The Snitch

It's a simple equation. Better trained salespeople means more money.

We all know that the world of business is based on sales.

But with customers becoming increasingly sophisticated and well-informed, some of the methods sales people adopt have become dated in today’s corporate world. So how can you ensure that your company’s sales people capitalise on their good skills and update their irrelevant ones?

Bruce Murphy, sales training manager of Ricoh Singapore and associate trainer with NTU’s Centre for Continuing Education, shares with us seven points to help sales managers prescribe the right training solutions to even the most experienced of sales people.

1. Do a GAP analysis

There’s always room for improvement, no matter how seasoned a sales person is. Get feedback from their peers, supervisors and even customers or follow them out on field attachments. Initiate an open and honest discussion with them – this would help you identify the gaps hindering them from achieving higher sales figures.

2. Take care of their self esteem

Sales people are driven and proud of their achievements. If you hurt their self esteem, you risk having them ‘shut you off’. Position their ‘gap’ as areas for improvement rather than areas which they are lacking in.

3. Let them discover it for themselves

Get them involved in role playing in an everyday scenario. Then ask them to describe what happened during a sales call that didn’t go well and ask them what they could have done differently if given a second chance. Be sure to take note of their answers as it will come in useful when you eventually decide on what training to prescribe in order to add value to them. But the role playing will allow employees to discover their weaknesses for themselves.

4. Show proof through white papers, research, and statistics

Provide your seasoned sales people with white papers. Quote relevant research findings and statistics. Show them that many other seasoned sales people have benefited from upgrading their sales skills. Assure them they are not alone.

5. Customise a Training Plan for them

Training doesn’t just refer to classroom training. Customise a plan comprising of a variety of learning strategies like role plays, coaching or field attachments. Remember to tailor it to match the requirements that have been discovered during the gap analysis.

6. Measure their success

Create appropriate metrics that have been agreed upon with the sales person and update him or her on their success rate after training. This would help you to identify areas of improvement that may have been missed out during the initial gap analysis. Some examples of success include improved win ratios or even shorter sales cycles.

7. Celebrate early wins

Share success stories of others with experienced sales people on how they too can reap the benefits of sales training. As soon as they see their peers improving after training, they too will want a piece of the action. Furthermore, celebrating wins helps publicise the credibility and effectiveness of your training.

Murphy says experienced sales people are like valuable diamonds that need to be polished to keep them shining for a long, long time. So never write them off as people who do not need to be trained further.

Stay in line and follow my lead!

Crises such as the economic calamity can result in unfavorable outcomes such as employee layoffs, degrading employee morale and even bankruptcy.

If you’re leader, a crisis can either make or break you. In fact, crises have brought down many leaders and their organisations with them. But there are also others who have risen to the challenge to prove their mettle.

With tough challenges and a heavy responsibility to lead your employees through them without getting undone, how can you deal with the predicaments?

Lesson 1: Face reality.

The crisis isn’t going to fix itself, so denying its existence would only make things worse. Until you acknowledge the fact that you’re facing a serious problem, you will not be able to move forward and solve it. You will also have to guide your employees to face reality as well.

Lesson 2: Don’t carry the world on your shoulders.

You can’t get through this alone. So don’t attempt trying. Instead, reach out to others in the organisation and your personal circle to share the burden. They will be more than willing to help if you ask them and are willing to open up to them. Also, this will create an opportunity for you to strengthen chemistry within your team, because the strongest bonds are built in crisis.

Lesson 3: Dig for the root cause.

Often, employees are mentally blocked from recognising the implications of a crisis because they get frightened by it. This would leave your organisation vulnerable to repeating the mistakes made in the last crisis. Thus you, as a leader, must bring your employees together to confront their worst fears and address the risks. The only way to solve these problems is to identify the root cause and implement permanent solutions.

Lesson 4: Prepare for the long haul.

Never underestimate the severity of the crisis, even if it has nothing to do with the economy. Don’t declare victory too soon if you are in its early stages, because you may only be looking at the tip of the iceberg. Prudent leaders recognise survivability as their most important goal, so they can make a strong come-back as when the crisis subsides.

Lesson 5: Take advantage of the crisis.

A good crisis is one that presents you with the opportunity to make major changes in your organisation because they lessen the resistance that exists in good times. Move aggressively and implement reductions in infrastructure and employment if the decision helps strengthen your organisation as you emerge from the crisis.

Lesson 6: Use the spotlight as opportunity.

As a leader, you are constantly in the public eye. Your compensations are published in newspapers and your statements are widely quoted. Get out in front of the crisis in its first hours with clear statements, both internally and externally. This shows that you accept responsibility and also builds confidence and credibility with all your constituents.

Lesson 7: Focus on winning.

Be sure to maintain your focus as you emerge from the crisis. The market never looks the same as it did going in. But this period offers you the best opportunity you will ever have to reshape markets to your advantage. The best leaders emerge from a crisis because they are not only aggressive and courageous in turning challenges into advantages, but are also passionate about using their leadership to make a difference in the world.

Via “Seven lessons for leading in crisis” by Bill George, published by Jossey-Bass 2009

You don't have to make your boss like you with cards and roses.

For those looking to move up the career ladder, it is important to gain the respect and the trust of their managers.  But could you be secretly driving your manager up the wall without even knowing it?

Tim Hird, managing director of Robert Half Singapore shares with us eight negative actions that bosses generally dislike in employees.

1. Turning down new assignments

If your supervisor comes to you one day with a new task, do not decline it. It would be unwise to build a reputation as someone your boss can’t count on. Furthermore, it is good practice to accommodate to your boss’ wishes as long as you can afford time for that extra work. Saying “no” can convince your manager to stop offering you opportunities, which may include the ones you might be interested in.

2. Being “high-maintenance”

Do you constantly need attention from your boss to remain productive or to ensure that you’re on the right track? This behaviour may just prevent your manager from attending to important tasks or getting into a good workflow. And this is a sure-fire way to annoy anyone in the workplace.

3. Communicating poorly

Your boss’ instructions can be vague but it is critical for you to understand his communication style and preferences and adjust accordingly. Also consider the amount of information he would like. Ensuring you remain on the same page with him is important to a good collaboration.

4. Asking too many questions

Always pay attention to your boss when he is speaking and try to seek clarification on the get-go. Repeatedly asking him the same question can drive him insane. However if you must follow-up with your manager, be sure to approach him with a specific list of questions and take notes so you don’t need to bother him again.

5. Failing to follow through

Pay attention to details – even the finest ones. Think ahead when you tackle about the types of concerns your boss might have when tackling a project. This would build your manager’s confidence in you.

6. Refusing to admit your mistakes

Step up to the plate if you’ve made a mistake. Creating an excuse to justify poor work performance is not only dishonest but also unprofessional. Additionally, your ploy might not stand the test of time. So face your mistake and then go further by devising a plan to both correct and avoid similar incidents in future.

7. Waving the red flag after the ship has sunk

If you find yourself in a situation where you are unable to meet a deadline, let your manager know about it at an earlier timing. Do not break the news to him at the last minute. This could infuriate him.

8. Fueling the rumour mill

Most importantly, do not spread gossip or complaints around the workplace. Bosses seek employees with a positive outlook and want workers who are able to influence the attitudes of other beacuse enthusiasm is contagious!

Overall, Hird says that “cultivating good emotional intelligence and adopting a positive attitude are crucial to workplace survival”.

Bully-proof yourself

How can you tell if you are being bullied at work?

When the term “hostile workplace” is brought up, people generally tend to think that it refers to an environment where one has to subdue to another’s overbearing ways of threats, harassment, belittling, verbal abusing, or excessive criticism.

But because there is no pre-determined definition to the term “bullying” in the corporate world, does it mean that you are being bullied if you feel isolated and singled out at work?

Some bullying tactics to help you identify if you have fallen victim to your workplace bullying include:

• Made up rules (generally against you)
• Silent treatment
• Accused of things you have not done
• Discounting your personal opinions, work, etc.
• Non-verbal intimidation (e.g. stared at)
• Encouraging others to turn against you as well
• Starting rumours (which are about you and your work and generally negative)
• Constant criticism
• Harsh treatment
• Ignoring and not commenting on good work

Stress is often a consequence for victims of bullying. Hence, it is essential to take steps to resolve the situation:

• Speak to the bully
• Tell someone else that you trust
• If you are part of a Union, speak to them
• Keep a note and diary of every incident occurred
• Do not fight back or get into a debate with
• If it gets really bad and none of the above has led to the bullying stopping, make a formal complaint and go through the grievance procedures

(Via)

With longer working hours, emails that demand for your attention (even if you are out of the office), busy executives walk a fine line between juggling the demands of the home and the workplace.

“But having a meaningful career doesn’t mean sacrificing your personal life,” says LesValene Ngion, director of product development at SIM Professional Development.

Ngion shares a five-step-plan on how can you manage better this ordeal between work and family commitments:

Step 1: Get real

To begin, make a list of Work Time and Personal Time needs.  Quantify and qualify how much time is needed in each category. Then conduct a personal audit of your work-life using a simple SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis and access the results. Where do the  gaps between your current work time, personal time,and lifestyle commitments?

Step 2: Purpose driven

What is  your values and purpose in work and life? Reflect, analyse, and list down three to five items and focus on them. Stress and frustration may result if these values and purposes are not met. But remember, perseverance is needed to keep the balance!

Step 3: Goal oriented

As goals are seen as the end result from perseverance, setting them at an attainable level would help you keep focused and refrain from getting overly ambitious. Discuss these goals with people for additional morale support. Write down your goals in your PDA calendar’s ‘to-do’ list and set reminders about them on a weekly basis.

Step 4: Adaptability

It takes conscious effort and determination to obtain work-life balance as it calls for long term changes to your lifestyle. Compromises and sacrifices are inevitable. Sometimes, you’ll just have to say  “No” without having to feel guilty about it.

If you find adaptability a trouble, please relook back to Step 2.

Step 5: Evaluation

Since the continuous effort of evaluation is necessary to maintain work-life harmony, sustaining it is an even greater challenge.

Restart the five-step plan if bump into any major decision your work-life journey.

Ngion believes that work-life balance is obtainable. All you have to do is to choose, focus, evaluate to adapt, then keep moving!