Moments of Truth Are Potential Opportunities for Sales Success
Moments of Truth Are Potential Opportunities for Sales Success
The second moment came from a local small business professional who came up to me after a workshop presentation on "Stop Selling, Start Educating" for the Winfield & Lake of the Four Seasons Chamber of Commerce in NW Indiana. She politely shared with me that she had heard me speak a couple of times before and she did not like me. This risk taker (she took a risk by coming and by letting me know her thoughts) admitted to having to convince herself to attend the workshop. After listening to me third time, she realized that what I was sharing now made sense.
For those who have heard me speak, my sales and business presentations almost always include the power of committing your goals to writing because playing "Captain Wing It" by "spraying and praying your actions" will eventually cause you to crash and burn. Maybe this is why 96% of all small businesses fail in the first 10 years.
During this presentation, the third moment showed itself. When I asked those in the audience, "Who consistently commits all of her or his business goals to writing?" just one person raised her hand. She went on and said she achieves initially 60% of all written goals. The non-verbal language of some in the audience appeared to be questioning "Just 60%?" Her second comment revealed far more: From her experience, by not committing her goals to writing, she achieved only 10%. For those goals not achieved, she reviews and revises so that the second or even third to fifth attempts are successful.
The simple act of writing her goals down increased her sales success six fold. Would you like a 200% increase in your business sales not to mention a 600% increase? Then follow this example and put your goals to writing.
Later during the Lunch and Learn Workshop at the Hammond Innovation Center located in NW Indiana the fourth moment happened, a question was raised concerning the right actions specific to hiring new sales staff. My response was to begin with a proven assessment process to determine the potential sales person's talents and how that person will fit within your existing sales team.
One of those in attendance, James Barath of Benchmark Mortgage of NW Indiana shared his recent experience of assessing his team. This action allowed him to build a much stronger sales force and improve overall organizational performance.
Take Action Sales Coaching Tip: Moments of truth happen every day. To take advantage of them, you must be open to listening and be willing to take the necessary actions.
Moments of Truth Are Potential Opportunities for Sales Success - To learn more about this author, visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website.
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Life has an interesting way of confirming what you know to be true. In the last 24 hours, I had four such moments of truth. The first one came from a subscriber to one of my lists. He unsubscribed leaving this comment: "Good information, but I have heard it before." What his comment did for me was to validate that there is no new information to build your business, to increase sales or to improve profits. Businesses seeking the quick magic fix will be left on the sidelines of business success.
The second moment came from a local small business professional who came up to me after a workshop presentation on "Stop Selling, Start Educating" for the Winfield & Lake of the Four Seasons Chamber of Commerce in NW Indiana. She politely shared with me that she had heard me speak a couple of times before and she did not like me. This risk taker (she took a risk by coming and by letting me know her thoughts) admitted to having to convince herself to attend the workshop. After listening to me third time, she realized that what I was sharing now made sense.
For those who have heard me speak, my sales and business presentations almost always include the power of committing your goals to writing because playing "Captain Wing It" by "spraying and praying your actions" will eventually cause you to crash and burn. Maybe this is why 96% of all small businesses fail in the first 10 years.
During this presentation, the third moment showed itself. When I asked those in the audience, "Who consistently commits all of her or his business goals to writing?" just one person raised her hand. She went on and said she achieves initially 60% of all written goals. The non-verbal language of some in the audience appeared to be questioning "Just 60%?" Her second comment revealed far more: From her experience, by not committing her goals to writing, she achieved only 10%. For those goals not achieved, she reviews and revises so that the second or even third to fifth attempts are successful.
The simple act of writing her goals down increased her sales success six fold. Would you like a 200% increase in your business sales not to mention a 600% increase? Then follow this example and put your goals to writing.
Later during the Lunch and Learn Workshop at the Hammond Innovation Center located in NW Indiana the fourth moment happened, a question was raised concerning the right actions specific to hiring new sales staff. My response was to begin with a proven assessment process to determine the potential sales person's talents and how that person will fit within your existing sales team.
One of those in attendance, James Barath of Benchmark Mortgage of NW Indiana shared his recent experience of assessing his team. This action allowed him to build a much stronger sales force and improve overall organizational performance.
Take Action Sales Coaching Tip: Moments of truth happen every day. To take advantage of them, you must be open to listening and be willing to take the necessary actions.
Moments of Truth Are Potential Opportunities for Sales Success - To learn more about this author, visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website.
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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