Colleen Stanley

There was a popular movie several years ago called Ghostbusters.  I think movie producers need to look at another movie called Sales Busters.  

The theme of the movie could be around “busting” the myths surrounding what it takes to succeed in sales.   Here are a few of my favorite myths that many sales organizations still believe which prevent them from achieving predictable and sustainable sales. 

Myth Number One:   Salespeople are disorganized.  No, bad salespeople are disorganized.  In my years of leading a sales team and now teaching salespeople, I find the best salespeople are highly organized.  Their week is planned and they don’t deviate from the plan.  They constantly analyze their business and focus only on the highest return activities and prospects.  Look at a top producing rep’s calendar and an average producing rep’s calendar and note the difference.    One will be full of action items and to-do...

It’s the end of the first quarter.  Where did you end up?  Ahead of goals, right on par or running behind?  

If it’s the latter, it’s time to stop doing what you’re doing and evaluate your game plan.  If you keep doing what you are doing, you are going to keep getting what you’re getting.

Ask yourself three basic questions:

The first place to look is your calendar.  Yes, right now, open up your calendar.  If you don’t have proactive business development times blocked out on your calendar, it’s probably the number one reason you are looking at an empty or less than desirable sales pipeline and results.  As the old saying goes, “If you fail to plan, then plan to fail.”  Empty pipelines create desperation breath during sales meetings.    You look and sound needy without even opening your mouth.  You write practice proposals out of hope rather than qualification.  You discount because empty pipelines create a scarcity sales mentality, not an abundance sales mindset...

Tom Landry, former coach of the Dallas Cowboys, once said, “I don’t believe in team motivation.  I believe in getting a team prepared so it knows it will have the necessary confidence when it steps on a field and be prepared to play a good game.” 

This attitude and approach is probably the reason the Cowboys enjoyed 20 consecutive winning seasons, competed in two NFL championship games and five Super Bowls.    

So what do good coaches and trainers have in common?   Many sales organizations focus only on the hard skills required for effective sales management.  These might be skills such as forecasting or selling skills.  (After all, most top producers get promoted to leadership positions.)

In the training and coaching world, soft skills are equally important.  Emotional intelligence skills  such as self awareness, delayed gratification and empathy can make a big difference in building  high performance cultures.  Here are three traits that good sales managers...

The headlines in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal read, “Best Buy CEO defies critics.”  The article was addressing their weak sales in December of 2011, citing the problem as Best Buy’s inability to compete effectively with price and selection found on-line retailers.  

I agree with the article and also have some other bad news for Best Buy.  Your sales are weak because you have lousy customer service. 

There are a few of us that still like the store experience.  You get to feel and touch the product, talk to a representative not in India or get put on hold trying to find the answer to a simple questions.  After a recent Best Buy experience, on-line is looking better every day.  Here’s my customer service or lack of saga.  

I purchased a Verizon Wireless FiveSpot™ from Best Buy last April.  The product/service never worked.  I spent about 10 hours going to the Best Buy, working with their Geek squad, with no luck.  (That is a full work day.)  Now here’s the...