Sales Management

Sales management refers to the administration of the personal selling component of an organization's marketing program. It includes the planning, implementation, and control of sales programs, as well as recruiting, training, motivating, and evaluating members of the sales force. The fundamental role of the sales manager is to develop and administer a selling program that effectively contributes to the achievement of the goals of the overall organization. The term "sales manager" may be properly applied to several members of an organization, including: marketing executives, managers of field sales forces, district and division managers, and product line sales administrators. This text emphasizes the role of managers that oversee a field sales force.

BACKGROUND

The discipline of marketing management emerged during the Industrial Revolution, when mass production resulted in the creation of large organizations, and technological advances related to transportation and communication enhanced access to geographic markets. The two developments contributed to a growing need for the management of groups of sales people in large companies.

During the 20th century, some observers have described four evolutionary stages of sales and marketing management. The first stage, which lasted until the beginning of the Great Depression, was characterized by an emphasis on engineering and production. Managers in those functional areas generally determined the company's goals and plans. They developed products and set prices with the assumption that the customers would naturally buy whatever they could get to the market. The job of the sales departments, then, was simply to facilitate the smooth flow of goods from the company to the consumer.

The maxim "build a better mousetrap and the people will come," was effectively dashed by the Depression, when producers found that selling products could be much more difficult than churning them out. Sales people and managers were elevated to a new status, and their input into product planning and organizational goal setting increased. It was also during this period that "hard sell" tactics, which still embody the stereotype often ascribed to automobile and aluminum siding salesmen, were developed. The hard sell philosophy reflected the propensity of most organizations to focus on getting the customer to want the product that was being offered rather than delivering what the customer desired. This second evolutionary stage extended from the 1930s into the 1950s.

During the 1960s and 1970s, companies in the United States began to embrace the concept of marketing, which initiated a shift of the organizational focus from selling to customer satisfaction and more efficient advertising and promotional practices. The adoption of marketing techniques essentially involved the integration of the selling side of business into related functions, such as budgeting, inventory control, warehousing, and product development. Despite the emergence of the marketing philosophy, however, most manufacturing companies continued to emphasize the production side of their business.

Sales management at U.S. companies entered a fourth evolutionary stage during the 1980s, characterized by a marked shift from a supply-side marketing orientation to customer orientation. Several factors prompted this change. Increased foreign competition, particularly from Japan, posed a serious threat to American companies, which were comparatively inefficient and unaware of customer wants. In addition, a slowdown in U.S. market growth resulted in greater competition between domestic rivals. Finally, a change in social orientation demanded that companies focus on creating and selling products that would provide a better quality of life, rather than a higher material standard of living. This change was evidenced by the proliferation of laws protecting the environment and mandating product safety.

The result of changes during the 1980s and early 1990s was that sales and marketing specialists were forced to concentrate their efforts on determining precisely what customers wanted, and efficiently providing it. This change necessitated greater involvement by sales managers in the goal-setting and planning activities of the overall organization. This broadened scope meant that sales managers were expected to develop a more rounded body of knowledge that encompassed finance, operations, and purchasing.

At the same time, sales managers were forced to deal with other pivotal economic and social changes. Chief among socioeconomic trends of the 1980s and early 1990s was the evolution of marketing media. As the cost of the average industrial sales call rocketed from less than $100 in 1977 to more than $250 by the late 1980s, marketing and sales managers began to stress other sales tools. Direct mail and telephone sales became efficient direct marketing alternatives to face-to-face selling. They also surfaced as important media that sales managers could use to augment the efforts of their sales people in the field.

Costs have been contained somewhat in the intervening years. As of 1997, according to a survey by the trade journal Sales & Marketing Management, the average sales call across all industry segments and for sales agents of all levels of experience cost $113.25. Manufacturing continued to be the industry sector with the most expensive sales structure, with costs averaging $159 per call. Wholesaling was at the other end of the spectrum, averaging just $80 per call. As a percentage of total revenues, sales calls in the service industries tend to be highest, representing 13 percent on average. Sales call expenses in manufacturing, retailing, and wholesaling all averaged between 6 percent and 7 percent, according to the study.

Nonetheless, in the late 1990s sales cost cutting continued to be a priority at many companies. Among the methods increasingly used to trim selling overhead were having sales reps work out of their own homes, at least until they built up a certain amount of sales volume, and eliminating (more accurately, distributing) some of the functions of the traditional sales manager. Indeed, some companies boasted that they could operate without sales managers, as sales forces were becoming increasingly mobile and decentralized and as information technology provided the essential linkages between management and the sales force. Automation of sales-related activities was a major—and often frustrating—drive during the second half of the 1990s. This so-called sales force automation (SFA) was intended to maximize the efficiency of sales agents' work and to better coordinate sales activities with other functions in the business. However, as many as half of these software systems installed did not live up to the companies' expectations. Despite this, most in the field now see automation as a baseline requirement for nearly any sales force.

THE ROLE OF SALES MANAGEMENT

Although the role of sales management professionals is multidisciplinary, their primary responsibilities are: (1) setting goals for a sales-force; (2) planning, budgeting, and organizing a program to achieve those goals; (3) implementing the program; and (4) controlling and evaluating the results. Even when a sales force is already in place, the sales manager will likely view these responsibilities as an ongoing process necessary to adapt to both internal and external changes.

GOAL SETTING

To understand the role of sales managers in formulating goals, one must first comprehend their position within the organization. In fact, sales management is just one facet of a company's overall marketing strategy. A company's marketing program is represented by its marketing mix, which encompasses strategies related to products, prices, promotion, and distribution. Objectives related to promotion are achieved through three supporting functions: (1) advertising, which includes direct mail, radio, television, and print advertisements, among other media; (2) sales promotion, such as contests and coupons; and (3) personal selling, which encompasses the sales force manager.

The overall goals of the sales force manager are essentially mandated by the marketing mix. The mix coordinates objectives between the major components of the mix within the context of internal constraints, such as available capital and production capacity. For example, the overall corporate marketing strategy may dictate that the sales force needs to increase its share of the market by five percent over two years. It is the job of the sales force manager, then, to figure out how to achieve that directive. The sales force manager, however, may also play an important role in developing the overall marketing mix strategies that determine his objectives. For example, he may be in the best position to determine the specific needs of customers and to discern the potential of new and existing markets.

One of the most critical duties of the sales manager is to accurately estimate the potential of the company's offerings. An important distinction exists between market potential and sales potential. The former is the total expected sales of a given product or service for the entire industry in a specific market over a stated period of time. Sales potential refers to the share of a market potential that an individual company can reasonably expect to achieve. According to Irwin, a sales forecast is an estimate of sales (in dollars or product units) that an individual firm expects to make during a specified time period, in a stated market, and under a proposed marketing plan.

Estimations of sales and market potential are often used to set major organizational objectives related to production, marketing, distribution, and other corporate functions, as well as to assist the sales manager in planning and implementing his overall sales strategy. Numerous sales forecasting tools and techniques, many of which are quite advanced, are available to help the sales manager determine potential and make forecasts. Major external factors influencing sales and market potential include: industry conditions, such as stage of maturity; market conditions and expectations; general business and economic conditions; and the regulatory environment.

PLANNING, BUDGETING, AND ORGANIZING


After determining goals, the sales manager must develop a strategy to attain them. A very basic decision is whether to hire a sales force or to simply contract with representatives outside of the organization. The latter strategy eliminates costs associated with hiring, training, and supervising workers, and it takes advantage of sales channels that have already been established by the independent representatives. On the other hand, maintaining an internal sales force allows the manager to exert more control over the salespeople and to ensure that they are trained properly. Furthermore, establishing an internal sale force provides the opportunity to hire inexperienced representatives at a very low cost.

The type of sales force developed depends on the financial priorities and constraints of the organization. If a manager decides to hire salespeople, he needs to determine the size of the force. This determination typically entails a compromise between the number of people needed to adequately service all potential customers and the resources made available by the company. One technique sometimes used to determine size is the "work load" strategy, whereby the sum of existing and potential customers is multiplied by the ideal number of calls per customer. That sum is then multiplied by the preferred length of a sales call (in hours). Next, that figure is divided by the selling time available from one sales person. The final sum is theoretically the ideal sales force size. A second technique is the "incremental" strategy, which recognizes that the incremental increase in sales that results from each additional hire continually decreases. In other words sales people are gradually added until the cost of a new hire exceeds the benefit.

Other decisions facing a sales manager about hiring an internal sales force are what degree of experience to seek and how to balance quality and quantity. Basically, the manager can either "make" or "buy" his force. Young hires, or those whom the company "makes," cost less over a long term and do not bring any bad sales habits with them that were learned in other companies. On the other hand, the initial cost associated with experienced sales people is usually lower, and experienced employees can start producing results much more quickly. Furthermore, if the manager elects to hire only the most qualified people, budgetary constraints may force him to leave some territories only partially covered, resulting in customer dissatisfaction and lost sales.

After determining the composition of the sales force, the sales manager creates a budget, or a record of planned expenses that is (usually) prepared annually. The budget helps the manager decide how much money will be spent on personal selling and how that money will be allocated within the sales force. Major budgetary items include: sales force salaries, commissions, and bonuses; travel expenses; sales materials; training; clerical services; and office rent and utilities. Many budgets are prepared by simply reviewing the previous year's budget and then making adjustments. A more advanced technique, however, is the percentage of sales method, which allocates funds based on a percentage of expected revenues. Typical percentages range from about two percent for heavy industries to as much as eight percent or more for consumer goods and computers.

After a sales force strategy has been devised and a budget has been adopted, the sales manager should ideally have the opportunity to organize, or structure, the sales force. In general, the hierarchy at larger organizations includes a national or international sales manager, regional managers, district managers, and finally the sales force. Smaller companies may omit the regional, and even the district, management levels. Still, a number of organizational considerations must be addressed.
For example:

* Should the force emphasize product, geographic, or customer specialization?
* How centralized will the management be?
* How many layers of management are necessary?

The trend during the 1980s and early 1990s was toward flatter organizations, which possess fewer levels of management, and decentralized decision-making, which empowers workers to make decisions within their area of expertise.

IMPLEMENTING

After goal setting, planning, budgeting, and organizing, the sales force plan, budget, and structure must be implemented. Implementation entails activities related to staffing, designing territories, and allocating sales efforts. Staffing, the most significant of those three responsibilities, includes recruiting, training, compensating, and motivating sales people.

Before sales managers can recruit workers to fill the jobs, they must analyze each of the positions to be filled. This is often accomplished by sending an observer into the field. The observer records time spent talking to customers, traveling, attending meetings, and doing paperwork. The observer then reports the findings to the sales manager, who uses the information to draft a detailed job description. Also influencing the job description will be several factors, chiefly the characteristics of the people on which the person will be calling. It is usually important that salespeople possess characteristics similar to those of the buyer, such as age and education.

The manager may seek candidates through advertising, college recruiting, company sources, and employment agencies. Candidates are typically evaluated through personality tests, interviews, written applications, and background checks. Research has shown that the two most important personality traits that sales people can possess are empathy, which helps them relate to customers, and drive, which motivates them to satisfy personal needs for accomplishment. Other factors of import include maturity, appearance, communication skills, and technical knowledge related to the product or industry. Negative traits include fear of rejection, distaste for travel, self-consciousness, and interest in artistic or creative originality.

After recruiting a suitable sales force, the manager must determine how much and what type of training to provide. Most sales training emphasizes product, company, and industry knowledge. Only about 25 percent of the average company training program, in fact, addresses personal selling techniques. Because of the high cost, many firms try to reduce the amount of training. The average cost of training a person to sell industrial products, for example, commonly exceeds $30,000. Sales managers can achieve many benefits with competent training programs, however. For instance, research indicates that training reduces employee turnover, thereby lowering the effective cost of hiring new workers. Good training can also improve customer relations, increase employee morale, and boost sales. Common training methods include lectures, cases studies, role playing, demonstrations, on-the-job training, and self-study courses.

After the sales force is in place, the manager must devise a means of compensating individuals. The main conflict that must be addressed is that between personal and company goals. The manager wants to provide sufficient incentives for salespeople but also must meet the division's or department's goals, such as controlling costs, boosting market share, or increasing cash flow. The ideal system motivates sales people to achieve both personal and company goals. Good salespeople want to make money for themselves, however, a trait which often detracts from the firm's objectives. Most approaches to compensation utilize a combination of salary and commission or salary and bonus.

Although financial rewards are the primary means of motivating workers, most sales organizations employ other motivational techniques. Good sales managers recognize that sales people, by nature, have needs other than the basic physiological needs filled by money: they want to feel like they are part of winning team, that their jobs are secure, and that their efforts and contributions to the organization are recognized. Methods of meeting those needs include contests, vacations, and other performance based prizes in addition to self-improvement benefits such as tuition for graduate school. Another tool managers commonly use to stimulate their workers is quotas. Quotas, which can be set for factors such as the number of calls made per day, expenses consumed per month, or the number of new customers added annually, give salespeople a standard against which they can measure success.

In addition to recruiting, training, and motivating a sales force to achieve the sales manager's goals, managers at most organizations must decide how to designate sales territories and allocate the efforts of the sales team. Many organizations, such as real estate and insurance companies, do not use territories, however. Territories are geographic areas such as cities, counties, or countries assigned to individual salespeople. The advantage of establishing territories is that it improves coverage of the market, reduces wasteful overlap of sales efforts, and allows each salesperson to define personal responsibility and judge individual success.

Allocating people to different territories is an important sales management task. Typically, the top few territories produce a disproportionately high sales volume. This occurs because managers usually create smaller areas for trainees, medium-sized territories for more experienced team members, and larger areas for senior sellers. A drawback of that strategy, however, is that it becomes difficult to compare performance across territories. An alternate approach is to divide regions by existing and potential base. A number of computer programs exist to help sales managers effectively create territories according to their goals.

CONTROLLING AND EVALUATING

After setting goals, creating a plan, and setting the program into motion, the sales manager's responsibility becomes controlling and evaluating the program. During this stage, the sales manager compares the original goals and objectives with the actual accomplishments of the sales force. The performance of each individual is compared with goals or quotas, looking at elements such as expenses, sales volume, customer satisfaction, and cash flow. A common model used to evaluate individual sales people considers four key measures: the number of sales calls, the number of days worked, total sales in dollars, and the number of orders collected. The equation below can help to identify a deficiency in any of these areas:

An important consideration for the sales manager is profitability. Indeed, simple sales figures may not reflect an accurate image of the performance of the overall sales force. The manager must dig deeper by analyzing expenses, price-cutting initiatives, and long-term contracts with customers that will impact future income. An in-depth analysis of these and related influences will help the manager to determine true performance based on profits. For use in future goal-setting and planning efforts, the manager may also evaluate sales trends by different factors, such as product line, volume, territory, and market.

After the manager analyzes and evaluates the achievements of the sales force, that information is used to make corrections to the current strategy and sales program. In other words, the sales manager returns to the initial goal-setting stage.

ENVIRONMENTS AND STRATEGIES

The goals and plans adopted by the sales manager will be greatly influenced by the industry orientation, competitive position, and market strategy of the overall organization. It is the job of sales managers, or people employed in sales-management-related jobs, to ensure that their efforts coincide with those of upper-level management.

The basic industry orientations are industrial goods, consumer durables, consumer nondurables, and services. Companies or divisions that manufacture industrial goods or sell highly technical services tend to be heavily dependent on personal selling as a marketing tool. Sales managers in those organizations characteristically focus on customer service and education, and employ and train a relatively high-level sales force. Sales managers that sell consumer durables will likely integrate the efforts of their sales force into related advertising and promotional initiatives. Sales management efforts related to consumer nondurables and consumer services will generally emphasize volume sales, a comparatively low-caliber sales force, and an emphasis on high-volume customers.

Michael Porter's well-received book Competitive Strategy lists three common market approaches that determine sales management strategies: low-cost supplier; differentiation; and niche. Companies that adopt a low-cost supplier strategy are usually characterized by a vigorous pursuit of efficiency and cost controls. A company that manufactures nails and screws would likely take this approach. They profit by offering a better value than their competitors, accumulating market share, and focusing on high-volume and fast inventory turn-over. Sales management efforts in this type of organization should generally stress the minimizing of expenses—by having sales people stay at budget hotels, for example—and appealing to customers on the basis of price. Sales people should be given an incentive to chase large, high-volume customers, and the sales force infrastructure should be designed to efficiently accommodate large order-taking activities.

Companies that adhere to a differentiation strategy achieve market success by offering a unique product or service. They often rely on brand loyalty or a patent protection to insulate them from competitors and, thus, are able to achieve higher-than-average profit margins. A firm that sells proprietary pharmaceuticals would likely use this method. Management initiatives in this type of environment would necessitate selling techniques that stressed benefits, rather than price. They might also entail a focus on high customer service, extensive prospecting for new buyers, and chasing customers that were minimally sensitive to price. In addition, sales managers would be more apt to seek high-caliber sellers and to spend more money on training.

Firms that pursue a niche market strategy succeed by targeting a very narrow segment of a market and then dominating that segment. The company is able to overcome competitors by aggressively protecting its niche and orienting every action and decision toward the service of its select group. A company that produced floor coverings only for extremely upscale commercial applications might select this approach. Sales managers in this type of organization would tend to emphasize extensive employee training or the hiring of industry experts. The overall sales program would be centered around customer service and benefits other than price.

In addition to the three primary market strategies, Raymond Miles and Charles Snow claim that most companies can be grouped into one of three classifications based on their product strategy: prospector, defender, and analyzer. Each of these product strategies influences the sales management role. For example, prospector companies seek to bring new products to the market. Sales management techniques, therefore, tend to emphasize sales volume growth and market penetration through aggressive prospecting. In addition, sales people may have to devote more time to educating their customers about new products.

Defender companies usually compete in more mature industries and offer established products. This type of firm is likely to practice a low-cost producer market strategy. The sales manager's primary objective is to maintain the existing customer base, primarily through customer service and by aggressively responding to efforts by competitors to steal market share.

Finally, analyzer companies represent a mix of prospector and defender strategies. They strive to enter high-growth markets while still retaining their position in mature segments. Thus, sales management strategies must encompass elements used by both prospector and defender firms.

REGULATION

Besides markets and industries, another chief environmental influence on the sales management process is government regulation. Indeed, selling activities at companies are regulated by a multitude of state and federal laws designed to protect consumers, foster competitive markets, and discourage unfair business practices.

Chief among anti-trust provisions affecting sales managers is the Robinson-Patman Act, which prohibits companies from engaging in price or service discrimination. In other words, a firm cannot offer special incentives to large customers based solely on volume, because such practices tend to hurt smaller suppliers. Companies can give discounts to buyers, but only if those incentives are based on savings gleaned from manufacturing and distribution processes.

Similarly, the Sherman Act makes it illegal for a seller to force a buyer to purchase one product (or service) in order to get the opportunity to purchase another product, a practice referred to as a "tying agreement." A long-distance telephone company, for instance, cannot necessarily require its customers to purchase its telephone equipment as a prerequisite to buying its long-distance service. The Sherman Act also regulates reciprocal dealing arrangements, whereby companies agree to buy products from each other. Reciprocal dealing is considered anticompetitive because large buyers and sellers tend to have an unfair advantage over their smaller competitors.

Also, several consumer protection regulations impact sales managers. The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act of 1966, for example, restricts deceptive labeling, and the Truth in Lending Act requires sellers to fully disclose all finance charges incorporated into consumer credit agreements. Cooling-off laws, which commonly exist at the state level, allow buyers to cancel contracts made with door-to-door sellers within a certain time frame. Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires door-to-door sellers who work for companies engaged in interstate trade to clearly announce their purpose when calling on prospects.

SALES MANAGEMENT CAREERS

In many ways, sales managers are similar to other marketing managers in the organization in that they are assigned a profit center for which they are ultimately responsible and for which they are expected to oversee all activities. Naturally sales manager's jobs also differ from other marketing-related management positions. Foremost among the differences is the geographical positioning of subordinates. In order to cut sales costs, companies attempt to disperse their sales forces evenly throughout the entire selling zone. This division reduces the sales manager's ability to directly oversee their work. As a result, sales managers must spend much more of their time traveling than other managers.

Another distinguishing characteristic of sales management positions is their high exposure. Sales managers are usually on the "front lines" of their company's war in the competitive market. And, because of detailed weekly, or even daily, reports showing sales and profit data, their performance can be easily judged by superiors and coworkers. A corollary of the ease in measuring their performance is that their compensation plans typically differ from managers in areas such as finance or operations. Often, much of their compensation comes in the form of bonuses linked to statistics indicative of the success of the overall sales force. Based on published estimates, the typical senior sales representative in 1998 earned $68,000 a year, excluding bonuses and incentive pay, which were likely to put the figure at closer to $90,000. A typical salary for a district sales manager was $75,000, and for a regional sales manager, $80,000. Sales executives earned on average of $110,000. Importantly, online sales managers such as individuals who manage Internet sales activities for a company took in an impressive $117,000 in the middle category of earners, with top online sales managers averaging $150,000.

Despite their administrative orientation, many sales managers continue to spend much of their time selling. In fact, at least one study made during the 1970s indicated that sales managers spend about 35 percent of their time engaged in sales activities, including making important sales calls with their sales people and dealing with problem accounts. The study also revealed that about 20 percent of the managers' time, on average, was used to train people, establish performance standards, and handle other personnel matters. The remainder of the time was dedicated mostly to marketing, administrative, and financial tasks. How sales managers spend their time continues to be a subject of controversy at cost-conscious companies as they seek to maximize the value generated by all employees and managers.

POSITIONS

Sales managers commonly begin their careers as salespeople. In some instances, particularly in companies that sell products and services directly to customers, sales people may assume a management role in as little as six months. Typically, however, at least a few years of field sales experience is required to become eligible for a management position. In the case of firms that market highly technical industrial products, a competent sales person may have to work in the field for five or ten years before being promoted.

A common progression for a manager of a field sales force is district, regional, and then national sales manager. Some companies also have unit managers, who are typically placed in charge of four or five sales people. All of these territorial management positions are usually in direct authority over the sales force and generally entail the responsibilities outlined in this text. Most companies have a chief sales executive, or the equivalent thereof. Regardless of his or her title, that person is ultimately in charge of overseeing the successful operation of the entire field sales force program.

Some companies organize their sales forces by markets, products, or customer types, rather then territories. In those instances, sales force managers are commonly referred to as market sales managers or product sales managers. Furthermore, high-level field sales force managers, particularly in large organizations, may employ one or several assistant sales managers to handle budgeting, forecasting, research, and other duties. Finally, in addition to field sales force management positions, there are a number of sales management professionals who do not oversee sales people in the field. Such jobs include managers of sales training, customer service, and research departments.

12 C's of Team Building....

Executives, managers and organization staff members universally explore ways to improve business results and profitability. Many view team-based, horizontal, organization structures as the best design for involving all employees in creating business success.

No matter what you call your team-based improvement effort: continuous improvement, total quality, lean manufacturing or self-directed work teams, you are striving to improve results for customers. Few organizations, however, are totally pleased with the results their team improvement efforts produce. If your team improvement efforts are not living up to your expectations, this self-diagnosing checklist may tell you why. Successful team building, that creates effective, focused work teams, requires attention to each of the following.

* Clear Expectations: Has executive leadership clearly communicated its expectations for the team’s performance and expected outcomes? Do team members understand why the team was created? Is the organization demonstrating constancy of purpose in supporting the team with resources of people, time and money? Does the work of the team receive sufficient emphasis as a priority in terms of the time, discussion, attention and interest directed its way by executive leaders?
Read more about Clear Performance Expectations.


* Context: Do team members understand why they are participating on the team? Do they understand how the strategy of using teams will help the organization attain its communicated business goals? Can team members define their team’s importance to the accomplishment of corporate goals? Does the team understand where its work fits in the total context of the organization’s goals, principles, vision and values?
Read more about Team Culture and Context.


* Commitment: Do team members want to participate on the team? Do team members feel the team mission is important? Are members committed to accomplishing the team mission and expected outcomes? Do team members perceive their service as valuable to the organization and to their own careers? Do team members anticipate recognition for their contributions? Do team members expect their skills to grow and develop on the team? Are team members excited and challenged by the team opportunity?
Read more about Commitment in Team Building.


* Competence: Does the team feel that it has the appropriate people participating? (As an example, in a process improvement, is each step of the process represented on the team?) Does the team feel that its members have the knowledge, skill and capability to address the issues for which the team was formed? If not, does the team have access to the help it needs? Does the team feel it has the resources, strategies and support needed to accomplish its mission?


* Charter: Has the team taken its assigned area of responsibility and designed its own mission, vision and strategies to accomplish the mission. Has the team defined and communicated its goals; its anticipated outcomes and contributions; its time lines; and how it will measure both the outcomes of its work and the process the team followed to accomplish their task? Does the leadership team or other coordinating group support what the team has designed?


* Control: Does the team have enough freedom and empowerment to feel the ownership necessary to accomplish its charter? At the same time, do team members clearly understand their boundaries? How far may members go in pursuit of solutions? Are limitations (i.e. monetary and time resources) defined at the beginning of the project before the team experiences barriers and rework?

Is the team’s reporting relationship and accountability understood by all members of the organization? Has the organization defined the team’s authority? To make recommendations? To implement its plan? Is there a defined review process so both the team and the organization are consistently aligned in direction and purpose? Do team members hold each other accountable for project time lines, commitments and results? Does the organization have a plan to increase opportunities for self-management among organization members?


* Collaboration: Does the team understand team and group process? Do members understand the stages of group development? Are team members working together effectively interpersonally? Do all team members understand the roles and responsibilities of team members? team leaders? team recorders? Can the team approach problem solving, process improvement, goal setting and measurement jointly? Do team members cooperate to accomplish the team charter? Has the team established group norms or rules of conduct in areas such as conflict resolution, consensus decision making and meeting management? Is the team using an appropriate strategy to accomplish its action plan?


* Communication: Are team members clear about the priority of their tasks? Is there an established method for the teams to give feedback and receive honest performance feedback? Does the organization provide important business information regularly? Do the teams understand the complete context for their existence? Do team members communicate clearly and honestly with each other? Do team members bring diverse opinions to the table? Are necessary conflicts raised and addressed?


* Creative Innovation: Is the organization really interested in change? Does it value creative thinking, unique solutions, and new ideas? Does it reward people who take reasonable risks to make improvements? Or does it reward the people who fit in and maintain the status quo? Does it provide the training, education, access to books and films, and field trips necessary to stimulate new thinking?


* Consequences: Do team members feel responsible and accountable for team achievements? Are rewards and recognition supplied when teams are successful? Is reasonable risk respected and encouraged in the organization? Do team members fear reprisal? Do team members spend their time finger pointing rather than resolving problems? Is the organization designing reward systems that recognize both team and individual performance? Is the organization planning to share gains and increased profitability with team and individual contributors? Can contributors see their impact on increased organization success?


* Coordination: Are teams coordinated by a central leadership team that assists the groups to obtain what they need for success? Have priorities and resource allocation been planned across departments? Do teams understand the concept of the internal customer—the next process, anyone to whom they provide a product or a service? Are cross-functional and multi-department teams common and working together effectively? Is the organization developing a customer-focused process-focused orientation and moving away from traditional departmental thinking?


* Cultural Change: Does the organization recognize that the team-based, collaborative, empowering, enabling organizational culture of the future is different than the traditional, hierarchical organization it may currently be? Is the organization planning to or in the process of changing how it rewards, recognizes, appraises, hires, develops, plans with, motivates and manages the people it employs?

Does the organization plan to use failures for learning and support reasonable risk? Does the organization recognize that the more it can change its climate to support teams, the more it will receive in pay back from the work of the teams?
Read more about culture change.

Spend time and attention on each of these twelve tips to ensure your work teams contribute most effectively to your business success. Your team members will love you, your business will soar, and empowered people will "own" and be responsible for their work processes. Can your work life get any better than this?

ABCs of TEAM BUILDING....

The following concepts are what I consider the fundamentals of team-building:

A is for action. No team can function without a plan of action, even when the final outcome is to take no action at all.

B is for brainpower. If two heads are better than one, I would submit that a cohesive, well-assembled team should have enough brainpower to attack any project.

C is for cooperation and communication. Team members need to cooperate, even if they don't necessarily agree. Clear communication is the roadmap to cooperation.

D is for dedication. As members of a team, you must be dedicated to the goals of the team, or you are on the wrong team.

E is for ears. Use your ears more than your mouth because listening skills are critical for team success.

F is for fun. Work should be fun, and working together is usually a lot more fun than working alone.

G is for the group effort. The motto needs to be "all for one and one for all" in order to be a real team.

H is for help. Ask for it if you need it, and offer it if someone else needs yours.

I is for the ideas that come from brainstorming and picking each others' brains. Let the ideas flow and then choose those which hold the most potential.

J is for juggling. Combining all the company's needs and desired results will often require a juggling act, but a competent team will be able to achieve that balance.

K is for kinetic -- energetic, dynamic team members keep things moving.

L is for leadership. Every team needs a leader, and every leader needs to be able to depend on the team.

M is for motivation. Nothing motivates a team like trust placed in them by management to solve a problem.

N is for negotiate. Give and take is as important within a team as it is with outside clients.

O is for open mind. Team members need to be open to options they may not have considered, and willing to expand their perspectives to find the best answers.

P is for planning. A plan doesn't need to be rigid to be effective, but it must provide enough direction to keep the team on course.

Q is for questions. Asking questions is the best path to finding solutions. Don't be afraid of asking any question. If you don't understand something, chances are others don't either.

R is for results. The whole point of forming a team is to achieve results. The only variation on that theme is that the results may not be what had been originally anticipated.

S is for solutions, which differ from results in that there may be more than one solution to any given problem. Then the team can implement the best choice.

T is for time management. A well-managed team uses their meeting and planning time efficiently, and understands when it is time to finish the project.

U is for unity. Once a decision is made, the team needs to be unified to implement the plans. If the team can't act as a unit, then it may be necessary to reconfigure the team.

V is for voice. Every team member has to have a voice in the proceedings, and it is up to the team leader to insure that all voices are heard.

W is for work ethic. Each member needs to complete the given assignments and should have confidence that others will demonstrate the same commitment.

X is the X factor -- the chemistry that makes a team productive because all members are committed to the same goal.

Y is for yes -- say it as often as you can. "Yes, I can help. Yes, that's a good idea. Yes, let's move ahead. Yes, we did it!"

Z is for zeal. Passion, eagerness and enthusiasm are contagious; share your zeal with the rest of your team.

Weakness or Strength

Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength. Take, for example, the story of one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.

The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move.

"Sensei," the boy finally said, "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?"

"This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the sensei replied.

Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.

Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.

This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened.

"No," the sensei insisted, "Let him continue."

Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.

On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.

"Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?"

"You won for two reasons," the sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grap your left arm."

The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.

Bits & Pieces, August 15, 1996, Economic Press Inc


Each time He said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
— 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, The Holy Bible

Practical Tips on Closing Sales....

There are many closing techniques and there are some common tips that are offered to make closing even more successful.

ABC

ABC is a common term which stands for 'Always Be Closing', which is both good and bad advice.

ABC is good advice when it is used to keep in mind that you are always aiming towards a close. It is bad when you just use it to mean battering the customer to death with a barrage of unsubtle closing techniques.

Selling can be a lot like fly fishing. If you tug hard on the line, it will snap and the fish will get away. The best method is a gentle coaxing that gradually brings the fish in to shore - although sometimes when they are spooked you have to let them out again and calm them down further away.

Silence after

When you have used a closing technique, be quiet afterwards and let them respond. If you just keep talking, then you may miss what they have to say - like 'yes' for example.

Silence also builds tension and will encourage them to respond - and a response to a well-put closing question will hopefully be positive.

Watch emotions

Watch out for the other person not only in what they say but also in the emotions behind the words.

Never try closing when they are in a negative emotional state - you will only cause further objection and possibly anger that means they will never buy from you again.

Over-closing

It is not unknown for sales people to talk their customers into closure then carry right on and talk them out again. You can over-do closing and it requires a close sensitivity to avoid this trap.

It is often the fear of the other person saying 'no' that often causes a sales person to keep on talking. You must have faith and also accept that when they say 'no' it is no real comment about you. If you take rejection personally then you are probably in the wrong job.

There are no bebacks

When a customer says 'I'll be back', sales people in many different situations know that this is just an excuse to leave. Thus, it is said, 'there are no bebacks'.

The consequence of this is that when customers say they will be back, you cannot count on it and should treat this as if they will not and decide either to move to the next customer or redouble your sales efforts.

Closing need not mean a sale today

In some situations, there are bebacks. In fact any business sale may require that the sales person make many visits and a multi-million dollar deal can take years to set up.

When you can meet the customer again, then you can have intermediate goals and closure may just be and agreement to meet again. It can also ask for commitment to certain acts such as getting you information or looking at a website. Generally, if you are getting the other person to commit to some action, you are moving the sale forward.

Horses for courses

In all of these methods, remember that all closing techniques are appropriate only in particular circumstances. This can include the emotional state and readiness of the customer.

It also depends on the sophistication of the customer. A professional buyer in a big company has been on all the sales courses themselves and can see a closing technique coming from several miles away. Using simple methods with sophisticated buyers will only serve to annoy them, so rather than treating the situation like one-off selling, use more relationship selling methods, seeking to understand them and meet their needs, both professional and human. Everyone, even buyers, like to be treated with respect, and if they do catch you being a bit crass, then apologize and be more careful where you tread!

Nishant K. Makasare

Perception......

There were two brothers in a small village in the Eastern Cape. The twin brothers grew up knowing nothing else but poverty. Their father was an alcoholic and their mother a domestic worker. They grew up with very little.

On their way home one day, their parents were involved in a bus accident and died instantly. The brothers' condition became even worse. At age 17 they separated. Years and years later a family member decided to find them for a family reunion.

One of the brothers was a wealthy engineer owning a construction company. He had a wife and three beautiful kids. The other was an alcoholic with no sense of direction for his life.

The family member asked the engineer, "How did your life turn out like this?"
"What did you expect with a childhood like mine?" he answered.

She moved on to the other brother with the same question.
"What did you expect with a childhood like mine?" was his answer.

This tells us that, "men are not disturbed by the things that happened but by their perception of the things that happened".

Attitude Deretmines Attitude

I woke up early today, excited over all I get to do before the clock strikes midnight. I have responsibilities to fulfill today. I am important. My job is to choose what kind of day I am going to have.

Today I can complain because the weather is rainy or I can be thankful that the grass is getting watered for free.

Today I can feel sad that I don't have more money or I can be glad that my finances encourage me to plan my purchases wisely and guide me away from waste.

Today I can grumble about my health or I can rejoice that I am alive.

Today I can lament over all that my parents didn't give me when I was growing up or I can feel grateful that they allowed me to be born.

Today I can cry because roses have thorns or I can celebrate that thorns have roses.

Today I can mourn my lack of friends or I can excitedly embark upon a quest to discover new relationships.

Today I can whine because I have to go to work or I can shout for joy because I have a job to do.

Today I can complain because I have to go to school or eagerly open my mind and fill it with rich new tidbits of knowledge.

Today I can murmur dejectedly because I have to do housework or I can feel honored because the Lord has provided shelter for my mind, body and soul.

Today stretches ahead of me, waiting to be shaped. And here I am, the sculptor who gets to do the shaping.

What today will be like is up to me. I get to choose what kind of day I will have!

Non IIM Graduates to take up OFFBEAT JOBS

BANGALORE: Sweta Tiwari, who will soon get her MBA degree in finance from Thakur Institute of Management, made chocolates on Valentine’s day which

fetched her Rs 20,000 in just three days. Interestingly, she earned Rs 22,000 while test marketing her products — the highest earned by any student in her 180-batch class. She plans to open a retail outlet and aims it to be a Rs 100-crore company in five years.

It’s just not IIM graduates who are taking the entrepreneurial plunge. Students from tier-1 and tier-2 management institutes are also increasingly joining the entrepreneurial tribe and their businesses range from making solar streetlights, robots, solar mobile chargers, painting murals and walls, mushroom cultivation, making eco-bricks out of cow dung to offering homemade tiffins.

Sweta was among the 6 lakh students from business schools and engineering colleges across 30 cities who participated in Entrepreneurship Week (E-Week) India conducted by the National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) this year. “We saw the number of business propositions and the number of participants double compared to last year,” said Laura A Parkin, executive director, NEN, and Wadhwani Foundation, which supports E-Week.

One of the aspirants was Danny D’Cruz from the VLB Janakiammal College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore. He started a wall and mural painting business, taking up an average of four projects a month, which helped him earn Rs 8,000 per project. D’Cruz started this business when one of his artist friends lost his BPO job during the recession. “We go to houses and paint their walls with different pictures as per customer demand,” says D’Cruz.

Students like Praveen Kumar and Ashwin Dange from the National Institute of Engineering, Mysore, who learnt about the shortage of mushroom supply in Mysore, started cultivating it. They plan to brand their products soon and sell them directly to hotels and restaurants. And Ashutosh Pandey (25) from the Thakur Institute of Management in Mumbai plans to launch a startup that offers homemade tiffins along with four fellow students. “We hope to sell 1,000 tiffins per day after six months,” said Mr Pandey.

G Ramachandran (22), a Btech final year student at the PSG Institute of Technology, has plans to launch solar streetlights and solar mobile chargers. He plans to raise funds by conducting workshops on solar robots.

Going the eco-way is another student, Kumar Saurav, from the Vidya Vardhaka College of Engineering, Mysore, who has plans to make eco-bricks made of cow dung for homes. These bricks are a mix of cow dung, silica and clay which can be baked in sunlight and don’t need kilns or large ovens. Mr Saurav is talking to contractors and the construction industry to supply these bricks. “With an investment of Rs 50,000, I am planning to produce 20,000 bricks to do a trial run,” he said.

Rahul Kamath (24) from PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore has started a company which makes steam boilers used for different industries instead of furnaces.

“The steam has got higher temperature than fire and can be used for different purposes such as cleaning and won’t burn objects,” he said. Mr Kamath is also starting a plant for organic fuel sourced from agricultural waste, with an investment of Rs 5 lakh.

CLOSING- MARKET TO MARKET SELLING

Can you understand how the excessive use of sales closes may drive some prospects away from the purchase of your product? Its simple: The prospect realizes that he must answer to others in his organization -- or get rid of a trusted vendor -- which is less comfortable than your best closing techniques. He uses any one of dozens of techniques to postpone his decision, then stops returning your calls.
Customers have a decision process that helps to prevent impulse decisions. Sorry, but this is an unavoidable fact.
Industrial customers may be under pressure from sales psychology. Worse than appearing transparent and thoughtless, your excessive and repeated use of sales closes may permanently alienate your prospect.

You will be required to pitch the decision maker and others on your road to meet the decision maker. The decision maker may require steps in evaluating your product such as literature, meetings with subordinates, sample evaluations, process trials, price negotiations, comparisons to competitive products. They may use you, perhaps invite you in only to accumulate additional data that justifies their current supplier. You must contend with advanced corporate purchasing tactics.

Where do you start? First, realize that closing should be a way of working, not a script. Begin by understanding all of the steps that the organization will require to complete the sale. Then, agree on what you will need to accomplish at the current step; how you would be permitted to move forward to the next step. In other words, pre-qualify the customer's needs. This pre-qualification is basically your close -- done in advance! Your job is now to reach a mutual agreement that the customer's objectives are satisfied, clearing a step, allowing you to move step by step towards a check that clears the bank.

Believe it or not, you still have not closed. You will close only when your customer is completely satisfied. What's better than closing on a bank cheque? How about one of the greatest aspects of industry business: repeat orders?

My philosophy is to use one sales closing technique during any single meeting or phone conversation. Using too many closes in sales is a typical mistake; but, not using any is another mistake. Using one close during a meeting will help to move a deal forward. Using two closes may be helpful in very few cases. But, using three or more seems very risky to me -- in business to business product sales.

Furthermore, I use more of a conversational close, not a scripted close. For example, there are some purchasing agents who want to be asked for their order. If they seem to be this type, if they look interested, and if the time is right, why not simply ask for the order?

"Mr. ABC your needs are a wonderful fit for the capabilities of our Corporation. We are excited that your requirement fits with the phase transition with our corporation’s metamorphosis capabilities. During this time you have shown us your requirements and your concerns. We have shown how our organization is capable and focused on meeting all of your requirements. All of us at organization will work hard to make your program a success. May we have an order?"

How to Start a Conversation with New People

1. Start with a "hello or a hi or hey," and simply tell the new person your name then ask them theirs. Offer your hand to shake, upon his/her responding to you. (If you go to other countries, greet the person in tune with the particular culture). If you already know the person, skip this step and proceed to step.

2. Look around. See if there is anything worth pointing out. Sure, talking about the weather is a cliche, but if there's something unusual about it "bam!" you've got a great topic of conversation.

3. Offer a compliment. Don't lie and say you love someone's hair when you think it's revolting, but if you like his or her shoes, or a handbag, say so. A sincere compliment is a wonderful way to get someone to warm up to you. But be careful not to say something so personal that you scare the person off or make him or her feel uncomfortable. It is best not to compliment a person's looks or body.

4. Ask questions! Most people love to talk about themselves; get them going. "What classes are you taking this year?" "Have you seen (Insert-Something-Here)? What did you think of it?" Again, keep the questions light and not invasive. Do not ask too many questions if he or she is not responsive to them.

5. Jump on any conversation-starters he or she might offer; take something he or she has said and run with it. Agree, disagree, ask a question about it, or offer an opinion, just don't let it go by without notice.

6. Look your new found friend in the eye, it engenders trust (but don't stare). Also, use the person's name a time or two during the conversation; it will help you remember the name, and will draw the person's attention to what you are talking about.

7. Don't forget to smile and have fun with your conversation!


Tips

* Just relax. Chances are that whatever small-talk you're making isn't going to stick out in anyone's mind a few months from now. Just say whatever comes into your head, so long as it's not offensive or really weird. (Unless, of course, the person you're attempting to converse with is into weird stuff.)

* Remember, if you think of something in your head while you're talking, it's probably related.

* It will help if you watch some TV, listen to radio shows, and/or read a lot newspapers, magazines, and/or books. You need to have some idea of what is going on in the world. Also remember and plan to share anything you like, think is funny, or find intriguing. This is building up your own library of things that might be helpful to another person during a conversation someday. It will be amazing how you thread these interesting things when you least expect it, and make conversation an adventure instead of a dreadful task. If you take it to the next step and say things that you want the person to think of as adding value, and keep to yourself things that the person might not, you are actually honing your own personality to be appealing to the other person, and what is a greater act of kindness than that.

* If you are shy, it will be helpful to have thought about a topic or two that you could talk about.

* Follow the lead that your listener is expressing. If he or she appears interested, then continue. If he or she is looking at a clock or watch, or worse, looking for an escape strategy, then you have been going on for too long.

* Interesting and funny quotes or facts can lighten things up, and make way for things to talk about. You could also use a set of conversation starter question cards for inspiration.

* If talking over the phone, keep the person involved in the conversation at all costs. If you can't come up with a good topic, try the "questions" game. Just keep asking them questions; random questions work just fine as long as they are appropriate. This technique can save a phone conversation. The questions should be open ended questions that do not require a yes or no answer. For example "How do you know the hosts?"This way you can ask questions about what they just said or follow up with how you know the hosts (for example) instead of acting as if the conversation is an interrogation.

* Half of an effective conversation is the way you non-verbally communicate, and not necessarily what you say. Practice better non-verbal skills that are friendly and confident.

* Read newspapers and magazines to increase your knowledge so you can have more interesting things to talk about

The 10 Most Common Mistakes Insurance Sales team Make

Problem #1


Customers have more sales resistance training than Sales team usually have in sales presentation skill.

Prospect response to insurance Sales team is designed to get as much information as possible and be in control of the situation. Customers often mislead insurance Sales team about their intentions, how much they'll spend, who makes decisions, etc.

The prospect intent is designed to turn Sales team into unpaid consultants, lead them on until they have all of the information they need, and often use their quotes to compare with their current agent or a competitor.

When customers have what they need, they stop returning the agent's phone calls.

Does this make customers bad people?

Of course not.

We all use this system for dealing with salespeople...it's almost second nature.

Why do customers do this?

It's simple.

It works.

The stereotype of an agent is not a good image for most of us, and customers are afraid of being sold something they don't want. In order to protect themselves, customers feel they need a way to deal with Sales team. It is an instinctive reaction to the negative stereotype of Sales team that causes customers to put up a defensive wall.

So how do most Sales team deal with the customers system of defense? Most play right into it. Many don't use a systematic approach to selling. They allow the prospect to take total control of the sales process. The agent eagerly:

• gives their knowledge
• makes commitments without getting any in return
• wastes resources on pursuing deals that will never close
• gives quotes to non-customers who never buy
• misinterpret the ubiquitous "I'll think it over and get back to you" as a future sale

How do most sales organizations contribute to the problem? Frequently they focus on product knowledge and overlook teaching what circumstances or concepts products fit best with.

The solution: Train Sales team on a systematic approach to making presentations so they have "a track to run on." The training should balance both the prospect and agent's best interest.

Problem #2

Spending too much time with customers that will never buy.

Sales team doesn’t ask the hard questions up-front for fear of making their customers angry, they are afraid they will lose something they don't have. Most Sales team thinks their job is to close everybody.

Over the years sales training has emphasized, "Don't take NO for an answer." Insurance Sales teams are taught to be persistent...handle stalls and objections...trial close...always be closing...and yes, even be manipulative. No wonder customers need sales resistance to shield themselves!

Customers realize Sales team doesn’t want to hear "NO" and that when they do, they'll "hang in there" and try to turn "NO" into "YES." When the poor prospect really means "NO," s/he has found the easiest way to get rid of an agent is to tell them, "I'll think it over, and I'll get back to you." How many "think it over's" really turn into business?

The solution: Sales team need tools to separate tire-kickers from buyers. They need an approach that obtains support early in the sales cycle. They need to learn the fine art of tactfully qualifying customers in, not qualifying them out. The top Sales teams learn to ask the hard questions up-front, saving precious resources for real opportunities. "NO" is an acceptable response from a buyer. "Going for the NO" requires a tremendous paradigm shift for most Sales team, but it can take all the pressure off the agent and increase productivity. This approach allows customers to feel in control, this then relaxes them, and lets them buy instead of feeling like they are being "sold."

Problem #3

Sales team talk too much.

Of course, when we sent them to the College of Product Knowledge, filling them with technical knowledge and then sent them out to make their quotas, we should have expected this result."

So what's the problem telling our story? First, people buy for their reason, not the Sales team reasons, not even their company's reasons. Second, most companies' presentations sound the same to the prospect, and when they sound the same, the agent just becomes another agent to the prospect, and then to the prospect, low price becomes the determining factor in getting the business.

The solution: Asking questions is the answer. Teach insurance Sales team to stop regurgitating to the prospect and start asking questions. Customers should do at least 70% of the talking on the sales call. The only way this will happen is for the sales rep to ask a lot of questions.

Questions gather information. Ask questions to find out what the prospect's "pain" is. This is the same thing your family doctor does during an office visit. They ask - they don't tell you anything until they have made the proper diagnosis.

Problem #4

Weak Sales team focus on price.

Price is never the real issue! Sales team focus on price because it's often the first thing the prospect asks about. Yet study after study confirms that quality and services are almost always more important than price. Price is never the main reason for getting and keeping business. People buy our products to either solve a problem they have, or improve something about their current situation or protect against future occurrences.

The solution: Teach Sales team to be more effective in asking questions and getting to real issues. Once they learn to do this, price will not be the determining factor in making sales.

Problem #5

Product knowledge is over-emphasized and misused. As a result, selling often becomes nothing more than "pitching and presenting."

Most sales training focuses on product knowledge. studies show that 80% of training dollars spent annually are spent on product knowledge training. Sales teams, once filled with this product knowledge, are eager to share this information and become a Professional, Unpaid Educator. The focus then becomes totally on product, and not on the customers problem, which is where it belongs.

The solution: Provide training in the strategy and tactics our Sales teams need to help customers clearly define their problems and co-build solutions that fit their needs. Product knowledge is important, but how it's used at each phase of the buying process is the key.

Problem #6

Sales teams fail to get customers to reveal budgets up-front. Many insurance Sales teams are uncomfortable talking about money. Discussing money is seen as intrusive, and unpleasant. Many Sales teams avoid talking about money, until the prospect forces the issue. This is one of the five most common weaknesses that Sales teams have.

The solution: Knowing whether there is money upfront will help the insurance agent distinguish between customers who are ready to solve a problem from one who is not committed. Comfortably talking about money is a key to management, where resources are evaluated based on bottom line impact. Teach your Sales team to find out two things about money:

• How much the problem is costing the prospect; in other words the amount at risk.
• How much they'd be willing to invest to solve the problem.

Without a candid discussion about money, the agent is left to make certain assumptions. And we all know what happens when we make assumptions!

Problem #7

Sales team fails to get firm commitments from customers.

Insurance Sales teams are often very willing to jump at the opportunity to do a quote, presentation, etc. This approach is incredibly time-consuming and resource intensive.

How many quotes has your team/distribution sent out over the last twelve months that resulted in nothing? How much does it cost your team/distribution on an annual basis to do quotes that go nowhere?

The solution: Sales team must learn what motivates people to buy. They must master the skills required to help customers become comfortable sharing problems, and they must learn to determine the customers' level of commitment to solve these problems before they begin to offer their solutions.

Problem #8

Lack of sufficient prospecting.

• Over 40% of all experienced sales professionals have experienced bouts of call reluctance severe enough to threaten their career in sales
• And 80% of all new Sales team who fail within their first year do so because of insufficient prospecting activity.

The Solution: Insurance Sales team need to develop a realistic activity plan. Monitor the plan weekly and implement effective accountability.

Problem #9

The insurance agent has a strong need for approval.

It's an easy and common mistake. "I love people, so I'll be an insurance agent." You end up with an insurance agent that would rather make "friends" with their customers than conduct business. While developing relationships are an important part of the selling process, selling is not a place for people to get their emotional needs met. In fact, it's the opposite: a tough and demanding profession, full of rejection. People who internalize the rejection end up getting out of the profession. Truth is, they should never have gotten in the business. Sales interactions are fundamentally different than social interactions. Successful professionals understand and accept that the bottom line of professionally selling is: MAKING MONEY.

The Solution: Evaluate yourself to determine if you have this need for approval. Managers need to ask pre-hire screening questions that helps to hire stronger people and teach them a system that helps strike the appropriate balance between developing relationships and getting commitments.

Problem #10

Insurance Sales team doesn’t treat sales as a profession.

Professionals like doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, and CPAs' all have one thing in common - they attend continuing education to maintain and increase their proficiency. Yet how many insurance Sales teams are continually seeking new ways to increase their skills? Many have the attitude, "I've been selling for years, what more can I learn?"

The solution: Top performers in every profession are always looking for ways to sharpen their skills and gain the fine edge that leads to consistent success. Managers need to invest in top performers and help them grow their skills. Ego stunts your growth so managers have to be willing to set their ego aside and be willing to grow, modeling behavior that demonstrates it is more important to the manager to be effective than to be right. We can all learn from each other.

In Summary:

Hiring: Distributions, supervisors and managers must complete, step-by-step, a formal process for profiling, attracting, recruiting, interviewing and hiring top performers. Look to hire goal achievers not goal setters. Most managers hire goal setters and are surprised when Sales team never achieves their goals. The truth is the agent only had a wish list. Ask the agent when interviewing or coaching to describe goals they set and "how" they achieved the goal. If they didn't achieve then it was it a goal or only a wish list?

Effective recruiting and hiring is the most important job of any manager. No amount of training, coaching or mentoring will make up for a poor hiring decision. Do it right the first time.

Managing: Implement a sales management process that emphasizes more effective recruiting, hiring, coaching, growing, and developing Sales team. Most of all quit accepting excuses for poor performance from yourself and your agent, raise your expectations and implement a rigorous accountability process. This starts with your team production-if you are not meeting standards. How can you expect to hold your Sales team accountable? In management, you don't get what you want - you only get what you expect and inspect. Remember, you manage things - you lead people.

Training: Tapes, books and one -day seminars are fine for intellectual learning or external motivation, but if you want to be a better golfer, pianist - or a better sales person, you must practice and develop new skills. Selling is a skill that can be taught, learned, and mastered over time.

Phone scripts and rebuttals are intended to assist in moving your management and sales career forward or allowing you to increase you current volume of business.

Remember these are only meant to be sales tools, they do not work, you have to work them.

The key is to do enough of the right things, enough of the time.

Give success time to happen-and do something today to make it happen!

The clock starts NOW!

The Pretty Lady & The Monks

Once upon a time a big monk and a little monk were traveling together. They came to the bank of a river and found the bridge was damaged. They had to wade across the river. There was a pretty lady who was stuck at the damaged bridge and couldn't cross the river. The big monk offered to carry her across the river on his back. The lady accepted. The little monk was shocked by the move of the big monk. 'How can big brother carry a lady when we are supposed to avoid all intimacy with females?' thought the little monk. But he kept quiet... The big monk carried the lady across the river and the small monk followed unhappily. When they crossed the river, the big monk let the lady down and they parted ways with her. All along the way for several miles, the little monk was very unhappy with the act of the big monk. He was making up all kinds of accusations about big monk in his head. This got him madder and madder. But he still kept quiet. And the big monk had no inclination to explain his situation. Finally, at a rest point many hours later, the little monk could not stand it any further, he burst out angrily at the big monk. 'How can you claim yourself a devout monk, when you seize the first opportunity to touch a female, especially when she is very pretty? All your teachings to me make you a big hypocrite The big monk looked surprised and said, 'I had put down the pretty lady at the river bank many hours ago, how come you are still carrying her along?'



[This very old Chinese Zen story reflects the thinking of many people today. We encounter many unpleasant things in our life, they irritate us and they make us angry. Sometimes, they cause us a lot of hurt, sometimes they cause us to be bitter or jealous .. But like the little monk, we are not willing to let them go away.We keep on carrying the baggage of the 'pretty lady' with us. We let them keep on coming back to hurt us, make us angry, make us bitter and cause us a lot of agony. Why? Simply because we are not willing to put down or let go of the baggage of the 'pretty lady'. We should let go of the pretty lady immediately after crossing the river. This will immediately remove all our agonies. There is no need to be further hurt by the unpleasant event after it is over.]

The Turtle Story.....

A turtle family decided to go on a picnic. The turtles, being naturally slow about things, took seven years to prepare for their outing. Finally the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place. During the second year of their journey they found a place ideal for them at last!



For about six months they cleaned the area, unpacked the picnic basket, and completed the arrangements. Then they discovered they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little turtle left.



Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five years...six years... then on the seventh year of his absence, the oldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and begun to unwrap a sandwich. At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, 'See! I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get the salt.'



[Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we do not do anything ourselves.]

Two Stories BOTH TRUE - and worth reading!!!!

STORY NUMBER ONE

Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago . Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder.

Capone had a lawyer nicknamed "Easy Eddie." He was Capone's lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie's skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time..

To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie got special dividends, as well. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block.

Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him.

Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object.

And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was.

Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn't give his son; he couldn't pass on a good name or a good example.

One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done.

He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al "Scarface" Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. So, he testified.

Within the year, Easy Eddie's life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street . But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he could ever pay. Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine.

The poem read:

"The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be still."



STORY NUMBER TWO

World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O'Hare.

He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific.

One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank.

He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship.

His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet.

As he was returning to the mother ship, he saw something that turned his blood cold; a squadron of Japanese aircraft was speeding its way toward the American fleet.

The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn't reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert them from the fleet.

Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber's blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent.

Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible, rendering them unfit to fly.

Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction.

Deeply relieved, Butch O'Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier.

Upon arrival, he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch's daring attempt to protect his fleet. He had, in fact, destroyed five enemy aircraft
This took place on February 20, 1942 , and for that action Butch became the Navy's first Ace of W.W.II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Medal of Honor.

A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29.. His home town would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O'Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man.

So, the next time you find yourself at O'Hare International, give some thought to visiting Butch's memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor. It's located between Terminals 1 and 2.


SO WHAT DO THESE TWO STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER?


Butch O'Hare was "Easy Eddie's" son.