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How I Developed My ASP + K Formula | Subscribe to this Blog |
July 27, 2008
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I first began to recognise the need to be able to benchmark sales performance more objectively and more rigorously over twenty five years ago.
The motivation to do this was strong because I knew I was wasting thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of pounds on sales skills training programmes, which were not providing me with a proper return on my considerable investment. But I needed to prove my theory because without an accurate analysis of my requirements, I would continue to abdicate that responsibility to the training providers, most of whom had only their own interests at heart.
So with this quote from Drucker, “The most effective way to manage change is to create it” firmly in my mind, I set about my task, a task that became a journey, which began in 1981 and is still ongoing.
By taking an analytical approach, I arrived at the following equation:
Attitude + Skills + Process + Knowledge = Success.
My initial reasoning was this: Attitude is fundamental to any achievement because individuals with the right Attitude are far more likely to embrace the essential Skills, recognise the control that Process brings and have the desire to continually expand their Knowledge.
Skills are the ‘tools of the trade’ and have to be developed on an ongoing basis. They also need to be specific, because too much time can be wasted over-burdening employees with inappropriate and irrelevant skills without any identifiable plan for their future requirements.
Process brings organisation, efficiency and control, both for the individual and for management. Effective process provides objective analysis and indicators which can be benchmarked and accurately measured.
Then, there is of course a need to build in Knowledge and that must include knowledge of products, industry, market sectors, competitors, business, own company and last but not least, self!
So, there you have it - it really is as simple as that - Attitude + Skills + Process + Knowledge = Success.
You may also enjoy: “In Sales, What Differentiates The Top 5% Players?”
Latest News: Lots happening this week:
My friend Wendy Weiss is running her latest initiative on Tuesday and you can grab all the details by clicking on the banner below.
Top Sales Experts featured on Business Expert Webinars this week are:
Startup Sales: The Personality of the Business Evangelist
Topic: Small Business
7/29/08 1:00pm EASTERN TIME
Presented by Karl Goldfield
Fill Your Pipeline with Hot Prospects
Topic: Sales - Business Development
7/31/08 2:30pm EASTERN TIME
Presented by Joanne Black
Get A Life! You Work Better And Live Longer
Topic: Personal Development
7/31/08 5:30pm EASTERN TIME
Presented by Peter Nicholls
Just click on the banner here to book your place
Over on Top 10 Sales Articles, we have nominated ten excellent pieces this week - do visit:
That’s it for another week - be sure to wander over to my personal daily blog - The JF Blogit - this week my guests are the delightful Joan Paul and Keith Rosen.
Oh, and do find your way to my Resource Area over at The JF Consultancy
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Major Account Management Is An Art Not A Formula | Subscribe to this Blog |
July 19, 2008
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One can often see two ways of managing major accounts that are certain to fail. The first is management by chance. There is no control. There is no plan. No one can explain why we are winning the business or forecast how long our success will last. We do not learn from our mistakes or from our successes. This is at one extreme.
At the other extreme is management by formula. Here everything is documented, controlled, and decided. I have seen one account planning process which demands that for every account the team must hold a one day orientation meeting, then gather information for twenty-one working days and then hold a two day planning session. The timescale cannot be changed. The people who must be present never change. The documents that must be prepared are described in detail. The process is a good one but it leaves no room for flexibility, common sense or the differences that exist both between accounts and departments. We need a way of managing major accounts that is effective, consistent, and flexible. We need a way of working that is simple but strong. We need discipline and we need creativity.
So, how is Major Account Management like an art?
Discipline:
Artists need discipline. Think of the discipline of a dancer or a singer, they know that they work best if they create inside disciplines of their art. A poet follows certain rules of rhyme and structure and a painter knows the disciplines of colour and line.
Practice:
Every artist expects to practice. The painter sketches, trying different compositions, actors rehearse until the words are coming perfectly; the dancer works at the bar to keep fit and to perfect every movement and musicians play the piece over and over again.
The performance often looks easy but we know that it took a great amount of work.
Creativity:
Discipline and practice alone will not make an outstanding artist. There needs to be a spark - something special that allows the artist to see what many others miss and to communicate their understanding powerfully and clearly. The artist allows us to see and hear things differently.
Managing a major account needs all three parts. Discipline helps us follow the plan, to be self-controlled. Practice means that we do not expect to be perfect overnight, we think and plan and prepare for every important “performance.” Creativity allows us to change the past, to find new ways to solve problems and to win opportunities.
If we think of Major Account Management as an art then we will avoid the two dangers of working randomly and working rigidly.
I think you will also enjoy: “How To Create A Major Account Strategy”
Copyright @2008 Jonathan Farrington. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News:
This week over at Business Expert Webinars, the following Top Sales Experts are presenting:
Reach the Top Dog: the Golden Keys to the Gatekeeper
Topic: Sales - Business Development
7/24/08 1:00pm EASTERN TIME
Presented by Leslie Buterin
Selling to Your Most Difficult Customers
Topic: Sales
7/24/08 4:00pm EASTERN TIME
Presented by Kelley Robertson
Simply click on the BEW banner, to access full details.
On my personal blog this week, my guests are Craig Elias and Bill Sayers - both popular contributors here on Sales Gravy - so be sure to join me here
Over at Top Sales Experts, the latest FREE E-book, is proving hugely popular. If you haven’t downloaded your copy of this superb 140 page summer extravaganza, containing work by fifty of the world’s most significant sales gurus, you can do so here
That’s it for another week - be sure to check out my huge FREE Resource Area over at The JF Consultancy - just click on the banner below. - JF
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No One Is Perfect! | Subscribe to this Blog |
July 12, 2008
One thing which experience has proven over and over again down through the ages is that when any group of people are thrown together for any length of time or for any project, a leader will emerge from the group - one to whom they will listen and give their confidence and support.
Their position on the organisation chart or their title alone cannot make a person a genuine leader. They must have certain traits and skills, or they will surely fail. In business, it has been shown again and again that these skills can be learned and the traits can be developed in any individual who is willing to exert an effort based on strong desire and a true hunger for success.
Generally, a leader or teacher does not actually “develop” another person. They encourage and inspire that person to develop themselves from within. Thus, leadership is, in a large sense, self-initiated.
Once we understand and identify the methods and characteristics of admired leaders, we can take steps to develop these skills and traits ourselves. We can analyse ourselves — honestly, ruthlessly, objectively – and identify which skills we need to acquire or improve (and those which we need to play down).
No One Is Perfect!
The perfect leader has yet to be born. We all have room for self-improvement.
Copyright @ 2008 Jonathan Farrington. All Rights Reserved.
You may also enjoy: “Leaders Who Balk At Taking The Journey Of Self Improvement, Could Find Themseles Isolated”
Latest News: Top Sales Experts presenting over at Business Expert Webinars this week:
Persuasive Speaking
Topic: Public Speaking
7/14/08 2:30pm EASTERN TIME
Presented by Terri Dunevant
Workshop to Create a 75-Referral-Partner System for New Sales
Topic: Small Business
7/18/08 2:30pm EASTERN TIME
Presented by Lori Richardson
Just click on the banner below for full details:
Over on my personal blog this week, my guests are Lee Salz and Joanne Black - so a couple of really “big-hitters” - so be sure to join me.
We have also conducted a massive makeover on my consultancy site and totally re-vamped the Resources Area - just click on the banner here, to discover what we have done.
That’s it for another week, so have a great seven days and good selling!
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Empathy, Emotional Intelligence & Sales Management | Subscribe to this Blog |
July 5, 2008
Old ways of doing business no longer work: the increasingly intense competitive challenges of the world economy challenge everyone, everywhere, to adapt in order to prosper under new rules. In the old economy, hierarchies pitted labour against management, with workers paid wages depending on their skills, but that is eroding as the rate of change accelerates.
Hierarchies are being replaced by networks; labour and management are uniting into teams; wages are coming in new mixtures of options, incentives and ownership; fixed jobs melt into fluid careers.
As business changes, so do the traits needed to survive, let alone excel. All these transitions put increased value on emotional intelligence. Competitive pressures put a new value on people who are self-motivated, show initiative, have the inner drive for outdoing themselves, and are optimistic enough to take reversals and setbacks in their stride. The ever-pressing need to serve customers and clients well and to work smoothly and creatively with an ever more diverse range of people makes the ability to empathise all the more essential.
At the same time, the meltdown of old hierarchies increases the importance of traditional