Early in my sales career, I fantasized about traveling for business. I imagined flying around the world, meeting with important people and becoming the next Bill Gates. I had no idea that over the next 2 decades, I’d travel all over the United States working trade shows, meeting clients, and attending QBRs & Sales Kickoffs. It didn’t…
Always Be Recruiting
As a manager I am always recruiting for sales reps. My experience is that for every ten employees I have, one is on verge of leaving. This may be due to a promotion, a new job, a termination, a family issue, relocation, illness, or any number of other reasons. I like to have at least one or two…
Role Playing for Sales Reps
Role playing is dreaded by many sales reps. They may feel put on the spot in front of their peers. Sometimes it becomes a game of “stump the chump”. Other times it’s a farce comprised of unrealistic scenarios fed to skeptical sales reps. Used the wrong way, role playing is ineffective. It doesn’t have to be like…
Employee Rulebook
Every Inside Sales Organization I’ve joined has had far too many rules. The number of rules grew over time. I’m sure many were created with good intentions to eliminate ambiguity or prevent problems. Others were added to make someone else’s job easier. Still others were once important but have outlived their usefulness. I’ve found that it’s really difficult for Inside Sales…
Staff Log – A Tool for Effective Sales Team Management
The Staff Log is a simple tool to track your interactions with your sales reps. I was introduced to it by my manager when he promoted me to run a team of 10 reps. This log is so simple, you will have a hard time believing how much it can impact your effectiveness as a manager. I’ve recommended it…
Hire Weirdos to Create Outstanding Sales Teams
This post is not sugar-coated for political correctness or HR appropriateness. I work in the real world where prejudice, biases and unfair employment practices abound. Instead of pretending they don’t exist, let’s deal with them head on. I’ve built outstanding sales teams by following a few simple hiring principles: Hire weirdos. Hire people for their strengths. Build teams with diverse skills sets.
Small Rocks – How to Deal with Time Wasting Tasks
This is my final post in my Big Rocks series. A common question I get is “What am I supposed to do about all of the Small Rocks that still need to get done?“ The answer for all of them is the same. DON’T DO ANY ACTIVITY THAT DOESN’T MOVE YOU TOWARD YOUR 3 BIG…
1 Big Rock – Prioritization and Focus for Sales Managers
Sometimes 3 Big Rocks are too many. At the same company where I developed the 3 Big Rocks approach I had a manager who met with me every Friday afternoon for a 1-on-1. He was a mentor who taught me many valuable lessons. I cherished our time together. At first, we met for an hour a week. Then…
3 Big Rocks – Time Management for Sales Managers and Reps
My approach to time management is to ruthlessly prioritize what’s important and do it first. I call this the 3 Big Rocks method. Being busy was my problem. It all started when I was running a multi-state team of 3 managers and about 15 reps for a startup ISP during the dotcom boom. The internet was taking off, everyone was…