Tag Archives: Sales Management

How Mistakes Make You a Sales Management Genius

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sales management mistakesI have a very close friend who is an incredibly successful internet entrepreneur.

Despite the fact that he toils in a highly competitive and cut-throat market, he has achieved an unprecedented level of success his peers could only dream of.

Last month, he made an enormous mistake. It was actually a catastrophic mistake. He was doing a project for one of his clients and documenting its success on his blog and he took his eye off the ball and just plain screwed up.

Instead of hiding from it, burying it, never mentioning it, he did the exact opposite of what most people would do:

He discussed it openly on his blog for his thousands of readers to see.

Curious about this decision to publicly “come clean”, I asked him why.

His answer: Continue reading →

How to “Spell” Sales Management Coaching

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When my kids ask me how to spell a word for their homework, I don’t tell them.

When they were younger, I would just tell them, eager to show them how smart I was because I could spell the word “guarantee” without looking it up in the dictionary.

But now, I never tell them.

They used to then go to their mom and ask her, but although she used to do what I once did and just outright tell them, she now does what I do. She doesn’t answer either.

Sure, they didn’t like it at first.  In fact, they never liked it and now that I think of it they still don’t like it.

But now they don’t ask me how to spell words nearly as much as they once did. They just wanted the answer, they wanted the easy way out. They didn’t want to have to go through the trouble of THINKING.

No, we don’t Continue reading →

The Ultimate Sales Management Leadership Weapon REVEALED

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Forget the clever speeches.

Forget the “atta-boys”.

Forget the monthly sales plaques.

No sales management training leadership strategy works better to motivate your sales team than this.

I am talking about a guttural, visceral, “cut to the quick” sales management motivational strategy and there is nothing pretty about it.

This is the kind of motivational tactic that when someone does it for you, you will kill for them (figuratively, not literally of course). So much so that:

…the Army Rangers do it.

…the Navy SEALs do it.

…the Green Berets do it.

…the Special Forces do it.

And now, you need to do it.

And here it is: Continue reading →

Sales Management, Plumbers, Heating and Cooling Guys

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We built a brand new house about four years ago.

We actually bought an older house, with the idea of adding on to it, making a few remodels and then living in it.

We really loved the house, but realized about half way through our remodel plans that the house needed so many revisions, it would break our budget. We instead decided to tear the whole thing down and start from scratch. Believe it or not, this was the cheaper way to do it.

It was a gut wrenching decision, not only because it was a beautiful house, but also because I really hate paying for things twice.

Oh well.

We figured that this would be the last house we would ever buy, so we may as well do it right.

So we did it right.

The High Pressure Heating and Cooling System

One of the things we decided to include with the new house was a state-of-the-art high pressure heating and cooling system. We live on Cape Cod, Massachusetts so the winters aren’t too cold and the summers aren’t too oppressively hot.

But in the middle of August it’s brutally hot.

Since we had decided to “do it right”, we got the central air conditioning in addition to the regular heating component.

We also decided to get many of the other systems in the house state-of-the-art as well. The fire prevention system, the lighting system, the water heater/plumbing system, the sprinkler system are all basically computer systems that require some technical expertise to make sure they properly function.

All of them require annual maintenance to keep them in top working order.

However, out of all these complex systems we have in the house, only the company that installed the heating and cooling system send us regular reminder to make appointments to do “semi-annual maintenance checks”. The mailer comes every six months with an email.

Now, I’m no HVAC technical genius but all this really amounts to is two guys coming into the house, taking a look at the heating system and replacing the air filters.

Solely because of their letters and emails, I call them, they call me back and then they come by and check things out once or twice a year. Just to see if everything’s alright.

After their visit, they send us a bill for a cool $180 for a mere 30 minutes of work.

Not a bad hourly wage to say the least…

And for a heating and cooling system that would cost many times that amount to replace, I figure its a small price to pay.

Amazingly, they are still the only company that contacts us every year, twice a year to make sure everything is working well.

The Sales Management – Sales Rep Contract

I once took over a ten person sales team, which every member was in the bottom half of the national rankings in the 600 salesperson sales force.

In my first sales meeting with them (after a mere two days on the job), I decided I would take a slightly different approach to my leadership with them.

In an effort to be helpful, I had carefully put together 30 or so snazzy power point slides to dazzle them with all the things I expected from them to achieve sales success. At the last minute though, I tossed that idea and decided to simply use a chalkboard to write down what they expected from me in order to be successful.

After their last sales manager (who was clearly lacking certain key leadership skills), I figured this would be a great way for me to introduce myself as the new guy who actually cared about what they wanted most.

So I asked them the question and wrote their answers on the board.

The list was pretty long, but the top three were:

  • Call us back when we call you
  • Follow up on projects we are working on that need help
  • Let us know where we stand

Simple enough.

I then asked them what I should expect from them. That list was not quite as long, but it was fairly extensive.

We made the agreement that we would both honor both sides of the agreement. I would do what they asked and they would do what I asked of them.

By year’s end, 50% of them were in the top half of the sales force and three won the top sales award for the company…

Don’t Be The Plumber

With all the talk about businesses having a tough go of it right now, I’ve always wondered why the heating and cooling guys are the only ones who faithfully contact us to do follow up.

I mean, that $180 is pretty easy money. Money like that is ripe for the taking with the other systems we have in the house.

For example, the hot water heater we have is notoriously finicky. It needs constant TLC.

Does my plumber email to remind me to service it? I mean, he has my email address after all.

Nope.

I spend the $180 with the heating and cooling guys because they:

  • Call me back when I call them
  • Follow up on periodic maintenance of my heating system
  • Let me know where I stand

Simple.

And it’s good business.

Sales Management Training and Heating and Cooling

In sales management, one of the best ways to differentiate yourself from the rest of the average sales mangers out there and lay your own personal foundation for success is to simply do the same thing the heating and cooling guys do:

  • Call your sales reps back when they call you
  • Follow up on projects we are working on that need help
  • Let them know where we stand

Most plumbers, subcontractors and sales managers miss this critical point to success.

At the very least, basic follow up is essential to sales management success.

Not only do your salespeople want it, but they need it. In fact, they demand it.

So ask yourself:

  • Are you calling back your salespeople when they call you?
  • Do you have a scheduled weekly meeting with each of your salespeople to review your combined actions to help close the sale?
  • Do you actually provide valuable feedback to your sales reps during semi-annual and annual reviews of your salespeople?

If you are doing at least some of these things, then you are more heating and cooling guy than plumber.

If you’re not however….

Sales Management, Salt and Pepper

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I make dinner for the family on most nights. When I’m not traveling, I work from home, so the job of dinner comes down to me.

My youngest son likes to make dinner too.

This is a big help because I can put him to work as my 9 year old sous chef; cutting vegetables, minding the boiling pots and keeping me company in the kitchen.

Oftentimes, he makes suggestions as to what we should cook, which is great because I often have hard time thinking of things to cook.

One night he suggested we have “Greek Night”.

Sounding like a damn good idea, we happily went to the supermarket to get our Greek supplies:

  • Lamb
  • Tomatoes
  • Rice
  • Feta cheese

Grocery list done, we went home, fired up the grill and were on our way.

I then realized I had never cooked Greek before…

Although we have tons of spices in the spice rack, I didnt have any “Greek spices” to spice the lamb. I’m not even sure what Greek spices are…

Pressed for time, I figured I’d keep things simple. Having been to Greece, I knew the Greeks liked to keep things simple when it comes to ingredients.

So I grabbed the salt and pepper, and started to grill the lamb.

Salt and pepper.

When it was all done, it was the best lamb Ive ever had.

The rest of the meal, with the tomatoes with feta cheese, white rice with butter that went along with it were pretty sweet too.

Total ingredients for the entire meal: 6

Simple.

The #1 Key To Great Sales Management

I get asked all the time what the key to great sales management is.

When I answer, I often think of “Greek Night”…especially the lamb.

Why? Because great sales management is all about keeping things simple.

In fact, the more complex you get at times with your “sales management strategies, tactics and tricks” the worse your results.

The key to sales management success is simplicity.

And be helpful.

The New Salesperson

A few years ago I had a new salesperson who was frazzled from her first month or two on the job. She would call me constantly, at all hours, asking about dozens of questions on policies and procedures, afraid that she may do something wrong.

I would always return her call and help her with whatever issue she had. I would also teach her how to solve the issue on her own so she would gain confidence, competence and not call me for every little thing…

One day, I decided I would call her out of the blue.

She picked up the phone (thankfully), and I asked her one of the best questions a sales manager can ask:

“I had a few extra minutes, so I wanted to call you to see if there anything you need help with?”

There was a stunned silence on the other end…

In fact, she may have dropped the phone.

She responded that although she had been in sales for over ten years, she had NEVER had a sales manager call her out of the blue and ask her if she needed help.

We chatted for a while, discussing some of the issues of the day she was having some issues with and hung up.

Be Helpful

A few years later, when I left that company she told me she would never forget that day when I called her. She said that because of that call, she had never worked harder for a boss ever in her life.

Although I think she was exaggerating in her praise, the simple fact remains:

To be a great sales manager, its simple: be helpful.

What’s the key to great sales leadership?

Be helpful.

What’s the key to great sales motivation?

Be helpful.

What’s the key to great sales coaching?

The more you help your salespeople, the more they’ll want to help you…and the more you help your salespeople, the better they become and the better you’ll feel about what you do everyday.

Keep it simple…like salt and pepper

And if ever come over to the house on Greek Night, I’ll have some grilled lamb waiting for you….

What’s your salt and pepper?

Special thanks to Chris Brogan for incredible inspiration for this blog post.