Articles
I was Wrong
Remember the sitcom Happy Days? For those of you who weren’t watching TV in the 70’s, Happy Days was a 50’s era sitcom-taking place in Milwaukee. The main character was Arthur Fonzarelli, the ultra-cool, motorcycle riding, chick magnet affectionately known as "The Fonz." According to the Fonz (and only the fonz), he was never wrong. Never; and if he was he certainly couldn’t admit it. Couldn’t even say he was wrong no matter how hard he tried. Are you any better?
Developing Persuasive Sales Behavior
Some salespeople yield great influence in their accounts. I met such an individual last week. Let’s call him Keith to protect his identity. Keith seems to have a persuasive effect over his customers, which leads to fantastic sales, and he doesn’t use sales "force" or the "authority" that may come from his company’s great portfolio.
A "Smooth" Start to this Transaction
The McDonald’s by my house has been renovated to reflect the new, softer look for the storied fast food chain. It’s part of their attempt to stay "forever young", according to the company’s vice-president of worldwide architecture. Out with the red roofs and in with clean lines and simplicity. Begs the following question in my mind: Isn’t a simple hello, well, simple?
What did you say? And why not to say it!
There are certain words and phrases managers just shouldn't use. Here are a few examples
Don't Regurgitate Last Week's Sales Meeting
This letter is from the Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association's weekly newsletter
Help! My Top Performers are Jumping Ship
Picture your top sales performer. Is the image clear? Now - get a clear mental image of your top performer selling your competitor’s products. How’s that image working out for you? Not so good – I’d imagine. Let’s take this just a bit further. As your top salesperson is selling your competitor’s products - what are you doing? Are you running his or her route? Are you postponing a vacation? Are you crying?
Weapons of Respectful Instruction
Yes, my headline is a cheesy play on the phrase weapons of mass destruction; however, there is nothing cheesy about effective management. The truth is that effective managers are friendly and respectful…and that’s a great weapon. Is that it? Be friendly? Is that the golden ticket? No, that’s not all it takes but it’s a pretty good start.
When I'm on a Roll...
When I’m on a roll I sell – I don’t just take orders… If it only were that easy! I have a favorite exercise I like to do with sales groups. It’s called – When I’m on a roll I do this and not that. I ask my group to consider their last hot streak and what they did (and didn’t do) during that stretch. If we can just replicate those behaviors…
The Motivating and Not-so-Motivating
Actual motivating and not so motivating comments from managers and supervisors to beverage salespeople
The 5 Golden Questions of Sales Coaching
Ask the 5 golden questions of sales coaching and listen carefully to the answers!
Help For The Technology Resistant
Let’s face it... Not everyone was raised in this period of accelerated technological advancement. Not everyone was born communicating more with their thumbs than their mouths. Reminds me of Keith, a rep I learned of just a few weeks ago. Keith’s a solid rep that worked his way over from the driver crew but he doesn’t embrace his company’s technology. The technology is important to his company’s strategic plan, as I’m sure it is to many of your companies.
Eliminating Needless Worry
Do you ever fret over things that don’t really matter? Ever fear that people think less of you or do you doubt yourself and your abilities even though you know you’re very capable? This is what experts call self-sabotaging behavior. I call it worrying about things that you can’t control instead of what you can control.
"Coaching up" the Newbies
I have one such example in mind; a young saleswoman that needs to be more comfortable going in to make sales calls. Let’s call her Trish (to protect her anonymity). Trish, like many salespeople just like her, needs routine and confidence, and once these attributes are in place, it will be much easier for her to excel. Unfortunately, this is difficult to instill in younger professionals and without this confidence, Trish, and all the other newbie’s, won’t stand a chance.
Motivating Problem People
How do you motivate problem people? Many managers believe that they can motivate with incentives or words of vision and passion. Trouble is that many leaders aren’t good at that. They feel that they can sew together a few words (and phrases) and people will enthusiastically march off in the right direction.
Suggestions for Weathering the Storm – Part 1
Some of my distributors are in states that have been hit hard by tax increases. Recently I visited and shared 10 Ways to Weather the Storm. The first 5 (Part 1) are in this article
My Customers Won't Want This!
A few months ago a young beverage professional told me that when he stopped manufacturing reasons why his customers wouldn’t buy his products, his sales actually increased. How novel! I’m used to salespeople giving me numerous reasons why accounts won’t bite on their offerings, especially before they ask.
Are you Thinking About What Really Matters?
The other day I flew out to San Francisco. The guy next to me seemed to be above the "turning off your cell-phone rule!" He was thumb typing away even as the plane was hurling down the runway. Not a care in the world. Even when the flight attendant asked him to turn off the phone, he barely answered; and still got a few more emails out.
Treat your Customers with Indifference and they will Shop in a DIFFERENT place
A few weeks back I posted an article about my favorite smoothie place. As you’ll recall, although the smoothies are great, the service leaves a bad taste in my mouth. They constantly miss opportunities to provide great service and if they’re happy that I choose their shop, over others, that’s certainly news to me.
Organizing for a Better Sales Career
Many people come to work without a plan. They proceed to chit-chat with co-workers, send and receive email incessantly and work on 2 to 4 tasks (at the same time) all day long. Many jump from task to task and in the process of trying to un-bury themselves – make more mistakes. In times like these, our communication is too vague and we fail to ask enough questions to do a good job.
Motivating Employees for Greater Beverage Sales
Are you developing and motivating your service staff? This is the greatest area of the low hanging fruit. Restaurants and bars lose millions by not intriguing customers at the point of purchase. Wine lists lay on tables like paperweights. Critical selling moments are frequently missed.
Dear Manager - Do the Following and I Will be More Efficient
Everywhere I go, I always ask salespeople what their managers can do to help them be more effective. If you manage and support others, than this list is a keeper.
Responses and Reactions
Reactions are dangerous. Reactions are emotional. Reactions are not grounded in any type of logic. Reactions seldom work out well for the reactor. The effects of reactions are often irreversible. In fact, what happens after you get angry is often more damaging than whatever caused your anger in the first place.
Raising the Lid on Expectations
Did you hear the joke about the swarm of fleas and the four-minute miler? Never mind. To my knowledge, there is no such tale; however, the study of fleas and four-minute milers will shed some light on your management practices.
Walmart's New Merchandising Initiative
I read in Beer Business Daily last week that one of Walmart’s new merchandising initiatives is the following: Clean, Fast and Friendly - our commitment to deliver a great customer experience through fast, friendly service in a clean environment. I certainly hope so because my experience at Walmart has been neither clean, nor fast nor friendly - at least the store up by me in suburban Chicago.
Are your Managers Keeping an Eye on the Nest?
Outside my son's bedroom window, on the ledge, there's a bird's nest with 3 little hatchlings. How the nest got there (and how those babies were made) and why my children keep asking me these questions is way beyond me! Anyway, we’ve noticed that every time we enter the room, the mother bird senses our presence and flies away, but just to a tree branch a few feet away. She keeps her eyes on that nest at all times.
Curiosity May Have Killed the Cat
I’m in Seattle this week. I don’t think I’ll get to the Seattle Space needle but I did read up on it a bit. Seems the foundation of this prodigious landmark weights 5,850 tons and has 250 tons of reinforcing steel. It was built to withstand winds of up to 200 miles an hour. I guess to soar above a city’s skyline; you need some kind of foundation!
Sure, I'll Help you - or Maybe I won't!
Confused? Many of you recently completed an online manager-salesperson survey designed to measure how well managers think they’re doing compared to how well salespeople think they’re doing in many critical areas. Several of the gaps were pretty sizeable. One of the biggest gaps was in response to the question - I can trust what my supervisor tells me. Often this dynamic stems from broken promises.
Happen to have any Key Chains?
One of my distributors is located not far from my house in Illinois. For a long time, I couldn’t catch a cold in my home state but now I work with a talented team of beverage professionals – and don’t have to get on an airplane to do it! Last week got to talking about customers that continually ask for free things.
Running Effective Sales Meetings
Seems easy enough, right? Actually, many company leaders ask me for suggestions on helping their team leaders and sales managers run more effective sales meetings. So let’s give it a whirl! Sales meetings in my world are way too boring. There’s way too much PowerPoint and more information is dispersed than you can shake a stick at. On the other hand, the exchange of ideas and sharing of sales strategies, as a focus – is almost an afterthought.
I'm Out of the Office Today and your Message Isn't very Important to ME
"I’m not in the office today and although I have my blackberry/I phone/(insert other mobile device) right here in my bag/pocket/purse, your email will go unanswered because it’s pretty unimportant to me."
Brightening your Salesperson's Day
Is it important to brighten your salesperson’s day? Well, although it seems a bit soft the interaction between managers and salespeople leads to good hard sales success and the resulting cash. My feeling is that beverage industry leaders take a lot of good salespeople and make them managers - a job for which they are woefully unequipped. That many managers are much more at ease moving cases (either with a handtruck or with deeper discounts), than they are motivating and moving salespeople to do the job themselves. So…
