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The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

John Henley

John Henley

Recent Posts by John Henley:

How to Use Tension to Advance the Sale

 

How to Use Tension to Advance the Sale

Salespeople often slow down a sale or lose it altogether because they are not willing to create tension. I am not talking about relationship tension. I am talking about task tension.  

You want to get to task tension as quickly as you can. This is what sales acceleration is all about. However, smart salespeople know you need to create a foundation of relationships—essentially reducing relationship tension so you can create task tension. You can’t rush to task tension until you remove relationship tension. You remove relationship tension by helping the prospect see that you are someone who can be trusted and could bring value.

Topics: Sales sales process

The Leadership Challenge

The Leadership Challenge

One of the main reasons leadership is challenging is because you are managing a fast-moving conveyor belt of decisions. One decision after another is rolling off the conveyor belt: 

  • Should I remove this non-performer even though I have two other open positions? 

  • Do I shift the compensation plan to get the team focused on the right behaviors, knowing it could disrupt the culture and distract top performers? 

  • I just announced our new hybrid work expectations, and now my top performer is asking for more flexibility because of a family situation—do I allow it? 

You can’t obsess over each one and slow everything down, but you don’t want to make knee-jerk decisions, either.

Topics: leadership development

How to Use a Sales Diagnostic to Improve Performance

How to Use a Sales Diagnostic to Improve Performance

Have you ever thought about how the 10,000 foot view from an airplane is often more interesting and illuminating than the proverbial 30,000 foot view?

This is true when looking at a sales organization as well. The 30,000-ft. view that you tend to take with something like a SWOT analysis or other strategic exercises is good, but the 10,000-ft. view might be more appropriate

We use a process called the Sales Diagnostic to take the 10,000 foot view.

Topics: Sales sales diagnostic

The 8 Essentials to a High Performing B2B Sales Organization

The 8 Essentials to a High Performing B2B Sales Organization

There's a lot to get right if you're trying to build a high performing sales organization.

That's because sales organizations are complex systems, like the nervous system. The nervous system contains a network of specialized cells called neurons. Nerve impulses have a domino effect. Each neuron receives an impulse and must pass it on to the next neuron and make sure the correct impulse continues on its path. If something goes wrong in this process, you have problems.  

In a sales organization, there's the same domino effect. If you don't get all 8 essentials right, you'll have problems.  

Topics: sales performance Sales

2019 Media Sales Report - How to Book More First-Time Appointments with Prospects

2019 Media Sales Report - How to Book More First-Time Appointments with Prospects-

Want to know the secret to booking more first-time appointments with new prospects? It might surprise you!

In the recent Media Sales Report, we learned 93% of sales managers agree that salespeople should be averaging 4+ calls per week. However, 40% of sales managers believe that their salespeople are missing the mark at only 2 to 3 calls per week. 

Add to this the finding that 85% feel that appointments with prospects are harder to secure today than they were 5 years ago, and this leads us to the secret to booking more appointments.

Topics: media sales report

Increase Your Closing Ratio by Adding This to Your Proposal

increase closing ratio by adding this to your proposalMost proposals follow a pattern of reviewing a customer need or desired business result and then presenting the solution that will deliver the desired result. I agree with that approach, but you will increase your closing ratio if you add a section in between those two. That section? Measures of Success. 

Topics: Proposal Sales sales process

The Sales Pipeline is More Important Than Sales Activity

status of the sales pipelineIt seems like every sales manager I have talked to lately wants to talk about activity and how to enforce minimum activity expectations. It took a few of these conversations before a simple truth became obvious to me: Pipeline is way more important than activity.

Topics: sales performance Sales sales process

Burn Your Ships: A History Lesson About How to Be a Great Leader

ship at seaIf you are a history buff, you may know the story of Cortés and the burning of his ships. In the year 1519, Hernán Cortés arrived in the New World with six hundred men and, upon arrival, made history by destroying his ships. This sent a clear message to his men: There is no turning back.

Two years later, he succeeded in his conquest of the Aztec empire. 

As leaders taking our people into new territories as unknown and potentially hazardous as did Cortés, we need to ensure those we are leading that there is no turning back. He knew how to be a great leader. We need to be certain there is no off-ramp our people can use to avoid the challenges of our own new business worlds. We need to burn the ships.

What Does Burning the Ships Mean Today? 

We’re long past the days of conquistadors, but the story of burning the ships is as relevant as ever. I bet you’re already thinking of some aspect of your company that needs attention right now, that needs your leadership. If you leave the ships in the harbor, your people will see that you’re not fully committing to the transition needed. If you’re not fully committed, why should they be? By burning the ships, by removing any available path back to the previous way, your team will become as fully committed as you obviously are.

Topics: sales performance

Removing Roadblocks to Sales Performance

removing roadblocks to sales performanceI was driving around downtown Tampa recently during a convention and found many roads blocked off as I was trying to get to my destination. I know downtown Tampa pretty well, and knew exactly where I wanted to get, which made it even more frustrating that I couldn't get to where I wanted to go. I was tempted to get out of my car and remove the roadblocks. I didn't, and ended up going in circles, not making the best use of my time.  

Topics: sales performance

Replace HR with an HF Department

iStock-694855060-071225-edited

I wonder if we could all treat people better if we replaced human resources with a department focused on human flourishing (HF). People are certainly more human than they are resources, but I wonder if there is a better way to think of them than merely resources. One of the dictionary definitions of flourish is "to thrive or grow luxuriantly." Pretty cool way to think of your people.

Topics: Sales sales training