NZ Sales Manager - Issue 107

NZSALES JULY ISSUE 107

How to Motivate Your Team Page 6

Rules Loophole Increases Health and Safety Risks to Thousands of New Zealand Company Vehicles Page 10  Negative Kiwi Attitudes to Chinese could Derail Tourism Boom Page 20

NZ’S E-MAG FOR SALES LEADERS | WWW.NZSALESMANAGER.CO.NZ

From the Editor I

n our feature ‘From the coalface’, three sales experts provide some great advice on getting first appointments with prospects. Once you have that nailed and have your appointment confirmed, follow that up with Mark Hunters six tips on what you need to do before meeting CEO. Preparation is key in both making

RICHARD LIEW

anaging Director

21 123 456

ww.espiremedia.com hardl@espiremedia.com

In our must read article, Lynn Humphrey gets stuck into how to motivate your team. This is the first in a two-part article, so look out for advice on how to motivate under performing employees and how to motivate young people in our next issue.

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ABOUT Short and sharp, New Zealand Sales Manager is a free e-magazine delivering thought provoking and enlightening articles, and industry news and information to forward-thinking sales managers, business owners and sales professionals.

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the appointment and for a valuable meeting for your prospect and you.

www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

ISSN 2230-4762 EDITOR Paul Newsom ART DIRECTOR Jodi Olsson GROUP EDITOR Richard Liew CONTENT ENQUIRIES Phone Paul on 021 784 070 or email pauln@nzsalesmanager.co.nz

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contents

JULY

THIS MONTH'S MUST READ...............................................................................................................6 HOW TO MOTIVATE YOUR TEAM

RULES LOOPHOLE INCREASES HEALTH AND SAFETY RISKS TO THOUSANDS OF NEW ZEALAND COMPANY VEHICLES .......................................................................................10

QUICK FIX..........................................................................................................................................13 It’s not what you sell, it’s how you sell

FROM THE COALFACE .....................................................................................................................14 ARE YOU READY TO MEET THE CEO?.............................................................................16

BOOK REVIEW...................................................................................................................................19

Grit by Angela Duckworth

NEGATIVE KIWI ATTITUDES TO CHINESE COULD DERAIL TOURISM BOOM....................20

EVENTS CALENDAR...........................................................................................................................22 DID YOU KNOW?................................................................................................................................23 TWO MINUTE TOP-UP.......................................................................................................................28 THE NUMBER ONE MISTAKE LEADERS MAKE WITH REPORTING

THE CLOSE........................................................................................................................................30

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MUSTREAD

How to Motivate Your Team Words by Lynn Humphrey

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ne of the most important jobs of any business leader or executive is keeping their staff motivated – creating reasons to want to come to work each day and a natural desire to strive for the success of the company.

Almost everyone is willing to work in exchange for their wages, but the key is to take it a step beyond this and create a connection to the workplace that extends beyond just an obligation to be there. Motivating staff is an important skill that can increase productivity, morale, and simply promote a healthier working environment for your team.

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Key Tactics For Creating Staff Motivation There are a number of different ways to create staff motivation, and the ones that work best will vary from workplace to workplace, and even from staff member to staff member. Being attuned to their needs and flexible about working conditions and what you can offer is the best way to strike a good balance for every employee. Here are some common ways to create motivation for staff that you may wish to mix and match:

Financial rewards. The main motivation for every worker is, of course, to earn money. Working hard to seek a higher position is usually spurred as much by the income boost as it is about wanting to increase skills and take on more responsibility. This is natural, and it’s certainly true financial rewards and bonuses can be a great way of increasing motivation. Particularly in sales positions, it’s considered a way of encouraging employees to perform to their best. However, you should be wary of creating an atmosphere of negative competition between workers, and the pressure to sell can sometimes create stress and anxiety rather than positive motivation.

Instil a sense of pride in the company. If you can get employees to understand and appreciate the values of your company, they’ll be much more likely to form an emotional connection and feel independently motivated to work hard and achieve success. Values could include being environmentally friendly, sponsoring local causes, or providing some kind of community service. Feeling like their work is earning more than a profit for the company is a great way to keep staff motivated.

Have some fun. Everyone likes occasional nice gestures, such as remembering a birthday and bringing food and drink, organising activity days or casual social events on a regular basis. This improves staff morale, creates a sense of camaraderie, and increases everyone’s sense of investment in the company. Having friends at work is a huge source of motivation for many people, rather than just feeling like they’re independently working for a corporate entity.

Encourage new ideas and welcome changes. Even for new or junior employees (in fact, sometimes especially in these cases), feeling like they have a voice and are listened to is a huge part of feeling values and motivated to become a strong part of the company. Listen to what they have to say, ask their opinion and make sure they feel like they matter even if they’ve only just been hired.

Build a strong, varied and cohesive team. People are hugely motivated (or otherwise) by the people they’re surrounded by. By employing dynamic, talented and motivated individuals, this will spread throughout your company. As an employer and leader, it’s your responsibility to ensure they’ll fit with the attitude of the company and staff, and be a positive force rather than a negative one. www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz |

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Staff Motivation Phrases To Use Everyday As a leader, the words you use can be your greatest tool to create motivated employees.

Without adding any financial incentive or other reward, simply changing the way you speak can have a huge effect. It’s something many people forget to think about or don’t realise is significant, so if you haven’t considered it before it may be time to reassess your vocabulary to try and create a healthier, more positive working environment.

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more bitter than putting in extra effort or going out of your way to do something, only to get no recognition for it whatsoever. Simply saying “thank you” shows that you saw their effort and are grateful for it. Specifically, try to address exactly what they did, such as “thank you for taking care of that difficult customer”, so they understand you were really paying attention. Knowing that their efforts are recognised also motivates employees to try hard in future, as they know it will be noticed.

“What do you think about this?” Having your opinion asked for is an extremely flattering thing – it shows the listener values your thoughts and thinks you can offer something. Many people will take this as an opportunity to step up and try to provide something of value, and prove themselves worthy of being asked.

You’ll often receive good ideas as well as creating a positive feeling in the employee, so it’s a mutually beneficial tactic.

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“I need your help on this“. Some leaders feel like they

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“We all make mistakes, let’s figure out how to prevent this happening again.” When an employee

Here’s a handy selection of phrases that can do exactly that.

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“Thank you.” People want to feel appreciated. Nothing feels

need to appear in control and in command at all times, with all the answers and a firm idea of what to do. In reality, your employees don’t expect this from you. All they expect is a sense of leadership and being able to make the correct decisions for the good of the company – and it’s fine if you need help reaching these. Asking for help shows that you consider the employees valuable and an important part of the business, and it can create a sense of security and respect when everything isn’t happening behind closed doors.

messes up, they most likely already feel bad or guilty about it.

Pushing this further by yelling or blaming them will only create negative tensions and undermine their self-confidence. Get into the habit of looking for solutions to people’s errors, and figuring out ways to not only fix them but also ensure that they won’t happen again. This creates a more positive atmosphere and motivates people to try (rather than being afraid to fail).

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“What do you want to do more of?” Figuring out which aspects of the job employees enjoy is an important part of ensuring their role continues to suit them. People change as they get older, and also as they gain more experience in the job role, and it may be that the job they originally signed up for isn’t the one that suits them the best anymore. Find out which aspects of the job they really enjoy and give them opportunities to explore this as much as possible – you can even sponsor training or other learning activities outside of work. Not only will this make them feel happier to be at work, their added skill in this area is These phrases may seem of huge value to the company. small, but they can mean a whole lot to employees who may be used to simply turning up and doing the work, and “You can do this.” As a leader, it’s essential you show feeling like a lot of what they confidence in your employees as much as possible. Especially do goes unrecognised. Make a when the task is something of a challenge to them, it’s good for habit of using them often, until them to feel backed up and that you understand it’s going to be speaking positively becomes difficult, and it’s okay if they need help or struggle slightly. They the default for you. You’ll find don’t have to be perfect, as long as they give it their all. it creates a general feeling of motivation and contentment among your staff, with very little effort on your part.

“You did a good job.” Saying thank you is important to This is the first part of a tworecognise effort, but it can also be important to let them know part article on motivation. they did something particularly well, and especially if this In the next issue, xx will produced a good outcome for the company, or if a client had give advice on how to good feedback. This makes employees feel their skills are up motivate underperforming to par and encourages them to try hard in future to continue employees, and how to meeting these standards. This is a great way to motivate motivate young people.• positively and gently.

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 www.stepshift.co.nz

Lynn Humphrey facilitates, coaches and consults with clients to achieve critical results through enhanced leadership skills. www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

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SPONSORED

Rules Loophole Increases Health and Safety Risks to Thousands of New Zealand Company Vehicles

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"Most people may be unaware that a WOF inspection is not a guarantee of roadworthiness, and that even a full maintenance lease Most people may be unaware does not free company that a WOF inspection is not a management of their guarantee of roadworthiness, and that even a full responsibility." maintenance lease does not free company management of loophole in the way that company vehicles are managed and their responsibility. serviced means that thousands of New Zealand company "You still have to treat the bosses could be in danger of contravening the new Health and vehicle as your own. Now more Safety at Work Act 2015. than ever it is important to move While vehicles are the single largest cause of work-related vehicle maintenance up the injury in New Zealand – according to the Ministry of Business, priority list."

Innovation & Employment – the structure of how company vehicle Mr Manins said one common leases work, coupled with new Warrant of Fitness (WOF) rules, vulnerability that his company may be upping the risk factor. has identified occurs when a CEO of New Zealand car leasing and finance company Driveline, vehicle's front wheel strikes Lance Manins, said that under the Health and Safety at Work Act the verge, for example during 2015, company vehicles are considered places of work, and one parking, resulting in a damaged already identified as a national priority by the Government. tyre or bent tie rod.

"I suspect that as a result of this priority status, enforcement "The tyre could burst at high officials will take a very dim view of managers who fail in the speed, or the tie-rod could obligations to ensure that their company cars are safe. seriously impact the vehicle's

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"The problem is that many vehicle lease service and maintenance agreements are not safety inspections, people just assume that they are. On top of this mistaken perception, WOF inspections on new vehicles are only required every three years (or every six months of vehicles older than 2000) and so much can go wrong in six months, never mind three years."

ability to avoid a collision if the driver has to swerve suddenly.

These may seem like small, innocuous things, but they're common faults, and they're dangerous," he said. www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

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Many corporate decision makers may not regard running a sales team as a high-risk activity, like driving a truck or forklift, but a good percentage of traffic accidents are caused, or made worse, by poor vehicle maintenance.

"High levels of traffic in Auckland will exacerbate the wear and tear on a vehicle, making it older in real terms than the mileage may suggest."

Mr Manins offers the following advice for management whose staff use company vehicles:

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Prioritise work vehicle safety as an issue within the business.

Put in place a documented health and safety programme of policies and procedures around vehicle maintenance and use.

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3. Ensure that vehicles are regularly checked including WOFs, servicing and visual safety checks by employees.

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Ensure staff receive advanced driver training and are competent to use the vehicle even down to adjusting the ergonomics of their seating.

Invest in a fleet management system that records safety checks and the compliance status of each vehicle.

"The more time employees spend in a motor vehicle, which is their workplace, the more consideration needs to be put into that equipment's health and safety.”

"The payback isn't only safety related. When a vehicle is comfortable and easy to use, your staff are happier and more productive when they get in front of their customers – health and safety is good for business," Mr Manins said.

CONTACT Lance Manins CEO, Driveline Fleet Ltd M: 021 650 659 E: lance@driveline.co.nz W: www.driveline.co.nz•

 www.driveline.co.nz/fleet-management

Driveline is an independent car leasing company founded in 2001 and provides a complete vehicle supply and finance service for their clients. They specialise in leasing and financing vehicles for businesses including passenger and commercial vehicles, fleets and trucks. Other services include plant and equipment finance, fuel cards and their own fleet management system.

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QUICKFIX

Make the Caller Feel Welcome Words by Debbie Mayo-Smith

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ow don’t say ‘Duh!’ but how many callbacks are never done because the person can’t understand the number you leave? Don’t state your number, then blather on. Have the phone number as the last item you leave on a voicemail and make sure you repeat it. You want to make it as easy as possible for the person to return your call. • .•  www.successis.co.nz

From the Coalface

Straight talking advice from experienced New Zealand sales professionals

It can be very tough to gain a first appointment with a prospect. What are your three tips to help get that appointment?

Jean Barr

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Have a great positive mindset, and a strong reason for calling Top Achievers Sales Training with confidence and belief in www.topachieverssalestraining.co.nz the fact that you can add value to their business. Make the call Preparation is essential. Be really clear about who your target and introduce yourself (the aim market is and why. Go online and research prospective clients. is to get the appointment, not Look at what they do and how they do it, do they export, sell on the phone). Acknowledge import, have multiple branches, where is their head office, that their time is precious so who their clients are, who their competition is and what the keep your conversation brief competition is doing. using the KISS principle – Keep it simple sunshine. Ask for the Look at what your offer is and why it would be good for this client. appointment, how you can help Have a strong value proposition. All your client really wants to know them and let them know how is 'WIIFT' - what is in it for them? Is it going to save them money, long the appointment will take. make them money, or put them ahead of the competition and make Thank the client for their time their offer to market a stronger one (give them a competitive market advantage)? You have to earn the right to that appointment through a and follow up with an email confirming the appointment. strong value proposition.

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Hayden Burgess

Mary Crampton

Sales Impact Group www.salesimpactgroup.co.nz

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Wait for a strong referral. If you are hunting that 'A' prospect, don't rush the process unless you absolutely have to. Put your feelers out and wait until you can get a good referral from a trusted advisor to the right person in that business.

Let the prospect know what they are in for. When you get the prospect on the phone, name the referrer and let them know you are only calling to make an appointment. This way they understand they are not going to be stuck on the phone for a drawn out sales pitch and may even agree to the appointment just to get you off the line!

Have a well thought out and concise positioning statement.

This will allow the prospect to get a good idea of what you do and decide whether there is value in meeting with you.

Remember, agreeing to meet with you is the first buying signal the prospect will make.

Magnify Consulting www.magnifyconsulting.co.nz

1 Make sure that you’re talking to the ultimate decision-maker.

Sometimes a prospect may be involved in the purchasing decision, can enjoy dialoguing with you, but be hesitant to commit to an appointment because they are not the decision-maker. Ask them directly if they are the best person to talk to about this purchase; if not, ensure you then talk with the person who is able to make purchasing decisions.

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Take time to hone your Elevator Pitch, especially the sentence or two where you tell the prospect, from their perspective, what they will gain - “What’s in it for me?” You are not merely trying to ‘sell’ the ideal prospect something, but checking to see if you can help them to achieve their business goals. If you can communicate this to your prospect, they’ll be so much more interested in making an appointment to meet you

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Prospects can sometimes be hesitant to commit to an appointment as they don’t know if they want to say ‘yes’ to purchasing the product/ service. Tell the prospect that this appointment is an opportunity for them to see what’s out there and that they are free to make an informed decision about next steps, about saying yes or no. Removing pressure by giving them the freedom to choose often opens the way to gaining an appointment. • www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

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Are You Ready to Meet the CEO?

Words by Mark Hunter

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t’s the meeting for which you’ve been waiting. Finally, you’ve been able to secure a meeting with the CEO of the company you know you can help. For the past year, you’ve been researching the company and developing relationships with as many people as possible.

In particular, you have gotten to know the two gatekeepers who have been up to now blocking your way to the CEO. Last week your call to the administrative assistant finally hit home and you’re on the CEO’s calendar in three weeks.

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Now is the time to get ready.

The degree to which you prepare will directly impact the success of your meeting. Below are six key things you need to do before your meeting:

1. Set up Google Alerts to receive any updates that may appear on the internet for the company, the person you’re going to meet and the other top people in the company with whom the CEO interacts.

2. If the company is publically traded, read their annual reports and their quarterly filings, and listen to the recordings of their quarterly investor calls.

3. Benchmark the company with their major competitors to determine how they compare.

4. Identify the strategic objectives on which the company is working. In particular, learn all you can about the key initiatives with which you have reason to believe the CEO is most concerned.

5. Monitor the news to determine if there are any political or newsworthy events that could impact either the CEO or the company. Monitor the trade journals and industry websites that pertain to the company’s industry.

6. Know the educational background of the CEO and identify any key alumni and school events with which the CEO may be connected.

Use the information you obtain from the activities listed above to help you develop a list of 'peer comment/ questions' you can share with the gatekeeper or CEO if the opportunity arises.

'Peer comments/questions' are those things you can share briefly with the CEO or gatekeeper that allow them to see that you are aware of the environment in which they operate and that you are comfortable talking about those things.

By positioning your peer comment as a question, you not only have the ability to share something with them, but you also will engage them in conversation. Making a peer comment/question part of your opening dialogue with the CEO will reassure the CEO that they are not wasting their time with someone who does not understand how valuable the CEO’s time is. It also demonstrates that you comprehend their level of decision-making responsibility. www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

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If you have managed to land that all-important meeting with a CEO, don’t delay in your preparation. Invest the effort and time now so you can experience the valuable dividends later.

Remember – your peer comment/ question is not the opportunity for you to share your 5,000word opinion on a topic. Your comment/question should be brief and framed as an opening to get the CEO to share their opinion.

It is not necessary for the peer question/comment to relate directly to your meeting topic.

In fact, is bwetter if it is on a completely different topic. You will show the CEO that you do not have tunnel vision and you have a broader understanding of the world in which they operate.

If you’re wondering why I use the term 'peer', it is because the topic you’re bringing up is designed to be a topic the CEO may very well be discussing with their peers. This allows the CEO to naturally begin to see you as one of their peers, thus increasing their comfort in sharing information with you.

Earlier in this article, I mentioned that you shouldn’t hesitate to share your peer comments/questions with the gatekeeper as well. The gatekeeper is really an extension of the CEO. When you make relevant comments or pose 'peer' questions, you increase the gatekeeper’s comfort level. If the gatekeeper feels comfortable with you, this contributes to the CEO feeling comfortable.

If you have managed to land that all-important meeting with a CEO, don’t delay in your preparation. Invest the effort and time now so you can experience the valuable dividends later.•

 www.TheSalesHunter.com

Mark Hunter, The Sales Hunter, is a consultative selling expert committed to helping individuals and companies identify better prospects and close more profitable sales.

To get a free weekly sales tip, visit www.TheSalesHunter.com.

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RESOURCECORNER

Grit

The power of passion and perseverance

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n this instant New York Times bestseller, pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth shows anyone striving to succeed be it parents, students, educators, athletes, or business people that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a special blend of passion and persistence she calls grit.

Drawing on her own powerful story as the daughter of a scientist who frequently noted her lack of genius, Duckworth, now a celebrated researcher and professor, describes her early eye-opening stints in teaching, business consulting, and neuroscience, which led to the hypothesis that what really drives success is not genius but a unique combination of passion and long-term perseverance.



In Grit, she takes readers into the field to visit cadets struggling through their first days at West Point, teachers working in some of the toughest schools, and young finalists in the National Spelling Bee. She also mines fascinating insights from history and shows what can be gleaned from modern experiments in peak performance. Finally, she shares what she’s learned from interviewing dozens of high achievers from JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon to New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff to Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll.

Winningly personal, insightful, and even life-changing, Grit is a book about what goes through your head when you fall down, and how that not talent or luck makes all the difference.•

Available from Mighty Ape

By Angela Duckworth www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

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SPONSORED

Negative Kiwi Attitudes to Chinese could Derail Tourism Boom

"If we want to benefit both financially and culturally from Chinese tourism, we need to be a lot more understanding, open and empathetic."

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local sales and customer service training company is warning that Kiwis negative attitudes towards Chinese could derail New Zealand's tourism boom from that part of the world.

"As a customer, even I have encountered antagonism when visiting other parts of New Zealand, so you can imagine what it might be like to be a Chinese visitor when people have a fear that they are buying up all of our houses. We need to be educating the general population with the facts, and training our front line staff to understand how to work with different cultures."

Following hot on the heels of news that 330,000 Chinese visited New Zealand in the last year, comes reports of Kiwis' growing resentment towards Chinese property buyers and tourist drivers – an antagonistic attitude that may translate into bad experiences for visitors.

Ms Scott said one of the biggest obstacles facing the success of businesses was to change staff perceptions by creating a greater sense of empathy through initiatives like cultural awareness training.

Director of the Great Scott Training Company, Jacqui Scott, said today that while business owners and managers may be anticipating the rewards that come from Chinese tourism, there needs to be a change in attitude on the frontline where customer service takes place.

"Our belief system creates feelings, which turn into actions that bring about certain results. If we feel that the Chinese are bad for New Zealand, imagine how badly that is going to work out.

"Our expectations of how people should behave are not necessarily shared by other cultures, and expecting them to comply with our way of doing things is not realistic – they are here for a short time, and they are our guests. Don't forget that they will share their experiences when they get home."

Ms Scott said Chinese people have a strong sense of protocol. Very often visitors will have an attachĂŠ with them to speak on their behalf and to act as a go-between, and things like gift giving are important. www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

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She offers the following advice for companies that regularly deal with Chinese and other overseas visitors:

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Understand your customer's culture. Research your

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Think about how you pitch what you are selling.

overseas customers. What are their expectations when it comes to products and services? What is normal etiquette where they come from? Help your staff to understand what different cultures are about.

"As Kiwis, we don't want an information dump, because we expect people to buy off the basis of relationships, but other cultures may value other things, like speed or formality."

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Tell your customer what you are going to do, and explain both the process and the etiquette to them so that they have a better insight into what's happening.

"If we want to benefit both financially and culturally from Chinese tourism, we need to be a lot more understanding, open and empathetic.

It's frustrating when you encounter somebody who doesn't speak English, but put yourself in their shoes for a moment and imagine how they must feel, especially if you are grumpy."

Ms Scott said that while some New Zealand businesses are "We all hate uncertainty, and a hallmark of good customer service is good at helping their staff to serve and sell to different to remove uncertainty," Ms Scott said. personality types, businesses Have conversations with your staff about the that extend this to cultural types importance of how we treat our customers. are seeing more success.

Make them self-aware of prejudice, even if it's something on the news or a conversation over a cup of tea.

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"Just because we think something is rude, doesn't mean that it is rude in your customer's country. Just because somebody thinks or acts differently, doesn't mean its wrong.

 www.gscpeople.co.nz

CONTACT

Jacqui Scott Director The Great Scott Company T: 021 555 388 E: jacqui@gscpeople.co.nz W: www.gscpeople.co.nz •

The Great Scott Company is a New Zealand owned and operated company that specialises in training staff to deliver excellence throughout New Zealand and Australia, including customer service, sales, telemarketing, team management and leadership. It was started

by Jacqui Scott in 2000 when she realised a need for tailor-made training for leaders and front line staff – on the phones or face to face.

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EVENTSCALENDAR

DATE

NAME

PLACE

COMPANY

6 July

Key Account Management

Auckland

David Forman

11 July

Reading Body Language

Auckland

PD Training

12-14 July

Advancing Negotiation Skills

Wellington

Scotwork

14-15 July

Marketing Planning and Control

Auckland

IMNZ

20 July

Professional Telephone Skills

Auckland

PD Training

22 July

Create a strategic marketing plan

Auckland

Geewiz

22 July

The resilient leader

Auckland

IMNZ

26 July

Sales Basics

Christchurch

Geewiz

DIDYOUKNOW Facebook Fact: On Thursdays and Fridays, engagement is 18% higher. (Source: Bit.ly blog).

The Implication: use this information to determine when to post in order to optimise your social media marketing efforts. • www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

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Is This Person Sabotaging Your Sales Success?

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t a recent conference, a sales rep was telling me about a deal he should have won. After hearing his story, I couldn't help but agree.

He should have made the sale. Even worse, it was clear that someone was ruining his chances. And I knew exactly who it was - this same person has sunk my own deals too.

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Words by Jill Konrath

The Situation

Alex sells software that helps clients grow sales by speeding up new product introductions and shortening ramp time for new reps. It automates aggravating, time-consuming procedures and lets the sales team easily create and update sales portals without having to wait for a slow IT department. For some decision makers, this is all they need to hear!

Not only is the software great, but the firm's principals excel at making sure their clients accomplish the key strategic initiatives that drove them to make a change. Clearly Alex has a strong value proposition. But for some reason that he couldn't pinpoint, he was really struggling with sales.

The Sales Opportunity Last week, Alex and I debriefed a recent sales call with the head of sales in a company that truly fit his firm's ideal client profile. After a bit of initial chitchat and positioning of his firm's capabilities, Alex asked about the company's direction and the gaps in technology that needed to be closed in order to achieve their business objectives.

So far, so good. He was focused on learning about key strategic initiatives that could be addressed by his firm's software tools and expertise. Then his prospect started talking about something that really bugged him...

Prospect: I'm so frustrated with our IT department. There's been a typo up on our website now for three weeks. And it's in an area that we're really trying to drive customers to right now.

Alex: With our system, you could have that corrected in 20 seconds.

Prospect: Wow! Impressive. What about when we come up with a new update to our proposals. Right now, we've got all those old versions floating around out there and it's creating a huge issue.

Alex: No problem. We can take care of that right away, too.

If we get it set up right at the beginning, we can totally automate that step.

Prospect: Wow, that would save us time! How about...?

Alex: We can do that! When we set up a demo, I'll show you how easy it is.

Prospect: What about...? It drives us nuts here.

Alex: Simple, simple, simple. I can show you or anyone else on your staff how to do it in three seconds flat.

And so it went. After the call, Alex was ecstatic. Everything the decision maker asked about, he could do! In fact, he felt like he was really removing a burden from this person and reassuring him how good it would be to work with his firm.

Yet, he'd felt like this far too many times before and been disappointed when nothing ever happened.

Prospects kept saying that his software was really 'cool' and that when it was time to make a switch, they'd take a more in-depth look. But Alex couldn't make a living off of future promises. He needed sales now. www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz |

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The Sabotage As Alex told me about how he kept experiencing the same failure over and over again, it became clear that someone was sabotaging his sales. That Ask yourself 'How are you contributing person was Alex! When you to the outcome you're getting?' keep experiencing the same Alex kept making the mistake of assuming decision makers problem over and over, it's just needed reassurance that his technology could solve every time to look for the root cause. problem they faced. What the decision maker really wanted, however, was to meet objectives. Alex should have kept his focus there and kept exploring the business issues.

Instead of promising easy fixes, Alex could have asked: • What other problems are you facing because you can't get IT to make the changes do you need?

• What impact does their lack of urgency have on meeting your business goals?

Unless [Alex] started exploring the business issues in more depth, he was doomed to repeat this pattern time and time again.

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• What issues are created when you have all those old versions of proposals out there?

• How does that affect your distribution channel?

• How else is the lack of up-to-date info on your sales portal impacting your ability to drive revenue growth?

• What difficulties do you run into because you can't do this easily?

• Who else is impacted?

By jumping ahead to the ease of the solution, Alex never helped the decision maker understand the value of making a change.

As a result, interested prospects kept fizzling out, opting to stay with the status quo. Unfortunately, unless he started exploring the business issues in more depth, he was doomed to repeat this pattern time and time again.

What Sales Obstacles Are You Creating?

What about you? When you initially connect with a decision maker, are you creating a hole that's hard to crawl out of? In today's marketplace, it can take forever to finally connect with a prospective client—you don't want to blow it.

Same thing about your initial client meetings. You have one chance to advance your relationship. If you mess up, you're not invited back. While it's easier to blame your prospects for stringing you along or being jerks, it doesn't change the results you're getting.

The only way to solve these sales challenges is to be ruthless in your own self-assessment. You need to constantly question what you might have said to create the obstacles and objections that you keep running into. Sometimes you need other people to help you understand where you're making your mistakes.

Alex would never have dreamed that his service-oriented attitude was the root cause of his sale challenges. I've sabotaged my own sales too. It's hard to admit, but it's true. Once I was able to identify that I was the problem, however, I was able to shift gears and finally make the sale.

To find out how you might be sabotaging your own success, you may need to look outside yourself for insight. Brainstorm with your colleagues, check with your boss or explore the issue with other sellers. Don't be defensive; try to figure out where changes could help. Then experiment with the new options.

When you finally eliminate those sales obstacles that you've unintentionally created for yourself, the payback can be huge!•

The only way to solve these sales challenges is to be ruthless in your own selfassessment.

You need to constantly question what you might have said to create the obstacles and objections that you keep running into.

 www.jillkonrath.com/sales-resources

Jill Konrath is the author of three bestselling sales books Agile Selling, Selling to Big Companies and SNAP Selling. Check out the tons of free sales resources on her website: www.jillkonrath.com/sales-resources.

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TWOMINUTETOPUP

The Number One Mistake Leaders Make with Reporting Words by Anthony Iannarino

S

oftware programs generate reports that provide leaders and managers with the metrics they need to run their business.

Customer Relationship Management software tracks activity, opportunity funnels, client interactions, and sales.

These tools are powerful when used well. But used incorrectly, they can produce an unwanted and unexpected outcome: the loss of accountability.

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The Difference in Reports and Reporting Reports are a record of something that has already occurred. They allow you to review data, find trends, identify gaps, and make decisions. All of these things are important.

Reporting is different from reports. When someone you lead has to 'report to you', they are responsible for verbally providing you with information.

This is different from you looking at you reports you generate.

“But wait,” you say, “isn’t it a waste of time to have one of the people I lead walk me through their activity and outcomes when I can very easily pull up a dashboard and see how they’re doing?”.

The answer is, “No. It is not better. It is dangerous.”

When the person reporting has to access their information themselves, identify areas where they need improvement, and make decisions about what they need to next, they are reviewing their own performance. When they report it to you, you are holding them accountable. When you review the data and the person you lead doesn’t have to report to you, you are eliminating that accountability.

Hiding In Plain Sight There are leaders and managers who allow the people they lead to hide in plain sight. Their results are visible, but their leaders don’t talk about their individual results with them with any kind of real cadence (or sometimes at all). People can struggle for months or years with no one requiring them to answer for their performance or coaching them, their results visible to anyone who looks at reports.

This is one of the ways leaders kill accountability. They look at the numbers, but they don’t require their employees to report their results themselves. By eliminating the requirement that their people have to report, face-to-face or by phone, they unknowingly destroy accountability.

Reporting is different than reports. They’re both important, but only one of them creates a culture of accountability.•

 www.thesalesblog.com

Anthony Iannario is an international speaker, author, and sales leader. He posts daily sales tips and insights to The Sales Blog. www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz

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THECLOSE

“The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.”

- Muhammad Ali

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