Blog Archives
Neil Ducoff’s Take On Leadership!
I just loved Neil Ducoff’s take on leadership in this post. Take a few minutes to have a read. It is very inspiring…
One thing I’ve learned in my 62 years is that success never seeks you out. Success is about as indifferent and unemotional as it gets. It doesn’t give a hoot about your dreams and vision of what success means to you. It doesn’t care if you’re wildly successful today and lose it all tomorrow. Success is never in a rush. Success is just this extraordinary state that allows people, companies and organizations to bask in its glow and glory for as long or as little as they choose. There’s only one rule; show up and play to win. Otherwise, get out of the way.
I’ve been teaching, writing and coaching business and leadership for 40 years. I’ve had my share of successes and failures – but I keep showing up and keep trying to get better. When I look at my calendar and see keynotes, classes and consulting dates, I…
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Job Search Day 3 – Are You Starting To See Dollar Signs?
Hiring managers can “occasionally” overstate potential compensation packages with a sales role during the interview process. Before you have even started the job, you begin to envision how well you are going to do, even before evaluating if it is an achievable goal. I have taken it so far as envisioning how my life will be if I made that amount of money! Silly, but these thoughts can happen if you start to get ahead of yourself.
The success may well happen early on, but realistically it will take longer, possibly years to get up to that level of compensation consistently. Everyone develops in a role at different speeds, and many factors can come in to play regarding earning potential.
They are always people who thrive and over achieve quickly, but they are in the minority. A good question for the hiring manager in the interview process is,
“What are the realistic total compensation numbers (on average) in the first three years on the job?”
If you have little savings, or limited ability to pay for expenses now, you need to consider what size of salary you take, compared to potential commissions and bonuses.
I got a hard dose of reality with this type of situation in one of the roles that I accepted.
I was given a ball park idea of how the previous rep had done in the territory the year before, and it was a fantastic number! I started to see lots and lots of dollar signs! It definitely blurred my vision.
I was very confident in my abilities by that point in my career, and felt great about the role. There was a small issue that the hiring manager failed to mention. The previous rep negotiated to keep all the large accounts in the territory when he moved to another region. These accounts contributed greatly to the overall compensation.
Not only did the previous rep negotiate to keep many of the high producing accounts, the pay plan changed 4 months after I started, taking a good chunk out of the earning potential that was so desirable when I started the job. Things can change in a heartbeat, and it is best to underestimate what you will earn for the first couple of years, and decide from there if you are still comfortable taking the role.
This is especially CRITICAL when you need money right away and accept a role with 100% commission or a limited base salary.
Job Search Day 2 – Don’t Underestimate A Career Aptitude Test!
Over the years when I was interviewing for sales and sales management roles, it was not uncommon for organizations to conduct career aptitude tests as part of the screening process. Although I never enjoyed doing these test, I quickly realized that most organizations put a decent amount of weight in to the results, so I started to put more thought in to my answers.
In general, the tests would cover these categories:
Leadership
This was more typical when I was applying for sales management roles. High scores in this category would show people who were competitive and could lead others at a high level. On the flip side, a low score would describe people who were less dominant and less assertive. I have seen this line of questioning when applying for outside sales rep positions as well. Employers loved to look for future leaders, and they would typically find them within a pool of candidates applying for outside sales positions.
Emotional
High scores would go to those candidates who were calm and even-tempered. A lower score showed that you had a sense of urgency and tended to be emotionally reactive.
Social
They are testing to see what your level of social interaction is. For a sales role, I think it is obvious that you want to score as high as possible. Being talkative by nature, outgoing, and generally engaging are traits that will give high scores in this category. If you are shy and don’t like engaging in conversations, you may want to look for a different profession!
Interpersonal
They are testing how sensitive and empathetic you are. If you are not sensitive to the needs of others and are not tactful, you will score lower. You will be perceived as more forthright and direct.
Task
How rule abiding and detailed focused are you? If you are conventional and meticulous, you will score high. If you are flexible and improvising, you will score lower.
Conceptual
When I first saw this category, my initial thought was how well could you handle different concepts and be open-minded. I was not too far off. They look to how imaginative and open to change you are. If you score lower, you probably prefer more predictability.
In general career aptitude tests tended to be 20 to 30 minutes in length. They were mostly multiple choice questions. I remember there being anywhere between 100 and 175 questions with these tests over the years. After doing a couple tests, I realized that they tended to ask similar questions many ways to uncover patterns in your answers. My advice is to be as consistent as possible in your responses. If you are stumped on any one question, I would not worry about it too much.
There are no right or wrong answers, but you need to think about the characteristics and qualities that they are looking for in an outside rep.
If you are outgoing, very social, motivated to succeed, and can work under limited supervision – those are probably key attributes that they are looking for.
That will be more desirable to an organization hiring an outside sales person than if you are:
Reserved, somewhat shy, like consistent income and need regular supervision.
As I mentioned above, organizations usually will use the test results as one of several criteria for selecting a candidate. I was hired for a role once, where the company put a lot more weight in the test results than I ever would have, but it worked in my favour!
I was down to one of the last two candidates for a role, and I got the job because I did better on the test. I was very fortunate because we were equally matched candidates.
This process was more difficult than any other test that I had ever taken before. The first test was taken during my first interview, and the second test was taken during my third (and last) interview. I think they both took close to one hour, and had 225+ questions.
Those initial feelings that you get about people in the first interview, and subsequently how they handle other interviews should have as much or more weight than test results, but that is just my opinion. I will save a more detailed commentary for a future blog post!
If I was sick, distracted for some reason, or just not having a good day, I would have missed out on a 7 year career that has changed my life forever. That would have not been fair to me, my family or the company who took the other candidate because they did better on these tests.
Be Memorable. Because Jeffrey Said So!
For those of you who don’t know, I am a huge Jeffrey Gitomer fan. I listen to his audiobooks and podcasts on a regular basis. I stumbled across this yesterday on YouTube.
This video is short and sweet, and gets right to the point.
Bottom line, be memorable! People will remember the little things that you do for them!
How Well Do You Know Your Customers? (Be Honest)
As I attempted to write this post over several days, I struggled to make it interesting. On the surface, “how well do you know your customers” can be dismissed as a generic topic that does not peak people’s curiosity.
“Of course I know my customers Tim. What are you talking about?”
I can hear you making silly comments to your computer screen now!
In all seriousness, what I am about to say will have tremendous value for you long-term with your current customers and prospects. Be honest with yourselves. How well do you really know your customers?
I went on joint calls with one of my Sales Manager quite often. After one particular call (visiting Bob and John), he asked me what I learned about the two associates. I drew a blank for a minute and said that I did not know. His reply,
“Bob loves to golf, and has twin daughters who are 12 years old. The family likes going to Mexico every winter”.
“John is single, enjoys playing recreational sports, and has two dogs”
I asked him why knowing this would matter. He responded by saying that now that I knew some information about each of their personal lives, it would be easier to keep discussions going in the future. Speaking to them about business was always the primary goal, but when it was time to have casual conversations, personal topics would really get them engaged. One word answers like “yes”, “no” & “inaudible mumbles” would not be an issue then.
They might like to talk about their kids, their golf game, current sports stories, upcoming holidays, or hobbies. I always stayed away from touchy subjects like religion and politics. It was not worth the hassle if a nerve was struck with someone. Previously I would often go in to calls and talk about the weather, or something that was in the news. But it was not personal to them.
How awesome would it be for you to look into a customer’s eyes and remember any of the above details (even what they take in their coffee), by only asking once? Better yet, how awesome would it be for them to know that you cared enough to remember?
The key to keeping details straight (and not confusing Bob and John) is to record them as soon as possible. Take a few minutes after a call, sit in your car and write things down. Test yourself – can you remember three things you learned about your account today? And don’t expect that you’ll remember all of this at the end of the day. A few minutes early on will pay off in the long run.
You can also dig deeper, in terms of the “rules of communication” with the account contacts:
- Do they want you to make an appointment first, or is it ok to just drop in unannounced?Do they like to be contacted by email, text, cell phone or land line?
- Is there a best time of day to drop by if just stopping in?
- How often do they want to be visited?
The earlier you make notes on each account, the sooner you will understand the level of engagement they want. You may want to engage them face to face more than they want to be engaged, so you have to find that balance and not be a nuisance.
Oh yeah, work your butt off to remember their names as soon as possible. That is a must! Statistics prove that people respond better to what you are saying when their names are used during conversations. I had documents that I would refer to before going in to each call.
I don’t care how you record this information, as long as you do it. It could be through CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software, task lists on email programs, iPhones, Blackberries etc. Heck, good old-fashioned notebooks still worked last time I checked! But it is imperative that you have separate files for each account to avoid confusion and disorganization.
Showing interest in customer’s personal lives, and remembering minor details that nobody else takes the time to, will strengthen relationships more often than not. The primary goal in sales is to obviously sell stuff; but the ones who show genuine interest in their customers and CARE will win in the long run.
Have A Laugh Fridays – Different Perceptions of Sales Reps (Most Popular Yet)
This has been my most popular Have A Laugh Fridays Edition since I posted it in early March. It is a fantastic overview of the different perceptions of sales reps.
Enjoy this quick one, have a great weekend. Back to new “HALF’s” next week.
Do You Have “It” With Your Team?
All I wanted to do early in my sales career was manage the team that I was working on. I was young, I was new to the industry and I thought I knew it all! I was confident that some day I could handle the role. Unfortunately changes happened within the company, and I turned down my dream Sales Manager role when it was finally offered to me. Even with that setback, I have continued to follow sales and executive management throughout my career.
I did have some experience managing a team before I was ever interested in Sales Management. I was a Branch Manager in the car rental industry straight out of university. It was a great experience, and certainly taught me a lot about managing a diverse group of associates at a young age. Some of the employees were more than ten years my senior, and I learned very quickly how difficult being in charge could be.
The Sales Manager is arguably the most important person within the organization. They have a direct line of communication with the sales force; the associates who drive most of the front line revenue.
It can be very easy to get in to a rut with your day-to-day role. Sales reps certainly do, and it happens to managers as well. It is valuable to take a step back and think outside the box sometimes, from how you typically manage.
Great sales managers use enthusiasm and excitement to their advantage. They celebrate their team’s wins, while proudly announcing personal and team achievements. They may high-five team members in the office, or keep it simple and just pat everyone on the back when there are reasons to celebrate. The positive energy does wonders for everyone.
I have always been keenly aware of my manager’s actions, and I focus on a few areas:
- how they lead the team
- how they treat me
- how they treat other reps
- how they handle adversity within the team
- the relationship they have with their immediate supervisor and others on the executive management team
If they excel in all the above areas, they probably have “it” with their team. “It” is hard to explain, but it can be summarized as the group is firing on all cylinders, and no issue is too great to break the cohesiveness within the group.
I have reported to a total of 16 assistant managers, sales managers and branch managers during my career. I have also had close working relationships with 12-13 executive managers. This has provided me a rich foundation of experiences.
- As a manager what is it like to have “it”with the group of reps that you lead every day?
- If you have “it”, you can probably describe “it” in general terms, but it may be hard to explain overall.
- If you have never had “it” with your team, would you not like to know how to get “it”?
As I continue to discuss Sales Management in the future, I will build on the theme of having “it”. I will leave you with one other thought to ponder….
Are you just a boss to a group of employees, or is their much more depth to your relationship with the team?
Bruce Zimmerman’s Post From The Heart
Bruce Zimmerman’s post about Paul Castain brought my night to a screeching halt on Monday. I wiped the sweat off my brow in the stifling summer heat, proceeded to the “coolness” of my basement, and read every word.
If you have followed for a while, Paul Castain’s name is brought up quite a bit on this blog. There is good reason for that.
Bruce captures the true essence of who Paul is, and what he stands for. I had already been planning a post for Thursday which references Paul’s website, so this will be the first of two posts, back-to-pack discussing somebody I admire greatly. Enjoy!
A while back I had the opportunity to interview an individual who I believe is truly a Sales Rock Star. Actually, I was so excited about the fact that I was able to interview him that I wrote a blog about it shortly after the interview concluded.
It was my intent to review all my notes, bring the whole thing together, and post my thoughts and perspectives within a couple of days.
Wanting to make sure that what I wrote was perfect in every way, I wrote several drafts but nothing seemed right. I would write something, I would read it, and conclude that it didn’t adequately portray my true thoughts. It had to be perfect! I wanted, no needed, to use the right words to describe how much this individual has meant to me and the thousands of other “aspiring sales rock stars” over the last few years. Somehow…
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We Are All Leaders
Everyone develops leadership qualities personally and professionally in different ways. Many people may not even aspire to be leaders, but “accidentally” end up being role models for others.
You can become a leader very early in your career. It does not necessarily mean that you are a loud “rah rah” person. You don’t have to run around the office “high fiving” everyone, or be super enthusiastic every minute of the day!
I have been very interested in sports leadership for years, and the one who set the bar the highest in hockey since the early 1980’s was Mark Messier. Not only was he known for winning 5 championships, his fierce competitiveness, and leadership qualities, but he was confident. Those who follow hockey closely will remember when he guaranteed victory in the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs while playing for the New York Rangers. Not only did they win that game, but they won it all for the first time in 54 years!
For every Mark Messier, there are many others who quietly lead by example in sports, business, and every day life. I always love the comment,
“They don’t speak up very often, but when they do everyone stops in their tracks to listen.”
Those quiet people are also leading and providing great value.
When I first got in to business, my perception of leadership was very one-sided. I thought that managers and executive management were the only ones who were leaders. Many of them did motivate and inspire their teams, but others unfortunately did not understand the importance of being a positive influence on others.
You can start showing leadership qualities from the moment you start a new role. Focus on things like:
- Caring
- Care about the job that you are doing, your customers, and everyone around you
- Having a strong work ethic, and becoming a “go to employee”
- Being the type of person that others want to be around
- Doing the “little things”, and being attentive to details
- Doing more than is expected of you
- “That is not my job” is not in your vocabulary
- Taking advice and criticism as a professional
- Being open to learning
- Supporting team mates and encouraging them
- Celebrating their wins, and supporting their losses
- Being enthusiastic & positive
- Having lots of energy
- Smiling
Before you know it, people will start to look up to you and aspire to be like you. They notice that you have taken steps forward and have become promotable sooner than most.
Everyone has leadership qualities in some way, shape or form. The million dollar questions are:
- Are you using them? And better yet…
- Do you want to use them?
Take stock of how you are leading now, and how you may want to lead in the future.
Shhhh… I will tell you a little secret.
You might actually like it if you don’t already!
Great Sales Team – Yep They Still Exist!
Coming together is a beginning
Keeping together is progress
Working together is success – Henry Ford
As I reflect back on my sales career with 13+ years behind me now, so many people have played an integral part in getting me to where I am today. Without their leadership, mentorship, and most importantly friendship, I have no idea what would have become of me. I had the good fortune to work with a team for many years which was as close to perfect as I could have ever imagined.
The team members:
- Celebrated each other’s wins without jealousy. They were also sympathetic to their associates losses or challenges
- Helped each other as required, without hesitation
- Were not afraid to share selling success stories, or how they overcame challenges and defeats. It was not uncommon to share presentations that were successful, or bulletins for promotions.
- Identified the “it is all about me” behaviour within the group (on the rare occasion), and assisted in addressing it with management as soon as possible. This reduced negativity and problems within the team
- Valued time away together as a team to bond, to get to know each other better, and just have fun
- Had a great leader who motivated, inspired, coached and mentored everyone
- WE HAD FUN TOGETHER! (I may do a post some day about all the great stories that came from working with this group!)
The one point that I really have to stress about the people on this team is:
If any of the team members called me today asking for help, no matter where in the country they were living at the time, my response would be,
“What do you need, and do you need me to come to where you are?”
I think I would get the same response from them if I asked for help. We were not only colleagues, but also friends. We battled at work every day to be the best that we could be, and had a lot of fun along the way too.
It has been close to five years since I left that organization, and am I lucky to be as good friends with many of them today, as the day I left in 2007!
- What great teams have you been fortunate enough to be a part of?
- What was it about those teams that made them “a cut above the rest”?
Sell, Lead, Succeed! 