Contract negotiations with a vendor did not start out so well; my wife says I'm too "nice," but then she changed it to wishy-washy. The thought came to mind of what a couple of coaches (Richard Balius and Joe Zente) I had 3 years ago that told me. They commented one day, in reply to my frustration, "it wasn't that I didn't have people working, heck, I had the hardest workingest group he'd ever seen." They said the problem was "clarity; those working directly with me weren't clear on what they I wanted them to be doing." They then drew a picture of a big cloud with lightening bolts and rain drops. I guess I was the big cloud and the bolts and drops were.....never mind. The contract got worked out and I continue to try hard to be clear.
The "virtual manager" I launched a few weeks ago came from my friend Brandon Dady. Brandon worked with me for a few months and saw how many people came to me with quick questions and how a service like would be extremely beneficial; find a need and fill it. Without getting too personal, one new person that came to me this week was having frustrations with her manager. There are usually faults on both sides of the problem and it was great to see her dig through the questions and considerations I gave her and ponder her own weaknesses that have led to the conflicts. She is determined to do the right thing and doesn't want to just change employers to just have the same problems all over again. That's great in-the-box work.
My new Trust-in-Sales (still working on name) seminar is about wrapped up and ready for the streets. This is culmination of previous seminars I've done; subjects include are behaviors in selling, knowing yourself to know your clients, sales processes, business plans, CRM, knowing what your attracting, social media and building a key sales team. Sales is much different today than 25 years ago. Clients are much more educated, focused and willing to change quickly. Its not just the internet, but what the internet brings to a clients' fingertips. Yet, many sales people are still trying to do the same old thing; and I argue that isn't necessarily bad, but know what your competition is doing and consider how to adjust. The initial summary clinic will be 2 1/2 hours and the entire program will be merged into a focus group type setting.
This blog was accessed over 100 times on Tuesday for the second time in a single day. As I've written and commented, social media has a definite place on any company's sales and marketing agenda and I've enjoyed testing different strategies to see what best sticks for me.
Have a great weekend.
Danny
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