Leadership and Sales Training Blog Archives - Page 23 of 36 - Sales Training and Leadership Development by Steve Giglio

Developing The Diva

March 5, 2015

By this time of the year, as a leader you, should have a firm grasp on your team’s production and capabilities.

You’ve studied your team and know who your “A” Players, “B” Players and “C” Players are. But then you discover that you have a rogue “A” Player, who is in a “start-of-the-year” slump. What’s your plan for this “Diva?”

A Diva Won’t Ask for Help…Until It’s Too Late

Having a top performer is, of course, a good thing. But having someone who does things their own way, disregarding process and diluting your value proposition for the sale, can eventually cause this superstar to falter. The person is your most competitive and most independent “A” Player. And they know they are failing recently. Likely, they want, but may not ask for, help.

The issue now is how to get inside their head and establish a path to success WITH them, since they’ve not created it themselves. This is a fundamental challenge of a leader. It forces you to be creative, humble and persistent as a coach. Actually, it’s part of your job as a leader.

Many leaders orphan this Diva believing they’ll figure it out on their own. They won’t.
Unless you rattle their cage in relational way, it will be June and the balance of their year will be just as dormant as the first half you’ve just lived through.

Jump a Level, Change the Climate

Albert Einstein once said; “In order to solve a problem you have to jump a level to solve it”.

In order to reach your Diva you too must jump a level in your approach. I’ve often coached leaders to be persistent yet likable. Your Diva must think they are driving the process…not you.

To succeed at this, you need to change the climate in which you develop your Diva.

Rather than going to their production numbers or pipeline, it’s better to take it slow and begin with forging a climate of curiosity and empathy.

Try asking these questions:

How are you feeling about this year given your great success last year?
What’s important to you this year?
What made last year so successful?
What are you proudest of?
What areas would you strengthen even more to replicate last year?
How should this year run given what you declared you’d produce?
What inertia are you encountering now?

These questions put your Diva into the driver’s seat, heck, that’s the only way they’d hear you anyway.

Try it and let me know.

Sales…Love It, Don’t Leave It

February 25, 2015

The sales person. Over the years, and many, many bad used car sales pitches, the reputation of the sales profession has gotten a bit…ok…a LOT tainted. And yet, the Chally Group states that 39 percent of B2B buyers select a vendor according to the skills of the sales person rather than price, quality or service features. Wow! My mission has always been, and always will be, to bring respect back to the sales person. I don’t need another motivating factor than this. Read more

Presentations That Fit!

February 20, 2015

Most of you know my passion for listening and truly understanding a client well before you deliver your presentation.

We’ve just finished a series of coaching points focused on developing a killer presentation based on your value proposition. One of the sure fire ways to dilute a great presentation is to deliver it too soon! Read more

Creating Your Value Proposition: Step 3

February 11, 2015

It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing!

The jazz great Duke Ellington was right. And it applies to you and your presentation! A presentation has to be entertaining and educating. You need to develop a rhythm and a level of alacrity (cheerful readiness) that’s infectious. Read more

Creating Your Value Proposition: Step 2

February 5, 2015

If you read my last post, you should now have a list of your company’s attributes. Do you? If not, give that post a read. We’ll wait.

OK, now that you’re back, I want you to start thinking like Steven Spielberg. Once Spielberg finishes filming, it’s off to the edit room to complete the project…you too! Read more

First Step to Creating Your Value Proposition

January 28, 2015

In my last post, we looked at how important your value proposition is and especially, how it is communicated. Now that you’ve gathered the essential value points from the reconnaissance and questions I recommended, you can begin to develop your value proposition.

This week, I will kick off a three-part series aimed at helping you shape your message so that it is crystallized and becomes the core of how your directs communicate your brand.

Step #1: Think More, Speak Less

No doubt you have endured the sometimes painful process of creating a company “mission statement.” The result can be a considerably long tome that, while capturing ALL that the company stands for, it’s sheer size or unmemorable qualities make it destined for mothballs. However, strategic, long-term thought went into creating that document and I wholeheartedly believe that it could be time well spent.

I recommend taking all of that good work, and serious thought, and boil it down as much as you can to the core elements that really get your team fired up. Think seven minutes. In seven minutes (or less) anyone on your team should be able to so effectively communicate your company’s value proposition that they will not only grab your client’s attention but, will have them asking for more. Now you’re getting somewhere.

Too often, we feel a need to pack so much data, supporting arguments, examples and justification into our value proposition that it begins to sound like a defense case rather than a statement that pridefully says “We are good at what we do and we make a difference doing it.”

Homework: List Your Values

Your homework for Step #1 of this process is to create a list of all your company’s attributes, your core values. Why do you do what you do? Why do your customers hire you? Why do employees work for you, and why do they stay working for you? Make this list, in no particular order, and have other key stakeholders do the same. We will take a look at that list next week. Have fun with it and let me know how it goes (or send me your list if you’d like!)

The Importance of Your Value Proposition

January 22, 2015

I believe it was the late marketer/author Marc Gobe who said it best, “A brand lives in how its communicated.” The converse of that is also true, that brands die because of how they are communicated. And for many, it is a slow death. The cause, old conversations that don’t reflect your company’s value proposition of today. Read more

The “So Now What?” Moment is Here

January 14, 2015

Last week, I gave you the stark news that the holidays are over and we arrived at “the morning after.” As a result, and maybe you’ve felt it too, the “So Now What?” moment is here. Read more

The Morning After…

January 7, 2015

I trust you all had a good, relaxing time with family and friends throughout the holidays.

One of the joys of consulting is developing professional friendships you know will last a lifetime. For my first blog of 2015, I want to thank and acknowledge John Mina, Managing Partner, Willis Group Holdings, for providing the title. John has been a great sounding board and leader I’ve enjoyed collaborating with for several years now.

How to Start 2015

Well…as John put it, with the holidays and 2014 behind us, its now the morning after! Where do you pick it up from? What do you do first, second, etc??

To lead, first ground yourself in the goals you’ve established for yourself. What goals are real and what goals are nice-to-haves? Focus on how YOU want to be perceived this year based on your successes (and how you overcame failures) last year.

What two behavioral characteristics are important to you now? How do you want to credential yourself this year in the eyes of your team, your clients and your family?

Set the Tone for Your Directs

Think about adding in the ability to welcome peer and team feedback of you, along with acknowledging each direct’s positive characteristics. The next step is to review and verify each direct’s developmental goals. Listen carefully to each direct’s desires with the intention of learning something unique from them. The more you know, the more trusted and supportive you become.

Feel free to share with them some of your developmental goals. That level of humility says volumes about you and your desire to lead. You’ve got things to prove, too!

Try out these ideas and let me know.