The Sales Growth Specialists Blog
Get insight on building a high performance sales organization that delivers results, regardless of economic, market, and industry obstacles, from Danita Bye, founder of Sales Growth Specialists.
Visit the SGS website by clicking here.
SalesGPS Coaching (1 of 5)
Sales Leadership rules are changing – how are you keeping up?
There’s a common frustration I find when working with business owners and presidents of small to mid-sized businesses who are
committed to Winning More New Accounts. What’s the frustration? They’re finding that traditional sales training efforts aren’t delivering the new business pipeline needed in an increasingly challenging economy. The rules are changing – almost on a daily basis. As sales leaders, it’s critical to focus our time, effort, and resources in places where we’re assured of results.
83% of sales people lack goals or plans
In our 2012 Strategic Sales Survey, we asked leaders how they rate their sales teams on the ten core sales skills required for revenue growth. The results indicated that leaders thought over 50% of the sales skills needed are deficient; yet only 17% of the companies had a coaching process in place.
That’s why we developed SalesGPS Coaching. Sales people participate in highly interactive and collaborative workshops, webinars, one-on-one sessions, and self-paced online learning programs. With this integrated approach, we achieve more impactful, long-term results
But what exactly is the difference between traditional sales training and Sales GPS coaching? In my next post I’ll explain some of the important differences and share how you can implement this development strategy in your company?
| Smart Sales CoachingSales coaching is essential to create a sales team that is performing at their best. But how do you know what to coach them on? Smart Sales Coaching helps you make use of assessment data to pinpoint your sales team’s weaknesses and gives you the tools to quickly and effectively get them on track. Quit accepting mediocre results and start coaching your sales staff to high-performance. Get this sales coaching e-book now |  |
To follow (2 of 5) in this series go here
Sales Growth Question: What can you do to ensure that your training and coaching programs deliver sustainable results?
Sales Growth Lesson: To be even more agile and competitive in today’s changing world, it’s critical to be committed to growing the capacities of your sales teams.
You’re invited to the SalesGPS Sneak Preview on March 29th – have a look.
© Copyright 2012, Danita Bye Sales Growth Specialists, All Rights Reserved.
Ethical Sales Leadership: Heart (5 of 5)
When I’m faced with a situation that requires me to raise the bar– as my friend suggested many years ago – I often refer to the 4R Model of Transformational Leadership taught by Dr. Mark McCloskey of Bethel University. I came upon this concept as part of my studies for my masters in Transformational Leadership.
The four R’s are Relationships, Roles, Responsibilities, and Results. The core thesis is that we get the Results we’re looking for by focusing first on the other three R’s.
At the core of this model is the heart qualities of the leader. If the heart isn’t strong, the leader will be unable to do the right thing at the right time. The leader must have these internal characteristics in order to do the right thing at the right time with the right people. These DICE virtues typify a leader who can collaboratively lead anytime forward given even dire circumstances.
- DYNAMIC DETERMINATION
A powerful, forward-moving resolution to be ethical, regardless of the consequences.
- INTELLECTUAL FLEXIBILITY
The mental ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
- CHARACTER STRENGTH
A solid, virtuous, and morally strong set of values to stand firm on truth.
- EMOTIONAL MATURITY
The ability to accept responsibility for our actions.
With this model, doing business ethically, even under today’s chaotic conditions, is still possible.
As leaders we get to continually “raise the bar” for our teams and ourselves. We find ways to do business ethically and profitably. I’m sure you’ll to find someone in your business environment you can look up to for inspiration – just as I have found in Ron James, CEO of the Center for Ethical Business Cultures.
Sales Growth Question: On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the best), how would you rate your DICE virtues?
Sales Growth Lesson: The cry for first-class leadership, sales management, and selling ethics has never been stronger than today. Take the first step today.
© Copyright 2012, Danita Bye Sales Growth Specialists, All Rights Reserved.
Ethical Sales Leadership: Purpose (4 of 5)
In the previous posting, I listed some guidelines for leaders and sales teams committed to doing business and selling ethically.
As I read these guidelines, I’m thinking, “Easy enough, isn’t it?”
But according to Objective Management Group (OMG), in an assessment of over 500,000 people, the need for approval is the second most powerful and most common weakness affecting the way we do business and how we lead. It’s the belief that we must get approval from the significant people in our lives, including bosses and clients. Shockingly, it affects 45% of us in leadership and sales.
This blind spot has a disastrous impact on our ability to respond wisely and ethically to the myriad of critical leadership decisions. We end up making decisions based on the approval of others versus doing what’s right and earning their respect.
For example, according to author Daryl Green, some of the telltale signs that you are allowing your need for approval to negatively influence your capacity to lead in an ethical way are:
- Twisting critical information so people won’t be upset with you
- Taking personal credit for group accomplishments
- Not focusing on the common good of the organization
- Failing to get to the root of a situation for fear that you’ll hear bad news
- Fearful of taking personal accountability for the behaviors & results of your teams
Dr. Bill Lawrence of Leader Formation International examines the broad impact of the Need for Approval blind spot on leadership. He writes that this blind spot causes people to forfeit the purpose of the organization for fleeting things like position, people, and peace. Long-term respect is traded for short-term results.
How do you handle your need for approval? Where might it be impacting your purpose, your team’s purpose or your company’s purpose?
And what about those on your teams? Are there situations where they might need strengthening to be more energized by respect than approval?
Sales Growth Question: Where are some other places where the need for approval blind spot might be hiding?
Sales Growth Lesson: Focus on the purpose.
© Copyright 2012, Danita Bye Sales Growth Specialists, All Rights Reserved.
Ethical Sales Leadership: Guidelines (3 of 5)
After my inspirational lunch date with Ron James, CEO of the Center for Ethical Business Cultures, I decided to probe deeper into the
reasons that drive people to unethical business, sales leadership, and sales decisions.
To understand why people go off the track, I thought it would be a good idea to be clear on the right track for ethical business.
These are some guidelines that are applicable to all spheres of leadership, management, and selling.
Ethical Sales Leaders will:
• lead in a manner that respects the rights and dignity of all role players;
• demonstrate a level of integrity that will clearly establish them as trustworthy;
• be sensitive as to how their decisions affect others;
• use their social power to not be self-serving, but to take care of the needs of those around them;
• motivate their teams to put the needs or interests of the group ahead of their own;
• define a path for others to follow, and;
• inspire their teams to believe ethics is profitable
Interestingly, as I’m reworking Leadership Shift for launch later this year, I’m challenging myself to articulate what I learned about business values and ethics while growing up on the TTT Ranch. This “Code of the Old West” ties directly to today’s leadership:
• Respect yourself and others
• Accept responsibility for your life
• Be positive and cheerful
• Be a person of your word
• Be fair in all your dealings
• Be a good friend and neighbor
Sales Growth Question: What are the guidelines that help you lead and sell ethically?
Sales Growth Lesson: Leaders take responsibility for nurturing a culture of ethical business processes.
© Copyright 2012, Danita Bye Sales Growth Specialists, All Rights Reserved.
Ethical Sales Leadership: A Compass (2 of 5)
I recently had the honor of having lunch with Ron James, president and CEO of the Center for Ethical Business Cultures (CEBC). This
world-leading nonprofit organization is committed to helping business and sales leaders create ethical, values-based, and profitable business cultures.
As we’re talking, I realized that here is a man who’s truly committed to doing things the right way. Ron is intentional about pursuing ethics, both personally and professionally. In fact, he was recently honored by Twin Cities Business Award Ceremony as an Outstanding Director 2011. The passion and commitment that I saw in Ron caused me to question my own purposefulness in responding to the challenge from my business colleague to ‘raise the bar’ – to inspire people to lead, manage, and sell profitably – and to do it with integrity.
Ron also moderated the Twin Cities Ethical Leadership Forum with three veteran business executives, Marc Belton, Marti Morfitt and Kevin Rhein. Here are some of the important life lessons from their personal experiences that they shared with the audience:
- Be clear on your personal values before the storms come. Otherwise, the storms will dictate your response.
- Create alignment between your personal and organizational values.
- Serve all stakeholders of the business.
- Good guys can finish first.
What are some of your life lessons on the importance of ethical selling and leadership?
In our next posting I will tell you about a model for ethical sales business processes
Sales Growth Question: How are you inspiring your team to do ethical business, even under challenging financial conditions?
Sales Growth Lesson: Your example influences those you lead.
© Copyright 2012, Danita Bye Sales Growth Specialists, All Rights Reserved.
Ethical Sales Leadership: Raising the Bar (1 of 5)
“Beware of no one more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us.” Charles Spurgeon, British Baptist Preacher. (1834 – 1892)
Over a decade ago, I launched Sales Growth Specialists. I was tentative about whether this was really the career where I wanted to
invest my life. I was leaving an industry I loved, the health care industry, which held intrinsic value for me. Why? Because I knew my work was contributing to helping grandparents who previously got frustrated at not being able to hear the high-pitched voices of their grandchildren. It gave me an indescribable internal buzz to know I was making a positive contribution to the passing on of values to the next generation.
I was discussing my trepidations with a new colleague in the sales force development field. Sensing my hesitancy and lack of enthusiasm in charging forward, he asked me to elaborate. Much to my own surprise, I heard myself saying, “I’m embarrassed to be in sales!” Being a good coach, he probed even deeper. I responded with, “I hate sales! It’s slimy, slippery and manipulative! And, that is not who I am!”
Then came the most life-impacting part of the conversation. He said, “Danita, that’s the very reason you need to be in the industry – to raise the bar, to call the industry to a higher standard.”
My lunch date with another friend a couple of weeks ago, reminded me of this conversation. In my next posting, I’ll tell you about the important lessons I learn over lunch.
Sales Growth Question: What are you doing to raise the bar for those you are leading with regards to ethical sales processes?
Sales Growth Lesson: As transformational leaders, we can inspire and motivate others to nurture an ethical culture in our sales teams.
© Copyright 2012, Danita Bye Sales Growth Specialists, All Rights Reserved.
Hope is a Sales Leadership Strategy (2)
Definition of hope: an activating force that enables people, even when faced with the most overwhelming obstacles, to envision a promising future and to set and pursue goals. This is also true for sales leaders.
We all watched in dismay on Friday, January 13, as 3000 tourists and 1000 crew members aboard the Costa Concordia, an Italian cruise ship, faced the nightmare. Their dream of a lifetime turns into a titantic-like disaster.
I’m amazed watching the news coverage about the tragedy. Initial reports are about the destruction and loss of life. But then miracles happen. People are rescued from their cabins; families are reunited – and these stories bring hope.
Susy Albertini, the mother of missing five-year-old Dayana Arlotti, was on the island and had planned to leave flowers at the wreck. But, she said, she could not go through with it while a glimmer of hope remained that her daughter might be found alive.
In the wake of the financial recession, negativity was also initially making up most of the headlines. But then, as with other disasters, stories of hope and heroism, start to filter through. The entrepreneurial energy of leaders kicks into gear.
How can you not be consumed by a feeling of hopelessness as you’re facing increasing higher goals with no expansion of resources? As a sales leader, how can you harness the true potential from hope and use it as a powerful sales tool?
Reading the article “Towards a deeper understanding of Hope and Leadership”, published in the Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies by Martha Helland and Bruce Winston, I learned about how Hope inspires you, as a sales leader, to make a mind shift – away from despair and towards a hopeful future. With your mental shift, you encourage your team to the innovation and tenacity that’s born in hope. Hope is:
- Born in relationship.
- Inspired by the belief that the future is open and can be changed.
- Generated by positive action.
High Hope Leaders have these characteristics:
- Set goals by making realistic assessments of their ability to attain a goal.
- Pursue goals with determination and energy.
- Generate more goals.
- Strive towards productive relationships with others where they can reach goals as a team.
- Experience less stress and are able to implement effective coping strategies when faced with unforeseen challenges.
As sales leaders, we have the responsibility – now more than ever before – to instill hope in our sales teams. I take courage from these words by Albert Einstein: “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.” And, we’re reminded of the power of real hope in I Cor. 13:13, “These three things remain, Faith, Hope and Love.”
SALES GROWTH QUESTION: What can you do to lead your team away from negative thinking towards hopeful thinking?
SALES GROWTH LESSON: Hope is an important virtue for sales leaders.
© Copyright 2012, Danita Bye Sales Growth Specialists, All Rights Reserved.
Hope is a Sales Leadership Strategy (1)
Today’s Sales Leaders need hope.
Some psychologists identify hope as an activating force that enables people, even when faced with the most overwhelming obstacles, to envision a promising future and to set and pursue goals.
College break is over and I’m sending two students back to the university. Over break, we had long discussions on the degrees they might pursue based on the needs of the continually shifting global economy and their unique set of gifts, talents and interests. There’s much uncertainty since most of the careers as we know them will be gone in the near future – phased out in favor of new ideas and technologies.
Hope - A Leadership Strategy
Even though many industries are reporting better-than-expected sales and there’s a general sense of hopefulness in small to mid-sized businesses, we know that we’re still facing challenging and uncertain times. The paradox that captures headlines every day is this – the only certainty we seem to be sure of, is that uncertainty has come to stay.
Interestingly, research in the field of Positive Psychology now supports the power of hope. Inspiring Hope actually is an important leadership skill in the New Normal.
Look at it this way – without hope, sales teams fall into a state of status quo. They believe they have no control over anything anymore and they should just wait it out until things get better, i.e. the economy gets better, the competition goes bankrupt or the company management finally gets their act together. Of course, these beliefs sabotage the energy and creativity needed to create a sales team that can consistently win more new accounts.
I can tell you for the lessons I have learned in business as well as growing up on a ranch in North Dakota, where uncertainty was part of our daily lives, ‘waiting for things to get better on its own’, was never an option.
Rather, I was taught a sense of hopeful realism – a reasonable expectation of a good end – neither a misleading hope nor a false despair.
With intentionality, hopeful realism can become a dominant attitude throughout your sales organization.
In our next posting, I’ll share some ideas on how you can harness the true potential from hope and use it as a powerful sales leadership strategy.
SALES GROWTH QUESTION: What are you doing as a Sales Leader, to make sure your team stays both realistic and hopeful at the same time?
SALES GROWTH LESSON: Hope does not sit around waiting for things to get better on its own. Hope takes action to make things happen.
© Copyright 2012, Danita Bye Sales Growth Specialists, All Rights Reserved.
Strategic Sales Initiatives 2012
Strategic Sales Survey for 2012
Last December, I asked my readers to participate in a strategic sales survey. The response was impressive with over 250 business and sales leaders like you responding to that request. A year has past and it is time to gather benchmark data for 2012 strategic efforts. Please consider investing 3 to 5 minutes again this year to participate. Your insights are valuable.
What is in it for you? Like last year, participants receive a free summary of the data that you can use for your strategic sales initiatives. The report included last year’s sales results, next year’s growth projections and the strategic sales growth initiatives being planed.
Last years report was praised for the usable, real world, strategic benchmark data it provided (compared to the gloomy editorialized news we see daily).
Thanks in advance for your help.
PS: This is a confidential survey, your responses and participation will remain private.
PPS: Feel free to forward this link to business and sales leaders that would find it useful. http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/753646/Sales-Growth-Specialists-Strategic-Initiatives-Survey
© Copyright 2011, Danita Bye Sales Growth Specialists, All Rights Reserved.
Sales Leaders Climbing the Value Ladder™ – Part 3
Sales Leaders, Don’t be disposable – become indispensable (Part 3)
To read this series from the start go to: Climbing the Value Ladder – Part 1
Statistics from AllBusiness.com indicate that eighty percent of new sales are made after the fifth contact, but the majority of sales people give up after the second call.
When your sales people make cold calls, the primary goal of the person on the other side is to get them off the phone as quickly as possible. One of the first thoughts going through a prospect’s mind when they pick up the phone and hear a salesperson on the other side, is: “How long is this going to take?” or “How can I get rid of this person as quickly as possible?
Help your sales team by teaching them how to deliver messages that will move them up the value ladder.
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Teach your sales team to find out as much as they possibly can about the company or individual going to cold call in advance. This gives them the advantage of being able to talk to the client about their business and their needs. Understanding the client’s key challenges, pains, and obstacles will help your team to formulate a message that has true value. |
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During sales meetings, most sales managers ask, What was your biggest success this week? I also encourage you to ask your sales team this question: What was your biggest failure this week? Then, creatively brainstorm how to turn the failure into success. Come up with creative solutions. That’s how they learn to make better sales calls. |
New technology is opening a multitude of creative avenues that can spark immediate interest with your prospects – webinars, text messaging, and personalized gifts. However, a well-directed, thoroughly researched cold call with valuable content will always be a key component of an excellent sales kit and help your sales team to become an indispensable part of your prospect’s business.
Sales Growth Question: How are you helping your team to broaden their vision and look at alternative ways to communicate a value message to your clients and prospects?
Sales Growth Lesson: Explore how to turn failures into successes through creative brainstorming.
© Copyright 2011, Danita Bye Sales Growth Specialists, All Rights Reserved.
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