Monday, August 31, 2009

Making Your Own Decisions

“Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own,
instead of someone else's.”

-- Billy Wilder, Director

People are often attracted to a sales career because of the freedom of the job. It's you, the prospect, the product and the ability to earn money, out on the front line. How well you handle it is up to you.

You will be inundated with advise on how to speak, how to dress, how to present, how to communicate, how to negotiate. Listen to all the advise you get and learn from it. Realize however, whatever you choose is ultimately your decision. Be willing to reap the gains from your decision or be willing to face the failure.

You really are free.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Six Sigma and the Sales Process

The term Six Sigma means that in each process there will be 3.4 errors or less in 1 million occurrences. The six sigma measurement is a process to use why trying to attain virtual perfection each time you take an action.

I am a Six Sigma trained Green Belt. At GE Capital, I led a project team under the direction and support of a Black Belt to reduce the sale cycle. We looked at every point of contact a prospect had with the company until the first check was cashed. By analyzing this process, we eliminated much of the inefficiency, identified room for improvement and reduced the sales cycle by 50%.

It's hard to make an argument against use quality management principles at your organization.

In this fear-based economy where many organizations are seeking quick hits, you can't go wrong by evaluating the quality of your processes. The improvement in financial rewards, competitive advantage and organizational harmony will astound you.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Motivation

One of the key success factors a sales person must have is the ability to manage their own motivation. On some days, it'll feel like the whole world is against you. One tool I use is inspirational quotes from impressive people. Here's one of my favorites:

"Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."

Albert Einstein

Continue to use your creativity to move your sale forward. If you can't get in through the front door, try the side door, the back door, crawl through a window or dig a tunnel. Try a new way no one has ever considered before. The possibilities are limitless.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Dress One Level Up

Casual dress is acceptable in the world today in almost any environment.

As a sales professional it shouldn't be acceptable for you. An easy sales rule to remember is to 'dress one level up' from your prospect. You want to command an air of respect and credibility. It's easy to do. If you know you look good, you'll feel good. If you feel good, your confidence and enthusiasm will show.

I advise men to keep a sport coat on hand at all times. A jacket can be thrown over a polo shirt and have a more professional appearance.

The same is true with women. A blazer can make a casual dress look professional or a slacks and a blouse look more like a pant suit.

It's better to err on the side of being too professional versus not professional enough. Dress one level up.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

The Vision

When Full Circle Management was created, the vision was to work with companies to help them create an environment that was devoted to profitable growth that included the whole company. New business development is not the sole job of the sales force. If they don't have a competitive product and a good team focused on the same goals of thoughtful execution and profitable growth the sales person is hanging out on a shingle when they make their calls. We also thought creating an environment like this would be fun. The companies would be fun places to work at. The successes would permeate throughout the company, not resonate with just a few that seem to earn suspicious bonuses when goals aren't met.

Since 2001 we've helped some companies achieve part of the vision we are trying to create. We are working on attracting the the company that will invest in such a vision. The time is now. Since the credit market has tightened up, companies only have the strength of their delivery to rely on.

One of our favorite companies that has done so well in creating this new business development environment where the customers win, the employees win, the management team wins and the sales people must hold their heads pretty high when calling under this corporate logo is
Abt.

Abt has achieved the dream and the vision.