First impression is the last impression. It is a saying often quoted in our daily life. Many people don’t believe in it while others have strong belief in it. First impression, if good, can leave a good image in someone’s mind. A good impression is in fact open doors of opportunities for you to meet that person again and have a long lasting relationship. On the other hand first impression, if bad, is almost impossible to be corrected in future. The reason is that people tend to remember first encounter with anybody. A bad impression leaving bad image of yours closes all opportunities for you to meet the person again. And if we talk about the business meetings, first encounter is of ultimate importance. A good impression in a first encounter at a business event can be a flood of sources and connections for you. On the other hand, a poor impression management can take such a door of opportunities away from you. And correcting a poor image in business is almost impossible task.

Experts say that when you go in a meeting and talk to a new person, within a few seconds of your meeting you have been assessed. This assessment can be even at a glimpse.

When people look at you first time, they evaluate your appearance, your behaviors, your ways and styles; each and every thing from head to toe is being evaluated. They appraise you conduct, characteristics, body-gestures and even your grooming and outfits and accessories like jewelry, watch, briefcase, all are being evaluated. Within a few moments of your first glimpse you make a long lasting image on other people’s minds. You may win some people’s hearts and make good impressions by just your good looks while others may be dishearten by you.

The process of first impression creation occurs in every new encounter. A judgment and comment is passed about your personality and looks within a few seconds of our glance. These judgments are made after seeing you just apparently. But more important thing is that the created image cannot be reversed.

People make your images while by making comparisons. If you seem to be of similar business or social rank, you will be thought of as a suitable person to be met and have relation with. If you seem to be of a higher business or social rank, you will be well-liked and will be valued as a strong contact. If you appear to be of a lower business and social status, you may be put up with but not valued in these meetings. You are not considered as a valuable person and people tend to keep you away from them. If you are in an interview your comparison will be made with the corporate culture and those comparisons, again, will lead to relative outcomes.

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Put yourself in this scenario: You’ve just been hired as the new sales team leader – vice president of sales with a charge to turn around a stagnant and seemingly unmotivated team smack dab in the middle of the most challenging economic times in the past half century.  Yikes!

You’ll need some strategy – and some questions.  First, your strategic sales team plan, four strategies to implement right away:

• Ask questions. Meet with your sales team (conference calls work in a pinch) and brainstorm to identify the top three – only three – key activities that lead to the fastest, cleanest, most profitable sale for your company.

  Once you’ve defined these key elements, begin to orient your energies and systems to create more time for the three elements. By getting all your sales people involved in this process you build trust, focus and create more accountability because team members are giving you answers based on sales data and experience.

  No more excuses for failure if they don’t follow the formula they all agreed is the right one.

• Create more accountability. Implement a weekly or bi-weekly reporting system that shows you all activity – calls, meetings, proposals, quotes, proposals, tradeshows, letters sent and the like to get a handle on where the sales team’s energy and time is spent.

  You may find some misguided players whose compass simply needs to be reset.

• Install an incentive plan based on activity. Define a “qualified customer,” then create a reward system for activity that will lead to sales (i.e., the three keys the team agreed are critical to making more sales). Offer, for example, a $250 check for every proposal or meeting; or on-site visit; or major account important enough for you to attend the meeting personally.

  You will immediately see who’s motivated and disciplined enough to attack activity that leads to accomplishment. (Yes, you still pay them the commission, as well.)

• Homework assignment. Ask each sales person to write their 30/60/90/120-day sales and marketing plan to grow sales in their region, and e-mail it to you within three days. This simple request will astound you in revealing who are the thinkers, the doers, the procrastinators, the smoke ‘n mirror gamers and the weak writers.

  This exercise also gives you keen insights to how to utilize various training and motivating techniques, as well as enhance all written correspondence going out on company letterhead.

It will take less than one week to implement the four strategies, with little cost. The results and learning you will glean will enhance your knowledge, create more energy in the sales team and show your new boss that you were worth paying the big bucks to join their team.

You’ll also want to learn the personalities on your team. Based on research that indicates past success is a key predictor of future success and that, indeed, you’re looking for success, here are some behavior-based questions to ask in one-on-one discussions with your sales people.

The questions are conversational, non-threatening and created to generate life stories that will help you better understand each individual’s drive, life experience, sales training, personal status, behavioral patterns and how the person organizes their life.

Armed with this meta analysis, you can gauge who on your staff will best benefit from additional sales training/coaching – and who may not be worth additional investment at this time.

•1) Why don’t you start?  What question do you have for me?

•2) What would really surprise me about you?

•3) For a prospect:  What’s your real motivation to change jobs? Now what’s the real reason?

•4) What’s your philosophy on goal setting?

•5) What reading material would I find on your coffee table (or nightstand, kitchen table, car)?

•6) Tell me about a situation that placed you in an ethical dilemma?  How did you handle it??

•7) How did you earn money in college?

•8) How far away from home have you traveled? (Have a map on your desk.)

•9) Draw a pie chart showing how you spend an eight-hour day.

•10) Are you a curious person? If so, give me an example.

•11) What’s your favorite success story?  How about a failure story?

•12) What should I have asked you that I haven’t?

•13) Want to be a millionaire? Why? What are you doing to prepare for it?

•14) How would your world change if you made $35,000 more next year?

•15) For a prospect:  Are you ready to resign from your job in five days? What will they do when you quit? What will they say about you after you have left the company?

•16) Share some stories about the four most influential people you know.

•17) Have you ever created a 30, 60, 90-day strategic plan for your job or a future job? Give me the outline of such a plan now.

Got a question of your own to ask author Russ Riendeau?  You can reach Russ at www.russellriendeau.com or 847/381-0977.

#####

Behavioral scientist. Senior Partner, The East Wing Search Group.
Co-author, The CEO’s Guide To Talent Acquisition: Finding Talent Your Competitors Overlook (Eyecatcher Press 2008)
Nationally known speaker on retention strategies and peak performance.
Watch Russ at www.RussRiendeau.com. Email him at russ@RussRiendeau.com.

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Sales Daily Action Steps

1. Start the morning by reading something positive.

Don’t start the day just going through the motions by reading it gets your thought process headed in the right direction to a positive attitude 90% of your production is based on your attitude check it out each morning before you start.

2. Practice your script and objection handling in down time.

Before your first call go over your script and objection handling with someone in your office a couple of times so the first pitch does not catch you off guard. You must warm up before any big game.

3. Listen to sales cd’s

While sitting at your desk you have a great deal of time. Take this time to study your art (Sales) by listening to cd’s during your down time you can sharpen your skills greatly over a short period of time just by listening at your desk. Just think 1hr a day that’s 20hrs a month and 240 hrs a year learning sales info. Do you think that would help you?

4. Begin to read sales and self help books

Reading increases your creativity and exposes you to new information. You are only one book away from your breakthrough. “You will be the same person you are 5 years from now accept for the people you meet and the books you read.” – Charlie “Tremendous” Jones

5. Set Goals

It always amazes me with the production of a person that walks in the door in the morning with their mind made up on what they are going to produce that day some how make it. Make your mind up and don’t give up until you hit your goal. If you miss it leave knowing you did your all to reach it.

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Have you been procrastinating about projects you need to get started? Do you find yourself continually frustrated at the end of the day, with a mound of things that need to be done? Unfinished projects, e-mails to answer, stacks of paper that keep piling up? If so, you’re not alone. A lot of people suffer from an inability to make the most effective use of their time, but there is a solution if you just apply a few simple time management strategies. You’ll be able get more accomplished in less time with less hassle than ever before!

1. Set goals and determine what you want to accomplish.

Determine when you need to have the task completed by. Don’t think of this as a “to do” list but rather a “must do” list. Don’t give yourself the option of not finishing the task.

2. Determine where you are losing time.

Keep track of what activities are eating up your valuable time. Checking e-mails throughout the day can be a huge time waster. A much better option is to get as many things accomplished as possible early on, and then check e-mails later in the day, all at once. Also, it’s a good idea to keep your e-mail folders organized so that you can easily find what you’re looking for. There’s no need to do double paper handling, even if it’s just electronic paper.

Another tip for e-mails is in regards to handling long e-mails with multiple replies. Just keep the latest version and delete all previous versions. That way you won’t be reading the same things over and over again.

3. Use a daytimer or computer contact manager software.

Use one of these essential tools to list everything you need to accomplish and keep track of all your valuable contacts.

4. Prioritize.

Each morning, review the tasks you need to accomplish and prioritize them. Determine which ones are urgent, needing immediate action, and which ones can wait. Do the most important things first. Sometimes these are things you don’t really want to do but by getting the tough stuff out of the way you’ll feel a greater sense of accomplishment.

5. Ask for help; delegate.

You don’t have to do it all yourself. Ask for the assistance of others whenever possible.

6. Have a plan.

When you have a doctor’s appointment this doesn’t have to be down time. Bring something with you that you can work on – a book or report to read, a notepad, a laptop computer, or a PDA to check your email. Continue working on those tasks. Don’t let a moment go by wasted. Do this anytime you know you’ll be waiting in a lobby for any reason.

7. Work the plan.

Be consistent and work the plan every day.

Consistency is the key to this endeavor. If you’ve set realistic goals and you’ve followed the seven steps outlined here, you’ll be on your way to getting things done! There may still be some days that you just can’t get everything done. If you’re consistent however, you’ll be on your way to living a more productive and less stressful life.

We all have the same 24 hours in a day, and how we choose to spend this time is up to us.

Debra Wier shares her passion for personal development and self improvement on her blog at www.TheMetamorphosisCafe.com. She also believes that one of the contributing factors to happiness is the ability to earn a living doing something you enjoy. This belief led her to research the possibilities of making money online and she is the author of the popular 40-page ebook:”How To Flood Your Bank Account With Multiple Streams Of Internet Income.” Head over to ==>http://www.TheMetamorphosisCafe.com to get your FREE copy now!Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/time-management-in-seven-easy-steps-787732.html

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Author: Ben Franklin

As any company grows, there’s a need to build up the different departments in the organizational chart. You need these various functions to get more specialized, more organized and focused. One of the main areas that you will need to concentrate on for your business to grow even more is sales. You won’t just need a sales person, you need a team. And this team will have to function according to a few guidelines which have been set down. These will typically have to take into account your company’s policy, its short-term and long-term sales projections and the image you want your brand and the company to convey.

The first thing to do is to get yourself a sales team. Then, you have to evaluate them. It’s only after they’ve been with you for a while that you will be able to evaluate their performance and see if anything needs changing. This is especially important when you are poised on the threshold of growth. Can your existing team fuel future growth? Or do you need to add to the team? Do you perhaps need to change the team? Or the direction the team is heading in? As a precursor to this step, you will need to sit down and be clear about your objectives for the company. What do you expect from it? Is your business such that you expect them to just follow up on your direct mail or email campaigns? Or do you need a more aggressive, path-breaking approach? Are they going to be the face of your company as far as the outside world is concerned? Is the image of your company resting on their shoulders? Depending on what they are expected to do comes their training. From this also flows what they can do and cannot do. If they are making a lot of personal house calls, it stands to reason that they cannot manage 100 calls a day as they would perhaps if they were doing telemarketing.

Finally, there has to be some criteria set up to measure productivity. Does it matter how much work they do or how productive they are? Productivity has to be measured not in terms of volume of work or number of hours but in terms of conversion. It all boils down to the bottom line and how much money they bring in to the company at the end of the day. Once you set the sales ball rolling in your company, you will be able to calculate the average productivity. You would do this by taking the total sales in a month and dividing it by the number of people you have on your sales team. You will then be able to see, month wise, how many are overachievers and how many are not. Depending on how much of an under-achiever a person is, it would be up to you as to when to take the call of asking him to go so as not to pull your sales team down because of lack of performance. Make sure that you do give the person some leeway however. Sometimes, the most profitable clients will come to you only after a sales person has worked on him for a long time. So you will have to carry him with you till he makes the sale. Then it’s gravy days ahead for him and you!

About the Author:
Building a sales team
Sales force
http://www.salesforcetech.com

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We’ve seen this process improve sales systems to turn poor results into a hefty 45% conversion rate of prospects into new customers.

Lasting sales performance rarely comes from super-star performers. It comes from great sales management systems. Good systems are reliable and they enable all your sales people to improve and maintain their performance.

We find the best sales management process has10 powerful parts…

1. Position descriptions
2. Procedures
3. Activity expectations
4. Performance expectations
5. A means of monitoring and reporting activity and
performance
6. The 3 principles of sales contacts
7. Regular sales meetings
8. Strategic guidance
9. Corrective guidance
10. Employee review

Here They Are, Explained…

1. Position descriptions need to outline the expectations of your sales person.  You can’t afford to have out-of-date PD’s.  If your sales person doesn’t have a clear charter, how can you correct any failure to meet your expectations?

2. Procedures describe how to perform certain tasks expected of the sales staff.  Even aspects taken for granted, like meeting with a prospect, are important and occur regularly… and are therefore appropriately documented into Standard Operating Procedures.

3. Activity expectations are minimum volumes or qualities of calls, visits, scripts and other tasks inherent in the sales procedures.  Since activity is what yields results, activity must be measured and reported on.

4. Performance expectations are expressed as sales dollars and new customers won.  These come from the right procedures being performed within adequate activity levels.

5. Means of monitoring and reporting activity and performance are means for the staff to record their work and show it to you.  Both public reporting in charts and private reporting to management would be ideal.

6. We’ve seen 3 valuable principles in a good sales meeting…

1. There must be no unaccountable time in the
work week,
2. No contact must occur without an agenda, and
3. No contact must go without an outcome of some
kind and a next step.

7. Regular sales meetings need to be at least weekly.  Work needs to be interrogated so that management and consultants can provide guidance.

8. Strategic Guidance means suggestions and information of value to overcoming a hurdle the salesperson has encountered.

9. Corrective Guidance means admonishment and advice designed to cease activity that is not productive and encourage activity that is productive.

10. Employee reviews are the last component, and this is really a component of a good HR system more than merely a good sales management process. We’ll help you set up procedures, forms, sales meeting structures and principles of management that get more from your sales staff.

Results From Systems That Work

With systems like these, you’ll enjoy the kind of results that are independent of individual personalities in your sales force.

Stephen Johnson, Director, Strategy and Action www.strategyandaction.com.au

Stephen Johnson is the director of Brisbane based consultancy, Strategy and Action. For more information please call (07) 3808 5366 or visit www.strategyandaction.com.au

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I had heard a story regarding integrity several years ago when I was in the Marine Corps. I had spent twelve years as a Marine, and it will never leave me. You know what they say, once a Marine, always a Marine.

Now I don’t know if the story that I’m about to tell is true, but it gives a perfect illustration of what integrity is.

There was a General that used to love to take his Marines on forced marches every so often. There was just something about it that he loved.

Now if you do not know what a forced march is, it is where the Marines get into full combat gear which includes their rifles, wearing their helmets, sometimes flak jackets, full pack, and then you would march out over rough terrain to a predetermined destination, and then back. Sound easy doesn’t it! Yeah right!

Now I will tell you that I have been on several forced marches and they are just a blast! Almost as much fun as having a tooth pulled.

Well the General heard a rumor that some of his officers might be cutting a few corners when it came to filling their packs with the required items. Items such as, a change of uniform, an extra pair of socks, extra boots, and other assorted items totaling about 50 pounds. He had heard that they were taking empty card board boxes and putting them into the pack so that it looked full.

This of course would make their load quite a bit lighter than their fellow Marines.

So, not knowing for sure if this was true or not the General decided that it was time to go on another forced march. But this time he decided that they should take a route that was even rougher terrain than any other he had ever taken before.

So the day of the forced march came and they all marched out and it was very rough terrain. They marched over rocks, thorny bushes and more hills and valleys than they cared to.

As the story was told to me, they marched out about ten miles.

When they reached the half way point to turn around to march back, there were vehicles waiting for them.

The General then ordered everyone to remove their boots and socks and place them into the vehicles.

As you can imagine this was very confusing to the Marines. But when a General orders you to do something you don’t question it.

Once they all placed their boots and socks into the vehicle the General then ordered them to get into their packs and get out the extra pair of socks and boots that they had packed and put them on for the return trip.

Well, it did not take long at all to determine which officers had integrity, and which ones were about to end their careers with the Marine Corps.

Don’t ever be the type of leader that fills their pack with an empty box.

Find more leadership stories like this as well as all types of leadership information by visiting http://www.leadership-skills-for-life.com/

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