Management Articles & News
How To Become A Better Sales Manager
YIPPEE! Kendra won, or should I say, "She was hired," by the "Donald." It was no surprise to me. It was all about people and management skills. You either have them or you don't! Kendra had them and Tana, sad to say, didn't.
Poor Performance Fix it by Coaching
Coaching is about finding out the cause of poor performance or behaviour and discussing with the team member how to put it right.
Your Extended Shadow And Successful Sales Management
In a small midwestern town, the local high school of 878 students recently produced its first state championship basketball team in over 90 years. The community has had an organized city basketball league for its younger boys for many years. But, this league, designed to spot talent early and then feed the high school basketball program, did nothing to produce the state title. There is also an open gym at the high school every Tuesday and Thursday night to encourage the young men in the ...
How Do I Manage Workplace Conflict?
Workplace Conflict Conflict is an inevitable part of business life and not all conflict is negative. Most people would agree that where there are people there is conflict. Some workplace conflict is healthy and if viewed positively can be an opportunity and catharsis for you and your business to effect positive change! It’s all how you think about it. However where unhealthy conflict raises its head repeatedly this has potential risk to cause your business negative ...
What's a Professional Sales Manager?
I was in the depths of a major depression. As a third year salesperson with a good company, I was doing well, and was on my way to becoming the top salesperson in the nation for that company. But business had slowed down a little, and I didn't have my usual number of proposals out for consideration. So, I wasn't as busy as usual. As my activity slowed, I began to worry. My doubts increased to the point where I had thought myself into a real depression, stuck on the question of ...
Why Performance Based Recruiting Produces Top Sales Performers
Many recruiting ads and job descriptions include "knockout factors" that can actually screen out qualified sales candidates. One example is a requirement that candidates have an undergraduate degree, a graduate degree, or a degree in a specialized field of study such as Engineering. Another example is a requirement that candidates have a minimum number of years of sales experience.
Run a Productive Business From Your Car Office
The way we do business has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. More products and services are now being offered outside traditional premises. You no longer have to go to a bank to complete your transactions or home loan applications. Insurance brokers visit your home or office; retailers deliver products directly to your home. This change in distribution methodology has meant many of us now run a car-office.
To Increase Your Sales and Revenue Make Sure To Add Value
What are you and your company’s services and products worth to customers? What is the value you and your company bring to your customers? When working with customers and organizations, it is important to distinguish the difference between worth and value and to set a baseline value for the contributions you bring to the table. To illustrate, following is a simple example based on a company that provides training to other companies:
Is Your Forecast Too Sunny? How to Improve the Accuracy of Sales Forecasts
As spring moves to summer, the forecast should be for warmer and sunnier weather. What is the forecast for your business? Is the outlook sunny or cloudy?
The Boss from Hell: Quick to Criticize, Slow to Praise
So you have a boss who dumps all over you the moment things go wrong, but never seems to notice when things go right. Ouch.
A Real CRM Strategy or Just Tracking Customers?
Exactly what is CRM The idea itself is nothing new; its roots have been around since trading began. The principle of looking after your customers so that they come back regularly is, after all, merely the basis of good trading. In an increasingly competitive commercial world however, strong customer relationships take on an increasing importance. With the cost of selling to a new customer being five times the cost of selling to an existing one you can’t afford to lose established ...
Do You Really Want Local County Contracts?
If you really want to secure government contacts at the county level; there is a lot more than just getting on a list and bidding on a solicitation. Government even at the country level is a little corrupt and insider-ish. You can complain about the evils, backdoor deals and wasting of tax payers money or you can remember that the imperfect system is run by humans and what goes on in generally what should be expected. No difference than the shenanigans of the Catholic Priests.
Beyond the Golden Rule
There are several types and sub types of people in the world. Getting to understand the differences will help you connect with other people. This is taught in sales 101, because the need to connect with the people to make the sale.
Baditude!
As a group of sales trainees took a break from our workshop on selling, the distress they were feeling, was clearly manifest in their intense discussions. It was obvious from their unrestrained conversations that the software being installed to track their sales performance was the reason for their anxiety. It was also evident from their negative comments, that many of these trainees had already given up on selling their company’s services and that no amount of sales training could help them ...
The Effective Executive
What does it mean to be an "effective executive"? Well very simply it means achieving the goals you set out to achieve in an efficient, creative and effortless manner. Some of the benefits that ensue from this self efficacy are: feelings of self confidence, self esteem, self worth, a sense of personal empowerment, feeling invigorated and passionate about everything you choose to do, a sense of resilience, more energy, personal emotional and physical health and for some a great sense of ...
How to Sell Strategically
If you want to maximize your sales performance, take a strategic approach to selling. After all, wouldn't you agree that "the 80/20 rule" applies to customers, where approximately 20 percent of customers produce approximately 80 percent of sales?
7 Ways to Cut Loose from Old Sales Thinking
Sooner or later, we all backslide into old ways of thinking about selling that lead us down the wrong path with potential clients.
Experiences of Management Coaching (Part 2)
In our experience, we have found that there are several reasons managers fail to get employees to see and acknowledge that they have a problem.
It's Time For A Sales Management Revolution
Are you dog tired because of the way you manage your sales team? Many managers tell me that they cannot see a way out of traditional sales management methods that keep them working like dogs, including focusing strictly on revenue goals, staying late, traveling up to three weeks a month, tightly controlling teams, and constantly reacting to emergencies. There has to be a better way.
Franchise Sales; Recruiting of Laid Off Employees
Because of corporate downsizing, many people have been laid-off or voluntarily taken early retirement packages and/or incentives. This happens when times are good due to mergers and acquisitions or when the economy is in the dumps and corporations are working to cut payroll costs. Almost all of these people have absolutely had it with corporate life; they feel burned and unappreciated. They realize that there is no such thing as job security. If a franchiser sales team gets the lead in ...
A Coach's Handbook For Sales Managers
This article may be reprinted in its entirety with express written permission from Nicki Weiss. The reprint must include the section “ About the Author ”.
Leadership Lessons for Sales Managers
Leadership, like class, is hard to define, but easy to spot. Someone once defined management as “the effective coordination of the efforts of the individuals in a group to accomplish that stated objectives of the organization.” Managers get results by establishing goals and working with and through people to achieve those goals. As a manager, your success depends on your ability to: • Find and attract career-oriented men and women who have the knowledge, ...
Stop Drowning: Nine Strategies For Managing Your Priorities
I just got off the phone with Susan. She is a well-meaning, big-hearted, caring, effective and creative sales manager. Susan is also exhausted.
Sales Forecasting For New Businesses
Sales forecasting is the process of organizing and analysing information in a way that makes it possible to estimate what your sales will be. This Micro Module outlines some simple methods of forecasting sales using easy to find data. Books containing simple and sophisticated techniques of forecasting sales can be found in libraries and business oriented book stores.
Make Time, Not Excuses
There are four primary activities that successful salespeople engage in on an ongoing basis. These are Prospecting (45% of time), Presenting (20%), Product Knowledge/Malleability (20%), and Professional and Personal Development (15%)
The Achilles' Heel of Management Coaching
While heading home at day’s end, you begin reflecting on a coaching meeting you had earlier that day with an employee, Chris. You hope that, this time, you finally succeeded in getting her to understand the importance of spending less time in disruptive socializing in the office and more time elevating her performance. If not, you feel that your only remaining alternatives are to give her a poor performance evaluation or demotion or may even fire her. You’re reluctant to do either of the ...