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Business knowledge

Highlights from the September 17 Sales Effectiveness breakfast

by Paul Sparks on October 30, 2010

Over 70 people interested in learning the latest ideas, trends and innovation in professional selling and sales management joined me recently at Luna Park in Sydney for the fourth Sales Effectiveness breakfast event for 2010.  As with the first series, the feedback was fantastic – I hope to see you for the fifth breakfast for 2010 on October 15, 2010.  Till then, here are some highlights from September for you.

Sally-Anne Cotton.  “The alchemy of 21st century selling: aligning balance, congruence and intent to deliver golden results” 

Sally-Anne opened her presentation by pointing to a growing body of evidence to demonstrate that organisations with strong adaptive cultures which are based on shared values will outperform companies with a rigid or weak culture by a significant margin.

 Based on these studies, Sally-Anne presents a compelling case for the need for all sales teams to achieve balance, congruence and alignment to allow positive cultures to thrive, and, consequently, for organisations to thrive.  These items can be summarised like this:

Balance – between the needs of customers, salespeople, sales teams and organisations

Alignment – between the values and beliefs of the individual salespeople and the vision and mission of the organisation

This balance and alignment between individuals and organisations then needs to be delivered with intention.  This intention needs to be purposeful and focussed on the common good.  When combined in an authentic manner – the chance of long term individual and organisational success is dramatically increased.

Find out more by ordering your copy of the DVD of the full presentation:

http://www.saleseffectiveness.com.au/sales-effectiveness-breakfast-event-series-september-2010/

Mo Fox.  “What you see is not always what you get: changing how you perceive things to achieve better sales results”

Mo’s presentation was in interactive delight.

Her message for salespeople – in fact for all of us – is that we need to understand that underlying structures and patterns exist everywhere – and that the better we understand these structures and patterns, the better outcomes we will achieve.

Mo took us on a journey to discover our inner artist.  Artists understand structure – and the structure that Mo taught us was the human face.  Despite some protestations and suspicion, we all took up our crayons, and proceeded to draw one of our breakfast companions.  For most of us, our early efforts were somewhat juvenile – and a touch embarrassing. 

However, when we were learnt some basic underlying structures – where eyes sit in faces, the relationship between our ears and our eyes, and a few more – our second efforts overall were much better than our first.

A great lesson for those of us in sales.  Look for underlying structures in our customers and prospects business.  Look for patterns in our clients industries.  Take the time to look and the picture we build will take on greater clarity – and deliver vastly improved outcomes.

Find out more by ordering your copy of the DVD of the full presentation:

http://www.saleseffectiveness.com.au/sales-effectiveness-breakfast-event-series-september-2010/

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Why all leading salespeople must become authors – and how you can start today

by Paul Sparks on October 2, 2010

How important are you for your clients to stay in touch with?

Why would potential clients want to meet you?

We know that professional selling is undertaking a major revolution in approach, application and execution.  We know that if you don’t bring extra value to the sales encounter – then you should expect to be treated like a commodity, and have buyers simply focus on your price once you’ve ticked the essential shopping list items.

At a recent event I hosted, sales researcher Neil Rackham stated that if salespeople can’t bring additional value to the negotiation table, then they’re wasting their time – and if they don’t change from walking brochures to sources of information, they’ll soon become redundant.

In this article, we’ll assume you know this.  Not only do you know this – but you’ve built a strong store of knowledge, expertise and experience which your clients (and potential clients) value.

Now what?

Write about it – and share your knowledge with the world. 

And you don’t need to be Shakespeare to write a good article, white paper – or even a book or book chapter which resonates with your audience.  Simply follow some simple tips, and you’ll end up with a good piece of work which will introduce you and your expertise to an eager audience.  After all, if you really do have the knowledge and experience to solve other people’s problems – they’ll want to know about it.

Why write?

It’s simple – written articles – especially those formally published – have credibility and add to the authority of the writer.

From our youngest years, we’ve been told that the library is the place to find information, learning and wisdom.  And especially in today’s digital world of way too much information, the published word is rightly assumed to carry more weight than the other 99% of stuff which is just on-line.

We also assume that if you’ve taken the time to write and publish, then you probably know a bit about your subject – and probably more than most.

Published material has been sifted – it points to material that others also think has value.

So – the reasons are simple.  Producing a published piece of work will give you these four things that all experts seek:

  • Credibility
  • Authority
  • A unique voice in a cluttered world
  • Wide reach

Plus lots more, including these:

  • People looking for speakers at events are more likely to consider you if you’re published
  • Journalists, bloggers, and anyone looking for an expert comment will be more likely – and able – to seek you out
  • It looks great on a CV or a submission
  • Other experts will look to connect with you

And – there’s that nice feeling of knowing you’ve done it!

Who should write?

Anyone who wants to build a credible, authoritative and authentic profile with others.

Do you have knowledge, expertise or experience in a field which could benefit others?

If so – you’re a good candidate to be published.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re an employee of a large corporation, a partner in a small consultancy or an individual consultant, coach or trainer.  All that matters is that you have information of value – and want others to know that you’re an expert in a particular field. Continue Reading…

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Why salespeople must look to India & China

by Paul Sparks on July 25, 2010

I’m a middle-aged white guy who lives in Australia.

In my lifetime, the focus for trade and cultural exchange for Australia has shifted from the UK & the US to, firstly, Japan, and now more widely to other parts of Asia.  China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and other Asian countries now play a role of growing importance in our lives.

China is Australia’s largest customer for resources.  India supplies a growing skilled workforce for many businesses – large and small.  Our universities are graced by the presence of many students from all parts of Asia.

Intuitively, we know that the rise of Asia will continue.  But how fast will the rise of China and India in particular be?  And what might this mean?

Hans Rosling is a professor of global health at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute.  His current work focuses on dispelling myths about the so-called developing world.  One way he does this is through the engaging use of statistics.  Here’s a talk Hans gave recently at a TED conference where he extrapolates – to the day – the point in the future when China & India will emerge as being financially and health wise the equivalent of the current economic giants.

Watch it – be intrigued by his delightful use of statistics – then ponder the implications for your sales future.

Find out more about Hans Rosling and his work here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Rosling

And have a look at Gapminder – where you can access the software Hans uses in his presentations:

http://www.gapminder.org/

Thanks for reading this post – Paul Sparks, Sales Effectiveness Australasia.

“Taking you beyond sales training and keeping you informed about the latest ideas, trends, innovation, research & best practice in professional selling and sales management”

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Key themes from the 2009 Sales E-Conference (part one)

by Paul Sparks 15 September 2009

Change – at a social, organisational and personal level. Change in the sales function and the importance of sales methodology and process. A new role for sales management and leadership. The changing relationship between sales and marketing.  These were the four main themes to emerge from the 2009 Sales E-Conference.  For two weeks in August 2009, over [...]

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Beyond Maslow – a new view on motivating salespeople

by Paul Sparks 4 June 2009

What motivates me as a salesperson? How do I motivate my sales team? These are perennial questions which continue to challenge salespeople and managers alike.  Whilst our understanding of human behaviour has developed significantly over recent years, we still struggle with the question of “what keeps me doing what I do”. It is often suggested [...]

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