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The Daly News October 2005 Issue 3

Workshop Schedule

• November 29, 2005 Columbus, OH Full day Smart Selling Workshop 
• February 2 & 3, 2006 

Newport Beach, CA 2 Day Management and Sales Summit 

What’s a Salesperson Worth?

We think this is a terrific question that every company should not only ask but actually calculate. One of the more frequent “needs/wants” of Sales managers is a solid sales professional for their team. One of the keys to finding top performers is to always be recruiting. Another is to enlist others help-in fact, to pay them for helping you! Take a look.

As many of you know, I’ve owned several mortgage companies over the years. Let’s say a solid salesperson in that business brings in 10 loans a month and on each loan the Company makes $1500, making it $15,000 per month or $180,000 for the year in profit/value. Now, let’s say we retain this salesperson for a conservative 2 years, that would make it $360,000 of total contribution. Given such, if your company were to consider offering a “Finders Fee Program” for employees to help find such a performer, how much would you be willing to pay? Would $5,000 be reasonable? How about $10,000? Do you think we could get all of our staff excited to bring us some candidates of worth?

Let’s take it a step further. Suppose we agree on $5,000. Now, how about paying it on a “pay for performance” basis? For example, here we could state we would pay $1,000 on the 10th loan closed, another $1,000 on the 20th loan, and the final $3,000 on the 30th loan funded. This way, we are paying for something we know is of value, and we are paying the reward out of the cash flow generated from the new business!

Run the numbers for your company and give serious consideration to  implementing a “Finders Fee Program”.

We wish you good hunting!

We continue with a series of articles from our strategic alliance partner, CEO Joe Miller of Blue Chip Solutions, a firm specializing in finding and landing top sales professionals. This month he shares his thoughts on ” The Dog”.

WHO ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?

The Dog

I purchased my first puppy nearly six years ago for $500. Because I never owned a puppy before, I was operating blind. I figured, “I know what I’m looking for and I can figure out whether or not it’s going to be a great dog.” I looked at each puppy carefully. I checked their breeding information, their past health issues, I called the breeder’s references to guarantee they were as good as they said, I played with the puppy twice, I brought my family in to see the puppy and everything looked great.

Everyone was so happy when the puppy got home, but as the puppy grew into a dog, some strange things happened. The puppy became a dog, and the dog now had bad habits, didn’t listen, never fetched anymore and was eating me out of house and home. Finally, I had to give the dog to a shelter. It was not just emotionally heartbreaking but it was financially damaging as well.

Take out “puppy” and “dog” and replace it with “new hire” and “salesperson.” Get it? There can be no good without evil. There can be no right without wrong. There can be no great salespeople without bad salespeople. There are two kinds of “bad” salespeople: a Dog and a Dog with fleas. Bad and worse. Let’s make sure we all understand what a Dog looks like so we don’t get trapped.

T here are certain quick ways to spot a Dog. Dogs like to lie down in the sunshine and be lazy. They spend too much time in the office, doing paperwork or other non-paying activities. A Dog will avoid prospecting at all costs and will resist providing reports that show how much new business they have been developing. Look at the forecast. A true Dog will have deals that linger on the forecast forever. The ultimate test for spotting a Dog is to look at the results. A Dog will bring in low sales numbers, have fewer meetings, be overtly vague about activities and will howl and complain about everything they can complain about.

A Dog is easy to spot after you have had them in your organization for three months. You may have young Dogs on your team and you may have old Dogs on your team, but they all look alike because they are the same breed. The only way to handle a Dog is to give it back to the Animal Shelter.

Announcing the First Annual

Jack Daly Sales Management and Sales Summit

Come to Newport Beach, California, February 2-3, 2006, at the Balboa Bay Club for a jam-packed workshop program and national idea exchange. Listening to our customers, we have heard loud and clear the cry for an open-seat workshop on Sales Management. We decided to take it a step further, in beautiful Newport Beach , and combine a day of rigorous learning in the Sales Management arena,followed by a day intently focused on Sales. Add to the mix networking dinners, wine tasting, guest subject matter experts and golf on Saturday and you get a high-value few days of working on the business so that working in the business results in greater productivity and bottom-line results. Visit www.jackdaly.net for additional details, or call Jennifer at 888-298-6868. See you there!

Click Above For More Information
NEW 2006 WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

Touch System Success Story

For years now I have taught the value of a “Touch System” in gaining appointments,

winning new accounts and going deeper into existing accounts. A “touch” is any way in which the salesperson reaches out and lets their database know“they are out there”. Touches can be personal visits, phone calls, emails, voice mails, snail mails, or faxes, to cite a few examples. Keyto the touches is they not be all about your company, products and services. It’s been said that it takes nine touches before the prospect even recognizes you exist. No wonder cold calling is self-defeating!

Well, here comes another great success story re a touch Campaign. Congrats to New York based  MAXONS RESTORATIONS. Howard White, EVP, shared with us the following: We used a remote control car campaign as our door opener. The touches were timed over a 2 week period and strictly followed. This totally worked. We sent 20 cars without the remote to prospects that wouldnormally not return calls. They were all high level targets. 16 out of 20 became appointments, and one customer alone signed on for a $20,000 job on the spot. The whole campaign cost about $1,200!!

Prospective Client Touch Process – Up to 2 Weeks

Step Timing Touch Message

• Day 1: E-Mail Blast Teaser – Do you feel out of control?
• Day 3: Physical Delivery Remote Control Car with the remote missing – message says that Maxons puts you (claims professional) in the ?driver’s seat’ on the handling of your claims.
• Day 4: Phone Call Following up the delivery, reinforce the message and ask to prove how we can deliver on our promise in aface-to-face meeting. We can show you in less than 10 min. why Maxons can help them meet their professional goals (closing claims faster – accurate loss reserves).
• Day 8: Note Card Handwritten note showing respect for their time and reminding them that a quick meeting can help them take control of their claims.
• Day 11: Phone Call Phone call or voice mail referencing the car and tying in the message of control with an offer to deliver the remote.
• Day 15: Personal E-Mail I’ve tried to contact you and don’t want to waste any more of your time. Here’s your last chance to let us know: yes now; yes later; or not ever.

So, there you have it. CONGRATS to those on the MAXONS RESTORATIONS team on your success and for taking action. As well, thanks for sharing, and Howard says if anyone would like to hear more, just give him a call at 212-447-6767.Great job guys.

USE A RETREAT TO UNLOCK THE POWER OF YOUR TEAM

We continue to search out resources to help our clients grow their business, both at the top line and the bottom line. Along those lines, let me introduce you to Mark Lefko. Mark is the founder and CEO of theLefko Group, a corporate retreat and facilitation company. There’re a lot of facilitation companies out there. What differentiates Mark is “he’s been there, done that”. He spent 7 years as a CPA with Arthur Andersen, 4 years as a CFO of a $6 billion mortgage company, 9 years as an investment banker, and 2 years as a Chairman at TEC.

If you are considering or planning on taking your leadership team away to re-look your business, andwant to take the results to a new level, we highly endorse Mark as your facilitator. His testimonials are impeccable, his process is professional, and most importantly his results are record setting. For more information regarding Mark and the Lefko Group, just give us a call at 888-298-6868 and we will be glad to guide you to a super successful retreat.

OLDIESbutGOODIES

For the past 6 years we have historically produced a newletter from Professional Sales Coach, Inc. With this Daly News newsletter as replacement, we wanted to remind our readers of a feature each month pulled from the archives which continues to be content rich. Professionalism requires life long learning.

Increasing Sales – Through Coaching!

“Teams” win championships – not coaches or star players. What are you doing to build each individual into a stronger performer, and a more valuable contributor to the sales team?Our goal here is to enhance your effectiveness as a builder of strong sales people. You can coach them to success!

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” – Calvin Coolidge

Our job as sales leaders is not to grow sales – our job is to grow salespeople. And then it’s their job to grow sales.

While it is true that our success is ultimately measured on sales levels, we personally aren’t going to make that happen. Our job, then, is to help salespeople be better at what they do. We need to coach them.

By “Coaching” we are talking about field coaching – hands-on and in competitive situations. Think about the impact a basketball coach has during the game, compared to after the contest.

While the “after the game” sales meeting is important, it’s working in the field with salespeople that holds forth our greatest opportunity. We see a sales leader working with salespeople on three types of calls:

• Traning call – Here the sales manager takes the lead during the call to show how it should be done. Other than being introduced to the prospect or client, the salesman is essentially a silent observer.

  After demonstrating “how-to”, the sales leader debriefs after each call. “What went right” and “What went wrong” are thoroughly discussed, so that the salesman can see the dynamics involved.

2) Joint call – A sales manager and salesman both participate in these calls. Each person contributes appropriately; and often these calls are used in re-establishing a relationship or introducing the sales leader to customers.

Joint calls also are effective for gathering information about market activity, the competition, and individual customer wants and needs. How well your company is meeting those needs can be ascertained on a joint call.

3) Coaching call – In these instances the sales leader plays the role of an observer, and the salesman conducts the call. The introduction of the manager usually should be done in a low-key manner. If he or she is unknown to the prospect, simply introduce the manager as an associate of the salesman.

On coaching calls the sales manager learns the most about how a sales person performs on his or her day-to-day calls. As a result, it is where the sales leader can offer the most.

But that is true only if the coaching call is conducted properly – and often that is tough for the sales leader to do. Even if the sales person is “blowing it”, it is critical that the call be conducted solely by the sales person.

After the first coaching call, the salesperson will usually want to know how he or she did. But sales managers must resist doing a debriefing at this time. Instead, suggest that 5 or 6 more calls be made. Once they are all completed, the sales leader should sit with the salesperson and debrief. Identify those things that went well, and share them with the salesperson. Also identify what could be done better.

Rather than weighing down the sales person with too many suggestions, pick one or two that hold the greatest opportunity to increase his or her success. Discuss these two items thoroughly, suggesting specific actions for improvement.

Maintain your notes in the salesperson’s file. These will be helpful on subsequent calls, in order to spot trends. Here are a few more points about sales calls:

• The reason we do not debrief after each call is that doing so would cause salespeople to change their norm because of what we point out. If we suggest one thing new after each call, the salesman will be way out of his norm by the third call – and probably a basket case from trying to please us.

  But we are trying to observe how they generally work, rather than attempting to make changes. That aspect comes later.

• What if the account executive tells the prospect or client an outright lie? Do we correct him or her on the spot? Not during a coaching call; remember that we are an observer. Possibly the account executive will recover without any help from us. At worst, we can make the correction later.
• All three types of calls are effective and have value, but need to be part of an ongoing process. In particular, the coaching call has the highest value for enhancing a salesperson’s growth. Practice it regularly with each of your sales associates.

You can’t be helpful if you don’t know what’s going on in the field. It’s not a control issue – it’s an information issue. Get in the practice of taking notes on each account executive you work with. We suggest purchasing a notebook to be maintained by you for each salesperson.

Start accumulating information about the account executive and his or her customers and prospects. Let each salesperson know your purpose – to help them grow professionally, and to grow their production.

You might encounter some resistance – until salespeople see their personal volume going up. Here are some questions to pose to your sales staff, to help you uncover both their strengths and those areas which need shoring up:

• Talk me through a specific call in which you were successful.
• Talk me through a specific call in which you didn’t get results. What did you say? What did the prospect say? How did you leave it – what was the next step?
• Let’s review your prospect target list. How many are on it? How frequently is each one contacted, and why did you choose that schedule? How do you stay in touch with them?
• What kind of prospects are you contacting? Which ones produce the best results?
• What was your last value-added idea which you provided a prospect or client? What was the best idea given in the last 6 months? Where did you get it?
•  Let’s review your client list. How many clients do you have? How long has the oldest one been with you? How recently did you acquire the newest one?

  Who do you think will be your next client? Which client has the highest potential for leaving you? Why? What are you (we) doing to salvage that relationship?

•  Describe the potential for new business with your established clients.
• Tell me what is going to happen – account by account – 90 days from now.
• What do your prospects and customers say about our competition? What are our competitors’ most successful programs/products?
• What assistance do you need? What can I do to help you?
• What are you doing to knock out the competition?

Additionally, here are some questions to ask yourself when observing salespeople on sales calls:

• Was the salesperson prepared for the call? In what specific ways?
• What was the purpose of the call? Did the salesperson bring helpful information for the client?
• Was the purpose accomplished? When was the next call scheduled, and what was its purpose?
• How well was the customer known by the account executive? It what ways? What were the three top needs of the customer, and the highest value need?
• How would you classify the stage of the call: Approach? Interview? Presentation/Solution? Ask for business? Follow-up/Positioning?
• What was the rapport like between the salesman and the customer or prospect?
• Was the call by appointment, or on the spur of the moment? Where was the call conducted?
• If the account executive was kept waiting on arrival, how long did that last, and how did he or she make use of the time?
• How was the interaction with the receptionist?
• Was any contact made with other prospects or clients at that office, either before or after the call?
• Was a thank-you note sent as a follow-up?

Before You Start

Two basic points are important to make before going on sales calls with salespeople:

Fundamental One-

Give plenty of advance notice. Surprise visits to the field are not appreciated by your sales team, as that implies a lack of trust. Set up your schedule at least a week in advance.

Fundamental Two-

Go with a plan. Don’t say to the salesperson, “Well, what should we work on this time out?” Instead, review your prior notes, current production, and call report- and then state where you think it best to focus. Always solicit feedback and agreement from the salesperson. Remember that if you demonstrate that you are doing your homework; salespeople will be more prone to do theirs.

Let’s build on those fundamentals by establishing some guidelines to help keep your calls focused:

• Begin by reiterating the objective of the day’s calls. Be sure to show how your current objectives will fulfill the salesperson’s overall game plan.
• Build on the last coaching session. Review with the salesperson what you each agreed upon, and what got completed during the previous call. See if anything needs to be changed or discussed before setting out.
• Let the account executive do the scheduling. If you are being “set up” with calls only to his or her best customers, you will know soon enough- and can correct accordingly.
• Agree on the type of calls. Will they be training? Joint? Coaching?
• Make the first call as positive as possible. Your presence increases the tension, so make this as easy as you can for the salesperson.

• Before each call, ask about the purpose. There should be a specific goal on every call, and a specific approach for each one. Know it before hand, so you can better asses the call later.
• Practice being a keen observer. Develop a mental checklist of what you are looking for, so you can avoid taking notes during calls.

Make quick bullet notes in the car between calls. Focus on the primary changes to be suggested. The list could include:

• Greeting
• Questions salesperson asked
• Questions prospect asked
• Percent of time talking versus listening
• Use of benefit statements
• Ask for business

Remember your purpose, and never take over a call. If you do that, your relationship with the salesperson is on the way to destruction. Your primary reason for being there is training; not seeing how much can be sold.

• At the appropriate time, depending on the type of call, describe what you observed. But remember-

Focus on one or two specific items

• Let the account executive talk
• Agree on what can be done differently  

• At the end of the day, get overall agreement on what the account executive is to do and what you will do to help. Write it down.

When giving feedback to the salesperson, ask yourself: What do I want to communicate? Where do I want to focus suggested changes? How can I communicate this information so that the salesperson will be receptive to it? What specific solution or goal may I offer, and how may I assist the recipient to achieve his or her goal?

Goal Power

We need to demonstrate that improved performance comes not only from having better skills and work habits, but that specific goals must be set – along with a timetable for making them happen.

The power of personal goals is so strong that everything else pales by comparison. A study of Yale University graduates in 1953 found that only 3% of them had written goals in life.

A follow-up study 20 years later revealed that the 3% who had written down their goals had a financial net worth superior to the combined net worth of the remaining 97% of their class!

In order for you to reach your goals as a Sales Leader, you must give your salespeople the coaching they need. Remember, “If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me.” Here is a three part exercise to asses “How am I doing?” –

• Coaching: What do I know? Develop your game plan for personal improvement. Don’t delay – do it now.
• The coaching survey. Solicit feedback from your sales team on how you are doing. Determine what changes you will make, and communicate with your team the feedback and your plans. You will soon find yourself more closely “Walking your talk.”
• “It’s never over.” The pursuit of success is endless. Therein lies the fun and challenge of the Sales Leader.