Span the Chasm – Sales Team Training – Driving Sustainable Sales and Growth through Development and Consulting

Tag: sales skills

  • Sales Productivity and Flight DL 466

    Sales Productivity and Flight DL 466

    This past winter, I was delayed 7 hours and 10 minutes for a flight. It turned out to be the best 7 hours and 10 minutes I’ve had in a LONG time.

    Snow was coming down hard at LaGuardia. Flights were being diverted and cancelled everywhere. It was clear – I wasn’t getting out anytime soon.

    Now what?

    As I sat in the packed Delta SkyClub, I did what I often do: observe. I noticed 4 ‘people types’ that night:

    1. The Freebie: The SkyClub serves unlimited food and alcohol to its members. Many, understandably, chose that path. And tended to stay on that path and it grew in members as the night wore on.
    2. The Homie: I heard them all around the club. Phone calls to loved ones with news of delays and disappointment in not getting there when originally anticipated. After each delay, another call. Usually with escalating frustration around something that can’t be controlled: a winter storm hitting a major airport and the ensuing chaos.
    3. The Entertainer: ESPN, Cosmopolitan magazine, Candy Crush, TV. Rotate between them at a regular interval to burn the minutes off the clock.
    4. The Grinder: They chose to GSD. If you don’t know what GSD is, you may not be a grinder. Email me, I’ll tell you. They hunkered down and became productive. Weren’t thrown off by the events. Made a plan and did it.  

    Why am I sharing this with you? Because we all make choices. We make them daily. We make them about 15 minutes here, an hour there, 30 minutes somewhere else.

    The choice we make is:

    Invest Time or Spend Time

    Time invested creates positive outcomes and lasting impact. Time spent is, well, spent. Never to be recovered.

    In my 7 hr 10 min delay, I had about 6 hours of time where I could CHOOSE how to spend it. Here’s how I invested it:

    • 20 minutes or so enjoying Delta’s food, mostly brownies (I call them protein bars to feel better about it.)
    • 15 minutes on the phone and 10 texts back home re: flight status.
    • 20 minutes on entertainment.
    • 5 hours grinding.  Wrote a blog (if you are a sales leader, you’re gonna love it). Got dozens of open action items knocked out. Got several projects my team is working on moved forward, clarified or started. Followed up with this week’s workshop attendees. Put together prospecting call plans. Followed up on Linkedin leads.

    BONUS! Ran into Saif Rahman, a fellow grinder, and we reminded each other that this inconvenience was out of our control; the Serenity Prayer in action. Got as much done in the SkyClub as many might get done in a full day.

    I know I am a little odd. A little ‘too’ focused at times. I also know by winning these time blocks, whether it’s 15 minutes or 5 hours, I continue to step forward and accelerate my success. I want to be the best I can be. Period. End of story.  

    Being great is way harder than being good. Good isn’t good enough for me.

    How about you? What choices are YOU willing to make?  INVEST time or SPEND time? You really are in control, and you are worth the results.

    I noticed something interesting about the Grinders that night. They weren’t as stressed, fatigued, cranky or worn out as the rest. Focused productivity has a way of energizing when doing nothing can wear you down. Funny how that works.

    #BeBrave!

  • Sales Skills, Like Knives, Get Dull Over Time

    Sales Skills, Like Knives, Get Dull Over Time

    It’s one of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, according to Stephen Covey.

    Tony Robbins speaks on this topic frequently.

    To grow and refine your skills, you must sharpen the saw.

    We’re living in an accelerating market that’s moving toward commoditization at light speed.   (more…)

  • 3 Lessons in Sales Wisdom from a Buddhist Monk

    3 Lessons in Sales Wisdom from a Buddhist Monk

    ‘When you walk, you don’t feel the ground. You feel your foot.’

    A bit of wisdom transcends the ordinary day-to-day from Thich Nhat Hanh (TNH), the aging Buddhist monk.

    Before you think this is a ‘spiritual’ blog, be reassured that my reflections on the readings of TNH are in the realm of improving sales. There’s much wisdom to be extracted from the venerable teacher that can dramatically help YOU.

    TNH Sales Wisdom for you.

    1. A lack of ‘self’ tied to the moment: TNH owned his robe, a set of chopsticks and his bowl. For all else, he relied on kindness and generosity. By holding very little, he was able to accept and create much. He remains one of the most influential people despite his poverty and small stature.

    TNH Sale Lesson: It’s not our entrapments like expensive watches, fancy cars, high-end pens and custom suits that bring value to our prospects. It is us. The sum of our experience. The years of wisdom gained from laboring for others. Our value is INTRINSIC, not EXTRINSIC. (Personal confession: I own custom suits, expensive watches, fancy cars and high-end pens. I am preaching to myself and always evolving!)

    2. An open, present mind: Buddhist refers to the ‘mushin mind’. It’s a mind full of knowledge, experience and wisdom and yet, at the same time, presence. TNH writes much on the concept of being present and you simply can’t be ‘present’ within your environment if you’re focused on things outside your immediate moment. It takes a mushin mind (empty mind) to do that. You cannot be filled with your past. You cannot be filled with thoughts of the future. You cannot be filled with expectations of the moment. You simply need to ‘be’.

    TNH Sales Lesson: To really be able to ‘meet your prospect where they are’, YOU need to be there too. Imagine how your prospect feels when you are COMPLETELY present. Not frustrated with the phone call that just went sideways. Not fixated on the presentation tomorrow that you’re unprepared for. Not ‘managing’ your current meeting to a preset outcome. Instead, you are actually THERE. All of you. THERE.

    3. Life is fully integrated: This moment, which fully deserves our best us, is only a moment. It IS important AND it is A moment. One of many. One of 2.85 TRILLION moments that you’ll live. While each moment has merit, stressing about each one vs engaging with each one will create two very different results. Chaos and anxiety OR peace and growth.

    TNH Sales Lesson: This meeting. This deal. This ________. It matters. It really does. And it doesn’t. If it’s successful, be grateful. If it’s not, learn. In the end, it doesn’t define you. If understood, it can prepare you. Relax. You deserve it. Your prospect deserves it. Your peace and serenity need it.

    ‘Only now do I see what is here before me.’

    To see what is here before you, you must be ‘now’. Be that. Your prospects, clients, family, friends and your world all deserve a present you.

    Yes, the wisdom of a small monk matters. If understood and put into practice wisely, it will serve you well. I’d love to chat with you about it.

    #BeGreat!

    P.S. If this topic sparks something in you, I recommend you further explore the teachings of TNH. Check out this book ‘Inside the Now: Meditations on Time’

    (Image Credit – http://thichnhathanhfoundation.org/)

  • Sales Coaching Methodology + Platform

    1 on 1 coaching is the most powerful sales rep development process available to sales leaders. Period.

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  • No Call Coaching = Less Sales Success

    I could feel his embarrassment as he sat down for our first coaching session. He knew the first question I was going to ask, as word had gotten around:

              How many calls so far and how many meetings set?

    132 calls. 1 meeting. (more…)