Are You Confused About The Dynamic of Pursuit?

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This is the first in a series of seven articles outlining the need for NEW RULES in your selling efforts. In today’s article, we’ll look at the “Dynamic of Pursuit.”

I trained a sales team two months ago. It was our kickoff meeting in advance of a long term ongoing training program (which is currently in place).

In my kick-off meetings, I begin by focusing on changing the dynamic between YOU and the BUYER. I start with is the simple question,  “Who is selling whom?”

After I had made my points, a 50-something man stood up and challenged me. “There is no way, in this economy,” he said, “that my customer will EVER sell me. I must always be in selling and closing mode or I won’t get deals. You’re nuts to think that it could be any other way.”

OK. So noted. I later found out this gentleman was struggling. His results were poor. In his manager’s words, “time has passed him by.”

I Needed To Address His Concern

When training teams, I’ve learned that I can’t focus on 1-2 people who disagree. Every minute I spend with a disagree-er, is a moment I can’t spend expanding the thinking of the agree-ers. I must pick my battles and this wasn’t a fight worth fighting in front of the group.

After the program, I called the challenger over to have a word with him. He had calmed a little, so I asked him. “Have you ever had a prospect call you because he had been referred to you, hearing how great you are. Then, he asked a few questions and purchased?” Read more

The Hidden Power of a Sales Mastermind Group

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In his book, Think & Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill describes what a mastermind group is:

Nice, isn’t it? “A friendly alliance.” “Plan and purpose.”

Alliance 3

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The Truth Emerged

Last month, in the mastermind group that I’m in, a guy broke down into tears. He was struggling. His business was not doing well. And, this was the first time he actually admitted it to another human being.

While it was awkward, I’ve never seen 9 people jump into service so quickly. Isn’t it interesting that when the truth comes out – when we become “real,” people are always there to help?

Later, he emailed the group, sharing what a massive relief it was to know he had people on his ‘team’ that were in total support. You could feel the relief in his tone.

Below, I’ve listed 5 reasons that you MUST consider joining a mastermind group if you’re truly serious about your professional growth. Read more

How To Get a Job, Grow Your Business, or Improve Personal Positioning

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The numbers of Unemployment are staggering….over 9,000,000 working age Americans. Most are choosing to opt out of the labor force, (which I fail to grasp).

And Underemployment is also staggering…as high as 7,000,000 by some estimates. The definition of underemployment: Workers that are highly skilled but working in low-paying, low-skilled jobs or part time workers that would like to be full time.

Consequently, this article is design to solve a bit of this problem. I can hear your reaction: “Bill, you’re nuts. You can’t solve this in a blog post.” Oh yeah? Watch me.

Caveats. This will be apolitical so you trolls step back. This is about personal responsibility of the worker. And I consider that politically neutral.  This also is not about macro-economic trends. I’ll leave that to people smarter than moi.

In order to get a job, you have to have a System.

And that’s what I will teach you here: A systematic approach to job improvement is essential. If you have no system, you’ll be at the whims of the market. You will lose control. You will be powerless.

If you’re OK with powerlessness, stop reading this IMMEDIATELY. This will not help. Get to therapy now, where you can lay on the couch and discover your self-imposed limitations.

But for others, here we go. Read more

Are You a Dinosaur?

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We see them all around us. Maybe in our own office. Maybe in our family. Maybe in our vendors.

Or, maybe it’s us.

In this post, I will give you 5 areas that you can test yourself for dinosaur-ism. As I always say, this isn’t meant to shame…only to help. As a coach/consultant, I get asked to come into companies and help them grow, sometimes exponentially. And to do that, they MUST let go of old behaviors that prohibit that growth. I call it “dinosaurism.”

Example of Company Dinosaurism

I went in to a chiropractor’s office last week to order orthotics. Have been having some real foot problems and my chiro assured me that they have the best orthotics around. But what I found was ‘dinosaurism.’

1. When I got there during office hours, no one at the front desk to help. So I waited (20 minutes).

2. When someone finally arrived, I was told that she had no idea where the doctor was. Oh, that’s reassuring.

3. In 15 minutes, in he walks, no greeting. No acknowledgement for wait. Boy, do I feel good about this decision. Read more

3 Videos That Will Radically Shift Your Client Positioning and Results

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As you begin to think about 2016, I want you to consider three things to commit to next year.

I want you to create…yes I said “create”…3 videos for the expressed purpose of landing new clients.

How can videos help me land clients? Well….are you ever in for a surprise! Let me start with a blanket statement. OK, it’s my opinion….but a statement it is.

Video will help you tell your story, compel people to seek you out, and help you position yourself properly prior to client contact. 

VIDEO 1

Last week, I was in a coaching session with two sales leaders and their lead generation person. In the conversation, I found that they’re asking prospects to fill out a form on the web, then hit SUBMIT. Then, their lead person emails them back to set up a call. Read more

Are You UNSTOPPABLE?

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I must admit. Sometimes I just don’t feel it. I get bored. I get tired. I get overwhelmed with all the sh** that needs to get done, but never have the time to do. Yep, I get in the proverbial “rut.” You, too?

As I sink into those places, I have to catch myself and right the ship. Here are some of my favorite “go-to” strategies for getting back to “Unstoppable.”

Is it in my mind or in my motion?

That’s really the question, isn’t it? Is it just a “thinking” problem or a “mechanics” problem?

In other words, am I thinking about my life and my mission all wrong? Or, do I just not have the actions right? Read more

Income Inequality In Sales. Where Is The Justice?

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Can you imagine this happening in your sales department?

John (a struggling veteran sales person) walks into Bob’s office (sales manager) and makes this declaration:

“Bob, I don’t think the income distribution in this company is fair. I’ve been here 5 years and yet I make only 70% of what Mary makes. She has a better territory. She has more support from the company. Her customers buy more. And they buy more often. Her customers aren’t nearly as price sensitive as mine are so her profit number is higher. She doesn’t make nearly as many presentations as I do and even though her closing percentage is higher, I feel like I should be compensated on my huge number of quotes. I’ve been hearing lots in the zeitgeist about income equality and it occurred to me that we have a problem in this area.“

“So, I would like you to redistribute the income a little more fairly in our sales team. And if you can’t do it, then I’ll have to leave.” Read more

Coaching The Presidential Candidates

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As of yesterday at 5:00PM, not one candidate has called me from any presidential campaign. Hmmm. Guess that’s not unusual. THEY NEVER DO!

IF-YOU-DON'T-STAND-FOR-SOMETHING

But let’s pretend that one did call asking for help on debate prep, speech prep or just how to communicate better with the American people. I would lead with the three-headed problem to be followed by the 10-point fix:

The Problem

1. People are hungry for a candidate that people feel understands them. Most candidates are awful at establishing ‘remote rapport.’ (Rapport is easier when you’re face-to-face, but more difficult to establish at a distance, or in media). Reagan and Clinton were very good at this. Read more

Becoming Your Best By Avoiding The Misses

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I am blessed to be able to interview top-notched authors and experts in the area of leadership as we launch The Sales Leadership Academy.

Steve Shallenberger

I spoke to a veteran of leadership coaching, Steve Shallenberger, last week. Steve has worked with Fortune 100 companies for the last 30 years and has a great pulse on the mistakes he sees leaders make. He’s also author of “Becoming Your Best.”

One of those has to do with “Vision.” The lesson is that just because your company has no declared vision, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.

But the fact is that if you have a division…a team…a group…you MUST have a compelling, inspiring vision for your them or they’ll wander around with little focus, and little inspiration.

Here is an excerpt from a longer interview I did with Steve where he shared his thoughts.

Enjoy!

If you’re interested in learning more about The Sales Leadership Academy…and how it can help you create this type of inspiration in your team, go here. A little knowledge here could make a huge revenue difference in your team. It might be worth looking at.

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