The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Recently, I read a book by this title written by retired admiral William H. McRaven. He was a Navy Seal and eventually rose to the command of the worldwide Seal operation. The book is loaded with principles McRaven learned as a Navy Seal, each of which is an invaluable nugget that leads to success in about any venture.

The first principle is, if you want to change the world begin by accomplishing something first thing every morning — make your bed. Now, it sounds simple, and perhaps even trivial, but he points out beginning each day with a measurable accomplishment sets the tone for a productive 24 hours ahead.

As you might imagine, a well-made bed for a Seal is one so perfect the drill sergeant can bounce a quarter six inches high off the perfectly-taught cover. Failure to deliver such a quality job can result in a hundred push ups or perhaps a two-mile run as the sun rises.

So, I began wondering what making your bed looks like for a sales professional? Beyond literally making your bed (which I happen to do everyday first thing, so I appreciate the adrenaline charge of that early accomplishment), what are the "first-thing" activities a sales pro should accomplish in order to insure a productive day ahead and improve sales performance? Here are some that come to mind for me.

Talking about price with a new business prospect can be tricky. Talking about it too soon—when trust is low—can end the conversation, before it has even gained any traction. Talking about it too late could lead to the unfortunate discovery that the prospect is cash poor.

There are a number of ways to prompt the conversation with a prospect. Here’s a list of three that are extremely effective.

- MOTIVATION -

"OUR GREATEST WEAKNESS LIES IN GIVING UP. THE MOST CERTAIN WAY TO SUCCEED IS TO TRY JUST ONE MORE TIME"

-THOMAS EDISON

- AROUND THE WEB -

<< If you only read one thing >>

Helping Buyers Overcome Information Fatigue — LinkedIn

The great sales managers know that if you want to see an increase in performance then you have to set expectations. But just setting expectations is never enough. You need to put a system in place where you can measure what you expect. As the management saying goes, "Your salespeople will respect what you inspect… and you need to inspect what you expect."

My favorite book in high school was George Orwell's Animal Farm. If you haven't read it, it is an allegorical novel that tells the story of how Communism took over Russia and ultimately ruined their economy. I loved this book because a) it's brilliant, and b) it's a great defender of capitalism, which I LOVE!

Glassdoor was initially founded with the intent to improve transparency, which is part of the foundation for increasing employee engagement, but the benefit of being transparent doesn’t stop there. According to a recent Glassdoor.com study, positive online employee reviews not only enhance your overall employer brand, they directly correlate to a higher volume of candidate resumes for open positions and lower salary increases for the same job.    

Whether you're new to Glassdoor, or you've been using it to boost your employer brand for a while, make sure you do (or are doing) these three things to engage with more candidates and improve your sales team recruitment efforts.

If you are a manager with a struggling seller, this blog post is for you!

Too often, managers place the blame of a struggling seller at the feet of the struggling seller. This is usually a mistake. There is a better way to find out what is causing the seller’s lack of performance, and it involves an analysis of the following five things:

• Talent and Fit
• Relationship
• Expectations
• Feedback
• Compensation

- MOTIVATION -

"DON'T BE AFRAID TO GIVE UP THE GOOD TO GO FOR THE GREAT."

-JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER

- AROUND THE WEB -

<< If you only read one thing >>

4 Field Sales Best Practices of High-Performing Teams — CloserIQ

In almost every industry, there are a few people or businesses that watch trends, see where the industry is headed, and share unique insights—thought leaders. These people and organizations are the ones that you check on regularly for innovation, market challenges, new initiatives, etc.

The thought leadership position is certainly an advantageous position to have, as it can help with generating sales, lead generation, recruitment and retention, and new business opportunities. While sometimes this thought leadership position will come about completely organically, many times it is part of an overall sales strategy and much time and consideration has been put in to developing the plan to make this happen. 

Sales tend to stall. Every salesperson with a pending list realizes that this week looks too much like last week. As does every sales manager who's listened through the excuses about why this or that prospect is still pending.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,”  ~ Lao Tzu 

We know that to accomplish big things, we need to break them down into smaller tasks. But, we’re often too busy to actually slow down and apply what we already know. Many companies have a defined sales process, some more structured than others, and it’s the lack of following that process that is stalling most sales.