Posted: February 6, 2019 | Categories: Sales

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” – Wayne Gretzge

Last week one of my clients was listening to a radio ad from someone who did sales coaching.  He made the statement, “Four out of five salespeople never ask for the order”.  My client wanted to know if that was true.  I said it was.

First, let’s define “asking for the order”.  That refers to anything you say that is intended to advance the sale.  The most common way of doing this is closes or trail closes.:

Trail close:  A trail close is used when you feel the sale is moving along well, and you want to take the temperature.  Here are some examples:

Q.  Do you have any questions or concerned that I haven’t covered?

Q.  Would you prefer to be contacted by email or phone? (Preference close)

Q.  Why don’t you give us a try?

Q.  If you’ll just authorize this, we’ll get started right way with…

Q.  Is this what you are looking for?

The close:  A closing questions asks directly for the order.  We often start with trial closes so as not to overwhelm the prospect.  When we have received a warm response from a trial close, this could be a good time to go for the final close:

Q.  Would you like to give it a try?

Q.  Would you like to go ahead with it?

Trail closes are safe since they are usually opinion-asking questions.  Asking a direct closing questions may drive the sales process backwards if they are not ready.  But if we have asked a series of trail closes and have consistently received a warm response, take the plunge and ask for the order!

Posted: February 1, 2019 | Categories: Leadership, Team Building

About a year ago a client introduced me the book, “The Ideal Team Player” Patrick Lencioni.  Jim is a business owner and he liked the way the author broke down the “Ideal Team Player” into three key characteristics and qualities:  Humility, Hunger, People Smarts.

At first I thought this was gimmicky and an over-simplification.  I decided to take the scientific approach and prove the theory wrong.  I did not succeed.  What I discovered was that to build a top-performing team it is critical to look for and evaluate candidates according to these three pillars.

Humility:  When we possess and practice humility, we admit our mistakes and welcome input from others.  We subordinate our ego in favor of building others and also teamwork.

Hunger:  Without strong desire, we can be shy on initiative.  If we want something badly enough we go through much discomfort and challenge to achieve it.

People smarts:  Tactfulness removes barriers and opens dialogue.  It is essential in building team trust and setting the table for strong collaboration and teamwork.

With the past month, I worked with someone who was interviewing candidates to fill a position.  He wanted to know the best qualities to look for in his conversations.  I shared these three qualities with him.  After the first interview, h determined that the person was highly skilled, hard-working, and articulate.  He was only missing one quality…Humility.  It was a no go.  Here is how it works based on my coaching experience:

If a person needs more hunger, you can find out what motivates them, and create that hunger.  If they lack people smarts, tact and human relations skills can be learned.  I have helped people with that all my career.  How about humility?  That is a tough one.  Without humility, there is no team synergy or collaboration.  Be careful.

Posted: January 28, 2019 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building

Last month I read a headline that made me sad and joyous at the same time.  The headline read, “Maverick Founder of Southwest Airlines dies at 87”. Herb Kelleher was a true maverick, and that is an understatement.

Years ago I was on a Southwest flight from Phoenix to Chicago.  As the flight began, the flight attendant took to the microphone.  She said, “Welcome aboard.  We will be serving beverages on this flight, and soon our servers will be coming by.  At this time, I want everyone to open up their in-flight magazine and turn to page #29.  Got it?  OK, now go to the right column.  There you will see listed all the beverages we offer.  Now I would like you to go through this list, and choose what beverage you would like.  Is everybody with me?  Good.  And remember, we are completely out of, What do you have?”

That’s Southwest.  Who else would have the nerve?  As I reflected on that moment, I realized that they were following in true order of their values.  Here are their top three in order:

1. Have fun.
2. Love your employees
3. Love your customers.

So how come we customers ended up in third place?  Herb Kelleher knew that having fun and treating your people right was the way to have a loyal following.  Beyond that, he did have a quirky priority:  He looked for people who had strong personalities.  The whiskey-drinking, cigarette-smoking fellow just couldn’t settle for his folks saying “Have a nice day” in monotone.  The Southwest Airlines Crew:  They may excite you, they may infuriate you, but they will never bore you.  One more thing:  In the 20 years he was at the helm, Southwest made a profit every year, and they continue to do so.  Are you a maverick?

Posted: January 10, 2019 | Categories: Time management

Do you manage your time well?  Would you like to manage it even better?  Being honest with yourself, consider how you align with these habits:

• You have a vision for your life.
• Your goals are written down, specific, and time-related.
• You plan your day and work in order of your priorities.
• You focus on what is most important, and do not allow yourself to be distracted.
• You are almost always five minutes late.

Notice the last habit.  Does that seem out of place?  In my coaching experience, I have found that some of the most focused and hard-working people struggle with being on time. You know how it goes…you have a meeting scheduled, and you notice you have an extra 10 minutes before you need to leave.  Being a good time manager, you cram something else in.  Perfect.  Now you get in your car and take off for your meeting.  Things are going fine until you hear the clanging of the bells and flashing of the lights.  It is a long freight train!  You weren’t expecting that.  You end up five minutes late to your appointment.

A few years ago I was attending a time management seminar, and the subject of punctuality came up.  There was an audience of about 80, and the speaker asked how many had been on time to every appointment the past year.  Three people raised their hands.  The speaker asked how they did it.  They all came up with the same answer:  They leave early.  

But isn’t that wasting time?  No, it isn’t.  When we make an appointment, we set a time.  We have committed to be there at that time.  We haven’t qualified our commitment.  We have given our word.  If we are late, we have fallen short, and I can assure you, the person who has had to wait is not interested in our excuses.  We have not respected  their time.  The same is true with meetings.  If we are late, we are not respecting the time of others.  It is just that simple.  People will respect you less.  (Oh yes they will!)

Years ago, I worked for a company that had meetings with each employee once a month.  For 12 straight months, I would leave 20 minutes early for the appointment with my boss, and would ended up arriving 20 minutes early. One time, I decided to leave just on time.  Wouldn’t you know it…that was the day of the long freight train!  I was five minutes late.  I made no excuses.  I apologized.  I still had my job, but my being late wasn’t a plus.

Leave early and always be on time.  You will gain more respect, and be more professional.

Posted: December 6, 2018 | Categories: Self-Improvement, Team Building

If we are very skilled at doing something, there was a time when we weren’t. It is one thing when we stumble. I think it is even tougher when we watch someone we love struggle.

One of the most uncomfortable times of my life happened in the fall of 2008. We were in the midst of a terrible recession, and my son had recently graduated from college. He was eager to launch his career working as a financial adviser. He was hired by a reputable company, and they provided him with all the resources he needed to succeed…except clients! He had to develop those on his own. He worked out of our house, and I heard him dial and dial the phone with very disappointing results. I thought he might get frustrated and quit. He didn’t. Kept picking himself up and starting over.

It reminds me of a scene I saw years ago when I was enjoying a walk after lunch. I noticed a mother duck marching along with a trail of little ones behind her. They followed mama and would not let her out of their sight. Then mama came to a curb. She jumped the curb and turned around to look at her brood. They were in a panic, and one by one they began attempting to jump up the curb to catch up with her. Some succeeded after a couple tries, while others kept attempting to jump, but kept falling back down. It must have been painful for those little ducks to crash to the pavement. I thought mama would offer to help. She didn’t. She waited until all the little chicks made it up the curb. Then, she looked at me, quacked, and the caravan of mama and the ducks moved on.

Folks, we can at least be as smart as a duck. Let’s not be afraid to let those we love struggle when they are learning something. It is the way we get better!