Sales Management Coaching – part 2
Coaching Rules for Sales Managers, 8-17
I’ve been working with a number of Sales Managers recently, providing them with Sales Management Coaching, and thought would be helpful to compile a list of some of the coaching insights that I’ve picked up from my colleagues over the years. When you’re coaching your sales people, here are some “rules,” some bits of advice to share with them that will increase their success in the field.
Rules 1-7 were covered in the previous post. Here’s the next section: 
8. You can’t lose what you don’t have. So, take the risk.
9. Decisions to buy or change behavior are made emotionally. People buy emotionally; however, they make decisions intellectually.
10. Agree on the rules before starting the game. It’s critical to be crystal clear on the prospect’s decision making process before your play their game.
11. Presentations come after the prospects have qualified themselves. Making proposals and presentation before the prospect is qualified results in wasted time, thought and attention for you and your company.
12. Understand other people’s subconscious need to feel “OK.” Always keep the prospect (and your sales person) in the OK Chair.
13. True sales professionals maintain their objective detachment, even under pressure.
14. Spend no time with jerks.
15. Set a strong process agreement that requires a decision be made at the end of each meeting. A “yes” is good. A “no” is good. A “think it over” will only result in wasted time, thought and energy.
16. Deal with all problems early.
17. Use the same intonation you would use with your best friend.
For more insights on how to coach your sales people to develop a strong selling mindset and improve their selling skills, download a complimentary copy of my Professional Sales Coaching, Manager’s Workbook.
Economic and Business Outlook 2010 Insights and Comments-3
There are more comments and insights coming in from the Economic and Business Outlook 2010 Symposium sponsored by Allied Executives. If you’re interested in the discussion thus far, please review the the initial comments as well as those by Don Giacchetti from TACT Solutions.
“I actually thought several people on the panel were impressive – Dean Bachelor from Platinum Group, the guy from Tonka Bay Equity, Elliot Jaffe from US Bank, Beth Kieffor Leonard from Lurie Beskof Lapidus & Company. But coming away from the session, I was not feeling good about things. I came away even more annoyed by politicians, congress, regulators, bankers, financial institutions, corporations for being so self serving. Whose butt got kicked for contributing to this terrible economic situation? What will shape people up so we do not let them get away with the same behaviors in the future? Millions of people have been ground up while those who had some of the responsibility are doing just fine.
“I think we need to have more accountability.
“(My observations may be naïve and simplistic – but mostly I am mad as hell.)” Sally Macut
“Great panel of companies – I enjoyed their discussion. I got the most out of Kocherlakota’s (sp?) keynote. He seemed a bit defensive regarding the Federal Reserve’s role in the financial collapse on the front end of his speech. The Fed obviously has received a lot of criticism and are going on the attack in 2010. It was good to hear from him directly on his best guess on GDP and unemployment numbers over the next two years.” Drew Schmitz, President, Blue Octopus LLC
“I thought the Symposium was extremely informative and insightful. I thoroughly enjoyed the panelist responses to the questions that were presented. As a business owner focusing ON my business I enjoyed hearing ideas and thoughts on how the panelists were currently dealing with or had dealt with the economic climate, marketing, banking, growth and creativity on separating them from the competition.” Alissa Henrikson, President, Premier Alliance Group, LLC
Economic and Business Outlook 2010 Insights and Comments-2
What are your thoughts about these facts and how it relates to your revenue growth strategies?
If you weren’t at the Economic and Business Outlook 2010 Symposium sponsored by Allied Executives, you’ll be interested in these insights and comments by Don Gaicchetti, President of TACT Solutions, Inc:
It was interesting to hear Narayana Kocherlakota, our new Federal Reserve Bank President, speak on the state of the USA economy. From other sources I have read, I would have to agree with his assessment that the next 18 months will show slow economic growth (around 3% GDP growth) and that unemployment will remain high, dropping to 9% by YE’10 and 8% by YE’11. A positive was his prediction for low inflation of around 1.5% during this period.
It was also noteworthy that Narayana stated that most economists did not see the current recession coming. This remains a disturbing fact since there are no assurances that we have learned enough to see the next one coming and minimize it before it grips us. There remains major risks in commercial real estate loan delinquencies and uncertain pending federal legislation (healthcare, cap-n-trade…..) that could be the next “quake” in the economy.
I do share Narayana’s concern that Congress is currently trying to strip the Federal Reserve of its role in financial oversight of economic activity and monetary policy. This change, if enacted, would be a disaster because this recession could have been much worse if not for the actions of the Fed and the next one could be fatal to our economy without the Fed. An independent Federal Reserve organization is one of our best safeguards against political gerrymandering.
During the panel discussion, Dean Bachelor, from the Platinum Group, made a poignant comment about the runaway deficit spending our federal government is authorizing and how Congress just raised the federal debt ceiling to $15 TRILLION. He was quite concerned with what was going on in Washington these days regarding the lack of fiscal responsibility. I caught Dean after the session and we discussed that as bad as the $15 Trillion debt amount was, that the unfunded liability amount of the federal government was about $108 TRILLION (mostly from social security, prescription drug and Medicare obligations). Thus, if we had the federal government adhere to the same financial reporting rules it mandates for private companies (think off balance sheet financial deception), this number would make headline news as the next Enron type financial scandal. Put another way, on a US Citizen basis, the USA has about $245,000 assets per citizen and about $350,000 of liabilities per citizen. That means that there is a negative equity of about $105,000 per citizen right now. These statistics are readily available at a cool and informative website at the following weblink…. http://www.usdebtclock.org/. In business, when liabilities exceed assets, it’s called insolvency and bankruptcy!!! What does that say about the state of our union??? This is something for all of us citizens to consider. We do not want to be the next Greece in world financial status!!!
I’m interested in what your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you.
Economic and Business Outlook 2010 Insights and Comments
Thought you’d be interested in some of the initial comments from both clients and colleagues regarding the Economic and Business Outlook 2010 Symposium sponsored by Allied Executives.I’m still waiting some key responses. As they arrive, I’ll post for your review.
“John Palen put together a really nice, diverse group of business professionals, executives and leaders for the panel discussion. I was especially struck with the participation Polaris CEO, Scott Wine, discussing some of the ways they have segmented their marketing based on demographics. Great examples and insight into how one company is moving through this changing economic landscape by gathering important customer data and implementing initiatives with tangible results. This was my first Allied Executives event, and I’m really glad I attended.” Pam Muldoon, Relationship Marketing Strategist, Next Stage Business
“My favorite quote was from Beth Keiffer Leonard – ‘You can’t just work in the business. You need to work on it.’ In today’s economy, many business owners spend their time in the day-to-day minutia managing costs, until they realize other companies have just leaped in front of them because they forgot to create a new vision. They are heads down, instead of heads up. Effective communication strategies, coupled with a sales effectiveness program, allows your new vision to sing for the company so when we get out of this economic crunch, we will be on top.” Laura Boyd, President, Lebreche
“Having attended several of these events, I am always impressed with the high level expertise of the panelists. Specifically, Scott Wine of Polaris, Jean Taylor of Taylor Corp and Elliot Jaffee of US Bank provided us with specific examples of how their companies manage during this tough economic timeframe. I also enjoy the interaction and networking before and after the formal discussion. “ Lev Buslovich, COO, Noble Conservation Solutions
“The Symposium was a great way to get caught up on what some of our business leaders are thinking – as well as a great place to do some networking. We really enjoyed it and thought it was a valuable experience. John Palen really knows how to fill a room with powerful leaders!” Kristy Gusick, President, Ingenuity Marketing
“I thought the symposium was a spectacular event and was proud to sponsor it. I got tremendous personal value from the content as well as the favorable co-branding exposure professionally. I met a lot of great people too.” Ted Capistrant, President, Profit Builder Network
Did you attend? If yes, interested in your comments and insights also.
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