Sales managers aren’t the only ones that often struggle with leadership credibility.  In fact, you don’t have to look any further than the nightly news to feel the sting and of corporate violation, corruption and erosion.  The nightly news depicts the story of a nation with an abiding sense of collective anxiety, understandable and certainly NOT easy to talk about. 

When you are having a bad day in your personal life you may lien on a colleague or family member to help you process your concerns.  Yet, when your feelings of upset are based on larger issues such as where is this country headed, it feels odd to discuss it at lunch.  That’s why the call for leadership has never been greater.  Beyond exceeding sales forecasts, our teams and our nation are determined by the character of the people who lead them.

I’m reminded of a story of Gandhi, who rejected a mother’s plea to help her diabetic son stop eating sugar.  Gandhi said to bring the child back in a week. Surprised, she followed Gandhi’s request and brought the boy back in a week.  Within a month, the boy overcame his challenges.  Perplexed, the woman asked, why couldn’t you help the first time we came to you?  Gandhi said, “a week earlier I was still eating sugar”.

Building character means taking the actions that challenge you to face your fears. It means mastering the internal rewards of honesty - taking bold steps every day to build your courage muscles so you have what it takes to stand up to adversity. It means working on your own personal growth so that you encourage others to develop theirs.  And, it means being willing to rock the boat in order to stand by your convictions so you can protect your rights as well as the rights of others.

What actions will you commit to this week to inspire your sales team through the integrity of your leadership?

Action Challenge

One way to evaluate your strengths as a leader is to consider the following questions: 

• Am I open, direct and honest in all of my communications with my sales team?
• Do I operate with full disclosure – especially when no one is looking?
• Do I ask of my sales team only what I am willing to do myself?
• Is my own self improvement a daily practice or a periodic event?
• Are my words consistent with my actions as a sales manager?

In other words, get off your own agenda if you want to win more business!  Your goal – especially in a sales situation is maximum, mutual understanding. 

Here are 6 secrets you can’t afford to ignore if you want to truly stand out in the eyes of your customer or prospect.

1. Ask if it’s okay to ask questions.

Susan, can we take a few minutes for questions if it’s okay with you?  I’d like to make sure I understand your key priorities.  I'll also make sure to give you time to ask me questions so we can come to a mutually beneficial decision and discuss next steps.  Does that make sense?

2. Be sensitive to timing.

We scheduled an hour for this meeting and we have about 10 minutes left.  Are you okay if we take an extra 10 minutes to talk?
 
3. When you ask a question give people a minute to process it – and WAIT for an answer.
Just because someone looks away from you, don’t assume they aren’t planning to respond.  Some people require ample time to sort through options in their mind – looking away to reflect internally.  Some personality types seem to take an eternity so practice patience and be sure to slow down and wait for a response (no matter how long it takes.)

4. Recognize and reward their response. 
When people are rewarded for something they usually continue doing it.  Letting people know (verbally or nonverbally) that they are providing useful information motivates them to continue to continue – helping you to illicit more data points.

5. Be cautious of asking questions with an agenda attached. 

Examples of questions with an agenda sound like: 

• By cost effective, don't you really mean…?
• Wouldn't it be better to…? 
• Won't you need a…?

6. Use “how” or “what” as question clarifiers instead of “why.”

Replace “Why is that important to you?” with:

• Can you take me through exactly what about the order process is important to you? 
• Can you share with me how the deliver time is important to you?

One of the foundational ideas in our sales training program, Selling Below the Price Line, is the importance of attitude. 

You can have great skills and terrific knowledge but if you don’t have an attitude that exudes confidence and enthusiasm, you will fail to reach your true potential.  It’s also important that you have a strong positive attitude about the value of your contribution to customer satisfaction.  So what exactly constitutes a good attitude?

Attitude is the total mindset of a person as it relates to any personal endeavor that person undertakes. A positive attitude allows you to take full responsibility for the condition of your life despite outward circumstances.  People with a solid, positive, healthy attitude are not victims over their life they are resilient.

When it comes to our day-to-day work in the world of sales and customer service it’s easy to forget that every interface is an opportunity to make the experience of being a customer more memorable. That’s why it’s important to do an attitude check at the start of every day. Start each day by visualizing the outcome you want to achieve.  Picture the people you meet and the attitude you will carry forward that will help you reach your goals.  Focus on what is exciting and what you are looking forward to.  Consider, “how can I make the life of my customer easier today?  Consider one area you can learn and improve today to create even greater value for your customers and your company. 

Without a sense of focus, direction, purpose and plan you will find yourself falling into the status quo of answering questions instead of asking them; addressing customer issues instead of discovering what the customer is looking for and attempting to creatively offer good suggestions. Without a positive attitude about your contribution to the customer’s objectives you will look like every other sales person your customer has encountered up until now. If you allow a lax attitude about customer relationship management, customer service, customer attention or customer satisfaction then over time sales will be lost to competitors and profits will go out the door with them.

Attitude checklist: 

Ask yourself these questions (adjust to your sales role)

• Is my store selling all it could? Am I selling all I can?
• Am I committed to ensuring that every customer I meet has an extraordinary experience? 
• Am I striving to know all I can about my industry, my market, my customers and my products or services?
• Am I advancing my ability to convert a phone call into an appointment then convert appointments into sales?
• Am I happy to see our store succeeding with revenues that exceed our cost of operations or am I just happy to get a steady paycheck no matter how well my store is doing?”

A good attitude will not let the status quo become the benchmark that defines business performance. A bad attitude tolerates failure and customer neglect. 

So how do you create a positive state of mind every day that supports you in doing your job as well as you can? 

Stay tuned for our next session to learn the four steps necessary for creating a positive attitude.

Every now and then I come across a thought provoking prose that stirs and awakens me with it’s stark simplicity.  Here is one I love from wild, crazy, brilliant, author and management guru Tom Peters who says, “it’s always better to try a swan dive and deliver a colossal belly flop than to step timidly off the board while holding your nose.”

Isn’t that true?! 

How are you doing on the swan dive/belly flop continuum of your sales career?  Do you risk enough? Dare enough?  Dream boldly enough?  Or, do you sometimes play it too safe, waiting for the “conditions to be right” or, “things to slow down?”

When I find myself “stuck” and “timidly holding my nose” I’ve learned to take control of the questions that run rampant in my mind.  Here are some “swan dive” worthy questions for your consideration:

•  What would I have to do to play full out in this sales situation?
• In what areas of my sales career am I holding back, playing it safe?  What is the cost? 
• What is the one change I can make today that will impact everything else? 
• How can I enjoy serving my customers more?  
• What do I need to learn?  Unlearn?
• What is great about this challenge in front of me?

All serious daring starts with a choice … a timid, careful dive … or a big, bold splashy one? 

Margin of Victory

Excellent salespeople are only about 3% better at a number of important things.  There is only a small margin of difference between mediocre and outstanding.  These sales people are masters at the basics:

Sales Training Strategy  #1:  Adaptability

Top salespeople know their strengths and adapt easily to different client behavioural styles.  They have what I like to call, Personality Intelligence.  They relate so well with others, people want to do business with them.  They demonstrate adaptability in every situation by using well developed listening and communication skills. 

Sales Training Strategy #2:  Client Focus

Successful sales people know more about their clients than they know about the product or service they are selling!  That’s not to say they aren’t knowledgeable about the things they sell, it is to say the true needs of a client or potential client is their primary focus.   

Sales Training Strategy #3:  Diagnose before Prescribing

The best salespeople ask more (and better) questions.  They take time to articulate the appropriate questions that serve to add value in a sales call.  Mediocre performers spend most of their time presenting solutions without first diagnosing the challenge.

Sales Training Strategy #4:  Wide and Deep

The best of class salespeople deliberately develop strategic relationships with as many people as possible in the organizations they do business with.  Average performers rely on one friendly contact or they may ignore entire other areas.  This is where the competition can step in!

Sales Training Strategy #5:  Time = Money

The top 3% sales professionals are living proof that the effective and profitable use of time is a key to success.  Everyone says that they use their time wisely, but few are strategic about it. 

Until recently, my workouts have been relegated to tae bo kickboxing, lifting weights and an occasional yoga class.  That is … until I found my first SPIN class! (definition: stationary bike, dark room, sweaty bodies, iron man instructor, loud music, pure torture).

As I casually climbed onto my bike with 25 other obvious ‘regulars’ (people with the “real” bike shoes) I couldn’t help but feel Starbuck’s would have been a better choice.  Looking up at the instructor exhausted, with another 53 minutes to go, I heard two nasty little words I quickly learned to dread … GEAR UP! 

As I reached down to advance another grueling two turns on the resistance knob below, I couldn’t help but sense the relevance here to selling during challenging times.  The edgy terrain of rapid change definitely calls for sales people to be fit, be ready and to gear up in order to maintain a competitive advantage.  Those that fail to turn their gear and coast on the flat road instead, will more than likely find themselves at the back of the pack.  

Gearing Up Suggestions:

One way to eliminate the “business as usual” inertia that keeps teams from getting ahead, is to start talking about your sales strategy regularly.  It doesn't take more than a few hours in a well-designed session to eradicate sales strategies that no longer make sense.   

Consider these questions individually or as a team, replacing “we” with “I” as necessary:  

• In the past 90 days, how did we change the numbers in the company’s favor?  What sales accomplishments were achieved?  Dig deep here.  Don’t settle for “met our sales quota.” 
• In the past 90 days, what were the three most important areas we failed to measure up? Here, you are gathering data as to what gaps are apparent.
• In the past 90 days, what are the three most important things we have learned about our sales strategy? This is critical to advancing the strategy and tactics of the company.
• In the past 90 days, how have the rules of the game changed in terms of our product? Brand? Competition?  What are we doing to gear up for the change?
   

Maybe you are like me and when it comes to putting time in the gym – sometimes – the café mocha wins.  Then again, more often than not, you will find me in the dark, with two towels, second row, gearing up for the hill ahead.  Join me?

What I’ve noticed over the years is that 7% of the sales people in most organizations produce 93% of the results. So why is it that some sales people consistently achieve their goals while others constantly struggle?  They do things differently. 

Here are 11 motivational sales strategies for reinventing how to sell during challenging times:  

Be Daring – the best ideas are born in troubled times.  How would Richard Branson or Steven Jobs handle your challenge?
Be Proactive – Move towards the things you can control rather than focusing on the things you can’t.  Obstacles are necessary for your success in selling.  Get over it.
Be Resourceful – Don’t wait for answers.  Create them.
Be Excited – Your customers don’t buy your product – they buy you.  Your own resolve to stay positive and excited despite outside circumstances is more important than anything else.
Be Constructive – clear your mind of I can’t.
Be Memorable – It’s not your customer’s job to remember you – it’s your responsibility to make it impossible to forget you.
Be Ready –In the words of Ben Franklin, failure to plan is planning to fail.  Successful sales people know the secret to success is having a disciplined, consistent plan of action.  They focus relentlessly on the 20% activities that will create 80% of their results.
Be Strong – Adversity introduces us to ourselves.  We define ourselves by giving the best that is in us.
Be Amazed – Develop a passion for your customers and their problems.  Be more interested than interesting.
Be Unstoppable – “Fall down 7 times, get back up 8.”~ Japanese Proverb.  Refuse to turn back.  Never give up.
Be Different – Refuse to go with the flow.  There is always a demand for something distinctive. Even in the most crowded markets there is room for an innovator with something original to offer or authentic to say.

You have a few clients that create enough stress for you and everyone around them that if you harnessed that energy – you could provide enough energy for the state for a month!  You’re in a business that demands that you constantly reinvent yourself so you don’t become obsolete overnight. 

You live at a time when technology is changing and evolving faster than we humans can think and therefore it demands more of you than any other business I know.

The fact you have chosen the sales profession tells me that you lay it on the line every day to serve others. It speaks volumes about who you are … and it is a pleasure to welcome you to my website where you will gain inspiration, sales motivation and skills to stretch, grow and execute at an entirely new level. 

The privilege of a lifetime is becoming the best you can possibly be … The sales profession is what we make it, and it will always be that way. 

Game on.