Making Territory Changes

You need to split the territory or hire more sales people when:

Your team is working night and day to keep up with the incoming demand

Frustrated clients state that they are not getting calls backs/visits/follow-up’s from their sales reps

You start losing business because the team can’t keep up with all the sales they are bringing in

Across the board attention deficit disorder – they just can’t keep up with the details

24/7 work, work, work, closing – closing – closing = BURNOUT!

Sales people & price increases

There are many reasons for price increases including labor cost, material, fuel, business tactics, etc. Whatever the reason, most people won’t be happy about the increase including your sales team.  As a leader it is important how you impart the message to your salesforce. Help them understand why the increase is necessary and explain how they should handle telling their accounts.

You’ll find that many sales people find it hard to discuss an increase for fear that they will have to negotiate with the account again, or that the customer will start looking for another vendor.  I suggest that you talk about the anxiety they feel and why they feel this way, and show them how they can best overcome it.  Moving forward, they will need to advise the client well in advance of the actual date of the increase and provide the input necessary to overcome any objections that the customer may have.

Top 10: Outside Sales teams weak points

If you’ve been managing sales people for any length of time you will recognize the most frequently sited weaknesses of the majority of sales people you hire. These are true no matter how long a sales person has been selling.

• 1. Don’t network enough, don’t like it  or don’t know how (prospecting)
• 2. Don’t ask the right questions (preferably open ended)
• 3. Not good at Listening
• 4. Don’t prepare
• 5. Don’t develop an account strategy
• 6. Don’t ask for the order
• 7. Don’t address the client at his/her level
• 8. Poor time management skills
• 9. Don’t properly forecast
• 10. Don’t pay attention to the details

Top 10 to do’s for Sales Managers

1) Exceed Expectations

2) Lead Generation Program Development

3) Sales Process Improvements

4) Align sales & marketing more closely

5) Coaching / Mentoring/ Motivating

6) Deliver on the promise

7) Recruiting

Territory Management Improvement

9) Improve People Development Skills

10) Improve forecasting

Do we really need “killer” mentalities to succeed?

I’m one of those people that have always worked in a fast paced environment. This usually meant working with technology companies that foster the kill or be killed mentality. I started to reflect on this attitude and wondered about a kinder, gentler approach and if that brought with it less stress and time for other things. I thought about how work gets done in places like Australia where they go home at 5 and have time to go surfing after work, take real vacations for two or three weeks and still get the job done. I was curious about what other people thought about the kill or be killed attitude and started looking for answers by talking with 20 and 30 something professionals in a number of different verticals including Wall Street (the original fast paced & kinetic environment), Technology and Healthcare. I found that the great majority of those that I spoke with are asking or are beginning to ask: “is it worth it”, “how much is enough” or “what are we doing with our lives”- dose this mean that they spoke to the kindler attitude?  I’m thinking that I’m seeing a new attitude out there, especially from young people.  How many of you feel this way and do you think that the folks at the top who are running the show and making 400 times the average persons salary are getting it? YOUR THOUGHTS PLEASE?