The Power of Grattitude
The Manager’s Thought for the Day
It is not uncommon for salespeople and/or sales managers to get caught in the throes of everyday problems and miss seeing the trees because of the forest.
In most cases there is much more support and help around us than we can see. If most of us could really appreciate what we do have, and be grateful, most of the time we would never have a motivation problem.
There is power in gratitude. For example; Have you ever been forced into giving a kiss and a hug to a relative or a friend of a friend you couldn’t stand? It’s not an inspiring experience. As a matter of fact, it can be downright de-motivating. But if you have ever been asked to hug and kiss someone you secretly admired, I bet you found it to be a very pleasant experience. What’s the difference between the two?
Having to embrace someone you can’t stand, can be de-motivating; embracing someone you admire is motivating.
The same rule applies to situations. Most of us spend time living for tomorrow; living for when we will get that raise, that job, that relationship, or that home. In other words, that’s when we will be happy. We don’t like where we are now, so let us dream about tomorrow. What this means is we are not living in the now. It also means we often set our objectives or goals from a time, place, or state of mind that we do not like, which means we don’t embrace it. Therefore it is de-motivating.
What if you could appreciate the moment and embrace it? It would be inspiring, just like embracing that person you admired.
Gratitude is a powerful motivation. To embrace or appreciate the moment you are in, gives you a deep settled strength, and alleviates anxiety. With this strength you are able to tap into your intuition and be directed into paths that are more meaningful and in tune with who you are. This makes it much easier for you to become enthusiastic and move forward and feel good about the present as well as where you want to go. Having gratitude for where you are now can get you started.
Think about the situation you are in right now that frustrates or even immobilizes you. Now come up with a list of some really positive things that you have going for you right at this moment. Think of things you may be grateful for. A few examples could be good health, living in the country you are in, experience in your field, great relationship with your wife, husband or significant other, certain belongings, past experiences, just to name a few.
Once you finish the list, go back through and mentally say “thank you” to all the circumstances and people you could thank for each one of these. For example; in reference to your health, mentally thank someone who showed you how to eat properly, or who got you involved in some form of physical exercise. Maybe a previous employer believed in balanced living and not just work, work, work. Be sure to thank that person mentally. Thank your government for the facilities that are available and your creator for being so kind to you. As Plato once said; “Happiness is not being in a good state, but rather knowing you are in a good state.”
Once you have completed this exercise, you will have experienced the power of appreciation. You will feel much better about the moment. To see the positive in your present circumstances and to feel gratitude about the moment will get you started and keep you going.
Unfortunately, our egos work very hard at stopping us from experiencing gratitude. Very few of us can openly display gratitude on a daily basis to all those people and situations around us. It is much easier to fill our minds and bodies with self-importance, dissatisfaction, criticism, and victim-style thinking, than it is to put these feeling aside and say thank you. Monitor yourself and see how often you resist or justify not having gratitude. Being aware of your anti-gratitude stance alone, can start you on the road to being more grateful and more productive.
As the manager you may want to share this process with your people. Gratitude is one of the greatest internal motivators of all.
(An excerpt from our “Complete Sales Action System”)
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Blogathon 2009 for Vancouver Food Bank
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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Sales Pipelines versus Relationship Pipelines
Many people talk about the sales pipeline. I have heard many people comment on the fact that they have a lot of business in the pipeline. When prodded further they can’t tell me how strong their relationship is with each client. Even fewer people have a method of measuring where they are at. You just can’t predict when a deal will close unless you have a handle on the relationship. Have a listen to today’s podcast:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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Operationalizing Your Sales Strategy
Operationalizing your sales process and approach is vital to your sales success both in the short term and the long-term. Anyone can dream up a brilliant idea or strategy, in fact this world is full of great ideas that will never happen. The genius is in the implementation.
Following are the five key elements of Operationalizing sales:
1. Tools
In order to operationalize our sales process and achieve our goals we will need the right tools to get the job done. These tools include everything from electronic devices, research tools, business cards, marketing materials, software, and accounting and billing tools to name a few. It is important to be aware of the core tools needed to effectively execute the plan.
2. Measurement
What gets measured gets improved. Without measurement there is no feedback, positive or negative, regarding our progress. A goal helps us push ourselves in positive ways and fuels improvement, motivation, self-esteem and team spirit.
What gets measured gets improved. Without measurement there is no feedback, positive or negative, regarding our progress. A goal helps us push ourselves in positive ways and fuels improvement, motivation, self-esteem and team spirit.
3. Processes and Knowledge
Once you have a goal, a measurement process, and the right tools needed to identify the process to follow, you can identify any knowledge or skill gaps that may affect progress. Being a master at sales is a process of constant improvement, self awareness and personal growth.
4. Maximize Selling Time
Your end goal is to build solid client relationships that result in sizeable amounts of revenue. Using this as a core goal, we can maximize the time spent doing the things that move us toward that goal. Many sales people have failed because they became experts at paperwork, staff meetings, research, and a myriad of other activities that have very little to do with closing the deal or building relationships with the right clients.
Sales professionals need to have a process that supports the core goal and the courage to fight for the time needed to do these things. This process is about delegating, automating or deleting these activities from our life that are not harmonious with our goals.
5. Support and Accountability Structure
“One is too few a number to achieve greatness” – John Maxwell.
John Maxwell, leadership expert says it well in this quote. We need a team to help us reach our goals; many of us will do more for other people than we would do for ourselves. Having a set of checks and balances and a manager, coach, mentor or peer that holds us accountable is a key ingredient in driving sales results.
- Shane Gibson
Can you close too big? Downtown Partners Closes their doors
Globeandmail.com’s small business section recently noted that Downtown Partners a leading Canadian advertising agency closed their doors for good after losing their biggest client:
The advertising agency that was once one of the hottest in the country is closing its doors on Feb. 15, a move largely linked to the loss of its prized Labatt Brewing Co. Ltd. business. Downtown Partners, a division of Omnicom Canada, was dealt a fatal blow last November when Labatt decided to streamline its agency roster and hand the coveted Budweiser beer account to its long time agency Grip Ltd. Downtown, which had had the account for six years, wasn’t even given a chance of bidding on the brewer’s other businesses. “The agency is a victim of consequence,” Dan Pawych, creative director and a founding member of Downtown, said yesterday. More at Globeandmail.com
This is something I’ve mentioned in a few podcasts and sales blog entries. Closing Bigger is about the 7 figure deal. Sometimes though we forget the term “deal”. Deals can be finite, and if we base our whole business on one big client, we’re not in business; we’ve got a deal. I have yet to do a full in depth read on what lead up to this event but I’m assuming that big ole Labatt Brewing Company ate up much of Downtown Partners time, energy and resources, and several critical errors were made. One was somehow being totally out of sync with the client, how do you have a business dependent on one major client, and not have the business intelligence and inside connections to see this coming? The next question is who was responsible for hunting down and landing more big clients?
No matter how successful we are (and many of us are guilty of believing our own positive press) we need new fresh leads, and new clients. It’s what keeps us sharp, fine tunes our pitch and lets us know what’s really going on in the marketplace.
Another title for this sales blog entry could have been “Prospect or Die” or perhaps “How to Be Eaten by a Whale”
One of my biggest challenges when sales training people is when their company lacks the leadership and structure to enforce a quota or at least a level of accountability where people, anyone, including sales people are held to their word and the goals they set. Over the years I’ve seen too many individuals on auto-pilot, then they’re shocked when their company goes under, yet they haven’t prospected for new business or looked for new niches in the marketplace for years.
My closing thoughts for this blog are “Closing Big but keep on closing.”
Shane Gibson is a leading sales performance and sales training authority based in Vancouver Canada. His company offers sales training, motivational sales seminars, and consulting through their offices in Canada, South Africa, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Sales Blog Entry – Shane Gibson in “The Province” Vancouver BC
I thought some of you may find this recent article written about my presentation skills program interesting:
Being nervous not kiss of death
MAKING A PRESENTATION: It’s OK if you have a few butterfliesCarla Wilson, CanWest News Service
Published: Sunday, March 25, 2007
Don’t worry if you’re nervous making a presentation. A few butterflies may actually help you.
“If I’m not nervous at all, I may be too relaxed and too uninspiring. A little bit of an edge and some passion can really pull an audience in,” says Shane Gibson, executive vice-president of Knowledge Brokers, which trains executives and managers on how to make more effective, engaging presentations.
Closing Bigger Sales Podcast Entry on Managing Worry and FEAR – by Shane Gibson
Today’s podcast is about managing worry and fear. Too many of us are overwhelmed by our worry and immobilized by our fear in selling and in the rest of our life.
Download Shane Gibson’s Podcast Here
Subscribe in iTunes to this Sales Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Get focused, think bigger, and close bigger!
Shane Gibson
This sales podcast is presented by Shane Gibson.
Shane Gibson is the author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. a leading sales performance and leadership development organization. Shane divides his time between his entrepreneurial projects, speaking at major conferences and mentoring salespeople and entrepreneurs.
Quick Links:
Sales Training Canada
Sales
Training South Africa
Sales Training Boot Camps Vancouver
Complete Sales Action System
Managing Complex Business
Relationships System
Sales Podcast and Blog Entry – Video on the Power of Commitment in Selling
3 minute clip on the power of commitment in selling and business by Shane Gibson author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krTjWDy4Ltg
Shane Gibson is author of “Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals” and President of Knowledge Brokers International (North America).
Quick Links:
Contact Shane: shane@kbitraining.com
Sales Training Blog Home
Sales Training South Africa
Sales Training Canada
Shane Gibson’s Bio
Sales Blog and Podcast Entry – Video on Listening
“I’ve never heard someone listen their way out of a deal” -Zig Ziglar
The above quote embodies the video in this sales blog entry. Shane Gibson talks about the impact of effective listening during the sale.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcMDIDZKr-w
Shane Gibson is author of “Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals” and President of Knowledge Brokers International (North America).
Quick Links:
Contact Shane: shane@kbitraining.com
Sales Training Blog Home
Sales Training South Africa
Sales Training Canada
Shane Gibson’s Bio
Sales Blog and Podcast Entry – Frequency in Selling Video
The Power of Frequency in Selling – Video
This video was shot in 2007. It’s a clip of an anecdotal story that Shane Gibson tells about how frequent contact and creativity can help close the deal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ouq9QkZ0EiM
Shane Gibson is author of “Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals” and President of Knowledge Brokers International (North America).
Quick Links:
Contact Shane: shane@kbitraining.com
Sales Training Blog Home
Sales Training South Africa
Sales Training Canada
Shane Gibson’s Bio
Sales Podcast Entry – Time and Priority Managment – The ABC’s of Targeting
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Today’s sales podcast is on the ABC’s of targeting and time and priority management. One of the biggest challenges we have as big deal closers when chasing opportunities and selling to big companies is that we can get distracted by the little things. In this sales podcast we will go through a brief exercise that will help us regain our immediate focus and close bigger!
Get focused, think bigger, and close bigger!
Shane Gibson
This sales podcast is presented by Shane Gibson.
Shane Gibson is the author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. a leading sales performance and leadership development organization. Shane divides his time between his entrepreneurial projects, speaking at major conferences and mentoring salespeople and entrepreneurs.
Quick Links:
Sales Training Canada
Sales
Training South Africa
Sales Training Boot Camps Vancouver
Complete Sales Action System
Managing Complex Business
Relationships System
Subscribe in iTunes to this Sales Podcast
Speaking and Training
Subscribe in iTunes
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