December Recognition is Too Late
’Tis the season to recognize those who contribute to the success of our business, including client and vendors. Yet, if it’s a high-performance sales team you’re itching to build, make recognition as a year-round activity as part of your ongoing coaching and motivation efforts. That means recognizing assets as well as liabilities.
Recognize performance
A strong, measurable selling system with a compensation plan that recognizes multiple performance levels with rewards will give you a leg up in retaining your best performers. It’s also a way to weed out underperformers who aren’t meeting goal.
Recognize a cry for help
When you hear a salesperson ranting that a missed opportunity or lost sale was due to a prospect’s lack of money or product pricing, beware. This clear admission of defeat and lack of accountability is your opportunity to determine the root cause, so you can focus on the right issue through training and coaching. With focused coaching that helps you salespeople achieve better results, you build in motivation.
A Boom in Minnesota’s Entrepreneurial Education
As a member of the advisory board of the Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship at the Carlson School of Management, I’m thrilled to report that it was recently ranked by Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine as one of 10 honorable mention schools alongside Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Wharton. For more information about how the Holmes Center inspires and educates the entrepreneurial business community to discover and successfully launch new business opportunities,
click here.
Another outstanding program is the FastTrac® Business Development Program at The University of St. Thomas. Having been a frequent guest lecturer for The University of St. Thomas, I can attest to its 10-12 week courses designed for entrepreneurs who do not seek a degree course in business. FastTrac I and II courses have been recognized as the best in the United States three times since the program was introduced in 1995. Not only do experienced entrepreneurs lead the classes but also networking opportunities exist with other entrepreneurs, guest speakers, and graduates. For more information,
click here.
by Jane A. G. Kise, David Stark, and
Sandra Krebs Hirsch is a helpful resource to understand the language of motivation both personally and for your team.