Articles
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
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.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
Traits of a Good Sales Manager
Traits of a good sales manager
Are you Praising Enough?
Last week I conducted a manager’s retreat that lasted almost 2 days. In an effort to keep everyone enthused, I stumbled upon a group exercise that helped in that effort. Consider doing this with your sales team to show the power of praise.
IF your manager...
When I was growing up we had a poster of a famous poem by Rudyard Kipling called "IF" hanging in our house. I'm not sure why but I thought of this poem a few weeks ago and penned my own version. My attempt speaks to the manager/salesperson dynamic and isn't nearly as poetic! Anyway, I believe that the way managers act and think directly relates to the way salespeople act and think...
Are you Carrying Positive or Negative Energy?
How is the energy level at your company? Would you characterize the situation as positive or negative? Is there room for improvement? Are you a manager or leader looking for the key to hitting your goals this year? As a manager or leader, your greatest charge in 2010 is to turn sales reps and others into a team focused on team goals as well as individual goals.
Do you Master Difficult Conversations?
Do you shy away from difficult conversations? Do you avoid people and situations because you don’t want to deal? Do you avoid returning calls to certain people because you don’t want to deal? Do you change subjects because you don’t want to deal? Do you rely on jokes, sarcasm and snide remarks instead of telling people how you really feel, because you don’t want to deal?
Coach's Corner: A Few Basics about Coaching
The first step as a coach is to develop a personal style. As you start, get a picture in your mind of a coach or mentor that has helped you achieve your personal and professional aspirations.
26.2 Ways to Hire a Winning Workforce - Part 1
I flew back from Las Vegas last Saturday. My client arranged for my transportation home, so I followed protocol and called the car service once I arrived at O’Hare. I was amazed to see car 345, a huge, beautiful stretch limo. I felt pretty silly getting such great treatment. The ride was uneventful, but as the car entered my residential neighborhood, something interesting happened.........
How to Manage your Time Effectively
Do you ever look at the deep piles on your desk and wonder where to begin? Ever create a to-do list after the fact just so you can check off things that were already done before you made the list? How are you at setting priorities? Do you tackle the big important things first, or do you do all the insignificant tasks just so you can feel you are accomplishing something.
The Power of Communication
Are communication skills important in business? It’s a silly question to be sure; however, just how important is communicating effectively? Could it be the most important variable? The answer may surprise you. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, recruiters are taking a different look when choosing from the hoards of uniquely qualified job applicants. Of course, students with high GPAs who matriculate from prestigious colleges are attractive candidates; however, more and more, applicants with developed communication skills are considered the most hirable, regardless of their alma mater.
Distilling the Ingredients of Successful Account Management - Part 2
The word distilling is defined as separating or extracting the essential elements. To manage accounts successfully, we have to identify and extract the essential elements, the traits for success. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to "complete the distillation;" to key on the important points (to each individual account) while placing less emphasis on everything else.
Distilling the Ingredients of Successful Account Management - Part 1
Ask 10 business owners what makes a good supplier or distributor, and you’ll get 10 different answers. It’s an interesting question; one sure to give rise to all kinds of opinions no matter what industry you spend your time. As the owner of one of the nation’s most prominent wine retailers, I saw more than my fair share of sales strategies. There were those that thought forcing wine in while no one was looking was a good strategy; and others that couldn’t fill an order if their life depended on it. There was even one young man that couldn’t remember how to spell his own wine correctly. He shall remain nameless; he could become my boss one day.
Making Decisions the Easy Way
Reaching the finish line with your customers isn’t rocket science. However, it does require that you don’t suffer paralysis by analysis. Make the right decisions for the right reasons and things will be fine. Being fair, honest, ethical, prepared and confident will also make your decisions much easier to make.
Making the Difficult Decisions
Last week we talked about firing people the right way. Many of you responded with your own experiences and asked me to delve further into the topic. Not many things in business stir more emotion than having to let people go. How do you feel when you have to let people go? Do you sleep well the night before?
Cutting the Underperformers
Part of Hitting the Grand Slam with your customers is having the best associates. Always select passionate, enthusiastic people, but when you make a mistake, cut your losses and move on. Careful selection and removal of underperformers improves morale. The result will be happy associates serving happy customers and a profitable business.
Five Tips to Becoming a More Caring Manager
What kind of manager are you? Do you want your people to be successful? Are you genuinely happy for your associates when they experience success, or are you always peering around the corner hoping no one is more successful than you? Are you secretly happy when they fail and get "egg on their face?"
Giving Good Feedback
Each day employees do many things right, and some things wrong. What should we do when their actions leave something to be desired? Do we chastise them? Do we humiliate them in front of their peers?
The Rewards of Rewarding
You’ve heard it a million times. Taking care of the internal customers will help the external customers. It’s true! Let your people know what you expect and praise them when they meet or exceed your expectations. You will like the results, and so will your accountants.
The Importance of a Customer-Focused Vision
It takes commitment and an obsession about customers to win business. Over the years, my experiences have taught me that it is simple to create a customer-focused culture, but it certainly isn't easy. If a company gets it right, however, the customers and profits will be easy to attract and keep.
Reinforce Positive Behavior
Sometimes we talk about appreciating our customers, but don't appreciate our employees. Appreciation of both customers and employees encourages loyalty by both. Reinforcing positive behavior is one way to say, "Keep up the good work!"
The Winning - Customer-Focused Team
Set high expectations to ensure high performance. Taking care of your internal customers, the staff puts them in a frame of mind to take care of the external customers, and the results are more sales and higher profits.
Accept and Love Change
As the business climate changes, to flourish, so must the company. Eliminate uncertainty by communicating with your associates. Motivate by including all levels of the organization. The only constant is change, to quote the famous expression, and it occurs at a breakneck pace.
Hiring the Winners
Selecting passionate and enthusiastic people will help you "Hit the Grand Slam" with your customers and associates. Increased revenues, healthy profits, and a happy workplace will not be far behind.
