Monthly Archives: May 2020

performance of sales staff

Improving Performance of Sales Staff during COVID 19

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It is essential to have salespeople perform at the top of their game to keep revenues flowing as the sales process is happening more and more online.


The other day I was speaking with my bank account rep and she asked if I took credit cards for which I replied yes. She said they worked with another firm who were offering great deals now and would I be interested to learn more. I said yes and she had the sales rep call me.


When the rep called it sounded like she just wanted an order and did not seem to want to take the time to explain the offer. It seemed that because I was referred by my bank it would be a sure sale.


I thought about this call afterwards and realized how the sales rep did a poor job of selling.


Selling is not difficult; you just need to follow certain principles and steps. It is the job of the business owner or manager to make sure that salespeople are professionally trained and that their performance is managed and reviewed.


Principles of Sales

The basic principle of selling is first to qualify your prospect. Assuming the person is going to buy just because of your brand or market position is wrong.


Qualifying the prospect may mean different things to each company but you need to know what your qualification criteria is and train your salespeople on that. This also means what action to take when people qualify and when they do not.


Qualification Criteria

Here are some basic qualification criteria I use to know how to proceed with my prospect. The sales rep I spoke to seemed to be completely unaware of this.

  1. What is the concern, problem, or opportunity that the prospect has, and can my product or service solve that?
  2. Is this the right time to solve the problem or address the opportunity?
  3. Can the prospect afford our solution?
  4. Am I speaking with the decision-maker?

Asking Questions

To qualify the prospect according to the above criteria, the salesperson needs to ask questions. This is also how they can stay in control of the selling process. If the prospect is asking all the questions, then they are in control and you cannot properly qualify them to determine next steps or close the sale.


Of course, they might just decide to buy based on the answers provided but then if there is an objection that you do not know, you cannot decide what to do to continue selling.


Closing the Sale

If the prospect meets all the qualification criteria, then the salespeople only needs to ask for the order and treat any objections that the persona may have. A good rule of thumb is to ask as many as four times for the order. The worst that can happen is the person says no.


But when people do not buy when you ask and they meet all qualification criteria, then you ask more questions to find out what there concern is and then you ask to buy again, once you address the concern.


Need More Information

Sometimes the prospect meets 3 out of 4 of the qualification criteria and so the salesperson needs to know what to do to get them qualified. This may mean calling about at a better time due to other issues taking priority or perhaps getting to speak to the decision maker.


The salesperson needs to note down follow-up actions to take once they better understand what the situation is by asking more question.


As you can see asking questions and listening well is the most powerful skills salespeople need to learn to be more effective in filling the sales pipeline and closing sales.


It is the responsibility to the business owner or manager to ensure that salespeople receive adequate training and coaching and there is a way to measure their performance and give feedback.


If you see a need to address the performance of your salespeople decide what action you can take now and get it done.


goal achievement

Remove These Three Constraints to Goal Achievement

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These three common constraints to goal achievement, once removed will allow you to propel towards your incredibly important goals.


Goals are not MUST goals

Sometimes we set too many goals and do not work on any because they are not MUST goals. A MUST goal is as it says, something you oblige yourself to achieve. This usually translates into avoiding the downfall from not achieving the goal.


For example, your company is just breaking even, and your goal is to grow sales by 20% to generate profits and grow. If you do not achieve the goal you risk losing money and this could put you out of business. So that would be a MUST goal.


Look at your goals and find one you must achieve or set a new one. Use my goal planning form to write it down and plan it out.


Goals are not broken down into steps

Often goals may be set and even put in writing, but they are not acted on daily or weekly. If a goal is a MUST goal it should at the forefront of your thoughts and thus you are driven to do something every day or at least weekly towards it.


goal achievement

My goal planning worksheet walks through each aspect of goal setting and results in concrete action steps.

Lack of accountability

It is not easy to hold yourself accountable and urgent tasks can get in the way of finding time to work on your must goal.

The previous example goal of increasing sales by 20% might be a must goal but urgent matters such as dealing with current customers or other problems could stand in the way of prospecting for new business. This is where working through the goal planning form and the section on obstacles and solutions is critical. The solutions will turn into action steps.


Having a goal buddy to help hold you accountable is a good approach for some people. It could be a colleague, friend, or a coach. You could make it a mutual arrangement where both buddies are there to hold each other accountable to their goals.


Summary

These are the three things I think that stand in the way of goal achievement. So, choose one goal that you have a burning need or desire to achieve and make a commitment to do it.


Break down the goal into daily or weekly action steps.


Finally, find a buddy you trust to share the goal with and help hold you accountable.


And of course, download and complete my sure proof goal planning worksheet. Also check out my complete goal setting training that includes email support by me.


welcome employees back

Consider the Importance of Social Skills to Re-Integrate Employees Back to The Workplace

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Every change in the work situation of employees can cause a reaction and shift of attitude. When moving back to working on-site, new rules and procedures will be implemented for some time. This will affect the dynamic of teams and can cause conflicts in some cases.


Here are three things you can do to successfully welcome employees back to the workplace:


  1. Hold team meetings with employees to discuss new guidelines and procedures to apply social distancing.
  2. Give employees an opportunity to express how their feeling and engage in discussion. These meetings are best done in smaller groups by department or functional teams.
  3. Provide guidelines and training on how employees should confront one another when someone is not respecting the new rules and procedures. You want people to act with respect and not have conflicts erupt that will impact teamwork and performance.

There three steps or guidelines are very easy to implement but should be done with care, so people feel free to share how they are feeling without fear of repercussion.


This is a stressful time for everyone as confinement feels like one’s freedom has been taken and of course the concerns about jobs and money come into play. Promote a culture of mutual support and get everyone working towards positive outcomes for all.


employees as a team

Think of Your Employees as a Team of Musicians

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A group of musicians when in synch create beautiful pieces of music that is captivating and uplifting. Each musician contributes their unique passion and talent to the creative process, which starts with writing the music and culminates in performing the pieces.


employees as a team

A successful music band that experiences longevity needs to learn to collaborate between recording projects and performances. Some iconic bands like the Rolling Stones seem to have developed the ability to work and stay together for more than 50 years now, while the Beatles only last 7 years.

This makes for a good analogy for a group of employees. What makes employees go from being simply a group to a high performing team that continues to evolve and collaborate?


  1. Each member is good at what they do and continue to get better though their own desire to grow in their chosen expertise
  2. There is a genuine respect for each other and the unique talent each member brings to the team
  3. They can work though differences for the good of the team
  4. They help each other when things get tough
  5. They find ways to grow as a team and continuously improve

Any band like the Rolling Stones usually has a leader who starts the group and helps it become successful. Of course, music bands will have a manager whose job it is to promote the band and manage the business side.


Business leaders are like the band manager whose job it is to form the team and ensure that their needs are met so they can perform well together. The leader/manager needs to:

  1. Bring the right team members with the right talent, skills, and attitude. As the team progresses over time this responsibility can be done as a team
  2. Make sure each member is improving on their skill set and discovering new opportunities to grow
  3. Challenge the team to take risks to find ways to evolve and improve together
  4. Help team members sort out any conflicts or disagreements that could derail the team
  5. Involve the team in planning their future so everyone actively participates in the journey

As mentioned in point 1, over time the team itself can collectively take on these responsibilities and thus the original leader gradually shares more and more power with the team.


Who are the artists in your team? What are their talents? How can you continuously have them become more and more synchronized and output a performance that is truly world-class? This should be your goal and at the forefront of your thinking as a leader.