Data Clean-up

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StrategyDriven Organizational Performance Measures Best Practice ArticleImplementation of performance metrics or the alteration of an existing metrics represents change. These changes often expose previously unseen data; producing unexpected information and bringing to light both performance inefficiencies and errors in captured data. Consequently, performance reflected by the new or updated metrics may be erroneous; necessitating further investigation and possible corrective action.

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About the Author

Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Principal is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Are you the BEST salesperson of them all?

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What makes a ‘top performer’ a top performer?

If you hold interviews with the most successful salespeople in the world, and ask them “why are you successful?” they’ll give you their take on it, but it will not be the right answer. They will give you symptomatic responses like, “I get up early in the morning” or “I work hard every day” or “I’m willing to do what other people are not willing to do” or “I ask a lot of questions” or “I put my customers first.”

All of those answers and those characteristics will not help another salesperson to become more successful. I would rather hear something like, “I have coffee with one customer every morning at 7:30” or “I pre-prepare three questions before every sales meeting. Engaging, thought-provoking questions about what I believe are the emotional elements of my customers desires” or “I take notes when the customer is talking to be certain I capture his needs and my promises.”

The differences are subtle.

Most successful salespeople have no concept of why they are successful, or perhaps they have no ability to make it clear, or even – never gave it much thought.

Yes, the salesperson asked a lot of questions, but the secret is to get to the motive of the person wanting to buy. The questions he or she asked drew out emotion and buying motive and, as a result, the salesperson created a buying atmosphere.

So, when I interview a successful salesperson, I want to make sure that if I’m asking him or her why they are successful, I want to get to the WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO behind their perception of why.

Yesterday, I interviewed two multi-million dollar producers. I asked them what they did to get to their top position. Here are the net results (what I asked + what they said + how I interpreted it + how they agreed it really was after I restated/reworded it):

1. Persistence without being a pest. Following up professionally and consistently with value messages and firm reasons to buy. Their key: NEVER MISS ONE FOLLOW-UP.

2. Build real relationships. More than just a sale. Investing quality time with each customer BEYOND the sale.

3. A high percentage of customers give repeat orders without a bid, quote, or proposal. This is a result of TRUST and RELATIONSHIP.

4. They pass on the sale if the deal isn’t a good fit or good profit. They are not afraid to lose a sale or pass on a sale if it’s a NO PROFIT one or one that goes outside their business safety.

5. They make recommendations that favor the customer, not the salesperson’s wallet. They do what is best for the LONG TERM, not just make the sale.

6. They think ‘customer’ not ‘sale.’ That strategy leads to customer LOYALTY.

7. They think ‘ask’ not ‘tell.’ Great salespeople discover needs and motives by asking, not giving a sales pitch. (SECRET: They don’t use the slide deck provided by marketing, because it didn’t help them make a sale.)

8. They think ‘friendly’ not ‘professional.’ Their relationships are enhanced by the relaxed attitude found in FRIENDSHIPS.

9. They think ‘service’ not ‘quota.’ They found that the better they SERVICED their accounts, the easier it was to get the next order. They never worried about their ‘sales plan’ or quota.

10. They are accessible and available. All of their customers can TEXT when needed.

11. They are trusted by their customers. The TRUST they have has been earned slowly over time. Customers ask their advice before they buy.

12. They are truthful at all costs. Relationships based on TRUTH end up being relationships based on trust.

13. They are experts about their product and their market. Their customers want to know their salesperson is an EXPERT, not just a nice guy.

13.5 As a result of ALL the other things they do for their customers, they get referrals, often without asking. Referrals are not just leads, they’re REPORT CARDS.

Now you can say anything you want to about this list. But be careful what you say, because this is from salespeople that make big sales, and are putting major money in the bank. How major are you?

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

The Advisor’s Corner – How Do I Lead Those Older Than Me?

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How Do I Lead Those Older Than Me?Question:

How do I lead direct reports who are quite a bit older than me?

StrategyDriven Response: (by Roxi Hewertson, StrategyDriven Principal Contributor)

Indeed, the chances of leading people senior in age and experience to you are quite high given the delayed retirements and demographics we see today. This is not a bad thing; in fact, if you are good leader, you will welcome the diversity in perspective, experience, and wisdom you can utilize from within your team. In my career I rarely held a leadership role without managing people older than me, until I became the older one! There are a few key things to keep in mind to get the best from your more senior staff.

Everything we do happens through our relationships, and how we behave impacts each of those relationships. When you create a trusting, respectful relationship with your staff, you will reap the rewards over and over again. It’s also about the conversation.

You already have the ‘authority’ if you’re the boss, and frankly, if you pull the “I’m the boss” card out more than 10% of the time, and even then, only when there is no other way to get something essential to happen, you are blowing it. Just like anyone else, you have to earn respect and trust… it doesn’t come with your title. If you are feeling insecure, uncertain, and less than adequate as you carry out your role, do whatever you need to do to learn enough to feel confident. Take classes, read… and oh, by the way, your greatest teachers might just be on your staff. Welcome their wisdom and make sure they know how much you appreciate it and them.

Here are 5 things you can do that will signal you are listening and respecting – and they apply to ANY of your staff:

  1. Be EXPLICIT about your expectations, how you will measure success, and then acknowledge their performance – whether good or not so good.
  2. ASK far more than you tell. LISTEN to your people, ask them what they know, want, feel, and need.
  3. Remove the word “but” from most of your conversations – say “and” instead or end the first sentence with a period and start a new one. When people hear “but” they don’t believe anything you said before it.
  4. Say “We” 10 times more often than “I”, including in your emails.
  5. Do not say “No” first. At least listen and say what more you need or agree that you’ll at least think about it.

The fundamentals of building a highly effective team come into play here, no matter the demographics or personalities. When you know how to create safety, trust, and group synergy, you will engage everyone on your team and get the most of their talent. So ask yourself – do you know where you want to take your team? Have you made time to get to know each of your people, what motivates them, and what they love or don’t love about their jobs? Have you asked for their wisdom, letting them know the team can only succeed with everyone contributing? Have you honored their contributions?

Bottom line – every individual has a story, a whole life, and is motivated by different things. When you build a trusting relationship and establish you truly care about that person, their wisdom, and their contributions, you will get a boatload of help, respect, and you may just learn a thing or two along the way!

About the Author

Leadership authority Roxana (Roxi) Hewertson is a no-nonsense business veteran revered for her nuts-and-bolts, tell-it-like-it-is approach and practical, out-of-the-box insights that help both emerging and expert managers, executives and owners boost quantifiable job performance in various mission critical facets of business. Through AskRoxi.com, Roxi — “the Dear Abby of Leadership” — imparts invaluable free advice to managers and leaders at all levels, from the bullpen to the boardroom, to help them solve problems, become more effective and realize a higher measure of business and career success.

The StrategyDriven website was created to provide members of our community with insights to the actions that help create the shared vision, focus, and commitment needed to improve organizational alignment and accountability for the achievement of superior results. We look forward to answering your strategic planning and tactical business execution questions. Please email your questions to [email protected].

Windshield time. Before and after opportunities.

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All outside salespeople have ‘windshield time’ – the time you spend behind the wheel, or in some form of transportation, going to and from appointments.

Windshield time is a critical time both for the anticipation of the sales call and for the aftermath of the sales call.

REALITY CHECK: How are you taking advantage of that valuable time? Here are the options: Waste it. Invest it. Your choice.

Most salespeople have a habit of doing the same thing when they get in the car. They either listen to their favorite radio station or, perhaps better, they listen to something that they can learn from.

What do you listen to?
What should you listen to?

Be prepared to learn and be inspired. All at times, have that ONE CD or that ONE SET of CDs that best resonate with you.

Here are two of my all-time favorites:

  1. The Art of Exceptional Living by Jim Rohn. (I carried this set of CDs in my car for a decade, and will listen to it again this year.)
  2. The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale. Total inspiration. Listen once a month.

REALTY: Windshield time is your best time to prepare mentally and emotionally before the call and review what happened after the call.

I have 7.5 more ideas that I’d like to share with you about windshield time:

IDEA 1: On your way to the call, identify the first two or three questions you want to ask your prospect. Voice to text them to yourself. Start the mental preparation for the call. I promise when you generate two or three questions, you will also generate an idea or two.

IDEA 2: Make slides for each question before you go inside so that you are certain to ask them. My first slide always reads, “Before we get started, I’d like to ask you a couple of questions.” The second you generate the idea, voice to text yourself the content and then make the slide in the lobby when you arrive. (This requires getting there early, not ‘on time.’)

IDEA 3: Voice to text as you think of other things. This will both ensure you remember the thoughts and it will clear your mind. I cannot stress enough the importance of ZERO MENTAL CLUTTER before the sale. Get rid of excess thought, no matter how small, so your focus is 100% on the customer and the sale.

IDEA 4: Pump it up. Listen to your favorite music just before you enter the call. Get happy, get excited, get your rhythm, put some bounce in your step, get your enthusiasm set on ‘high.’ Music can do all of these things.

IDEA 5: Before the call, mentally establish your expected outcome. Think about the detail of it. Expect a ‘yes’ before you start.

IDEA 6: Listen to the recording of your sales presentation as soon as you dare. You’ll laugh and cry. It’s the biggest reality check of your life, and the best private coaching session you’ll ever receive.

IDEA 7: Record the “wish-I-woulda – crap-I-shoulda” for a minute or two immediately after it’s over. Take note of your impression of what happened, good or bad.

IDEA 7.5: Record any promises you made, especially as relates to additional info you need to send to the customer as well as deadlines for follow-up.

NOTE: Never actually text while driving. If you don’t have voice to text capability, pull over to the side of the road.

PRE-CALL REALITY: Once you have a few questions prepared, a couple of ideas documented, and your favorite rock song playing in your head, your confidence level entering the sales call will triple.

POST-CALL REALITY: Once you ‘download’ the after-the-call reality and listen to the recording, document what you should have done and document what still needs to be done so your mind will be fertile for the next call.

BIGGEST IDEA and AHA!: Win or lose the sale? Celebrate that outcome either way. Recognize that proper investment of windshield time will give you a hell of a lot more YES! celebrations.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

The Big Picture of Business – Yesterdayism… Learning from the Past, Planning for the Future

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This Annual Report issue celebrates the year, as basis for helping business people to prepare for the future.

People are interesting combinations of the old, the new, the tried and the true. Individuals and organizations are more resilient than they tend to believe. They’ve changed more than they wish to acknowledge. They embrace innovations, while keeping the best traditions.

When one reflects at changes, he-she sees directions for the future. Change is innovative. Customs come and go… some should pass and others might well have stayed with us.

There’s nothing more permanent than change. For everything that changes, many things stay the same. The quest of life is to interpret and adapt that mixture of the old and new. People who fight change have really changed more than they think.

The past is an excellent barometer for the future. I call that Yesterdayism. One can always learn from the past, dust it off and reapply it. Living in the past is not good, nor is living in the present without wisdom of the past.

Trends come and go… the latest is not necessarily the best. Some of the old ways really work better… and should not be dismissed just because they are old or some fashionable trend of the moment looks better.

When we see how far we have come, it gives further direction for the future. Ideas make the future happen. Technology is but one tool of the trade. Futurism is about people, ideas and societal evolution, not fads and gimmicks. The marketplace tells us what they want, if we listen carefully. We also have an obligation to give them what they need.

In olden times, people learned to improvise and ‘make do.’ In modern times of instantaneous disposability, we must remember the practicalities and flexibilities of the simple things and concepts.

Things which Made Comebacks…

Ceiling fans. The jitterbug and swing music. Hardwood floors. Stained glass.

Things the Economy Has Exempted…

Penny arcades. Five-and-dime stores. Full-service gas stations. Free car washes at gas stations. Towels in boxes of detergent. Mom-and-pop stores. S&H Green Stamps and other redemption programs.

Things which the Marketplace Has Eclipsed…

  • Ice delivered in blocks via a horse-driven carriage by the ice man
  • Milk delivered in bottles via a horse-driven carriage by the milk man
  • Going downtown to do all of your shopping
  • Drive-in movies
  • Stores closed on Sundays

The Old Became the New Again…

The original speed for phonograph records, as invented in 1888, was 78-RPM, which engineers determined to be the most ideal for sound quality. In the 1940s, technology brought us the 45-RPM and 33-1/3-RPM records… adding up to the ‘mother speed’ of 78-RPM. The 1980s brought us compact discs, which play at a speed of 78-RPM.

Station wagons of the 1950s went out of style. They came back in the 1980s as sport utility vehicles.

Midwives were widely utilized in previous centuries. In modern times, alternative health care concepts and practitioners have been embraced by all sectors of society. Herbal ingredients and home remedies have gained popularity, and cottage industries support them.

Telephone party lines went out of style in the 1920s. They came back in the 1990s as internet chat rooms.

Corporations have become extended families, thus embracing dysfunctionality, changes, modifications and learning curves.

Schools started out as full-scope community centers. As the years passed, academic programs grew and became more specialized, covering many vital subject areas. Today, with parents and communities severely neglecting children and their life-skills education, schools have evolved back to being full-scope community centers.

7 Levels of Yesterdayism… Learning from the Past… Sources of Insights:

  1. Think They’ve Been There… Haven’t Yet Fully Learned from It.
  2. Saw It Happen… Understand It.
  3. Participated In It.
  4. Been There… Learned from It.
  5. Teach, Understand and Interpret It.
  6. Innovated It… and Teach You Why.
  7. Innovative Then and Now… Still Creating.

7 Applications for Yesterdayism… How to Shape the Past Into the Future:

  1. Re-Reading… Reviewing… Finding New Nuggets in Old Files.
  2. Applying Pop Culture to Today.
  3. Review case studies and their patterns for repeating themselves.
  4. Discern the differences between trends and fads.
  5. Learn from successes… and three times more from failures.
  6. Transition your organization from information down the branches to knowledge.
  7. Apply thinking processes to be truly innovative.

Apply History to Yourself. The past repeats itself. History is not something boring that you once studied in school. It tracks both vision and blindspots for human beings. History can be a wise mentor and help you to avoid making critical mistakes.

7 Kinds of Reunions… obtaining perspective:

  1. Pleasurable. Seeing an old friend who has done well, moved in a new direction and is genuinely happy to see you too. These include chance meetings, reasons to reconnect and a concerted effort by one party to stay in the loop.
  2. Painful. Talking to someone who has not moved forward. It’s like the conversation you had with them 15 years ago simply resumed. They talk only about past matters and don’t want to hear what you’re doing now. These include people with whom you once worked, old romances, former neighbors, networkers who keep turning up like bad pennies and colleagues from another day and time.
  3. Mandated. Meetings, receptions, etc. Sometimes, they’re pleasurable, such as retirement parties, open houses, community service functions. Other times, they’re painful, such as funerals or attending a bankruptcy creditors’ meeting.
  4. Instructional. See what has progressed and who have changed. Hear the success stories. High school reunions fit into this category… their value depending upon the mindset you take with you to the occasion.
  5. Reflect Upon the Past. Reconnecting with old friends, former colleagues and citizens for whom you have great respect. This is an excellent way to share each other’s progress and give understanding for courses of choice.
  6. Benchmarking. Good opportunities to compare successes, case studies, methodologies, learning curves and insights. When ‘the best’ connects with ‘the best,’ this is highly energizing.
  7. Goal Inspiring. The synergy of your present and theirs inspires the future. Good thinkers are rare… stay in contact with those whom you know, admire and respect. It will benefit all involved.

About the Author

Power Stars to Light the Business Flame, by Hank Moore, encompasses a full-scope business perspective, invaluable for the corporate and small business markets. It is a compendium book, containing quotes and extrapolations into business culture, arranged in 76 business categories.

Hank’s latest book functions as a ‘PDR of business,’ a view of Big Picture strategies, methodologies and recommendations. This is a creative way of re-treading old knowledge to enable executives to master change rather than feel as they’re victims of it.

Power Stars to Light the Business Flameis now out in all three e-book formats: iTunes, Kindle, and Nook.