Sales Basics, Prospect to Partner

By Ken Rogner

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy   

Recently I had a call from the manager of a wholesale distribution sales center in Houston. He had a question, "Is there a ten-step program that I can teach my salespeople to take a customer from prospect to partner?" It got my attention so I probed into his situation.

His sales center is part of a large national chain of wholesale distribution centers and he has two full-time outside sales people, one very experienced and one new. There are three other locations of his company in that market. My caller had been traveling with his new salesperson for the first time and, as he watched and listened to the presentation made to a potential customer, he realized how it rambled and lacked a specific overall plan.

My caller has been in distribution management for a long time but some of his past training included exposure to sales training from well known authors and consultants. He knew that there was no systematic process involved in the sales call he had viewed and he was hoping for a simple set of steps he could share.

His question forced me to reflect on the history of sales training. I realize that sometimes we complicate things because we try to continually improve the process. My caller made me take a look into the past into what the basics of sales education really is. Here is what I came up with.

I have read Tom Sant's book in which he gives the credit for developing a process for selling to John Henry Patterson. In about 1880, Patterson had taken over the rights to a patent for manufacturing a machine called a cash register. His new company was called NCR (National Cash Register). Even though Patterson was a strong believer in this machine and its ability to improve retail businesses, he had serious challenges finding a method for letting the rest of the world know its value. When Patterson held his first national sales meeting in 1886 the company was stuck at a sales volume of about 12 cash registers every month. He shared with his sales people all of the features of the new models and then began questioning them to determine "tips and techniques" they were using to sell these units. He had invited his brother-in-law, Joseph Crane, to attend that first meeting and offer input. Later that year Patterson convinced Crane to join NCR and they soon realized that Crane didn't need to be technically strong at servicing the machines to be successful at selling them. Crane eventually recognized that he didn't need to point out every feature of these machines but rather to concentrate only on features that would benefit each specific customer and meet his/her needs. As Crane became the most successful representative for NCR, Patterson worked with him to uncover the "system" that Crane was using. Patterson soon recognized that it was not the script or consistent wording that Crane was using but rather his focus on specific needs of the customer. This was, in effect, the beginning of what we call the consultative approach to selling. Patterson then created a process selling book called the primer, that all of his salespeople were required to follow. The primer system consisted of four basic steps, Approach (identify customer's problems), Proposition (develop a proposal to show value), Demonstration (show the answer to the problem) and Close (ask for the order).

So there, for my friend in Texas, was the start of process selling, a simple set of steps to be used consistently as a system. I could share those basics but he was asking for more. After all, he wanted a road map to go from prospecting to partnering.

I had to expand my proposal to my new friend. Here is the "simple set of steps" as I presented them:

1. Prospecting: This is "digging" to know and understand the marketplace, evaluating the territory first to find where your sales people should focus time and energy. I recommend doing a formal SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) Analysis of your sales territory first.

2. Know and understand your customer: Learn everything about that target opportunity you can. Check with every independent and manufacturer's rep for input, use the internet, check with trade publications, pull out all the stops....know your target and as much about her business as possible.

3. Approach: Develop a series of questions that generate information about the customer's need and her definition of value. A well thought out and customized approach is key.

4. Proposal: This is step to create a response that comes from the results of the questioning and the matching to our products or services to address the customer's needs or value. I sometimes call this "marrying" the correct service with the correct need. Sometimes developing the skill that comes with writing good proposals is an additional necessity here.

5. Demonstration: This is where we must show that the product or service provides the hoped-for solution. It could be as simple as showing a new product that fills the customer's needs or as challenging as loading and demonstrating a new B2B software. Here is where product and service education within our respective companies becomes critical.

6. Close: This may be the most often taught and yet most avoided portion of every selling system. From trial closes, to dollarizing, to overcoming objections, etc. there are many approaches to this step. My recommendation was to ignore gimmicks; instead have his people develop a comfortable close that is honest and non-manipulative. In his case, as a wholesale distributor, everything is about long term relationship building, so sometimes a very successful close is making another appointment to bring in a specialist or for meeting with additional people on his staff.

7. Partnering: Success in sales definitely revolves around follow-up, continual contact and relationship building. This is where the relationship expands to one of trust and a mutual sharing of ideas, opportunities and information. This is the point where a sales person demonstrates to a customer that their loyalty is earned.

Obviously, I didn't end up with a ten step program...only seven. But these steps are the basics as I see them. The steps are somewhat simplistic but I hope they work for my friend in Texas. Developing a system for selling helps assure success, keeping it simple is sometimes the surest way of making that happen.

Business Coach Training - A Successful Business Coaching Company

By Rafael Tassini

Job Vacancy Indonesia, Employee, Vacancy

When a business leader is choosing a coach in business, they may be overwhelmed with the choices available. Some coaches in business are simply former business owners who want to share their experiences. The best coaches in business, however, have completed a business coach training course and are certified as having passed the qualifying exam. This helps prepare business coaches to deal with multiple situations and areas of business instead of just going off their own limited experiences. This certification is a sign that a coach has been trained in the best practices of the field of coaching in business. They learn how to assess the parts of a business and the company as a whole.

The ability to see how a whole is broken down into parts and what areas are slowing productivity is important in the coaching career. Keeping each portion of the company efficient and effective at what they are assigned helps the whole company to be more profitable. The purpose for hiring a business coach is can be different for each business owner. Some need a fresh pair of eyes to assess the business for the slower department and procedures. Some need to raise capital and need advice on how to get there. Others are looking to improve marketing strategies or implement newer technologies and desire guidance in those areas. Business coach training prepares business coaches to work in all these areas.

Certain processes, tools, and models have been used successfully in multiple areas of business all around the world. In coaching training, students learn these methods and how to apply them to different industries. Great coaching is based upon a relationship the coach builds with the business leader client. Interpersonal skills and good coaching relationship structures are also taught in the training course. These are key components to the success of a business coach. The clients are leaders who have little experience taking advice from others. They are often reluctant to see the failings in their own businesses even though this is the first step to fixing the problems.

Laying the groundwork of respect and relationship can ensure a business coach's success. In addition, a business coach training course teaches coaches how to find and acquire clients to build their own business. Successful systems for getting and retaining clients can help someone grow their coaching business into a lucrative company. Joining this unique field of coaching in the business world can start with a specialized training course.

Make Better Business Decisions

by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, and Switzler

Careers , Jobs Indonesia, Indonesia Vacancy

According to leadership experts Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler, "Crucial Conversations" are those tough, day-to-day interactions in which the stakes are high, people have conflicting views, and emotions run strong. The surprising thing about these conversations is that they often occur when least expected whether in the boardroom or by the water cooler. Mastering them can transform businesses and careers, strengthen teams, increase productivity, and boost the bottom line.

The two riskiest times in crucial conversations tend to be at the beginning and at the end. The beginning is risky because you have to find a way to create safety or else things go awry. The end is dicey because if you aren’t careful about how you clarify the conclusion and decisions, you can run into violated expectations later on.

When you're considering how to make better business decisions, it helps to have a way of talking about the available options. There are four common ways of making decisions: command, consult, vote, and consensus. These four options represent increasing degrees of involvement. Increased involvement, of course, brings the benefit of increased commitment along with the curse of decreased decision-making efficiency.

Command

Let's start with decisions that are made with no involvement whatsoever. This happens in one of two ways. Either outside forces place demands on us (demands that leave us no wiggle room), or we turn decisions over to others and then follow their lead. We don't care enough to be involved -- let someone else do the work.

In strong teams and great relationships, many decisions are made by turning the final choice over to someone we trust to make a good decision.

Consult

Consulting is a process whereby decision makers invite others to influence them before they make their choice. You can consult with experts, a representative population, or even everyone who wants to offer an opinion.

Vote

Voting is best suited to situations where efficiency is the highest value -- and you're selecting from a number of good options. Voting is a great time saver but should never be used when team members don't agree to support whatever decision is made. In these cases, consensus is required.

Consensus

This method can be both a great blessing and a frustrating curse. Consensus means you talk until everyone honestly agrees to one decision. This method can produce tremendous unity and high-quality decisions. It should only be used with (1) high-stakes and complex issues or (2) issues where everyone absolutely must support the final choice.

When choosing among the four methods of decision making consider the following questions.

1. Who cares? Determine who genuinely wants to be involved in the decision along with those who will be affected. These are your candidates for involvement. Don't involve people who don't care.

2. Who knows? Identify who has the expertise you need to make the best decision. Encourage these people to take part. Try not to involve people who contribute no new information.

3. Who must agree? Think of those whose cooperation you might need in the form of authority or influence in any decisions you might make. It's better to involve these people than to surprise them and then suffer their open resistance.

4. How many people is it worth involving? Your goal should be to involve the fewest number of people while still considering the quality of the decision along with the support that people will give it. Ask: "Do we have enough people to make a good choice? Will others have to be involved to gain their commitment?"

A crucial conversation about your decision-making practices can resolve many frustrating issues.

2 Keys That Are A Must For Starting An Online Business

By Steven Downward

Careers, Jobs Indonesia, Indonesia Vacancy

Starting an online business is something that millions of people around the world would love to do. Having the ability to make their money off of the internet is really powerful. Now many of these people do try to start an online business but they fail. They fail because they don't have these 2 keys that are needed to create success online.

The first key is DETERMINATION. TheFreeDictionary.com defines determination as "A fixed intention or resolution", basically saying that we need to be hard set on whatever goal that we have set out.

See there are a lot of different challenges that come up when building an online business. Things will happen that you never planned on happening and they will end up setting you back. Without having the determination, you will end up quitting or giving up. If you give up, you will never have a successful online business.

The second key is PATIENCE. Patience is a big one and it's really important for creating success online. Many people feel that there is some magic button that they can just push and they will be making money online. This is not the case. It's going to take some skill and you will need to spend the time to master these skills.

There are a lot of things that one needs to learn when building a business online. Things like marketing, outsourcing, website development, collecting money, creating or getting a product to sell, are just a few examples of the different skills that one needs to learn. Without having the patience you will get discouraged and frustrated and want to quit.

So decide right away that you will have the determination and the patience that is needed to create a successful online business. Because if you don't, you will have a really hard time filled with a lot of frustration. So don't do that. It's not good for you and it's not good for your business.

6 Places to Go to Find Your Next Job

By Sanat Deepa

job, jobs, career

In this post, I would like to share with you the places to go to find jobs online. I'll touch on the pros and cons of each. Before we start, I'd like to stress that not all avenues will work for you - some will be busier than others depending on your line of business. For this reason, it's a good idea to give each of them a try to see which ones work best for you.

1. Job search sites, such as Monster.com

Job search sites should be your first point of call. This is where most recruiters will turn, and where you are likely to find the most job offers. Job search sites come in 2 different forms: generalist sites such as Monster.com, and specialist sites catering to one industry. If you find that generalist sites have too simplistic job titles or categories, a niche job site may be right for you.

2. Job search engines, such as Trovit.com

Job search engines aggregate job offers from multiple job sites. They allow you to search several sites at once. Trovit.com is one of my favourites because it allows you to create custom job alerts around your target keywords. This could save you a huge amount of time with new jobs sent straight to your email inbox.

3. Universal search engines, such as Google.com

Search engines such as Google.com could help expand your job search beyond job search sites. They can return job offers posted on corporate websites that haven't yet been published on job sites. This could be your chance to put your application in ahead of the crowd, as job listings on company websites often get less visibility than postings on job sites.

4. Newspaper sites

Newspaper sites often have a job search section. Visiting 2 to 3 newspaper sites and create job alerts there if you can. Traditional recruiters will often turn to newspaper sites first, over online job sites.

5. Company websites

If you are already set on one specific employer, check their website on a regular basis. Subscribe to their Twitter feed, Facebook fan page and other social media outlets for hiring cues, tip-offs and the latest company news. Try to identify someone within the organization you could contact with a spontaneous application.

6. Social Media sites

Social media sites, such as LinkedIn.com or Twitter.com, have created more opportunities to connect with others. Twitter in particular is a good way to establish a personal connection with a head-hunter or a recruiter prior to sending in your application. You can also use Twitter and LinkedIn to search for jobs rather than contacts, in the same way as you would use a job site. However, the personal connection you can strike on these sites is a powerful force not to be underestimated. It also is how I found my current job at SalarySurvey.in!

Last but not least, create job alerts whenever you can. Job alerts will send new jobs straight to your email Inbox, which could save you a huge amount of time and stress.

Performance Plan

By Ricky S Kahn

job, jobs, career

By definition, Performance Management refers to a tactical and combined approach which leads to increasing the efficiency of a company by improving the way people work, getting the most out of the team and individual contributions.

Performance management includes certain actions which guarantee that the most important goals of a company are met effectively. Performance management is not restricted to the performance of a particular department, employee or product; it may be a combination of everything on the whole. Performance management is adopted by every organization.

Benefits

When there is a good relation between programs used for performance management and business results, it leads to several benefits. A company can enjoy direct financial gains, growth in sales and lower costs. It brings the organization in alignment with its goals and decreases the time it takes to create strategic changes by communicating the alteration through a new set of goals. It also motivates the workforce by optimizing incentive plans. It creates a level of transparency in achieving the aim, improves management control and is flexible and responsive to management needs. It helps in auditing and compliance. Communication of goals and plans also gets simplified. A clear documentation system gets incorporated. It helps ensure that all the employees are treated equally, as the appraisals are based on the results provided by them. It shifts the focus from activity oriented to result oriented. Performance reviews focus on the contributions that an employee makes towards achieving the company's goals. It is more effective since it is an ongoing process and not a one-time thing.

Effective ways to develop a performance plan

The first step in the strategic planning process is an evaluation of the market. The outcome of this assessment process is known as the mission statement. An organization's goals are its priority. In order to establish them it is important to incorporate strategic planning.

A performance plan helps turn these goals into reality. These goals must be reviewed in terms of quantity, quality, cost or timeliness. Calculate the results. Objectives that cannot be attained should not be formulated. Test these objectives for challenge and achievability. Adjust the objectives to the available resources. Establish performance reports that measure advancement towards the objective. Review all the statements with others to assure consistency and mutual support. Modify your statements to meet changing conditions and priorities. Provide a rational design. It is important to identify the outcome, driving measures and patterns of effects. The evaluation standards should be identified. The goals must be clear, concise, measurable and attainable. A target date for completion must be agreed upon. Document a performance plan which include the desired results, measures and standards and keep a copy of it in your briefcase.

When there is a clear understanding of competitors, customers and suppliers, an evaluation of the company's strengths and weaknesses can be made. Formulate a business plan which helps in determining the possibility of the results required. A well-written business plan helps in identifying the progress a company has made towards achieving its goals and control the decisions later on.

A major portion of employee's performance directly contributes to the results of the organization. The results need to be prioritized. It should be identified how the results were achieved. The most valid, reliable and practical measurements should be used.

Therefore, when a proper performance plan is put into perspective it has several benefits. It helps in career advancements, promotions, progress and success. It is responsible for the growth, development, performance and profit of an organization.

The One Thing That Separates Successful People From Everyone Else

By Ralph Twombly

job, jobs, career

Where to Start

To begin the journey, we need to understand success. The one thing I guess you would have to identify is what success means to people. This is a topic of more controversy than you might think. Success to some in this trying financial time might mean money or security, yet when I ask people what success means to them in workshops and in our coaching meetings, money or security is seldom mentioned. The usual response in workshops is that success is about happiness, a sense of accomplishment in the work and a feeling of being valued.

Emotionally, the last 18 months have been tough on people and I think it has caused us to rethink the success thing. We do know a few things that are common sense. The more successful you feel, the greater the chance that you will do quality work with a minimum of stress. People who feel unsuccessful tend to be unhappy and unhappy doesn't make for a great life. To feel successful is what counts in the long run.

Common Ground

Successful people all have a few things in common. They tend to be optimists. They also seem to have lots of self confidence and they like to work with others. Optimism is the fuel that gets people out of bed each day. Self-confidence is a belief in your ability to persevere and working with others requires patience, humility, and selflessness. Feeling that the world could be a better place today because of something you can be a part of is critical while not yielding to "the sky is falling" mindset that seems to permeate the evening news and ties to our greatest fears. Put another way:

• Optimism - is not surrendering to the fear of all bad things from each event in life.
  

• Self Confidence - is overcoming fear with the belief that you will succeed.

• Team Work - is not being afraid to work with others regardless your or their skills or behaviors.

Now to the One Thing: Overcoming Fear

Years ago, a good friend of mine named Howard told me that fear was the strongest motivator and at the time I was quick to disagree. As a young man it became apparent to me that fear was simply an obstacle that got in the way of doing what I wanted or needed to do and I learned to face fear as part of the routine of life. So much so that I kind of lost track of the power fear has on many people.

As years go by, I find myself attracted to courageous people and notice I'm not alone. Being around someone with courage of conviction, humility, and confidence is so powerful that I think it has become the final ingredient in success. Contrast that with the person who throws up obstacles around their success such as bad behavior, lack of belief and the ever present entitlement. For this contrasting group it appears it is easier to define why they haven't realized success than it is to create success. What you are generally hearing is their fear.

Something to Consider

When I was young, a basketball coach was teaching me to shoot free throws and said something I remembered all these years later. He said; "Concentration, seriousness of purpose and follow-through is the secret." Now, I never went on to be a great basketball player but the lesson stuck and has been a great metaphor for my life.

Not pretending to be a "free-throwing philosopher" but having a pretty good read on all those successful people, I would like to say: Fear is the enemy. Believe in you before you doubt and remember that you "can" before you "can't" and in all things place the "team" first.

It might be more than one thing but remember that fear is the enemy, and while you will never completely overcome fear (and you shouldn't), keeping it a bay and away from what will make you successful is critical to you. For now, the best thing you can do is to become a student of successful people. As you watch you will see some characteristics of success that make sense. This is not coincidence, luck or the product of higher education. In the heat of day- to-day work life, practice eliminating fear and in the end this characteristic will help you be a magnet for others.

The Highest Paying Part Time Weekend Jobs

By Will Knight 

job, jobs, career

It would seem these days that the regular 9-5 pay pay packet is just not enough to live on. People are genuinely struggling and things don't look like they are going to get any better soon. Weekend jobs are a savior to most families at the moment. Aside from the fact that they severely eat into family time they do help produce some well needed essentials each week. This is just a fact that most families have to live with right now.

So if you have found yourself on the hunt for decent quality weekend jobs then the 3 weekend jobs listed below might just fit what you are looking for. The best part is they are very flexible and pay a lot more than a weekend wage ever will.

Auto Detailing - This is by far one of the easiest and cheapest weekend jobs you can ever start up. It is also one of the most profitable with the average full valet coming in at around $250 per car (4 hrs work). Setup costs are well under $50 and that if you need new brushes, buckets and cloth's. You can get quite a bit of business in these weekend jobs by simply putting out flyers under the windscreen wipers of dirty but expensive cars. It is also worth approaching companies that have vehicle fleets and doing them a discount price for bulk.

Commercial Property Maintenance - If you are a bit of a handy person and don't mind weekend jobs where you are mowing and gardening a lot then this job may be just be you. Many big companies do not allow these types of contractor's access during the week due to flying stones and vehicles parking over grass strips so it is an excellent time to approach these places and offer to fit in to their schedules. These types of weekend jobs are also good in the respect that you are out getting some exercise and fresh air.

Online Weekend Jobs - It may shock you to hear that the internet offers weekend work as well. Yes that's right, weather it be weekend night jobs, part time evening jobs, the internet has it all. So what kind of work is on offer online? Practically everything.

To keep it simple you may want to target the easier online weekend work to start with like taking paid surveys for money. This is where you join a reputable survey company and get paid around $10 for every survey you fill out. Don't worry, there's an endless supply of them. There is also helpdesk and online customer services type work. Basically with these weekend jobs you get paid for working in an online help center by logging in from home. This entails taking customer orders, tracking client orders and dealing with sales enquiries. They pay is pretty top notch as well.

Career Planning - Some Do's And Some Don'ts

By Neil Theobald 

job, jobs, career

A well-known phrase runs thus: "if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail". This saying works well for career planning too.

Career planning ideally should start during the final years of your education. If you are lucky and your educational institute has a "career guidance counsellor" so much the better, as he/she can open a number of avenues for you depending upon your skills and temperament. If you did not have this luxury then you need to go it alone keeping in mind the following:

1. You must have some idea on what you want and in what sector you would like to make a career. This is very important. Initially at ground level it is necessary to have a goal. You might change tack later in life but the initial decision is by far the most important one you will take. This should be your personal mission.

2. Once you know the type of job you want educate yourself on the intricacies of this job. Attend seminars, courses etc and get to know about the job better.

3. You are most likely to encounter road blocks but NEVER give up and be your own agent of change. You must consider yourself as a commodity to be sold and sell yourself effectively by using a well constructed resume.

4. Preferably do not look for a job which pays more but look for one where you enjoy working as this would pay back in the long run.

5. Be positive in your interviews and convince the interviewers that you are capable of handling the job if given a chance and stick to your promise.

6. If you find an opening in a different organization that suits your skills and temperament, do not hesitate to apply for that job.

7. Be always open minded in everything in the work place.

8. Follow your heart because sometimes a "gut feeling" works better.

9. Put your plans into action after thoroughly going through them and removing any kinks in them.

Never fall into the following traps:

1. Having no clear focus, not being able to articulate properly, lacking in clarity and direction etc..

2. Diffidence, uncertainty, lack of self-confidence, fear of the unknown - all these will drag you down.

3. Negativity in any form would be your downfall and so avoid thinking negatively.