Interview Dr. Joachim de Posada about the number one best seller “Dont Eat the Marshmallow Yet”

I speak with hundreds of small business owners each month.  Many have told me that they fear loss of control.  If you are feeling the same, let’s take a look at some fundamental truths:

*Today, more than ever, it is vital to use time wisely and efficiently. 

*The more we understand and take advantage of our strengths, the better our chances of success.

*Whining and complaining about things we cannot change will never help us regain control.

*Sometimes cuts are necessary, but you will never shrink yourself to Greatness.

*If your market has contracted, you will need to capture a greater market share to maintain the same level of sales revenue.

*If you have multiple competitors, an increase of just a few percentage points of market share can mean substantial increases in business.  This can mean big $$$$ for you!

So a message to the wise—Don’t overlook the role of your Sales Force in turning around your organization.

When your competitor’s are reeling from economic chaos, there is excellent opportunity for you to exploit the situation, upgrade your sales team, and capture major market share.  Here are just a few tips for managing your salespeople through the recession:

1. Change the Mindset.  The change begins with YOU.  Focus your thinking on Revenue Generation, not on cuts.

2. Understand what your salespeople are experiencing.   They are likely feeling hammered.  Hammered by more rejection.  Hammered by longer Sales Cycles.  Hammered by fewer leads.  Hammered by the media predictions of doom and gloom.  They are also likely being hammered by smaller commission checks and maybe even by increased pressure from you and or other sales managers.  Note:  Some pressure is good, but most salespeople will not perform at their best under intense pressure.

3. Shoot Straight with them.   Don’t tell them everything is OK or “normal”.  It’s not.   The economy IS slow and it is likely that things will not get a whole lot better for at least 18 to 24 months.  Let them know that things ARE tough out there and that you understand that many of them have NOT sold in this kind of environment before. 

4. Give them the Solution.  You can now outline the opportunity.  Explain that the strong will not only survive, but that they will thrive.  Then, explain the following realities:              

• It is vital to adapt along with the changing economy. 
• There will be tremendous opportunity for anyone who will focus and execute while weaker players are licking their wounds.
• Over-achievers will be rewarded handsomely.
• Over-achievement is expected in your company.
• Your company will provide coaching, training, encouragement and development.  You will give them the support they need.    

This is also a good time to ask your top performers to be team players and leaders.  Let them know that you know they can do it and that doing so is part of over-achievement. 

The greatest fortunes are made during turbulent economic times.  Your Sales Force holds the key.  Raise your expectations.  Then raise theirs.  Expect greatness, evaluate your sales team, and hold them accountable to over-achievement.  Great results will follow….

Copyright © Joe Zente 2009.  All Rights Reserved.

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In today’s rapidly changing marketplace, it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate your company from your competition.  If you cannot differentiate, the only weapon that will be left in your arsenal is dropping prices, cutting deeply into your profit.  Ask yourself these questions:

Is My Company Differentiated? 

In 20 words or less, how would you say your company is differentiated in the marketplace?  (Better Service?  Best Pricing? Better Products? Highest Quality?)

If I asked your biggest competitors, what would they say differentiates THEM?

Are their differentiator(s) very different from yours? 

If not, is your company TRULY differentiated in the minds of your prospects?

If so, how long do you think you can maintain your differentiated advantages?

Are You and your Salespeople Differentiated?

How would you say you are different when compared to your selling opponents?

What do you think your PROSPECTS would say?

What do you think you can do today to improve your advantages and develop qualities so that you are ALWAYS differentiated and show up as the MVP (Most Valuable Person)?

For some specific guidelines to becoming a differentiated MVP, email GrowMySales@zthree.com and write MVP in the Subject Line.

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If you want to be great in 2009, simply model the behaviors of leaders who have consistent records of greatness.   Achieving greatness in 2009 consists of three components:

• Thinking
• Behaviors
• Alignment

Check out this excellent article on Becoming Great from Ray Brun, who directs The Alternative Board in the Bay Area of California.

Happy New Year and Best Wishes for Health, Wealth and Prosperity!

Joe Zente

How Your Business Can Be Like the Miami Dolphins in 2009

The biggest one-season turn-around in NFL history! Worst to First. How does a team go from 1-15 to 11-5 in just one short year? The answer is simple. When Bill Parcells took over the reigns in Miami this year, the first thing he did was let everyone there know that losing would not be tolerated.  He had won everywhere he had been and the Dolphins would be no exception. He started out by raising the standard from Good(or was it Awful?) to Excellent.

Once those who accepted losing were kicked off the bus, everything else fell into place, because there was no one to drag everyone else down. And that, my fellow business owners, is how you are going to make it easier for positive change in the challenging year ahead.  That is how you are going to go from good (or bad) to great. There will be no shortage of gloom and doom and naysayers in 2009. To survive, you must be around people who have a mindset of “I refuse to participate in this recession!”

Parcells fired all the leaders of the 1-15 calamity and hired a disciple of discipline, who had been his offensive coordinator when Parcells was the Big Ka-Tuna for the Cowboys. He then went on to do what all great companies do, and what Jim Collins, author of Good to Great calls, "getting the right people on the bus”. Collins had discovered in his extensive research that great companies made it their top priority to get great talent. For Parcells this meant 29 new players out of a 53 player squad. Out with all those who weren’t right for his bus and in with those who were.

I find it amazing that with new front office staff, new coaches, new players and a new system that everyone had to learn in a short period of time, they still went from 1 win to 11 wins in just one season. What would happen in your business if you went “Out with everyone who accepted failure, In with those who would do whatever it takes to win?”

Members of The Alternative Board have heard what Collins says- “Money is a commodity but Talent is not”.  Here at TAB East Bay North we have honored many members with, “The Good-To-Great TAB Bus” as reinforcement to taking positive actions. Actually for most of the award winners it was not because talent they hired but because they finally harnessed the support and accountability they needed to make the tough decisions and get certain people off the bus. Attitude was right there with Talent when it came to improvement.

Speaking of attitude, this week’s Fairfield Daily Republic asks, “What housing crisis?” as it discusses TAB East Bay North member Steve Spencer, managing partner of Gateway Realty in the article, Realty Firm Turns Tide in November. The DR says Gateway Realty “posted their best November in five years”, but I know that this was actually their fifth straight strong month.  I am not surprised that they are profitable during a recession because Steve has always stood firm with his philosophy of looking for opportunity when others just see problems. Steve, his partner, Bev, and their hundred-plus real estate agents have managed to survive one of the toughest markets anywhere, Solano County, and are now leveraging on the unique opportunities of an emerging entry-level market and investor opportunists.

Please pardon my USC bias for just one more football example of what you must do in 2009. Eight years ago, Peter Carroll was brought in to coach a ghastly football program of losing at the University of Southern California.  For seven straight years he has continuously pounded his philosophy of “Win Forever” deep into the fibers of everyone associated with the USC program. His positive mindset as represented in that simple two-word mantra has been internalized by every USC team member.  They have gone on to deliver him seven straight top-five national ranking finishes, seven Pac-10 championships, seven major bowls, and seven 11-win seasons for the USC Trojans.

What is your philosophy? Can you state it in one short sentence?  As you develop your philosophy, remember that wherever you need to improve, all you must do is to change old belief systems and automatic, moment- by-moment "unthinking" thought patterns. What you do dictates what you get in your life. Thoughts and beliefs of yourself and your people are what determine what you do and how well you do it. All growth starts there. It starts inside your mind.

What is in your mind as you begin 2009? What is in the minds of your team members? Can you think of any time in our business lives where this type of mindset and leadership has been more important?

From the team here at The Alternative Board, we wish you a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Ray Brun

Owner/Facilitator of TAB East Bay North

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