John Henley, on August 3, 2017
I love when I hear a story and it stops me in my tracks. I love it even more when the story is about a salesperson that did something really smart!
That happened to me recently. I was facilitating a workshop and one of the managers shared a great story of a salesperson who created a very strong Valid Business Reason to get the attention of an important prospect.
Jim Hopes, on August 1, 2017
We know continuous and relentless cold calling can wear you down. It’s a numbers exercise at best, and unless you really enjoy leaving voicemail messages and constant rejection, the process can be boring and downright taxing. But, there are ways to spice things up so that you’re not only more engaged, but also way more productive. Here are five recommendations we have to help you:
LeadG2, on July 28, 2017
We hope you've had a great week! It's Friday, and today we're sharing what we've been reading online this week! Here are our "best" from around the web.
Typical link outreach is a tired sport, and we've all but alienated most content creators with our constant link requests. This video outlines five smart ways to earn links to your site without having to beg.
Mindy Murphy, on July 26, 2017
Recently I went to my daughter’s last soccer game of the season and it was thrilling to see how much the girls have grown in the past year. They are a talented group with a couple of great coaches who have helped them develop their talent.
The day of the game, their moves on the field were impressive. They were superstars, but I noticed during halftime that despite incredible talent on the field, one of the girls needed help tying her shoes. Without hesitation, her coach bent down and tied them. This same child dribbled the ball around everyone and scored twice against a great defense, but she still needed some very basic help from her coach before she could get back in the game.
Sometimes you have to tie shoelaces to be a good coach!
It immediately made me think about coaching a talented sales team.
Their strengths are impressive. The more you coach them, the more they grow, but each one of them may need very specific support and coaching in order to perform at their best.
How do you get even more out of your top performers?
LeadG2, on July 21, 2017
We hope you've had a great week! It's Friday, and today we're sharing what we've been reading online this week! Here are our "best" from around the web.
After a great presentation to a prospect that you feel certain will close, it's frustrating when the prospect just disappears on you. It's tempting to go off the rails at that point, but follow up mistakes can cost you the sale. Here’s a list of nine deadly follow up mistakes to avoid after a pitch.
Alina McComas, on July 20, 2017
Yes, it’s a strange question to be asked, but it led to a great conversation. I remember the workshop so clearly. Someone once asked me what I felt was the easiest way to lose a sale.
Jim Hopes, on July 19, 2017
Generally when most people think “training” they envision a classroom with an instructor, a workbook, and some Power Point slides. For most jobs, this is not training — it’s classroom education. By the way, there is nothing wrong with classroom education. Just don’t confuse it with actual training.
Training is really a one-on-one activity between a manager and the person he or she is looking to develop, whereas classroom education is a group activity — big difference. Training is best accomplished on the job. In The Knowing-Doing Gap by Jeffrey Pfeifer and Robert Sutton, they point out that the best companies “Embed more of the process of acquiring new knowledge in the actual doing of the task and less in formal training programs.”
Beth Sunshine, on July 18, 2017
I spent some time on the phone this morning talking with a new client. Brand new to the world of talent assessments and strength management, this sales manager was trying to wrap his mind around everything he was learning.
He called me because he was frustrated to learn that one of his lowest-performing salespeople had one of the strongest talent profiles on his team. He could not figure out how that could be possible!
Have you ever felt the frustration of managing a seller who was not performing on the job even though you knew the person had the potential? It’s maddening! And if it has happened to you, you’re not alone.
There are many reasons why a salesperson may fail to perform, even though they’ve got the potential.
LeadG2, on July 14, 2017
We hope you've had a great week! It's Friday, and today we're sharing what we've been reading online this week! Here are our "best" from around the web.
The more you can personalize your conversation to the prospect and their business, the greater the chance that you’ll capture their interest — and hopefully their business. Here are 18 places to do your research.
Jim Hopes, on July 13, 2017
Why have a manager who cannot move their people to performance?
That would be useless, right?
But the reality in today’s business is there are too many managers who fit this description. Why is that? Why would a manager, despite his or her best effort, be unable to activate their people? There are two primary reasons, and they have an interactive relationship with each other:
Lots of managers have a friendly, or at least cordial, relationship with their people. But not what we call a robust relationship. A robust relationship is one that’s useful to the manager wishing to improve the salesperson’s performance, and, therefore, the organization’s performance. It’s a relationship that gives the manager the power to accomplish this essential aspect of his or her job.
