A business newsletter with Pizzazz!
"We help leaders become better marketersWhen working with a team, especially a sales team, allow time for honest individual expression in a non-threatening environment. Selling an individual idea to a workgroup gives the person an opportunity to hone both thinking and presentation skills. This month, I recall one way to gain involvement and develop ideas for improvement. It worked like a charm!
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Ask sales reps to sell their peers!
Ask sales reps to sell their peers!
Smiles
make the day! Facts, when combined with ideas, constitute the greatest force in
the world. The
largest room in the world is the room for improvement. You
win more friends with your ears than with your mouth. Take a tip from nature. Your ears aren't made to shut, but your
mouth is! An
idea is more than information; it is information with legs and it's going
somewhere. If you can't think up a new idea, try finding a way to
make better use of an old one. Ideas are not truly alive if they remain locked in a
single mind. The best way to put an idea across is to wrap it up in
another person. Unexpressed ideas are of no more value than kernels in a
nut before it has been cracked! $ Million Marketing TipsBack in the days when I was leading a
group of sales professionals, sales meetings tended to be pretty one-sided.
I spoke. My marketing reps sat, listening to goals and results while
keeping an eye on my boss to try to determine his mood. All of the reps were
graduate engineers and they were enthusiastic marketers. Occasionally,
someone would ask a question or make a comment, but I always got more
ideas, comments, gripes, and questions outside of the formal meeting.
Nobody wanted to speak up when my supervisor was listening for fear of making
themselves look bad.
I was determined to change the
productivity of my sales meetings and bring the team closer together. For
starters, I knew that progress was unlikely so long as my boss was in
attendance. Now, how do you toss your boss out of the
meeting?
The answer was pretty easy. After
discussing my intent and reasons with my supervisor, I changed the usual meeting
agenda. Introducing my boss at the start of the meeting allowed him to give
us all an overview of total division results. He got to comment on my
district's performance. He took questions (there weren't many) and
generally handed out praise for victories. Then, I covered more
specific district objectives and results, new programs, product changes, etc. So
far, nothing new, right?
At a meeting break, the boss agreed
that he would leave our meeting to handle other pressing affairs. When our
meeting resumed, the only people allowed were me and my marketing team. No
visitors, no bosses. At that point, I sat and listened while each member of my
team individually took the floor. The rules were simple. Each rep got exactly
ten minutes to present a subject to his peers. The only other rule was that the
topic had to be business related (no presentations on the speaker's good
looks, amorous adventures, etc.). For each presenter, the object was to
'sell' his peers on supporting the subject being presented. Peers could ask
questions or comment following each presentation. More importantly, I was
not allowed to respond to or debate a presenter, only to listen and
take notes of issues or ideas for follow-up.
Each team member got to practice
presentation skills in front of his most critical audience, while I got to
listen for good ideas and the real concerns of my team members. Results were
immediate and gratifying! Team members put extra effort into their sales meeting
presentations, because they wanted to impress their peers and because they
finally had the opportunity to formally present a subject that had probably
absorbed a lot of their mind during the inevitable "windshield time" every
outside representative endures. Often, flip charts, diagrams, and typewritten
handouts appeared. This was back before PowerPoint and videotape. The time
limit created well-structured presentations and improvement ideas.
I followed up on any gripes,
along with the positive ideas, but never attempted to exact revenge for any
personal criticism. This was also in the days before the advent of 360
degree evaluations. I guess my team was ahead of its time. The fact that I
was willing to take their remarks as positive and helpful, rather than
negative, welded our team closely together.
When working with a team, especially a
sales team, allow time for honest individual expression in a non-threatening
environment. Selling an individual idea to a workgroup gives the person an
opportunity to hone both thinking and presentation skills. As leader,
you will be pleasantly surprised by the number and quality of improvement
ideas that come from those who are anxious to contribute based on their personal
experience and intellect.
Who's got an
idea? Who's listening?
Good ideas need a landing gear as well as wings!
A mind
stretched by a new idea never returns to its original dimensions.
Each
person has the chance to improve, but some just don't believe in taking
chances!
In this country you are privileged to free speech, but
that's as far as the Constitution goes. It doesn't guarantee
listeners.
Nobody ever listens
themselves out of a job.
TIP: Business buyers are no more
logical than consumers. There are emotional elements in every
sale.
Amazing Facts!
Marketing Facets - The Market-focused Guide to Company Analysis
Marketing Facets is a practical resource for those involved in determining the current health of a company and gauging its future prospects. I designed my 103-page guidebook to be a supplement to other evaluation procedures and information normally gathered during a thorough due diligence or business valuation process. The workbook takes a holistic approach, assembling facts and management assumptions in key areas to help the analyst form and support conclusions.
Marketing Facets is a valuable resource to private investment fund managers, individual investors, venture capital specialists, investment banks, and valuation specialists. Marketing Facets can also serve as a guide for C-level executives who wish to perform their own company analysis as part of normal business planning, or in advance of efforts to refinance, acquire or divest.
Marketing Facets is available in electronic form via the Internet, on CD/ROM, or in print with a ring binder.P.S.
Ninety-five percent of our engagements originate as a referral from helpful people like you! If you know someone who:I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss the situation with you.
Our ideal client
is a business owner or CEO between 30 and 60+ years old. Usually with a financial, engineering, or production background. Who is often impatient, and interested in improving company performance. Comes alive when you ask, "How's business?" He, or she, is practical but also enjoys the finer things in life. So, you may see my ideal client driving a Lexus or SUV to Neiman Marcus...and to Sam's Club. Who do you know that fits this description?A client
speaks: "Nice job with the group. You brought your worth to the program
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accomplishment. Thanks."
Jimmy Moore, AmeriCAD,
Inc.
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© 2006 Morgan Marketing Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. Other distribution permitted with proper attribution.
Richard P. Morgan CMC
Morgan Marketing Solutions,
Inc.
Two Galleria Tower, Suite 10008
13455 Noel Road, Dallas, TX
75240-6620
Telephone 972.931.7993 fax 972.931.0542
email
Author, Marketing Facets
- The Market-focused Guide to Company Analysis