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Getting Your Sales Year Off To A Fast Start
With more demands, fewer resources and tremendous competition, it’s tough for salespeople to focus on critical actions that get big results. On December 13th, we’re hosting a webinar The 5 Keys to Getting Your 2012 Sales Year Off To A Fast Start. We’re going to share our insights from working, firsthand, with more than 5,000 salespeople. We’ll be highlighting the key actions that allow the great ones to get more traction – with less effort. We also have a bonus for attendees (watch the video to learn what it is).
Here’s a preview:
RSS Readers that don’t see this video click here to watch.
I hope you can join us.
The Key to Differentiation: Be Bold, Be Different
Sunday, while watching The Washington Redskins (finally) win, I saw an interesting ad from Chevy. I have to admit that it tugged at my heartstrings a bit.
It told the story of a family who tracked down their father/grandfathers original 1965 Chevy Impala SS. The emotional message was, “More than a car…a Chevy.”
I’m not sure how effective the ad will be in selling more cars, but I certainly hope its effective with the management and senior leadership of GM, and other companies. See, the thing that created an emotional bond between Dad and his Impala, is that, like it or not, the Impala was not a boring car. The Impala had character.
GM’s problem today (and for most of the last 20+ years) is that their cars are boring, me-too vehicles. With the possible exception of the Corvette (which has stayed strong), there’s nothing interesting about a Chevy. With all due respect, what the heck is a Chevy Malibu? Don’t get me wrong, the Malibu is not a bad car (I drove one recently when traveling), there’s just nothing special about it. It’s like every other car I’ve driven.
If GM, or you, want to be more than just your product or service – a worthy goal – then take a risk. Stop differentiating and do something different. It’s not a guarantee for success, but I promise its a great first step.
Do You Have The Guts to be Great?
Today, the Washington Capitals fired their coach, Bruce Boudreau. The fastest coach to win 200 games is fired with 201 wins.
My first reaction was a little shock. How could you fire a coach who turned the team around, and has one of the greatest win/loss percentages in history?
Then I realized that’s the cost to be great. The management of the Capitals isn’t satisfied with the best record in the regular season. Success is winning The Stanley Cup. As good as Boudreau has been it’s become clear he wasn’t the guy who would get the job done.
Before you write this post off as the musings of a Capitals fan; ask yourself do you have the discipline (and guts) to make these types of decisions? Look around your office, look at your payroll statements. Is every employee on your team up to winning your version of The Stanley Cup.
I’ve lost count of the number of salespeople, managers or long-term employees who are there for no other reason than they’re nice, loyal people who care.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying fire those people. I’m saying that you’re making a choice – and you need to accept the consequences. Bruce Boudreau is a great guy, a lot of fun, extremely loyal, and he’s quite a good coach. The Capitals made the tough decision that he wasn’t enough – kudos to them for having the guts.
Happy Thanksgiving – Enjoy
It’s that time of year again. Have a great Thanksgiving and make sure you take some time to consider all of the great opportunities we have.
Here’s my tribute to Thanksgiving:
I love this time of year. We’ve got the 3-F’s: friends, family & football. There’s the wine, the turkey, the stuffing, the wine. It’s great fun.
And I have a tradition at this time of year that I would like to share with you. I often write about how the old paradigms of business, sales and marketing are letting businesses down. Well, today, I’m not going to get that deep. Today, I’d like to focus on one of the all-time promotion fiascoes, from one of my favorite shows.
The tradition: Watching The Turkey Drop from WKRP in Cincinnati. Have a great holiday everyone.
RSS Readers that don’t see a video below, click here to watch the video.
Changing Behavior
As we prepare for the holidays, thought naturally turns to what needs to happen to make 2012 better than 2011. Assuredly, executive will look at many actions, and create grand plans to improve those actions.
The danger is that the improvement focuses on changing behaviors above all else. Here’s my caution:
Trying to change behaviors without addressing
the systems, structures and strategies?
The key to improving behavior is to ensure that your systems, structures and strategies are aligned together and towards your aims. What’s great is that when those three areas are aligned, behavior and results take care of themselves.
Sales Webinar: 5 Keys To Starting Your Year Fast
If you’re a salesperson you know how special the months of January through April are. Four uninterrupted months, when your customers and prospects are back at work, focused and ready to do business.
Your performance in the first four months of the year will determine how good 2012 is.
The 5 Keys to Getting Your Sales Year Off to a Fast-Start
Join us on Tuesday, December 13th at 2pm EST, we’ll share the secrets we’ve learned working with the best salespeople in the world that allow them to get their year off to a tremendous start. Once again, we are waiving the registration fee for this program.
In this 35-minute webinar we’ll share:
- How to hyperfocus on your best opportunities
- Identifying “target rich environments”
- How to break through the noise, stand out and get heard by your prospects
Plus, we’ll share a secret to access the tough to find “ultimate decision maker.”
Starbucks To Squeeze Juice Industry! Uhm, Really?
So, what do you think of Howard Schultz’s announcement that Starbuck will “reinvent [the juice] category in the same tonality that we reinvented the basic commodity of coffee?”
Apparently, he sees “a lot of white space.”
What?! Really?! Howard, please, what’s happened to you?
That sounds like Internet CEOs saying they see lots of synergy.
It sounds to me like you’re bored again. I realize that owning the Seattle Supersonics didn’t work out. I guess merely rebuilding Starbucks isn’t interesting enough for you.
How I miss the old Howard Schultz. The one who focused on his core business. The one who, when coming back to run Starbucks, talked about the importance of staying focused and railed against how Starbucks forgot what they really were.
In my experience when a company like Starbucks starts acquiring companies like Evolution Fresh (no offense Evolution) and starts speaking publicly of “white space” what they are really saying is:
We’ve lost our ability to create real value for our customers. We’ve become commoditized. In an attempt to fool our investors and protect our stock price we’re going to transform another industry.
I don’t buy it. What do you think?
The Best Way To Fill The Sales Funnel
If you want to leverage your sales efforts; if you want to grow revenues faster than expenses; if you want to lower your sales costs, you must – MUST – invest in developing valuable content to support your sales and marketing efforts.
The most frequent conversation I’ve had following our webinar last week on Successful Lead Generation for B2B Companies is about the critical role content plays in successful lead generation. From the comments I’ve received, it’s probably the biggest surprise attendees left with.
I’ve learned that content is not something many small and mid-market B2B CEOs think about. They spend a lot of time thinking about their strategies and tactics. They spend countless hours working with and addressing their people. They worry about pricing and competition, and they’re always tinkering to improve their products and services.
However, with overwhelming neglect, they seem to ignore content. Content is the glue that enables a business to leverage its sales and marketing efforts. With valuable content (the keyword being valuable) you give your prospects a reason to pay attention to you. You are able to distinguish yourself. Without it, you are like every other peddler chasing down sales. If you are different, content showcases your difference.
I understand that developing content is difficult, complex and, at times, painful. I realize that it’s typically not in the wheelhouse of senior team. I appreciate that the task can feel overwhelming.
But, so is building a highly profitable businesses that consistently grows and creates wealth for owners and employees.
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Resources
Doug's Washington Business Journal Columns- Intelligent Growth Articles
Third Wave Selling Blog
Products to Grow
