What's In Your Toolbox?

A good salesperson is equipped with a set of tools designed to work with and compliment the goods and/or services they sell.
These tools include your personality, a defined and measurable sale process, product and industry knowledge, and the ability to call upon and to use your technical support team as needed.
This tool set NEVER becomes complete and should be added to continually as you evolve into a true sales professional.
Use the right tool for the right job.
This tool set also includes both your Goal Statement asnd your Action Plan for achieving those goals.

Goals unwritten and unread are just dreams unfullfilled

Regardless of what you are selling, be sure you have the right tools, know your product and know your customer.

There Are No Shortcuts To Sucessful Sales But there are many shortcuts to failure.

Goal Statements and Action Plans-Part 2

Action Plans

An action plan is the steps you will need to take to get to your goals.
While no goal is a goal until you write it down, no goals can be achieved until we create an action plan to reinforce our goal statement.
Think of it this way,
Goal: Tune up your car
Action Plan: Steps I need to take to make it happen. I.E; acquiring the necessary replacement parts and the proper tools to complete the job.
I sell IT solutions and follow a pretty structured process and set of metrics to get there.
But whatever you are selling there is always a process for achieving the sale.
We’ll use my process as an example. Yours may vary but the idea is the same.
X = Goal statement
Y= Action plan
Z= Goal statement + Action plan
John, an energetic young salesman tells me his goal this quarter is to write 250k of new business, His action plan must then include a breakdown of the formula metrics he will need to follow to get there.

To be continued.

Now go read part 1 you slacker!

Goal Statements and Action Plans-Part 1

Setting goals both personal and professional are crucial to successful sales and a successful life.
If you have no goals, you lack focus and while you may experience success at times, sustaining that success is not possible without a Goal statement, and an Action plan designed to help you achieve those goals.

There are numerous publications on the subject and I recommend that you try a few different approaches until you find what works best for you.
Remember:
Goals are not goals until they are written down.
I cannot stress this enough.
Goals are not goals until they are written down.
So, let's get going Shall we?
I find hand written statements to be the best for a number of reasons. Human beings are tactile little critters. We need reenforcement and we need repetition.
So, get a pad of legal yellow, and at the top of the page write your name and ‘My Goal Statement.’
Next, I want you to set the pad down in front of you where you can see it and do some serious thinking.
We all have our own minds eye, a place that we go to visualize the world in our own unique way.
Close your eyes and go there now.
Picture your goal in your mind’s eye. Goals can be short or long term, but must be both tangible and realistically achievable.
“I’d like to be a billionaire in a month.” Is not a realistic goal. As Austin Powers would say “I’d like a toilet seat made of gold but it’s just not in the cards, baby”
So your goals must be realistically achievable.
A realistic goal also needs to have a target date for attainment.
You must write about your goal in the first person, It’s your goal Sparky.
Own it, know it and live it.
Start with something easy and gradually and incrementally raise the bar as you achieve your goals.
Many folks who are serious about this create three separate statements:
Short term goals
Midterm goals
Long term goals
A short-term goal might be something you want to attain this week or this month.
A midterm goal something to achieve this quarter.
A long term goal something to attain this year.

To be continued (or that's my goal anyway)

Get Your Head Into The Cloud!

The coolest part of evolving technology is that while the development of applications and new devices have become more complex, IT professionals have made the task of using these technologies more simple.

In the cloud where all applications will eventually live, the impact and reality of this has never been more profound.

If you are in the IT world you already know this, If you don't already know this than you better start learning it Sparky!

In about 3-5 years from now, every complex application that we have will be available in the cloud.

All of us will be connected and will collaborate via an Ipad/touch type device about the size of a comic book.

You may ask:
"Ck Nostro-dumb-ass' On what do you base this future interconnected Utopia?"

Look around you, it's already happening and while the current economy may be hampering some company's from moving forward, technology is alive and thriving thank you very much.

We in IT, work in an industry that loves change and thrives on challenge.
Part of achieving adoption is by simplifying and enriching user experience.

Soon, anyone who can read and type(Unlike me!) will be able to collaborate via the cloud and manage sophisticated and complex applications with the expertise of a pro.

This will be achieved as all of our data goes from living in our hard drives to living online in servers and data centers that we will access remotely.

A couple of years ago I was in Boston at a show, and watched a harried SharePoint developer drop his laptop top that he had been in the process of coding on and then watched a Cab drive right over it.

Ouch!

Thousands of dollars for the dev. box destroyed and hundreds of hours of content lost.

Someone had much explaining to do to his team, probably some heavy drinking ensued as well.

In the cloud, the remedy will be as simple as setting up the new device and connecting to your data center where all the work was being stored as it was being created.

In the late 20th century IT pros helped usher in a new age of business productivity and in the next part of the 21st century we are going to simplify that technology and free all from the costly tether of complex infrastructure and the headaches of maintaining it.

Life in the cloud will also have perils, but the difference will be that while our developer with the broken laptop, faced dozens, perhaps hundreds of hours trying to get his data back, in the cloud it will be as simple as configuring a new device and getting back to work.

This is a great time for anyone using technology and it's only going to keep getting better.

"May You live In Interesting Times" Says an ancient proverb.
Guess what?
You do!

Control Your Process

To be effective in solution sales or any complex sales process, you must be in control of the process.
The metrics may vary from product to product but the goal always remains the same: getting your product/service/solution to your customers.
Imagine the process as a funnel, with contacts and leads pouring in through the top and purchase orders and engagement contracts coming through the narrow end.


To maintain this consistency, you must always be striving to keep your funnel full by adding new leads and contacts.
This is achieved through a variety of different marketing and lead development methods, some of which we have already discussed and more that we will address in future posts. But for all intents and purposes the funnel will look the same.
Awareness-Interest/need-Evaluation-Purchase.
If 1-2% of the people who you develop as leads become actual clients then you are managing the process effectively.
The top is wider than the bottom because not all those who are leads will become customers, if they did; old hacks like me would not be needed to direct campaigns and to write about the process for others.
So, if only 1-2 of the 100 people you engage with are actually going to by your product and or engage your services, you'd better have a solid and repeatable process for keeping that funnel full.
Leads are expensive to your organization, manage them wisely. I typically try to imagine each lead as already being my customer. I treat my customers very well, by acknowledging their needs and by my commitment to deliver the best possible solution I can.
If you treat each lead as a customer, listen effectively and use your customers own words to set expectations and acknowledge needs, then you are doing your job.
Remember, that nothing comes out of the narrow end unless you are constantly replenishing the wide end of your funnel.
Q: Who is responsible for lead generation and sales in a start up environment?
A: EVERYBODY.
If you are in a startup and you believe otherwise, you are not working for your company and you most certainly are not working for me.

Riding For The Brand

This expression comes from the old west when cowboy's worked for a particular ranch. Each ranch had a unique identifier they used to mark their cattle.
This was called a branding iron and if you worked for a particular cattle outfit, you were have said to 'ride for the brand.'

The loyalty you show the organization you work for is just as important as the loyalty you show to your customers.

The two are inextricably intertwined and reflect both your personal character and your work ethic.
Ask yourself this question: "Am I riding for the brand?"

1. Putting your work, your customers and your company ahead of everything but your family?

2. Creating goal statements and action plans designed to help you to reach those professional goals?
Remember: Goals are not real goals until they are written down and read daily with your action plan.
Commit both to memory.
They are your mantra, and they will help to keep you focused and on point during times of doubt and hardship.

3. Continuing the training you need to maintain pace and keep abreast of new ideas processes and procedures in your industry?

4. Maintaining a positive mental attitude by eliminating toxic substances, activities and people from your life?

If you answered yes to the above, then congratulations Cowboy, you are riding for the brand.
If not, then you are just another tenderfoot and need to either saddle up, and hit the trail or start getting serious about what you are doing.
There is no third choice.