Heroes are in Short Supply

In August I wrote about the difficulties in finding QUALITY employees. With unemployment rates hovering around what we used to call "full employment" it's difficult to find the kind of talent that can change the balance of power in your industry.

Today, the DOW closed at another record high, over 12,000. The economy remains strong. I recently wrote a white paper talking about how employee turnover, especially in the sales area, increases during prosperous times. (Send me an email, and I'll send you a copy.) With turnover approaching 40% in sales forces, you cannot afford to wait, nor can you afford to hire badly...it's expensive.

The way around this problem is to CODIFY and DOCUMENT your sales process so that "mere mortals" can be productive and effective. Heroes are hard to come by and expensive.

Think about how you might capture the "best practices" of your best sales people and document your sales process in a way that leverages that experience.

The Coming Labor SHORTAGE

September's IndustryWeek magazine mentions some interesting facts. While the common wisdom is that manufacturing jobs are no longer available in the U.S, some 14 MILLION people remain in the U.S. manufactufing work force. While many jobs have gone overseas, the biggest concern growing now is that there is a gap between the numbers of jobs that will be available the the QUALITY of the potential future employees.

I recently met with the CEO of a technology provider about adding to his sales force. His concern was being able to find good, quality talent for the coming year. He had recently let a sales person go after about 4 months. After tallying up the salary paid, the benefits, the recruiting costs and the management time it added up to nearly $100,000. That doesn't even count the sales that didn't happen during that time!

After some analysis and cogitation I told him that the key to successfully scaling his sales force is to develop a VALIDATED and well-developed SALES ROAD MAP. What I mean is a deliberate, written analysis of HOW CUSTOMERS BUY, verified discussions with potential customers to fully understand the pains the customers are experiencing and TRUE ALIGNMENT of your product/service offerings and the customer's pains. Sounds pretty basic, but it's not often done.

With plans to add 6-8 sales reps I asked him if he can afford to make a $800,000 mistake? The answer is obvious. Can you? Do you spend as much time at CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT as you do PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT? It's time worth taking.

GMS

Plant Seeds Now

Last week's 100+ degree weather and suffocating humidity left no doubt that we are in the "dog days" of summer. Even hiding in an air conditioned office it's easy to know it's summer...phone calls don't get answered, deals slow down, people are unavailable.

While it's easy to just "chuck it" and join the wave of vacationers, I recommend doing a little strategic "seed planting" in advance of the "unofficial" end of summer--Labor Day.

Take some time off, no doubt, but also take some time to catch up on those annoying little tasks you've been putting of until "some day." Some day is here and it's in the form of slower phones, fewer meetings and more people unavailable. I've been slowing chipping away at my "someday" list for the last few weeks, and I'm starting to get excited about a clear desk and a clear mission come September. You'll get some psychic rewards if you do the same.

Oh, and by the way, I'll be on vacation all next week...sometimes if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Regards, GMS

Did You Hear a "BOOM?"

With soaring gas prices, rising interest rates and dire reports from the U.S. auto industry you might be forgiven for assuming the U. S. economy is on shaky ground.

You'd be wrong.

We are within days of breaking the Dow Jones Industrial Average record set during the internet-mania days of 2000. According to the Wall Street Journal, corporate profits are in their 11th straight quater of double digit gains--the longest streak since the 1950s. Consumer demand is up both here and abroad. Just yesterday economists noted a continuted rise in housing sales.

So, what are you doing to capitalize on these economically robust times? I recommend you "make hay while the sun shines." Redouble your sales efforts, seek new partners, make new investments, launch new initiatives--the market is ripe.

If not now, when?

GMS

Speak the Truth

I just got off the phone with a colleague and friend of mine who recently rejoined the corporate world. After just 3 days on the job he's having doubts about his decision. His boss, who was friendly, encouraging and excited during the interview process is beginning to show his true personality--autocratic, unreasonable, and disingenuous.

This gets me to the point of this posting...truth. I'm not a philosopher and I'm sometime too pragmatic for my own good, but it seems to me that much more can be accomplished and more satisfaction gained if we dare to be truthful.

I advised my friend to be truthful with his new boss. Ask direct questions, challenge any false premises, and discover what is truly going on here. While it seems possible that his new boss has multiple personalities, something else may be going on. Admit there is a dead horse in the living room and candidly discuss how to get rid of it.

I'd advise the boss to have the courage to be truthful. It may not be as admired as it once was, but a society, a culture, a relationship, and a business cannot be ultimately successful without it.

I'd also advise my friend that if the boss will not behave truthfully, to get away from this organization and seek one with more integrity.

Professionalism = Repeatability

The dictionary defines the word professional as one conforming to the standards of a profession or a skilled practitioner; an expert. I'd like to add my two cents to that definition:

A professional is one who can REPEAT excellence.

As a sales guy at heart and one with decades of experience, I can certainly tell you tales of sales reps who "got lucky" a few times and somehow thought they'd found the keys to the kingdom, only to find out when times got tough, they couldn't reproduce thier miracle results.

Over the years I have seen only one thing successfully predict consistent performance...disciplined adherence to proven processes. What I'm talking about is taking steps every day to follow a plan and work it. Nothing else will create the consistent productivity required to be considered a "pro."

One such company I've recently come across is ADVENTACE.COM...They've boiled down effective sales processes and tailored them to the universe of the sales function--sales reps, sales managers and senior management...giving each of them role to play and an process to follow to achieve strong REPEATABLE RESULTS...

What processes are you following?

Give me a call and I can tell you more. Regards, GMS

Who's With You?

Today's markets are more competitive than ever. In many organizations, people wear many hats and are working on multiple projects at once. Every organization has to deal with the allocation of resources and determining which approaches to take to accomplish a goal or strategy.

Unless you live in a cave, you have to interact with people. Managing the galaxy of people necessary to accomplish your goals can be a daunting task.

I have a client who has developed a QUANTITATIVE way to measure the alignment of various groups and use that measure to predict the likelihood of success of various initiatives, goals and strategies. This can yield powerful and compelling results.

When charged with managing/leading a group to accomplish a goal, wouldn't you like to know who's WITH YOU and who's NOT?

I've seen it in action and find the results impressive and potentially very useful to any organization. Contact me and I'll tell you more.

Regards, GMS