Sales mindset vs. sales training

Picture the announcer in the middle of the ring broadcasting - "In this corner, wearing the red shorts we have the challenger, weighing 217 pounds, winner of this year's collegiate championship, introducing Sales Mindset. Defending the long-standing domination of this event, winner of 35 title bouts, defending heavyweight champion, weighing 224 pounds, in the black shorts, please welcome Sales Training." Can you imagine two heavy weights like Sales Training and Sales Mindset squaring off in the ring? It might be one exciting sparing match. Both are critical to ensuring sales professionals get to, and remain at the top of their game. Which is most important? Sales training is a very broad category that includes everything from sales process, product knowledge, dealing with objections, open and closing skills, prospecting, territory management, listening skills, networking, presentation skills, and funnel administration, to name some of the assorted topics. This is not a short list. The sales rep would ignore any of these items at his or her peril. Many would be correct to think sales training would rank right up there, perhaps being the hands-on bet if you were to wager who would win the match. Sales training provides knowledge around specific topic areas a sales rep needs to be proficient at their job. There is no point going out to sell, not knowing your product, the process to book the sale, how to deal with client concerns, or where you should be going to find a prospect. Most companies invest heavily in sales training, especially with new sales representatives. They can't afford to despatch the company's ambassadors poorly equipped. It is in their best interest to train them well. Sales mindset is perhaps lesser known, less discussed, and a less visible contender. In fact, many sales forces don't pay much attention to the psychology of selling. Some sales leadership survived their selling careers being told, "Activity is everything", and when the activity wasn't there, the sales manager reached for a bigger stick. Times have changed. Today we have a much better understand of the sales psyche. Focus, confidence and motivation are what I refer to as "below the line" subjects, collectively referred to as mindset. Sales mindset development is a specialized area critical for success. Sales mindset has evolved from cognitive behavioral psychology. It suggests what we are thinking about today will determine our reality tomorrow. Research has found that successful sales people are more likely to engage in constructive thinking while unsuccessful sales people are prone to think in counter-productive ways. The best sales people are effective thinkers. They think in a way that helps them perform at an optimal level. So will the red shorts or the black shorts win? In the perfect world, our match would end a draw. Let us assume the recruitment and selection process has filtered for sales competencies. The learning and development teams today are right to begin with sales training. The reps need to understand the company's sales process, the products, and acquire the requisite selling skills. Once the sales training is covered, the rep has had an opportunity to practice and become proficient. At this point, it is appropriate to turn development efforts to understanding and leveraging sales mindset. Leaning how to become an effective thinker and align ones thinking with the thinking of top performing sales professionals can lead to new levels of sales success. Professional athletes and sports teams have long understood and valued the concept of leveraging mindset. In any competitive environment, it can be a challenge to stay optimistic, focused, motivated and productive day in and day out. Once they have mastered the skills of their sport, they continue to practice and practice. They complement their physical activity with their mental activity to reach new heights. The same holds true for sales professionals. In summary, there really isn't a winner or a loser here. It is more a question of sequencing. It is safe to suggest the new sales representative begin with sales training, and once the basic activities and competencies are mastered, they move onto developing their sales mindset. Sales training and sales mindset can combine to be powerful allies in sales success.

Proper preventive maintenance starts with knowing your restaurant equipment

Several weeks ago, I was forced to replace a very expensive piece of equipment at my bistro. A convection oven that I inherited with the building suddenly stopped working. I called a repair service and the machinery medics were quickly dispatched. Unfortunately, the news was grim... I would need to purchase a replacement unit. The technicians that came out were unable to repair it. In fact, they had no idea why the unit had failed, only that they wouldn't be able to fix it. I contacted my restaurant equipment supplier, who, it turns out, had sold the now defunct unit to the previous owner. When I told him about the old unit and that I would need a replacement, I expected him to be ecstatic, knowing full well that my wallet was about to take a major hit. Instead, he surprised me by asking me a series of questions about the old unit. With his help over the phone, we were able to get the unit up and running in about twenty minutes. That's pretty amazing, I think. The problem was caused by a lack preventive maintenance measures to the oven. We were under the impression that we were taking proper care of it, though in truth, I never bothered to check and see if there was more that we needed to be doing in the way of preventive maintenance. A few days later, I got a letter from my equipment supplier, with specs on every piece of equipment in my restaurant, along with the necessary preventive maintenance measures that I should take with each one. The majority of these I already knew about, but there were a few I was unaware of. Since I received the letter, my staff has been performing all the recommended preventative maintenance measures and we really notice a difference on the pieces of equipment we were neglecting to take proper care of. Preventive maintenance is important in the restaurant business, especially with the cost of replacing an expensive unit. The only way to take proper care of your equipment, however, is to know it well enough to know what preventive maintenance measures needs to be performed. I am grateful to my equipment supplier for helping me to realize that.

4 Ways to use auto responders to build sales

Auto-responders, email systems which are built to deliver multi-step messages over time, will add value to your business in four ways: auto-responders can educate customers about your products and services, auto-responders can build rapport with your prospects, and auto-responders can carry much of your customer support and customer training load. These systems are always working for you delivering important and valuable information. Please see several ideas on how to do this below: 1municate with Customers: Enter company data and product information into a series of auto-responders. Messages should be informative for your customers and should include an offer of value which the recipient can respond to. The auto-responder cycle can add value by making your company information more accessible to your clients. 2. Increase New Business Sales: Put a lead management system in place with auto-responder functionality. This will solve a common problem. Sales people will work a lead list, and burn a lead if it does not respond. The multi-step auto-responder system keep your company in your prospects's mind. The AR system spark a low fire into the mind of your prospect and build mind-share touch by touch. 3. Distribute Training: Training is critical to customer adoption and customer retention. Training is expensive and can eat up valuable sales and operation time. Distribute training to customers, new and existing, with an AR. The messages can range from the "Welcome on-board" basics and can evolve to advanced learning. Why not create advanced usage streaming videos and content and load up a 7 or a 10 message AR and put this Advanced Training offer to your customers for a fee? 4. Distribute Support: Set-up an auto-responder with Frequently Asked Questions. Determine what customer queries are asked and put a series of answers into your auto-responder. Put your AR to work for you by distributing your FAQ to your customers and your trial users. The auto-responder sequences are fluid: work always to improve your messages and your offers. Your auto-responders can differentiate your business by optimizing customer communication and getting the most from your lead generation and marketing systems.