What that means is that his firm, Amacus (www.amacus.net), shows you how your activity is bringing you the results you’re getting.

• Are you making cold calls? How fast are you getting conversions?
• Are you making calls from marketing automation leads to get appointments? How much time and effort is it taking you to close?
• Of the folks who speak with you and take an appointment, what percent signal an interest in speaking with you again?

Amacus does some cool stuff: it helps each organization count what counts, so all sales and marketing efforts can be tracked to their logical conclusion: are buyers buying. And if not, where do you lose them? And what are your choices then?

Take a look at this cool video that John has put together. Then email him at jcousineau@innovativeinfo.com and let him help you count what counts.

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Amacus counts stuff that counts is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

May 12, 2011 – What is the biggest issue facing Marketers today? Tons of recent reports, the latest coverage of major industry conferences, threads on Twitter and also my own site analytics point to the same issue as the biggest challenge for marketers: Marketing and Sales alignment.

I have spoken and written on this subject a number of times so here I will include all my notes on the subject in one overview post…

According to “The Sales Machine” author Geoffrey James Sales “Hates” Marketing. Don’t worry, he presents a balanced view with Ten Reasons Marketing Hates Sales.

According to James, the main reason Marketing gets annoyed includes when Sales raids Marketing’s budget and when Sales takes all the credit for leads and pipeline (they would never!) But what really interests me is when he explains what we do in Marketing that peeves our Sales colleagues. Geoffrey lists these main items:

• Marketers focus too much on deliverables (not outcomes).
• 80% of the Marketing content created for Sales never gets used.
• Marketing forces technology on Sales people who just want to sell stuff
• Sales really HATES when Marketing passes bad leads

But I also find that the biggest reasons we lack alignment are:

• Timing or as (someone?) once said, Marketing wants “Mr. Right” but Sales wants “Mr. Right Now!”
• The definition of leads
• The quality and quantity of leads
• Tools and Content

So here are 5 actions Marketing can take to address all these obstacles to a successful relationship:

1. Marketing needs to make Sales the customer. That’s why I am more interested in their frustrations with us!
2. Marketing needs to spend time in the field speaking to customers, listening to sales presentations and watching demos
3. Marketing and Sales need to define a clear process for lead management based on a common definition.
4. Marketing needs to accept that there are times when Sales needs higher quantities and sometimes they need higher quality of leads (depends on the health of their pipeline and the proximity to the closing of a fiscal period.)
5. Marketing and Sales need a process of joint business planning so we share common goals and common reporting. Marketing has to stop creating activity-based marketing plans!
6. Marketing needs to sit down with Sales to map content needs to personas, buyer journeys and Sales’ needs.
7. Marketing needs to define a common process before tools are selected or configured.

You can also read “How To Align Marketing With Sales” and “7 Steps To Sales And Marketing Alignment“ or just tell me what you think?

- Michael Brenner

Top Tips For Driving Marketing And Sales Alignment is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

My friend Chip Bell has just published a new book (Wired and Dangerous:  How Your Customers Have Changed and what to do about it) with his co author John R. Patterson. His books are always enlightening – and this one is his best. Chip has been a friend since Selling with Integrity came out in 1997. Given his visionary and gentle nature, he’s always supported me and embraced Buying Facilitation®. Here is his guest blog. It’s an honor for me to offer his wisdom to you.

“Nothing changes until something moves,” wrote Albert Einstein.  His words offer deep wisdom for today’s risk averse, too-cautious organizations.

During the recession, employees were subjected to major layoffs, deep budget cuts, and frugality that would make Scrooge look like a philanthropist. Employees experienced deep-seated anxiety that the next round of lay-offs would have their name on the list.  So, they learned ways to cope. Risk aversive behavior, emanating from a reluctance to make any type of mistake that might cause adverse attention, gave rise to a corporate game of “shake and fake”– enthusiastic verbiage with absolutely no intention of implementation. Again, to paraphrase Albert, nothing changes until something moves, not just mouths!

There are numerous ways this indecision game is played. Project teams are organized around the bold idea or nifty proposal. Meetings are long on plans; but, short on “to do’s.”  Consultants are called in to do another study, obviously complete with a report that must be discussed.  White papers are used to help ballyhoo the big-deal effort.  Best practice field trips are organized.  In the end, the effort dies as another “big deal” change effort takes its place enabling the “shake and fake” ritual to start all over again.  No one ever actually pulls the trigger and kicks off anything that could result in an outcome for which someone could be held accountable.

What’s At Risk?

We live in a super-fast, time’s-up world.  Customers expect around the clock, turn-on-a-dime responsiveness.  One grave byproduct of a culture of timidity is the ease with which it creates sluggishness that lowers customer retention.  With the high-speed viral nature of “word of mouse,” organizations can no longer afford to sit on their hands while their customers vote with their feet.  It means delay in decision making could cost you the customer’s loyalty at the least; their mere existence at most.

Customers today have zero tolerance for effort.  Research shows “ease of doing business” trumps even the friendliest, smartest employee in the organization. The potential for customer delight gets short-circuited when the journey gets too arduous, too long, or even too boring.  CES (Customer Effort Scores) now replace the CSS (Customer Satisfaction Scores) as the metric with the “most-est.”  However, too often sales people sell an offering with all the features and benefits a customer could desire only to have it trashed by the buyer because of the customer-hostile process used to deliver that offering.

What’s It Take?

Three frogs sat on a log in the edge of the swamp.  One decided to jump in.  How many frogs are now on the log?  Nope, there are still three.  Deciding and doing is not the same thing.   In a progressive, growth-oriented world, people judge your position by the one you take, not by the one you propose. Until you execute, all decisions are just plain old intentions.  In the end, all the planning and preparing is just “getting ready to.”  Execution—putting skin in the game–is the true test of commitment.  “I believe, I support, I approve” are all just weasel words unless they are coupled with visible demonstration.

Best-selling author Seth Godin refers to it as someone “ships.” Such leaders do not allow meetings to plan meetings.  They insist meetings have an advance agenda with clear meeting objectives and a precise length—rarely more than one hour.  They insure meetings end with actions assigned to people who commit to execute something by the next gathering. They require tangible, irrefutable evidence that promised results have been accomplished.

Influencing the “Frog” to jump encompasses acquiring the big-picture context in which decision making must occur.  It requires determining the barriers that are driving resistance and finding means of diffusing them.  It involves smart downfield blocking to insure the other “frogs” are willing to jump as well, as long as they do not have to jump first.  It takes modeling courage and boldness through confident positioning not just passionate presentation.

The clock is ticking, the definition of value is getting more complex, and customer expectations are rising—up 33% from last year.  It is time to promote and support bold decision-making.  In the words of philosopher Goethe, “”Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Only engage, and then the mind grows heated. Begin it, and the work will be completed.”

—–

You can reach Chip and John here: www.wiredanddangerous.com

Deciding for the Customer is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

Einstein was afraid that technology might outrun our humanity. Not sure he was talking about email and info overload, but his concern certainly applies in high stakes communication situations.

Technology has us all rushing around working faster and faster. Time to think has been lost.  In a business world of increasing complexity, commoditization of offerings, and limited attention spans, failure to push back and protect your time to think can be fatal to your bottom-line.

Here are two examples of how  failure to think strategically results in an inability to execute brilliantly.

In Presenting… I see people failing to think in these basic, but critical, areas:
1.     What is the clear, crisp, memorable message I want to leave with my listeners?
2.     What is the specific appropriate next step I want from my listeners?
3.     What are the best ways to visually support what I am saying?
Poor strategic thinking leads to confusion, longer sales cycles, and/or no sale.

In Negotiating… I see people failing to think in these, again, basic, but critical, areas:
1.      What will I ask for, what will I accept, what will I walk away from?
2.      What can I trade to prevent deadlock?
3.      What does the other side need to feel good about our agreement?

Poor strategic thinking here leads to weakened relationships, money left on the table, or no deal when one was possible.

Slow Down. You Move Too Fast… Years ago, before our current tech info deluge, I used to say, laughingly, to seminar attendees, “Engage mind before mouth.” Now, I say that in total seriousness. The stakes are too high to waste those precious face-to-face opportunities you have with clients. Think first. Execute second.

Anne Miller

P.S. Did you know that when you work and constantly interrupt yourself to answer a phone, respond to the ping of an email, or jump from proposal to proposal that it takes you about 17 seconds to re-focus yourself on your task? Multi-tasking is a myth. You can only concentrate with complete focus on one item at a time (Try talking on the phone and watching TV with EQUAL attention. You can’t do it.) If you want to be more productive, give yourself permission to finish one activity before jumping to the next.

Guest Blog: Think Strategically. Execute Brilliantly. is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

You think you know what your problem is. But you don’t know what it is. And that is a problem!

Whenever I work with sales teams I will ask them what their sales process is. They’ll usually say something like ‘lead generation, meet with prospect, identify the problem, propose a solution, keep pushing (and offering more “value”) until they decide.’

Though there is something inherently wrong with that whole process, the problem I’d like to talk about today is “problems” themselves.

The Salesperson’s Problem

Today salespeople are being pushed hard by their companies. They have to deliver ever increasing sales quotas with less and less support. So they fear wasting any time with a prospect.

To that end, when they get into the “identify the problem” stage of the sales process they look for the first “problem” the client presents, at which point the salesperson kicks out a solution-proposal and is off to the next appointment.

Will they win most of the proposals they put out there? No. in fact they will get anywhere from 5% to 15% if they are lucky. Such low closing ratios only increase the belief that they need to see “more prospects”.  After all with such miserable ratios, how else are they supposed to make quota?

The Problem with Solving Problems

But let’s step back and look at this logically. The client obviously had the salesperson in because they believed that the salesperson could help them solve a problem. And the client will ultimately buy (or do) something to solve a problem. So, was the problem with the solution offered OR was the problem with the “problem” itself?

As I tell my clients, “people’s biggest problem is that they don’t know what their biggest problem is.” This means that the problem people tell you up front is not the deep problem they need or even want to solve.

A Story about Problems and Levels

A few years ago I was meeting with an HR manager. After we had built some rapport we began to discuss the problems of the company. She said their biggest issue was “turnover.”

“Turnover” is what I call a “Level One problem”. It is generic and meaningless. It describes a current result, not the real problem of the company and certainly not the real problem of the HR Manager. However, most salespeople would try to sell a “turnover” solution at this point…and they’d get shot down.

The Problems beneath the Surface

In this case “turnover” acted like one of those Russian nesting dolls (one inside the other) that held all of the deeper problems and kept them out of sight. In order to determine a useful solution for the HR Manager I had to open the “doll” and see the deeper problems.

I discovered that a deeper problem was the fact that they were suffering a large turnover in their mid-level managers. The average staying time of a newly hired mid-level manager was 18 months.

We were now at a Level Three or Four Problem.

As I continued, I found out that it cost $60,000 to hire each Manager, $25,000 to train them, and $150,000 to compensate them annually. This meant they were out $310,000 each time a manger left. And they had lost 12 managers a year for the last two years. A net loss of $7,440,000.

We were now at a Level Five or Six Problem.

Picking Apart the Problem Pile

The work teams in the company were built around these managers. Each time a manager left there was chaos in the team. There was also a lack of faith on the part of the team members every time a new manager was assigned to them.

This chaos and loss of faith had created a 10% drop in productivity in the teams, which meant a 10% drop in profitability. This equated to a $14,000,000 loss for them.

We were now at a Level Seven or Eight Problem.

The loss of productivity and profitability had lost them customers and, ultimately, led to them dropping from second place in their market to a distant fourth.

The Real Problem

We were at the Level Ten Problem for the company. However, I still had to get to her Level Ten Problem, so I kept asking questions.

Finally, I learned that they had already done two rounds of layoffs in the company.

The HR manager knew if things didn’t change soon there would be more layoffs. She realized her staff, all of whom were paid significantly less than she was, could cover her work if she was gone, so she knew she’d be gone in the next round of layoffs.

She was a single-mom of two boys, and she couldn’t afford to lose her job.

Now we were at her Level Ten Problem.

A New POV on the Problem

From this new vantage point, level ten versus level one, I was able to see a much bigger picture of what was going on, and the HR manager also had a new perspective. This allowed us to have a completely different conversation then she had with any other salesperson she’d spoken to and it allowed me to offer a different solution, which was accepted with little effort.

The moral here is that no one, not even you, knows what their “real problem” is. It takes an outsider with the curiosity, compassion and, most importantly, patience to help us see it.

So, forget about trying to meet with 10 prospects so you can propose 10 solutions to 10 problems. Instead focus on one prospect and take their “problem” 10 levels deep.

—–

Erik Luhrs is the author of BE DO SALE and the creator of The GURUS Selling System.

Guest Post: You know what your problem is? is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

On Wednesday, March 9th at 2:00 – 3:30 ET, I will be running a webinar with Systems Thinker called A Problem is Not an Isolated Event: how to manage change systematically, for those of you who want to learn a new way to get buy-in before beginning the actual change initiative.

ACTIVELY ACHIEVING BUY-IN PRIOR TO PUSHING CHANGE INITIATIVES

Decision Facilitation is a scalable, learnable skill set that makes it possible for the influencer or management team to lead Others to

• recognize and manage all of the decision issues necessary for change, adoption, and buy-in and ensures that the change management team addresses the most comfortable and efficient approach as fits that unique system,
• alleviate and omit any disruption or resistance,
• recognize and fix resistance issues during the course of the initiative;
• learn how to work alongside of business partners in volatile environments filled with rapid change and shifting people, rules, and relationships.

I’ve been slogging my model in the sales field for decades (When I began my journey to change the world I stupidly thought that having an 800% proven increase over the sales model alone would insure adoption, and I could swiftly move on to the change management and coaching fields. I was so wrong.), but my initial intent was to have an Institute in which people from all walks of life could learn how to work together collaboratively and help Others make their own best decisions.

I’m still ever-hopeful that that will happen. This webinar is a good start – as is the article published in the Systems Thinker called ‘Buy-in: a radical approach to change management.’

THE WEBINAR: WHO, WHAT, AND WHY

This webinar is for anyone needing buy-in in order to be successful. This includes:

• folks doing project management with disparate team players who need to get on the same page quickly;
• internal consultants and change agents;
• technology implementations (to ensure the client is ready to accept and encourage the change);
• purchasing agents and procurement officers who need to get the customers to buy-in to the same criteria for choosing vendors;
• teams forming with new members who must work together on a new initiative;
• sales folks helping buyers to get buy-in from their Buying Decision Teams.

I will be talking about how problems become problems, how to address the change issues beforehand to avoid resistance, and how to satisfy the criteria of the whole so everyone has their shoulder to the wheel with equal weight. I’ll discuss how to get agreement at the start of an initiative and how to proceed through the change implementation in a way that ensures continual buy-in and leadership and creativity.

Problems don’t occur – or get resolved – independently: the entire existent system must agree to a change, and find ways to ensure that the change, and the activity to adopt the change, fit together comfortably. And when people – especially people who haven’t worked together before, or who have a stake in maintaining the status quo – work together, many of their human, unconscious criteria are involved and have the potential to resist.

Until or unless the internal issues – those pesky idiosyncratic beliefs, values, personality issues – get managed, there can be no optimal buy-in for change regardless of the efficacy of the change being requested.

Join me next week. I know you might know me as a ‘sales leader’. But I’m an inventor of change management and decision making models. Join me as I talk about what is deepest in my heart: helping people traverse the mysterious terrain between where they are and where they want to be. Join me and take away a few thoughts on how to help others – clients, friends, family – make their own best change decisions.

And, kudos to Systems Thinker. I approached them with my ideas that were, well, radical. And Janice Malloy – editor and visionary – found the ideas exciting and ‘fresh’. It is a field I’ve not been known in, but Janice welcomed me and supported me. I’m honored and blessed. And so delighted to be doing this webinar with them.

Join us. Sign up here. It’s $129 and I bet you’ll get your money’s worth.

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To learn more about the system of how decisions get made and the strategy behind effective change management, read Dirty Little Secrets: why buyers can’t buy and sellers can’t sell and what you can do about it.

To read articles, and listen to a 6 series podcast on buy-in and managing resistance, go to FacilitatingBuyin.com

To speak with Sharon Drew to help you design a training program for your team to ensure they work together well and manage the buy-in, email her at sharondrew@newsalesparadigm.com

Learn Buying Facilitation™ | Implement Buying Facilitation™ | License Buying Facilitation™

Effective Change Management: getting buy-in for new initiatives is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

Please read, listen, and enjoy. While my work is often associated with ‘sales’, my decision facilitation model (named the Buying Facilitation Method® when applied to sales) is indeed a change management model useful in any area in which change, disruption, bias, and resistance resides, and it is a guide to facilitating buy-in.

PODCAST SERIES: MAKING CHANGE WORK

The brilliant Nathan Ives, publisher of StrategyDriven ezine, interviewed me for 6 half hour (give or take) sessions, entitled:

1. What is Change? And why is Change so hard?
2. The problem with Change Management: bias, resistance, and push.
3. What are systems, and how do they influence Change?
4. Overcoming resistance.
5. Why is buy-in necessary, and how to achieve it.
6. Real Leadership.

These podcasts are on my site www.facilitatingbuyin.com along with other podcasts I’ve recorded on the topic of Change Management.

ARTICLE: BUY-IN

My buy-in article was first conceived as part of a World Future Society talk on Leadership and Change Implementation. Very different from typical and academic thinking in the field of change management, it is based on my decision facilitation methodology that is systems based and choice driven, with the change agent taking the role of a facilitator for any situation in which change and buy-in are required: negotiation, coaching, sales, leadership, influencing, or managing.

Read the article here. And if you wish to discuss implementations or change management issues you might like to resolve, please contact me and let’s see if there is a way to facilitate your change.

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Change Management can be easy: podcast & article is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

For those of you who want to hear the delightful interview we did, here is the podcast:

Enjoy. Something for you to do during the hoidays when there is too much family around :)

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And, for those wishing to learn Buying Facilitation™ as a result of being inspired by the interview, see the many choices on BuyingFacilitation.com.

Interview with Fuel Radio is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

My room was a mud hut – mud floor, roof, and walls. There was one of those old beds you see in movies in crackhouse scenes - you know, with the flaking iron bedstead, and wire mesh holding up a pitifully thin mattress, covered by one of those blankets you always see on homeless people – holey, thin, a bit burnt around the edges.

There was one dangling light bulb in the middle of the room, so I had a bit of light at night, although it was a bit guey if I forgot to put shoes on when I got up to turn it off after I had read for a while.

Over the one weekend I was there, we had half a chicken, one cabbage, and 3 onions to share amongst the 3 of us. Thankfully, one of the young women was truly creative and found some green stuff growing outside that she knew was edible, and made up a delicious soup that thankfully fed us for days.

The worst was the walls: in the early mornings, I would wake up and my walls were crawling with fascinating- looking insects and lizards. They were gorgeous: colorful, oddly shaped, and all with an amazing sort of glue on their bodies that gave them the ability to stick to walls and ceilings.

Each morning I would get up, watch the walls move for a while, and say a prayer. I was truly blessed. Before this, I hadn’t really come face-to-face with the living conditions of half of the world who didn’t even have a roof over their heads. Oh, I’d stayed in a hammock in Ecuador with the Shwar indians, but their climate was warm, and the walls were made of slatted wood….probably hiding the rich life that wriggled underneath. Or slept on a floor mat in a teepee or fire circle at religious ceremonies in various parts of the world. In Katmandhu about 10 years ago I stayed in a bunk bed in a room with several people from around the world (I do enough travel in 5 star hotels. Living in local places is an opportunity to ‘live’ in a country albiet briefly).

But this room in Uruguay (the richest country per capita in South America) was poverty.

So as I awoke, I felt blessed: the room kept me dry and unharmed by the jungle creatures nearby.

Since then, when I get to complaining about my work, or my broken dishwasher, or the political games my country is in the middle of, or a friend who is 40 minutes late, I remember that I have a roof over my head, a comfortable bed, food, and safety, every single night. I have clothes and shoes, books and electricity, Willie Nelson, Starbucks, and Martha Stuart. I have healthy teeth, the ability to write books and have them read, friends who live healthy lives well into their 90s, a son with a disability that is being treated by modern medicine that allows him to walk. I have a refrigerator and a blow dryer.

Normally I take these things for granted. Today, I’m thankful.

My family, friends, and I are alive, healthy, warm, and safe, and have the daily opportunity to make a difference in the world rather than be a victim of it.

I’m so fortunate.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. We have so much to be thankful for.

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So Much To Be Thankful For is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

I approach both speaking and training with extreme passion and dedication to change:

1. I adore doing keynotes (I love provoking new thinking, and giving old thoughts a nudge or two), and blowing apart business myths that hinder true success and Excellence.
2. I work very much with the energy of the audience. We all end up feeling like we’re in a living room together, no matter whether there are 150 people or 1500 people. We learn, play, laugh, reconsider, stretch, while new ideas form and old ideas get questioned.
3. My audiences walk away debating new ideas for days, adopting new ideas immediately, passionately disagreeing with my thinking – but questioning their own as a result. I see the world differently – I can explain every human aspect of a buyer’s decision journey, or a change management implementation, or a collaboration, or a negotiation, and show how it can be influenced, with integrity.
4. My talks – regardless if the topic is sales, or buying, or buy-in, or the economy, or change –  move folks beyond their status quo: I’m not called a Thought Leader for nothing! I genuinely see the world in systems, and can notice where they are stuck, or need to expand, to enable possibility and Excellence.
5. My clients have been global and across industries and professions: I’ve trained and spoken to sales professionals, negotiators, management teams, coaches, lawyers, and even dentists (folks need to decide to floss, right?). If you want to think differently, get ready for change, or learn how decisions get made and  how to influence them, pick me.

WHAT MAKES ME DIFFERENT?

I’ve actually coded the decision making process underlying all unconscious/conscious change and have developed a scalable model that can help others navigate through their choices with integrity. It’s a great way to enter the off-line world of the buyers and help them navigate through their buying journey. A wonderful tool to help managers work together effectively, have supervision and leadership skills, and run efficient meetings. Very important for customer service people. Amazing for buying teams and procurement officers. Even wonderful for helping people involved in coaching, parenting, or in any influencing situation. My work has been used in large negotiations, taught at a well-known university in the Leadership Development area, and used by a group of PhD Educators to develop parent/teacher programs.

I’m fun, passionate, and very very alive. I’ll run a training program that teaches lifelong skills and promotes real change and very impressive results. I’ll do a keynote that will make your group re-consider and challenge their current behaviors and status quo, with plenty of action items. At the very least, I’ll incite very relevant conversations that will encourage your own new ideas.

Here are a couple of videos of me speaking. Have a look/listen, and get back to me with questions: SharonDrew@newsalesparadigm.com. And if you’re looking for an exciting speaker to have you view the world with different possibilities, let me know.

Speaking Topics | Testimonials

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Initial 5 minute clip:

Speaking/Teaching video:

Recommending…….. Me! is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

• what buy-in means in terms of the change management process
• how and when buy-in occurs
• why people do not buy-in
• how a leader can get someone who is resisting to not only buy-in but to do so happily
• when the change agent should begin to seek buy-in from the various stakeholder groups
• what skills change agents need to gain employee buy-in and how can they acquire these skills
• what leaders can do to programmatically embed the buy-in approach to their change management policies

Listen now:

For the full series, go to: www.facilitatingbuyin.com

Note: these podcasts are equally relevant for sales as well as change management: our buyers must get buy-in across their Buying Decision Team members before they can make a purchase. This free series will explain just what’s going on in the buying process.

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Making Change Work #5: why is buy-in necessary and how to make it work is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

I am excited to be a part of an online Sales Summit hosted by FOCUS.  If you have not attended one of these FOCUS online summits in the past, this is a good one to start with.  The event is on Thursday, October 21, 2010 — 8AM to 1:30PM PT / 11AM to 4:30PM ET.

Pre-registration is required

Join Focus and your peer community for this must-attend event to learn about the latest processes and technologies to help you create a top-performing revenue-generating sales force. In addition to getting top independent expert content, you’ll be able to:

• Ask questions and speak with Focus Experts in a live group chat
• Collaborate with peers and build your professional network
• Visit sponsor vendor booths and download resources

I will be joined by five other FOCUS Experts who will be speaking on the following topics:

The New Rules for Selling to Crazy-Busy Prospects – Jill Konrath Internationally-Recognized Sales Strategist and Bestselling Author
Having a tough time capturing and keeping the attention of today’s stressed-out decision makers? In this webinar, you’ll learn tips and specific “SNAP” strategies to help you convert your crazy-busy prospects into sales. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about Jill Konrath’s fresh sales strategies, provocative insights and actionable ideas.

Facilitating the Buying Decision: New Skills for New Times - Sharon Drew Morgen NYTimes Bestselling Author, Developer of Buying Facilitation™
How can we get involved earlier in buying decision journey? Using the current sales and marketing focus on needs and solutions, we can’t. But it’s possible to add new skills to enter earlier. In this session you’ll learn the hidden stages of the buyer’s journey, and how to become part of the Buying Decision Team. Adding change management skills can help buyers buy more efficiently.

The 10 Biggest Sales Management Mistakes & How to Avoid Them - Dave Brock President and CEO of Partners in EXCELLENCE
Sales managers have one of the most difficult jobs in the organization.  They are tasked with achieving higher levels of business performance, providing leadership, coaching and development to their teams.  Too many managers are former “sales super stars,” poorly equipped  to step into the role of high performing manager.  This session focuses on challenges facing today’s sales managers and how they can excel in meeting those challenges and leading their teams to higher levels of performance.

5 Sales 2.0 Tools You Can’t Do Without – Miles Austin President / Founder, Fill the Funnel
The Social Web is a great resource for timely and relevant insights for sales people. In this session, learn about 5 new Sales 2.0 solutions that aggregate and analyze social data to help make sales teams faster and smarter than ever before.

How to Build a Case for Inside Sales – Trish Bertuzzi President, The Bridge Group, Inc.
An inside sales implementation can be an effective strategy for generating revenue through both inbound inquiries and outbound calling. But you need a solid strategy and foundation to set up and manage a team that makes an impact on the bottom. In this session, learn what it takes and the expected fixed and variable costs associated.

Social CRM: Selling to the 21st Century Customer – Paul Greenberg Author, CRM at the Speed of Light, 4th Edition
The customer has irrevocably changed. They communicate differently with the Internet and 4.6 billion mobile devices. They trust their peers for recommendations, not sales or marketing or experts. They expect more from you than ever before. But how you generate leads and close opportunities has also changed. There is now an unprecedented wealth of resources available and visible knowledge that give you a greater chance of success than ever. But are you ready to do that with Social CRM? Let’s see.

Who Should Attend?

This event is ideal for sales leaders, both B2B and B2C, looking to stay ahead of the curve by leveraging new tools, the social web explosion, and latest selling strategies.

Why Attend?
Boost your sales skills and effectiveness as you track-change, learn new methods, and deepen your understanding of what it takes to connect and engage with today’s buyers.

Event Details
Event Date: Thursday, October 21, 2010
Event Duration: 8AM to 1:30PM PT / 11AM to 4:30PM ET

Don’t forget – you need to register in order to participate.  I hope to  see you there

Note: The following is a republication of an article published on Fill The Funnel by Miles Davis

Evolving Your Sales Game Plan-a Focus Interactive Summit is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

One of my favorite things about this book is the gentleness and spiritual acceptance that shines through the book. No matter what your current skills are as a leader, this book will take you to the next level and gently show you where you are starting from.

Broken up into the different problems leaders face, A New Brain shows you how your brain is set up to do what it does, and then leads you through the changes you and your brain can easily make to be able to have new choices and skills.

Rich  and Diane also run a business to teach leaders how to lead, and help businesses be more effective: NewBrainForBusiness.com

They say their work is to translate good science into good business. We will partner with you to deliver customized engagements with the goal of driving business performance and building more effective organizations with the impact being:

• business results increase
• morale increases
• bickering is reduced
• better decisions are made
• better alignment is sustained
• territorialism or siloing is reduced
• more enthusiastically committed people drive the business

I like their book. I love their work. So will you. Read the book, contact them, and then become the leader and the company Rich and Diane can help you become.

sd

Make your brain better – the fun way is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

I have to tell you something you’re not going to like: you’ve just gotten lucky. Before they were ready, they went through a whole bunch of internal politics, negotiations with friends and colleagues, and a whole lotta net searches and comparisons. They probably even called other sales people – folks who still might have them in their closing projections. And I bet you’ve even been in that trail of dead salespeople once or twice.

By the time they call you on those magical calls, they’ve done their homework – and you’ve avoided many of the pitfalls that the other sales folks have already gone through with them…and that you continue to face with the other prospects who are taking forever to close. And even those prospects who you think ‘love’ you? They’re speaking with god-knows-how-many other sales people also.

By the time a buyer buyers, they’ve left behind a trail of sellers still eager to close.

Want to hear more? Come hear me speak at the Sales & Marketing Executives International meeting at 6:00 pm on September 23, at the Aloft Hotel in Newton, Mass.

I am fortunate to be speaking with this group: their members are serious sales professionals, with a reputation of being smart and taking no prisoners. I’m a little excited, a little nervous, and a little over-prepared. I had better know my stuff, right?

Come and join this interactive, provocative session. And stay behind afterwards to meet me. Maybe we can all go out for a beer.

Looking forward.

sd

The Trail of Dead Salespeople: meet me in Boston at SMEI is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com

Anne Miller will tell you how to do it – and do it right. With grace and brilliance, Anne tells stories that will teach you how to say what the buyer wants to hear, in the way s/he wants to hear it.

Her new book “Make What You Say Pay!” is chock full of  stories and Take-Away tips to help you say the right thing at the right time.

According to Anne (and I believe her), the book (and Anne’s coaching and training) will show you how to ”increase business success multiple times over using the power of metaphor to cut through clutter, confusion and complacency.” Here is a link to 2 free chapters of the new book: www.makewhatyousaypay.com

Your friends and clients will welcome the chance to see how easy it can be to create a world of livelier and more profitable business conversations for themselves.

 There’s even a story about my Pick-up-Sticks metaphor that I use when explaining to sales folks where in the organizational structure their ‘problem’ lies (Hint: it’s the black one.).

Read the free chapters and then go buy the book. And then write me and thank me — after you send Anne a kiss. Tell her I told you to do it.

sd

Anne Miller is the Queen of the Metaphor! is a post from: SharonDrewMorgen.com