Fear factor

Jolting salespeople from their omfort zon

'71zvBilt Btades

William Blades, LLC Gold Canyon, Az.

f RECENTLY ran into an lexecutive who two years before had been keenly interested in my training and consulting services.

I asked why he had not engaged me. He replied, "Bill, you scare us."

"Scared of growing sales too much," I asked, "or do you have a manager who doesn't want to improve?" I knew what the answer 1y4s-4161 so did he. You see, the executive wanted my help after hearing me speak at a convention. A week later, he called to say, "One of our managers wants to utilize a consultant who has been developing our lowerlevel supervisors as he is comfortable with him." Translation: "We're in a box and we do not want more sales."

Don't be afraid of growing. Be afraid of standing still.

One in a million salespeople have a degree in sales. Past training and education are in the past. What's important is equipping your sales group with today's best, most up-to-date training.

Genuises join Mensa. The minimum IQ rating excludes the majority of us. My IQ results were negative. Shoot, the closest that most college students get to a 4.0 is their blood alcohol content. Yet, among U.S. Mensa members, only lSVo have Master's degrees and just 30Vo earn $20,000 to $40,000 annually.

Evidently, a lot of smarts went for naught. Real-world training and education is better than being born smart because when the group is held accountable for acting on new skills, sales and margins go up. Why? Because the majority of your competitors are still making calls (social visits) like they did 20 years ago. The best salespeople know that what they do matters. Others need to be tausht to just go do it. Now, a few tough questions:

1. Do you invest a minimum of 47o of your revenues in training and education? Often, we invest in everything but our human capital.

2. ls 25Vo of your sales force famous or lengendary because they are so good? Since an overwhelming number of salespeople are average, it is quite easy to do a slam-dunk on just about everyone else. They just need to be shown how to excel and then be held accountable for such.

3. Do most of your salespeople act and execute as they did one year ago? Even five years ago? If the answer is yes, then provide coaching for your sales chief first. The sales chief must be growing at a faster rate than those he leads. One v.p. of sales who hired me to work with his group said, "l must admit I am afraid of being exposed." I answered, "Good, the sooner the better. Then, we can eliminate the glaring weaknesses."

4. When you put a version of Total Quality Management in place, do you do the same for the sales department? If not, everyone can be just pretty good and retain employment.

5. Is every salesperson providing an abundance of value and joy for every prospective and existing client? If so, they are greatly ramping up sales. If they tell you repeatedly, "Our price is too high," they are just trying to sell stuff to people.

A month into a recent sales training program, one young man wasn't catching on. Suddenly, during a oneon-one session, the light bulb came on. Sixty days later I asked him, "How many new clients have you picked up in two months?" Six, he replied.

"Annualized volume?" $2 million.

"What were your sales last year?" $3 million.

"How much more will you add this year? Tell me the clients, the primary products and exactly how you will make it happen." $6 million, he answered, then gave all the details.

When I began my services, this kid had an attitude. Now, he really had an attitude! He was the first to buy my books and tapes. I don't know about this youngster's formal education, but he has become a very serious student. Serious students get serious results. He's on his way to superstar status.

There are hundreds, yes hundreds, of skills to learn in the sales profession, including communication, focus, value/joy, time utilization, needs analysis and style. Yet, we hire salespeople, tell them to hit the road with their existing skills and then wonder what went wrong. Have each of your people acted on just 10 new skills in the past year? How about six? Three?

Training is not a cost. Rather, it is an investment to help you from getting the same tired results. We let salespeople go through the motions of visiting and talking. That's an old shotgun approach of just showing up and hoping.

Now ask, "Are we really okay?" If anyone in your group answers yes, be afraid. Then have the courase to improve.

- Bill Blades, CMC, CPS, is a professional speaker and consultant specializing in sales and leadership issues. He can be reached ar (480) 671-3000 or bill@ williambLades.com.

R:urrrrs

McClung Lumber Co., Salem, Va., has relocated to a new 10,000sq. ft. store adjacent to the old location

Kuester's Do it Center will close its 30-year-old Owensboro, Ky., store this month ...

Elliat Lumber Co., Oxford, Ms., expanded its showroom by 4,200 sq. ft.

Carolina Holdings division Sellersburg Lumbe r, Sellersburg. In., opened a new 40,000-sq. ft. building material warehouse and I4-aue lumberyard in La Grange, Ky....

National Home Centers,springdale, Ar., has offered to purchase all outstanding shares of the company's stock with the intention to take the company private ...

84 Lumberhas renewed its retail credit program agreement with Conesco Finance Corp.

Home Depot opens new home centers this month in SW Greenville, S.C.; Wake Forest, N.C.; Mansfield, N. Irving, and N. Richland Hills (Precinct Line), Tx., and Pace and Hillsborough (Tampa), Fl.

Home Depot broke ground on 9.43 acres in Nashville. Tn.. for an Expo Design Center; is negotiating far 20 acres in Greensboro. N.C.: agreed to buy 36 acres in Bonita Springs, Fl., and paid $2.4 million for 14.5 acres in Paducah, Ky., anticipating a spring opening

Lowe's Cos. unveils new stores this month in Norman (Jeff Walker) and Owasso, Ok. (Jason McCaleb, mgr.); Norcross, Ga. (Lee Balies, mgr.), and on N. Main in Suffolk, Va. (Kim Lyman, mgr.), and opened Sept. 21 in Columbus, Ms., and Sept. 14 at the Gulfgate Center Mall in SE Houston, Tx. (JeffHoover. mgr.)...

Lowe's plans to build in Broken Arrow, Ok., and Laredo, Tx.; expects to open a replacement store in Hickory, N.C., next summer; is building in Bixby, Ok.; received planning and zoning commission approval to expand its Sherman, Tx., facility; is considering a DC site in Lakeland, Fl., and is facing resident opposition to a proposed 175,000-sq. ft. replacement store in Wise, Va.

Dekor, Atlanta, Ga., closed all three of its stores (Buckhead, Fayetteville and Buford, Ga.) Sept. 17, citing a lack of cash; the retailer was opened nine months ago by two ex-Home Depot executives

Pioneer Buitding Supply, McMinnville, Tn., acquired an International delivery truck with a Moffett Mounty portable forklift onback...

Wror:snr:ns/tlrurrtrurns

Diamond Hill Plywood Co. is building a new 60,000-sq. ft. DC on 11.7 acres in Darlington County to replace the 56-year-old facility adjacent to DHP's corporate headquarters in Darlington, S.C.

Kent Lumber Cos. division Kenr Logistics has opened a lumber and building material reload in Statesville. N.C.. at the former home of P rofe s s ional Fo re s t P roduct s ; Tom Lakeman, mgr.

B arg ainB uilde r. c om, Research Triangle Park, N.C., has acquired Home Surplus, Campobello, S.C.; the 40,000-sq. ft. facility will be used as the e-marketplace's main DC for the Southeast, as well as continuing to sell retail and manufacture exterior doors

Brascan Corp. is nearing completion on a $180 million OSB mill in Barton, Al. ...

Sunshine State Cypress, Hosford, Fl., is adding 7,500 sq. ft. of kiln dried storage lumber space

The Timber Co., Atlanta, Ga., expected to complete its merger with Plum Creek Timber Oct. 6 ...

International Paper is installing a new curve saw at its southern pine sawmill in Meldrim, Ga. ...

Glasteel Tennessee Inc. has relocated from Collierville, Tn., to a larger facility in Moscow, Tn. ...

PAM Fastening kchnology has tripled the size of its Charlotte, N.C., DC to 23,000 sq. ft. ...

Roclqt Creek Lumber Co. LLC., Monroeville, Al., is now using Pro gre ssive Solutions' Fiber Track and Mill Track software

Turner and Conner, Marion. Ky., added a new band mill ...

Louisiana Pacffic will take at least one week of market-related downtime at nearly all its OSB plants starting the second week of Oct. ... L-P's WeatherBest wood composite decking products have received National Evaluation Service approval for compliance with IBC, NBC, SBC and UBC model building code standards

Universal Forest Products agreed to be the exclusive distributor of Willamette Industries' new WillCraft D3 engineered floor decking for manufactured homes

Willamette Industries donated $68,135 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Minden, La., as part of the Southern Region Building Materials Group's regional fund raising efforts

Georgia-Pacific is now distributing Stanley-Bostitch tools and fasteners ... l5 G-P industrial wood products plants-including Conway, N.C.; Holly Hill and Russellville, S.C.; Eupora, Louisville, Oxford and Taylorsville, Ms.; Vienna, Ga., and two in Monticello, Ga.-were SCS certified ...

Housing starts in Aug. (latest figs.) fell 7Vo to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.527 million ... single family starts slipped ZVo to a 1.247 million rate; multifamily was at a 252,000 pace for 5+ units permits decreased l%o to an annual rate of 1.560 million.