New Sales Manager Life Savers

"New Managers Lifesavers!" Those were the words a couple of new managers in one of my retail training groups used. They were referring to coaching with the 'self management' philosophy that helps develop Self Managing Sales People. The concepts are simple however building self managers takes stretching a bit to get your head around it.

It starts with having meaningful conversations with Sales Reps. This can be achieved by being interested in what your reps are interested in. Sometimes a little listening and enthusiasm by a manager can really get a salesperson going.

Think of the TV show, "Survivor".How many of the contestants fail to start a fire? Even after 30 days with flint and tinder they still struggle. The answer successful survivors use is to fan the spark. And get the fire going.

Same kind of thing with a Sales Rep's ideas. These ideas are fragile too, at the beginning. It works wonders. Fan the fire in your Reps ideas!

After all, what are we more motivated to prove successful, our idea or our boss's? It's a solid example of a meaningful conversation becoming a start point to hatch the new sales plan.
When it comes time to execute the plan, how much should the manager ''help'' the Sales Rep? One of the things that makes the self managing approach really work is to keep things clear - ie.who is doing what. The commitment to specific actions is what makes it work.

Self Managers do what they say they'll do. Managers who coach by supporting and coaching when Sales Reps keep commitments build self managers and amazing performers. New managers may lose traction (and make a lot of work for themselves) when they jump in to help out if a Sales Rep doesn't keep their commitment. It sends the wrong message.

These were a couple of ideas managers told me helped them to build stronger, self managing Sales Reps - the kind people point out as an example of a "Real Pro".

The Golden Rule of Communications

This piece came out of a discussion with Nellie Jacobs, http://www.ignitingimagination.com/, around how people connect and what communication is all about.....
Ultimately this change in understanding can increase the number of contacts and clients you develop by 500%. Read on to find out how.

When we hear expressions like, “It’s a numbers game!”, we have to know this is one of the world’s great half-truths. Whether we are talking about a financial consultant, a real estate agent or a guy looking for a date, the problem is the same. That’s the “Talk to everyone and keep saying, ‘Next’ if it doesn’t work out.” approach and it’s brutal for everyone. The result is a woman saying, “You have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince….”.

Rejection. And a good thing too. Otherwise we’d be jammed up all day with useless meetings and forced polite conversation!

Enter the ‘Golden Rule of Communications’:
“Communicate with others the way you would like to be treated.” ©

When I ask people ‘how’ they would like to meet new friends or business contacts they say, “I like it when it is interesting, exciting and fun”. So that’s a great place to start.

Interesting could mean talking or learning about something or someone I am interested in.
Exciting makes me think of adventure, new ideas and discovery.
Fun is anything that makes me feel good and smile and makes for pleasant company.

Meeting new people, or old friends, or simply doing business could be like that. It can and it is when it’s done based on “The Golden Rule of Communications”. Basic core principles are like foundations for skyscrapers. They support everything we do and they stand up to the test of time.

BUILDING ON THE GOLDEN RULE

The Golden Rule is the foundation, so what do we do with it? How do we build on it?
First, ask yourself a fundamental question about any place or situation you are in or plan to be in:

“What am I doing here anyway?”

It’s a great question for business or social situation. Once you’ve established that you are in the right place, it helps to understand some ‘people’ facts.
Most of us know that in if we look at products, services or relationships, at any given moment some people are actively looking, some will be looking in the next few months, some over the next couple of years and some just won’t be looking.

The numbers used in business can really help:

3-5% Looking
10-15% Looking in the next few months
40-50% Looking in the next couple of years
30-40% Aren’t likely to be looking

Exactly what these numbers are will vary widely from one place to another however the trends are the same. At any given moment in the immediate future about 10 - 15% of the people we meet could be customers. Over a couple of years that number jumps to 50 -75%!!

That means that by making a good contact and keeping in touch I could increase my contacts and business by 500%!

Fortunately there are some things most of us want:

• Someone who is interested in what they are interested
• To be genuinely listened to
• An injection of positive energy
• An injection of positive energy
• To be given the space they need
• Good information or help when requested

So how do we know who’s looking for what we’ve got? How do we communicate with them and stay true to “The Golden Rule of Communication”. Let me use an example of a business communication.

Here’s how Tom Wood of Mastery TV recommends you do it.

You first meet and introduce each other. “What do you do and how can I help you?” Response is “What do you do?” After a brief description of what you do, ask for more about what they’re looking for. If it’s general then look for more detail – an explanation could be that you know a lot of people & may be able to help them.

The conversation starts and is based on getting to know each other and looking for ways to help each other. This is an example of making contact, no matter how it happens. From there on it is a matter of continuing the contact if you feel it’s a win-win!

It's simple and it works.