Looking Forward to a Great 2009

As we come to the end of another busy year, we’re all looking forward to 2009-some apprehensively, others with great expectations.  Whatever your hopes and dreams about the coming year, nothing good will happen if you don’t make it happen.  The old truism that hope isn’t a strategy is truer in today’s economy than ever before.

Here at McCord Training we have a number of new projects in the works for the coming year-as well as continuing many of the projects we’ve been engaged in for the past few years.

• I’ll continue to work with the top article sites such as Eyes On Sale, Salesopedia, Sales Gravy, Insightory, Sales HQ, Sales Dog, The Customer Collective, AllTop, Smart Draw, and The World’s Best Sales Blogs.  I want to thank each of these great article and blog sites for featuring my work and giving me the opportunity to reach more sales producers and leaders.
• In late spring or early summer my next book, Connected: Turn Your Connections into Your Most Powerful Business Building Tool, will hit the streets thanks to my publisher, Sales Gravy Press.
• The Sales Corporation and Jonathan Farrington are finalizing The Global Sales Council, “a very small, select group of the most respected sales and leadership experts on the planet, who are all committed to taking their expertise and their solutions to a far wider global market” of which I am proud to be a member.  You’ll be seeing a great many initiatives from us over the coming months.
• In addition, I’ll continue to be a contributing member of Top Sales Experts, a larger group of top sales and management experts.
• My seminar and workshop schedule kicks off on Jan 12 with a national seminar for Lorman Education Services on how to manage prospect accounts to keep prospects engaged in the sale and to lead them to making a purchasing decision.  You can get more information on the teleseminar, as well as registering for it here.  Almost immediately, that seminar will be followed up with a seminar for the Center for Sales Excellence.  From there, we have a strong schedule of public, association, and corporate seminars and workshops lined up-but not so many that we can’t work with your company or association also.  Just give us a call or shoot us an email and let us set something up for your organization.
• My Sales and Sales Management Blog will continue to be syndicated to a number of publications such as Fox Business News, Hoovers, Nielsen Media, The Chicago Sun Times, Reuters, and others.  Again, I wish to thank these fine publications for honoring me with their support.
• We are also working on a comprehensive prospecting and personal marketing CD set that should be available by late spring.  This will be a 10 hour set that addresses a number of issues of how to find and connect with prospects from generating referrals, to networking, to creating public visibility and an expert reputation, to building marketing partnerships, to, gads, cold calling, to maintaining a prospect’s attention and interest once you’ve connected with them. 

Certainly, as the year progresses, there will additional new projects, clients, and challenges, but as 2009 is shaping up, it will be another busy and productive year for McCord Training and myself.  I want to thank all who have taken the time to read my articles, books, and blog, my clients, and those salespeople and sales leaders who have communicated via email, phone, or in person.  Again in 2009, I welcome you comments, your suggestions, your questions, and your requests, whether via phone, email, snail mail, or on the blog.  I love hearing from you and look forward to hearing from more of you in the coming year.

I’m off until the 2^nd.  Have a wonderful and save New Year.

Top 12 Articles of the Year–December: “Tough Times Call for Tough Training,” by Bob Selden

The December monthly winner at Top 10 Sales Articles was Bob Selden’s “Tough Times Call for Tough Training,” originally published at Build Your Own Business.  Bob’s article is one of 12 monthly winners vying for Sales Article of the Year.

Top 10 Sales Articles selected the 10 best out of the thousands of articles published each week.  The weekly winners then went to head to head competition with each other, the best being named the Article of the Month.  Now, out of the over 500 articles nominated, the 12 monthly winners are now competing for Article of the Year honors.

Each day for the past 12 days I’ve posted one of the top 12 articles.  Read them and then head over to Top 10 Sales Articles and vote for your favorite (for my article, of course).

Tough Times Call for Tough Training
by Bob Selden

With the downturn in the market, good staff are still surprisingly hard to find, particularly at the operator level.

A colleague in the hospitality industry, spoke about his challenges:

“Good staff have become rare. Everyone’s competing for the same pool of labour. The young, often with limited education, unskilled and without any career in mind, are just working for a couple of months until they find something they like. Our organisation is understaffed. Sick leave is on the rise, morale is down, productivity and efficiency are low. On top of that, the supervisors are overworked. We are caught in a vicious circle.”

What can he do?

The number one solution, both short and long term, is training.

Often people think of “training” as only skill and knowledge building. However there are additional plusses from good training – motivation and a positive attitude. These can be even more important than the skill and knowledge development.

Training takes time and money – two resources that are in short supply at the moment. However, both can be overcome with a little creativity.

Before thinking about the type, content, length of training etc, there is one principle that must be at the forefront of every manager’s mind:

“We are training our people to be the best in the business.”

This is irrespective of how long they may stay with you, how junior they are, how inexperienced, or how de-motivated they might be.

It must be a case of:

“We attract the best people. When they leave us, they leave with far more skills than when they arrived.”

People must want to work for your organisation – this requires that you build a reputation. Your people must be seen as an asset rather than a cost. This can only start when the CEO and top people share this view – this attitude will show in their behaviour. Those of you reading this who are in the sales business, have probably heard of James Levenson’s philosophy “From the cleaning people to the CEO, everyone is an important salesperson.” (Levenson gave a speech back in 1974 called “And you think strawberries are for eating”. It’s one of the best sales leadership speeches ever given – look it up on the web, it’s still there!)

The type of training?

Customer service training is the best because it incorporates all the skills that are transferable throughout the organisation, including management. What’s more, it can help the bottom line.

Who should attend?

The training must start with the top team. All the top managers must undertake the training first. Then, each manager or supervisor in the organisation (including the CEO) must act as a sponsor to one training group – i.e.. he / she (in addition to having undergone the training first) must participate in the training of another group in the organisation. The sponsor should be there to support the trainer, follow up with participants individually and hold short team sessions with people on how they have applied the training. (These meetings can be as short as 5 minute sessions. In one organisation, they were called the “5 minute update” – very powerful and motivating.)

Who should conduct the training?

You may have a good internal trainer. Alternatively, there are two choices. A very good external trainer, or convert one of your managers into a trainer. Turning your managers and supervisors into trainers (particularly in tough times) can be both a cost saving and a great boost to their personal skills – most people also find it highly motivating.

How long should the training be?

Ideally at least a two-day workshop. However, in some businesses there is a lot of shift work and getting people together for any length of time is hard. In these cases it may be necessary to break the training up into small modules of 1 to 2 hours. Pay people to come in early or stay later. The benefits far outweigh the small costs.

Good follow-up systems, such as having the staff measure customer satisfaction (themselves, not the standard “fill in the form”) adds greatly to the training effectiveness. In fact this is essential. At the start of the training, staff should be encouraged and coached in how they can measure their results. Then give them the responsibility of doing just that.

How to make the training cost effective?

Once you’ve run a pilot session, why not offer it to other organisations in your area? They are facing similar problems to you, so why not get some revenue from your investment? Yes, you can even offer it to your competitors! With this strategy, you will start to build your reputation as the “best employer in town” – people should be saying, “I want to work there”.

How to get the best staff?

Make sure to stress the training and career development you offer. Even your adverts, should say “We don’t expect everyone who joins us to stay forever. However, when you do join, we will guarantee you the best training and career development. In addition, if you want to make a career with us, we can offer a great future”.

Why is this training “tough”?

Much easier to focus on and quantify, cost reduction. Cost management strategies, whilst important, can often send the wrong messages.

Far better to run some team meetings and ask the staff “We are all going through a difficult time at the moment, what are your suggestions on how we can better manage our costs and still maintain our level of customer service?” You might just be surprised at some of the suggestions you get.

This happened with cleaners in a large university. Not only did they reduce costs, but they were soon running sessions for other maintenance people across the campus population of 12,000! Two cleaners even made presentations to the Board of the university and to groups of up to 200 other maintenance and administration people – truly amazing results.

Tough times call for tough training.

Top 12 Sales Articles of the Year–November: “While You Have Their Attention,” by Keith Rosen

The November monthly winner at Top 10 Sales Articles was Keith Rosen’s “While You Have Their Attention,” originally published at Salesopedia.  Keith’s article is one of 12 monthly winners vying for Sales Article of the Year.

Top 10 Sales Articles selected the 10 best out of the thousands of articles published each week.  The weekly winners then went to head to head competition with each other, the best being named the Article of the Month.  Now, out of the over 500 articles nominated, the 12 monthly winners are now competing for Article of the Year honors.

Each day I’ll be posting one of the monthly winners.  Read them and then head over to Top 10 Sales Articles and vote for your favorite.  Better yet-go there now, read all 12 and cast your vote (for my article, of course).

While You Have Their Attention
by Keith Rosen

Wouldn’t it be great if every prospect became a new customer around our timeline? Now that I’m back down to reality, it’s a safe bet that some of the prospects you call on will not be ready to take that next step with you, at least not just yet.

So, like many prospects, they get put on the “callback” list of prospects to call on in the future. A typical conversation would sound something like this:

You: “Okay, Mr. Prospect. Based on what you’re telling me, it sounds like this isn’t the best time to explore what we can do for you in more detail. When might be a better time to reconnect with you?”

Prospect: “Give me a couple of months to clear off what I already have on my plate. Then I’ll be in a better position to discuss this with you.”

You: “That sounds fair. So, if I quickly check my calendar, you are suggesting to touch base with you again in early March, is that correct?”

Prospect: “Yes, that sounds fine.”

At this point, you thank the prospect and create a reminder to call on Mr. Prospect in March. In March, you reconnect with Mr. Prospect only to find that not only is he no longer with the company, but they bought a similar product that you sell from another vender!

While there’s no foolproof method to prevent this from happening, here’s something you can do to dramatically reduce the chance of this happening again. Let’s now continue the conversation between you and the prospect where we left off.

You: “Mr. Prospect, thanks again for your time today. Before we rap up this conversation, I’ve noticed that in the past, when I have attempted to reconnect with someone months after our first contact, many things have transpired. Changes in their position, in their company, or in their life often have tendency to divert even the best-laid plans. Since there are so many things that can happen in two months, I was hoping that I could stay in contact with you without stepping over the line and being annoying about it. With your permission, can I contact you from time to time with updates about our product or valuable information that you may find of interest as it relates to your business?”

By asking this question and gaining confirmation that it’s okay to stay in touch, you now have a prospect that has given you permission to continue to prospect them instead of sending out unsolicited information that will do nothing more than aggravate and turn off a prospect.

Sure, it may sound like they are not in a position today to explore your offering in more detail. However, that doesn’t mean they will be in the same position in the future.

A monthly newsletter, a free trial, an article of interest, collateral material, or a great new product feature are just a few ways to deliver value during this “down time” and keep your finger on the pulse of every prospect you speak with.

This way, if things change on the prospect’s side, you won’t be the last person to find out.

Top 12 Sales Articles of the Year–October: “It Takes a Winner to Become a Champion,” by Billy Cox

The October monthly winner at Top 10 Sales Articles was Billy Cox’s “It Takes a Winner to Become a Champion,” originally published at Salesopedia.  Billy’s article is one of 12 monthly winners vying for Sales Article of the Year.

Top 10 Sales Articles selected the 10 best out of the thousands of articles published each week.  The weekly winners then went to head to head competition with each other, the best being named the Article of the Month.  Now, out of the over 500 articles nominated, the 12 monthly winners are now competing for Article of the Year honors.

Each day I’ll be posting one of the monthly winners.  Read them and then head over to Top 10 Sales Articles and vote for your favorite.  Better yet-go there now, read all 12 and cast your vote (for my article, of course).

It Takes a Winner to Become a Champion
by Billy Cox

We’ve all heard “Champions are not born; they are made.”  This is true for YOU were not born a champion; you were born to win.  You were born with the God given potential to be, do or have anything you want in your life.  Zig Ziglar, author, salesperson, and motivational speaker, says, “In order to be the winner you were born to be, you must plan to win and prepare to win. Then and only then, can you legitimately expect to win.”

Research now shows that the talent; or lack of natural talent we were born with is irrelevant to great success.  This means the same skills that make Tiger Woods great are what can make you a champion.

Numerous studies have concluded that nobody is great without practice, experience and hard work. The reality is Preparation is the foundation for any level of Achievement.  Michael Jordan, one of  the greatest players in National Basketball Association history, practiced intensively long after the team practices were over. Jerry Rice practiced so hard that other players would get sick just trying to keep up with him.

The planning and preparing to win strategy works the same for sales, sports, or any aspect of business.  However, if you want to win at sales, how do you practice it?  Elements of sales such as presenting, negotiating, evaluating, product knowledge, or modeling others’ success is directly practicable.

The challenge is… you can practice your performance, but practice alone doesn’t guarantee success. There are many people who work hard for years without achieving winning results.  So what’s missing?  What’s missing is feedback. Feedback means you analyze your performance and you have others analyze your performance. You also compare your results to others in your profession.

Most salespeople don’t seek feedback; they wait around and hope that it doesn’t happen.  Without feedback, you don’t know how good you are.  If you don’t know how good you are, how can you become better?

Once you receive feedback you start practicing on improving key areas that will improve performance.  Example:  Example: Shooting basketball free throws alone won’t work; however, shooting free throws with a specific goal of making 8 out of 10 by practicing the shots, observing the results and adjusting your shot, then doing it over and over again will improve this part of your game. The more focused practice, the better the performance.

Tiger Woods began honing his golf skills when he was 18 months old.  He became the youngest player ever to win a U.S. Amateur Championship at age 18 and he has never stopped trying to improve his game. He still devotes many hours a day to conditioning and focused practicing.

The final step is to prepare yourself mentally.  This means rehearsing your performance in your mind.  Your mind doesn’t know the difference between something you visualize and something you actually do in reality.  Zig Ziglar reviews and practices his speeches for several hours before each seminar, even though he may have given that particular speech a hundred times.  Much of this practice is mentally visualizing his performance and his audiences’ response.  This gives him an edge that helps him consistently deliver a championship performance.

When I began my sales career I was young, inexperienced, and flat broke.  I quickly realized that if I wanted to compete with the top producers and earn the big bucks I had to improve my selling skills.  So, I set specific targets and I focused on improving my sales techniques.  Failure was not an option.  I practiced my presentation and close over and over and over again.  I painfully listened to myself on audios and watched myself on videos, I studied the techniques of the very best in the field of sales. I visualized the results I desired.  Then I applied those skills in real life and in front of real prospects.  I subsequently analyzed my results and then I made slight adjustments.  I repeated this process until I achieved the highest sales honors in my field.  I employ this same approach today in all areas of my personal and professional life.  My ultimate goal is to continually improve my game.

No, winning is not easy…. If winning were easy everybody would do it. This leads us to the biggest question about winning.  If we can mold ourselves into a champion, then why don’t more people achieve winning results?  Most people don’t win because hard work, commitment, discipline and focused practice is not easy. Why?  Because it’s the smallest of improvements, those you can’t even see, that separate superstars from average performers.

Most people constantly look for a magic bullet that will lead to their success.  When people fail they refuse to look in the mirror. They want to blame outside circumstances instead of looking inward. They don’t want to admit that they could have succeeded if they would have just worked a little harder and a little smarter.

So, as we enter the final quarter with high hopes, great expectancy and a burning desire to succeed, take time to identify specific areas of your life and business you want to improve, set definitive targets, and take massive action.  Then get feedback on what works and what doesn’t.  Make slight adjustments to your game and repeat the process.

I’ll leave you with this thought.  Successful people practice while others play, but those who practice today get to play the game they love at the highest level tomorrow, while those who play today will sit on the sidelines tomorrow only wishing they could be the champion they were intended to become.

The good news …Winning isn’t just reserved for the few; it’s available to everyone. Why?  Because you were born to win!  As Zig would say, to be the champion you want to be, you’ve gotta plan to win and you’ve gotta prepare to win. Then and only then, can you legitimately expect to win.

Sending you a little competitive edge!

Top 12 Sales Articles of the Year–September: “Why Decision Makers Hate Cold Calls,” by Paul McCord

The September monthly winner at Top 10 Sales Articles was my article, “Why Decision Makers Hate Cold Calls,” originally published at EyesonSales.  My article is one of 12 monthly winners vying for Sales Article of the Year.

Top 10 Sales Articles selected the 10 best out of the thousands of articles published each week.  The weekly winners then went to head to head competition with each other, the best being named the Article of the Month.  Now, out of the over 500 articles nominated, the 12 monthly winners are now competing for Article of the Year honors.

Each day I’ll be posting one of the monthly winners.  Read them and then head over to Top 10 Sales Articles and vote for your favorite.  Better yet-go there now, read all 12 and cast your vote (for my article, of course).

Why Decision Makers Hate Cold Calls
By Paul McCord

The simple answer to why decision makers hate cold calls is cold calls are one of the biggest time wasters for them.

Decision makers hate cold calls and have no interest in taking your call because all you do is waste their time.  Period.

Now, you don’t see it the same way.  You believe you have something of value to offer the decision maker–actually, you want to see if you have something of value for them. You have to qualify them and that’s one of the things you’re hoping to begin to do while speaking with them.  All you want is a couple of minutes of their time to set an appointment and learn a little something about whether or not they’re a qualified prospect.

To you, all you’re asking is just three, four, maybe five minutes of their time and a short little 10 or 15 minute appointment.  No big deal–just a moment of their time.

But look at what you’re asking from their point of view:

1. You’re not the only call they’ll get that day. They’ll get 5, 10, 15, maybe more cold calls on any given workday.  You only want 5 minutes of their time?  Well, that 5 minutes can add up to a half an hour, an hour, two hours or more if they spoke to everyone who called.  Everyday.

2. You only want a short 10 or 15 minute meeting. Sure.  They understand that you’re asking for 10 and intend to stay 45.  They learned the BS about the 10 minute meeting their first week on the job.

3. You just want to ask a few questions to gather information to grab their interest to set an appointment. You sound like every other salesperson who calls.  That’s what they all want.  They want the decision to educate them about why they called, that is, to give them a reason to try to set a meeting with the decision maker.

4. When they politely say ‘no,’ you won’t accept it. Instead you try to probe, to flush out the objection, to give more reasons to meet with you.  Finally, they get mad enough to slam the phone down or tell you in no uncertain terms ‘NO.’

5. When you call, you have nothing of interest to them. They’re not thinking about your great new copier because they still have 2 years on the lease of their current copier.  They’re not thinking about replacing their phone system, they’re thinking about the server that just crashed.  They’re not thinking about a new accounting system because they’re thinking about the big deal they just lost that morning.

How would you like to go through that 5, 10, 15 times a day? Everyday?  Without fail? What would be your resolution to the problem?  Would you take those calls?  You would do the same thing they do-not take any calls.

And decision makers have made it as obvious as possible that they don’t want your call.  They’ve put gatekeepers in place to keep you out.  They’ve got voice mail to filter who they want to talk to and who they don’t.  They put signs on the door that say ‘no soliciting.’  As soon as they discover you’re a salesperson they say ‘no,’ and hang up.

Yet, you think-you hope-that you’re the exception. That they’ll take your call.  That they’ll want to speak with you despite the signals they’ve given.  That you’re different from other 5, 10, or 15 salespeople who will call that day.

Cold calling is viewed by many salespeople, managers, and companies as the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way to find prospects. It isn’t. It is in many ways the most difficult and expensive because when you cold call you’re trying to connect with someone who has already indicated as plainly as they possibly can that they don’t want to speak with you.  In order to overcome that, you have to make massive numbers of calls in order to find someone, anyone you can corner.

If you choose to cold call, you’ve a hard road ahead of you.  Few top producers waste their time cold calling because it is so ineffective and costly.  However, if you do choose to cold call, invest in getting the best cold call training you can.  Your investment will pay off with greatly increased results-you’ll still waste a lot of time; you’ll still face a tremendous amount of rejection; you’ll still have to eventually find better ways to connect with prospects; but at least make your efforts as profitable as possible.

Top 12 Sales Articles of the Year–August: “Use the News: How to Create New Opportunities Fast,” by Jill Konrath

The August monthly winner at Top 10 Sales Articles was Jill Konrath’s “Use the News: How to Create New Opportunities Fast,” originally published at Sales Gravy.  Jill’s article is one of 12 monthly winners vying for Sales Article of the Year.

Top 10 Sales Articles selected the 10 best out of the thousands of articles published each week.  The weekly winners then went to head to head competition with each other, the best being named the Article of the Month.  Now, out of the over 500 articles nominated, the 12 monthly winners are now competing for Article of the Year honors.

Each day I’ll be posting one of the monthly winners.  Read them and then head over to Top 10 Sales Articles and vote for your favorite.  Better yet-go there now, read all 12 and cast your vote (for my article, of course).

Use the News: How to Create New Opportunities Fast
by Jill Konrath

Email has changed everything, and people now hit the delete button on their voicemail messages the instant they hear something they don’t like — which is usually when it’s a message from an unknown sales rep.

I’m frequently asked what I’m looking for when I’m reading the newspaper, trade journal or websites. Basically, I’m looking for any event that might create opportunities. They could be inside the firm (new strategic alliance, rapid growth, expansion to Mexico) or outside the company (new legislation, acts of God, collapse of a competitor). These events have cascading effects throughout an organization, causing many decisions to be revisited, new priorities to emerge and new needs to come to the forefront.

Several years ago, while scouring the business section of my local newspaper, I came to a screeching halt when I noticed a small headline. It read, “Local Firm Acquires eBusiness”.

“Very interesting,” I thought. The company, an international manufacturer, was not in my targeted market segment – but this high tech acquisition certainly was.

I committed to staying abreast on what was happening at this firm. I sent for their annual report, periodically checked their website and kept up on any press releases. After 18 months, the manufacturer announced it was spinning off several divisions – the eBusiness was one of them.

Bingo! That was the day I knew I had a new client. As a product launch consultant specializing in the hand-off from Marketing to Sales, it was clear that my services were desperately needed.

The lackluster financial performance of the eBusiness could no longer be hidden in the profits of the manufacturing giant. Wall Street would demand results soon. Short-term results. Immediate results. And I knew I could make a difference.

After several unsuccessful attempts, I reached the president. This is basically what I said:

“I’ve been following your business. I know it’s imperative for your company to have strong financial results immediately. You’re counting on your new products to achieve your objectives … and I can help shorten time-to-profitability.”

Following a short 5-minute conversation, the president told me to call a key marketer on Monday, giving him a chance to talk to her first. Essentially, it was a done deal. The outcome – a highly profitable 6-month engagement with the firm.

Why am I telling you this? Because business opportunities for consultants are everywhere. In fact, they’re staring you right in the face every time you pick up a newspaper or turn on the radio or television.

But most consultants don’t use the news because they’ve never connected these events with the potential for business. Once you know what to look for, opportunities for consulting are readily apparent. They just need to be acted on.

Triggering Events

I’m frequently asked what I’m looking for when I’m reading the newspaper, trade journal or websites. Basically, I’m looking for any event that might create opportunities. They could be inside the firm (new strategic alliance, rapid growth, expansion to Mexico) or outside the company (new legislation, acts of God, collapse of a competitor).

These events have cascading effects throughout an organization, causing many decisions to be revisited, new priorities to emerge and new needs to come to the forefront.

For example, anytime two organizations collide due to a merger or acquisition, much opportunity is created. Here are just a few of the areas where your products or expertise could be required:

• Sales: Sales training on new product lines, channel conflict, compensation discrepancies, SFA/CRM systems integration.

• Marketing: Rebranding of products, new collateral required, revision of go-to-market strategies, new product launches, PR support, new advertising campaign.

• Information Technology: Planning, prioritization of projects, massive system integration issues in just about every conceivable area, new technology acquisition.

• Human Resources: Teambuilding, compensation issues, legal problems, downsizing/outplacement assistance, evaluating personnel, employee benefits coordination.

• Leadership: Alignment around shared vision, strategic planning and teambuilding at executive, business unit and department level.

Sometimes poor financial performance creates opportunities for your product or service – especially if it’s the second quarter in a row. While some companies put an all-out ban on spending when their numbers are down, others search for solutions to get them out of their slump.

HR may need help with lay-offs. Marketing needs new ideas. Sales needs training. Any product or service that improves operational efficiency and drive costs out of the system will always be of interest to corporate decision makers.

Personally I’ve always found struggling companies to be excellent prospects. After failing to turn things around, leadership desperately needs new ideas. They’re extremely receptive to products or services that help them achieve critical business objectives.

Companies experiencing rapid growth need help too. Extra bodies are needed to handle a wide range of projects; they can’t hire fast enough to keep up with demands. Processes are haphazard, labor-intensive and costly. Systems are being outgrown virtually overnight.

Companies stuck at the status quo also need assistance. Wall Street demands growth. Leadership teams are under extensive pressure to deliver results or face replacement.

Finally when companies bring in new executives there are always opportunities. New leaders make changes – and they often need outside assistance and ideas to accomplish their goals.

Capitalizing on the News

Follow the news about companies in your targeted market segment closely. Watch for changes – because changes create business for you. Once a change hits your radar screen, extend your research immediately, collecting as much information as you can. Sometimes you might have to wait awhile before your products or services are needed. Other times it’s immediate.

Once you’ve identified a “triggering event”, the key to success is to make sure you align your offering with your understanding of their emerging business needs. And when you talk to customers, always speak in business terms. Customers could care less if you’re an OD consultant or sell software. They could give a rip about the processes you use and your state-of-the-art products.

But they care desperately about business results and outcomes. So that’s what you talk about when you contact them and meet with them.

Frame your initial call by stating that you’ve conducted research on their company. Share your understanding of their critical business issues. Tell them the results you deliver – as specifically as you can. Or state that you have some ideas to help them achieve their stated objectives. Finally, after a brief conversation, suggest a logical next step. That’s all it takes to get your foot-in-the-door.

So pay attention to the news. Right now there are some companies that desperately need your products or services because of what’s happening in their business. Use the news as a trigger to identify who they might be, research them and then make that phone call.

That’s the best way I know of to create opportunities and get business – FAST!

Top 12 Sales Articles of the Year–July: “The Three Types of Team Commitment,” by Kevin Eikenberry

The July monthly winner at Top 10 Sales Articles was Kevin Eikenberry’s “The Three Types of Team Commitment,” originally published at Eyesonsales.  Kevin’s article is one of 12 monthly winners vying for Sales Article of the Year.

Top 10 Sales Articles selected the 10 best out of the thousands of articles published each week.  The weekly winners then went to head to head competition with each other, the best being named the Article of the Month.  Now, out of the over 500 articles nominated, the 12 monthly winners are now competing for Article of the Year honors.

Each day I’ll be posting one of the monthly winners.  Read them and then head over to Top 10 Sales Articles and vote for your favorite.  Better yet-go there now, read all 12 and cast your vote (for my article, of course).

The Three Types of Team Commitment
By Kevin Eikenberry

Larry, Michelle and George had been friends a long time. They met in college, and though they each went to work in different organizations, they committed to getting together once a year to discuss their careers, opportunities and challenges. Over the years they had each risen to senior leadership roles within their organizations. At their most recent annual retreat the topic of team commitment came up.

As it turned out, they were as puzzled after their conversation as they had been before they began. Why? Because they all believed that team commitment was important, and they all felt they had it, and yet the performance of their teams weren’t as strong as they hoped for or felt was possible.

Listen in to part of their conversation . . .

Larry knew something wasn’t connecting for his team in terms of productivity, but wasn’t sure just what. “If anything, we have great team commitment. People understand the organizational goals and have truly bought into that direction. It’s clear from their words and actions that they are committed to our organizational goals. And yet, something is still missing. I’m not sure what it is.”

Michelle said, “We’re missing something in the productivity area as well, but my team is committed too. They are staunchly proud of the team – in fact they wave the team banner regularly – I’m surprised they haven’t had t-shirts made! They believe in the team’s role, they know that what they do is important, and like I said, man, are they proud!”

George concluded the comments of the trio. “My team is tremendously committed to each other. They are supportive, give each other great feedback and are always looking out for each other – more so than any other team I’ve ever seen. With all this commitment I’m baffled why they aren’t more successful!”

The conversation continued along a similar vein, with no real conclusions, until the next morning at breakfast.

The Morning Aha

At breakfast, Michelle said, “I was thinking about our team commitment conversation last night, and I woke up this morning with an idea! I think we do all have committed teams – but they aren’t committed to the same things. I think what we really need is a combination of the three types of commitments each of our teams have! Look at it this way . . .”

Michelle then drew three concurrent circles. In the inner circle she wrote “Commitment to Each Other.” In the middle circle’s area she wrote “Commitment to the Team.” And in the outer circle she wrote “Commitment to the Organization.”

With this picture the group discussed the idea at great length and how to build the two types of commitment their teams didn’t have. They also decided to talk in a couple of months about their progress.

The Three Circles

Commitment is critically important to team success. Of course there are other factors for success (like relationships, clear goals and more), but commitment is one that often is overlooked. More specifically, teams need three forms of commitment to be most successful:

1. Commitment to each other and each other’s success. Teams that are comprised of individuals that actively support, believe in and care about the success of each other will be more successful. This type of commitment promotes the comfortable shifting of duties and responsibilities among team members as necessary and allows teams to have less stress and higher productivity.

2. Commitment to their team and the team’s success. Team pride and commitment is important to ultimate success. The commitment that arises from a team that understands their role and relishes achieving it is hard to undervalue. Teams with this type of commitment will overcome long odds due to their strength and unity and willingness to band together to get through a tough situation. Why? Because they see the effort as worth it for the good of the team.

3. Commitment to the organization and organizational goals. When teams see their work as supporting valuable and important organizational pursuits, this type of commitment is strengthened. This can’t be built without a clear understanding of company direction and goals, but with those in place this commitment can grow. Like the internal team commitment, this manifests in organizational pride and a clear sense of obligation to the greater good.

Thinking about each of these separately as a team leader or a team member will help you determine where gaps might be. Hopefully your team has high marks in each area. If not, this list gives you a place to start in building higher levels of commitment in the areas that might be lacking.

Potential Pointer: The important team commitments include commitment to the organization, the team and each other. The stronger and more balanced these commitments are, the more successful and productive any team will be.

Top 12 Sales Articles of the Year–June, “Set Your Goals, Change Your Life & Celebrate!,” by Zig Ziglar

The June monthly winner at Top 10 Sales Articles was Zig Ziglar’s “Set Your Goals, Change Your Life & Celebrate!,” originally published at Salesopedia.  Zig’s article is one of 12 monthly winners vying for Sales Article of the Year.

Top 10 Sales Articles selected the 10 best out of the thousands of articles published each week.  The weekly winners then went to head to head competition with each other, the best being named the Article of the Month.  Now, out of the over 500 articles nominated, the 12 monthly winners are now competing for Article of the Year honors.

Each day I’ll be posting one of the monthly winners.  Read them and then head over to Top 10 Sales Articles and vote for your favorite.  Better yet-go there now, read all 12 and cast your vote (for my article, of course).

Set Your Goals, Change Your Life & Celebrate!
Written by Zig Ziglar

Studies tell us that only 3% of people in the USA set goals, and they are among the wealthiest people in the nation! Worldwide the percentage is probably lower. Why so low? There are several reasons, but the one that concerns me the most is lack of know-how. When we ask people why they don’t set goals they often say, “I don’t know how.

“Isn’t that remarkable? We send children to school for 12 years in America before they graduate from high school. Many of them go on to trade schools, colleges and universities. We teach them many important disciplines including history, economics, literature, science, and so forth, but we miss one critically important skill: goal setting. We award them their degrees, pat them on their backs, and send them into the world full of wisdom, but ill-prepared, almost always, to design and pursue the lives they really want.

And all that’s required to change this deficiency is a single semester, even half a semester, devoted to teaching goal setting. It doesn’t seem likely that we’re going to change the American educational system any time soon, or the world’s educational system, but that’s not going to stop me from teaching you how to set goals.The letters and phone calls that I receive are social proof that our goal setting programs work. I know that goal setting will help you change your life for the better, it will help you get what you really want from life. And when you do, that’s reason for all of us to celebrate! Whether you’re already a goal setter, you used to set goals and quit, or you’ve never set goals, this lesson will help you build a better life.

Step 1. Dream! Let your imagination run wild while you fill up a blank sheet of paper with everything you want to be, do or have. Many adults have lost their ability to dream and that’s unfortunate. By dreaming you instill hope for your future, and with hope there’s possibility. So your assignment this week is to dream. During this next week devote at least two private sessions to dreaming. I want you to create a Dream List filled with ideas. Your list should include at least 25 dreams about what you want to be, do or have.

Step 2. After you complete your list, wait 24 to 48 hours and read each item on your list and answer the question: Why? If you can’t verbalize in one sentence why you want to be, do or have this dream, then it’s not a dream and it won’ become a goal. Cross it off your list.

Step 3: Ask the following five questions of every dream on the Dream List you created last week.

1. Is it really MY goal?

2. Is it morally right and fair to everyone concerned?

3. Is it consistent with my other goals?

4. Can I emotionally commit myself to finish this goal?

5. Can I “see” myself reaching this goal?

You must answer “yes” to all five questions for each goal, or cross that goal off your list.

Here are some points to ponder: Is it really MY goal or is it a goal someone else wants me to pursue? Is it the right thing to do? Will achieving this goal distract from achieving other goals? Goals are often difficult to achieve. Are you sure you can make the commitment to pursue this goal and see it through? If you can’t “see” yourself reaching this goal, you probably won’t.

Take time during this week to think about the questions above and answer them. Once you’re finished, your Dream List will probably be a bit shorter than when you started out. That’s okay because you’re now closer to identifying the goals that you really will pursue and can achieve.

Step 4: Ask the following seven questions of every dream that remains on your Dream List (or goals list).

Will reaching this goal . . .

1. make me happier?

2. make me healthier?

3. make me more prosperous?

4. win me more friends?

5. give me peace of mind?

6. make me more secure?

7. improve my relationships with others?

If you can’t answer “Yes” to at least one of these questions for each goal, eliminate that goal from your list. Be sure to consider your family when you answer these questions. And do not confuse pleasure with happiness!

Here we go with Step 5: After asking the questions posted in Step 4 you will have eliminated some of your goals. Actually, they were not goals, just thoughts or desires at this point, so you’re better off without them.

Separate your remaining list of goals into one of three categories: Short-range (one month or less to achieve this goal), Intermediate (one month to one year to achieve this goal), or Long-range (one year or more to achieve this goal).

This step will help you quickly determine whether or not you have a balanced perspective between what needs to be done now, versus your dreams for the future.

Remember: Some goals must be BIG to make you stretch and grow to your full potential. Some goals must be long-range to keep you on track and greatly reduce the possibility of short-range frustrations. Some goals must be small and daily to keep you disciplined. Some goals must be ongoing. Some goals (i.e., weight loss, sales success, education, etc.) may require analysis and consultation to determine where you are before you can set the goals. Most goals should be specific. A “nice home” is not as good as a “3,000 square-foot, Tudor- style home with four bedrooms, three full baths, and two living spaces.”

Here we go with the final step: After specifically identifying your goals, write them down! It is important that you have a written list of your specific goals. Then you will begin to do the daily, weekly action steps that will take you closer to achieving that goal. Be selective. You may not be able to work on all of your goals at one time! Don,t over do it. If you only have time to complete one or two goals for the remainder of this year, don’t apologize. Do a little bit more than you think you can, but do not overextend your time to the point that you don’t complete any of your goals. Do not get frustrated by the process! Work the system and it will work for you. I can fill a book with the number of letters that I receive about the effectiveness of this simple goal-setting program. Trust the system.

Once you have identified your goals and plotted the activities that you intend to do to fulfill your goals, pat yourself on the back! You have just spent more time planning your future than most of your friends, relatives or associates will ever invest! Good for you.

Top 12 Sales Articles of the Year–May, “Using Positive Persistence as a Selling Tool,” by Mark Satterfield

The May monthly winner at Top 10 Sales Articles was Mark Satterfield’s “Using Positive Persistence as a Selling Tool,” originally published at Best Management Articles.  Mark’s article is one of 12 monthly winners vying for Sales Article of the Year.

Top 10 Sales Articles selected the 10 best out of the thousands of articles published each week.  The weekly winners then went to head to head competition with each other, the best being named the Article of the Month.  Now, out of the over 500 articles nominated, the 12 monthly winners are now competing for Article of the Year honors.

Each day I’ll be posting one of the monthly winners.  Read them and then head over to Top 10 Sales Articles and vote for your favorite.  Better yet-go there now, read all 12 and cast your vote (for my article, of course).

Using Positive Persistence as a Selling Tool
By Mark Satterfield

You’ve probably heard the story that it took Thomas Edison 1,000 tires before he invented the light bulb. But did you know that, 12 publishers rejected J.K Rowling’s first Harry Potter book before an obscure publishing house finally picked it up? That Decca Records turned down the Beatles?

That Walt Disney was fired by a boss who said that he “lacked imagination”? That Michael Jordan was cut from his high-school varsity basketball team in his sophomore year? That Dr. Seuss was rejected 27 times by publishing houses?

So why am I telling you this? Because persistence, the ability to hold your course in the face of rejection is perhaps one of the most important elements for successfully marketing your services. And quite frankly, most people give up way to easily and early.

If the promotional letter doesn’t immediately bring new customers calling, the tendency is to say, “Marketing won’t work for me.” If there are more than one or two steps to the system for bringing in new clients, the process is rejected as being “Too complicated”. Which is kind of a good news/bad news situation.

The good news is that now that the economy is headed south a lot of your competitors will simply dry up and vanish. Since beginning my business career in 1977 I’ve seen how the dot.com boom, the real estate bubbles and blind over-optimism makes even poor business people successful. The proverbial “high tides raise all boats.” And then comes the inevitable “bust”.

No longer is business just coming in over the transom. People get scared. They start to cut back on unnecessary expenses. Which raises the question, is spending money on marketing, on promoting your business, discretionary? I think you know what I’m going to say.

Marketing is perhaps most important during these tough times. Ask anyone whose been around for a while. Look at the super successful people in your field. What you’ll observe is that their marketing investment actually went UP during tough times. But the key is that you have to use smart marketing.

What that means is that you no longer can afford to just throw stuff against a wall and hope some of it sticks. No, you’ve got to be smart about it. Your promotional material has to make an offer that your prospects haven’t heard a gazillion times before. You can’t run “me too” campaigns.

What this means is that you’ll probably have to look outside your industry for some good ideas. I believe that the failure to consider anything that hasn’t already been done within your industry is one of the primary reasons why so much marketing sounds exactly alike and fails to attract attention.

You need a process. You need a system so that every dollar you spend on marketing is trackable. So you know what is working. In other words, you need to approach marketing as an investment, not as an expense. But in order to do that you’re gong to need to have a plan. So what’s yours?

Are you just going to hide under a rock and hope the bad times go away? Or, are you going to act like a true business owner and face the tough times with the resolve to actually capitalize on the fearfulness of others and improve your market share? Unfortunately, most will hide under the rock.

But then again, most business owners don’t really think like owners, they think like technicians. By this I mean most owners just want to do the “thing-they-do.” Consult. Train. Drill teeth. Argue cases. You get the idea.

So the decision is yours. You can be like the person who said that, “They were not going to do any marketing until business got better.” The natural question is how will your business get better if you don’t get the word out to those who are most likely to hire you about what you do?

Do you expect that people will just “hear about you?” Or will you wait until the next good-times-bubble emerges (probably in 2-3 years) and then you can go back to your proven marketing strategy of “Aggressively answering the phone?” Which is why Michael Gerber’s often quoted (and substantiated) statistics that 80% of new businesses fold within the first 5 years is so true.

So what’s the other option? Find a system or a process that has been successful for others and adapt it to your particular business. But remember that the key point is that you need to do something. Simply sticking your head in the sand is not an option if you are going to still be in business two years from now. Your really smart (and successful) competitors know this. I hope you do too.

Top 12 Sales Articles of the Year–April, “Enthusiasm Sells!,” by Mike Brooks

The April monthly winner at Top 10 Sales Articles was Mike Brooks’  “Enthusiasm Sells!,” originally published at Sales Gravy.  Mike’s article is one of 12 monthly winners vying for Sales Article of the Year.

Top 10 Sales Articles selected the 10 best out of the thousands of articles published each week.  The weekly winners then went to head to head competition with each other, the best being named the Article of the Month.  Now, out of the over 500 articles nominated, the 12 monthly winners are now competing for Article of the Year honors.

Each day I’ll be posting one of the monthly winners.  Read them and then head over to Top 10 Sales Articles and vote for your favorite.  Better yet-go there now, read all 12 and cast your vote (for my article, of course).

Enthusiasm Sells!
by Mike Brooks

Jim seemed to change as he began to tell me what a phenomenal car the R series was. Did I know that the brakes alone were of racing pedigree and the best brakes Volvo ever made? And that they were found only on the Rally model? And the performance! Would I like to take a test drive? “Heck Yeah!” I heard myself saying.

One day I was having my Volvo serviced and as I waited for it to be brought out, I wandered onto the new car showroom. There on the floor was a Special S60 R – their Rally version and it looked pretty sweet. As I sat in it, someone came up and asked me what I thought and I said, “It’s OK.”

I asked him if he was one of the sales reps, and he said he was new to sales having worked for the Volvo factory for the last 10 years. He then asked me how much I knew about the car. “Not much,” was my answer.

And that’s when he began. Jim seemed to change as he began to tell me what a phenomenal car the R series was. Did I know that the brakes alone were of racing pedigree and the best brakes Volvo ever made? And that they were found only on the Rally model?

Did I know about the torque of the engine and that the Rally had the only hand made engine Volvo ever produced?

On and on he went, covering each part of the car from the racing bucket seats, down to the hand stitched leather. And the price! My God! This was the best value, dollar for dollar, of any car on the market, period, he told me.

And the performance! Would I like to take a test drive? “Heck Yeah!” I heard myself saying.

Well, as I drove the car – and boy was it fun – Jim talked even more about how great this car was. I soon found that I was completely caught up in his enthusiasm, and before I knew it, I was back at the dealership talking prices, payments and delivery terms!

I ended up getting away with an “I need to think about it,” but I’ve got to tell you, that car, and Jim’s enthusiasm for it, sticks with me today. Had I actually been shopping for a new car, I would have bought it – and been happy.  I did!

What this reminded me of is how important your belief in your product or service is. Enthusiasm really IS contagious, and many times your customers buy your belief in your product as well as the product itself.

So your assignment this week is to ask yourself, “How can you inject genuine enthusiasm into your presentation?” Ask yourself why you choose to work at your company and what part of your product or service are you particularly proud or excited about?

Once you’ve identified these things, be enthusiastic about them and let your prospects and customers know why you are there. And why they should be, too.

And before you go into your next presentation, ask yourself, “Would you buy from you today?”