Category Archives: Uncategorized

How to Be the Best Version of You

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By Steve Tobak, –  Inc.com

Truly happy and successful people get that way by becoming the best, most genuine version of themselves they can be. Not on the outside–on the inside. It’s not about a brand, a reputation, a persona. It’s about reality. Who you really are.

Sounds simple, I know. It is a simple concept. The problem is, it’s very hard to do, it takes a lot of work, and it can take a lifetime to figure it out.images

Nothing worth doing in life is ever easy. If you want to do great work, it’s going to take a lot of hard work to do it. And you’re going to have to break out of your comfort zone and take some chances that will scare the crap out of you.

But you know, I can’t think of a better way to spend your life. I mean, what’s life for if not finding yourself and trying to become the best, most genuine version of you that you can be?

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Why a Shorter Sales Cycle Isn’t Always a Better Sales Cycle

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Would it then be prudent for Sales Management to analyze sales cycles within their organizations and keep trying make them shorter? VP of Solution Management for the SAP Sales OnDemand solution John Garrish doesn’t expect that this is the right goal. In and of itself, a consistently diminishing sales cycle mean is probably not a good thing. Why? Because it is probably accompanied by a diminishing total average deal size within your sales organization. This could mean your sales reps are selling the solution short, going for the quick win. [ Read entire article here...]

Extraordinary Products Deserve Extraordinary Product Launches

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By Richard Ruffimages

Companies in the B2B market develop a dazzling array of new products.  Some are modifications or minor upgrades of last year’s offerings.

And some are extraordinary new products that are designed to be significant revenue producers or game changers or in some cases “bet the company” entries into the market.

Unfortunately all too often, even when the new product falls into the extraordinary category, the product launch to the sales team more closely resembles an escape plan than a product launch to develop market superiority.  The investment in training the sales team to sell the new product is simply not commensurate with the importance of the new product.

This omission constitutes a strategic missing link. Even an extraordinary new product will not sell itself beyond the early adopters. The sales team needs a comprehensive body of product knowledge and they need to fine-tune and adapt their sales skills to the customer requirements related to the new product. The more innovative the new product – the truer this proposition.

The sales team will not accomplish this information acquisition on their own.  Training is required and for an extraordinary product, it is only fitting that the training be extraordinary.

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Time Management: The Red Queen’s Race

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By James A. Baker  
Founder and CEO
Baker Communications
March 2013images

Commitments, appointments, errands, tasks, projects — call them what you will — the busyness of our lives is comprised of a wide variety of activities that quickly expand to fill up every available minute on our calendar.

Activities are the things that we DO with our lives. They may be related to work or leisure; they may be pleasant and relaxing, or stressful and taxing; but — one way or another — our lives are defined and consumed by our activities.

The important question is this: are your activities helping you to achieve those goals you believe are important to you? Put another way, are you wasting valuable time on activities that aren’t tied to your most important goals?

Read the entire article here.

The Five Stories Credible Leaders Tell: New Speechworks White Paper

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The best leaders build credibility with stories. SJ Daily Blog Picture

There are five stories you should be able to deliver that will build your credibility as a leader. Learn how in Jan McKenzie’s White Paper “The Five Stories Credible Leaders Tell.”

Jan is an Executive Coach with Speechworks, Inc. where she teaches leaders how to create and deliver speeches that inspire confidence and move audiences to action. As a communications expert with Speechworks, Jan has taught and coached in companies such as Coca-Cola, Home Depot, Novelis, Morgan Stanley, Georgia Tech and more. In her previous role as Director of The Weather Channel Companies award-winning Learning and Development Department, Jan spent over 19 years developing leadership at every level in corporate America. She has coached executive and leadership teams, created and implemented company wide change initiatives, and partnered with executives to develop high performing sales leaders. An experienced public speaker and published author of inspirational books, Jan has been endorsed by leadership experts and NY Times Bestselling authors Stephen M.R. Covey and Dr. Ken Blanchard. Her books are available on Amazon.com.

How Many Times to Call a Lead Before Moving On

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Michael Pedone, founder and CEO of SalesBuzz.com asks:

Cold & Warm Calling Sales Question: SJ Daily Blog Picture

“How many attempts should a sales rep make to contact a lead? Our leads come from various sources including conferences, website visits, webinars, Google AdWords, LinkedIn etc. How many times do you call a lead before sending an email? How many times do you call a lead before you consider them “exhausted” and put them into the marketing “fish bowl” for email campaigns? Also, do you really believe leaving voice mails work?”

Read Michael’s Answer here….along with other helpful questions and answers that will lead you and your team to sales success.  

Top Ten Steps To Effective Delegation

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SJ Daily Blog PictureAn article by Keith Rosen MCC, award winning author and CEO of Profit Builders, the leading global provider of management training, sales coaching, executive coaching and sales training.

Executives and managers are often left feeling frustrated when their staff doesn’t perform a task the way they expected. This can be eliminated by sharpening your communication and filling in the gaps that are often left open for interpretation. Here are some guidelines.

Senior Level Decision Maker Selling

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Here are seven questions to consider: SJ Daily Blog Pix

  1. Are your salespeople prospecting/selling at the right level?
  2. Where do your salespeople currently and comfortably enter accounts?
  3. Are they getting in front of the right people?
  4. Are your salespeople entering at the appropriate level within an account that matches the level of expenditure, commitment and long term value to the prospect that your product or service represent?
  5. Do they have enough depth in their existing accounts?
  6. Are your salespeople comfortable interfacing with “head honcho” Senior Executives?
  7. Do they have the capacity to build relationships with a wide variety of people at varying levels in an organization? Far too many salespeople tend to enter an account at a level that is comfortable, easy and expedient.

Salespeople who enter an account too low, meaning they start selling to a person in an account with little or no authority, tend to do so for one or more of the following reasons, as revealed by The Brooks Group.

Why Sales Success Depends on Attitude

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SJ Daily Blog Pix“The people you do business with deserve to be served by only the best. If that isn’t you, move aside and let the professionals do the job the right way.” – Robert Terson

Caring About the People You Do Business With

How do you view the people you do business with? Do you care about them? Do you care about their success? Are you there to serve them, help them get what they want, better their lives? Is that important to you? Do you think about that, is it something you’re fully conscious of, proud of? Or are they there simply for you to make a living, to serve your needs, to be nothing more than the pawns of your “professional” existence?

Do you speak well of the people you do business with? Do you think highly of them? Or do you speak ill of them, make fun and belittle them, tell stories to your family and friends about how dumb and ridiculous they are? Do you admire them, learn from them, or do you see them as idiots who are successful in spite of themselves?

Who are these people to you?

If you’ve never bothered to think about it, Robert Terson,  Founder/CEO of Sellingfearlessly.com, suggests you take a moment or two to ponder the question—to ponder all the questions above, because the quality of your entire sales career, the degree of success you achieve, depends on your attitude towards these people.

Read the rest of Robert’s article here.

Infographic: Why we Suck at Setting Goals | Onlineeducation.net

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Onlineeducation.net shared an interesting infographic about why we “suck at setting goals”.  One point is that people don’t write them down.

Salesjournal can help!  If you haven’t shared your 2013 business resolution yet, would encourage you to do so here.

Setting Goals Infographic

Why we suck at setting goals