Colleen’s Blog

You offer a great service and haven't received any complaints. Yet, you still feel a void between yourself and your client. Emails and calls are short and to the point, and you may even feel anxious about your client ending the business relationship unexpectedly. You never really know where you stand with your client, professionally and personally. Have you felt like this before? Many salespeople and business owners have. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. What truly defines a great salesperson isn't what happens during the sales process, but what happens afterwards.

When Postal Workers at Canada Post (CPC) strike, their customers are forced to find alternative couriers for their packages. Strikes, and the threat of strikes, drive customers to the competition. Some never return to CPC when the strike ends. In addition, during the strike, consumers are encouraged (and some forced) to receive more and more of their mail electronically. I, for one, have move all my statements and bills to electronic delivery this week in anticipation of another strike. Again, this is permanently lost business to CPC.

Get creative. That's my advice for any business owner or sales leader about to embark on a new phase of recruiting. Far too many leaders stick to the same old, same old when it comes to their recruitment process and trying to find top sales talent to join their team. It's surprising to see how many organizations stick with ads in the paper, online postings and even using the same recruiters they've used in the past. They don't switch things up! The result? The same tired and boring resumes that keeping flocking in. Sure - you may find a great hire in that pile of resumes. But, generally speaking, if you want to find a "stand out" candidate, don't use a worn out process to try and attract them. Here's how you can add a little creativity to your hiring process:

Last week I was observing the geese in Alan Weiss's pond. For the most part, the various adults and their goslings swam along in harmony, but, every once in a while an adult sensed a threat from one of their peers, and got mad. In an instant the angry goose changed his body position from neck elongated and regally upright to a pointed dagger. Low to the water, and neck dead straight, the threatened goose charged straight at the danger; which was usually another goose. The attack was fast, and effective, straight to the point, and it all lasted about 30 seconds until the danger disappeared. After that, calm peaceful swimming reigned on the pond once again. It struck me that most sellers don't deal with threat head on. They skirt around the issue swimming in circles trying to keep their heads high. What if instead, you attacked it directly, and head on?  Here are some examples:

Sales is stressful. You know, I know it...we all know it! Especially when commissions and bonuses are at stake, we all know the feeling of comparing our numbers to the sales target knowing we have limited time left to produce the expected results. As a sales leader, this is something you need to take into account while managing your team. Contrary to popular belief, constant stress and fear are not the best motivators to get your team to create great sales. Too much stress will generally lead to a lack of productivity, more sick days, and higher turnover rates.

A long time client of mine had their sales targets set by the board of directors in isolation of a market assessment or a discussion with the sales leaders. They announced the targets to the street before any discussion. The expected growth is unattainable but it's too late...the expectations have been set. It's half way through the year and one region is meeting target, until a production problem reduces quality to such a low level that customers are returning product faster than they are buying it. In this market, where the selling season is finite and the number of customers are static, making up the lost revenue is impossible. To the team, the sales year is over.