Mack Powers

Banks have TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program).  Insurance Companies are now going to receive TARP funds. The Automotive Industry has received $ 17.4 Billion in government loans to survive the economic downturn, and they are asking for another $ 22 Billion.  As a sales person, do you have a troubled asset (pipeline)?  If so, who is going to bail you out?  The answer is, and should always be, nobody but you!

Are you sitting down? There will be no redeployed tax dollars coming your way!  Every sales person has to see himself as his own Department of the Treasury. Somehow you will have to bail yourself out!  TARP for you isn’t the Troubled Assets Relief Program.  For you, TARP means… Taking Additional Responsibility (for your) Pipeline.  It will take additional blood, sweat, and tears to get your greatest sales “asset”, your pipeline, back in shape.  For you, your income statement and your balance sheet is based upon the quality of your pipeline,and when it suffers, your sales revenues suffer. 

 There are three attitudes that you should have, knowing that you are going to have to TARP - Take Additional Responsibility (for your) Pipeline.  Here they are:

1. Today you might be looking at a (TARP) Trashed And Reduced Pipeline.  Don’t dwell on this problem.  Acknowledge the problem and then get over it.  You might consider sitting down with a notebook and writing down every reason that you are upset about your current situation.  After having done that, then TARP - Turn And Retire (the) Page.  Then, don’t look back.
2. Build a plan, using TARP. Think about the new competitive landscape; Analyze what your new value proposition will look like, Redefine what your new ideal customer will look like,  and Position your solutions competitively.
3. Execute a TARP.  Test your plan, Adjust when necessary, Refocus on new objectives based upon what you learn as you roll out your new strategies, and Propagate (get the message out).

 Taking responsibility and following these rules will allow you to achieve the goals and success that you can.

David Quinn of David Quinn and Associates, in Ireland, has a top ten list of why every sales manager should develop a Sales Performance Standard.  So if you are managing a team of sales people, consider his points.

1. You will obtain near real time visibility on the performance levels of each individual sales representative on your team.

2. You will become more focused and specific in diagnosing deficits in individual performance.

3. You will be able to implement more cost effective and relevant development solutions.

4. Others will view you as a sales manager that possesses a high level of integrity.

5. You will be better able to align selling activity to the accomplishment of organizational goals.

6. You will be able to command a greater degree of loyalty from your sales team.

7. Your salespeople will become more confident, knowing that somebody who is deemed to be very competent at their job is managing them.

8. You will be able to encourage your salespeople to take ownership of their own personal development.

9. Your sales team will operate with a higher level of motivation and enthusiasm.

10. You will become more successful in raising the productivity and performance levels of your sales team.

My next blog will provide an example of expectations that you can use to define expectations that you can set of your sales team. 

 For more information about David Quinn… check out his website.  http://www.davidquinnandassociates.ie/

The week before last a friend called me and asked me to meet him for a free breakfast at Denny’s. Denny’s was offering a free breakfast for anyone who would show up between 6:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. that day. We arranged a time to meet but he got there before I did. He called my cell phone and notified me that there was a long line at Denny’s; the promotion was a smashing success. Time is money and therefore we decided not to wait. We both agreed to forgo the “free” breakfast and we headed over to the International House of Pancakes (IHOP) which was about one mile away.

You won’t believe what was going on at IHOP… The place was packed. You might be thinking so what Powers, get to the point. If you are, here’s the point. Your company might also benefit from the marketing efforts that your competition is generating during this economic recession! All hope is not lost after all. In fact, there might be some great upside for you while others are getting desperate (no offense Denny’s). My friend and I probably wouldn’t have had breakfast together except for the offer that Denny’s was advertising. It got me out of bed and on the road vs. out of bed and eating a banana and a bowl of captain crunch at my house. Who benefited from Denny’s breakfast campaign….. Denny’s did, I did…. and so did IHOP.

So keep your spirits up and consider these few items to generate more sales:

• Stand close to the Hype. Okay, start thinking about what your competition is doing that might get people moving. How can you position yourself so that you catch the people that start moving towards your competition but might end up with you because you have a similar solution? Stand close and be ready to make an offer.
• Leverage the Hype. Keep an eye on what others are doing and be ready to respond. IHOP didn’t spend a dollar getting me on the street looking for food, but they were ready when I walked in the door. With what looked like a supersized crowd at IHOP they weren’t overwhelmed. Our food came out fresh, hot, on time and the service was also great. They hit a grand slam (pun intended) by leveraging the Hype of Denny’s marketing.
• Link up with the Hype. Consider a joint marketing campaign with your competition. No Way. Yes way. Why not? Haven’t you heard the old idiom that you don’t want to be the only restaurant on the street corner? If there are several restaurants on the corner, generally the traffic to your restaurant will be higher. You might not get all of the business, but you might get more of a larger volume of potential customers. Look for and propose a complementary sales and marketing strategy that might work for both you and your completion. You both might win. By the way, IHOP owes Denny’s one for their “Grand Slam Breakfast offer”.

It is a difficult economy that you can still profit from. Stand close, leverage or link up with your competition. Doing so will keep you profitable during this difficult economic environment.

Have you recently made a sales call and your customer said to you that they weren’t going to engage with you because they were waiting to see what is going to happen with the economy?  Well, what exactly are they waiting for?  Are they waiting for the Dow Jones Industrial Average to go above 10,000?  Are they waiting for the price of oil to go to $ 15 a barrel? 

 It is fair for each of us to define the right set of metrics for how and why we make business decisions, but my question is this…how many people and/or companies have actually defined those metrics.   If they have great, find out what those specifics are, and then track them for your client or with your client.  When the strike price has been reached, you will be ready to move forward with your client.  If they haven’t identified those criteria then maybe they are just generally nervous.  If this is the case then we can as true professional consultants, provide them with accurate industry data that will help them determine when they should re-engage and why it makes great business sense to do so.  Make sure your facts are truthful, accurate and relevant and help them build a solid business case for moving forward.  Hopefully, the date to proceed and engage will be sooner rather than later.  If not, you might need to find a new value proposition for your products and services.

Either way, you will be better prepared to serve your customers by knowing when to work with them and when to wait for them.  Ambiguity and uncertainty for you and your client will benefit neither of you.