confidence.

• Leaders don’t betray trust – they can treat confidential information professionally.

• Leaders are concerned about getting things done. They don’t get embroiled in political infighting, gossip and backstabbing – they encourage those around them to do likewise.

• Leaders confront issues as they arise. They do not procrastinate – if something needs fixing, they do it right away, even if it is uncomfortable. The longer things are left, the more difficult they become.

• Leaders let people know how they are doing – they reward and recognize performance that is above expectations and they help people identify ways of improving poor performance.

• Leaders are flexible. They welcome change – they do not stick to an old position simply because it is more comfortable.

• Leaders are adaptable – they see change as an opportunity rather than a threat.

• Leaders are human. They make mistakes – when they do so, they readily admit it.

• Leaders reflect on and learn from their mistakes – they see errors as a chance to improve their skills.

• Leaders enjoy challenge. They are prepared to take risks and encourage others to do likewise – if they fail, they treat the exercise as a learning experience.

• Leaders focus on the future, not the past. They anticipate trends and prepare for them – they develop a vision for their team and communicate it to them.

• Leaders are open to new ideas – they demonstrate their receptiveness by supporting change.

• Leaders treat staff as individuals – they give closer attention to those that need it and lots of space to those that deserve it.

• Leaders encourage and reward co-operation within and between teams.

Team Leadership

• Leaders develop guidelines with their team – they constantly enlarge those guidelines as the team becomes willing to accept more responsibility.

• Leaders change their role according to the demands of the team – for example, they become more of a coach or facilitator.

• Leaders listen to their team members.

• Leaders involve people in finding new ways to achieve agreed-upon goals.

• Leaders create the opportunity for group participation and recognize that only team members can make the choice to participate.

In Summary

Without managers, the visions of leaders remain dreams. Leaders need managers to convert visions into realities. For continuous success, organizations need both managers and leaders. However, as most seem to be over-managed and under-led, they need to find ways of having both at the same time.

Perhaps the best way to handle this paradox is for managers to aim to be managers when viewed from above, leaders when viewed from below and to remember that the need for leadership grows as we move up the organization.

This is only one of the challenges that can make working life fun! And working life should be fun, shouldn’t it? Do you look forward to going into the office every day?

For longer than I can remember I have worked with a very simple commercial formula – F.I.P

Every thing that I do, undertake, agree to, must be …

Fun, Interesting and Profitable.

I have been in some leadership role or other since I was eight years old, and inevitably without F.I.P. I always walk away.

Well I know why I network, and I know why I enjoy networking so much. What about you? Chore or pleasure? Necessity or “hobby?”

The ‘relationship building’ aspect of networking is a long-term commitment to knowing more about yourself and others and what you may be able to do together that you couldn’t do (or couldn’t do as well) alone.

The reality is that anyone can systematically adopt effective networking as an individual strategy. It can play a key part in linking you with a wider range of people who can help you to achieve more – whatever ‘more’ means for you.

The Benefits of Networking

The benefits of effective networking are many. Here are a few …

• It is the most cost effective marketing tool available

• Networking referrals will typically generate 80% more results than a cold call

• 70 – 80% of all jobs are found through networking

• Every person you meet has 200 – 250 people with whom they connect who can potentially assist you

Anyone that you might want to meet or contact in the world is only five to six people contacts away from you.

As if these reasons were not enough, a healthy and active link to a network is a vast resource available to every individual at a low personal cost. It can help you to achieve a range of goals that otherwise might be too hard or out of reach.

A key point to understand is that networking is achieved at low personal cost not no personal cost. I am not suggesting that networking is a quick fix or fad idea that can be easily adopted to make things better for a while. However, it can provide immediate results for those prepared to invest their time and energy.

The Concept of Networking

Many of the definitions of networking highlighted in the next paragraph may surprise some people, in as much as they suggest that networking is an altruistic activity involving giving and sharing, rather than taking.

In Summary – My Networking Definitions

• A power that comes from a spirit of giving and sharing

• A willingness to honor ourselves, our relationships and our connections with the universal flow

• A way of sending out into the system what we have and what we know, and having it return to re-calculate continually through the network

• An organized way of creating links from people we know to people they know for a specific purpose

• Giving, contributing to and supporting others without keeping score

• People caring about people

• Fostering self-help, and the exchange of information; seeking to change society and work life and to share resources

• Ensuring the right to ask a favor without hooks

Today’s News: Highlights over at Top Sales World …..

Today’s Top Sales Article is: “The Best Sales Questions Dig Beyond the Obvious“ by Andy Rudin

The featured Top Sales Expert today is that irascible man from the Emerald Isle, Niall Devitt  himself, himself

In the solution spotlight today – that is solutions we think you really should know about – is One Degree Connected,  ”a new tool that helps leverage your business contacts. In your business, personal referrals can quickly grow your sales leads. But what’s the best way to translate on-line connections, into real-world referrals? Answer: One Degree Connected

The buyer-seller situation, like any human contact, is an exercise in human relations – the interplay, cause and effect of behavior by two or more people on each other. In the buyer-seller situation, the seller must be responsible for shaping mutual behavior.

What’s the difference between human nature and human relations?

• Human nature is the instinctive behavior that governs action  concerned with the self and with self-interest

• Human relations are concerned with how we think and act in terms of  others’ interests

Successful selling demands that human relations be dominant over human nature.

Selling is not something a salesperson does to a prospect. Selling is something you do with the prospect, in a process of discovery and interaction – human relations at work.

The greatest barrier to success in this process is the “Egocentric Predicament.” This consists of being overly and unnecessarily concerned with self. Our ability to be perceptive and concerned about others is inversely proportionate to our self-concern.

When 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 strive for an unattainable “I should be” image, we should settle for our real self as “I am” – accepting shortcomings along with strengths.

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, 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.”

In Summary

Empathy is the magical word in the lexicon of human relations. 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.

Today’s News: Highlights over at Top Sales World …..

Today’s Top Sales Article is: ”Selling In The NOW Economy” by Tibor Shanto

The featured Top Sales Expert today is motivational speaker, Billy Cox

Top Sales Webinar of the week is “Closing Interview with Dr. Jonas” with Harlan Goerger

In the solution spotlight today – that is solutions we think you really should know about – is Sharpenz - “Are your sales meetings sharp, fresh, quick and revenue producing? They can be in just 30 minutes! Sharpenz … Half Hour of Power ready-to-go sales training kits.”

Interesting question? Think you know the answer?

Here is what I think …

The most important fact to remember in influencing the behavior and decisions of others is that people do things for their reasons, not ours.

Every successful sale then is made, not so much because of the excellence of your product or of your sales pitch, but because, consciously or unconsciously, you have found the human reason why your prospect should buy. You have found the door to their motivation and have opened it. The more you understand the function of human motivation, the more successfully you will sell.

In its simplest form, motivation emerges as a cycle. It starts with a want or need, expressed or hidden. Inherent in this is a problem, a problem that must be overcome in order to satisfy the want that must be solved. Once solved, the want can be satisfied and the cycle is completed.

In terms of personal development, there are several levels of needs. You will no doubt be familiar with Maslow’s pyramid of needs. These needs are basic to everyone you sell to, live with, or encounter, and we all of course, are different. Their needs will vary in degree, in shape, and in the nature of their answers. But they are common to all. As you are alert to them, as you understand them, so will your success with others be measured.

How do people seek to satisfy their needs? Thorndike’s Law of Effect supplies the answer:

“People tend to behave in a way to gain rewards and avoid punishment.”

Again, this varies with different people. Generally, people can be classified into three dominant types:

• The Achiever

• The Seeker of Social Recognition

• The Security-Minded

(But no one is likely to be a “pure” type)

The Achiever is most likely to be oriented toward gaining rewards.

The Security-Minded is likely to be dominated by the desire to avoid punishment.

The Social Type stands somewhere between the two.

These are the dominating factors. But in varying degrees, each has a little of the other two in them.

In terms of selling, whatever the dominant drive of your prospect, they are above all, buying benefits. Benefits are best defined in this context; as the results of the product, which enable them to gain rewards and/or avoid punishment.

In making their decision, the buyer uses the “Minimax” principle – To minimize their losses, to maximize their gains. This is true whatever the personality orientation. The emphasis depends again on their individual motivational drive.

The Law of Effect then – depending on specific motivation – relates directly to the Pyramid of Human Needs, and expands in this manner: The benefits you have to offer are both negative and positive. The right emphasis, directed in the right way, offering both to determine preference is your shortest way to your objective.

In summary, according to Russell: “The essence of motivation is finding meaning in what we are doing. Motivation is an inner control of the individual.” Only you can motivate yourself.

All these concepts apply to you in all phases of your life and your work, as well as they apply to others. Finding the right meaning in what you do will be the great motivator for a more effective you.

Understanding the nature of what motivates each person you deal with will enable you to help them make a decision favorable to both of you.

Today’s News: I have, for some time, been planning to promote the daily highlights over at Top Sales World, where we feature a new article, solution and top sales expert every day. In addition, every week, we also select a top class webinar for you to download and listen to, and choose a great book for you. This is in addition to all the great resources available to you over there …

So, today’s Top Sales Article is: “Use Sales Psychology to Create Longer, Lasting Sales-Winning Relationships“  by Dr.Greg Stebbins.

The featured Top Sales Expert today is sales leadership guru, Danita Bye

Top Sales Book of the week is ”Cold Calling for Women: Opening Doors & Closing Sales“ by Wendy Weiss

In the solution spotlight – that is solutions we think you really should know about - is IntroMojo – “IntroMojo  helps sales professionals interactively build the perfect introduction to their sales pitch by collecting hard to find prospect information.”

It really is superb, and I use it myself. JF

The JF Guest Author Spot

Eric Taylor

THINK ABOUT THE TIMES when you’ve been remarkably effective communicating. No doubt there have been times in your life when your words, phrases, illustrations and delivery would have won you an Academy Award.

And then I’ll bet there have been times when you’ve babbled on just like some of those really awful Oscar acceptance speeches – without the benefit of an orchestra playing to cut you off and drown you out.

It happens. But the “bad case” happens way too often, wouldn’t you agree? Why are so many people inept when it comes to communicating? My answer is –

F.O.C.U.S. They have limited or no focus.

My assertion would be that in the “best” cases you had extreme clarity as to what you wanted to say, you were in the moment, one hundred percent focused.

Most people are not, most of the time.

Situational Stupidity – We live in a hyper-drive, I-want-it-now, give- me-service-in-a-nanosecond world (especially, in the New York, New Jersey, metropolitan region). There are times when we don’t seem to have time to stop and think before we blurt out something stupid. We tend to react, instead of respond.

I’ve done it. And still do it. Ask my wife.

But I do it a lot less than most people, not just because it’s my business. I believe it’s because I am extremely focused on my goals, my desired outcome. I’m also sensitive to other people’s inabilities when communicating and cognizant of the non-verbal signals I receive.

I use the acronym F.O.C.U.S. in my seminars to help the audience remember how important the power of focus is when selling, leading, managing, communicating and creating a Best Year Ever!
Below you will find the short description or words which represent each letter in the acronym.

• F – Finish (Begin with the end in mind)
• O – Obstacle or Opportunity
• C – Commitment
• U – Unstoppable Belief System
• S – Stay the Course

Of course, preceding the power of F.O.C.U.S. is energy, belief, goals and time management or prioritization of time, as described in the first four modules of the Best Year Ever! program. Geoff Steck, my writing partner and co-creator of BYE, and I are always asked why the modules are arranged in a specific order.

Our Answer: Everything you do in life hinges on energy (yours), belief (self-belief), goals (personal and professional) and time (168 hours per week). Once you embrace the facts, you become more effective in every other area.

Why? – CLARITY and FOCUS

When you know your goals you begin with (F) finish, the end in mind. In his best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey says, “If you begin tasks with the end in  mind you will be more productive.

With every perceived obstacle that life may throw at you, there is also an (O) opportunity. Most people (you may even know some of them intimately) would rather focus on the other Big O — obstacle. But why not ask more self-empowering questions like, “What’s great about this?” Or “What can I learn from this experience?” Hmmm… Good question.

If you’re (C) committed to your goals, there is always a way. Most salespeople fail to follow-up. They are not committed. The fortune is in the follow-up. If you’re truly committed to a desired outcome, you will take action until it is achieved.

I have an (U) unstoppable, bullet-proof belief system about who I am and what I represent. When you work hard on building a better you, life gets easier. I suffered severe panic attacks for 5 years. Then I discovered personal development, and the strategies and philosophies to help me build my self-esteem and self-confidence.

I have a friend who earns $85,000 dollars a week. I recently asked him, “What is the secret to making all that money?” He answered, and simply said, (S) “Stay the course.”

And the envelope, please. To communicate with confidence, earn the golden statue and make an acceptance speech that earns a standing ovation, I encourage you to embrace, get and use the power of F.O.C.U.S.

Eric Taylor has educated, entertained and inspired more than 2,000 audiences over the past 20 years. His high-energy, interactive and relevant keynotes attract some of the world’s most respected companies like…T Mobile, Tiffany & Company, State Farm Insurance, American Express, Liberty Mutual, Aflac and many more.

As a keynote speaker, seminar leader, consultant and coach, he is passionate about collaborating with organizations and individuals to help them drive sales, become more highly effective and engaging sales managers and leaders while significantly boosting employee morale. Web: www.empowermentgroup.com

More about Eric – HERE

The JF Guest Author Spot

Kendra Lee

The end of one year and beginning of a new one is a great opportunity to examine your successes from the previous year, determine what you want to replicate, what you want to change and then set some goals for the new one.

Because setting attainable sales goals can be a lot more tricky, and stressful, then people tend to think, I’d like to offer a step-by-step guide to help you set and reach your 2011 target.

1. Start with revenue. Some sellers, and particularly business owners who think in terms of profits, like to start with margins or other metrics when setting their sales objectives. But whether you’re setting your own goals, or assigning them to a sales team, I encourage you to begin with revenue.

Customers buy based on revenue. They don’t agree to pay you a certain profitability margin. If they knew your margin, they’d surely negotiate for deeper discounts!

Revenue makes sales objectives a lot more concrete for sellers. (Of course margin is a critical metric, but you need a revenue goal, too.)

2. Make it your own. There’s no law that says you have to be satisfied selling at the revenue level your company needs, or the amount assigned to you. Find the figure that will allow you to reach your personal goals for the year and use it as your real quota goal. It might seem tougher at first, but it’s also a lot more motivating!

3. Don’t get overwhelmed. When you first see your quota or personal goal, it can seem like an enormous number, especially if it’s significantly higher than last year.

Push those thoughts aside.

Concentrate on seeing the goal as a figure that will shrink as you move through your planning process.

4. Figure out how much you’ve identified already. Look at your sales pipeline. Examine what you already know, or have a strong suspicion, will close. Often you can see opportunities you anticipate will close through the first quarter. Depending what you sell, you may even have annual services contracts you can count on already. Subtract this number from your revenue goal.

5. Look for growth in existing accounts. Of course, the easiest sales opportunities are to existing clients, so look at them next.

Where are there solutions you could be offering to customers you already have? Are some clients not taking advantage of all the services you provide? Are there other contacts or departments you could be selling to?

Find a realistic amount of growth you can expect in your current accounts, and then subtract that number from your existing total, too.

By now, your quota goal has probably shrunk considerably!

6. Uncover accounts, or revenue at risk. While you may see significant growth in many of your clients, sadly, the opposite is true as well.

No matter how great you are, some small percentage of your existing customers is likely to leave, merge, or take their business elsewhere.

Try to figure out which of your clients might be most vulnerable. You can subtract a percentage of that revenue now, for planning purposes, while making a note to yourself to pay special attention to them this year.

7. Leave yourself some wiggle room. Whatever number is remaining in your revenue goal, add 20% to it. Why? In the event that you unexpectedly lose a large account, a big deal doesn’t close, or some of your plans don’t work out the way you had anticipated, you’ll still be right on track to achieve your revenue goal!

8. Establish your lead generation strategy. Once you’ve taken these steps, now comes the fun part. 

Look at your remaining revenue goal – the amount you still have to generate after you’ve figured in your visible pipeline, existing customers, and the small percentage of accounts you might lose – and start to break it down into activity goals.

How many new accounts do you need to meet your remaining revenue goal? How many new leads will it take based on your past closing ratio? What kind of lead generation campaigns should you do to find those leads?

The second year in one of my most memorable territories I had no existing customers and little carried over in the sales pipeline. (You can see why it was memorable!) I ran lead generation events every quarter and email campaigns every two weeks.

Knowing the number of leads you need to achieve your revenue goal helps you determine what your lead generation strategy needs to be, too. It’ll be easy for you to figure out what you need to do every week, month and quarter to stay on track.

The key to making it work, though, is taking your time on each step in being realistic in your estimations.

Lots of sellers fail to accomplish what they’d hoped from year to year because they never really bother to figure out exactly what they have to do to reach their goals – so take this template and use it to create a stellar 2011!

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 http://www.klagroup.com/ or call +1 303.741.6636.

News: It is so hard to keep a good man quiet for very long! Here is a most recent message from Mr. Sales 2.0, that you really do need to know about….

Dear Jonathan,

I just finished a new “mini e-book” (15 pages). This one is an overview of Social Selling, i.e. how to use social media and Web 2.0 to juice up your entire sales cycle. Download a free copy here  (no registration.)

For anyone who wants to make Social Selling a real habit in their sales life, a reminder that the 25% discount on attending the Social Selling Bootcamp ends in one week on Jan 28 (the event takes place on Feb 16 & 17). More info here.

Here’s to kicking off the year in style!

Nigel Edelshain
Sales 2.0