Asking for Help

In my experience, employees often do not ask for help because they consider the issue is not important enough or are afraid they would display lack of product knowledge.  I found this blog post today and it is entirely accurate and should be read by all:

Today's blog post is by Christine Harrington, The Savvy Sales Lady. She is a facilitator for Peak Performance Mindset Workshop and a personal sales coach. Christine helps sales professionals develop their beliefs to improve their sales performance.

“Did you ask for help?”

A long pause ensued over the phone. Then I heard a sigh. “No, I never ask for help,” came the weak reply.

“Really? Why?” I asked.

“Well….” Another pause. “It’s a sign of weakness.”

“How did you come up with that belief?”

“I suppose as a child. My father always said, ‘Never ask for help.’ If you don’t know how to do something, then don’t do it.’”

Sadly, this sentiment seems common among clients in my sales coaching practice. This particular client was new on the job, new to sales, and had not been properly trained. The client acknowledged she needed help, but felt she was disappointing her boss by asking.

Is asking for help a sign of weakness or is it a strength? What’s your belief?

If you struggle with asking for help on the job, chances are your belief system is saying

• Asking for help makes you look vulnerable.
• People feel put out when you ask for help.
• Successful people never ask for help.
• You like helping others, but you don’t like it when others help you.

However, not asking for help can keep you stuck and can wreck your career."

Ms. Harrington is exactly correct.  Asking for help shows strength and a willingness to learn from people who have been around the corner and have made mistakes.  Asking for help should be a positive experience.  The most frustrating thing for me is for my salespeople to make the same mistakes I did--which could have been prevented by Asking for Help!

"Owning" the Agenda

First and foremost, I believe that every single meeting or activity, whether it's a sales call, or a sales meeting, or a board meeting, or even a daily activity like writing a blog, should have an agenda.
And every agenda should have a "mission" or purpose.  And every item in the agenda should have its mission or purpose as well.
And why such a big deal about the agenda? 
The person with the agenda is the person who controls the meeting.  If you, as a salesperson, go on a sales call with an agenda and present the agenda to the customer, you "own" the meeting.
And this is true for any meeting.  Every meeting should have a mission or purpose and that purpose is the title of the agenda; and every item on the agenda should have a purpose: to achieve the mission.
This is a fact: the person with the agenda OWNS the meeting and taking control of the meeting gives everyone in the room confidence that you know what you're talking about.
One warning, however:  make sure you anticipate all the issues that your agenda will raise and be able to answer questions related to the agenda.
In summary:
1. Make an agenda for every meeting;
2. Make sure every item on the agenda focuses on the mission of the meeting;
3. Make sure everyone at the meeting has a copy of your agenda--even ahead of time so they know you are in control;
4. Stay focused on the agenda.  If the meeting moves away, get back to the items as soon as reasonable;
5. Summarize the meeting before everyone leaves;
6. Send an email summary to everyone in attendance as soon as possible after the meeting ("minutes").
OWN THE AGENDA; OWN THE MEETING; GET THE ORDER.

Focus Focus Focus

Julan Edelman's Superbowl Catch

112 million people watched the "Catch" by Julian Edelman.  It was amazing; and no matter who you were rooting for, it was still amazing.  But what is the lesson that we can learn from this great catch?
The lesson is that there is an absolute requirement to focus completely on the task at hand.  There is no room in the sales cycle for distraction.  The customer deserves your complete 100% attention. 
It is easy to get distracted from the task on hand in this age of emails and texts.  Your customer deserves your focus, your boss deserves your focus. 
And what is the major downside of loss of focus:
1. Mistakes.  If you're not focused on the project at hand, you make mistakes.  Mistakes are costly.
2. Opening the door to your competitor.  There is always someone else who is after the same order you're after.  Once you lose focus, you give a chance for the other salesperson to get in the door.
Focus won the superbowl; focus will win the order.  Get all distractions off the table; turn off things that are taking your attention away from the task at hand. Make the "catch"--focus on the order; focus on the customer.  Don't lose sight of the football and don't let the competitors steal the ball away!

Give Something, Get Something

The idea of "give something, get something" is a sales technique that I have mentioned in a previous blog post.  Sales leads are GOLD.   Leads can come in from several sources--some good and some not so good.  The absolutely best source of leads is someone you've just sold your product to.  And every single salesperson can use this method:Ask your customer if there is someone he knows who can use the product you just sold.
Referrals, referrals, referrals in sales is like location, location, location in real estate.
Happy customers are the best sources of leads.  Do NOT be embarrassed to ask. You ask for the order and you ask for a referral--this is a one-two punch that needs to be in every salesperson's bag.  It should be automatic.
However, it is very easily forgotten in the excitement of getting the order. The absolute first thought when you get an order should be: "where is the next order coming from?"  And the answer is:  "from the customer who just gave you the last order."
Don't be afraid to ask for a referral.  Make it an integral part of thanking the customer:  "Thank you for the order.  Can you suggest someone else who may be in the market for my product?"
Ask.