There is no question about it. Top performers are more creative that your average salespeople. They seem to come up with unique ideas to prospect, find ways to enhance client relationships and close more effectively. Sales leadership requires creativity as well -- sales managers that are exceeding sales quotas, hiring and developing their teams and building a sales culture require huge levels of a creativity quotient.
The good news? You can enhance your creativity by "working on it"...In my Keynote,
No Regrets, the Do-Over Factor, I share three tenets for personal and professional success, with creativity being one of those three foundations. I have listed nine actions you can work on to develop mind patterns that will enhance your creativity power.
- Track your ideas: Keep a notebook and write down all your ideas-about anything, it is amazing what happens when you build an active list.
- Inquiring minds want to know: Be inquisitive, ask questions, increase your levels of interest.
- Learn about different things: Study a language, read a book, take a course, get active.
- Avoid set patterns: Break your habits, floss your teeth differently, brush your teeth in different sequences, drive to work on a new route.
- Be open: Listen to others, try to accept new ideas.
- Be patient in observations: Take the time to watch a bird fly, look at the woods more closely, look for new patterns, watch the river flow.
- Engage in hobbies: Your mind must disengage from normal business stress.
- Improve sense of humor: Learn to laugh, even at yourself.
- Be a risk taker: Try something different, the adrenalin will cause a positive impact on your brain.
I would like your comments and thoughts about how you enhance your creativity. What was the most creative sales tactic you have used? What were the results?
BTW: Thank you for reading our blog at www.YourSalesMangementGuru.com, which was recently ranked by two separate organizations as a Top 20 and Top 50 Sales Blogs.
Posted by Ken Thoreson on June 22, 20101 comments
Living in the Southeast where football is a lifestyle, the radio sports talk shows and the newspapers sports pages are covered with discussions regarding the changing PAC 10, Big 12 and even Nebraska going to the Big 10 and the potential impact on the SEC. The changes that could occur impact TV, basketball and all non-revenue sports, and as expected-there are opinions on all three sides of each issue. Change is always a good word when attempting to gain interest in any subject and last week I was reading a LinkedIn discussion group that was discussing how social media has changed selling and sales management.
As someone who usually has an opinion on most subjects, I jumped into the discussion. While not being aggressive in my comments, I simply pointed out that selling has an emotional, technical and strategic element. Many authors or sales trainers have put multiple spins on each of these aspects in an attempt to create unique messaging for their programs. However I claimed the fundamentals are still the same. There is no question social media has allowed salespeople greater insights into their prospect's backgrounds and potential leveraged relationships, but the execution of that knowledge is still the important aspect of selling.
Needless to say, several individuals began to "rave" about how new technology (2.0) has already changed the job of a salesperson and that I really didn't understand how the new world works. During the discussion it became obvious that people were getting confused between the changes in the job of selling vs. the understanding what the job of selling is.
Selling has not changed; however the job of selling has only been enhanced. Salespeople today can find out more information prior to making a sales call: what information prospects are reading on the salesperson's Web site, what e-mails are being opened, find out what are key topics within the their prospects' industries and other points of information that were not necessarily available to previous generations of sales or sales management. However, the job of sales and sales management has not changed. Sales management must recognize this and ensure their sales process mapping and training includes content on 2.0 technologies, but they MUST not lose focus on what selling is! Send your opinions to [email protected].
While I may sound "old school", last week the SalesManagementGuru was recognized as one of Top 50 Sales Social Media experts: Here's the quote: .
"Ken Thoreson, Acumen Management Group president, has been named to the IV50's select group of sales professionals who are playing a significant role in providing insight to their peers about the use of social media. In making the announcement on its blog, Inside View described Thoreson as "bringing a wealth of 'old school' expertise to our list of savvy sales professionals, sharing his expertise on Twitter and in a variety of publications."
The list is called 'IV50' and has been posted here on the InsideView blog.
Posted by Ken Thoreson on June 14, 20100 comments
After working on my keynote, I had plenty of time to reflect as we flew over South Dakota and into Montana. First, it has been great to hear from many of you who have enjoyed our many blog accounts on sales leadership, motivation and sales training ideas. I plan to continue to offer my thoughts, concepts and tools to assist you in building high performance sales organizations.
Second, what are your thoughts, what questions do you have on sales management training or potential topics would you like to me comment on? Let me know at [email protected] for new topics or we will build a string of comments at www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com If you have missed all of our past blogs you will find them there.
In preparation for a series of books on Sales Management that we hope will be out this year, I recently re-read about 35 magazine columns I have written over the past few years. http://rcpmag.com/Articles/List/Selling-Microsoft.aspx While reading the columns I was looking for themes or topics to enhance and for ideas I had NOT covered in past columns or blogs. The outcome? I have many more ideas for future blogs that I hope are impacting your lives and the lives of the people you work with. My motivational keynote is all about that topic.
In our sales leadership training program we consistently use the phase,"If you had it to do over again, what would you do differently, if anything?" This is a great coaching tool for in the field training while making sales calls with your team and during sales training role playing at your office. Using this phrase is the beginning step of creating a self managed sales team. In my keynote I normally open with that question, but I am speaking more to the audience about their lives not sales training.
Do you have NO regrets? Have you tasted it all? Many of you know I enjoy cooking. I have blended many of my cooking stories, food ideas and previous life mentors into my keynote to help everyone in the audience find and build a better life -- we even create our own menus for life and take an assessment for professional and personal lives based upon pizza!
As a sales leader, you must recognize your potential to impact the lives of your team members. As an individual you will have greater success both personally and professionally by impacting the lives of everyone you touch!
If you had it to do over again, what would you do differently, if anything?
Posted by Ken Thoreson on May 11, 20100 comments
As sales leaders, we must all seek to understand new approaches, current technologies and how marketing and sales execution must work in conjunction to exceed our revenue goals. I have found two quality sites that I would recommend you review on an ongoing basis -- as I do -- to keep current.
If you are in selling in a B2B business, then B2B Marketing zone is a great resource.
Using social media? The Webbiquity is your spot to learn the tricks, secrets and new ideas to improve search engine optimization.
Here's a breakdown of both handy reference sites:
B2B Marketing Zone
B2B Marketing Zone is a collection of blog posts and articles all around B2B Marketing. It uses the Browse My Stuff technology to create the topic hub.
Topic Hubs are sites that aggregates content from a variety of sources, organizes that content around keywords in the topic domain and supports both manual and social curation of that content.
The goals of the B2B Marketing Zone:
-- Collect high-quality content
-- Provide an easy-to-navigate Site
-- Be a jump-off point
-- Help surface content that might not be found
Webbiquity
Definition: 1) The fusion of SEO, search marketing, social media, reputation management, content marketing and interactive PR. 2) Being omnipresent on the Web for the search phrase that uniquely describes you or your organization.
Welcome to Webbiquity, a b2b marketing and social media blog., and new home of the WebMarketCentral blog.
Acumen Management Group Ltd. "operationalizes" sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, their consulting, advisory, and platform services have illuminated, motivated, and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America.
Posted by Ken Thoreson on May 06, 20101 comments
I'm a former Boy Scout camp counselor and I was recently invited to a reunion. We hold them every two years to honor a man that was a mentor. For those who have heard me speak at events, you know about Sam. He impacted the lives of thousands in Wisconsin, but he has impacted others throughout the world with his energy, leadership and friendship. But this blog is not about Sam, but the invitation.
The Boy Scouts' motto is "Be Prepared." As an Eagle Scout, it is a part of my life. This weekend the Southeast was rocked with 54 tornadoes. At 2 a.m. Sunday, my weather radio went off, so we headed to the lower level of my home with a radio, flashlight, water and a few other items to wait out the all-clear. It was scary listening as all the surrounding cities were called out with the approaching storm. One tornado did touch ground about two miles away, but the news was good overall as we had very little damage in our area.
At 2:30 a.m., my neighbor called from Michigan. His alarm was going off and he wanted me to check out his home. Into the rain I went with my golf rain suit on, walking around his home and with his key and alarm code, I entered his house. (Like a good Boy Scout, I was prepared.) Good news: no damage at his home.
So, what does have to do with you? As a sales leader, at end of the April or, for that matter, at anytime are you prepared? You may never know:
... when a top performer might leave you. Are you advertising every 60 days for new salespeople on a regular basis? What is your pipeline for recruiting?
... when an expected and needed order fails to materialize. Do you have a clear understanding of your sales funnel ratios and a large enough number of sales opportunities to make up for the lost or postponed sale?
... when someone in marketing or your sales team does not execute a planned assignment that impacts your organization. Remember to inspect what you expect: Follow up, hold people accountable and double-check the details.
Comment here or send an e-mail to [email protected] on what other events could pop up that you may never know could occur that could impact your success and how you can prepare for them.
Be Prepared is a motto that says to be proactive, anticipate events and put yourself and your team in a position to be safe and to succeed. Have a great quarter -- are you prepared?
Ken Thoreson is managing director of the Acumen Management Group Ltd., a North American consulting organization focused on improving sales management functions within growing and transitional organizations. You can reach him at [email protected]. www.AcumenManagement.com. His blog also appears at www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com
Posted by Ken Thoreson on April 28, 20100 comments
Building your business requires both leadership and management. The first step in that journey is understanding the difference between the two. Leadership is the ability to make things happen by encouraging and channeling others' contributions, addressing important issues and acting as a catalyst for change and continuous improvement. Management is the skill of attaining predefined objectives with others' cooperation and effort.
The best Cisco partner companies, like other successful organizations, are led by individuals who have clear vision -- and the ability to establish specific objectives for working toward their organizational goals. Executives at partner companies that have leveled off, stalled or are struggling to break even may lack both vision and objectives.
- An executive vision should address the following questions:
- What does your organization look like now? What will it look like in three years in terms of revenues, number of employees and specialty areas?
- How do you define success ? What will the company's net worth be in three years? What are its profit goals?
- How do you want to be known by your clients, your competitors, the business community -- and by Microsoft?
- What's your ultimate goal? Do you have an exit strategy that calls for acquiring other companies or being acquired yourself? Or do you want to build a long-term corporate organization?
Answering these questions will help you fine tune your vision, focus your efforts and inspire your employees. It'll also help you and your managers set the objectives to spur your company's growth.
Among other considerations, sales-related objectives might include:
- Revenue growth objectives by dollars or percentage
- Gross margin dollars generated by practice
- Percentage and dollars by practice area generated by new or current customers
- Revenue per employee
- Percentage of service dollars vs. products generated
- Managed services dollars vs. total revenue
- Number of net new clients added each quarter
- Percentage of won/lost accounts per proposal generation
Managers can use predefined objectives to create sales and marketing programs and dashboards to measure effectiveness. Leaders can use these objectives to judge management performance and promote the organization's continuous improvement. The results: Employee performance and morale will improve, customer satisfaction will increase, revenue and margin goals will be exceeded -- and your organization will begin to build value.
Improving your organization's value is critical in our maturing industry. Certainly, you can define value as retained earnings, recurring revenue values and balance sheet results, but it's also important to evaluate sales factors such as customer retention, net new client acquisition ratios or client penetration rates and lifetime value ratios. Your intellectual property, patents, employee non-compete agreements, brand recognition and even employee retention percentages are also important components to consider in building your organization's long-term value.
One last word: As a professional -- no matter what your level of responsibility -- you must also focus on personal growth. What's your plan for increasing your individual value this year? Moving forward requires all of us to manage personal development as well as our companies' growth plans.
Ken Thoreson is managing director of the Acumen Management Group Ltd., a North American consulting organization focused on improving sales management functions within growing and transitional organizations. You can reach him at [email protected]. www.AcumenManagement.com. His blog also appears at www.YourSalesManagementGuru.com
Posted by Ken Thoreson on April 22, 20100 comments
Over the past few months I have written often on the impact of emotion in the role of sales leadership and as a salesperson during the sales process. This time, I am taking a slightly different viewpoint: you as an individual, and your personal life.
In the role of sales management, here's a coaching technique I recommend: After every face-to-face sales call and after every sales training session at your office, you should ask that person, "If you had it to do over again, what would you do differently -- if anything?" The purpose is for the salesperson to self-critique first before you provide your insights. The real secret in building a self-managed sales team is for you to train your salespeople to personally use this coaching technique when you are not with them -- so that it becomes a daily self-improvement, self-check system for each salesperson.
The "do over" question is one that I ask people to ask of their personal lives. In my keynote, I sometimes open with that question. My objective is to help each person evaluate their lives both personally and professionally. During the program I ask each person to evaluate their personal and professional life on eight categories on a score from one to eight, with eight the highest. During this brief exercise, each attendee determines where they are in balance or out of balance and then we cover what I like to call the "balance finders."
We then discuss what I call the "Passion of Impact." As sales leaders and as people, our greatest potential is to impact the lives of others around us -- this is done through coaching, positive attitudes and a giving spirit. I have found that by impacting others, people on a personal and professional level tend to soar, and that often leads to more balance and a sense of fulfillment.
We then ask, "How will you leave this world a better place?" If the answers to your rating shows that you aren’t in the right place, right now, you can always do a "do over" to get yourself there.
What tends to be missing in those individuals that are struggling is they are out of balance or have not built a philosophy to lead. I end the keynote by allowing each person to think about what ingredients they need to make their lives better and what their menu for life will look like. My theme: Think positive, take action! This idea came out of the 9/11 events of a decade ago, when many were really shocked and frozen.
My mantra is "think positive, take action!" What is your mantra or theme for life? Write me here [email protected]
Posted by Ken Thoreson on April 16, 20100 comments
"There is no magic!" Oh, really? We hear grand stories from many organizations -- stories of new business strategies, exciting marketing concepts and sales programs designed to accomplish corporate objectives. Then initiatives are defined, people assigned and six months later...nothing. The cycle of frustration continues. Nothing has changed.
Sales leaders must understand that if they fail to show progress on planned commitments or display a lack of attention to detail, the sales team will pick up on that behavior, and that will translate to their sales performance. Sales calls are no longer crisp, activity levels drop off and negative attitudes build up.
While I normally don't like to use sports analogies, the correlation between a coach's success and his or her ability to prepare for each event and manage details is easy to draw. Some make their point with noise, emotion or quiet resolve, but the truly successful ones understand the power of execution.
Several years ago, I asked a professional football coach for his weekly schedule, including practice times, team meetings, lunches, workouts, etc. Every hour during the week leading up to the Sunday kickoff was mapped out with the expectation that players would be ready and coaches would be prepared with game plans. All that would be left was the execution.
This is the same idea that sales leaders must take to the office each Monday. And each month and each quarter, in forecast meetings, sales training, coaching sessions -- everything this blog has covered over the past years.
Sales managers and owners must set the pace with excellent strategy and well-defined tactics, and understand that they create the culture necessary for high performance.
With many of our clients, we like to share the following target areas to set the expectation of change and to help them understand how successful organizations are managed:
- Discipline: Training that corrects, molds or perfects the mental faculties or character.
- Accountability: Obligated to give a reckoning or explanation for one's actions.
- Control: A standard of comparison for checking the results of an experiment or process.
If you've had well-designed plans or made assignments but haven't experienced how to make change occur in your organization with effective execution, send me an e-mail at [email protected] and I'll send you our "Execution Success Roadmap." It will help you set expectations and provide both you and your team with the means to keep yourselves on track to successfully execute.
Ken Thoreson, president of Acumen Management Group Ltd., "operationalizes" sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory and platform services have illuminated, motivated and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America. Move up and move ahead! Acumen Management provides keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance. 3f4qb8v9ge
Posted by Ken Thoreson on March 09, 20100 comments
If you're a University of Tennessee fan, you had plenty to celebrate this past weekend: The men's basketball team beat the No. 2 team in the U.S. (the rivals from the University of Kentucky), and then the Lady Vols won their league title. Being big fans, we decided to take 16 big, rocket fireworks and blow them up after dark. We laughed, had fun and enjoyed the color and noise.
About 20 minutes later, I noticed a car at the head of my driveway. I noticed the flashing red lights -- a local county police car!
Seems one of my neighbors didn't realize we were celebrating, and thought what they'd heard was gunfire. After explaining our Tennessee pride, the local policeman smiled and drove away.
While it had some unexpected results, that night of celebration was well-intentioned.
Several weeks ago, I discussed the need to build emotion into selling and in past blogs have covered the need for sales management to develop better coaching and create strong emotional stake within the sales team with sales incentive programs. Celebrations are one way to do that.
Celebrating, well, celebration in your sales organization is important and must be considered as an ongoing program.
As the end of the first quarter comes into sight, think of how your team will end the quarter. Hopefully, the answer is above target -- which is a reason to bring everyone together to celebrate! What will you do? How can you really make it unique -- different than a simple sports-bar dinner? How about a limo party with a special dinner or lunch at a special location? Perhaps lunch at the best business restaurant in town?
On the other hand, if your team finishes the first quarter below expectations, you should consider how you'll reach your team emotionally to encourage them to maintain focus, build on the accomplishments of the first quarter and position themselves to exceed their second-quarter goals. Find a reason to build their confidence. Create a "make up sales contest" where the prize is a big celebration if they achieve their second quarter goals, plus the shortfall from the first quarter. Look for something to celebrate for each person. Write them a note or present them with something small but meaningful -- a nice recognition that makes the salesperson know you care.
A quote from one of my mentors said it best: "When a salesperson is 85 percent of the quota, that is when you put your arm around them and help them up. When they are at 125 percent of the quota, that is when you push them for greater achievements."
What are your ideas for incorporating celebrations into your sales culture? Leave your comments below.
Ken Thoreson, president of Acumen Management Group Ltd., "operationalizes" sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory and platform services have illuminated, motivated and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America. Move up and move ahead! Acumen Management provides keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance. 3f4qb8v9ge
Posted by Ken Thoreson on March 01, 20102 comments
If you've received an e-mail from me, most likely you've noticed my signature line: "Looking Forward." That wording has multiple purposes. First, looking forward is a positive statement. And two, looking forward is also a reminder to stay focused on a goal and your plans.
As a sales leader, you must be consistently looking forward to ensure all your plans and programs are well-designed and ready to activate and that your metrics/dashboard pipeline values are within acceptable levels.
The job of sales management is to make sure they put their teams in position to exceed their quotas each month. Notice I said "their quotas." I've said multiple times that it's the salesperson's responsibility to achieve his or her numbers; it's the sales leader's job to put the right people in place and put them in position to sell. Looking ahead 60 to 90 days will help the sales leader be more organized and give them enough time to take corrective action, if any is needed.
That means that as you close out February, effective sales management must begin to make sure their
- marketing or lead-generation programs are developed and ready to execute.
- sales pipeline values and sales opportunities at Stage 3 are significant at March 1 to achieve May quotas.
- sales training programs are in place and planned for May.
- sales contests defined for April and May have been thought through.
- hiring and interviewing plans are activated to ensure talent is on board.
These are just a few actions that strategic sales managers must do to be forward-looking and build predictable revenue.
From a philosophical approach, I encourage everyone to be proactive versus reactive. This attitude means effective planning and looking forward rather than simply looking at historical performance -- or worse, finding out March 1 that you're out of control, lacking in sales opportunities to achieve quota, and have another month of scrambling ahead.
If you haven't yet received our white paper, "Top 40 Actions Sales Management Must Take for Building Predictable Revenue," e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll forward it to you.
Ken Thoreson, president of Acumen Management Group Ltd., "operationalizes" sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory and platform services have illuminated, motivated and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America. Move up and move ahead! Acumen Management provides keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance. 3f4qb8v9ge
Posted by Ken Thoreson on February 22, 20100 comments
During this past weekend, I attended the National Speakers Association conference in Nashville. But instead of speaking, I actually went to the breakout sessions, chatted in the hallways and listened to the keynotes. It was an amazing learning experience; in four days, I was exposed to concepts and methods to make my keynote more effective and more meaningful to attendees -- including the two hours I spent with Max Dixon learning how to create and tell a story.
So where does this fit with you as a salesperson (or sales leader or executive)?
Selling and sales leadership are emotional jobs; selling must change buyers' minds and hearts. But too many times, we hear sales teams selling only the facts.
As a sales manager responsible for salesforce training, what are you doing with your sales team's training in terms of increasing their ability to tell your story -- emotionally?
For our part, with many of our consulting clients, prior to going on-site to evaluate their organization, we review their brochures, Web site and standard proposal content. In most cases, the content is boring or stagnant. When we visit on-site and ask each salesperson,"Why do people buy from you?" or "What makes you unique?" the answers are boring or -- worse --logical.
We hear comments along the lines of: "We have been in business since 19-so-and-so" or "Our company has extensive experience" or "Our company is committed to serving you" or "Our people are the best." These are essentially statements of FACT. My question to the sales teams is: "So what?" What do these statements mean to your prospects? Nothing. It's emotion that causes the buyer to take action. This is a fundamental truth in selling; sales managers must understand this and train their teams to create stories with emotion that make their points stand out.
As sales leaders, your sales training program must review your team's content, messaging and verbal descriptions to find the "so what" statements. Create what we call "tribal stories" about when you company saved the day for a client or when your firm solution caused a client's business to blossom. Write them down and make sure every salesperson can use them in a selling mode.
We recommend you videotape your sales team attempting to sell your firm; this will allow them to hear and see why and when their approach is ineffective. The next step is to create a training session that clearly crafts an actual benefit to each statement of fact. The last step is to "inspect what you expect."
Videotape your sales team again in three weeks to ensure the new message has been stuck. In short: Tell emotional stories and bring emotion into your selling.
If you'd like Acumen's "Create a Selling Document" worksheet, send me an e-mail at [email protected].
Ken Thoreson, president of Acumen Management Group Ltd., "operationalizes" sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory and platform services have illuminated, motivated and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America. Move up and move ahead! Acumen Management provides keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance. 3f4qb8v9ge
Posted by Ken Thoreson on February 16, 20100 comments
Amazing -- we're already two weeks into the second month of the year. As 2010 moves along, sales and executive management will become engrossed in managing the numbers and actions designed to ensure quotas are achieved. This is essential to building a prescriptive methodology for a business.
While I've written much about discipline, accountability and control and the importance of finding your own formula for success, today I'm looking for your ideas on something else.
In building a high-performance sales organization, sales leadership must focus on building pride in accomplishment and creating a feeling of teamwork and positive energy. My question is: What are you doing in your sales organization to create these important ingredients? Let me know by commenting below or sending me an e-mail at [email protected].
Here's my own list:
- Set up a "good news board" where all employees can share positive results.
- During your company meeting, have each salesperson say something positive or thank a fellow employee for their work.
- Set a goal to keep a positive attitude; your mood can swing the office.
- Know what your salesperson's personal goals or interests are and always ask about them.
- Whenever an employee calls you or walks into your office, the first thing you should say is, "How can I help you?"
- Are you running a fun, first-quarter sales contest? How are you reinforcing it?
- Send out companywide e-mails recognizing positive news -- orders, contest winners, customer stories, etc.
Keep building on to this list and executing brilliantly every day. In challenging economic times, sales leaders must keep focused on multiple actions, but building the right sales culture is a very important aspect to achieving your overall company goals.
Ken Thoreson, president of Acumen Management Group Ltd., "operationalizes" sales management systems and processes that pull revenue out of the doldrums into the fresh zone. During the past 12 years, our consulting, advisory and platform services have illuminated, motivated and rejuvenated the sales efforts for partners throughout North America. Move up and move ahead! Acumen Management provides keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance. 3f4qb8v9ge
Posted by Ken Thoreson on February 09, 20100 comments