Sales Team Motivation: LinkedIn Quotes

by Lois Wong

10 Sales Team Motivation Quotes

These quotes appeared on Linkedin and I thought I would share them with you. My favorite is #6.  Feel free to share with me your favorite quote.

1. “If you're going through hell, keep going.” -Winston Churchill
2. “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." - Wayne Dyer
3. “Things may come to those who wait, but only what's left behind by those that hustle.” -Abraham Lincoln
4. “A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position." - John Maxwell
5. "Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by others doing it." - James Baldwin
6. "People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily." - Zig Ziglar
7. "A man is not measured by how much he can take and stand but by how fast he regains once fallen." - General George S. Patton
8. "Action is the antidote to Despair." - Joan Baez  
9. “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature... Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." - Helen Keller
10. “Action is the foundation key to all success." - Pablo Picasso

Word of Mouth Campaign

Word of Mouth Campaign - Supergenius!

WindsorONE Supergenius Invitations! from The Empty Bin on Vimeo.

One of my business partners, Craig Flynn of Windsor One, created a fantastic invitation for the Supergenius Conference which takes place in New York City next week. This is a great example of word of mouth marketing at it’s best.

The invitation is interesting, memorable and FUN. He’s given his customers and prospects something to talk about. I can have all the right channels set up to facilitate a viral marketing campaign, but if I don’t have a message that is unusual or thought-provoking, the communication won’t go anywhere.

Andy Sernovitz, in his book Word of Mouth Marketing lays out exactly how to do this. He talks about the Five T's in a successful word of mouth campaign:

• Talkers: Find people who will talk about you
• Topics: Give people a reason to talk
• Tools: Help the message spread faster and farther
• Taking Part: Join the conversation
• Tracking: Measure and understand what people are saying

Well done Craig. Wish I could be there to throw the first tomato.

A Leader's Role In Sales Coaching: 5 Simple Questions

by Lois Wong

A Leader's Role in Sales Coaching

Do you manage sales people?  Are you in the position of leadership and your sales team comes to you for coaching?  Thomas Kayser, author of Mining Group Gold, has some advice for you.

Personalize your coaching

Ask everyone who reports to you what they need from you in order to do their jobs better.  They will define what successful coaching is--not you. Sit down with each sales executive, one-on-one and run through five simple questions:

1. What am I doing well that is helping you to be successful?
2. What am I doing that you wish I were doing differently because it is hindering your effectiveness?
3. Do you have the information you need to do your job?
4. Are you satisfied with the degree of influence you have in decisions that affect your work?
5. Am I available when needed to coach and counsel you regarding on-going or new projects/assignments?

This takes the responsibility for defining coaching success out of your hands and puts it where it belongs--with your sales people.

Effective coaching develops over time

Sales coaching is not a one-shot deal.  It involves routinely sitting down with each sales person, perhaps 45 minutes per month, and reviewing the five questions. 

Why coach if you do not passionately desire to become a better leader with each and every sales person under your wing?  With proper coaching your team will thrive.

Sales Team Metrics: "Is Talk Time a Relevant Metric?"

By Mary Hendow, contributing blogger

Sales Team Metrics: "Is Talk Time a Relevant Metric?"

There’s an interesting debate about Talk Time on the LinkedIn group Telebusiness Alliance. I fall in the camp that believes Talk Time is a meaningful metric when used with other metrics.   

 

Setting a benchmark for Dials and Talk Time should be based on historical data for your organization.  Compare the last six months data for both metrics and graph them with sales revenue, for each rep and as a team average (by week or month, depending on your data).   Focus on your A players and you should find a meaningful benchmark. Remember that the Dials/Talk Time are leading indicators and revenue follows depending on your sales cycle.  This information can be used to set baseline goals for your team. 

 

I recommend coaching to this metric quarterly, at a minimum.  Typically there’s a “sweet spot” for reps, where the combination of dials/talk time leads to peak sales. Let me use Chatty Cathy and Frank, both top reps with similar sales results, as examples. Frank is quick to qualify, he has good intuition, and can quickly size up a candidate as either a prospect or a “no-po” (no power); his “sweet spot” is 2 hours and 65 dials.  Chatty Cathy is great with building rapport, her clients love her, and her “sweet spot” is 3 hours of talk time and 50 dials.  

 

If Chatty Cathy starts spending more time talking and less time dialing, her sales will fall. Conversely, if Frank’s dials go up and talk time goes down, he isn’t spending enough time probing and qualifying his clients.  In both cases, it's about meaningful conversations, probing and qualifying  There are other metrics (contact % and conversions) that identify similar weaknesses, however, when you focus on Dials and Talk Time metrics and coach to corresponding soft skill sets, these daily activities benchmarks can drive improved performance.  

Major Account Selling: The Top 5 Reasons that Sales People Fail

Major Account Selling: The Top 5 Reasons that Sales People Fail

 

I read a great blog post today: The Top Five Reasons that Sales People Fail at hightechguru.com. It’s worth a read - but in the meantime, here’s the shortened version with my commentary:

 

1. Buyers have a system, sales people usually don’t.

Did you know that there are organizations out there that train buyers how to “get better deals?” (www.dobetterdeals.com). Buyers are afraid of being sold something they don’t want, and consequently are quite defensive. Sales people need a methodology or a “system” for adding value to the buying process.

2. Sales people spend too much time with prospects that will never buy.

60% of a sales person’s time is spent in front of people who will not buy their product. Qualifying out a prospect is as important a skill as qualifying one in. 

3. Sales people talk too much.

This one speaks for itself. You can’t learn much about the real issues that a prospect is having if you are doing all the talking. Listen more. 

4. Sales people focus too much on price.

Price is never the real issue. People make buying decisions because they have a problem to solve or they need to change something. Help them figure out how to do what they are want to do and price becomes less important. 

5. Sales people fail to get firm commitments from buyers.

All too often, sales people jump through hoops to provide presentations, proposals, demos etc before understanding the prospect’s motivation – resulting in a lot of wasted effort. Sales people need to first become adept at helping buyers feel more comfortable sharing their pain/gain – and then get their commitment to appropriate next steps. Great sales people mark the steps of the sales cycle based on customer activities, not their own.

 

 

If you find yourself losing more deals than you’d like – do a self-assessment. Do any of the five areas above have your name on them?

 

 

 

Sales Team Metrics as a Motivational Tool

by Mary Hendow, contributing blogger

Sales Team Metrics as a Motivational Tool

 

Metrics, benchmarks and key performance indicators (KPI’s) track performance against goals and drive key decisions in most organizations.  So why do so many sales people groan at the mention of these terms?  I believe that all too often, they are used to micro-manage an organization, which creates frustration, fear and paralysis. Great sales organizations, however, understand that metrics provide a road map for improving results, and when effectively used inspire success and motivate peak performance.

 

Bill Stinnett, in his book Think Like Your Customer, talks about the connection between performance, measurement, and motivation: “Where performance is measured, performance improves. Measuring any human activity will cause those being measured to be more effective and efficient.  It’s human nature to want to do better over time.”  

 

Metrics and benchmarking of sales teams, sales processes, and sales activities are the passports to success.  There is both an art and a science to the use of sales team metrics; the metrics need to be accurate, well thought out, and delivered strategically and tactically.   

 

Metrics provide focus and clarity to your sales strategy. Chip and Dan Heath in their wonderful book Switch point out the importance of emotions in driving successful change: “behavior change happens in highly successful situations mostly by speaking to people’s feelings.”  Using metrics to inspire your sales team to reach for that feeling of success will likely have better results than if you speak only to the logical, rational, non-emotional reasons to make x number of calls per day.

 

Metrics are a powerful coaching tool that can be used to leverage the desire for success. Use metrics to inspire and empower, rather than to micro-manage if you want peak performance from your team.

 

 

 

Sales Team Motivation: It Requires More than a Good Comp Plan!

Sales Team Motivation: It Requires More than a Good Comp Plan!

I’m a metrics junkie. I think that data is important for making good decisions (for a really great book on data, read Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers is the New Way to be Smart by Ian Ayers). And yet I also know that all the metrics in the world won’t help a sales team perform if they aren’t motivated.

 

Dan Pink in his book Drive, disabused me of the notion that a “good” compensation structure is enough to motivate. Jim Collins takes this thinking a step further and wrote in his book Good to Great that “Expending energy trying to motivate people is largely a waste of time.” He believes that a manager’s job is to hire self-motivated people in the first place, and then manage in such a way so as to NOT de-motivate them.

 

In my current work with sales teams, I spend as much time on metrics as I do on motivation. I also try to insert a measure of fun into the process. If we’re going to spend 8+ hours/day working – let’s not only be successful, but let’s enjoy getting there.

 

I thought that Collins’ recommendations for creating a motivating culture is worth revisiting, so here goes:

 

4 Basic Practices for Creating a Culture Where Self-Motivation Can Flourish:

 

1. "Lead with Questions, Not Answers"
2. "Engage in dialogue and debate, not coercion"
3. "Conduct autopsies, without blame"
4. "Build red flag mechanisms. Make it easy for employees and customers to speak up when they identify a problem"

 

Reminder: metrics without motivation is meaningless.

Small Business Marketing Strategies: 10 Things to Consider

by Lois Wong

Small Business Marketing Strategies: 10 Things to Consider

 

 

While in an auto parts store searching for supplies to reapply a new coat of wax to my car, I secretly worried about the number of hours it would take to do this.  The car hadn’t been waxed but 3 times since 2005. 

 

The auto parts sales person introduced me to John, a mobile detailer who consented to evaluate the condition of the paint and its overall damage.  John said the paint is dry, the color is dull, and the sparkle is gone.  It sounds more like he’s describing my table wine than the paint.  The good news is that he could turn back the hands of time and detail the car to showroom quality.  I am thrilled.  As we continue talking I could see the passion in his eyes ignite.

 

John’s detailing job on my car exceeded all expectations to the extent that I volunteered to be a referral source.  Afterwards, while eating lunch we discussed his 20-year passion.  Having just been laid off, he was unsure whether to move forward with his mobile detailing business, or to look for another job.

 

By the end of our lunch John decided to retain my services and we laid out a simple sales and marketing strategy. We started with the 10 things one should consider when building a business:

 

1. Potential Revenue
2. Service Offering & Pricing
3. Web Presence
4. Social Media
5. Client Database
6. Supplies
7. Taxes
8. Medical Costs
9. Employees or Contractors
10. Other expenses

 

In the following 2 weeks I worked with John on key sales skills for a small business owner. His training included how to ask for referrals, word-of-mouth advertising, updating and optimizing his website, enhancing his presence on LinkedIn, creating an ad on Yelp, and defining his unique value proposition. Two days after the Yelp site was up, someone called asking him to do a full detail!

 

Coincidentally, he was also approached by a potential employer.

 

Four short weeks later, despite the recessionary economy, he realized that his sales had increased by 36%!  And his business continues to grow daily. 

 

I’d love to help your business do the same. Feel free to call me and we’ll map out a growth plan customized for you.

Best Practices in Sales: Get Everyone Selling

Best Practices In Sales: Get Everyone Selling

 

All too often I step into sales departments that feel “misunderstood” by the rest of the company. In a situation recently, there was an unusual amount of animosity towards the sales function in general.

 

• “They’re just sales people.”
• “I can do what they do, why don’t they pay me the commission.”
• “The product sells itself, what do we need sales people for?” This one is my personal favorite.      

 

The truth of the matter is, everyone is in sales whether they like it or not. And successful companies understand that they need every department within an organization working together “delighting” customers if they want to truly succeed. 

 

My challenge with this company, as well as with other clients, is that typically I am only working with the sales (and sometimes marketing) departments. And I have no authority to implement programs in finance, accounting, support, administration, engineering, etc. 

 

And yet I know that if I can get these other departments “selling” with us, then our sales will increase.

 

So with this particular client, here’s what I did. I told the sales team that every time they closed a deal, they needed to thank and recognize someone from another department for their role in making that particular sale happen. And we posted these on a huge, highly visible board in the center of the office. We didn’t tell anyone what we were doing. We just started doing it.

 

Within a matter of days, we noticed people from various departments stopping by the board to read who had influenced a particular sale. The company started talking about it. And silos started disappearing.

 

• Support asked for a meeting with the sales team to see how they could be more helpful.
• Finance asked if there were customer billing problems that hadn’t been resolved that might be affecting customer satisfaction.
• Marketing asked for input on what the most commonly asked questions were so that they could be answered on the website, freeing up valuable sales people’s time.
• Administration asked if we needed more space to post the growing number of sales that were being closed.

 

And most importantly, the number of sales increased by 30% within 60 days, and the average deal size doubled!

 

When the entire company is involved in selling. Everyone wins.

 

Successful sales strategy, best practices in sales, b2b sales strategy, business to business sales training, proven sales techniques, sales management tips.

 

When the entire company is involved in selling. Everyone wins.

Sales Management Tips: Sharing Control

by Lois Wong

 

 

Have you ever had the misfortune of working for a micromanaging sales manager? I can say from personal experience that it’s demoralizing. 

 

Several years ago, I was selling enterprise solutions for a Fortune 500 Company. I was very surprised when one day my sales manager confronted me about scheduling a customer meeting at 9:30 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. The customer requested this time which allowed him to check emails and get settled in before my meeting him.  She found that hard to believe and asked for his phone number! An iron-fisted manager thrives on power and control. 

 

Over a few short months, the entire sales team was frustrated.  Reprimands and recommendations from her boss about this micromanaging style resulted in minimal improvement over the next 6 months. Ultimately, she was informed that the team didn’t respect her, and that her style of sales management was distracting the team from closing business. Her response was, “this isn’t a popularity contest.”  No, however, in order to lead a sales team to achieve its goals, the team must be willing to follow a manager’s lead. Ultimately, she was removed from the role.

 

As Thomas A. Kayser writes, “power sharing increases sales motivation and commitment."  A comment I have heard hundreds of times goes something like this:  “How do you expect me to manage my sales team if I have to give up my authority and control?”  Shared power is about sharing control, not giving up control.  Facilitating shared power means you trade-off the ironfisted control of making sales people do something for the shared control of helping to make the process of their doing something possible and successful!  You have traded off de-motivated compliance (“I will do because I have to”) for motivated commitment (“I’ll do it because I understand it and I want to”).

                                                                                                 

Sharing power means everyone getting over the restrictive mindset that says: “If I’m not in total control of the situation, then it must be out of control, because I’m the only one capable of keeping things controlled.”  Until that happens, centralization will rule!”

 

Sales managers who lead by control and authority may experience results but not long lasting ones.