It takes leadership and vision.
Building your business requires both leadership and management and 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.
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Posted by Ken Thoreson on June 15, 20090 comments
Summertime,
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high...
It's early June, so I thought it would be good to help sales managers with some additional insights as we head to summer time, when sales can be a challenge. I recently posted a question in a forum on LinkedIn at Top Sales Experts International: What are the top three challenges that sales management faces? While time management was extremely popular as a response, responder Craig Klein came up with a real good answer:
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Posted by Ken Thoreson on June 02, 20091 comments
It seems like every workshop, webinar or new book that deals with our challenging economic times, in my analysis the most critical element to understand in effective sales management is the term "leading." This past weekend was Memorial Day in the U.S. and a few of the TV channels played many of the famous war movies, celebrating our heroes and remembering those who served. I came away with one major theme: From generals to privates, in individual situations certain people stood up and assumed a leadership position, making the hard decisions, giving everyone a sense of direction and purpose.
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Posted by Ken Thoreson on May 26, 20090 comments
In challenging times we are finding sales people "qualifying" more gently, which is not a good thing. Here's what I mean: We are finding our clients with good levels of pipelines, but with weak prospects. We are finding that salespeople are busy in motion, but not in direction. That is, they are busying doing things that salespeople should be doing, but not with the right prospects. Bottom line: They're just happy being busy.
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Posted by Ken Thoreson on May 21, 20090 comments
With many of our clients, we are working with their sales teams on learning how and what business questions-focused questions to ask during a sales call. These strategic questions are designed to uncover existing and potential future business challenges; the questions also make the client think about how they run their business.
If the people you are speaking with can't answer your questions, then you are attempting to sell the wrong person. You must be speaking with BDMs today. We stress focusing on increasing business efficiency, cost reduction and optimizing selling opportunities -- what people are investing in today are mission-critical applications, so your teams should avoid "talking techie."
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Posted by Ken Thoreson on May 20, 20090 comments
Last week I suggested a few ideas on sales management training. Now we need to provide a few quick ideas for salespeople -- that is, professional salespeople. The definition of a professional:
A professional has a commitment to a calling -- the education, training, and expertise that an amateur does not have. This commitment to become a true professional is a key to differentiating yourself in the marketplace.
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Posted by Ken Thoreson on May 08, 20090 comments
I recently read an article about the enormous amount of money that is spent each year on sales skills training, yet the article discussed the shocking lack of success those costs have had when translated to performance. Normally we see a short-term boost of success and then a trend of sales falling back to past levels. In most cases, there is a 5-1/2 week half-life in sales skills training.
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Posted by Ken Thoreson on April 29, 20090 comments
I am speaking this week in Atlanta at a national conference on the topic of sales compensation during challenging times. One of my beliefs is compensation must be strategic and aligned with the goals of the corporation. If your objectives are changing or because of challenging times you are still using the same compensation plan from previous years, consider several ideas:
- Build in a team compensation model; where if the team exceeds a quarterly target, pay a bonus. The bonus is paid out based upon per/person contribution. This helps everyone work together to attain the 'company' number.
- Build a sales contest now to increase pipeline values and activity to ensure you have a summer full of sales opportunities. Run it for May/June with the rewards non-cash incentives. Send me an e-mail for a free idea.
- Create a year-long sales incentive contest based upon a quota for the salesperson to win. If they achieve 115 percent, then their spouse/friend can attend. (cruise/golf resort). All the winning salespeople would attend at the same time/location. Create a theme for the trip; this will give you a common message for the remainder of the year.
- Create a companywide contest linking teams of sales/admin/technical teams together to compete for most leads, most sales dollars, most net new accounts. Get your entire organization charged up.
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Posted by Ken Thoreson on April 21, 20091 comments
It's the fourth quarter for some (Microsoft) and Q2 for most of us. Nonetheless, challenging times means fewer sales opportunities, thus demanding better sales strategy and more effective sales execution. Let's use this blog to focus on ideas, tips and tools that we can use to improve our won/lost ratios.
I will contribute a few thoughts, but I also would like to hear what you are doing to make your numbers.
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Posted by Ken Thoreson on April 14, 20090 comments
Here's the info on that sales clinic that I'll be co-hosting. This is from Microsoft:
Based on the popular Information Worker Business Builder series for SharePoint, this is a sales and marketing focused clinic for partner executives and sales and marketing leaders. The clinic is designed to provide you with help and guidance in selling Microsoft Information Worker solutions. Co-hosted by industry thought leader Ken Thoreson of Acumen Management Group, the series will also provide you with usable guidance around marketing and selling to help you be at the top of your game. In this series, we will focus on some of the rich range of solutions you can provide your clients using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft Office 2007.
The clinic runs every other week from mid-April through June to assist you in both your short-term sales and your longer-term growth strategy. With a panel discussion that includes Microsoft Marketing Managers and Acumen Management Group, you will have the opportunity to ask questions and interact directly with the Microsoft U.S. Information Worker team. Included as a part of this course is a Web forum for you to ask questions and get personalized help between the clinics.
Acumen Management Group has spoken at eight Worldwide Partner Conferences and hosted over thirty Microsoft Information Worker Business Builder workshops. Ken Thoreson is also a columnist for Redmond Channel Partner and consultant to many Microsoft partners.
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Posted by Ken Thoreson on April 07, 20090 comments
After the success of the Microsoft's "Building Your Business in Challenging Times" road shows, I'm excited to announce that Acumen will be hosting a Microsoft-sponsored series of IW Business Building Sales Clinics. These webcasts will be held every two weeks and are tuned to increase sales. They will target executives, marketing and sales leaders and will be solution-based -- with live and interactive sessions. The content will be driven by the Microsoft Partner community, with Microsoft Teams with Partner interviews and Acumen insights. We will offer tips, ideas and provide answers to partner questions and discuss winning strategies. There will also be a BIZ Builder Forum for you to participate in, with Q&A capability.
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Posted by Ken Thoreson on March 26, 20090 comments
We have been discussing the three concepts that sales managers must focus on and the ingredients you need to have in your sales leadership pantry. This time, let's talk about control.
Many of you who have attended our workshops or listened to our keynotes or Web casts know that cooking is a hobby of mine. I own in excess of 150 cookbooks and at home I frequently experiment in developing new creations or adaptations to existing favorites -- I'm always looking to refine and improve each recipe. This experience reinforces my client recommendations that successful, high-performance sales leaders build a "prescriptive" approach to growing and managing their teams.
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Posted by Ken Thoreson on March 19, 20091 comments