A Call to ACTION!

There is something very refreshing about those who take action. People make investments daily in lots of “things” designed to make themselves and their companies better. Whether it is a gym membership, a training course, a book, a new piece of technology or something else, we make purchases regularly designed to increase our output or improve us in some way. And yet, it becomes more and more evident to me that people often do not invest the primary ingredient needed to get the true benefit from their investment. That ingredient is Committed, Focused ACTION!

I just recently ran of my Sales Manager Boot Camps in Omaha, Nebraska. It was a terrific event with attendees from several different industries. Not unlike many of my training programs, each person in attendance had wonderful and very enthusiastic things to say about the Boot Camp, my delivery style, and the content. But one company in particular has since then (a mere two weeks ago) taken massive action on the introduced strategies and ideas and has also put into immediate use many the tools that were offered.

Wade Mayfield and his team Thermal Services in Omaha, NE have immediately put the Sales Coach International Seller Rating/Ranking Grid that was introduced at Boot Camp into to immediate use. They have (in two short weeks) had every leader on their team in every division of their organization (sales and non-sales) break down the important factors of Attitudes, Skills, and Activities necessary to perform and to thrive in his organization. Subsequent to this analysis, each leader has assessed and rated each player on his/her team in each of these dimensions, identifying strengths and opportunities for growth. These manager/leaders now have a road map to coach and improve their people’s performances daily through focused field training and coaching, one to one meetings, Individual Development Plans (IDPs), and other coaching initiatives….and they are being held accountable to doing just that.

In addition to the above, one division of the company through one manager (Phillip) is in the midst of developing a series of key Pay Attention! points” and key questions (specifically introduced in the Boot Camp) for what would typically be considered a non-selling position (plumbers) to identify additional opportunities in every call. Also, one manager in particular has taken to heart many of the strategies that were introduced at Boot Camp regarding the creation of more powerfully focused Sales Meetings. He (Lucas) has, since Boot Camp, invited a vendor to be a guest speaker at one of his sales meetings and, in advance of the meeting, actually inspected what he expected with that vendor. He made the vendor lay out a specific plan of action and agenda to his meeting (vs. the “shoot the BS” meetings of the past) and rolled in the vendor’s information with his specific application and execution training. How do I know this? I received a detailed Thank You card from that manager yesterday outlining his successes. Action, action, action!

There are many more examples of massive action from Wade and his team of rock stars that I can cite from just the past two weeks. The tip of the spear (acting as the catalyst) for this action has been Wade himself. Wade attended the Boot Camp along with all of his managers while in the middle of a major physical move of his office. In fact, after seeing me speak at a Vistage meeting, Wade was the catalyst that was instrumental in getting the actual event put together in the first place, securing the training venue and sparking a group of CEOs to take part by enrolling their leader/managers.

I just spent an hour on the phone with Wade and his partner, Barry going over each of the action steps that they have taken in the past two weeks and identifying the plans for each of his leaders based upon the Boot Camp. His entire organization now has a clearer vision and set of marching orders based upon the action of the leaders—not the training alone. Wade and his team invested thousands of dollars and two days of their lives to be exposed to new leadership initiatives at my Boot Camp. Since then, they are ensuring a climb to $20 million in sales this year through committed, focused action on what it is that they learned. I would place my bets on Thermal Services growth this year and beyond.

So, what is it that you are missing in your expectations of results thus far this year? Where have you made an investment that is not paying off yet? Where can you apply some committed and focused ACTION in your life to spark your results?

• That gym membership will not help your fitness and weight loss without you investing your efforts and action.
• That training course you and your team attended means nothing without your investment in the changes and action identified.
• The books and Cd’s on your desk will do nothing for you without you actually reading/listening to them and taking action on the ideas they offer.
• Wanting, intending, thinking, wishing, and hoping are truly not ACTION WORDS and rarely, if ever, produce any change or positive results.

So….pick one area of your life (business or personal) and be “just dumb enough to believe” that taking ACTION will produce what you desire. Dive in! Get busy! Don’t over-think anything. Commit to spending at least 90 days on the change and the growth you desire and watch the results start to pile up. Be awesome, be courageous, and win on purpose!

Use Leap Day to LEAP into 2012 Results!

I am currently on a plane this morning to do a workshop in Southern CA today.  While in line at TSA an hour ago, I heard someone complaining that they had to work an extra day this year for free due to the fact that this is a Leap Year.  Obviously, this is a salaried person; not hourly or commission based and certainly not one with a very entrepreneurial mindset.  I would imagine that they would feel differently if February 29^th had fallen on a weekend or if it was a paid day off!  I feel that they are looking at Leap Year in a totally wrong way.

Every four years the world is blessed with Leap Year, allowing us to catch up with the Earth’s rotation around the sun.  This extra day on our calendar every four years affords not only the Earth to play a little catch-up, it also allows every person to do a little of the same—should they choose.  What a gift!  What will you do with an extra 24 hours this year?  Here are a few suggestions:

For the salesperson:

• Call or send a handwritten note to your top 20 clients and thank them for their business over the past three years since the last Leap Year.  I bet no other salesperson will do that.  Have no agenda other than pure Leap Year gratitude!
• Schedule 2 hours specifically for prospecting 20-30 new major accounts.  This is like found time!  Imagine if you were able to create a new opportunity with it.
• Get your butt out of bed at 4:00am and WORK until 9:00pm on all of the things that you never seem to get a chance to.  That is 17 hours of Leap Year productivity!

For the Sales Manager:

• On Tuesday, the 28^th, spend a few hours in the morning connecting with all of your sellers to go over their plans for their Leap Day.  Get their heads in the right place about the day making sure they take advantage of it.  (See above)
• Spend the day in the field with 1-2 of your top salespeople showing them how to make new sales LEAP into their book of business!  Model the behavior you’d like to see every day from them.
• Get your butt out of bed at 4:00am and WORK until 9:00pm on all of the things that you never seem to get a chance to.  That is 17 hours of Leap Year productivity!

For the Entrepreneur:

• Use today as a chance to GROW your business!  Connect and add some value to the relationships with your top clients, your top employees, and your top growth initiatives today.  No maintenance today—just GROWTH!
• Pull out your business plan for the year and make sure that you are at least one sixth of the way to your goal for the year.  Remember, today is a free day for you to gain on it and surpass it.  You only get this once every 4 years!
• Have a morning ALL-HANDS meeting to “set the stage” for an ultra-productive, over-the-top, kick-ass day!  How about a “Sweat the Small Stuff—Everything Matters” Leap Day?  Perhaps a company-wide contest to see how many new sales dollars can LEAP to the top line?
• Make Leap Day a super-fun, growth focused day that nobody will ever take for granted.  It’s a freebie!  If this were football, it’s an extra possession to gain yardage or score.  In baseball, it’s an extra “at-bat” to get a runner in scoring position or to hit a home-run.  In golf, it’s a “Mulligan” to get you closer or to make that putt!  In tennis, it’s a third serve to score that ACE.

…and, for all:

• Use Lead Day as an extra day to give thanks for an extra sunrise and an extra day on this planet to pursue and accomplish your goals.
• Use Leap day as an extra day to say I Love You to those closest to you.
• Use Leap Day as a day to invest an extra 24 hours into making YOU a better YOU and the world a better place for our children.

I read an article recently that stated (in Europe) that the extra day on Leap Year will mean an extra 100 million Euros to the economy.  I would assume that similar gains stand to be made all across the world.  This Leap Year, I hope that some of those additional “digits” drop onto your bottom line!

 

Preparation + Practice = Profit

I was watching some golf on TV this past weekend and happened to notice Vijay Singh’s name near the top of the leaderboard for the first time in (what seemed like) a long time.  I did a little research and discovered that he has won over $65 million dollars in his career and over $2 million of that was last year.  Not bad for a guy that I thought was washed up.

For those of you that do not know, Vijay Singh is one of professional golf’s most ardent “practicers.”  He is well known for spending hour upon hour on the range honing his swing, polishing his skills, and trying to perfect a game that cannot be perfected.  Vijay Singh is not the most naturally gifted.  He is not the longest hitter nor the best putter.  He simply works harder than most and practices his skill daily for hours.

I recently also read an article on Peyton Manning, one of the NFLs all-time greatest quarterbacks.  As many of you know, Manning did not play in 2011-2012 due to a series of 4 neck surgeries.  By the way, his team, the Indianapolis Colts, went from being a perennial playoff team to last place in his absence.  (How’s that for valuable?)   Last year alone, Peyton Manning earned a salary of over $11 million dollars and next month is up for a $28 million dollar payday if the owner of the Colts does not trade him to another team due to his injuries.

The interesting part of the article that I read was in regards to where he may go if he does get “let go” by the Colts.  The article referred to his current home in Indianapolis where he has a basement called “the cave” where he spends hours upon hours per week studying and analyzing game film to truly understand the defenses that he is up against each week.  Peyton Manning is not fast.  He is not mobile.  He is, however, one of the most prepared quarterbacks to ever strap on a helmet and lead a team.

If you were to look at the majority of professional sports teams and professional athletes in general along with the schedules that they keep, you would see that the overwhelming majority of their time (even though they are the TOP of their games) is spent in strategy, preparation, and practice.  In fact, I would bet that percentage is close to 90% just in rehearsal for the “game.”  That leaves only 10% of their time left for the actual game itself.  So, they are earning 90% of what their pay doing the things necessary to win! (to practice)

Imagine if salespeople understood that the money that they earn comes 90% during the time that they were preparing for and practicing their “stuff” that they need to execute on during the sales cycle.  Imagine if they scheduled the time to practice.  In the world of sales, we find the exact opposite.  If ever we see training, strategy, preparation, or practice as a part of the salesperson’s time, it is most likely about 10% of their time.  That means that 90% of the time, salespeople are “in the game” and trying out their moves on the customer!

So here is my suggestion for all of you salespeople and sales managers reading this post.  (BTW, just reading this puts you in the minority because most salespeople/leaders don’t engage in their profession enough to want to read, learn, and think.)  Let’s make a pact to schedule 45 minutes a day, three days a week, for the next 3 months to do NOTHING but work on the skills that are necessary to GROW your business…not to MAINTAIN it.  Let’s figure out the things on which we need to improve. Let’s NOT just keep repeating and rehearsing our pitch.  Here are a few things that you can do during your “training time.”

• Think of, plan, write down, and practice THREE voicemail messages to get you call returned.
• Think of, plan, write down and practice 6-10 provocative questions you will ask to better diagnose the customer’s current situation and desired business outcomes.
• Think of, plan, write down, and practice appropriate responses to manage the most consistent customer concerns or objections that you run into each day.
• Think of, plan, write down, and practice 5 comfortable CLOSING questions that you will ask each and every time that you have earned the right to do so. (“So….what’s our next step?”)
• Have role PRACTICE (not role play) sessions with two other colleagues in which you not only practice your message, questions, and objection responses but in which you also listen to someone else give theirs.  (What may sound right to you, coming out of your mouth, may sound odd to you, coming from someone else.)
• Think of, plan, write down, and practice what the first 3 minutes of a sales call will sound like to better “set the stage” for your success.
• Define and practice a “trade show approach” to a prospective customer.
• Define and practice a “30 second networking event approach” for your next networking event.

These are just a few ideas to get you started but there needs to be many on your calendar.  It seems that we have two considerable challenges as human beings:

#1—The areas in which we have some skill and thus some success, we do not regularly try to improve.

#2—The areas in which we have difficulty and challenge, we avoid and thus, never work to get better.

Let’s change that…..NOW!  This week, start your practice routine and build it into your schedule every week for the next 3 months.  I’ll bet you start to win more often and earn the results and the PAYCHECK you deserve.

Personal Branding…What are YOU Known For?

TOP Salespeople use Personal Branding as a very special way to stand out in the minds of the market.  Most of them don’t even know that they are doing it!  Why do they do it?

• Personal Branding gets your phone to ring.
• Personal Branding separates you from all of the competition.
• Personal Branding puts VALUE ahead of COST.
• Personal Branding elevates you and thus your company/product/service in the minds of your customer.
• Personal Branding, quite simply, creates more sales for you!

Companies spend millions of dollars every year to burn their brand into the hearts and minds of their potential customers.  This is done with advertising, jingles, and repetition of their messages.  Nike built a brand around that “swoosh” logo such that its worldwide proliferation is staggering.  You cannot go anywhere in the world of sports without seeing the “swoosh.”  In fact, the “swoosh” has become synonymous with excellence in sports.  The result?  An empire of shoes, clothing and sports gear that commands top dollar in the marketplace.

Starbucks did it with coffee in a different way.   They chose to create a customer “experience” that is consistent throughout the world.  They created a brand and invested their millions into teaching us (through their employees) a different way to order and drink coffee.  They train their people (The Barista’s “Green Apron Book”) and invest in the customer experience that we receive in any Starbucks.  The result?  We will go out of our way AND pay a premium to “find a Starbucks shop.

What is it that YOU can do as a sales professional to position yourself and your company as THE CHOICE rather than simply A CHOICE?  Through the appropriate Personal Branding tactics, you can:

•  Establish yourself as an expert (Don’t just be “in” your field…be perceived as the “best” in your field.)
• Be known as a resource (Don’t be a “taker” of orders….be a “maker” of profits and success for your customers)
• Create a demand for your product or service  (Customer’s will call you…instead of the other way around)
• Build prospective customer’s trust in you and your company (People do business with whom they trust and know….get KNOWN to gain their trust!)
• Differentiate yourself from the competition (If you don’t stand out, you don’t stand out!)

How can you create a brand for yourself as a sales professional?  Let’s look at some of the first steps that you must take:

1. Clearly define the “brand” that your desire to create and communicate to your marketplace.  How do you want to be known?  What words or phrases will your customer’s use to describe you?  How will you choose to differ yourself from the competition?
2. Establish  a “special sauce statement” that states what it is that you bring to the table in a way that nobody else does.  This should be from the customer’s viewpoint (benefit driven) not from yours (feature driven.)
3. Create a list of no less than 10 ways to communicate this BRAND every day in every way to your prospects, customers, and clients.  You must walk the walk that you wish to be “known for.”  Consistency is absolutely the key.  Every move that you make needs to be preceded with the following questions: “Is what I am about to do consistent with the brand that I have created?”

Personal Branding is the key to greater sales.  It is often the difference between you getting the contract or the other guy.  More importantly, it is most often the main difference between you having to sell your product or service and people wanting to buy your product or service!

It has been said that in the profession of selling, it’s not who you know, but rather who knows you that counts.  Call our office today at 866-979-LAYO (5296)—yes, the phone number is part of my brand—and get enrolled for any of our upcoming events.  You can also go to www.GerryLayo.com and enroll  for any of these events online.

Remember, if you can’t name 2-3 things that you are KNOWN-FOR, how can you expect your customers to list ONE?

Are you Just DUMB ENUFF to Believe?

Well, here we go!  I was recently asked if I would like to join a group of Sacramento business leaders in a quest to train for and ride in “America’s Most Beautiful Bike-Ride” which is a 100 mile ride around Lake Tahoe.  The event is on June 3^rd and my first training ride EVER with a group is this morning and will be about 35 miles.  Actually, it will close to 45 by the time we ride to the starting point.  Now, this may sound fairly logical to you as we are shooting for 100 in a few short months.  But here is what you need to know:  I have NEVER ridden more than 20 miles!  Nonetheless, I have no doubt that I will be able to do this, and keep up with the majority of the group. Call it blind faith or dumb stubbornness but I see this belief in many entrepreneurs every day…just like this group!

What does it take to have the blind faith to begin a sales career?  There rarely is a curriculum that one gets exposed to extensively until they are “up to their necks in it.”  There is often very little training for the new salesperson outside of product knowledge.  And rarely does someone working their way through high school or college ever state, “I cannot wait to pass this final exam so I can get out into the marketplace and SELL SOMETHING!”  Often times, a sales career is stumbled upon…as are (unfortunautely) many of the skills necessary to excel.  Most times, it is the blind faith and enthusiasm of the new salesperson that gets them started and carries them through the initial period until they woirk their way into a few opportunities or a few sales, thus justifying or validating their decision.  I like to say that often new sellers are “just dumb enuff to believe they can do it”…so they do it!

Think about it:  When you started your career or your company, did you do so with a clearly laid out plan and a strong confidence that you knew exactly what you needed to do and where this thing was headed?  Or did you follow the “leap and the net will appear” philosophy?  Sometimes a decision needs to be made FIRST before anything of value can be craeted.  I have seen many people of considerable talent that wait and wait, pause and ponder, stall and analyze before they even make a move.  They face the curse of the Perfection Trap!  Sometimes, you just need to dive in!

I am a huge fan of preparation and strategy in business and most things.  In fact, I spent 3 hours (and a small fortune) at the bike shop yesterday asking questions about nutrition, hydration, equipment, and other topics.  I have purchased and read 3 books on cycling in the past two weeks.  And I have joined a team (Team In Training) that has massive coaching and support as well as a very thorough training plan.  All that said, I have to DIVE IN for what will be a 45 mile ride this morning!  Am I scared?  A little, yes.  And that is exactly the motivation that I need to get this program under way and hit this goal.  In then end (and I will keep you updated here on this blog) I am positive that this 100 mile ride through the mountains and around one of the country’s most beautiful lakes will “go down” and I will have a wonderful set of memories and a few awesome pictures.  I am just DUMB ENUFF to believe that and thus I will accomplish that!  But for now…..I gotta go get started.

**Post blog post…Although I am posting this today (Monday) I wrote this blog post yesterday morning (pre-Super Bowl) and accomplished the ride yesterday in a much better time and condition than I (or any of the other riders) expected.  Although I was a sore unit last night (and a bit still this morning), I feel awesome.  And…..I am still just “dumb enuff to believe” that I can make to 100 mile ride around Lake Tahoe!  Have an awesome week!

Don’t Make Every Day YOUR Groundhog’s Day!

“Well…what if there wasn’t a tomorrow?  There wasn’t one today!”  Phil Connors (played by Bill Murray)

In the movie 1993 “Groundhog’s Day,” a weatherman, played by  Bill Murray, gets stranded in Gobbler’s Knob (home of the famous groundhog, Punxatawney Phil) and has to re-live the same day over and over and over again.  Every day, he sees the same people, saying and doing the same thing, living the same lives.  For a while, he is confused.  Then, he gets scared and tries to change it—even END it by killing himself and the groundhog!  Eventually, as the movie continues, he learns that the day will continue to be the same unless he changes.  So he increases his awareness of his surroundings, learns from his mistakes of days gone by, starts to adapt, makes adjustments to his behavior, and gets out of the nightmare that his life has become in Gobbler’s Knob!

I think that this movie storyline is an interesting metaphor for BAD salespeople.  Day after day, most of them head into the marketplace re-living their Groundhogs Day.  They knock on the same doors, start conversations the same way, do presentations just like they did yesterday, try the same old tired negotiation tactics and closing lines and all too often, get the same results.  What a life!  Don’t they learn?  Can’t they adapt?  Why don’t they make adjustments?

What about their Sales Managers/Leaders?  Why do they continue to observe the same behavior day in and day out, week in and week out, year after year with no suggestions or coaching to a new approach?   Instead they PUSH you to “do it more,” do it faster,” “do it to MORE people!” STOP IT!  Many times, we need to step back and reassess what it is that we are doing and make proper adjustments.  Salespeople and Sales Managers need to THINK!

• If that did not work the last 6 times we did it, should we make a change?
• If that salesperson hasn’t grown his/her business in the last 6 months, should we make a change?
• If my sales meetings are making no IMPACT on my people, should I make a change?
• If my prospecting efforts have been getting little to no results, should I make a change?
• If my conversion rates have dropped over the past 6 months, what do I need to change?
• If I do the same things this year that I did last year, what can I expect to change?
• WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE?
• What do I need to START doing that I may have never done?
• What do I need to ACCELERATE (do more of) that I have stalled or slowed down doing?
• What do I need to KEEP my focus on and never lose sight of?
• What do I need to STOP doing that is keeping me in this nightmare?

This morning, the groundhog saw his shadow.  This means, apparently, that there will be six more weeks of the same old stuff you have been experiencing for the past several months.  What if that applied to all areas of your life, just as it did in the movie?  What if that extended over the past few years?  What if YOU did not adapt to your surroundings, your environment, and your opportunities?

One thing that differs in this life from the movies; the marketplace offers a new twist every day.  Your competition tries new approaches and desperate moves at every turn.  Prospects and customers are bombarded with new information, more data, and higher output expectations each hour!  Political environments change.  Buying decisions change.  Everything changes and there is very little you can do about most of it unless….you DO something!

The only thing that you can control is how you adapt, how you change, and how you work to get out of your nightmare and get into your dream situation and your dream results daily. So…what do you need to do today to make Punxatawney Phil a liar?  What will you do today to take control and get the hell out of Gobbler’s Knob?

Have an outstanding Groundhog’s Day!

The TWO Irrefutable Laws of Selling

There are two laws about the profession of sales that all salespeople (and marketing people) need to remember.  These two laws may have  very few exceptions to them but for most, these rules need to guide you in your approach.  Here is the first law:

Law #1—NOBODY wants to BUY or OWN what you are selling!

Most salespeople are taught (too often) to go out into the marketplace and extol the many various features and benefits of their products and services and tell wonderful tales about the companies that provide them.  They work for hours on the fine points of the presentation, the cool graphics on the PowerPoint slides, and the delivery of all of those to the prospective buyer.  On top of that, the way that they describe their company, products and services are peppered with terms and phrases that make a prospective buyer go “brain-dead” such as:

Vertically Integrated—Cutting Edge—Innovative—Industry Leader—Cost Effective—Premier—Unique–Scalable–Turn-Key—Value Added–Synergy—Next Level–Customer-Centric–Strategic

What does this drivel all mean to the customer?  NOTHING!!  In fact, these words more often today begin to shut down the customer’s interest.  Why, because they are tired of YOU talking about YOU!

Here is the fact:  NOBODY really wants to buy and own your stuff!  Even those of you that sell cool consumer products such as electronics, cars, and clothing have to think beyond what it is that you sell and get the heart of “the WHY” it is that they want it.  (Think image, differentiation, status, etc.)  for the most of us out there (myself included) the customer is looking to achieve, accomplish, or attain something that our product/service helps them with.  We need to focus on THAT, understand THAT, and get them to discover and admit THAT to us in the sales process.  Is it easy?  NOPE!  Why?  Because we are not programmed or trained to dig for their motivation and work to understand their needs.  We are taught to go give information and repeat a pitch!  Is it simple?  You bet!  How?  You need to change your thinking in advance so that you can change your approach throughout!  It’s all about THEM Stupid

Law #2—Customers don’t know how to BUY!

Sounds weird doesn’t it?  Think about though!  How soon and how often does price come up in the conversation today?  If you are not selling in a typical retail environment where there is a price-tag or a menu with prices, the customer seems to be primarily interested in the price (the cost) of your offering.  Customers may not know how to buy but they certainly know to ask “How much?”  Why?  Simple; because salespeople LEAD with their wallets way too often in their approach.  They enter the conversation with things such as “We want to make sure we get you the lowest price” or “Our product/service will save you money on….” or “we are the price leader in the market…” blah, blah, blah.  In other words, the customer has been trained to go to price soon and to go there often.

Salespeople need to stop SELLING and to start helping customers buy! 

• They need HELP making a decision!
• They need HELP understanding their problems!
• They need HELP assessing their current situation and their future needs.
• They need HELP analyzing past decisions that got them there.

They don’t need a walking, talking brochure vomiting on them!  But, too often, what they GET is just that!  Thus….”How much?”

So…what to do?  First off, stop being a self-centered, product pushing braggart with commission breath!  Get into every opportunity focused on the intent of learning, engaging, and discovering your customer’s “needs to buy.”  Get them OPEN and sharing information about their favorite subjects—themselves and their situation.  The more they are talking to you, sharing with you, and open to you…..the more often that they differentiate you, value you, and will choose to do business with you!

Understand this:  Most salespeople don’t get this!  Most salespeople are not trained to diagnose before prescription.  Most salespeople are NOT tough acts to follow! Learn these two LAWS of buyers and separate yourself from that crowd!