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Coaching

Sell it or Schedule it…or “You Do You.”

If you manage a sales team, your role is to have each of them make their goals and improve their performance… and if they do, then you make YOUR goal, which is the SHOWROOM goal.

(Yes, the showroom goal is YOUR goal.)

And to do that, you need structures and actions and a methodology to teach from, or you will be managing your team from your own behavioral preferences and your own selling autobiography.

That doesn’t mean that what you did when you were a salesperson was wrong or deficient, esp…

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June is…the beginning of a new season.

It’s summer…and summer traffic is often unpredictable, and customers/clients can be distracted by vacation plans and being away from home.
You might have vacation plans scheduled, too…which means you need to make goal in LESS time.
What? Yes. 
And as we discussed in an earlier post, it’s about the strategy…what is the number you have to hit? How many sales do you have to make at what average sale? And what actions are needed to achieve those sales?
You do this by taking the actions that incr…

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June is…the end of the first half of the year.

Here we are…halfway through the year. At the completion of June, it’s a good time to review performance for the first six months and see what worked and what didn’t work… or was missing from your strategy. 

Since the first half of this year has been different from the first half of last year, what has changed that you need to adapt to? The trend that is driving this year is different from last year – and we can adapt and build a new strategy or we can complain and bemoan the changes. The choice…

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June is…what follows May

If your showroom is like other showrooms, April was soft, and May followed April in a similar fashion. Neither month are historically strong but that isn’t much solace when you are expecting to see a certain number of opportunities and they don’t come in the door. 

Remember that there are THREE ways to drive business and traffic is only one of them. Review your other areas for business: close ratio (increase the number of opportunities you close of the opportunities you get) and average sale …

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Opportunities for Growth

Imperfections exist, and acknowledging and accepting that fact is helpful in order to move with them and through them. 
When we accept them as part of the package, we can own them without defending, excusing, or avoiding…they just are.

From that point, we can expand our view and ask: How is this habit and behavior affecting me? How does it impact others? What do I gain from it and what does it cost me?

And we can choose new actions. 

If you are in a sales leadership role, and you have …

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Asking for Referrals

I must admit, as a salesperson this is one of my weaker areas. I GET a lot of referral business but it’s not because I ask for it. I can only imagine what would happen if I intentionally asked a happy client to refer me to someone they know who might use my assistance. So, don’t follow my lead on this.

However, I do work with people who are good at this and are generous to share what they do that works, which is what I will share with you.

ALWAYS give two business cards and say: “Here is…

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Actions Matter

Actions repeated create habits. 
Actions are the only things that create results (not feelings or intentions or circumstances).
I often review goals that have action plans that are ‘insufficient for goal achievement.” What I mean by that is that the actions might have a value of $750K when repeated…which is GREAT…except that the goal is $1.1m. That’s not great. Make sure that the QUANTITY and the QUALITY of your actions are sufficient for the desired results. If you are not on track with your …

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Guardrails #2

To continue with the guardrail conversation… setting boundaries.
A boundary that helps guide the conversation is the ability to say “No.”

Say NO when the client/customer asks for things that cannot be done – either within the current budget or timeframe.
Say NO when the client/customer asks for additions without adding to what they are paying for it. 
Say NO when the client/customer asks you to ‘take it out of your commission’.
Say NO when the client/customer asks you to do something that you know is…

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GRATEFUL SOLUTIONS

Consider the skill it takes to collaborate with a client/customer to find a solution that they can say ‘yes’ to. That skill takes practice to develop and a belief that the practice will enhance the interaction and the outcome. And that the practice of collaboration and problem-solving will lead to more effective outcomes.

If you are achieving that, it is because you chose to try something different… and were willing to be uncomfortable with the process (and yet trust it!) so that you could produc…

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GRATEFUL GREETING

This is where gratitude matters most…when we welcome clients, customers, and prospects into the showroom and collectively and individually create an environment that is warm and inviting.

Our thinking and conversations internally impact the experience that we create for our ‘guests’ 
and when we understand the impact that we have, we can be responsible for it and be
intentional with it.

What do you do to prepare yourself to be welcoming and grateful to incoming guests?
What do you do to rem…

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