28 Days to Better Selling with Shane Gibson
Launches May 18th 2009
If you want to improve your sales and have been too busy to put a plan into place you’re not alone.
I have had many people in the sales community including sales professionals, senior executives and high tech entrepreneurs and bloggers who are all looking for ways to convert connections into long-term clients and relationships.
Their challenge is that most resources available are either one time training opportunities, or extensive and over whelming programs that are tough to implement. This program takes care of all of this.
The 28 Days to Better Selling program is completely free and is 100% content and 0% advertising or promotions. All content focused on helping you.
This concept was inspired by a 31 Days to Build a Better Blog program that Problogger.com put on for 12,000 other bloggers. As a participant it was very helpful for me. The concept is simple:
Here’s how 28 Days to Better Selling Works:
1) A daily task that you can easily implement to improve your sales and business
2) A succinct daily lesson to help you make the improvement
By the end of the 28 days you will have looked at 28 ways to fine tune and improve your sales process and business. The daily lessons will be in written, video or audio format and will take less than 10 minutes each to review.
To Register for the program please enter your e-mail address below:
Jay Levinson Guerrilla Marketing Video Interview With Shane Gibson
I had the fantastic opportunity to spend several days with Jay Levinson (twitter) and his wife Jeannie while I was in Santiago Chile this week. Jay and I both spoke at the Annual Sales and Marketing conference put together by Seminarium, the leading provider of executive business education in South America.
Jay Levinson has sold over 20 million books on Guerrilla Marketing making him one of the top selling marketing authors in history. Following is a brief video interview I did with Jay on Guerrilla Marketing.
Darcy Rezac’s Networking Tip of the Week
I’m subscribed to Darcy Rezac’s (Twitter) Networking Tips. He’s author of “Work the Pond” the definitive guide to networking in business and in life. Here’s this week’s tip:
Trucker Network. We are firm believers in the power of business cards, and the following story reaffirms why everyone in your company needs cards. Last week Darcy heard this story about a guy who owns a trucking company who decided to give all his truckers business cards. Soon, his company’s business cards were posted on truck stop cafes and gas stations across the continent. The result? A 20% increase in business! And there was another interesting thing that happened–the drivers started dressing better, looking sharper. Why would that be? These guy and gals had never been given business cards before, and if we think back to the time when we received that very first box of business cards, there was a certain feeling of pride, status and belonging. There were two wins for this owner because of his simple investment in business cards.
– Darcy, Gayle and JudyTo read a story from Work the Pond! about giving cards to everyone in your company go to: www.tiny.cc/shepa
Top Sales Blog and Podcast Entries of the Week
This week was a bit of a chore for me as far as devoting time to read other blogs and listen to podcasts. Stephen Jagger and I have been busy with our latest project and a lot of my time has been spent on marketing and technology orientated sites. With that said there were several blogs that did leave an impression on me. Here’s a quick list of what I found to be notable entries on the sales blogosphere this week.
#1) This is actually a live feed of multiple sales bloggers from around the globle. The World’s Top Sales Bloggers List is a great place to discover new sales bloggers and podcast producers.
#2) Dave Kurlan put together a great sales management checklist of must have attibutes for sales leaders and managers.
#3) Kevin Eikenberry posted a good list of 5 ways to do some spring cleaning to your life. Good tips for those needing to refocus.
#4) Paul Espinosa talked about how critical it is for organizations to get good ar hiring good sales managers in his post on “Sales Managers – The Real Role.”
#5) The guys at the Sales Roundup Sales Podcast put together a great show on “How to price what you sell.”
#6) George Petri from Symvolli posted a sales podcast on “B2B Relationships Don’t Have To Be Lost – Continuous Contact Doesn’t Mean Customer Stalking.” Great stuff on creative follow-up.
#7) Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale put together a podcast on getting to and dealing with decision makers.
#8) Rick Cooper: The Fortune Is In the Follow Up was another podcast that I enjoyed.
Why writing a book in more than 90 days is not an option
Mack dropped by this blog today and made a comment about Stephen Jagger and I writing our book in 90 days. We felt is was critical that we published this new book on how social media and social networking as soon as possible.
Number one Sociable! and it’s principles are needed right now by most of our collective clients. If we waited a year to release it, and went the traditional book publisher route we would be hypocrites for saying “the rules of business have changed but we are going to write, distribute, market and roll-out our book basically the same it has been done for years.” So we broke a bunch of rules, and we also set some big aggressive goals that are going to create some real momentum.
Here’s what Mack had to say:
Undoubtebdly you guys are both experts, but a book in 90 days? As a consumer I am a lot less interested in the book as it seems like something rushed. For you to write three books in a year is a great achievement but as a reader I would prefer one Excellent book in a year instead of three that were quickly banged out. Maybe my assessment is wrong, I’d love to hear why. (Original comment here)
I would side with Seth Godin on this when he said:
Blogs have eliminated the reason for most business books to exist. If you can say it in three blog posts and reach more people, then waiting a year and putting in all that effort seems sort of pointless. The chances that your effort will be rewarded with income in proportion to the time you put in are pretty low. (See the full post at Seth Godin’s Blog)
In order to create ROI for the writer and be relevant to the reader the way books are written, marketed and revised must change. Here’s my full response via video (please weigh in and add comments, I really want to know what my readers feel about this subject):
Social CRM The Future of Sales and Marketing?
I believe that CRM or customer relationships management software is going to be going through some major changes in the next 24 to 36 months. Not all organizations will have a need for this change, but for those of us who will benefit from this next generation CRM it is an exciting development. Jeremiah Owyang was one of the first people I heard talk about it.
What I am talking about is real time, permission based data on clients that will have the potential to tell us everything from what time of day they are most likely to answer a twitter comment from us to what events they are attending and what brand of TV they prefer or “favorite.”
This data is available on most contacts you have if you are connected to them on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin but the challenge is managing the noise and the chaos to hone in on the events, preferences, and people that matter most to your sales, networking and community building efforts.
A comment made to me on Twitter just moments after recording this podcast was:
From: @Raize604 @shanegibson it’s also more high maintenance CRM which makes me wonder if its worth it
A properly engineered and formatted Social CRM can pull all of this data for you, filter it, help you focus on a target group and tell you when specific people or groups are most responsive to what messages in what mediums. Here’s today’s sales podcast on Social CRM:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
CEOs on Twitter Interview Video
Mike Desjardins (http://twitter.com/mikedesjardins) interviewed Shane Gibson on Mike’s Video Podcast on how CEO’s can effectively use Twitter.
Top Sales Blogs and Podcasts This Week
I have been spending more time seeing what my peers and friends have been up to this week. I’m connected to a lot of them via my membership in Top Sales Experts and others through speaking at the same conferences over the past few years. (In no particular order) Here are some good posts from the past week that you may find insightful:
Chris Maurer did a great blog post on Social Media for B2B Sales, he talked about the importance of laying out a strong strategy for your sales team to use the tools effectively.
Jonathan Farrington said it well when he said “Successful ‘closers’ know that there is no need to use magic phrases or techniques because if they’ve effectively followed the sales process, closing the sale is the next step in a logical sequence.” in his great blog post on “Closing. It’s easy if…”
Neil Godin did a great blog entry in his Marketing Dangerously blog on “May I help you?” and how he was able to help a company double their customer conversion levels by shifting the way they great customers.
Wendy Weiss did a podcast that really talked about the difference between Amateurs versus Professionals in the art of cold calling. “Fix Your Saggy Butt!” (I’m glad I never have been a dancer or a model, sales sounds easy after her story).
Colleen Francis blogged about the importance of CRM for sales teams of any size. The blog was answer to a blog reader’s question. I liked Colleen’s practical logical arguement for those that may still be sitting on the CRM fence.
Stephen Jagger founder of Reachd and Ubertor posted a great video of Vic Jang speaking on the Future of Real Estate Sales.
Skip Anderson posted some straightforward but often missed sales management tips for ramping up your effectiveness in “Sales Manager, How Are You Going to Spend Your Time Today?”
Ian Watt did a video blog titled “Don’t Become a Realtor for the Money, it Will Eat You Alive” (you can see all of his video blogs here). It’s great insight on loving what you do.
Another great resource for sales blogs and podcasts is the sales channel of Alltop.com
If you have any favorite posts or authors you like please share them in the comments section.
Sociable! By Stephen Jagger and Shane Gibson
Yesterday was the first day Stephen Jagger and I officially announced our new book Sociable! A book on how social media is turning sales and marketing up-side down. We did a 30 minute presentation and 25 minute Q&A at the Massive Technology Show in Vancouver. (We will be in Toronto on May7th as well) The feedback from the seminar was positive and the big question has been when is the book being released?
Based upon feedback from the publisher / printer we’re looking at early June as the soft launch of the book. We will be announcing a series of events around the book in the coming weeks and how you can get advance copies for review.
If you want to be kept up to date on this you can get on our list here:
Professional Sales Diploma Program Launched in Partnership with The Academy of Learning
I have been working with the Academy of Learning for over a year to launch this program and it is now available through their network of 145 locations across Canada.
New Program Trains Sales Professionals Who Meet the Demands of Today’s Business World
Academy of Learning is pleased to announce the new Sales Professional Diploma program“ said Derek Hamill, President of LaunchLife International Inc., the franchisor of Academy of Learning. “Without sales there is no business. Academy of Learning wanted to deliver a first rate diploma program to guide and prepare graduates for top notch sales opportunities, and that’s what we did.
Academy of Learning, along with speaker, author and global entrepreneur, Shane Gibson, President of Knowledge Brokers International (KBI), designed the Sales Professional Diploma program with the goal to ensure that every student has the necessary sales knowledge and practical tools to succeed in a sales career.
This program is based upon KBI’s methodologies that have been implemented and used by leading business organizations such as SIEMENS, Old Mutual, The Certified Management Accountants of Canada, the Vancouver Board of Trade and dozens of manufacturers and leading financial services companies. Over 100,000 people in the last 10 years have attended KBI’s programs in Canada, USA, Southern Africa, South East Asia, the Middle East and South America.
This program will prepare graduates with the right skills to excel as a sales professional.
Some of the key courses and areas of focus in the program include: Principles of Selling, Business Presentations, Professional Selling, Business Negotiations & Contracts, and Business Law and Ethics. Graduates will be prepared with the right tools for lucrative sales careers in disciplines such as inside sales, outside sales, key account management, retail and large business to business sales careers. This program is ideal for individuals entering the workplace for the first time, re-entering the workplace, or current jobholders who want to upgrade or get formal recognition as a sales professional.
Labour conditions for the sales profession have remained consistent. Jobfutures.ca indicates that there is a broad variety of career opportunities in sales in fields such as advertising, wholesale, publications, hospitality, entertainment, travel, as well as in the telecommunication industry. Companies need to be competitive and that means having the right sales person who knows how to win accounts and maintain business relationships.
A labour analysis conducted by Academy of Learning shows sales positions are still key requirements in the workforce. Additional research relating specifically to the sales profession research found that:
- Graduates of sales related programs can expect a salary at a mid to slightly higher than average annual salary.
- The employment outlook in sales is at a good level for the coming year.
- The Globe and Mail newspaper stated that employers are having difficulty filling Sales Representatives positions.
- 72% of those with previous work experience found a job within one month of graduation.
- 45% of respondents in the Canadian Professional Sales Association study on “The State of the Sales Nation” stated that finding good sales people was very challenging.
According to Rob Simas, Director, Academic Division at LaunchLife International, “the labour market findings allowed us to develop a comprehensive and focused Sales Professional Diploma program, designed to meet the outcomes and objectives of program standards used by many of the community colleges, without sacrificing vocation and integrity.”
Mr. Simas concluded by saying, “We are pleased to provide a program to individuals looking for a well-rounded introduction to sales. We are confident that this program will open the door to entry-level positions within the exciting and rewarding field of sales.”
Sales Training VS. Sales Coaching or Cut them Both?
I read a blog entry posted by @salesbloggers via Twitter the other day and it inspired this podcast. The entry by Steven Rosen claims that sales training is a non-revenue generating activity. Great sales training is just that, it gives sales professionals more efficient approaches and processes to close deals.
If you could pull together your sales team for three hours, give them just three things to implement that would increase their efficiency by even 5% your Return on Investment over the next 90 days would be worth much more than the 3 hours they spent out of the field. In addition to this, I found the blog entry to be another one of many coaching versus training blog entries. Why can’t we all just get along?
Organizations that really have their sales performance strategy together will be driving forward with both training and coaching working synergistically. Each plays and important role in maintaining competitiveness, motivation and retaining star players. Have a listen to my rant on this topic:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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