Training is a Process, not an Event

Had dinner last night with a long-term friend who in the past couple years transitioned over to the Sales Training field. As dinner ended, we exchanged business cards. When I returned to the room, I glanced at his card. Here was the take-away: “the only thing worse than training people and losing them is not training them and keeping them.”. That was from the legendary Zig Ziglar, which prompted this thought.

If you want changed results (more sales), then change the behavior. If you want to change the behavior, then that requires training. And, Training is a process, not an event. It must be ongoing and continuous. My question to you is when and how often are your sales people practicing? All too often they are not, and their only “practice” is on the customer! Stop the insanity!!

Bundling- Simple and Effective

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Over the past 3 days, I’ve worked with over 30 different CEO’s/owners of companies of a wide span of industries and sizes. At least 70% were failing on the following opportunity. That was the bad news. Here is the good news. They can now take action and secure more business, increase their revenues and secure more reliable repeat business. Here goes:

My monthly home cable bill runs about $280. Huh? For better reception and more channels? Not exactly. That’s how the relationship started but over time I’ve added telephone, internet, dvr, etc. And, even if one of the services is disappointing, its such a hassle to unwind and start over, I just mail in another months check. Don’t you want your customers writing the checks and mailing them in?

Take a look your business (whether product or service) and push hard to discover how to best “Bundle”. Simple and effective- I like it!

I love the expression “Model the Masters”

Friday, July 24th, 2009

If PRICE is so important in a tightened economy, someone please explain to me why there were lines running out the doors of Tiffanys’ at Christmas time, I’m still having difficulty getting high-end wines due to being sold out, and I’m running into multiple hour waits for at a table at higher end restaurants. And what’s with all those “every day” folks sitting at the $25 minimum blackjack tables in the casino (playing more than one chip a hand)? Apple products are “higher priced” than others in their category, posting higher and higher profits. And, have you heard anything about Rolex going out of business?-me either. Panera Bread raised its prices twice in the past year and continues opening up stores at a record pace. The auto industry “needs” a bailout because of the “economy” yet that same industry needs to sell 7 cars to make what Harley makes on one bike (and you need to wait 6 months to get the bike!).

Take a look at what you and your company have been offering up as solutions to the economy challenges. How has the cutbacks, price slashing, deep discounts approaches been working for you? Reexamine some of the examples above and see if that’s been their approach. Might there be a better way? The economy (and majority of workforce/business owners) was on such a long run of “prosperity” that I fear many are taking a reactive, panic approach to the markets. Like telling salespeople to call on more and more prospects they’ve never done business with before. Hey, I’m not against prospecting but wouldn’t that be an even harder sell in a tight economy. Maybe solidifying and expanding the business we do with our existing clients would be time better spent.

I keep reading and looking in the business mags, papers and internet for the success stories of those shrinking to the top of the equity markets. I’m looking for the investors beating the doors down to get in on those slashing and cutting (inside and out).

I love the expression “Model the Masters”. In sales, I say, look at the top sales people and see what they are doing and do some of the same. Is it not time we as companies looked at firms posting successes and do the same? I’m thinking it ain’t a strategy of PRICE.

Social Media- Not Just for Teenagers Anymore

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Social media time. When is the last time you checked on your sales people’s active participation in social media? Here’s a quick drill. See if they are on Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, Plaxo, Naymz, Twitter. If not, why not? Set a timetable for it to happen. Then, ensure there is some regularity to their use. I continue to hear, most everywhere I go, how important relationships are in sales and one’s business. Agreed. So, leverage these tools to foster the relationships.

In the past month, as a direct result of being active in these mediums, we have booked 5 gigs and I’ve had several lunch and dinner meetings that were initially set thru the updating of these mediums as to my travels.

Quit with the excuses that these are all about nonsense and sites for teenagers to chat about meaningless trivia. Ignore that and get on with your relationship building. Don’t be last to these important sales tools.

The Daly News July2009 Volume 32

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

A WINNING CULTURE

I’ve spoken on several occasions about Company Culture and how you can actually “smell it” within minutes when arriving for a visit to a company for the first time. So, I have to share this story with you.

For several consecutive years I’ve had the privilege of being the keynote speaker at NACCB, a trade association for IT service firms with specific focus in employment placement. Last year the annual meeting was held on the east coast of Florida and opened with a cocktail party on the beach. I’d just flown in and made my way to the beach when I was enthusiastically greeted and embraced by someone who identified himself as Doug Firestone, owner of Arcus and a rabid fan of “Jack Daly”. Doug introduced me to his leadership team, set me up with a drink, and proceeded to regal all the “Jack Daly” things his company had implemented and that “one day” he planned to have me in so all his employees could get a “Jack Fix”. So I said to Doug, Yeah, yeah, talk is cheap.” At which time he pulled out his phone, walked down the beach and called Jennifer to lock in a day of Sales Training.  Hey, I like this guy! I hung out during the conference with the Arcus team, and they certainly were a lot of FUN!

Shortly after the conference, my wife Bonnie and I were blessed with the birth of our first Grandson-Malcolm. The Arcus team surprised us with customized baby blanket and clothes-WOW, what first impressions! Last month I arrived in Harrisburg, PA for the scheduled training. In doing my research, I discovered Arcus was in business for 10 years, with offices nationwide, facilitating their mission of identifying and delivering exceptional talent for clients located all across the country, as well as operations in Costa Rica. Arcus has been recognized consecutively the past two years as one of the Best Places to Work in PA, a Fifty Fastest Growing Company, twice landed on Inc’s 5000 List, been honored as Business of the Year, and recognized with four national awards by the American Staffing Association-WOW! There is clearly something special going on here, so I was really looking forward to my visit.

At Arcus, the “smell” of Culture is something terrific-it continues with the “WOW” as soon as you walk in the building. I’m hoping a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are some. There’s the Arcus Café available throughout the day, and a feeling like one is at a big Starbucks. Alongside the café, there’s  the Wi games area. The fitness center is one to challenge most any club, and it’s adjacent to the café, locker rooms et al. Not only stocked with the finest in gym equipment but a full size basketball court as well. Then there is a fully outfitted technological fitted training room, where we spent our day together. Over the top was the fully stocked bar club room, where socializing amongst one another is encouraged regularly after work.

New hires are brought on board in groups, known as the Apprentice program, where this group of fivework in a special Apprentice conference room with one another at a round table, complete with a Hedgehog in the center of the table (Good to Great). This Apprentice program is a multi-month program, ensuring people integrate professionally for their clients benefit. At Arcus, company culture is a state of mind and a way of life. The environment is one of creativity and inclusion. The company makes it a priority to invest in their most valuable assets- the people. The Arcus team are passionate about what they do and it shows- in their interactions, in their attitudes and in their work.

Beyond the walls of Arcus is their commitment to give back to the community, both local and global. The Arcus Give Back Campaign includes food collection, mission work, shelter support, blood drives and working with Harrisburg University in areas of key competencies for job search. WOW.

When you come upon so much being done right, and at such a scale, one often gets the sense this must be a “big company” with a sizeable budget (ie, therefore we can’t do it). Well, guess again here gang. Arcus employs about 60 folks and its commitment to this winning culture is what it cites for its successes to date as well as its planned growth for the future. We could all learn a lot from examples like Arcus, and I bet Doug would be open to anyone who desires to get the tour or pick his brain. Be assured, there are great things happening in Harrisburg, PA. WOW!

IN THE NEWS- Thoughts stimulated by the press. From June 8, 2009 and the book, The Upside of the Downturn, by Geoff Colvin: 37432115″You have to bevery disciplined, and this is even more important in a crisis. Our management team, 15 to 30 people, talk every day at 7:30, 12 noon, and five o’clock-what’s going on, sharing information, making some decisions on the spot, reviewing facts and information. I’m always surprised at companies that don’t have discipline-they don’t have business reviews, they aren’t looking at their competitors.” Jamie Dimon, CEO J.P.Morgan Chase. If you are a regular reader of this newsletter, then the Daily Huddle should not be news. But, the question is, how many are doing this? I’ve found in more challenging times, the huddle is even more needed and often skipped for more “urgent” things. Get everyone on the bus heading in the same direction, and watch how more effective you are and the improved results in a shorter time frame.

Be seen early and often, setting the proper leadership tone and showing the team that the leaders are working to solve the issues. Act fast- Every instinct tells you to decide more slowly than usual, yet it’s vital to decide more quickly. Here’s a closing thought on responsibility- “An entrepreneur shows his true colors in a period of crisis, not in a period when everybody is having success.” Giorgio Armani

Social Networking yet? What’s it gonna take? When are you going to join the party? Your customers are there, your competitors are there, and you’re not? Business is being done here, so it’s no longer acceptable (if it ever was) to say you are waiting for it to prove itself. Witness a few tidbits (Fortune July 20) from Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape: Co-founder of Ning, investor in Linkedin, Digg, Board member of Facebook and Twitter, and the list goes on. Andreessen says Facebook “will be bigger than Apple” and declares that the social-networking company will become the mass market window to the web, much has Google has been for the past six or seven years.

Here are a few sites to explore participating in: Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Plaxo. There are more but that would be a great start.

TWEET TWEET- For those of you not up and running on Twitter, here’s a few of mine you recently missed.

• Sales growth will come thru the quantity and quality of your sales force. What’s standing in the way of making the commitment to grow?
• Good old Yogi Berra said “you can see a lot if you are looking”. A close cousin to that is “you can hear a lot if you are listening.”
• What first impressions is your receptionist making with the market? Who and how are you checking on it? Inspect what you expect.
• Know the difference between expense and investment. If you have cut back travel to save expenses think again. Invest in visiting customers.
• In tighter economic times, I fear too many are stressing increased quantity of calls. That won’t cut it. The key is Quality Calls!

Here’s the schedule of cities I will be conducting programs in over the next 3 months (some for clients, others are open seat workshops). I may have flexibility in my scheduling for lunch, dinner or more should someone have an interest. If you see I’m headed to your part of the world, feel free to email jennifer@jackdaly.net with your interest and Jen will do her best to accommodate any requests.

July- Toronto, Sydney 

August- Sydney, Auckland, Chicago, Kansas City, Baton Rouge, Denver 

September- Tampa, Pennsylvania, D.C., Toronto

UPCOMING SYDNEY & AUCKLAND WORKSHOPS

SYDNEY- 5 AUGUST 2009-REGISTER TODAY

AUCKLAND- 7 AUGUST 2009- REGISTER TODAY 

Winning Sales Strategies and Sales Management Workshop-

Driving Sales – Boosting Profits

Ellerslie Events Centre, Greenlane East, Auckland

2009 US & Canada
Workshops and Summits

September 24 & 25, 2009- Toronto, ON
2 Day Sales & Management Summit

October 21, 2009-Orange County, CA
Full Day Smart Selling

December 15, 2009- New York, NY
Full Day Smart Selling
December 16, 2009- Chicago, IL
Full Day Smart Selling

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT JACK’S WORKSHOPS……….

Hey Jack

I wanted to thank you for the advice I got from you several years ago. I had attended one of your seminars with my Boss a few years back. We took your words to heart and you created a marketing machine like no other. Our annuals sales have increased 2 – 5% a year (Commercial Real Estate Appraisal) since your seminar where are currently having one of the best 1st Qtrs ever (believe it or not).  S%$tHouse Luck? Not really when you keep doing your Daly Push Ups and Follow Ups, Many Thanks Mr. Daly.

Jack-

Just a quick thank you for today.  My team and I all got a tremendous amount out of the day and were impressed by your amazing energy and simplistic but incredibly effective strategies.  I will implement some of them and plan to see my business grow by 100 % over the next 2 years.  I’ll let you know how I am going in 12 months time.

Kind regards,
Paul O’Brien
Partner
PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia

I have recently attended Jack’s sales training and had the priviledge to spend time with him. He is a (crazy) excellent speaker, extremelly effective, TOTALLY keeps your attention and teaches hard hitting, results oriented skills. Hire him and you will get immediate results!

There is a reason why such as small percentage of your total sales force are the top producers; they are the ones who are committed and dedicated. Send them to his class and they will be wildly successful and infect all of your other sales people!! Your customers will comment on how creative and effective your sales people have become.

If you are a sales person and REALLY want to create amazing results; just attend his session or buy his material. You will know JACK too!!

Steve Cadwell

General Manager Sales

PCS, Inc.”

Coaches Corner

HOW DOES COACHING PAY-OFF?    

by Dan Larson & Dave Wilen

Since we’re not Jack Daly himself, people often ask us — What do we do as sales coaches… and can we prove to be effective for them? Fair question. Especially when business today needs results like never before.

Principles first. As coaches, we put Jack’s principles and training into practice. It’s ALL about application to your situation and EXECUTION. Every business has a unique mix of market conditions, competition, leadership and staff, products & services, reputation, culture and more. But Jack’s sales principles always hold true to serve as the fuel to grow a company’s results.

• PLAN (Clarity): Let’s define your end zone. What’s your objective? Your main goal? Define a clear strategy, game plan and/or sales process to achieve your desired results based on your vision, goals and problems to overcome.
• ORDER (Priorities): Let’s define the key drivers of your business-the top priorities and the high-payoff activities that matter most. Get clear agreement on what’s most important and what needs to be done first and next.
• ACTION (Focus): Knowing the key drivers of your business… What’s working? What’s not? What must be improved? What needs to be started? What should be stopped? We develop a fiendish focus with your team on the high-payoff activities that really drive results.
• MEASURE (Accountability): There’s magic here! Success tracking of your activities and results is critical to growing your motivation and success. As coaches, our most successful clients learn to value tracking their results and want to be held accountable. Winners love to keep score!

A client recently said that the consistent accountability of our weekly coach calls directly contributed to their continuing success of growing at 2-3x their normal growth rate every month-despite the down economy. Repetition. Re-Focus. Measuring. Accountability. They push to get things done to reach their weekly goals… all driven by constructive accountability through regular follow-up. That’s how we keep score to win.

Are you getting the results you want? If you’re looking for real ways to help you survive the leaner times, if you’re looking for bigger sales results or if you want help reaching your next level of success – call Jennifer. Ask her to schedule a free call with us to review your situation to see how we might help you boost performance.

Coaching is designed to “put rubber on the road!” If you want more, call Jennifer at (888) 298-6868.

This Month’s Spotlight on Outsourced

Sales Management.

This channel is designed for the small to medium sized firm where the CEO is wearing the hat of the Sales Manager or where the existing Sales Manager could benefit from some part-time assistance. This coaching option is aimed at establishing a customized, productive sales growth plan and the needed accountability. Our coach team is comprised of Dave Wilens and Dan Larson.

MEET COACH DAVE WILENS

Dave offers a fresh vision on growth strategies & tactics. He delivers world-class coaching thru 33 years of street-tested, no-nonsense sales & management experience. He’s founded, built and sold 6 companies, building sales teams from 5 to 500.

MEET COACH DAN LARSON

Dan offers out-of-the-box sales and marketing solutions. He glues together a company’s sales efforts by connecting 10 critical areas of selling and marketing success. Dan has helped clients grow sales by 25-400% in a wide range of diverse industries.

RESULTS:

• Yacht Crane Manufacturer: Slow leads & sales transformed to 24 +% per year sales growth & robust pipeline through last 2 years.
• Financial Services: A 20% closing rate on new accounts jumped to a consistent 85% close ratio…4x the money.
• Food Distributor: Single digit growth since 9/11 transformed to 20% and #1 sales & margin growth in the corporation.
• Aerospace Distributor: Sales revenues doubled & profits increased by 62% through a “duplicatable” sales process.

TESTIMONIALS

“Your question of how is my group doing made me step back and truly examine the bigger picture. I realized that from our short time together I had many challenges ahead of me. Not only in how I work with my team, but how I go to market myself each day, the question was larger than I ever anticipated. Now we are all working to be on the same page, I am exploring with the MA what we need change to move ahead of the AVERAGE and to not settle for the safe middle of the pack results.”

Wade Eager

“I think your ride along assessment is right on as always. My goal is to be manager and help the people working for me become better sales professionals. Though I enjoy selling (it’s kind of self assuring for me since it comes quite naturally and I enjoy the interaction with the customers), my goal is and always has been to first be a great sales manager. I believe that I have what it takes to make a mark within this company and within this industry. But like you say in your evaluation, I do not have the focus or the stated goals or game plan to get there. Our last ride along was an eye-opener for me. I was annoyed with myself for about two days afterwards. I knew what I had done to get myself in that position. I welcome any coaching or suggestion you may have as far helping me regain my focus. ”

Svante Johansson, SYSCO Food Services of Los Angeles 

TAKING ACTION– As a catalyst to encouraging others to “take action”, we feature what others are doing and experiencing with their initiatives following our training sessions. Hopefully these will prompt each of us to take action!

Hello Jack,

I hope your day is doing well.  I went to a sales meeting for our company in California, called Metagenics.  All I can say is wow!  I was the guy that acted as a sponge, I bought your Jack in the box tools and have listened to them over and over again.  I have done everything you suggested, as changing my voicemail every day, to making a campaign to ask questions and listen.  In my contact management software, I have all personalities listed, email lists of what I have in common with other clients.  I even have my own money bag with thank you cards!  I don’t want to bore you with details but I have share with you one experience…

I used your idea regarding taking a picture with your client and sending it to them as a card.  I just did that while I took a top client out to dinner.  He took me to dinner the next time and shared how no one has ever done that before, and I am considered one of his buddies.  You should have seen the Sales increase!  Though the roof!! He just did over 6x the business!  Plus I am leading the company in sales growth, the last 3 months have been record sales for me! Recession, what rescission! Our company the most expensive products in our market and we have had top sales growth.  “Trust trumps price every day”.

Thank you for your wisdom and your time!

Jonathan Ciaccio

Wow!  Thank you once again for such a fantastic day!  Throughout my 18+ years of sales experience/career, I’ve attended many seminars with motivational speakers but your presentation far exceeded my expectations.  You’re truly an inspiration and I plan to incorporate many of your “golden nuggets” not only in my professional career, but in my personal life as well. 

Thank you once again, you made a difference in all of us and left a footprint for us to follow. 

All the best, 

Tammy

Jack,

I wanted to thank you for taking the time to educate all of us yesterday.  I took a lot more from the presentation than I ever though I would and will definitely utilize the tips you provided.  In addition, I really took in what you said about enjoying your life before you’re to old to do so, and I plan to do just that.  Best wishes in completing your goals, hopefully I can call you some day and let you know I’ve exceeded my goals and am a selling machine.

Thanks again,

Kevin Haas

NEW TOOLS FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

NEW TOOLS FOR ASSESSING EXISTING AND POTENTIAL

Having the tools to assess behavior partnered with recommendations for change that will result in improved sales performance is a sales manager’s dream. Well, dream no more. With a simple phone call you can have these tools in your hands. And the process is simple. Your sales staff takes the assessment online. It only takes minutes. After they’ve finished filling out the survey, the computer generates a thorough assessment of strengths and weaknesses. It gives the sales professional a clear view of what’s working and what’s not and why.

Results and Benefits
An investment in the Success Insights Sales report will yield immediate results and valuable benefits in several areas by showing how to:

• Spot winners with a reliable selection method.
• Evaluate the performance of both new and existing salespeople.
• Maximize the sales team’s effectiveness.
• Coach the sales team for maximum results.
• Hire the salesperson that fits the company needs.
• Bring a salesperson out of a sales slump and back on a winning track.
• Reduce employee turnover and new training costs.
• Boost your sales-the ultimate business objective.

If you are looking to maximize the sales team’s effectiveness-bring a salesperson out of a sales slump and back on a winning track-spot winners with a reliable selection method-coach the sales team for maximum results- then contact us at jennifer@jackdaly.net and ask about the SALES INSIGHT REPORT.

I’m always looking for effective new business tools with minimal associated cost that can immediately impact your bottom line profits. I want to introduce you to GoldMail, a powerful new business development tool that I’ve discovered and personally tested. It helps you send email messages with voice-and-visuals aids that produce a much bigger impact… either before or after any sales call. Just click on the GoldMail button above to hear my personal message.

For years I have been underscoring the importance of regularly “touching” your prospects, customers and clients. In my training Workshops, I share examples of many ways to do this activity that will ensure you stand out from the competition. One of the more effective tools I’ve used for years has been taking photos on my calls and other occasions and quickly turning them into photo cards with my own personalized messages. These simple cards have generated me several hundreds of thousands of dollars in business over the past couple years, and the momentum continues to grow. This is a great tool to go “wide and deep” with your existing clients. Just click on the SendOutCards logo above to send yourself a free card.

If any article in this newsletter would be of interest to your co-workers, customers or clients we would appreciate having you forward it along.