One of the cool things about having started my sales career in my teens is now being able to look back upon decades of ups and downs, big and small sales, hits and misses, and miscellaneous windfalls and shortfalls.

What are the enduring truths, the bedrock conclusions that I can offer?

You’ll see some of them distributed across more than a thousand articles and a dozen books that I’ve written, but for now, let me share this take-away with you:

“When the Seller is Ready, A Buyer Will Appear.”

You’ve heard the kindred expression that this taps into, I’m sure: “When the student is ready, a teacher will appear.”

Both statements are true. The key here is to understand READINESS, in our case, the readiness to sell someone something.

Most sales training and clever selling models owe their distinctiveness to techniques, little do’s and don’ts that can boost sales. Learning a nifty new close, for example, can give you a spike in results, if only because it is new and we tend to get enthusiastic about anything that promises to deliver an instant edge.

But what I’m speaking of here, READINESS, isn’t technical; it’s psychological or you might even say it’s philosophical. Some would label it metaphysical and mystical, but I don’t care.

By being ready, I mean you are FULLY COMMITTED TO ACHIEVING A TANGIBLE RESULT RIGHT NOW, and YOU HAVE ALREADY INTENDED THE OUTCOME.

A fellow I knew in the recording business had a huge piece of obsolete equipment for which he wanted to get a few bucks instead of paying to have it hauled off as junk. He was in a complete state of READINESS to part with it, at a profit.

He couldn’t find a buyer here in the United States, but he did find one in Mexico, in a matter of mere days. He simply wouldn’t allow for any other possibility except to sell that “pink elephant” at a nifty price; and he did just that.

The opposite of readiness isn’t un-readiness, though I think that term is fine. It is closer to “ambivalence,” that netherworld of “Maybe I’ll get a sale, and maybe I won’t; but I’ll give it a try, and we’ll just see what happens.”

In this frame of mind sales don’t happen, at least with the kind of frequency and regularity that a professional requires.

So, instead of blaming buyers for their fence-sitting, examine your own.

And tell yourself this:

When the seller is ready, a buyer will appear!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the
best-selling author of 12 books and more than
a thousand articles. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is quoted often in prominent publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Business Week.
His seminars and training
programs are sponsored internationally and he
is a top-rated faculty member at more than 40
universities. Dynamic, experienced,
and lots of fun, Gary brings more than two decades
of solid management and consulting experience
to the table, along with the best academic preparation
and credentials in the speaking and training industry.
Holder of a Ph.D. from the
Annenberg School For Communication at USC,
an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management,
and a law degree from Loyola, his clients include several
Fortune 1000 companies along with successful family
owned and operated firms. Much more
than a “talking head,” Gary is a top mind that you’ll
enjoy working with and putting to use.
He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

In a recent companion article I supplied “5 Reasons to Not Divulge Client References Up Front.”

In that piece I mentioned the fact that some inquirers, especially via email, may be set-ups. Their buddies have asked them to gather competitive intelligence so they can outflank you in the marketplace.

As fate would have it, within a week of writing that article, I got an inquiry from someone that has the five earmarks of a phony.

Through the exchange of three emails, these tip-offs were made:

(1) His email bore a stupid screen name, suggesting immaturity, and was attached to a hotmail account, not to a proprietary web site account.

(2) While he mentioned he owned a small group of retail stores staffed with over 60 salespeople, his company name, phone number, and other “signature” identifiers were missing.

(3) His grammar and syntax are seriously flawed. Of course, it’s possible he bootstrapped his way to success without a full, high school education, but I doubt it. Most self-made business owners know their communication limitations, and they choose brevity and clarity.

(4) When I asked for the locations of some of his stores and offered to stop by one of them, casually and not on the consulting clock, he responded defensively, without reason. He doesn’t want to give up the cloak of invisibility. Even the most sensibly cautious people will make basic disclosures over time; they’re a signal of and a contributor to, growing relationships.

(5) He made a big deal about having to wait to see my references, though I directed him to over 1,100 of my articles, and a Google search will reveal much pertinent background business information. He can open one of my 12 books at a library or bookstore. He’s lazy, and most thieves are, along with those who are looking to get something for nothing, or to take unfair advantage.

It goes with the territory that if you’re prominent in your field, flies will be attracted to your picnic.

Swat them away without remorse, and don’t let them keep you from serving those that are really putting food on your table.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the
best-selling author of 12 books and more than
a thousand articles. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is quoted often in prominent publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Business Week.
His seminars and training
programs are sponsored internationally and he
is a top-rated faculty member at more than 40
universities. Dynamic, experienced,
and lots of fun, Gary brings more than two decades
of solid management and consulting experience
to the table, along with the best academic preparation
and credentials in the speaking and training industry.
Holder of a Ph.D. from the
Annenberg School For Communication at USC,
an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management,
and a law degree from Loyola, his clients include several
Fortune 1000 companies along with successful family
owned and operated firms. Much more
than a “talking head,” Gary is a top mind that you’ll
enjoy working with and putting to use.
He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com

I was in Las Vegas last week and must share a great sales lesson. Since I don’t gamble, we went there for the food and entertainment. It was a great getaway and a wonderful break from sales automation.

Part of the reason for going to Las Vegas was to visit a hotel timeshare and learn about their program offering. Believe it or not, I like going to these things to learn something about timeshares and what is new. We bought our first timeshare about 18 years ago and now have 4 timeshare weeks.

Offer Number One!

We got to know the agent, John, and learned about him, what he did and he took an interest in us. He asked some great questions about how we like to vacation and travel. The first lesson I was learning was the importance of developing rapport and asking good questions. After learning enough about us, he made a pitch for his property and what the offer was. It was a good offer but not one that we wanted to exercise at the time.

I would learn later, the importance of having several purchase options and levels to increase sales. I would also learn the importance of multiple contacts and how a prospect will lower their defenses each time they feel they have overcome an objection or reason for purchasing now. Here is how it worked out; I think you will like this Las Vegas story.

Offer Number Two!

We didn’t take the first offer to purchase another week and it seemed like the defensive stand we took was holding firm. The salesperson told us that generally speaking, most people go to these timeshare sessions with a pact that they won’t buy under any conditions. We thought this was funny because, although we didn’t make a pact before this meeting, we have made them before at similar situations like buying a car or furniture.

The salesperson left and came back with another offer that was about 3/4’s of what the first offer was and it was different because it was for different seasons and less than we wanted. This didn’t appeal to us either. They left us alone for a few minutes and returned. I loved this strategy because - we thought it was over again. So, our defenses went down again.

Offer Number Three!

They returned with a third option that now changed the scenario to an every-other year program and reduced the investment further. WOW, I probably shouldn’t have been surprised but I was. This offer was tempting and we talked about it. I have to tell you that we really liked the program that was laying out for us. It was different from the other timeshares we have and we liked the program. Unfortunately, we decided that it wasn’t a good time for us right now and we declined.

Well, they accepted our decision and they told us that another guy was coming to ask us a few questions and we would we done. I guess you could say that the defenses went down. Way down because we had defended our wallet successfully for the third time.

Offer Number Four!

The next guy came to us and asked us some questions about the program and we shared our positive impressions with him. This was not the wisest thing for us to do. He then pointed out a final opportunity for us to engage in the timeshare program. It was not really a program that required us to purchase the entire program, just to hold the pricing and give us a few months. Very, very tempting and I’m sure a lot of people can’t resist the offer.

Multiple Contacts is the KEY!

All in all, there were 4 opportunities that they offered us. This made me think about what I offer in my company. Perhaps you are thinking the same thing at your company. I am now reviewing my product offering and changing it to contain at least three levels of support and programs for my customers. This way, if someone does not want to go with the first program, they can drop down a level and still become a customer. One of the other lessons I learned from this experience was how they left us alone a few times to talk alone and then return. This had the same impact of making several visits. The value of making several visits is a good thing for the salesperson. Multiple contacts works and we should use email, telephone, personal contacts and letters to make multiple contacts for the same impact.

Close When the Defenses are Down!

Leaving prospects alone, even if only for a few minutes allows their defensive purchasing shield to come down. If prospects think you have given up your closing tactics, you have a better chance of closing them. Your prospects might try to put the shield up each time but each time it isn’t as high. Even if your prospects made a pact they wouldn’t buy anything before the meeting, it will be hard for someone to keep the defense up. Each time the salesperson returns, the prospects has a weakened defense.

Last Lesson - Give Something Away!

One of the best things about timeshares is their use liberal giveaways. We were there for the FREE weekend they offered us and we added a few days at a great price. So, we felt obligated to listen to them. They fed us some nice snacks and the power of reciprocation is very strong. This is another reason businesses should be investing in give away items for their prospects. I remember when banks used to give away toasters for the same reason.

When you want to impact sales with advanced selling strategies — signup for Impactivator our sales e-newsletter. Selling Magic teaches businesses and salespeople how to automate and customize CRM programs. This article was written by Steve Martinez, President of Selling Magic, LLC. http://www.sellingmagic.com

One of the challenges that every entrepreneur who is opening a dollar store faces is having the right amount of merchandise in-stock and ready for purchase. Even more important is the product mix to meet the wants and needs of the customer. Many owners invest their merchandise inventory dollars in low-cost items rather than creating the right mix of products. It is important to remember that the right mix will keep their shoppers excited and coming back time and again.

If you are opening a dollar store don’t make the mistake of tying up all of your merchandise inventory dollars in low-cost items. While the store may look fuller, many of the low-cost items are slow selling. Your goal needs to be to achieve as many inventory turns during the year as possible. Slow selling items simply won’t achieve that goal. Inventory turn occur when the right products to meet customer needs and wants are in-stock.

The right way to maximize sales is to create a mix of products across your store. Those who are opening a dollar store need to know that even though daily needs such as paper goods, household cleaners, and personal care items are expensive, they keep customers coming back more frequently. Once shoppers are in the habit of coming into your store for their bottle of dish detergent, they will also pick up a kitchen towel or a scrub brush. Those more profitable items can make the transaction profitable indeed.

Are you opening a dollar store? If so never forget the fact that sales volume is critical. Higher sales volume comes with having the right product mix in your store. It comes with intelligent merchandise buying. It comes with good merchandising and an eye on meeting the wants and needs of your customers. Give it a try.

To Your Dollar Store Success!

Do you want to own your own Dollar Store?
Visit http://www.openingadollarstore.com for more information.
http://www.onlineauctionsmadesimple.net

Full Contact Project Management Strategy from “Coach” Gary:

Let’s say that you wanted to make the team. As a matter of fact, you always wanted to make the team; even dreamed about it. I’m not sure how you went about it, but let me tell you what I did.

As a kid, I watched the game on TV and in person. I played the game with my friends: at school, after school-it didn’t matter. Always wanted to play at a “higher level”, meaning the school team, and beyond.

I found out something, though, when I tried out for the school team. Lots of guys wanted to play. Lots of guys had dreams. Lots of guys signed up. It was a big deal: real coaches and real uniforms, with real refs and real people watching the games. I wanted to be a part of all that. How about you? Remember trying out for any school teams? And by the way, I mean any school team: athletics, band, cheer, academics, music & drama; you name it. Any team. Which team stands out in your memory?

In my case, two teams come to mind: football, as a 16-1/2 year-old high school senior, and the college debate team, as a 50 year-old “senior” on a team with 18 to 24 year-olds (and that’s a separate story, all by itself!) Both teams had coaches and players. The players on both teams were told by the coaches what was expected of them. What did your coaches expect of you?

Here’s what mine told me: we had practice every day until the season began, then four practices a week, plus game day. We all understood one thing: if you didn’t make it to practice, you had better be dead or seriously injured, because cutting practice was just not tolerated! As a matter of fact, the consequences of missing practice were serious, because you let down your entire team. Plays couldn’t be run with the right mix of players in them, and other guys had to cover for you. And the fact that you missed practice was never missed by the coaches, either!

What did you do at practice? I know that we spent most of it in conditioning drills–both physical and mental. We were expected to come to practice prepared, and ready to leave it all on the field, every day. Nothing less was tolerated, nor would we have wanted it any other way. Both of those teams had a shot at championships: one a high school football league championship, and the other a national debate championship. Unfortunately, neither championship came to be, but the experience of being part of both was priceless.

“But Coach, But Coach…” you say, “What does all of this have to do with project management?” I thought you’d never ask!

Team, it has everything to do with your work as a PM and a leader on your projects. Think about this for a second. When you were a part of a competitive team back at some school, and were about to step onto the “field”, and do your part, how prepared were you? I’m not saying that you weren’t nervous-you might have been performing in front of a large crowd. Sure, it’s a little scary. But you went there with the knowledge that your coaches had prepared you, that you were as good as you could possibly be, and you knew that your teammates could count on you, and you could count on them.

Is it any different today? Don’t you count on your field guys to do their part, to move through the job as quickly as possible, with the least number of mistakes, and no “dropped balls”? And don’t they know that you’ve got their backs, that you’ll do everything humanly possible to make sure that they have a safe work environment, with good tools, equipment and supervision?

And don’t the owners and the executive managers of your company count on you to be on your game, and to represent them even better than they might be able to represent themselves? I hope I hear some of you saying “yes” out there, because that’s why you have your job.

Now, I don’t know what level you are playing at today. Maybe you’re the guy who wears all of the hats, including that of the owner and the trades person; maybe you’re an estimator/salesperson/project manager of a small subcontracting company; maybe you’re with a larger company, as a project engineer, assistant PM, or even a senior PM. But regardless of the company size and your title, much is expected and required of you.

The companies I’ve worked for in the past have sent me to seminars on project management, claims, scheduling, safety; you name it. It’s education. It’s practice. It’s expected. It’s required. It’s needed. You need it!

These companies have also expected of me that I would continue to practice every day, honing my skills for game day. But for me, these days, my practice might consist of looking at the specs of every one of our jobs, talking to all of our foremen about what they are doing, making sure that they are not doing any work not called for in our contracts. And if a foreman tells me that something doesn’t seem right, I jump into action, usually by firing off a “winning RFI” to our client and letting him know that we might have a potential problem. I get into the game. Right now.

Each time I get in, I do my best. Sometimes we win and sometimes we don’t. But we don’t just sit on the bench and ignore the game.

I learned a long time ago-and you probably did, too-that you can’t cut practice if you want to get into the game. And I don’t just want in-I want in as a starter. I expect to win. That’s the attitude I caught from my coaches, and I suspect that you did, too.

So, now that you’re out in the real world, aspire to be a Full Contact PM. Get as much coaching as you can. Go to every relevant seminar you can possibly attend. Buy the best books (I can suggest a great one on how to get paid!) Take every applicable course. It’s all tax-deductible, as well as necessary. Get the free stuff at my website. Practice, practice, practice! Your competition does. Your company pays you for it. Coach Gary expects nothing less of you.

(c) 2007 Gary Micheloni

“Coach” Gary Micheloni is a working project manager, speaker and consultant. His Full Contact Project Management columns appear in Masonry, Site Prep, Coatings Pro, Construction Purchasing, and the Kimmel Construction Newsletter. These publications have a readership of close to 250,000, making Gary one of the most widely-read authors in the construction industry today. He is also the author of the print book, “Get Paid for a Change!”, which is subtitled, “The Contractor’s Blueprint for Turning Extra Work into Extra Money–through Change Orders”. (Supreme Word Publishers, 2007.)

Gary’s website is http://www.fullcontactPM.com, and he can also be reached via e-mail, gary.micheloni@usa.net

Forecasting future sales is one of the most difficult areas for many companies. The challenge is to produce consistent and accurate advance information which can be used by production, stock and service managers to plan for future demands.

In practise, much of the forecasting work currently undertaken is very random, if not haphazard guess work. It is based on highly subjective reports of the sales people, often under short term pressure to predict acceptable levels of achievement in order to meet targets.

As a result much of the medium-to-long-term sales order forecasts are often made up of business projections based on nothing more scientific than optimistic guess work rather than on disciplined and realistic assessment of likely conversion of sales from individual customers.

Companies spend thousands of pounds and hundreds of man hours on their annual, quarterly and monthly budgeting and forecasting activities.

Financial management techniques and systems have developed apace in recent years but these have little input into the forecasting process, especially predicting short and long term sales.

The pressure for accuracy is growing. Jobs, investment and expenditure depend on making the right assumptions and predictions. Too often companies fail to spot in advance negative trends or competitive activity which impinge on their ability to win new orders.

Most forecasting, in the widest sense, is based on historic information with some allowance for highly subjective judgements such as the economic climate, trends in the industry etc.

The Achilles heel of even the most significant business planning methodology is an almost uncritical acceptance of what the sales team predict as imminent or long term business opportunities and their value.

Companies put complex and time consuming reporting procedures in place to capture data but can be extremely uncritical of the quality of the information itself which is provided.

Frequently the sales predictions - short, medium and long term - are highly suspect. They depend on the sales team’s personal, often highly subjective views, and often reflect the pressure for ‘certain sales levels to be achieved’

Predicting the real chance of winning a particular order will change the closer the customer gets to placing the order. Two or three months ahead the sales men will report the order as ‘in the bag’, closer to, the odds will often be reduced or even discounted. There is no discipline or consistency in the process. Orders ‘lost’ now will be replaced by ‘new’ opportunities conveniently two or three months down the line. These new ‘orders’ will be lost as the time for their confirmation gets closer. Thus, the organisation never has a realistic assessment of its potential sales.

What is missing is a management awareness of what is really happening to ‘vapour sales opportunities’ and a complete lack of system and discipline in predicting the real possibility of winning specific orders consistently. These ‘vapour sales opportunities’ represent unsubstantiated sales opportunities which can amount to anything up to half of the ‘pipeline’ business being reported to management from month to month.

Sales teams are relying on a base level of business coming in to cover up poor predictions and to replace lost orders previously anticipated. This is one reason that organisations frequently fail to spot downturns or changes in their business environment.

The solution is a proper structuring of reporting procedures. Apart from eliminating unqualified business this process can help the organisation be more responsive to real business and focus on genuine problems and opportunities which the process identifies.

Much of this procedure can be computerised. It is a complex process and requires consistency, minimising the scope for human fallibility and changeableness.

George Petri is Managing Director of Nomis Limited which created SalesVision, one of the UK’s leading IT systems providers in effective Sales Performance Management.

http://www.salesvisiononline.com - http://www.nomislimited.com

Has one of your salespeople recently made you angry or frustrated?

The answer is probably yes. Friction frequently arises when people depend on one another to get work accomplished. If co-workers don’t get something done on time, or somehow drop the ball, you feel “something” - anger, disappointment, frustration - and you may feel that “something” very strongly. Of course, the first step is to talk about what happened and to try and resolve the issue. However, if you are finding that the work of one employee in particular frequently raises your emotional temperature, you might want to consider that he or she may be having troubles outside the job. Those troubles may be marital, financial, alcohol- or drug-related, or perhaps the employee has suffered a loss or is dealing with a sick relative.

In the past few weeks I have learned about these situations:

Cynthia, Lisa and Steve lost their fathers recently, and all three find they can’t focus on their jobs. Cynthia is often weepy.

A long-time salesperson in Robert’s team is having tremendous difficulty working because his spouse is ill with breast cancer.

Debra is coping with a clinically depressed husband.

Sonya holds a full-time job and is also the primary caregiver for her ill and disabled mother.

David’s 18-year-old child recently died of leukemia.
These personal heartaches are not uncommon in any organization. While you may not know the details of your sales team’s lives, you may have noticed a decline in one employee’s work that does not improve, even though you’ve tried to address it. This decline may be a tip-off that you’re dealing with someone who is struggling.

What you can do:
Don’t go it alone

Most of us can’t sort out difficult situations by ourselves. We need help. (And many of us forget that asking for help is a powerful leadership quality.) Consult with someone who knows how to compassionately untangle messiness, perhaps an employee assistance counselor, an HR specialist or a coach.

Helpful hint: Before diving into the nuts and bolts of how to work with the issue, talk with your helper about what an ideal relationship with this salesperson would look like:

Imagine your best hope for the situation. For example, Robert’s best hope was that his salesperson trusted Robert enough to open up about the kind of help he needed, and that this salesperson would be an active contributing member of the team.

Then look at what already exists that could make that hope a reality, for instance, you usually like the salesperson’s work and you mutually respect each other.

Then talk about your worst nightmare. In Robert’s example, his worst nightmare would be that his salesperson would drain the energy out of the team, that Robert would feel helpless, and that he would have to fire this salesperson. The conditions that could lead to that scenario coming true might be: Robert is getting pressure from above for results, he is uncomfortable giving balanced feedback about poor work, the salesperson is unapproachable and there is no improvement in behavior.

You are in a good position to talk about next steps. Some possible next steps that could arise might be: role playing the conversation beforehand, acknowledging the salesperson’s struggle and their accomplishments, asking them about what is possible for them given their difficulties, and alerting senior management about how you are handling the situation.

Don’t ignore a developing problem

Ignoring a problem doesn’t solve it. In fact, doing nothing just might make the situation worse. Pick up the telephone and get help at the first signs of trouble. Early action will frequently eliminate the need for discipline.

Be a role model

Support the individual who is struggling, while continuing to promote office morale and productivity. It may be helpful to ask your employee what the office can do to relieve some of the work stress during this difficult time.

Knowing the “right thing” to say to someone who is struggling or grieving is not critical, but a few guidelines are helpful. Saying nothing is worse than saying the wrong thing. Appropriate words are: “I am sorry to hear about your loss/difficulties;” “You are (or have been) in my thoughts;” “How are you doing?” or “I don’t know what to say, but if I can be of any help, I’m here.”

Offering time to listen can be helpful, or temporarily taking over some burdensome tasks. Managers also can show appreciation to team members who may be carrying an extra load due to the situation.

Most employees can and will resolve their problems, given time and support.

Talk Back: I’d love to hear your tips about working with troubled employees. Please contact me at nicki@saleswise.ca

Nicki Weiss is an internationally recognized Certified Professional Coach, Master Trainer, and workshop leader. She brings to her work 25 years of experience with corporate sa1es executives, small to medium size entrepreneurial business leaders, and sa1es teams of all shapes and sizes.

Sign up for her award winning ezine - Sa1esWise - for great tips on finding, retaining, and developing ideal clients and sales teams at http://www.saleswise.ca

I want to thank my teachers Cynthia Loy Darst, Faith Fuller, and Marita Fridjhon for their brilliant ideas on this topic. I owe them all.

Have you ever had a project where you succeeded? Sure you have. So have I. Mine include starting a business, growing my business, staying fit, having a family, and buying a house.

Have you ever had a project where you didn’t succeed? Yes, I have, too. Mine include not developing a solid business niche, not losing weight, not networking regularly, and not staying in touch with out-of-town friends.

Recently I have learned a new way of looking at why we succeed or fail at certain goals or projects. The concept is called the Inside Team. We are heavily influenced by the voices we listen to from our Inside Team, that group of players who live inside our head and talk to us through our inner dialogue. These voices variously cheer us on, bring us down or get in our way.

You know the dialogue. You’re thinking about changing something in your life, say, launching a new business development push, or finding new ways of helping your sales team surpass their goals. Then the Inside Team chatter begins:

Voice One: “Well, what if I tried this? Yeah, that sounds like a blast!” Voice Two:”Hold on, you don’t have the time or energy for that.” Voice Three: “I’ve got to try something - anything! “Voice Four:” Maybe you should just give up. You’ll nev/er get around to it and you know it.” Back to Voice One:” Yes, I will, I just need to find the right approach.”

For every endeavour you wish to fulfill, for every issue with which you struggle, for every arena of your life, there is a corresponding Inside Team.

Here are a few members of my team who come to visit when I think of a new way to develop my business (with the appropriate names I have given them and their typical comments).

Faith, Not Fear: “It’ll work out. You’ve been around the block enough times to know that it will.”

Rottenella: “Why bother trying? You’re a loser and you won’t succeed.”

The Lone Ranger: “Take care of all the details yourself and do everything perfectly today.”

The Turtle: “Whoa…slow it down. Slow and steady wins the race.”

My job is to choose which voice to listen to, and when. By paying closer attention to the helpful and encouraging voices, and toning down the critical and fearful ones (they’ll nev/er go away, and there is wisdom in each voice), I can clear the way to coming up with the best solution.

Here’s an exercise to try so you can start to identify some members of your own Inner Team and how they influence you. Think about a project you want to start or a goal you want to achieve. As you listen to your own thoughts you’ll notice a dialogue beginning to form in your mind.

Take a moment to listen to the messages you’re hearing and the differing values that are fighting for attention. These are the voices of your Inside Team as they debate about that project or goal.

What does this exercise have to do with managing/coaching sales people? If, as a sales coach, you can help your sales people identify their Inside Team players and access the wisdom of each voice, you help them make conscious choices about who they want to listen to, and who they want to send to the bench.

Here’s how to coach your salespeople using the Inside Team concept:

Ask each team member to identify a project with which he or she is struggling.

Introduce the Inside Team concept.

Ask about the struggle, with an ear to hearing different Inside Team members.

Help each individual identify 5 - 7 different players. You may have to begin by sharing your insights about the players you hear, and checking whether you are interpreting correctly. The person may or may not agree with your interpretation, and that’s fine. The point is to get the ball rolling.

During the discussion, here are some questions to ask each salesperson:
Who’s that talking?
What is she or he saying?
What’s important to this player?
What is he concerned about?
What does she think you are going to forget?

Have fun with this. The results, I promise you, will be profound.

Nicki Weiss is an internationally recognized Certified Professional Coach, Master Trainer, and workshop leader. She brings to her work 25 years of experience with corporate sa1es executives, small to medium size entrepreneurial business leaders, and sa1es teams of all shapes and sizes.

Sign up for her award winning ezine - Sa1esWise - for great tips on finding, retaining, and developing ideal clients and sales teams at http://www.saleswise.ca

I’ve been in sales and sales management training for the last 15 years, and I am continually struck by one unchanging situation: sales forces don’t reflect the ethnicity of the working world.

Here’s what I mean. I live in Toronto, the most multiculturally diverse city on the planet, and I recently became a Canadian citizen. On that day, 113 other people from 22 countries also took the citizenship oath. As I looked around, five of us were white. Only three of us spoke English as our first language (two Bulgarians were the other part of the white contingent). I was surrounded by a sea of interesting looking faces of various colours and hues, and I was so proud to be part of this crowd.

I ride the subway whenever I get the chance, and the other passengers who are going to work (executives, middle management, administrators, blue collar workers, men, women, recent grads, the nearly retired) mirror the crowd at the citizenship ceremony.

I have worked with over 6,000 sales professionals in the past 15 years in a wide variety of industries including technology, packaged goods, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, health care, travel, banking, insurance and manufacturing. Yet only a handful of people in all my training classes have been black, Asian, East Indian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, etc.

Why?

This lack of diversity makes no business sense. Every day, companies struggle to develop their competitive edge and increase their customer base. They are operating in a global marketplace, made up of a vast range of cultures, customers and customs. Most companies declare in their corporate statements that their people make the difference, yet they haven’t found practical ways to ensure that their sales forces reflect the marketplace realities of diverse races and cultures.

Some voices have started recognizing the benefits of diversity, such as Bill Minix, director of learning and development for Fisher HealthCare. As he says in a recent article in Selling Power magazine, “The more diverse your environment, the better your sales.” “If you get 10 medical technicians together for brainstorming, each with 18 years of experience, what kind of ideas

do you think you’ll get? But if you introduce a junior military officer with a background in leadership, someone who sold copiers on a commission-only basis, and someone who emigrated from another culture who had to learn how to do business in a new language, you might get new ideas on how to drive, motivate, and persuade your customers.”

BRIDGING THE GAP:

How can managers encourage, recruit and nourish culturally diverse salespeople? Here are some ideas:

1. DECLARE YOUR INTENTION TO HAVE YOUR SALES TEAM MIRROR THE POPULATION

When hiring for sales positions, start paying close attention to company policies that encourage or mandate a diverse environment. Tell others (including your sales team) of your intentions, and ask if they know good people to hire.

Perhaps members of minority groups are not applying for sales jobs in your industry, or aren’t being promoted into sales management. The same was said about women 25 years ago. Depending on the industry, many sales forces now include significant numbers of women. Change can happen.

2. QUESTION YOUR OWN PERSPECTIVES

Ask yourself some questions. What are your assumptions about races and cultures other than your own, or about the prospect of working with people who may look at the world and human interactions through different lenses? When you hire or promote someone from a minority group, do you feel as if you’ve done that person a favour? Unconscious attitudes can unwittingly lead to exclusionary actions.

3. BE A MENTOR MATCHMAKER

Research indicates that employees of minority cultures in an organization may have more difficulty finding mentors than employees of the prevailing culture. Find out if an employee would prefer to be partnered with someone of the same background, and then offer to connect that person with an appropriate resource within your organization.

4. SHARE YOUR SUCCESSES WITH ME

If your organization has been successful in hiring and retaining a culturally diverse sales and sales management force, please let me know how you’ve done it. I will share your practices and insights with Sa1esWise readers.

Nicki Weiss is an internationally recognized Certified Professional Coach, Master Trainer, and workshop leader. She brings to her work 25 years of experience with corporate sa1es executives, small to medium size entrepreneurial business leaders, and sa1es teams of all shapes and sizes.

Sign up for her award winning ezine - Sa1esWise - for great tips on finding, retaining, and developing ideal clients and sales teams at http://www.saleswise.ca

Last fall I started taking improvisation lessons. I am a somewhat self-conscious introvert, and I wanted to learn how to think faster on my feet, and how to speak up in meetings without feeling a clench in my stomach. I also thought improv techniques would help me work more fluidly with my coaching clients, and that the classes would add some zest to my usual round of activities.
The experience has been great.

What I didn’t know was:

There are rules for improvisation;
If we followed some of these rules in business we would quickly increase the ability to trust our teammates and bosses, think more effectively under pressure, se11 and manage more powerfully, and have a lot of fun in the process.
Above all, improv is about teaching kindness. Who knew?

For example, we played a game called ‘Hotspot’. As a group we turned our faces to the wall, and one of us had to go into the middle of the room and start singing. Of course, the first person was embarrassed. Very quickly, one of us facing the wall had to save the singer by taking his place and starting to sing. Then we repeated the process: save and sing, save and sing. The goals of the exercise are to take a risk, not let your teammate look silly for too long, and to save each other graciously,
even making the previous singer look good.

What a concept! What if that was the focus of how we interact with each other in sales meetings? Take a risk . . . I will save you when you risk embarrassment . . . and I’ll try to make you look good. sales meetings could even become enjoyable, and more people would look forward to attending them.

Here are some other improv exercises that could help living up your meetings, teach some valuable skills, and boost business at the same time. Each activity only takes minutes.

‘Yes, and…’ (versus ‘No, but…’ or ‘Yes, but…’)

The intent: To tell a story by accepting and building on each other’s ideas rather than by blocking them.

The process: One person starts a story by saying a simple sentence, such as, “Joe went to the store”. The next person adds to the storyline, beginning the sentence with “Yes, and… he bought an ice cream cone.” Keep going, starting every sentence with,”Yes, and…” until the story concludes. If, after everyone has had at least 2 - 3 turns, an ending isn’t in sight, ask the next few people to start concluding.

In our group, some people had trouble accepting and building. We asked the person who blocked an idea to try again, using “Yes, and. . .”

If your team begins a sales meeting with this game, all the participants can agree to only use “Yes, and . . . ” throughout the rest of the meeting discussion. See what happens.

The payoffs of “yes, and . . . . ” to your business can be huge: breaking down barriers, generating ideas, and increasing cooperation and trust. You can also do this exercise on the phone, so it works well for virtual teams.

Environment Build
This is a physical variation of ‘Yes, and…’ I’ve started using this activity in my training classes, and it is hilarious.

The intent: To quickly create a frozen scene with three people, each person building on the action.

The process: Everyone stands in a circle. One person moves into the centre of the circle, announces what object he or she is, then freezes in that position (i.e., “I am a tree.”) A second person comes in, announces what he or she is, and freezes in that position (”I am a dog walking toward the tree.”) A third person enters the scene, announces the next part of the tableau, and freezes in that position (”I am the owner of the dog, holding the leash.”)

The first person then takes him/herself and one other out of the scene. (i.e., removes the tree and the dog.) The next scene begins,” I am the owner of the dog, holding the leash.” The next two people build on that scene, creating something entirely new, and so on.

The business payoff: When people have fun creating together, they can come up with innovative ideas for tackling sales and other business issues. Also, it is impossible to make mistakes in this activity, so it is very safe to include everyone (even those who are shy or contained) and reap a variety of ideas from all participants.

Tongue Twisters

The intent: Loosen up everyone’s lips before a meeting begins.

Try these words as a group (repeat each about 10 times, very quickly)

Unique New York
Toy boat
Red leather, yellow leather
She stood on the balcony, inexplicably mimicking him hiccupping, amicably welcoming him in. (Good luck with this one! It’s not as bad as it looks.)

The business payoff: Everybody has already tripped over their tongues in front of the group, so they can participate comfortably. This is another great exercise for virtual teams.

Talk back: I’d love to hear how you are using improv techniques in your company, and what the business payoffs are.

Nicki Weiss is an internationally recognized Certified Professional Coach, Master Trainer, and workshop leader. She brings to her work 25 years of experience with corporate sa1es executives, small to medium size entrepreneurial business leaders, and sa1es teams of all shapes and sizes.

Sign up for her award winning ezine - Sa1esWise - for great tips on finding, retaining, and developing ideal clients and sales teams at http://www.saleswise.ca