THE SALES FORCE PLAYBOOK

MOTIVATION

You cannot effectively coach, manage and lead your sales team if you do not truly understand what motivates your people.

Take a few minutes to read this great article by Patrick Lencioni.

THE BLUE ZONES

Dan Buettner has written a fascinating book about the lessons of living longer.  The Blue Zones is a must read for all of us.

SKYPE

I was talking to Tony Cole last week and he told me that he and his wife were using Skype to have video calls with their daughter who is away at college.  He suggested that I check out the service.  I did and I love it.

I have been testing the service with Walt Gerano.  We have been discussing how companies may be able to use the video calling feature.  A few ideas that Walt came up with were:

1.  Sales Leaders can use to coach salespeople in remote offices.

2.  A remote salesperson could join in a sales meeting being held in your conference room.

3.  Keeping in contact with customers who are outside your immediate geographical area.

4.  Using as an initial contact with a prospect to determine if a face-to-face meeting is warranted. This could be especially helpful if you sometimes drive a couple of hours or have to get on a plane to go see a prospect.

Now we recognize that some organizations don't have cameras and audio capability on every computer. We also recognize that some IT Departments block such services.  But for those that can use it, you may want to give it a try.

If your company has limitations, maybe you can just use it at home to have video calls with friends and loved ones.  

Check it out.  You may find out that you like it.

MAXIMUM EFFORT

There are many signs that the economy is headed in the right direction.  If we believe that, then the next four months will be critical for your team's success.  You have four months to close the year strong and four months to fill the pipeline to insure 2010 will be a great year.

You need to continue to ask for maximum effort from your salespeople.  Even if 2009 has been a struggle, don't let up.

Take a look at this short video and then ask yourself, "what is the 1 degree of extra effort my sales team will commit to during the next four months?" 

BEST SALES COACHES

Check out this Audio Post Card I recently recorded regarding the activities that the Best Sales Coaches do.

Is is not meant to be all encompassing, but they are the key drivers for coaching success.

GENIUS

As I listened to my voice mail yesterday, the first words the caller said were, "Chris, you are a genius." Boy, I wish every message started out like that!

The call was from a salesperson from one of our clients.  He was thanking me for some advice I recently gave him.  He had been struggling with making contact with prospects (suspects?) that he was cold calling. He did not have a problem engaging the suspect once he got them on the phone, rather, he simply could not get a hold of them.  My coaching to him was not ground breaking.  I just suggested that he try something "different."  In this case, the "different" was the time of day that he called.

Check out the recent article by Geoffrey James in Selling Power.  It suggests that the best time to make cold calls are on Thursday between 8:00 - 9:00 and 4:00 - 5:00.

The voice mail continued, "I called between 7:00 and 9:00 and reached 75% of the people I dialed. Thanks for the great advice."

The genius here was not me, but the salesperson.  First, even though he has been in sales for over 25 years, he had the courage to reach out and ask for help.  Second, he actually took action on the advice.

My return voice mail to him was, "Kevin you are a genius...."

MANANGEMENT VS. LEADERSHIP

Henry Mintzberg wrote a great article in Business Week. The title was We're Overled and Undermanaged.

Take a couple of minutes and read his thoughts.

I love this comment in the article:  "Instead of distinguishing leaders from managers, we should encourage all managers to be leaders. And we should define leadership as management practiced well."

COLD CALLING

I was working with a client last week and the salespeople wanted to talk about cold calling.  During the discussion, it was obvious that they were more worried about being "perfect" than actually making the dials.

If cold calling is part of your prospecting efforts, don't worry about being perfect.  You cannot "script" a cold call because the person you finally get a hold of does not have the "script."  Be confident, sound like you are talking to your best friend and ask a question or two that will engage the person on the other end of the phone.  By asking questions both of you can determine if it makes sense to keep talking and/or set an appointment.

Lots of experts are more than willing to pontificate on the best way to make a cold call.  My advice is the Nike way, "Just Do It."

DOUBLE DOWN

While there is no question we are in a challenging economy, now is the perfect time to "double down" on your sales efforts.  You might not be able to control your prospects spending money right now, but you can control the activity and effort of your sales force.

Check out Dave Kurlan's blog.  His 10 Steps are spot on.

CRITERIA

Your salesperson has been working with a prospect.  Things are going well and the decision has been made to make a presentation so you can acquire the business.  Does the salesperson know the criteria upon which the decision is going to be made?

Most salespeople "think" they know, but most are just guessing.  Coach your salespeople to quit guessing and actually find out what the criteria are. During the sales process, your salesperson needs to ask some form of this question.  "John, what criteria are you and Mary going to use to make this decision?"

Knowing the criteria allows the salesperson to prepare the proper presentation for the proper people.  Not knowing means they are guessing as to what the presentation should look like.

If your salespeople haven't asked this question before, role play with them.  Make sure they are comfortable with the question.  Then have them ask the question of a prospect.  Soon it will become a habit.