So You Think it’s hard to win in business? Think again. Fortunately it’s not nearly as dependant on chance as picking a winning Americain. Take charge of your success with these 10 tips that are sure to help you race your team to victory!

In February 2005, I took on a new Sales management role with the challenging task of turning around a non-performing business. The average sales performance over the last 12 months was only 75% of target. By 2006, my team of 12 sales people was consistently achieving an average 110% of target!

The following principles, learnt through experience, over a number of years of success and failures, will help any business leader improve their team’s performance.

1. Two ears and one mouth, use them proportionately 


For the first six weeks, I spent most of my time with my direct reports, peers and my boss, asking questions, listening and then asking even more questions so I could understand the problem(s) really well.

2. Rules before Relationships = Rebellion


Coffees, lunches, drinks and joint sales calls were a great way to get to know people better and build individual relationships.

3. Evolution or Revolution?

Choose and clearly communicate
I made the decision that we were going to work on small, systematic, degree changes. I shared the plan with the team individually and as a group.

4. Inspect what you expect


I set up a system of weekly, monthly and quarterly reviews, focusing on tasks ranging from tactical activities to strategic outcomes as the periods got longer. The existing Customer Relationship Management system was invaluable in helping me review activity and sales so I could appropriately praise team member progress and redirect unacceptable attitudes.

5. Drive vehicles with full tanks


Soon, those who were ‘in-it-to-win-it’ became evident more through their actions, less so through their words. I invested more of my energies on mentoring those who were motivated to succeed. I discovered that Darren (name changed) wanted to take his girl-friend on a holiday to Bali. I helped him break down his sales target to a daily activity rate and focus on achieving it daily. His dream became reality!

6. Confrontation is healthy


The ‘others’ were given direct feedback in a respectful manner. It was very clear that there would be an escalation of known consequences, meaning one verbal discussion, then a written warning and a performance-improvement-plan which culminated in termination if performance did not change after repeated opportunities.

7. Always upgrade with replacements


Intentionally, we worked with external help to replace with people who fit the team and the role a lot better. This included increasing salary ranges, improving incentive packages and working harder to attract and keep talent in the team.

8. Train them to fish


We built a culture of constant learning by introducing annual professional training as well as a 30-minute training component at every weekly sales meeting. This reiterated the core concepts taught at those events. Finally, these were recapitulated after each joint sales call to maximise real-time performance.

9. Share the good news


People were encouraged to share wins and peer recognition spontaneously, as it happened, as against the worn-out company ‘newsletter’. This empowered people to recognise others as good stuff happened and share wins in a timely manner. All of this contributed to a constant sense of a successful team.

10. Share and live the vision


Leaving this to posters in the board room or sections on corporate websites can be a tragic mistake! Our team’s vision was to be the best across the 10 operating locations of our Company, across the world, so as to make a tangible difference to the organisation’s people and customers. We used every opportunity to talk about and reiterate the vision through events and activities - both big and small. Vision is usually ‘caught’ by people from their leaders, not ‘taught’.

Our community of readers (who are leaders) and I, would love to hear any principles you have used to make your team win. Please click the Comments link below to share.

Leadership guru John Maxwell divides the world into two – those who lift you and those who lean on you. If you were in an elevator with the first half, they take you to the ‘top floor’, while with the others its always ‘basement’!

So, which of the two are you?

There is no doubt that what we think affects how we feel, and what we feel affects how we act. So to improve the actions of those around you, make them think better of themselves, so that they feel better about themselves and therefore act better than they usually do.

Where do you begin? Encouragement. And lots of it.

Take the word apart and you have “En-courage-ment”. As the World English Directory defines it, it is the act of inspiring someone with the courage or confidence to do something.

So, look around you and ask yourself, “What do my sales staff need more courage for?” Perhaps, it is to reach higher targets, handle more rejection, fight greater competition, stay committed when sales cycles get longer, client loyalties seem questionable….

Now, make the commitment to encourage one person at least once a day. From sharing others' successes in a positive light to noticing the little things that people do well, there is so much that can be used to create a culture of encouragement.

Of the few hundred sales people that I have worked with or employed over the last 15 years, across four continents, not one complained about having too much encouragement or quit a job because of an encouraging culture in the team. In fact, many said that it was the courage to believe that they could do it, that enabled them to go ahead and do what it took to make them successful.

Encouragement builds courage in people. Courageous people achieve great things. Start encouraging people around you today!

Have an opinion, question or story? Please click the Comments link below to share it. We would love to hear from you!

Making the first sale to a customer is just the beginning of your business relationship with them. This three-step series shows you how to use this ‘platform’ to grow sales (after that first sale), with medium and large sized companies.

Step 1 - Understand how your customer buys
In mid-2006 after a few months of ‘pursuit’, I met with the Category Procurement Manager of a large state-based government organisation. Their total number of employees was 17,000. I wanted to understand their buying process better and assess opportunities for growing our share of business from this customer. The Procurement Manager explained that relevant employees did not need multiple quotations for orders valued less than $30,000! Furthermore, the products we sold were not going to be on their priority list for at least the next few years. He said that we were welcome to go ahead and contact the relevant people and sell directly to them. So we did!

I dedicated one sales person to call all 45 of our contacts within the organisation on a cyclical basis to generate repeat business as well as create referrals. Within one year, we grew sales from that organisation by 200%.

There are factors that contribute to the way your customers buy. Understanding these better means you will be able to sell more! The four main ones are:

Buying units
Think of a business as a mosaic made up of many interrelated parts, each with its individual needs. Explore as much as you can about specific positions, departments or business units within your customer’s company.

Buying frequency
Each buying unit can have different needs through the year or if you have longer sales cycles, over a few years. Find out how often they need your products and services.

Buying policy
Some organisations have clearly defined buying policies whereas others don’t. Subtly ask whether people actually follow the process. Selling to people within companies that have a centralised process, differs greatly from selling to those where individuals are empowered to make decisions for themselves or their business unit. If there are agreements in place, ensure that you know when they are due for renewal and who will be responsible for them.

Competitive forces
Unless you are selling a new invention, it is likely that your customer also buys products or services you sell, from your competitors. Find out who they are, how they got there and how satisfied your customer is with them. As you understand each of these factors, you will have more clarity about the next logical step(s) to take with the company.

In Step 2 of this series, we will look at how to identify ‘Incremental revenue opportunities’ within buying units.

Have an opinion, question or story? Please click the Comments link below and share it. We would love to hear from you!

Like many sales people or business owners, you too might feel like you can’t control your sales results. Agreed. But there is no denying that you have 100% control over your sales activity.

If you want to build sales momentum, you need to start by increasing your sales activity. Here are four essential areas to focus on:

Target database: This list must include those companies or consumer groups from whom you are going to be generating leads. It is important to spend time identifying these groups. They may be specific industries, local companies, inactive customers... the list could go on. Buy or build these lists and ensure they are easily accessible.

Leads: These are companies or consumers who have an interest in your product or service but have not yet been qualified as genuine prospects. It is essential to track this data and critical to nurture those who did not convert in to prospects at the first interaction. Take a look at these good practices to nurture leads.

Prospects: These are the companies or consumers who meet your M.A.N qualification criteria:

1. They must have the Money to afford your product or service.
2. You must be talking to people who have the Authority to make a decision or at least have a strong influence on it.
3. They must acknowledge the Need for your product or service.

Customers: They are a great source of new business. You must actively seek opportunities for new buyers, new products, repeat or renewals and referrals.

In Part 2, we will look at the types of sales activities that will help you build this momentum. For now, remember you’ve got to give more sales activity to get more sales results.

Here's to your success!

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