Who Does the Best Thinking in Your Company?
Who Does the Best Thinking in Your Company?
When I asked former GAMA president Bob Baccigalupi, of Genworth Financial, who does the best thinking in his company, he responded, “I do the best thinking in my agency, but that’s a problem. I don’t need to have my agents think like me. I do, however, need to have them think about their job as an agent as a business, not as a job! I need to have them think as frequently and as hard about their business as I do.”
Instead of giving your sales force a detailed road map of where to find opportunity, ask them these questions: “From where you sit, what do you see? What and where are the opportunities you want to pursue? What steps would you take to pursue these opportunities? What would you measure to know if you were successful?”
Notice these are open-ended questions, questions that require thinking. If these probing questions cause people to stop and reflect on what their business is, who they enjoy working with and why, you have just done them and yourself a giant favor.
What happens when salespeople begin to think for themselves? They begin to think about who they know and the issues they are concerned with. They begin to watch and listen to what is happening around them in a new way. They become learners, hungry for information, curious about how they can make a difference.
When salespeople are curious, they also become fearless. They will ask almost any question to anyone. If they learn of an organization that interests them, they will pick up the phone. If they want to meet a particular individual, they will begin to think about who they know that might know that person … and pick up the phone.
If you think about it, your top performers probably already do this. Wouldn’t you like everyone in your organization to do the same? It all starts with encouraging everyone to start thinking about their business as hard as you do.
Who Does the Best Thinking in Your Company - To learn more about this author, visit Jim Horan's Website.
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If you believe you are the best strategic thinker in your organization, then you have a problem. If you tell your people what and where the opportunities are and then nudge, encourage, insist or demand they pursue them, then who owns the idea? You do. When you tell your people how and where to sell, you rob them of the opportunity to think for themselves.
When I asked former GAMA president Bob Baccigalupi, of Genworth Financial, who does the best thinking in his company, he responded, “I do the best thinking in my agency, but that’s a problem. I don’t need to have my agents think like me. I do, however, need to have them think about their job as an agent as a business, not as a job! I need to have them think as frequently and as hard about their business as I do.”
Instead of giving your sales force a detailed road map of where to find opportunity, ask them these questions: “From where you sit, what do you see? What and where are the opportunities you want to pursue? What steps would you take to pursue these opportunities? What would you measure to know if you were successful?”
Notice these are open-ended questions, questions that require thinking. If these probing questions cause people to stop and reflect on what their business is, who they enjoy working with and why, you have just done them and yourself a giant favor.
What happens when salespeople begin to think for themselves? They begin to think about who they know and the issues they are concerned with. They begin to watch and listen to what is happening around them in a new way. They become learners, hungry for information, curious about how they can make a difference.
When salespeople are curious, they also become fearless. They will ask almost any question to anyone. If they learn of an organization that interests them, they will pick up the phone. If they want to meet a particular individual, they will begin to think about who they know that might know that person … and pick up the phone.
If you think about it, your top performers probably already do this. Wouldn’t you like everyone in your organization to do the same? It all starts with encouraging everyone to start thinking about their business as hard as you do.
Who Does the Best Thinking in Your Company - To learn more about this author, visit Jim Horan's Website.
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr'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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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva'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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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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