Can you imagine Bill Belichick, head coach for the New England Patriots, calling the plays, encouraging his players, and developing star athletes like Tom Brady from inside the locker room? Of course not! So, why do sales managers try that approach?
Beth Sunshine, on June 1, 2017
Can you imagine Bill Belichick, head coach for the New England Patriots, calling the plays, encouraging his players, and developing star athletes like Tom Brady from inside the locker room? Of course not! So, why do sales managers try that approach?
Beth Sunshine, on April 19, 2017
Talent, fit, experience. All extremely important factors to consider when you are working to fill an open position. But where do you start?
A strong talent bank will be filled with a wide variety of people. Rookies. Veterans. Unique personalities. Those much like you. What is the most important thing to consider when you have the golden opportunity to fill an open position?
Talent.
And here’s why:
Beth Sunshine, on February 6, 2017
It’s not that annual reviews are bad… it’s just that they’re not enough! Whether the person you are managing is doing a great job, a terrible job, or performing somewhere in-between, waiting twelve months to let them know that information is damaging to them and to your company.
Beth Sunshine, on February 2, 2017
Sales staff turnover may be the most expensive and frustrating thing a sales manager has to deal with these days. You know the cost of making the wrong hire extends far beyond their salary and commissions, but did you know that their compensation probably only accounts for about 28% of your total loss? A recent study determined that managers waste about 150 hours of time on each wrong hire on top of the additional costs from soured client relationships, additional disruptions, and opportunity costs. Your mis-hire could cost you as much as 15 times their annual income!
Beth Sunshine, on December 22, 2016
This is one of the coaching questions I am asked most often, so chances are high that you’ve wondered the same thing. My short-and-sweet answer to this question? No, it is not wrong. Not even a little bit.
I’ll even go one giant step further by saying that in most cases, it is actually imperative that you are friends with the people you manage.
Beth Sunshine, on November 21, 2016
Great coaching is hard to find.
Most people aren’t born to coach, but those that are, the ones who are great at growing and developing people, can forever change the lives of those around them.
I talk about coaching in sales and management all the time, but the same lessons can be drawn from and applied to sports, education, really everything. People do not grow in a vacuum. They only grow in relationship to another person.
Beth Sunshine, on November 3, 2016
I am really good at showing up on time, coaching people, planning jam-packed vacations, coming up with creative gift ideas, and breaking down something complicated into the key points that everyone needs to understand. Those are my talents—the things that I do well. Maybe even better than others. And, if I really thought about it, I could probably even think of a few more things to add to my short list.
Now, ask me to make a list of things I’m not very good at—the things I’ve worked hard at but never seem to be able to do as well as others…. Well, that could go on all day! Playing tennis, building budgets, writing in straight lines on a white board, singing in tune…. Seriously, I could fill the page! While practice might make me a bit better, I will never achieve greatness.
And as much as that bugs me, it’s pretty normal. We all have strengths but we have MANY more weaknesses than we have strengths. And that’s okay, because no one succeeds based on their weaknesses.
Beth Sunshine, on October 10, 2016
Our research shows that the very best salespeople out there are highly competitive, focused, passionate, and good at solving problems. So it would make sense that these same people would be excited about the opportunity to experience a virtual version of what it’s like to work for a company while scoring badges, earning points, and competing to win. It also stands to reason that highly competitive organizations would want to set themselves apart from the competition by turning to unique forms of recruitment to attract the most high-potential hires.
Beth Sunshine, on September 28, 2016
After spending over a decade helping sales organizations select highly talented employees and coaching those salespeople and sales managers to turn talent into performance, I have discovered what I believe are two undisputable truths:
The latest numbers from Gallup tell us that 70% of our employees are disengaged in their jobs and a recent study by SAP and Oxford Economics revealed that one in five of our top performers are likely to leave their jobs in the next six months!
This means it’s not enough to hire highly talented people into your organization and it’s not even enough to put them in the right positions so they can effectively use their talents (although both of these things are critical!).
Once hired, these talented people need much more from their manager in order to consistently feel engaged and fully realize their potential.
So what can you do to increase employee retention and maximize the performance of your people?
Beth Sunshine, on August 22, 2016
My words of wisdom for the day: When you love something, don’t set it free. Hold on tight and grab a back-up just in case!
