Sales by 5

Foonz - Free Conference Calling

admin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:15:00 +0000

We are big fans of Verne Harnish and his daily huddles. We do them everyday, because as Doug Harrison from The Scooter Store says, “If you want to win everyday, you have to do huddles everyday.” At times, there are a number of us bouncing all over the country. To help make our huddles a reality, regardless of time and place, we use Foonz. Foonz is a free conference calling service that allows us to make this happen. We are still able to complete our News, Priorities and Hurdles. It works by one of us calling into the service, starting a conference, it sends out a text message to the rest of the team letting them know that it is time to call in. Have you tried Foonz? Do you have a cool way of using it at your company or organization? Share with us in the comments.

Leading Upward

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:00:29 +0000

Does your company maintain a culture open enough to lead upward? Leading upward means that the people above you, whether in actual or perceived rank, allow you to lead them as well. Not only does your culture need to be in proper form to allow this, but the leaders above you need to be at a stable enough level to allow you to speak freely. This can often be a scary proposition, but if it is done with respect and compassion, both parties get stretched to a higher leadership level overall. What would it take for this to be acceptable in your organization? If you are at the top, are you allowing this type of leadership? What is stopping you? Please share with us in the comments.

photo by timabbott

Sold In St. Lucia - Joe Knows!

admin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:00:37 +0000

As you may or may not know, I (Nan) was recently married. Last week, we went on our honeymoon in St. Lucia. The first day, there was a guy on the beach at our resort who kept yelling “Joe Knows!“ My new bride lit up and said “It’s Joe! We have to go, now.” Apparently, during her planning of the trip she had read a number of reviews on tripadvisor.com about Joe. Joe had his sales pitch down - his marketing physics were perfect. He told us how he worked for Sandals as the top tour guide for 13 years before starting his own company (real reason to believe), his tour took you to the same places that Sandals would take you but for a fraction of the cost (dramatic difference) and you would see and experience the trip feeling like a local because you had the best guy (overt benefit), after all, Joe Knows! Needless to say, we didn’t delay in signing up for his tour.

On the day of the tour, Joe took us to the volcano at St. Lucia, we hopped under a waterfall, ate lunch at a mom and pop eatery, saw the famous Pitons (twin peaks) and sampled 20 rums at a rum factory. Throughout the day, Joe told us stories about the locals, customs, the struggles people endure and gave us anecdotes for life. All much more than what we had bargained for. Joe sold us with the value that he provided and impressed us with the passion he used to tell his story. It felt like he was telling it for the first time. Thanks Joe, you made me feel like a local in your country.

Joe Knows!

Our Dedicated Power User

admin — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:08:37 +0000

You have heard many days from Nan, our Chief Inspiration Officer at Salesby5. He has shared lots of insight into how to sell more with less effort by 5pm, including through the use of technology. Nan is a devout BlackBerry user, and has even won a recurring guest spot on BlackBerryCool.com. Nan the Power User’s groom’s cake was featured in Friday’s Blackberry Cool blog post. Nan’s passion for technology has carried his name into international territory! BlackBerryCool.com celebrates his remarkable affection for the devices and the cake that proves it! Search your passions today, and imagine where they could take you. If you aren’t able to celebrate them, should you consider rearranging something?

Getting What You Pay For

admin — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:13:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I (Sarah) was shopping at La Cantera, a local mall in San Antonio. As I walked through various levels of retail, I realized that in this industry, you absolutely get what you pay for. At BCBG, I was offered wine as I walked through the door, and had multiple people approach me to offer their help. The store was perfectly organized and all of the employees were well dressed and professional. Then, at Forever 21, I fumbled through people and clothes just to get through the doorway. I couldn’t tell who was working there and who was shopping. There was a line to get into the dressing rooms, and seemingly no one to help get the line moving. I walked out with a headache and then realized that in shopping there, I was getting what I would be paying for; next to nothing.

This mall experience reminded me of a blog I had read by Seth Godin. He was relaying this “get what you pay for” message through hotel and restaurant service examples. Seth made the point that it might cost these industries more to offer better or kinder service, but in the business world, it barely costs us anything to treat our customers well. I learned that you get what you pay for in the retail world too, and we have the choice to sacrifice quality customer service or cash. Since it doesn’t cost us (in businesses) anything to treat our clients and vendors well, why don’t we always go above and beyond? One of Salesby5’s core values is to deliver more than what is promised. What can you do today to impress your customers?

What Are We Learning?

admin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:56:22 +0000

Attending the Gazelles/Fortune Small Business Growth conferences for the past 4 years, I have noticed that the recent MBA’s there are always upset that they hadn’t already learned all of this content during their education. For example, even Jim Collins’ Good to Great was missing from their required and suggested reading lists. In working at a local University’s business school, I found that upon my suggestion, they started making that book part of the required reading. My biggest surprise came last night when a current MBA student told me that his professor had not mentioned blogs or social networking when explaining marketing platforms. This student asked the professor if was aware of these tools, and he said yes. Then, the professor asked the student to please explain them to the class; what they are and how to use them. I am more and more concerned as we interview students with a public relations education, and find that they do not know anything about media relations, or students with marketing degrees that don’t know how to use Google.

The #1 way to increase creativity and learning in the majority of the population is stimulus. (For the top 4% of the highest IQ population, it is meditation).

What are you doing for you and your employees to keep them ahead or at the top?

We offer:

1. Strengths training that teaches dramatic team productivity, on the job happiness, and lower turnover.

2. Full company training on how not to de-motivate at all levels. (You can find this in the research from Jim Collins.)

3. The tools to sell more product or service with less effort by 5pm, daily. (Data and implementation from thousands of research papers with a future focus.)

Leadership Lessons by Man’s Best Friend

admin — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:46:04 +0000

Today, I read a great article in the San Antonio Express News. We watch “The Dog Whisperer” at our house, due to two small young dogs we have that are out of control most of the time. Mary Rauch wrote this article for the paper: “‘Dog Whisperer’ is a Leadership Primer.”

The article summed up some great points about leadership! I like the way she made it easy to understand, as studies have proven that communication at a 5th grade reading level is best understood by the masses. My biggest takeaway was how much it has to do with sales. At the beginning of the article, she mentions that “fear of public speaking is nothing but an old habit.” For some in the sales industry, the fear of not getting the sale or the fear of dead air (no talking) can kill the deal. As much as this article was useful to leadership and sales, I also learned what the dogs do, and how they win over our hearts! Even though my two micro dogs have eaten or damaged thousands of dollars in carpets and items in the house, I love them. What kind of sales and leadership lessons can we learn from these sweet canines who are unconditionally dedicated to us, always happy to see us, and offer us forgiveness fast?

photo from wopico.blogspot.com

Leading a Meeting

admin — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:02:02 +0000

There are too many meeting facilitators that claim a meeting is all about the participants and not about them. I recently had a small group meeting with an expensive hired facilitator that told us it was all about us, the participants. He then went on for over four hours of stories about himself before any benefit to the audience was presented, and continued referencing himself during the following hours. I now know more about this person than I did about the U.S. Presidential candidates and none of the content was of any value to me. This leader did not know how to offer a benefit to the meeting’s participants, and ultimately wasted our time. Many influencers of sales, marketing and other industries sell when there are no buyers or prospective buyers. Knowing what to sell and to whom, or knowing when to sell can separate you from the sales people and the sales winners.

A few tips:

If it is “not about you”, make no references to yourself.

If it is a great service, how will it benefit me?

If it is a great product, what will it do to relieve my pains?

Core Values

admin — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:43:12 +0000

Core values serve the purpose of defining who we hire, fire, promote, de-mote, etc. They are behaviors and tell your employees, managers, and leaders how to behave.

When we are unsure about what next steps to take, looking to our core values leads us in the right path. A few of ours are:

• Always deal with fact. Never assume.

• Do what is best for the customer.

• If you do not know, ask.

• Follow your heart, but… if you are ever in doubt, shout it out.

• Deliver more than what is promised.

These values guide any of us in the right direction with clients and each other. They are the guide – a roadmap for action that lives every day in your organization. If your company has not identified your core values, let us know. We can help you identify them and bring them to life in your company.

A Man that Inspires Salesby5!

admin — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:53:50 +0000

Today at 5pm, there will be a rehearsal dinner for the wedding of our CIO (Chief inspiration officer) and Co-Author of the SalesBy5 blog, Nan Palmero. He earned his title long ago, long before I met him. His friends will also attest to his incredible ability to help, lead, and inspire. When I met him, he was looking for a new career with 2 requirements; he did not want to be in sales and he did not want to be in accounting. Today, he writes for Blackberrycool.com, Salesby5, his own blog, and is a contributory writer for some of north Americas top growth gurus. Nan sells everyday! He sells our customers on the best technology to help communicate better with customers and employees and he sells our team on working smarter and not harder. There are actually too many things that he sells to mention in this blog. This man is special to us and many others. My point: Sometimes you may think you do not want to do something that is actually a real strength of yours. Pay close attention to what activity you feel strongest doing, and to those that make you feel drained. Nan uses his strengths to help our team and our customers win better and faster than their competition!

Nan, Thank you for being in our lives and congratulations on your new life with Ashley!