Colleen’s Blog

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.

The summer season has kicked in and airports are busier than ever it seems. Arrive early and be prepared to wait, especially if you are not TSA pre! I've seen lines this month that are (literally) snaking outside at the Seattle, MSP, Ottawa and Chicago airports. I can't say enough about the service and hotel quality of the Fairmont Olympia in Seattle. It's a gem of a hotel.

The best salespeople are constantly looking for ways to improve. They are not staying static for extended periods of time because, let’s face it, if you’re not moving forward - you’re moving backwards! There’s almost nothing better than reaching (or exceeding) all of your sales goals for the year. A certain feeling of accomplishment is natural, and should be embraced! However, will you be satisfied if your numbers stay the same next year? Are you doing anything to improve upon your past accomplishments? The answer for many salespeople is no. They often work hard to create temporary success and soon after end up in a worse situation than they were before because they allow temporary accomplishments to hinder their work ethic. Here are two things you can do to improve upon your current success:

Are you truly catering to your customers? It’s one thing to provide a great product or service, but unfortunately, that’s where the experience stops for many people. Sales is all about truly understanding your clients’ needs and issues. Their experience with you should not end immediately after their signature is on paper. The way I see it, all customers want the same 13 things from you. That’s right. Regardless of the industry you’re in, or the product you sell, customers all essentially buy and remain loyal for the same core reasons. <-- Click To Tweet Stay true to all of them and you will develop a loyal and profitable customer base who will refer you to everyone they know!

It's frustrating. When you see a sales rep struggling month after month, and missing target after target, it's enough to make any sales leader uneasy. The problem is most leaders handle poor performers the wrong way. There's a tendency to have "tough conversations" or attempt to punish them into higher performance. Some leaders even give poor performers the "cold shoulder" and allow a rep's professional performance to seep into their personal behavior towards them. These are all things that are extremely counterproductive and more often than not, contribute to more negativity and even worse performance. Luckily, there are strategies you can put into place to help improve their results. 

I spent the week with two teams of top performing sales professionals this week. Although I suspect that some of them will fall out of that position before too long. Here are my observations: