Have you an ongoing support team?

Oh boy!  Time to walk through the door.  Hope no one stares at you... is your tie on right, what about socks - are they paired.  Is your shirt inside out, trousers ... do they have a stain... did you slop something down your shirt already [is it noticeable?]

Obviously it's the first five minutes before you start work in that new place.  You have been there before. Even now the walls look closer, the staff have large fangs and sharp wit.  The nails to draw blood are hidden with a hammer to drive said nails into the wall. GLUP.

Where I have the pleasure of working currently building, developing and training the sales team there are support networks in place before you come in the door.  No I do not mean we rush out and hug you then drag you into and pamper you.  That action would probably drive the poor nervous person running out the self same door.

The business has tentatively been expanding the avenues of income.  While these avenues are being developed, then on sold, a new client customer base is being built - a process that is on going in any business. Over the last two months as new office staff have come in they are included in decisions.  The talents and skills of both the new and older staff members are utilized.  Encouragement for others to be supportive has been ongoing. Mentoring has a new level in that now it is shown  in not only passing on knowledge, creating new networks but also expanding the staffs collective skills basis and comfort zones.  For instance the new accountant is getting use to the idea that she has the power and it is expected for her to say 'No'! to any expense and the owners must listen. having just arrived two months ago she now has nearly completed a Quick-books bookkeeping course.  This takes three days out of the week and is two hours away from the office.  So staying overnight was going to be no option.  Instead of spending up to five hours travel [and waiting time] the account has stayed at a back packers hostel.  Now there is recommendations through her network . Initially a fifty year old grandmother on staff told the twenty two year old account about the hostel accommodation where that older staff member stays when in Melbourne..

Now a sales team is being trained up through sales situations, presentations, paper work, journals, basic book keeping and so forth. While one member of staff is writing these posts as a way of ongoing training and support, others are directing the new members on which areas to go to next, showing them different aspects of what the business actually does. Further because of an asset evaluation early in the sales time new dimensions are being incorporated within this business, explored by the same sales people who brought in those skills and assets not recognizing exactly how worth while their interest, skills and talents actually were. The challenge now is ongoing.  New teams are being picked through the sales peoples networks, then developed and supported by all the staff, their families and other stakeholders. The sales people are willing to accept the responsibility,  the rights and the collective accolades of their teams efforts.

Currently the business has had to develop in the wider area with a broader marketing base due to new Australian Federal policies, which have resulted in a lack of trained personal throughout the state. Big money is else where and that is where people had gravitated too.  Concurrently the ongoing problems have caused a staff shortage all around that impacts on the overall quantity of  service.

 Previously these factors had little effect until a previous sales person and office person dabbled a little too close to industrial espionage and gossip rumour warmongering. You are aware of the old word of mouth thing where what is gossiped about states ' Where the is smoke there must be fire".

Lessons have learned by the business, the new staff and the owners. The main one being that the people who have tried to destroy not only this business, but other small ones, have yet to discover is that loyalty to others actually helps and supports many people within the community. Selfish actions do not support a team - usually the team has been destroyed before that time or those people involved have have left.  However business do hang in there. Memories are long and direct. The new people are not being encouraged to take dirty action.  Instead it is being reinforced that dirty actions minimise the energy flows developing when a great bunch of people grow and strengthening together. Why go down to the abusers level.  Join together , move on, and inclusively together, with our support the business will grow, change, strengthen and be profitable once again.

Basically people support people, and business, who support them, give them a change to grow, develop, to stand up amongst many while having a innate sense of self worth, while asking for nothing in return.

Resilience in our Sales People.

Selling and Sales People go hand in hand ... correct?  Like so many other positions stress and its associated triggers also are right there too.  So, how does a sales person have the ability that enables them to adapt, therefore deal with stressful selling situations? Add to this the external disasters that good sales people are able to turn into a profitable situation for both client, the business they represent and their own bank balance.  Yet every one, in the three way situation, feels satisfied as they hold firm to the belief of a job well done!

The trick is that the sales person has learned to adapt a "roll with the punches " attitude.  The benefit is that by adapting to adversity the minor or major stress factors and life changes have less impact.

Lets start with the smaller practical factors with sales.

• Know who you are.
• Have belief in what you are selling.
• Expect the help you ask for to be given.
• Keep a tab on the follow ups.
• Do your paper work
• Present well, be courteous, mannered and leave with grace.

Now the slightly harder ones.

• Acknowledge that when you are selling there will be many who are not buying.  Simple fact. Live with it or do what you have been taught to do about it.
• When you cold call there will be many knock backs. Acknowledge there is a roller coaster ride to sales. Know that you are supported on the bad days, give out to others on these days to. Be part of a forward moving team. Celebrate both the good and bad achievements. 
• Rebalance and move on.
• Wow! Are they having a bad hair day or what?  Do not take their bad hair day on or it will follow you and your sales team around like a bad smell.

All these things bring about emotional changes and surprises. How you deal with these ups and downs, negatives, knock backs, frustrations, what your family members are doing [ or could be doing] may have been observed during your infancy and may even carry through into your selling period.  Note that the resilience you are looking for can and should be developed with a little effort.  Resilience is not resistance. Resilience is not a matter of blocking, out but of how you hold onto the challenge, grab a duster and flick away a few fears, then get on with the job of selling.

Knowing your product

People who lie or those spreading maliciousness gossip will get caught out.  With today's internet is there really anywhere you can hide once your credibility has vanished?

Yes. People will buy from positive and credible  people.  Anything negative will tend to make those you are talking to hurray away in haste.  But once you have lied or gossiped people stay away from you in droves. Think about it : If you have lied about one thing, or gossiped about another person or business what do they think you are going to do about them?  And you really want to sell something to them.  All I can say is keep at it you may be successful.

Here's what you do.

Should you find that there has been a slip up go back and correct it.  Your reputation may suffer for a while but do not do the same things twice.  Hand the sales opportunity over to someone else before you do this again. Your reputation is the only thing that counts when selling. It is your honesty and therefore your reputation that sells to the client.

There will be times that you are asked a question by the client, other times when you think that there is a product or service that may be just what the client needs. The client has outlined what they want, you have spent time listening, you know that time is money... effectively your money.  STOP right here.  Allow the customer to hear you out.  Make a follow up time so that you can find out further information with regard to what the customer wants.  Will it suit their needs expressed as it is , be tailor made for the clients needs? or even not suit at all.  Now YOU get back to the client and let them know.  Even arrange to bring in the expert in that field.

The reason is easy :-  T.R.U.S.T.

Step 1 with business communication building structures

Communication begins at home right?

Replace the word home with "business". Now choose one or more of the following add ons:

• Between the others and you <-> you and the others.
• Between yourself and what you want <-> what you want and what the others need you to do.

The third one is : What you want to do <-> what your body limits are !

Take three pieces of paper strips. label them as above.

Place the  <-> above each other, while the "arms" form a six pronged star.

The star is actually a six forked communication process that meets up through a central point. To have balanced energy flow the 'energy' must always be able to flow from one side to the other and back again continuously in harmony. Back a forward.

 Sometimes the amount of pressure the incoming arm exerts on the meeting point may block up and try to force a blow out or take over of the focal meeting point.  Should this happen the equilibrium of the six armed communication meeting point is thrown out of balance. 

Imagine a person who begins work for what ever the reasons are. In the beginning all three communication junctions are functioning evenly. Energy comes.  Energy flows through the other arms interchanging with energy from the other arms.  Harmonious. 

Both the person, and those around them, are able to communicate. Knowledge and skills are passed on and freely swapped.  The business prospers.

Over time the communication from one arm is either choked off or blocked off.  The arm becomes  toxic. Effecitively communication gangreen sets in.  The wellness balance is affected. No one knows what is happening, what needs to happen and why it is happening.

In an ideal world this point would not be reached.  people leave, contacts and contracts being to vanish. tensions rise. the blame game occurs.  No matter what way it is seen the situation fast destructs into a Lose / Lose situation.

To begin to rectify this situation watch what is happening.  Now Is what is happening process falling within the business or project charter? 

• Collect data. 
• Create a needs analysis from what you see happening.
• Compare what is happening to the benchmarks set out in the business / project charter.
• The part [gray area] between what is happening and what is desired to happen is the focus of the needs analysis.
• Draw up a needs analysis. 
• Ask for help with this project.

When people start to come on board the attitude will change.  Be warned it is a long road to get to the end.  However the journey with many people travelling in the same direction is usually fun, fulfilling and very rewarding.

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Lets get this going

My realisation that I was a WOW [Woman of Worth] came this morning when I did not wake up with buyers remorse. The direction I am heading in is to redirect community building through business building. This entails reinvesting into people.

Want to come along too?  Become a POW and lets get this going.  Reinvest in both yourself, your family and your community.

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People are great. You learn a lot from them.

The other day I was in the front office with the account.   Others were with clients.

The message came that the person being interviewed for a sales position had been held up time wise.  The sales person was some one that one of my family members knew... could a girl of nineteen come too.

As things turned out time management wise things worked out well in that one client interview finished after the three others had arrived and settled in.

The owner of the company came out. Introductions were performed.  Now here is where the crunch came. I had not thought ahead as to where exactly interviews would take place. Impressions count and I had not had time between both sessions to clean up a room.

 Position Heads need to network. 

As it was the owner treated all of us to a side of his character that was unexpected but normal for him.  The interview became a bit one sided as the sales person really was not sure of the situation, nor did he have a clear idea of what how and when things were going to go.  No one had pre informed him of anything except that there was a job opening.

So atypical was the interview that we all joined in.  At times I felt that I was a bridge between the ex military style this is what I want... how you do it is up to you approach.  A very clear cut and direct approach compared to the person being interviewed approach of direct me every step of the way.

The sales person was so bamboozled in this approach that he was at least hearing the owner out.  Asked a few hesitant questions and stated the truth.  He did not think I could do the job.  Now at this point you would think the interview was over.  Not the case.  The owner wanted honesty and the other person was bowled over and slipping fast.  The owner came back a little with drawing him out.   My son mad a few comments.  The young lady participated.  A few jokes and comments were made.  The atmosphere lighted.

At one point I asked the owner to go back to the basic ground up sales program I had suggested.  He considered it and looked to myself for a lead.   Respecting the need for business privacy I stated that there were basic sales things to consider first.  My son had an idea as I had asked him for advise.  Both the sales person and my son had worked together in cold calling marketing.  There was no door to door cold calling here except for the businesses.  Then there was a procedure to nut out and move forward on.

At no time was the head sales person to do all the things expected to get the business sales up and running. The sales person we were looking for would be a head sales person in charge of developing a team.  The team was already being found.  The business had an accountant head. Head of security. Head of Risk management. Myself I am a Community Developer and in charge of training team. Delegation and motivation were the key.

From this point on I saw a real change in the interview energy.  The sales person came forward with suggestions as well as the inclusion of himself within these suggestions. If he was a fish he was 'realing' himself in to shore.  There was a snag that he later told me about... he had just about landed himself a job elsewhere.  Hence why he was late.  That second interview had taken longer than anticipated. He would know by the next day.  The boss here would be phoned by 1000hrs the following day as the boss here would not be available until then.

By the end of the interview the owner had shared some things that were not commonly known. This showed that he trusted all three of the people there.  The young lady had not realised this until I got hold of her that evening and informed her that she would be taken on as a 'pen pusher' as she requested when she had done her Security course and became a registered Security Guard.  Reason- there were papers that she could not handle until she has this clearance certificate.  At this point in the conversation I tied together the matter of the owners trust  factors. She was overcome ... blown away.

My job was affected in that I realised a major snag was exposed. Interviewing was not the owners thing. So now I have designed a step by step process that the interviewees will get to expect, will satisfy the job find networks, and will assist in relieving everyone pressure wise.

With my Community Development experience, business experience and other life skills I know that now my work begins. The focus has come into shape.

I have explained how things will work.  To each separately drawn into the picture various other aspects that neither of them had thought of. They too are part of the expanding business venture.


 Move over I am coming through.

The mum test

Business sales person have one very basic conscience checker.

That's the one that says..."Would my mum be proud of me if she knew what I was about to do?".

Think about it !

Is the action worth the reaction?

When and if things ever came to this point do you really need this check point.  Your decision has already been made for you.  Are you ready to have to keep looking over your shoulder just to check up on things?

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Ha ha friend

50 and going backwards

On a good day this is close

Just hang in there all will be well.  The safety net is coming!