A Process for Business Development
and Sales Success
Business success depends on many
factors including proper financial
management, efficient processes and
talented people. Yet the thing that
drives business success the most is
sales. Without sales financial
management becomes very difficult and
this can cause stress on processes and
people.
Sales are a must for businesses to
survive and grow. The most common cause
of business failure is poor management
and this is because management is too
focused on operations and not enough on
sales and marketing.
This is true for all size businesses
from a one person operation to a large
enterprise. Often the strengths of
business owners lie in their product and
technical expertise rather than in sales
and marketing. This is very common today
where start-up businesses are based on
an innovative technology or product that
has been developed by the founder.
Even sales people who seem to be
naturals at selling need to continuously
develop their skills at selling. This is
because talent does not translate
automatically into success. Developing
one’s talents can mean outstanding
results in selling. This is obviously
true in the sports world so why would it
be different in business. This is not
only true for sales people but for all
positions.
Selling is 98% people skills and 2%
product knowledge. That does not
mean that product knowledge is not
important. In fact it is crucial that
the sales professional knows and
understands his product and service
inside out and keeps learning.
The following video demonstrates the
importance of developing selling skills
for a business owner. The client, Mario
Lapointe, president of
SMT-ASSY , underwent sales and
management coaching over a one year
period and he explains the results and
benefits he experienced. Mario is a
mechanical engineer who prior to
starting his business worked for large
manufacturers in the aerospace industry.
You can also listen to this audio
recording of an interview with Mario
from a conference call seminar here.
Mario Lapointe’s business was profitable
at the time but was not growing as it
should have been. He essentially doubled
the sales of his firm in one year while
following a sales training and coaching
process with Optimus. The main reason he
succeeded so well was he made the
process of learning a priority and he
did as instructed. He also applied what
he was learning in his business so he
could understand what he was doing and
get feedback from his coach.
What precisely he did structurally in
his business to double his sales is not
important. What is important to
understand is that applying what he was
learning gave him a new way of
understanding himself and his company
and what he needed to do to improve.
The sales development process is really
a process of personal development that
coincides with the skills required to be
a successful sales professional.
Professional sales people provide
solutions to problems faced by a
particular customer who benefits in
specific ways from using the products or
services of the solution provider.
Personal development for a business
owner and sales professional is crucial
to growing sales and a successful
business. Personal development drives
improved self-knowledge and
self-confidence and there is no limit to
how much confidence and understanding of
ourselves and others we can have. It
also creates flexible thinking that
makes adjusting to conditions easier and
promotes creativity. In other words it
allows for change which means we are
more pro-active in attempting new ways
to reach our goals.
You cannot learn about yourself and
sales development overnight such as in a
one or two day seminar workshop. Real
development requires a process that
evolves over several weeks and months
accompanied by a knowledgeable and
skilful trainer and coach.
The minimum training/coaching process we
recommend is a ninety day development
program, while even better is a six
month to a year coaching course. The
process that will work best is
determined according to wants, needs and
financial situation.
To learn more about the process please
send an email request for information to
Stephen Goldberg at
sgoldberg@optimusperformance.ca
Tips 'N Tools page
Check out our new Tips 'N Tools page for lots of great information from our very knowledgeable and professional staff. You can find the tips and tools page link in the menu bar on the right, by following the link just above or by using the link provided in the side bar.
10 ways to boost your productivity
Productivity is not just about doing more. It's about working smarter to get more things done. But to be really efficient, it takes effort and practice. Here are a few tips to help you learn to get more out of each and every day.
Example: Focus on three goals and visualize meeting them. "A lot of people fall into a routine," said Stephen Goldberg, a business coach with Optimus Performance. "Choose three goals that you need to reach to succeed in your work and remind yourself every day of those goals."
The go-to guy. He's the person in your office you turn to when you need a piece of information that no one else has. He's the high-achieving type you turn to when you need to get something done fast. She's the one who smiles accommodatingly when you hand her yet another task even though she's maxed out with work.
Stephen Goldberg, workplace coach and trainer with Optimus Performance, says there are several things go-to people can do to step out of the role. The pleaser needs to set boundaries. The expert can stop being a go-to person if he agrees to share his knowledge with others. He can also mentor co-workers. The achiever must realize that others in the organization are capable of taking on tasks.
Optimus Performance is now part of a consortium group of consultants represented by Bejicel Inc. to work together to provide services to manufacturers. Under a new government grant program that provides between 40%-50% of the professional fees, Optimus Performance will be working with manufacturers in order to improve the performance of their organizations. The goal of the grant is to provide manufacturers with expert consulting and coaching, and to create relationships with specialized resources in order to increase their productivity, and their local and international competitiveness. Within this framework, multidisciplinary teams (made up of experts from universities, private consulting, economic development organizations etc) will be made available to manufacturers for guidance.A budget of $ 51 million over 5 years will be used to support manufacturing companies. Eligible expenses are those directly linked to the implementation of the action plan including professional fees, the purchase of studies, and so on, not for financing costs or capital expenditures. The grant endeavors to support 1200 companies over a period of 5 years or 240 per year.
Leaders are not all alike, which of course is true also of everyone else, as neuroscience informs us. Neuroscience has discovered that humans have three brains (head brain, heart brain, and gut brain or body brain), that we use those three brains in a lopsided manner, and that the lopsidedness is not the same for everyone. This highly interactive workshop demonstrates what that means for the six classic types of leaders in their dealings with employees, and how leaders can learn to become better balanced.
THE PRESENTER
Fritz Glaus, corporate coach and seasoned facilitator and author of the book “CRazYZoo! - KNOW THYSELF made easy”, with the collaboration of OPTIMUS PERFORMANCE INC. is pleased to offer this special seminar for your organization or association.
THE DETAILS
This highly interactive and informative workshop is designed to have the participants get a good understanding of the principles of leadership and team development based on the principles of self-knowledge as presented by Mr. Glaus in conjunction with the latest discoveries of the brain by Neuroscience. Through an interactive exercise the participants will discover about their type and which brain or intelligence is most dominant in them. This new knowledge and understanding can then be applied to both leadership and team development as this provides new knowledge of the most effective leadership style to use to suit the person and situation.
Contact us for more information or watch the video to see an extract of a seminar.
Is there such a thing as a shortcut to self-knowledge? CRazYZoo! is a fable filled with action and with relationship challenges that illustrate the use of a novel but proven method of learning to understand oneself and others and of charting one's own road to success. You are invited to make an initial decision about yourself as you start reading the book and another one as you progress through the story -- and you are on your way to self-discovery! This highly successful method of self-knowledge is being used by a growing number of trainers and facilitators, as it enables participants to increase their self-esteem, develop open-mindedness and tolerance, strengthen their ability to communicate and to discover opportunites for improvement and to solve problems. YOU can use it now on your own to learn to know yourself better and to become greater and more successful as a person.
Accentuate the positive - it works
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Since it's a truism that people respond best to positive feedback, why does our culture focus on criticism and negativity when assessing performance?
Perhaps it's the way we live. A cursory glance at the stuff that passes for entertainment - sitcoms and dramas, both real and fictional - and you'll see someone always pushing someone else's buttons. In our life stories, achievement is about elbowing other people aside. Conflict is the way to get what you want.
But, Stephen Goldberg, whose company Optimus Performance trains in the areas of leadership and team development, points out, "everyone has a heart and needs to be touched and told what they're doing well."
"It is constantly with us and yet many of us fear and resist it. Change. Particularly change in the workplace, can be a source of tremendous stress for many workers.
It can be simple: you have to master the use of new software. Or, not so simple: the work you do has been outsourced to China and you're now out of a job.
The way you respond to on-the-job change can say a lot about your personality. And in a perfect world, you'd be exposed to change in small, measured doses. But this is not a perfect world..."
"I call this kind of work being socially responsible," said Stephen Goldberg of Optimus Performance, a West Island firm that does training and development and coaching in the corporate milieu.
"When we work with business leaders, we encourage them to adopt social responsibility. How much importance they place on it depends on the health of their businesses. When a company is in survival mode, it can't always focus on the community."
But healthy companies that can afford the time and resources to shore up their communities do benefit, Goldberg said.
"Your ability to generate business depends on the health of your locality," he said. "We have to look at creating healthy environments to nourish businesses."
It's a new year, time to bite the bullet and make some plans. Not vague plans like "I will be more punctual" or "I plan to work harder." I mean real plans, ones that will truly change your professional and, by extension, your personal life.
"People can make real changes in their lives," said training coach Stephen Goldberg.
But in order to make those changes, we must realize that planning is everything.
"One
thing we know for sure about
the new year, ushered in so
tragically by deadly tsunamis
in Asia, is that it will bring
change.
Social
change is quixotic and more
shocking than ever. Who would
have imagined a decade ago a
television show in which men
and women compete to have their
bodies surgically rearranged?
But
nowhere is change more a factor
than in business, where competition
is global and fierce. The marketplace
is littered with companies that
didn't take into account the
relentless tide of change, consultant
Stephen Goldberg says..."
Welcome
Is there such a thing as a shortcut to self-knowledge? CRazYZoo! is a fable filled with action and with relationship challenges that illustrate the use of a novel but proven method of learning to understand oneself and others and of charting one's own road to success. You are invited to make an initial decision about yourself as you start reading the book and another one as you progress through the story -- and you are on your way to self-discovery! This highly successful method of self-knowledge is being used by a growing number of trainers and facilitators, as it enables participants to increase their self-esteem, develop open-mindedness and tolerance, strengthen their ability to communicate and to discover opportunites for improvement and to solve problems. YOU can use it now on your own to learn to know yourself better and to become greater and more successful as a person.
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