In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. In the late 1940s, Dr. Joseph M. Juran inaccurately attributed the 80/20 Rule to Pareto, calling it Pareto’s Principle. While it may be misnamed, Pareto’s Principle or Pareto’s Law as it is sometimes called, can be a very effective tool to help us manage efficiently but it can also be applied to virtually every facet of our lives

Now, there is a management theory that proposes to interpret Pareto’s Principle in such a way as to produce what is called Top Gun Management. Those advocating this theory suggest that since 20 percent of salespeople produce 80 percent of a company’s results, sales managers should focus their limited time on managing only that 20 percent, the so-called “superstars”. In my opinion the theory is seriously flawed, because it overlooks the fact that 80 percent of our time should be spent doing what is really important and that includes developing all of our people. Helping the good to become better is much more important than helping the great become terrific.

When we work to develop our subordinates, we should be concentrating on converting what I term, the “reactive mindset” because we can certainly apply Pareto’s Principle to reactive versus pro-active. Or, to describe these two mindsets in a different way: The “running towards” mindset and the “running away” mindset. Let me provide you with an example:

The “Running Away” Personality:

The “running away” salesperson is awoken by his alarm clock and he immediately hits the “snooze” button. Ten minutes later, the buzzer goes off again. “Just ten more minutes” he says to himself, “I won’t go for a run today” and he again activates his friend, Mr Snooze. This happens three more times and each time he determines that he will skip a vital activity in order to enjoy a few more minutes slumber – he has already decided to skip breakfast and he will shave in the car on the way to the office. Finally, a full hour after his first alarm call, he leaps out of bed, the image of his boss standing outside his office door, purple with rage at his continual poor time keeping, is just too horrible to contemplate and it acts as his spur.

So what actually happened here? Well, if we apply Pareto’s Principle, we identify that approximately 80% of the world’s population fall into the “running away” category including professional salespeople. That is to say that they do things not because they planned to do them or that they want to do them but rather that they fear the consequences of not doing them. They drift through life, as I have said often enough before, like “rudderless boats” completely at the mercy of the currents. They never go beyond the first few stages of Maslow’s “Hierarchy Of Needs” and certainly “self-fulfilment” is completely out of reach for them because they either lack the courage, or the commitment required, or quite simply they lack the energy. After all, it is nice and cosy in the comfort zone isn’t it?

As someone famously once said: “Some people make things happen whilst others just stand and watch what happens” My take on that is: “A few people make things happen, others just watch what happens, but the vast majority wonder what the heck happened!” The “running away” mindset falls into the last category.

Let’s look at the other side of the coin, let’s see how a “running towards” personality handles their relationship with their alarm clock.

The “Running Towards” Personality:

To begin with, our “running towards” salesperson has invested some of their time the previous evening preparing for the next day: The suit has been pressed, shoes cleaned, notes prepared for those important meetings, in fact all of the next day’s objectives have been thoroughly rehearsed mentally and planned for.

When the alarm clock goes off, our “running towards” typically awakes refreshed and completes their final preparations for the day. They have plenty of time for exercising, for bathing, and to eat a proper breakfast with their family – they are in control. They arrive at the office before most of their colleagues,(80% of whom arrive at 8.55 am – just in time, because they fear the consequences of being late!) so that they can respond to e-mails and attend to essential administrative tasks which would otherwise take up valuable “business time”. Life for these people appears effortless, relatively stress free, because they have made it that way, they are busy working at self-fulfilment as they have no need to worry about shelter, security and the like.

These people are”Winners”

The “Winners In Life”

“Winners in life constantly think in terms of I can, I will and I am. Losers on the other hand concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have done or what they don’t do”
- Dennis Waitley

Can we all become “Winners”? Yes, of course we can. We cannot have everything we want in life but we can have anything that we really want, because if we want it badly enough we will find the means to bring about its happening – this is called “fulfilled expectation”

Unfortunately, most people when asked don’t really know what they want from life. Some talk vaguely about success without being able to articulate precisely what success means for them. I have heard many interpretations of the word but the one I still like the best comes from Earl Nightingale: “Success is the achievement of a worthwhile goal or set of goals”

Therein lies the secret – in order to be successful, to become a “Winner in life” we must have goals.

In Summary:

Each of us has the choice, we can choose to be successful – however we measure success – or we can choose not to be. But if we really do want a more fulfilling and satisfying life – more happiness, greater security, improved health, the means to help others, then we have to accept full responsibility for ensuring we have a rudder on our boat and work to the maxim: “If it’s to be, it’s up to me”

Today’s News: News may be scant for the next few days, as I am onsite with clients, but I’ll do my best for you: It’s Monday, so you will know that we have just announced this week’s “Top Sales Article Of The Week”

Simply click on the banner below and all will be revealed.

Tomorrow: Tom Canning provides us with a completely different perspective on the recent Sales 2.0 Conference – interesting stuff!

Performance has many components: For example, activities and abilities are typically where many organisations focus on. Yet beneath the surface, our beliefs about ourselves, our customers, our job, can either help or hinder our performance. You may have heard the expression, “Whatever you believe you can do, you will and whatever you believe you can’t do, you won’t.” It’s as if our beliefs (which are unique to us all) become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Our beliefs can act as huge barriers that stop us giving 100 percent to something.

Here are six beliefs that can have a positive impact on your performance.

1. Every Individual is unique and their perceptions are true to them. Because we each absorb 2 million pieces of information unconsciously and can only process around seven chunks consciously, we each have our own unique perception of the world around us. If everyone reading this was asked to explain beliefs, each individual would give a different explanation.

So who’s right? Everyone is right because your perceptions are true for you. That’s why the more respect we have for every other individual and the more we seek to understand the viewpoints of others, the richer our communication becomes. Respecting the opinions of others doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to agree with them, we just have to acknowledge that every individual’s reality is the one based on their own unique perceptions.

2. Communication is successful, only if it achieves desired results. It doesn’t matter if you think you’ve communicated well or if you think you’ve been crystal clear, what matters is that your communication is received and acted upon in the manner you wanted.

How many times have you said something to another person who has totally misinterpreted what you meant? Equally, sometimes we are on the receiving end of communication that makes us feel inadequate. If we can look beyond the communication and try to see a positive intention behind another person’s behaviour, then our relationships and interactions with people become more constructive and empowering.
When we communicate with people and if they are ‘not getting’ our point, then the responsibility is ours to adapt our approach until they do. For example; if we have communicated a price increase and the reasons for that price increase, and our customers have not understood those reasons, the responsibility for this mis-communication lies with us. Therefore we can only judge the success of what we have communicated based on the reactions we get from other people.

3. Resistance from another person usually signals a lack of rapport. Rapport is a vital ingredient when developing relationships because it builds trust and allows communication to flow. When that state of rapport is there, communication is a lot easier even if you don’t agree with the other person. When we don’t feel that rapport or connection we have a tendency to ‘nit-pick’ or find fault. Customers respond to people they perceive understand their position and are on the same wavelength. If we are encountering lots of resistance from a prospect or a customer, then it helps us to notice that we haven’t built sufficient rapport. Even if our prospect doesn’t agree with what we are saying, rapport enables us to have an open discussion where we can get an honest reason for their reaction rather than a ‘prickily’ brick wall.

4. Flexibility improves success. The greater your flexibility, the greater your chances for achieving what you want. If we accept that every person is a unique individual then we have to accept that each prospect and customer will require a different approach. Using the same approach with all prospects and customers is like playing the lottery, the chances of getting it right are extremely low. If we have high levels of flexibility that allows us to adapt to each prospect and customer’s style then we are able to build more rapport and reduce resistance.

Einstein gave the definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over whilst expecting a different result. As an example, think about a fly…..have you watched how many times a fly bumps its head trying to fly out of a window? I guess that’s why it’s a fly.

The more we are able to adapt, the more opportunities we create. If what you are doing isn’t working, try something different and if that doesn’t work try something different again. Flexibility of thinking and behaviour creates awesome sales people. Your team are also unique individuals requiring a unique approach with how you manage them. The greater your behavioural flexibility the easier it is to connect and develop better working relationships.

5. There is no failure, only feedback. Of course there is failure. If you take a driving test or exam you either pass or fail. Your sales people will either succeed in achieving their monthly sales targets or fail to meet them. The key is how you perceive ‘failure’. Every failure can be looked at as a learning opportunity that is beautifully epitomised by Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb. Despite more than ten thousand failures, he stood by his dream until he made it a physical reality. He said that every discarded idea took him one step closer towards finding the idea that would work.

One of the most powerful self-coaching questions sales people can ask is, “What will I do differently next time?” or “What can I learn from this?” Sales people who make mistakes and learn from those mistakes have a tendency to do better than sales people who are scared to fail. Therefore if your team can be encouraged to see that when they don’t achieve their targets they have an opportunity to learn, because they have been given great feedback on what not to do next month.

6. Accepting 100% responsibility creates transformation. Every action you take creates a reaction that is based on the formula of cause and effect. Everything that happens is the effect of an underlying cause. Most people spend their lives operating at effect….”It’s not my fault I always end up in bad relationships.” “Life’s so unfair, things always happen to me.” “We’re in a recession, that’s why I haven’t achieved target.” “If I could only match our competitors prices, I’d win more deals.”

True personal power can be achieved when an individual accepts 100% responsibility for what they create in their lives. To put it another way, you get one of two things; the result or outcome you want or the reasons why you didn’t (you may recognise these as ‘excuses’!)

The more you focus on the reasons (excuses) and blame circumstances beyond your control you push away your personal power. Therefore, if you believe that you are in control of the situations that life ‘appears’ to throw at you, then you are in control of your thinking and emotions, and therefore in control of your own life. This belief has given thousands of sales people the determination to breakthrough so many barriers and overcome countless challenges when at times it was tempting to wallow in self-pity. If something good or bad happens, ask yourself, “How did I create that?” This question enables you to tap into your brain’s infinite potential and it will give you all the answers you need. If you’re prepared to commit 100% to taking responsibility for your own life, the results can be extraordinary.

Today’s News: I probably get alerted to new site launches two or three times every week, but this is one that looks really good and I have every intention of getting involved, think you will like it – http://www.publisheddaily.com/

In addition, it is some time since I mentioned Sales HQ - what a really good looking site – now edited by the amazingly talented Kit Richert PhD – if you haven’t discovered this site, you really should do.

Tomorrow: My learned colleague Maureen Blandford needs to get something off her chest, and so JF Uncut returns tomorrow with a vengeance – be sure to join us.

In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. In the late 1940s, Dr. Joseph M. Juran inaccurately attributed the 80/20 Rule to Pareto, calling it Pareto’s Principle. While it may be misnamed, Pareto’s Principle or Pareto’s Law as it is sometimes called, can be a very effective tool to help us manage efficiently but it can also be applied to virtually every facet of our lives.

So what does this have to do with front-line selling? I hear you ask. Well it has everything to do with it because you see, recent exhaustive surveys suggest that only 5% of professional salespeople reach and remain at the highest level, which we call Level 3. A further 15% attain Level 2 status, but the majority, i.e. a massive 80% remain at Level 1 in terms of potential achievement.

It is true that most salesmen and women manage to advance from Level 1 to Level 2 fairly easily but unfortunately, many find breaking through that final glass ceiling extremely difficult i.e. moving from competitive sales professionals to collaborative sales consultants.

Top 5% salespeople are able to first identify and then capitalise upon the political component within the buying process. They develop and sustain strong commercial relationships at all levels within their accounts and these relationships endure because they are based on mutual respect and trust. Their clients feel secure, so secure, that they would be fearful of changing supplier.

In addition Top 5% salespeople rarely, if ever, lose an order that they really want because they are always in control of the sales cycle. They have identified that in marketplaces where product uniqueness and technical expertise are no longer enough, it is they themselves that make the difference i.e. their superior skills.

So What Is It That Top 5% Players Will Be Doing This Year?

• They will position themselves with the real decision-makers and avoid those without ‘approval power’ because they are able to first identify and then access the formal decision making unit.

• Not only get the order but a satisfied customer, repeat sales, enthusiastic reference sites and constantly increase sales penetration within their accounts.

• Know how to minimise the uncertainties of a cold call on a new account, by careful planning and rigorous opportunity assessment.

• Recognise when to treat an old account as a new prospect and keep the relationship fresh, alive and maintain profitability.

• Never entertain business they do not want because they recognise that it takes just as long to work an unprofitable opportunity through the sales funnel, only to lose it at the death, as it does a profitable one. They trust their own judgement but also rely heavily on objective assessment.

• Readily identify and know how to deal with the four different buying influences present in every sale i.e. Economic Buyer, Technical Buyer, User Buyer, and Ally.

• Understand how to prevent sales from being sabotaged by an internal enemy. They insulate themselves by developing strong allies within.

• Will be able to recognise fail-safe signals that indicate when a sale is in jeopardy. This comes from experience but also information supplied by their allies.

• They will be focused on tracking account progress and be able to accurately forecast future sales because they use proven methodology, which allows them to weight every opportunity in the pipeline.

• Avoid ‘dry-months’ by allocating time wisely to their critical selling tasks i.e. Prospecting for new business, covering the bases with existing opportunities and finally closing the best few.

Three additional areas, which set Top 5% players apart from the rest, are:

Commercial Acumen: Collaborative sales professionals have high levels of strategic awareness and they can communicate comfortably with board level players, i.e. the economic buyers using common language and terminology. Level 1 and 2 performers, unable to demonstrate credibility when discussing financial, commercial, and political issues, are usually left behind and require assistance from a manager or director.

Competitive Courage: In order to achieve consistent levels of success in today’s environment, it is necessary to be able to pro-actively target competitors and their client base. Any individual, who lacks the guts for a fight and is not comfortable with competitive selling, will severely restrict their potential.

Being Focused On Political Activity: You can of course question the legitimacy of politics, but you cannot deny their existence. The sales professional that fails to recognise the importance that politics play in virtually every complex sale, will almost certainly consign themselves to a career at Level 1. No one ever said that we must take part in the political game, but recognising that a game is being played, whether we like or not is essential i.e. what you understand you can manage.

However, I fully appreciate that most organisations will not necessarily need to populate their sales teams with Level 3 performers even if they could find and afford them. There will always be tasks, functions, and indeed markets where Level 2 or even Level 1 salesmen and women can comfortably exceed expectations. What is important is that we ensure we have the right Level where we need it most i.e. round pegs in round holes. If an organisation is attempting to compete in a market sector where Level 3 skills are required and yet their team is predominately at Level 2 in terms of expertise, experience, and development, they are unlikely to consistently win the business they need, in order to fulfil their financial ambitions.

What I can say for certain, is that successful selling has become an exclusive club of highly skilled professionals where, for example, product knowledge, time management skills, objection handling and closing skills are the cost of membership, not leadership.

Today’s News: Here is a message from a fellow Top Sales Expert and a very switched on guy, Steve Kraner.

THE SANDLER SALES BOOTCAMP

A two-day, precision selling skills training program

Overview

This hands-on course delivers the core principles of the popular Sandler Selling System—a unique, integrity-based system that promotes a more effective and coachable sales process. Revitalize your team’s outlook with a fresh perspective on the selling process and a crystal-clear understanding of the anatomy of a successful sales cycle. Members of your team will refine their ability to handle every buyer-seller interaction in as close to the optimum way as is humanly possible. Many sales training programs tell you what to do — talk less, listen more, stay in control, get commitment – we’ll show you the latest on how to do it.

Click here to see the two day agenda for the Sandler Sales Bootcamp.

If you are interested in attending the Sandler Sales Bootcamp please call our office at 703-689-0439 or email: skraner@hightechguru.com

Tomorrow: Don’t worry, just because I will not be posting, does not mean I’ll be taking the day off! One of my new colleagues posed the question earlier in the week: “Do you ever sleep?” I responded that I am I very rigorous in ensuring that I get eight hours every week – see you on Monday - JF

Paul McCord 

I received an interesting e-mail from Doris, a mortgage loan officer in New Mexico, who is facing a common problem: “Paul, I work for a small mortgage company that doesn’t provide us with any marketing materials. I spend a great deal of time creating stuff and end up not spending nearly as much time as I should actually be prospecting. I believe the quality of the materials I use reflects on me and the quality of work I do, so, I want to make sure they are the best I can do. But this is very time consuming. I know you used to be in the mortgage business, so I’m wondering if you know of any places on the internet where I can get flier and direct mail templates that will help me spend less time designing and more time prospecting?”

Doris is by no means the only salesperson who believes they face this dilemma. Many, many salespeople believe that they must have a ton of well-designed, high quality collateral material in order to successfully do their jobs. Consequently, like Doris, they spend hours and hours designing leave behind and direct mail material to the determent of their prospecting activity. Sooner or later–often sooner–they find that they are out of the business because they have no prospects.

There are several ways to successfully handle this situation. First and foremost, you must recognize that the activity of designing materials is nothing but an excuse to not prospect for many. They use the activity of creating collateral materials as a substitute for the hard work of finding prospects. It is mentally and emotionally easier to engage in the non-threatening activity of collateral material design than it is to face the very real prospect of rejection while prospecting.

Activity replaces accomplishment. If you’re busy, it’s easy to convince yourself that you’re working hard. The “getting ready” becomes the objective. You go home “feeling” that you’ve put in a good day’s work. Yet, you’ve accomplished nothing that will put sales in your pipeline.

If you must make a decision between seeing people and creating leave behind material, the choice should be simple–see people. Collateral material doesn’t sell. You do. Collateral material doesn’t identify prospects. You do. Collateral material doesn’t put sales in your pipeline. You do. Collateral material doesn’t generate your commission check. You do. And you do these things by identify and seeing prospects.

This is not to say that good collateral materials shouldn’t exist or be used. It is simply to say that if you truly face a choice, choose accomplishment over activity. The activity being the busy work of creating leave behind material and the accomplishment being prospecting and putting real sales in your pipeline.

But you can have both–high quality collateral material and a great deal of prospecting time. Simply spend your prospecting hours prospecting and evenings and weekends when you aren’t prospecting creating the materials, you want. For many, this is an impossible solution. Not because they don’t have the time in the evening and on weekends, but because they will refuse to give up their “free time” to do these activities.

Sales isn’t a 40 hour per week occupation. To be a top producer, you’ve got to be willing to invest more time than just your typical 8-hour day. You’ve got to push the non-income activities into non-income producing hours–and that means those hours when you can’t be engaged in prospecting or selling.

You only have three activities that make you money–finding prospects (prospecting), turning prospects into clients (selling), meeting client needs (managing your client’s purchase). Anything that doesn’t fall into one of those categories should be done outside your prospecting and selling hours.

If you’re unwilling to spend the time outside of your selling hours, then your only real alternative is to hire a graphic designer. The problem is that if you’re spending your time designing collateral materials, you probably can’t afford to pay a graphic designer, because you probably aren’t making a great deal of money. Top producers don’t spend their time designing collateral material–they spend their time selling and managing their clients. So, if you’re in Doris’ situation, you aren’t, almost by definition, a strong producer.

Most leave behind material is really nothing but a crutch for the salesperson. If you must have the materials, spend some evenings and weekends designing a couple of decent pieces and then get to work. “Don’t,” as the great UCLA basketball Coach John Wooten used to say, “confuse activity with accomplishment.” Activity can be measured in how quickly it takes you to fail in sales; accomplishment can be measured by your pipeline and paycheck.

Paul McCord, president of McCord and Associates, a Houston,Texas based sales training, coaching and consulting company, is an internationally recognized authority on prospecting, referral selling, and personal marketing. His best-selling book on referral generation,Creating a Million Dollar a Year Sales Income: Sales Success through Client Referrals (John Wiley and Sons, 2007), is quickly becoming recognized as the authoritative work on referral selling. His next book, SuperStar Selling: 12 Keys to Becoming a Sales SuperStar will be released in February, 2008. He may be reached at pmccord@mccordandassociates.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or through his sales training website at www.powerreferralselling.com

Paul will also be a senior member of The Global Sales Council, which is now at a very advanced stage of formation – more soon. – Ed 

Today’s News: Don’t know if you have noticed but there is definitely a lot of PSCD (Post Seasonal Celebrations Depression) around right now – but not in my backyard; we are firing on all cylinders and we have hit the ground running this year. I have so much news to share with you shortly, just be patient “You are such a tease Mr Farrington”

Tomorrow: We launch “JF Reviews” – the long awaited JF book reviews and also your chance to download one of my ebooks from the JF Winning Series, sponsored by SalesNexus, for FREE

On July 14th 2006, as the French were over-celebrating Bastille Day as usual, I published an article on Ezine Articles, with the title “How To Create An Effective Business Development Strategy” 

It has been my most read article on Ezine – as of last night, 10,602 people had viewed it, and what surprised me most is that when I did a Google search for “Business Development Strategy” - there it was, first position on the first page (well, if you ignore the sponsored links)

The reality is that we know we are experiencing tough times, but I am becoming increasingly frustrated with the amount of webinars/tele-seminars/articles/pontifications on the subject, from people who are hardly qualified to offer solid and workable advice: Unless you have headed up a company/business, and driven it successfully through a recession (or three) how on earth can you advise other people on how to survive?

It’s like a non-swimmer auditioning for a part in Bay Watch. 

I now have a new strategy: Every time I receive an invitation to download a report or attend an online event that is going to “greatly increase my chances of survival for the next twelve months” I respond with a “credential examination” question – you should do the same. 

If you need help with your own business development strategy for 2009, you may find my ebook on the subject helpful – just click on the image at the top of the page to download it.

Is it a definitive guide? No, but it may provide some pointers and it is FREE!

Consider it as an early Christmas present.

Lewis Carroll articulated it so well via the Cheshire Cat:

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”-Alice
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”-Cheshire Cat
“I don’t much care where –”-Alice
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”-Cheshire Cat”

If you know where you want to get to, the ebook will help!

Today’s News: The Aussies are absolutely panning the Yanks over at Top 10 for the Top Sales Article Of 2008 - absolutely creaming them – you have no idea how much pain that causes me as a Brit: Don’t get me wrong, Bob is a great guy, and it is a superb article – but it is in my genes to rally against “The Oz”

Tomorrow: We have had an amazing year and tomorrow, I am going to share with you how it all unfolded: Who impressed me? Who p****d me off? Who……. well just log-in!!

It is that time of year when all professional and dedicated sales professionals should be focusing on what they want to achieve next year.

Having said that, most people, and I would estimate 80%, because Pareto’s principle is always pretty accurate, will not set objectives and in failing to plan will in effect, be planning to fail.

The greatest difficulty most people have is knowing where to begin, so here are some thoughts that will hopefully assist you in constructing an achievable plan for the next twelve months and beyond.

You have to set yourself goals, become goal orientated and a goal achiever – otherwise you will drift through life like a ship without a rudder hoping to be swept into a “harbour of opportunity” Unfortunately, without a rudder, you are more likely to end up on the rocks and in later life look back in frustration: “I could have” “If only I had” etc, but by then it will be too late.

Do You Have A Life Map? – If Not, Think Of The Pilot:

Before a pilot takes off he knows the distance and the payload; he has assessed the weather conditions at departure and arrival points and he has contingency plans should those conditions dramatically change in any way.

He is the manager of his crew, he is prepared at all times for the unexpected and he is capable of making instant decisions. He is also able to psychologically accept the mundane

What Have You Been In The Past? Making An Honest Appraisal:

The objective of appraising your past performance, whether that is last year or your entire life is to improve and capitalise on your strengths and eliminate your weaknesses or limitations. Completing a SLOT analysis regularly will help you enormously.

The SLOT analysis can be an extremely useful technique for you to think about what you can offer relative to your external environment and helps you to take stock of your position so that you can plan your future development.

S = Strengths:

What can I do well? What are my best skills and attributes? Where do I have the greatest talent? (Try to illustrate your ideas with concrete examples.)

L = Limitations:

What am I less good at? (In which aspects of your work and personal life do you need improvement? Is the improvement needed large or small?)

O = Opportunities:

What is currently happening that can give me the opportunity for personal growth and improved performance? As technology changes and society advances what new opportunities will occur that I can take advantage of?

T = Threats:

What changes or forces may affect my current situation or act as a barrier to future development? Which people might get in the way? How could I sabotage my own development?

The Strengths and Limitations elements are personal to you. Opportunities and Threats lie in the external environment.

Use Your SLOT Analysis To:

• Identify how you can maximise the use of your strengths

• See how you can compensate for your limitations

• Identify opportunities, particularly ones that may not be immediately obvious

• If at all possible, see if threats can be turned into opportunities

What you have been in the past can only have two influences on the present – positive or negative. I believe that successful people have invisible plastic wings on their shoulders and this prevents them continually looking back: They only take good experiences forward with them, casting off disappointments, errors of judgement and unhappy times.

Today’s News: Imagine being able to find all of the world’s best sales blogs in one location – well from tomorrow you will be able to do just that -

Full details tomorrow.

Tomorrow: My guest is Dr.Drew Stevens – the “Voice Of TSE”

All managers expected to carry out performance appraisal should have some training. Ideally this should not just be on the skills of performance appraisal – the ‘how’ to do it, but also on the reasons for performance appraisal the ‘why’ we do it. Managers should understand how it fits into the wider strategic process of performance management and how the information and data generated contributes to understanding of the capacity of the human capital of the organisation to contribution to business strategy and value.

A basic requirement is that appraisers have the skills to carry out an effective appraisal as described above. This means they ask the right questions, listen actively and provide feedback.

Asking the right questions:

The two main issues are to ensure that appraisers ask open and probing questions.

Open questions are general rather than specific; they enable people to decide how they should be answered and encourage them to talk freely. Examples include:

• How do you feel things have been going?

• How do you see the job developing?

• How do you feel about that?

• Tell me, why do you think that happened?

Probing questions dig deeper for more specific information on what happened or shy. They can should support for the individual’s answer and encourage them to provide more information about their feelings and attitudes and they can also be used to reflect back to the individual and check information. Examples would be:

• That’s very interesting. Tell me more about ….?

• To what extent do you think that …?

• Have I got the right impression? Do you mean that ….?

Listening:

Good listeners:

• Concentrate on the speakers and are aware of behaviour, body language and nuances that supplement what is being said.

• Respond quickly when necessary but don’t interrupt.

• Ask relevant questions to clarify meaning.

• Comment on points to demonstrate understanding but keep them short and do not inhibit the flow of the speaker.

Giving feedback

Feedback should be based on facts not subjective opinion and should always be backed up with evidence and examples. The aim of feedback should be to promote the understanding of the individual so that they are aware of the impact of their actions and behaviour. It may require corrective action where the feedback indicates that something has gone wrong. However, wherever possible feedback should be used positively to reinforce the good and identify opportunities for further positive action. Giving feedback is a skill and those with no training should be discouraged from giving feedback.

Feedback will work best when the following conditions are met:

• Feedback is built in with individuals being given access to readily available information on their performance and progress.

• Feedback is related to actual events, observed behaviours or actions.

• Feedback describes events without judging them.

• Feedback is accompanies by questions soliciting the individual’s opinion why certain things happened.

• People are encouraged to come to their own conclusions about what happened and why.

• There is understanding about what things went wrong and an emphasis on putting them right rather than censuring past behaviour.

Today’s News: I have received a number of messages in the last two weeks, asking if I am going to run “The JF Annual Awards” this year, and the answer is most definitely yes! We are currently working on some designs, and I will be announcing the nominees on the 16th. If you missed last year’s event, you can check out, what it is all about here 

Tomorrow: My favourite posts of the week – “JF Uncut” is back, so if you need some light relief after all that Christmas shopping, be sure to join me.

In his book “Fundamentals of Selling”, Charles Futrell identifies careful use of selling time as perhaps the distinguishing characteristic of the successful salesperson. Frequently there are two main pitfalls that even experienced salespeople can fall into in terms of activities. First, they simply aren’t doing enough. What’s enough? Enough telephone calls to make appointments, enough face-to-face calls, enough calls that involve or influence the decision-makers. In general, the more focused sales activity salespeople generate, the greater the number of sales opportunities they can create.

Poor Quality Activity:

Second, but equally important, salespeople often aren’t clear about how to identify the prospects most likely to have a genuine need for their product or service. Without an objective way to prioritise which prospects to contact first and/or an efficient strategy for contacting them, salespeople are doomed to waste a large percentage of their time.

Another huge dilemma for many salespeople is how to divide their time between servicing existing clients and generating new business from new prospects. Existing clients frequently make requests for service that could be dealt with by support staff. But salespeople who lack a disciplined, future-orientated plan for generating new contacts and sales often find themselves spending more time attending to “urgent” tasks for existing accounts instead. A common approach among salespeople can be summarised in the saying “If you throw enough mud against the wall, some of it is bound to stick”. This approach is exhausting, demoralising, extremely unproductive, and very expensive in the long term.

Speed Of Relaying Customer Information:

The Sales Director provides another interesting dimension to activity management. Apart from product or service knowledge, salespeople require knowledge about prospects, clients, and market trends. Therefore, if the information those salespeople require isn’t relayed in an efficient manner, their “face-to-face” selling activities are dramatically reduced.

Today’s News: Mixed reaction to my new banner: My son Joe, who regular visitors will remember is studying Astro-Physics at Cambridge University said: “The top of your head doesn’t seem to exist. You just go from eyes to eyebrows to white. Very ghostly. I like black on white though. Very minimalist and crisp”

So, this is what an education at one of the world’s leading seats of learning gives you – the ability to identify the obvious!

Tomorrow: My guest is Paul McCord and you can expect more commentary, if I do not get woken up at 5.30 am by the hotel’s fire alarm system and am left to freeze outside for an hour and a half!

Success should be something you don’t just ‘Kinda Sorta’ want to achieve but something you must achieve.

Generally top achievers expect to be successful and as a consequence they usually are. They are driven by a ‘have to’ attitude not a ‘want to’ attitude.

If you have no concrete goals and you have been succeeding in spite of yourself, just think how much more success you could enjoy if you set your sights on a definite path and had a specific time-frame in which you expect to reach your destination.

Setting Goals Keeps You Focussed:

What you should know is that goals give you three distinct advantages, which help you succeed:

• Goals keep you on track

• Goals let you know when and what to celebrate

• Goals give you a focussed plan to work with

If nothing else, goals let others know what they have to aim for to keep up with your standards.

Effective Goal Setting:

Take the time to think about what would make you happy, contented and satisfied and about what would motivate you to become a Top 5% Player.

It’s important to remember that goals are maps; they will guide you towards your success – the more detailed your goal setting the easier it will be for you to reach your destination.

When you are in the first stage of goal setting you also need to remember two important factors – i.e.

• The goal must be better than your best yet – but it must be achievable.

• Goals should be based on productivity not production.

Keeping these two rules of goal setting firmly in your mind will help you to form and stay committed to what is really important to you.

Time Yourself – By Months, Years & Decades:

• Always begin with long-term goals and work backwards. Your long-term goals are probably the most difficult to set anyway, so if you set those first, you accomplish the tough stuff right up-front.

• Long-term goals should be five-year projections and three areas you may want to consider when you set them are personal accomplishments, status symbols and net worth.

• Medium-term goals are usually three year projections and the same criteria can be used – but again think productivity not production and consider the activity that will be necessary to achieve success.

• Short-term goals will demand most of your attention and these are usually a twelve-month projection although you can set ‘immediate goals’ which have a 90-day projection.

You must believe you can achieve all of your goals – otherwise you will not
achieve them.

Setting a Well Balanced Diet of Goals:

It is essential to set personal as well as career goals to keep your life well balanced. If all your goals are connected to your commercial life, you will have trouble taking time out for family and friends because you will always be pushing towards the next career goal.

Remember:

Work smarter not harder. Setting personal goals gives you a life after business.

Put Your Goals in Writing:

Once you have formulated your goals it is time to make your final commitment to them by putting them down in writing. This is undoubtedly the single most important step in goal setting because until they are inscribed somewhere they are merely wishes and dreams.

After you have written them down, your mind will start seeking out whatever it will take to make them a reality.

Remember:

The moment you start moving forward towards a goal is the moment you start to succeed.

In Summary:

Even though you do not need to set goals in order to reach some level of success, most professionals who fail to set goals reach a plateau and lack either the motivation or the direction to go beyond it. They are unable to move upwards to a higher achievement status.

Today’s News:

Special message from the “Queen Of Cold Calling” that I need to pass on to you:

Hello Jonathan,
 
Earlier this week, I sent you an email that we will be hosting our first ever Black Friday Sa.le!  This is just a reminder for you of the following coupon codes needed to take advantage of these special offers:
 
40% off of all products (excluding events and teleclasses) all day Friday, November 28, 2008. (use coupon code BF2008) to view the product store, click here.
 
50% off of one of three available Cold Calling College Live tuitions (starting February 2009) – a savings of nearly $500.00!  (use coupon code BFCCCL) For more information on Cold Calling College Live, Click Here.

Sounds like some pretty good deals to me

Tomorrow: It’s JF Uncut, and I am going to be thinking about what it takes for people to think they have “made it,” just how far the British go to “Keep up with the Jones’” – and how such insane vanity is now leading to such agony.

As I mentioned yesterday, we are coming up to that time of year when we should be benchmarking our 2008 performance, conducting post-mortems and setting out our objectives for 2009. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be offering advice and providing guidelines.

I have always worked with the following formula:

Attitude + Skills + Process + Knowledge = Success

Therefore, when measuring my teams, I always ensure that I benchmark against that criteria:

A simplified example might look something like this (although I have to admit that my own companies’ measurement system is much more rigorous):

Personal

• Self-organisation & planning

• Motivation and attitude

• Ability to work under pressure

• Team playing and interpersonal skills

• Personal presentation

• Communication (oral/written/listening)

• Flexibility

• Initiative

• Performance vs. objectives

Sales

• Account management

• Business development

• Opportunity assessment -qualification

• Negotiation skills

• Presentation skills

• Strategic work

• Pro-activity

• Forecasting

• Achievement of targets

And for those with supervisory responsibilities you could add:

• Delegating authority

• Decision making

• Motivating – i.e. Creating enthusiasm and confidence

• Appraising and assessing

• Selecting and recruiting

• Coaching and developing

• Creativity

• Planning and allocating resource

• Representing

Next you need to implement a grading or scoring system – I use the following:

E – Poor: Definitely below acceptable standards; performance of job requirements is consistently deficient.

D – Fair: Improvement is needed to meet acceptable standards; performance of job requirements is inconsistent.

C – Average: Meets acceptable standards; performance of job requirements is consistent.

B – Good: Above acceptable standards; performance usually exceeds job requirements.

A – Excellent: Outstanding; unquestionably above acceptable standards; performance consistently exceeds job requirements.

In addition I translate these marks into scores, because that provides me with an overall numerical total which is so much easier to use when making comparisons:

I.e. using the above measurement scale: A=5, B=4 etc

In fact, I allow myself further “latitude” by using + or -, which in effect provides me with not five levels of rating but fifteen!

So now I have: E- = 0, E = 1, E+ = 2, all the way up to A+ which is now the equivalent of 14

This makes it so much easier to avoid the two common mistakes in rating i.e.:

Firstly, a tendency to rate nearly everyone as “average” on every characteristic instead of being more critical in judgement. The evaluator should use the ends of the scale as well as the middle.

Secondly, the “halo effect,” i.e. a tendency to rate the same individual “excellent” on every characteristic or “poor” on every characteristic based on the overall picture one has of the person being evaluated. However, each person has strong and weak points and these should be indicated on the rating scales.

What Else Should An Effective Appraisal Include? Mine Include All Of These:

Performance versus Commercial Targets

Specific Objectives vs. Results Summary

Quarterly Performance Rating

Commercial Targets For The Next Twelve Months

Specific Objectives For The Next Twelve Months

Performance versus Commercial Targets:

In this section, I review performance against all commercial targets for example:

• Revenue achieved.

• Overall gross margin.

• CCT (Customer contact time) as a % of TWT (Total working time).

• New accounts opened.

• Revenue increases from existing accounts.

Specific Objectives vs. Results Summary:

Specific objectives are all those targets that are “non – commercial” for example:

• Increase product knowledge in x areas.

• Profile any key accounts.

• Improve presentation skills.

• Attend a “Key Account Management” course.

• Become more involved with the induction of new recruits

Quarterly Performance Rating:

I have always believed in frequent reviews and as a consequence, I hold QBR (Quarterly Business Review) meetings at the end of each quarter. The scoring system is identical to the annual appraisal and in fact the QBRs provide most of the information and data for the annual session.

Commercial Targets and Specific Objectives for the Next Twelve Months:

A good appraisal should always conclude with agreement from both parties on the targets and objectives for the next twelve months. These do not have to be set in stone and can be reviewed at the next QBR; however it is essential that every individual buys in to what is expected of them.

Target setting is a vitally important part of a manager’s function because if targets are set too high that will only act as a demotivator: Equally, if they are set too low, typically that is all that will be achieved.

In the same way the high jumper just clears the bar and does not leap a metre over the top, salespeople sell to expectation and have no inclination to burst through targets – unless of course, there is a significant incentive on offer! Although that begs the question of why they were not challenged with a higher target in the first place?

Finally, it is important that the manager uses the occasion to send the apraisee away feeling good about themselves, fully motivated and believing that all of the targets that have been agreed are indeed achievable – a motivational summary works wonders, even if there were areas of concern during the meeting, always focus on the highlights.

Today’s News: What do you make of this?

“Improved Sales Opportunities

Marketing automation aswell helps ensure that sales and business departments are in accord about how to accomplish the adapted admission in sales. The software can accommodate tools, analysis -to-be leads and conduct alone business campaigns. According to architect and business adviser Jill Konrath, “The alone way to abduction the absorption of accumulated accommodation makers is to actualize a actual alone bulletin based on all-embracing analysis of their firm.”

You can aswell accumulate in blow with algid leads, which may accompany approaching sales if they balmy up. Lead-generation accoutrement advice ascertain advance backbone and forward those leads anon to your sales force, accretion the achievability of bound axis a advance into a sale.”

Yep, I agree and I passed it on to Jill yesterday, who was equally mortified. It seeems that we are all becoming victims of machine translation these days – this extract is taken from: http://www.usd8.com/how-business-automation-increases-leads/ - I am investigating!

To all of you who have e-mailed me to ask when and where you can register for the TSE “Roundtable” event on December 9th – “Selling Successfully In A Downturn Economy” I can confirm that full details will be posted here next Tuesday – December 2nd.

Tomorrow: On the JF Guest Author Spot – the ubiquitous Tim Wackell