Working with many different sales organisations, teams and managers I have found that most of the problems that they face on a regular basis are due to the lack of planning by the sales manager.  As the old adage states, “Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail”. So why don't sales managers plan?

Well over the years of training, my students have given me many reasons why they don’t plan and these are the most common:
•    I don't know how to plan;
•    I don't have the time to plan, I am way too busy;
•    I prefer to be spontaneous and reactive and planning stops me from doing this;
•    I spend so much time addressing problems, I don’t have time to plan; and
•    It isn't part of my job description so why should I do it.

Many years ago my wife was studying for an exam and she was drawing these colorful diagrams while reading her notes.  At first they didn’t make much sense to me so I dismissed them thinking she was crazy.  Curiousity got the better of me and later I had to find out more about these crazy looking diagrams so I asked her what she was doing.  She told me she was “Mind Mapping” and she quickly explained how it worked.  It intrigued me and I wanted to know more.

Now I am using Mind Maps all the time to help myself and my clients with projects, coaching, sales proposals and nearly anything that needs clearer thinking.  So what is mind mapping?  Well mind mapping is a tool that engages both your left and right sides of your brain and as a result you actually complete activities more effectively and with better quality.  You basically put your thoughts down in a very effective manner on paper or a computer as a diagram that represents the way you think.   They can be used in many different situations and for many different reasons.  Use them during business meetings, when you study, when you plan or to come up with the most innovating ideas.

On the two year anniversary of the day that I was told I had Bowel cancer I have decided to write this article to let people know what happen and how I used my mind to fight the devastation of the disease to myself, my family and friends.  I hope this article can help others dealing with such events.

From the young age of 10 years old, I was introduced to the disease called “Cancer”.  This introduction was through my Father’s diagnosis, treatment and death from “Lung Cancer”.  As a child, seeing your father fight the disease and worst the treatments, had a very strong impact on me.  He died at 52 when I was only 12 years old.  The doctors claimed that the cancer was the result of his heavy smoking habit, so I vowed never to smoke cigarettes and that I would use my experience to help others quit.   My sister was next with her own battle of bowel cancer at the very young age of 29, then followed by mother with breast and bladder cancer.  As you can see there is a very strong history of cancer in my family.

 

Handling Questions and Objections

Of the many salespeople that I have trained, coached, mentored and managed, nearly all of them failed when handling questions and objections from a decision maker.  This results in salespeople leaving opportunities on the table for their competition to win.  

As this problem was so wide spread, I decided to develop a process that salespeople could easily use to handle questions and objections during a sales call.  This article outlines the process that I have been teaching salespeople for many years and has helped  them unblock and win many sales opportunities.

It is a fact that when selling, most of the time you will hear either “no” or a strong reason why a customer won’t buy when you ask for the order.   But it is also a fact that most of the time, the tough objections or even “no”, are intended to test your capability as a salesperson.

A Decision Maker may be thinking that it is easier to say “no” so not to change the status quo or take a risk.  Additionally, if the salesperson accepts the “no” then they can’t believe very strongly in the product or service they are selling.  If the salesperson is not enthusiastic enough to be willing to fight for the sale then they why should the decision maker buy from them.  

Common objections such as “We can’t afford it” or “We already deal with someone else” may sound like a “no”, but in fact it may be a question in disguise, intended to test you out and see how you can handle it.  Even a determined “NO” may be a subtle way of asking you to provide more reasons to support your offering.  

Some questions and objections can be easily handled especially when they relate to a strong feature of your product or service.  However when handling more difficult questions and objections I train salespeople to use the “SCORE” process.   

“SCORE” is a process consists of:
•    Search
•    Confirm
•    Observe
•    React
•    Exit

So what do each of these mean?

Before you can take the steps towards improving yourself you need to do a bit of self analysis. Get an understanding of what really makes you tick. Only by understanding yourself can you truly make positive transitions in your life.

I often meet people who tell me they are really content with their life and the way things are. This is often the fact because most people find it hard to think of anything else. However, when they have to answer these questions they often find the real issues at hand that has been holding them back from achieving what they believe to be success.

Here are 10 questions you should ask yourself and honestly answer. Write them down on a piece of paper or in a pad so you can reflect on them at a later date. Not only will this help you understand if your transformation is really occurring but it will serve as a reminder why you decided to undertake such a journey.

So what are these questions you should ask yourself before undertaking any self improvement:

1. What do I really want? - You probably have many things you want but what do you want to do with your life? Write it down no matter what it is or how important it is. Look at the things you are good at as this may help you realize what you really want to do with your life. Consider them as small steps toward your ultimate goal.
2. Should I really change? - Take the time to think if you really want to change. If you don't really want to change you will be your own enemy toward your success. Write down the reasons why you want to change as they will reaffirm you desire. These will be very powerful if you digress or lapse in your self-improvement plans.
3. What are the positives of improving yourself? - Identify the positive outcomes of improving yourself. It can be difficult during your journey of self-improvement if you don't know what to expect when you have achieved them. These positives will only help you reenforce your needs and desires to improve yourself.
4. Am I comfortable with what I'm doing? - Be honest with yourself. If you are comfortable with what you are doing it may be difficult to change. Self-improvement is not easy and will require dedication. Falling into old habits will be easy and your commitment to your goals will be essential for your success.
5. What have I done for myself? - Look at your past and record when you have done something for yourself. Mark them as successful or unsuccessful and then write down the reasons why. Is there a trend of success or failure? Analyse your responses and identify if your current aspirations to improve yourself is destined for success or failure. It may highlight areas to avoid or techniques to reuse.
6. Am I happy at where I am today? - Look at yourself and where you are in life. Are you where you wanted to be when you where a child? Has your aspirations changed? If you are happy can you still be even better? Imagine what you could be as it is what you can be.
7. Am I happy socially? - Review your social life and would you like to change it? How would you like to change it and do you firmly believe it to be possible? This will help you identify what you will need to do should you want to change in this area.
8. How much could I have? - Consider what you could have and how much you want. This could be money, friends, success or anything else. Now consider the work involved in getting this and are you ready to invest yourself towards these aspirations. You may need to change the amount you want.
9. What truly motivates me? - The key to any self-improvement goal is motivation. It could be money, food, friendship, love or something else. Pick the one that truly motivates you. Whatever it is, it will help you define your self-improvement goals to ensure your success. Use it as a reward for achieving your goals.
10. What makes me tick? - From the other nine questions you should be able to easily describe yourself and what makes you tick as an individual. Write this down as your personal statement. A description of your true self.

Now, you can be anything you want to be and through this self analysis you should have identified if you are ready and really want to change. Self-improvement is never easy but if you understand yourself it can certainly be easier. Consider self-improvement to be like climbing a mountain but when you get to the top you know you have achieved something worthwhile. You must remember that self-improvement is more than just changing yourself but something that you really want.

We procrastinate at work in a number of ways.  Give yourself a tick for each of the following that you do:

• Paying bills
• Discussing complaints
• Returning phone calls
• Completing that project
• Updating your Resume
• Hanging around the water cooler
• Excessive networking to avoid working
• Showing an interest in office gossip
• Finding a new job if we are unhappy at work

How well did you score? If you got 6 to 9, then your ability to work is affected greatly by your procrastination.  If you scored 1 to 3, then you are doing well and if you scored 4 to 6 than you can still improve. Tips for improving procrastination follow...

Stress causes a rise in brain chemicals or changes the balance of chemicals, resulting in neurons in the brain not working properly.

This makes us look bad in front of others as we are unable to respond in an objective way. This can cause the following problems:

• You may say something inappropriate
• You will not be able to think one step ahead to solve the situation
• The argument will get worse
• You will get angry and frustrated
• You will look unprofessional
• If other employees are around, they will take sides

How effective are you as a leader?  This questionnaire will help to give you a rating on your leadership abilitites and how leadership development training can benefit you.  No-one is perfect and there are always ways that we can improve.  This questionnaire will help you to understand areas that you can improve in and you can find tools on this website to help you to become a more effective leader.  So give yourself an honest rating for each of these areas with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest (in the positive).  Grab a pen and paper and rate yourself out of 10 for each of these questions.

1. Are you working effectively in your role?
2. Do you understand the characteristics of being an effective leader?
3. How well do you manage your stress?
4. Do you communicate effectively?
5. Do you listen effectively and ask questions of employees?
6. How effective are your working relationships in your organisation?
7. Do you understand the element of effective working relationships?
8. Do you understand the personality traits of your employees?
9. Do you understand the strengths and weaknesses of your employees?
10. Rate the culture and morale of your organisation.

Add up all your scores.  How well did you do?

Everyone would like more time to complete everything that they need to do in a day.  This article will help you to identify where your time is being wasted and how to improve efficiency and complete tasks more quickly through developing your own time management system with time management techniques.  We will provide our top 10 ways to effectively manage your time.

1. Plan your day - Quickly go through what has to be done and write a list of activities that need to be completed urgently.  Estimate how long it will take to complete each activity and indicate whether you can delegate any tasks to someone else.  Leave the non-urgent tasks to be reviewed after you have completed the urgent tasks.  The Task Manager tool is available by subscription from this website which will help you to develop your own time management system.
2. Check your Calendar - To develop your time management system, fill in all your meetings for the week and slot in tasks that need to be completed before the meeting.  Slot in your tasks in the time you have left.  Include all activities in the calendar, such as picking up the kids from school or having a lunch break.
3. Have a lunch break, believe it or not, this is a great time management technique.  You will be more productive if you have a break from work, at least 30 minutes will give you an opportunity to have lunch, read a magazine or catch up wit the day time soapies.  If you are able to, get out of the office and get some fresh air or meet a friend for lunch.  A mid-day break will leave you feeling refreshed when you get back to the office. If you are planning on going out for lunch, put your break in the Calendar and commit to a time that you will be back in the office so that your lunch does not run over time.
4. Paper shuffling - When you are picking up papers on your desk only handle the paper once.  If it needs to be filed, put it in a filing folder.  If it needs to be entered into the computer, put it in the data entry folder.  Put any rubbish in the shredder or bin straight away.  If your paper shredder is not located in your office, put it in a folder labelled to be shredded.  Sort all papers as you touch them to reduce your paper shuffling time.  Add this technique to your time management system.
5. Don't answer all your emails immediately - if you are completing a task, glance at the email to see if it is urgent and then go back to your work.  Once you have completed the task you are on, then check your emails.  If you find it hard to do this, then turn off the email notify function so you will not know when emails come in, then check your emails periodically (after you have finished a task).  Be sure to inform your Manager that you have turned off your email notifer to become more productive and that if the matter is urgent, can he/she call you?  Develop this time management tool as a part of your time management system.
6. If you are working on a challenging task and you are stuck, have a break.  If your back is getting stiff, nature calls or you need a drink, chat to other staff wandering the corridoors, visit your boss if you need a chat and then get back to work.  Your mind will be refreshed and the task you are working on will not be as challenging.  This is a great time management technique to improve your productivity.
7. Come to work early and leave late - It is amazine how many Managers winge about their staff running late and leaving early.  If you come in 10 minutes early and leave 10 minutes late, you will be amazed at how more efficient you will become and you will feel less rushed.  The coffee machine will be free and you will be settled by the time you are due to start work.  You will have a better mind set as you won't feel so rushed.  Build this tool into your time management system.
8. Negotiate your own timetable - If your Manager allows, arrange to come in half an hour later to drop the kids of to school and miss the rush hour traffic.  Leave half an hour later to miss that rush hour traffic again.  You will arrive at your destination more relaxed.  Also, there will be less staff in the office after 5 pm and you will be able to complete more tasks.  If this suits you, build it into your time management system.
9. Negotiate to work from home - After you have proven yourself in the office, you may be able to negotiate working from home.  But beware, you will have to be very organised and work the hours you have negotiated.  Fill in your Schedule weekly with time set aside to work from home.  If your family and friends know that you are working from home, let them know about your schedule so that they may contact you at appropriate times.  This is a great time management system.
10. Review your systems and processes into a time management system - Can tasks be completed in a more efficient way or can they be delegated to others?  Set aside time for certain activities like leaving one day a week to do book-keeping.  Keep all the expenses in a folder and once per week, enter them into the system.

If you utilise just 2 or 3 of these ideas, you will be amazed about how more efficient you will become.  You will also feel less stressed as you will be able to work out when you will be completing certain tasks.  If you feel overstretched and unable to complete a project, you will have supporting documentation to ask your Manager for an extension, or delegate the task/project to others.

There are more tools on this website to assist you with your time management strategies.  Please let us know through this forum how you are going with those tools.