Most of the people I ask, don’t really have a plan.  Instead, they have put together a budget (which is not a bad start), which details what will be spent to keep the business running, and calls for a certain quota on sales.  If the sales numbers are not met, the budget will not produce the expected profit.  Half way through the year, managers will be sitting around wondering why they are not hitting their numbers, and hoping to make it up in the second half.  This is not a plan.  This is not a strategy.

Some companies will have an annual kick off meeting.  Many companies are doing that this month.  What will they accomplish?  If they focus on product training, sales number reviews, and parties, I will be a waste of time.  No one will remember these things as the year begins.

This week I am headed out to my company planning meeting.  It’s a time to look back at what was accomplished, what went well, and an honest assessment of what did not go well.  It’s a time to review who performed and who didn’t.  In my case, the number of employees I have makes that easy, but for most, it’s an important and difficult step.  It’s a time to consider what must change in the vision of the company, the mission you carry out, and how you are approaching the market – it’s strategic, not tactical.  This should be taking place on a business level as well as on a personal level.  It involves setting the high level goals with a plan to meet them.  It means going beyond the dream of hitting a certain number and figuring out how it will be met.  It also means getting rid of dead weight – things (or people) that don’t produce fruit.  This year I will spend four days on this process – why?  Because it’s likely the most important thing I do all year to make sure I am headed in the right direction.

© 2012, David Stelzl

Several opportunities look good, and so you start focusing on them, and counting on them, no longer prospecting very much.  It’s like you’ve somehow come over the hump and things look good, so you let up some.  Then the truth kicks in.  Not all of these deals are real, and so you find yourself with much less in the pipeline than expected.  Constant activity means, constantly generating new ideas, new leads, new connections, new-something that leads to business…

Of course there are the right activities, and there are the wrong ones.  Those who get up last minute, jump in the car, arrive at the office, and immediately open their email and start reading and responding, are, in my opinion, missing the most important time of the day.  Franklin Covey calls it Planning and Solitude.  This may not seem like activity, yet it is.  It’s a time of stepping away from your business and looking over it as though you were flying over your field, reviewing what’s there, what needs attention, and where to focus.  Every morning I do this before diving in, to make sure my efforts are spent on the highest value tasks first.

Finally, there is a strategy.  I came across this in a recent Wall Street Journal article – something I was actually doing, but hadn’t really looked at it like this.  The writer writes about a recent trip he took with his daughter.  They were working on times tables while flying across country, memorizing them.  After about twenty minutes she just couldn’t focus.  She was getting things wrong that he felt she knew.  Be he kept pushing.  When they finished, she was on to other school work and was working along happily, accomplishing a great deal.  Why the change in performance.  Her ability to concentrate on one topic was limited, but as soon as she switched to another, she had renewed energy.  Here is what I do…in the morning I write down three major things I am working on – e.g.  selling to a group I have planned to target, writing up a speech, and perhaps, putting together a workbook for an upcoming training class.  All three are important, and all three take more than an hour to complete.  As the day goes on, and as I work on selling for instance, I reach a point of saturation (sometimes sooner than later with certain tasks), and so I switch to one of the other two.  If I simply try to push through on one task, my productivity goes down, but if I switch, I feel a sense of renewed energy.  And so, through the day, I am switching every 30 – 60 minutes to one of the three important tasks.  In addition, I may have some administrative things to take care of – low priority, but still necessary.  For these I will simply create a Personal-Meeting mid-afternoon for a fixed block of time (say 1 hour), and knock them out.  Then, back to my three top priorities.  Try this…and keep the activity strong and highly focused on those things that generate revenue.

© 2011, David Stelzl

Everyone wants one!

Passion drives the sale.  If you’re not passionate about what you are selling, change jobs.  As I prepare for next week’s Venture Tech Network conference in Las Vegas, it occurs to me that no matter how great your questions are, your references, the technology you sell, or the team behind you, if you don’t look and sound enthusiastic, the sale is dead.

I was reading a book on Disciplines over the weekend which stated, “Only 10% of employees like their job.”  10%!  That means in a group of ten people, nine don’t like what they spend most of their day doing.  This is sad.  How can these people perform at peak levels if they don’t enjoy what they do?  In fact they can’t.  The chapter went on to say that most employees are not performing well.

I can imagine that in a factory setting or some monotonous manual work regime, that the job can still be done with some level of quality, but not sales, and not marketing.  If you don’t love what you sell, move on to something else.  On the other hand, if you can find the excitement in what you do, attitude outsells skills and features every time.

How do you do this?  In my coming book, From Vendor to Adviser, I talk about people groups; the importance of figuring out the people group you want to serve in the work you do.  When you love the people you call on, work takes on a whole new meaning.  When you see your people group’s situation improving because of the value you bring them, everything changes.  Try this, stop focusing on the products you sell, and consider really taking an interest in the people you serve.  Discover their needs at a personal and business level, and see how you can remove stress from their lives by improving how they conduct business.  This brings much greater fulfillment than simply selling a widget.

© 2011, David Stelzl

Taken By Tina Stelzl - Yes this is a wild bear!

Fear is disabling.  It’s easy to become busy with work, and then to wonder why the sales are slow.  Could it be that fear has refocused you on busy work rather than on reaching the goal?  Moving up to meet decision makers, presenting new ideas, and reaching out to new prospects, all lead to one of two things, either new relationships or rejection.  It’s always easier to call on those you are used to calling on, even if they have no money, and easier to keep meeting with those who cannot make a decision or create new budget than it is to reach out to new people, higher up the ladder.  Rejection is hard, and most of our sales successes from the past required us to go through many rejections before winning the prize.

Don’t get caught in the trap of working without a plan pushes you toward new business.  Assume people along the way will reject your offers, look down on your ideas, and shop your prices.  It takes many new prospects to lead to one new client, but then, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it and you might not have a job.  Start this last quarter with some goals; goals to establish new relationships, broaden your contacts within your existing accounts, and a strong focus on moving up in the organizations you serve.

© 2011, David Stelzl

My handcrafted bookcase

Months ago I embarked on a new project – my first major woodworking project, complete with exotic hardwoods, joinery, and inlays.  Starting with raw mahogany boards, I’ve come to this picture (left)…Several times during the process I found myself stopping in frustration as I took rough lumber, resawed it down to board size, planed it, joined it, and fit pieces together.  Cutting moldings, fluting, routing, and sanding…it’s a big deal.  There are no nails in this type of building – it’s precise, cumbersome, artistic, and difficult.  How did I get here?   Mentors and reading.

Woodworking is a skill.  There are so many tricks and techniques to building jigs, joining wood, and just making things work; it’s something you could go to school for I guess, but the best way is to work alongside someone who really knows – someone with experience.  The master craftsman and the apprentice.  With our focus on schools and universities, we’ve lost a lot of this, but for thousands of years, this has proved out to be the most efficient way to learn and grow.  Co-op programs, apprenticeships, interns…business coaching; it’s all mentorship.  It’s finding someone who has been there, or has hands-on experience, who is able to take the time to walk another person through the process.  Whether you’re building, writing, drawing, parenting, or building a business – find experts to learn from.  Some are paid, others are free, but in the long run, the investments you make will return to far more than you can imagine.

© 2011, David Stelzl

The Good to Great Paradigm

Collins, in his book Good to Great states it this way, “All companies have a culture, some companies have discipline, but few companies have a culture of discipline.  When you have disciplined people, you don’t need hierarchy.  When you have disciplined thought, you don’t need bureaucracy.   When you have disciplined action, you don’t need excessive controls.  When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great performance.”  And I would add, “When you have disciplined sales leadership, you don’t need greed – in fact it’s destructive to the trusted adviser mindset.”

Money and Character

Sales performance is largely a character issue.  The fear of failure, the fear of man, lack of focus, lack of discipline – lack of endurance.  These all lead to a lack of sales.  Money does not change character.  It has been show that a pay increase sparks excitement, but only for a short period of time.  Once in place, poor character returns, and the same old habits inhibit success.  Over the long haul, more pay will only direct the paid performer to focus in one area or another, not actually improve their performance.

Money and Aptitude

Money may cause someone to try harder for a moment, but skills are not acquired by greater pay, nor  does one suddenly become confident with the skills they have.  Seeking out new skills and practice that makes perfect, takes us right back to character.  People with desire to grow and learn, are people of character.

Greed, a mindset that leads to poverty

Brian Salcido, Albert Gonzales, and others who have taken the shortcut to success have done so out of greed, not character.  Their skills have been acknowledged for what they are; high-tech hackers with bad character and discernment.  Greed leads people to prey on other’s weaknesses rather than working to demonstrate value.  Greed causes some to recruit others, drawing them into deceptive schemes to make a buck. Greed destroys trust, ruins client relations, breeds customer dissatisfaction, and avoids accountability, leadership, and teamwork.  In the end, the greedy one is found out, and while perhaps hired for their demonstration of skills, is now fired for reasons of bad character.

© 2011, David Stelzl

Back to School!

It’s time to get back to school…that means our kids are back on a busy, productive schedule, with goals and timelines.  But before that can happen, my wife and I sit down to evaluate where we are and figure out where we are going.  Soon activities, holidays, and school work will crowd our days, and if we’re not careful, we’ll find ourselves busy, but not necessarily headed toward anything important.  The end of summer signals a time for strategic planning for all of use!  Don’t miss this moment!

Review the Plan

If you’re on the calendar year, you have one quarter left to make the year worthwhile.  Hopefully you have a plan your working through to build your business – prospects you’re working on, a pipeline your closing, quotas you plan to meet, and career goals to take your business to the next level.  If you don’t, you might want to get something in place for Q4.

Plan to Fill Your Pipeline Now

Once the holidays hit, people are hard to reach.  Sure, there may be budgets at year end that must be spent, but setting up a strong pipeline early in the quarter makes year-end a whole lot easier.  Get a call plan in place and start setting up meetings through September.  Make a strong push to get as many meetings lined up as possible right now, so that you are working toward closing in October, or early November.  Most projects can’t be invoiced until they are completed, so give yourself time to close and implement before year end.

Event Planning

Demand generation events are one of the best ways to build your business if you are looking for new clients.  There is still time if you start now.  It takes about 60 days to plan a worthy event, so that puts you into mid-October.  Plenty of time to do the event and execute the follow-up plan.  Follow-up could take anywhere from two to four weeks, so start thinking now.  Otherwise you’ll be into January before you know it.  You don’t want that.

Review Time Usage

The biggest issue in sales is managing time wisely.  Where do you spend it, who do you focus on, and where is time being wasted? Sales is a busy business.  Review your last three quarters – where are you wasting time?  It’s like your family budget – if you don’t review it monthly, you may find yourself floating along, working hard, but not actually accomplishing your primary goals.  Soon, you’ll look back and see that your time is spent, people are on holiday, and you’re hoping to make a come back next year.  Too late…do it now.

© 2011, David Stelzl

Coming into an office after weeks of unprofitable calls, there is a discipline in getting started again – endurance to continue to process.  How tempting it is to “fritter and waste the hours…” when the task looks impossible.  Reaching the goal requires more than skill – it requires discipline, endurance, determination.  Failure comes, not so much from a lack of skill, but more often by giving up…

© 2011, David Stelzl

DON’T CALL

Requested free copy of The House & the Cloud

THIS PERSON IS NOT A DECISION MAKER

NOTHING EVER CLOSES WITH THIS ACCOUNT

Referred by ***** on ******

Gave exceptional feedback on my keynote at *******

Kids names are….

Spouses name….

Birthday….

Take notes, put them somewhere you’ll see them, and make them meaningful.  Remembering key details, whether they say “This person never buys anything,” or “Birthday on ….” provide important direction on how to engage when opportunities come up.  (Might be a perfect fit for carrying an iPad into your next sales meeting!)

© 2011, David Stelzl

Photo Taken By Hannah Stelzl

On my bulletin board above my desk I have a card I received from one of the many home school conferences I’ve attended.  It lists a set of goals for fathers… in summary here are some helpful things to have in front of you if you are a father…

1. Respond lovingly and wisely to every situation and successfully fulfill  the purposes for with God created me.

2. Enjoy a loving relationship with my wife and quickly resolve any conflicts that arise

3. Make all the members in my family “best friends” with each other and help them clear up any offenses between each other

4. Train up sons and daughters to be wise

5. Help each child discover his or her purposes in life so that they will not fear the future or have self rejection

6. To serve those around us as a family – with family goals and vision to help others in need

7. Maintain proper health so that I can continue to meet the needs of my family

© 2011, David Stelzl