960 Moments of PRIDE-Five Essential Steps That Will Make You Famous in Your Industry
960 Moments of PRIDE-Five Essential Steps That Will Make You Famous in Your Industry
Corita Kent (1918-1986)
American artist and teacher
Hey Salesperson! Do you want to have a successful day today? Well, you have about 960 opportunities (16 waking hours x 60 minutes) to make it happen. And the trick is to make sure the percentage of successful moments far outweighs the percentage of stale or unproductive moments. So what defines a successful moment at work? It is one that makes you more valuable to your customers, work associates, company or industry. And the following moments in your day, while necessary, are not necessarily increasing your value. Yet many average reps burn up countless minutes each day in these areas.
• Drive time
• Doing quotes
• Putting in orders
• Tracking down product information
• Checking email and voicemail
On the other hand, the following activities contain what I call “960 Moments of PRIDE.” And this PRIDE can raise your value…and your commission check.
• Prospecting for New Customers
• Relationship Making
• Influence Activity
• Deviation
• Educating Yourself
Prospecting for New Customers
Want to add some 960 Moments to your day? If so, you need to get out of the office and into the offense. Let me explain. Just last week a tenured salesperson told me that business wasn’t great. I then asked him if he was out looking for new accounts, and he told me he was not. When I asked him why, he said that he was afraid that if he went calling on other rep’s accounts they would come after his accounts. News Flash! In business, the best way to defend your own accounts is to make people defend theirs (by the way, this doesn’t mean by low balling on price!). It’s that whole “best defense is a good offense” thing. If you are somebody who is spending more time in the office and not enough time on offense, your value is decreasing while your 960 competitor is increasing. This is no plateauing in this business. Your value is either going up or down.
Relationships
Are you looking to trade in some of those stale low-value moments for more 960 Moments? Great…I have an idea. Make a list of the top 10 people both inside and outside of your business that can make you smarter. Then give them a call to set up a breakfast, lunch or other meeting (happy hour or golf is often a nice way to spend a 960 moment). Each moment you spend with a networking partner increases your value. Because the relationships that are made, along with the information you will receive, will make you more valuable to your company and your customers. Reach out to at least one person in your network each week and be prepared with one or two specific questions. Don’t reach out just for the sake of “reaching out!” Set a clear objective. An example might be, “My objective in meeting with Joe is to get him to tell me at least three things that he does to separate him from the competition.” By setting a specific objective for your networking meeting, you will get more out of it. And in that meeting find a way to help Joe in three ways as well. That will keep him an active member of your 960 relationship file.
Influence Your Activity
If you are interested in saying goodbye to the Poconos, and saying hello to the Bahamas, you need to be very specific about what you want to sell and how much of it you want to sell each day. Pick one or two products today that you think you could sell a ton of and plan to prospect on EVERY call you make for 20 days. But before you do, think about how many of those products you would like to sell. For instance, if you want to sell seven widgets by the end of the month, I first want you to think about how many prospecting calls you need to make and how many formal presentations you need to deliver to get to those seven sales. For example:
• To get 7 sales, I believe I will need to set up 10 live presentations (70% close ratio…not bad!). But to get to 10 presentations, I believe I need to prospect with 50 customers.
Okay 960, now that you know how many prospects you need to talk to about the widgets (That’s 50, by the way), it’s time to get to work. And take comfort in knowing that your competition, because they didn’t go through the above exercise, will stop prospecting at about 12, long before you have arrived at your number of 50.
Deviate
960 Reps don’t look, act, think or smell like the average salesperson. And they aren’t afraid to take valuable minutes each day to do something a little “deviant.” One simple way to deviate from your competition is to take 15 minutes each day to write hand written thank you notes to customers and prospects that you met with that day. Keep the notes, some envelopes and a book of stamps in your briefcase, car, or by your phone. Then after every high value call you make, take one minute to write it, seal it and stamp it. Then find the first blue mailbox you can find. Think about it. When will that prospect or customer get your note? Tomorrow or the next day? And guess what that note will say about your ability to serve them. It says you care, you pay attention to detail, you have five-star follow up skills and you have time to do the little things for that customer. And that note can say those things even better than your lips can; because it is done in the spirit of service. And if you prefer to write the notes in your office at night, no problem, just get it done. Also, for you deviants who do everything online, check out this online card creation service at www.sendoutcards.com/precise. It allows you to pick a card, personalize it and mail it with your handwriting all from one site.
Educate Yourself
The most successful people in any business are the ones who schedule time each week to learn something new. So grab your PDA or open up your Outlook calendar right now and set a recurring appointment with yourself. And make that appointment between 30 and 60 minutes for the same time each week. During that time you can read a trade journal, visit a competitive website, call a current customer to ask for feedback, read a sales book…or whatever! But if the ultimate goal is to be able to provide more value to your customers than the competition, you need to be smarter than them. And the 960 rep doesn’t get smarter by accident.
Lastly, remember the only difference between top performers and the average is how they look at each moment, each hour and each day. There is a sense of urgency in high achievers that has them keeping score between productivity and wasted time. And top performers simply come closer to 960 Moments of PRIDE than others. And when they roll over to set the alarm clock before bed, it is at that moment they can tell themselves, “I made my objectives, I served others, I made a difference, and I did my best. Today was a great day!”
Go make it a 960 day!
960 Moments of PRIDEFive Essential Steps That Will Make You Famous in Your Industry - To learn more about this author, visit Brian Sullivan's Website.
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"Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed."
Corita Kent (1918-1986)
American artist and teacher
Hey Salesperson! Do you want to have a successful day today? Well, you have about 960 opportunities (16 waking hours x 60 minutes) to make it happen. And the trick is to make sure the percentage of successful moments far outweighs the percentage of stale or unproductive moments. So what defines a successful moment at work? It is one that makes you more valuable to your customers, work associates, company or industry. And the following moments in your day, while necessary, are not necessarily increasing your value. Yet many average reps burn up countless minutes each day in these areas.
• Drive time
• Doing quotes
• Putting in orders
• Tracking down product information
• Checking email and voicemail
On the other hand, the following activities contain what I call “960 Moments of PRIDE.” And this PRIDE can raise your value…and your commission check.
• Prospecting for New Customers
• Relationship Making
• Influence Activity
• Deviation
• Educating Yourself
Prospecting for New Customers
Want to add some 960 Moments to your day? If so, you need to get out of the office and into the offense. Let me explain. Just last week a tenured salesperson told me that business wasn’t great. I then asked him if he was out looking for new accounts, and he told me he was not. When I asked him why, he said that he was afraid that if he went calling on other rep’s accounts they would come after his accounts. News Flash! In business, the best way to defend your own accounts is to make people defend theirs (by the way, this doesn’t mean by low balling on price!). It’s that whole “best defense is a good offense” thing. If you are somebody who is spending more time in the office and not enough time on offense, your value is decreasing while your 960 competitor is increasing. This is no plateauing in this business. Your value is either going up or down.
Relationships
Are you looking to trade in some of those stale low-value moments for more 960 Moments? Great…I have an idea. Make a list of the top 10 people both inside and outside of your business that can make you smarter. Then give them a call to set up a breakfast, lunch or other meeting (happy hour or golf is often a nice way to spend a 960 moment). Each moment you spend with a networking partner increases your value. Because the relationships that are made, along with the information you will receive, will make you more valuable to your company and your customers. Reach out to at least one person in your network each week and be prepared with one or two specific questions. Don’t reach out just for the sake of “reaching out!” Set a clear objective. An example might be, “My objective in meeting with Joe is to get him to tell me at least three things that he does to separate him from the competition.” By setting a specific objective for your networking meeting, you will get more out of it. And in that meeting find a way to help Joe in three ways as well. That will keep him an active member of your 960 relationship file.
Influence Your Activity
If you are interested in saying goodbye to the Poconos, and saying hello to the Bahamas, you need to be very specific about what you want to sell and how much of it you want to sell each day. Pick one or two products today that you think you could sell a ton of and plan to prospect on EVERY call you make for 20 days. But before you do, think about how many of those products you would like to sell. For instance, if you want to sell seven widgets by the end of the month, I first want you to think about how many prospecting calls you need to make and how many formal presentations you need to deliver to get to those seven sales. For example:
• To get 7 sales, I believe I will need to set up 10 live presentations (70% close ratio…not bad!). But to get to 10 presentations, I believe I need to prospect with 50 customers.
Okay 960, now that you know how many prospects you need to talk to about the widgets (That’s 50, by the way), it’s time to get to work. And take comfort in knowing that your competition, because they didn’t go through the above exercise, will stop prospecting at about 12, long before you have arrived at your number of 50.
Deviate
960 Reps don’t look, act, think or smell like the average salesperson. And they aren’t afraid to take valuable minutes each day to do something a little “deviant.” One simple way to deviate from your competition is to take 15 minutes each day to write hand written thank you notes to customers and prospects that you met with that day. Keep the notes, some envelopes and a book of stamps in your briefcase, car, or by your phone. Then after every high value call you make, take one minute to write it, seal it and stamp it. Then find the first blue mailbox you can find. Think about it. When will that prospect or customer get your note? Tomorrow or the next day? And guess what that note will say about your ability to serve them. It says you care, you pay attention to detail, you have five-star follow up skills and you have time to do the little things for that customer. And that note can say those things even better than your lips can; because it is done in the spirit of service. And if you prefer to write the notes in your office at night, no problem, just get it done. Also, for you deviants who do everything online, check out this online card creation service at www.sendoutcards.com/precise. It allows you to pick a card, personalize it and mail it with your handwriting all from one site.
Educate Yourself
The most successful people in any business are the ones who schedule time each week to learn something new. So grab your PDA or open up your Outlook calendar right now and set a recurring appointment with yourself. And make that appointment between 30 and 60 minutes for the same time each week. During that time you can read a trade journal, visit a competitive website, call a current customer to ask for feedback, read a sales book…or whatever! But if the ultimate goal is to be able to provide more value to your customers than the competition, you need to be smarter than them. And the 960 rep doesn’t get smarter by accident.
Lastly, remember the only difference between top performers and the average is how they look at each moment, each hour and each day. There is a sense of urgency in high achievers that has them keeping score between productivity and wasted time. And top performers simply come closer to 960 Moments of PRIDE than others. And when they roll over to set the alarm clock before bed, it is at that moment they can tell themselves, “I made my objectives, I served others, I made a difference, and I did my best. Today was a great day!”
Go make it a 960 day!
960 Moments of PRIDEFive Essential Steps That Will Make You Famous in Your Industry - To learn more about this author, visit Brian Sullivan'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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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle'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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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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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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