The Daly News January/February 2009 Volume 30
WANT TO CHANGE YOUR RESULTS?
THEN, CHANGE YOUR BEHAVIOR!
So, we are now well into the second month of the year 2009. How are you doing on your “new year’s resolutions”? Better yet, how are you doing on your “goals”? By this time, all too many people have already fallen off the pace and settled back into their “old behaviors”. The intentions were good. The “prize” or benefits were good. So, what happened?
Believe it or not, where I’m going here addresses the challenging economy we are regularly being inundated about by the media (note, I’ve still not bought in to the broad brush negative hype as I previously discussed in my prior newsletter). The key is a SYSTEM to enhance the probability of achieving our goals. If we want to see different or improved results, then what is needed is different behavior or actions. (Remember the age old axiom of “insanity is doing the same things and expecting different results”?)
The SYSTEM to get further along with achieving our goals is four parts:
a) Goals in writing
b) Written plan on how to achieve the goals
c) System of measurement
d) System of accountability
Now, I’ve written on this topic a good number of times, and regularly discuss this in my workshops and keynotes. Today, I’m taking a different approach to it. The breakdown for most people is that they typically have only taken step (a) and put their goals in writing. The keys to success are the other three components! I’ve tried to figure out which of the three is the most important but I believe it’s all three (sorry, tried to make it easier but each time pulled up short).
The written plan portion is where we identify the KEY ACTIVITIES that will be necessary to achieve the goals. On the selling side, these might include # of face to face appointments, # of outbound calls, # of presentations, # of marketing initiatives, etc. For each of our businesses, we can identify the actions that lead to sales; do them consistently and the sales materialize.
The system of measurement is where we physically record what our activities actually were on a daily/weekly/monthly basis and compare them to the written plan. The system of accountability is having someone (a sales manager?) or even having several people hold you accountable to the planned activities, at least on a monthly basis. The more meaningful to you that these people are the better.
I have several clients that monitor the activities of their sales people weekly in a formal process. Other clients do things like require a minimum # of calls per day, a specific time of day that a salesperson is to be in front of a prospect/customer, a specific # of touch initiatives, etc. I promise you this “micro management” is not “pleasant or easy”. Hey, the TV show the “Biggest Loser” turns in remarkable transformation of folks on the show in terms of weight loss and health improvement. Take a look at what’s going on there and you see “micro management” and none of the participants look to be “happy” about the daily activities “imposed” by their trainers. But they sure look happy with the results! That show is all about the FOUR KEYS cited above.
A personal story: One of my personal goals is to run a marathon in all 50 states in the USA. Two years ago I attempted to complete the New Orleans Marathon but was unsuccessful due to having food poisoning two days prior to the race. I attempted the race but quit at the halfway mark due to serious dehydration issues. Just this month, I was back again for the same race. My challenge this time was my broken arm from October 8 resulted in little to no training prior to race day. So, I lined up on race day (Super Bowl day) and the race was on. The halfway point is where the race starts and finishes for the full marathon. By mile 9 my feet were very sore and swollen and once I reached the halfway point, I sure wanted to quit! However, I have several people who have my detailed goals and a system of accountability. None of them would want to hear from me that I had quit “once again” (the initial quit was appropriate as I lost 8 pounds in the half). This time I just had to push through the pain and “get her done” (sorta like we need to do with key activities in sales). Well, I successfully completed the marathon and now have 25 states finished since year 2000. The FOUR KEY SYSTEM works!
As I’ve shared with so many of my audiences, my level of detail in goal setting is “over the top” and can be much more simplified for most people. I’ve been at it since the age of 13, so over time, I’ve added so many levels of detail that seem “normal” to me but “crazy” to most. For the first time ever, I’ve decided to share my personal goals with all of you in my database. As well, I do quarterly reports to those who hold me accountable and will share 2008 summary. I’m doing this share for a number of reasons, including: example of walking one’s talk; demonstration of key activities definition; increasing the pressure on me knowing so many others now know my goals! Here’s how you can take a look:http://www.jackdaly.net/goals/
Introducing the Jack Daly Coaching Staff
Unique Coaching Resources Designed to Meet Your Individual Needs
In looking to assist my customers and clients (YOU) with your CEO, Sales Management and Sales challenges (and again with those challenged by the economy), I’ve assembled a team of Coaching Resources specifically keying on areas of expertise and needs. Click here to get an overview of the Coaching Channels, and if you have an interest in exploring further, just contact us at 888-298-6868 or Jennifer@jackdaly.net.
PROFILING FOR SUCCESS
We now have the capability to offer tools to better assess both your existing sales team’s effectiveness as well as assist in you hiring the “right fit’ for your sales team. 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 atjennifer@jackdaly.net and ask about the SALES INSIGHT REPORT that will address each of your sales performers specific to their behaviors.
TAKING ACTION
As a catalyst to encouraging others to “take action”, we will feature what others are doing and experiencing with their initiatives following our training sessions. Hopefully these will prompt each of us to take action!
Jack,
I am “all-in” on your SMART SELLING techniques!
I wanted to let you know that I have initiated the hand written thank you card program and it has already proven to be very effective. I recently started working on a new opportunity for a $95K sale with about half of that in potential profit. We are an inside sales force and do 95% of our sales over the phone so the face to face aspect isn’t a common sales tool in our repertoire. But what is in our bag of tricks now is the money bag – the hand written thank you card. Now it doesn’t get there the next day like it would if sending from the curb in front of the client’s building as you suggested but it is effective nonetheless! I thanked this particular client for his time and the opportunity to solve his need, stated we’d do all we could to help and then threw in a personal comment about his departmental focus of analyzing a specific bay and included a map of this particular body of water as a visual aid. Well, let me tell you… the card arrived in 3 days and I immediately got an email thanking me for the effort of writing the correspondence by hand, he joked that the map I sent was no longer his primary focus and his resume must be a bit dated but then it happened. He went in a tangent about how personal this was to him, how he grew up on this body of water and how his mom still lives there in the summers. He went on and on about its beauty and THEN, yup, he invited me up to come see the bay in question and personally show me around some time. WOW – I don’t even know this guy other than 30 minutes of business phone calls and there it was – the personal connection. We should have the order tomorrow – I will keep you posted!
I can’t thank you enough Jack, you are truly AWESOME! Be damned poor economy – I have Jack Daly on my side!
Forever a believer,
Russ Watson
XS International, Inc.
P.S. HE GOT THE ORDER!
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.
Click this GoldMail button to get a free 30-day trial
Click this GoldMail button to hear Jack’s example
Here’s the schedule of cities I will be conducting programs in over the next 3 months (some for clients, others are open workshops. I may have flexibility with 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 or phone our office with your interest and Jennifer will do her best to accommodate.
March-Australia
April-D.C., Boston, Los Angeles
May- India, San Diego
June- Cleveland, Philly, Los Angeles
OPEN SEAT WORKSHOPS AUSTRALIA
Entrepreneurs Organization, EO, is sponsoring two open seat workshops while Jack is in Australia. They are open to the public and seats are still available. The details are as follows:
Brisbane: Tuesday 17 March 2009
Brisbane Convention Centre
Melbourne: Friday 13 March 2009
The Sebel, Albert Park
Please contact 0421 077 782 or email admin@eobrisbane.com.au for registration details
ASK QUESTIONS AND LISTEN
That’s the shortest course on selling! All too often salespeople talk too much on sales calls. To demonstrate the difference of succinct and wordy – witness:
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address has 226 words. The Ten Commandments has 296 words. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s order setting the price of cabbage has 15,269 words. (Intelligence Advisor, 1993). Enough Said!
IN THE NEWS
WEB 2.0 ; Social Sites ; etc. Here are some of the firms/terms you are hearing or will be hearing soon: Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Naymz, Twiitter, Windows Live, and more. Microsoft put their money where their mouths are and invested in Facebook in the millions. Rupert Murdoch did the same with MySpace, again in the millions. I ask you, “Is this about social interaction on college and high school campuses, or might their be business applications here?” Time to “get on the bus”. Witness these anecdotal evidences of businesses “making the move” as reported by FORTUNE magazine.
“What stands out about Dell is the investment it has made in its self-awareness. It has a squad of 42 employees who spend their workdays engaging with the communities on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media. What is this Team Web 2.0 learning? One important nugget: that potential customers spend 99% of their time on the web doing research and just 1% actually buying. So the company has tried to dial down the hard sell and become more helpful.”
“Ernst & Young set up a page on Facebook two years ago. ‘We wanted to be able to reach candidates through a medium they’re very comfortable with,’ said Dan Black, director of campus recruiting at E&Y. Long story short, E&Y’s career page has about 17,500 “fans” and a lively discussion board.”
“Blueshirtnation.com went up two years ago as a way to tap into the collective insights of front-line employees. Today, Best Buy workers ask and answer questions about the products they sell, and about 65% log on at least once a month.”
Pew Research Center finds that 35% of adult Internet users now have a profile on at least one social networking site. About half of adult users are on MySpace, and just under a fourth use Facebook. Just 6% use LinkedIn, which is geared toward business networking. Of social networking site users, 515 have two or more online profiles; 43% have only one. Social networking grew 93% from 2006 to 2008. During that time, Facebook grew 500%. Time to “get on the bus”!
2008/2009 Workshops and Summits
Get Focused on Success by Learning
How to be Better Than Your Competition.
Don’t Miss the Opportunity to
Spend A Day with
Jack Daly!
April 23 & 24, 2009
Orange County, CA
2 Day Sales & Management Summit
May 22, 2009-San Diego, CA
Full Day Smart Selling
June 18, 2009-Cleveland, OH
Full Day Smart Selling
June 26, 2009- Los Angeles, CA
Full Day Smart Selling
July 24, 2009- Winnepeg, MB
Full Day Smart Selling
September 24 & 25, 2009-Toronto, ON
2 Day Sales & Management Summit
October 1, 2009-
Orange County, CA
Full Day Smart Selling
October 9, 2009- New York, NY
Full Day Smart Selling
November 20, 2009- Chicago, IL
Full Day Smart Selling
Coaches Corner
TRUE GRIT – HOW TO QUICKLY GROW YOUR SALES DESPITE A SHRINKING ECONOMY
by Dan Larson & Dave Wilens
The angst is on. Doom & gloom is heard on many fronts. Fear, job cuts and worry about “survival” pervade most of the media and many business conversations. You can almost feel many people’s confidence shrinking right along with it. Yet some companies are capturing opportunities for bigger sales right now while others in their industry are shrinking up. How are they doing this?
Basics we all know: When the economy shrinks, you need to grab a greater share of the dollars in the market and/or open new markets to be able to maintain or grow your revenues & profits. So who gets it? The savvy entrepreneurs with true grit.
When companies are cutting back employees, the size and quality of the talent pool increases dramatically. So a larger pool of over-achieving performers are also now available OR are more accessible thanks to a deteriorating situation. Overachievers are more available and are loaded with excellent, experience, skills and strong relationships. They are willing to take on new responsibilities and are highly motivated to succeed!
§ Overachiever Story #1: In January 2009 I began a six month coaching engagement with a distribution company located on the east coast. During the discovery sessions we identified that an ethnic change had occurred in their client base over the past few years. The current sales staff was ill-equipped to build the necessary relationships to grow or even maintain the existing sales revenue. We immediately began a search and within days we found, recruited and hired a top performing manufactures representative that had been laid off last October. This overachiever owned many deep relationships with key target prospects in their industry. She is bilingual, possesses exceptional selling skills, understands the new customer’s culture and is willing to relocate for this company’s new opportunity. So far they have sent a letter of introduction to their entire data base, began personal visits to the top 20% of their customer base and began publishing all marketing material in both languages. These initial moves have already started to land new business and are opening up a promising new pipeline. Coach Dave Wilens
§ Overachiever Story #2: In Oct 2008 while working with my yacht crane manufacturer client, I was able to find, recruit and hire a top performing 2-person sales team. These 2 overachievers were notlooking for a job. However, their confidence in their current employer situation was dwindling… and created our opportunity. This team has 30 yrs of combined marine experience, an incredibly strong reputation and a track record of proven success. Most importantly, by adding this team my client got immediate use of their strong, trusted relationships with the marine industry’s key buyers throughout the world! They joined our team in Dec and by Jan were already opening new opportunities for new 6-figure jobs in Germany, France, Holland, Turkey, Taiwan, Dubai and Abu Dhabi that would have taken someone else YEARS to achieve! In 3 short months, more new opportunities are open with key OEM accounts with hundreds of thousands of dollars of early deals in the pipeline… and the potential to create long-term relationships as a “preferred OEM vendor” worth millions of dollars. Coach Dan Larson
Finding, recruiting and hiring overachievers is NOT the same as hiring “average” sellers. Remember, often they’re not looking for a job in conventional places. Be resourceful. Use your professional networks to learn the names of highly regarded pros in your field (if you don’t already know them).
The conversation with overachievers can’t be typical either. A conversation with them to explore needs to be subtle, interesting and also challenge them a bit. You can’t be overly obsequious or too aloof. Be direct but intrigue and attract them and let them discover the possible big opportunities WITH you. Let their high level of confidence pull them toward your opportunity as you unfold the upside possibilities together.
With the economy tighter, what can YOU do to keep winning? If you’re interested in learning more or have questions about the ideas here, give us a call. We’re experienced sales coaches in the “Jack Daly Way”. We’re a resource to help you find a way to meet and beat your goals! To talk over your situation about new ideas for higher performance or to find out more about our coaching, call Jennifer at (888) 298-6868.
Your preference to learn via
e-learning or CDs or DVDs in short lessons?
I’m now creating more new learning tools (mostly short videos) in the areas of Executive (or owner) leadership, Sales Management and effective Selling to grow bigger results. I’m excited about creating these new tools to build success and I’m anxious to share them with you. Will you help me with your input?
What type of learning do you prefer for developing your Leadership and Selling skills? The options are…
1) I prefer online e-learning that provides short video segments and downloadable content. Why?
OR
2) I prefer CDs or DVDs in short segmented lessons. Why?
Your input will help me decide which one to put my focus on. Please respond by emailing your preference to Dan Larson at dan@smartmarketingroi.com ..
A short and sweet email is just fine, such as… “I prefer e-learning because I can access it to learn from anywhere.” Tell me more if you like. I value your feedback and really appreciate your opinion. Thanks a million! Jack
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. Up until just recently, my card examples have been generated through www.shutterfly.com at a card + postage cost of about $3, which I’ve found to be a terrific investment.
I’m excited to share with you that I’ve now found an alternative in SendOutCards and if you have an interest, I’ve arranged a free trial for the first 500 people just so you can test drive a card for yourself. I suggest you send the card to yourself so you can see the quality and how it works from start to finish. There are extensive features available in SendOutCards that I feel apply more to such a business touch system compared with Shutterfly which is more for the non-business user. And get this; cards + postage cost about $1 versus the $3 at Shutterfly!
P.S. This is a great tool to go “wide and deep” with your existing clients as discussed earlier in this newsletter. If you’d like to take a free test-drive with a card for yourself, just visitwww.sendoutcards.com/jackdaly and “Click Here to Send A Free Card”. I’ve arranged for the first 500 people that want to try it to send a card on me for free. An audio tutorial will begin to walk you through the simple process of sending a card. It’s fun, it’s easy, and I believe you’ll be able to see the many uses for your own business. Enjoy!
JACK DALY BUSINESS TOOLS
Use this CD over a 3 month period, and watch your business results increase significantly. “JACK ME UP” covers 21 specific action initiatives and is designed specifically for a sales person to implement “one a day” while out in the field calling on their pipeline. Do these actions for 3 months and begin to see behavior change take place; do it for 6 months and even better! 50% off through the end of March: Retail price is $40, thru March $20. Call or email Jennifer at 888-298-6868 or jennifer@jackdaly.net to take advantage of this opportunity to increase your sales effectiveness.
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.
