The Executive Sales Coach: Keith Rosen’s Sales Blog and Business Blog On Selling, Leadership, Managing Your Team, Business and Life » Business Coaching

When do you know it’s time to quit your job and move on to a more promising opportunity? Here are ten signs that would suggest it’s time for you to re-examine your career path and move on.

The Top Ten Signs That Tell You It’s Time To Quit Your Job

I remember years ago when researching people’s sense of satisfaction and fulfillment in the workforce, the statistic at that time was that about 80% of the people in the work force were not happy at their job. Today, that percentage is even higher. And in my line of work, it doesn’t come as a shock to me, especially with the way I see people making career decisions and the tyrannical managers who they are unfortunate enough to have manage them. The bigger question is; “When do you know it’s time to quit your job?” Here are ten signs that would suggest that you need to move on and re-examine your career path.

1. You’ve noticed signs of selective amnesia. Your boss falls short of fulfilling promises and commitments made to you.

2. You leave the office three inches shorter than you arrived - each day. The constant belittling and negative, fear based motivational strategies can really affect you more than you think.

3. You are finding it more and more challenging to fit under that microscope in order to get your daily dose of intense scrutinizing.

4. You start bringing an oxygen tank to work just in case your boss decides to suck the life out of you that afternoon.

5. You notice more and more that it’s affecting your home life and personal relationships. Don’t yell at the kids and it’s not the dog’s fault.

6. You don’t like what you do during the hours you work. Thoughts of getting poked in the eye with a hot coal are sounding more and more enjoyable and stimulating than the daily tasks, responsibilities and activities you currently engage in. Your job is simply not exciting, rewarding (financially as well as mentally/personally), challenging or making the difference you want to make for yourself and for others.

7. It’s a culture of survival - immunity challenges daily.

8. Your manager’s definition of motivation and support; “I’ll save your !$%&# this time, but don’t screw this up again. Now, go get to work and get some sales. You’ve got to be tired of being the lowest producer on the team. And you’re welcome for my help.”

9. You look forward to sick days.

10. And finally, you’re miserable, overworked, underpaid, stressed out and, it’s painfully clear to you that you hate your BOSS!

72 Hour Special Book Event April 15 - 17

2. A top coach is a model of what is possible to achieve.
The most effective way to teach others—our employees, clients, even family members—is to exemplify that which we want to teach. From the time you walk into the office, your appearance and disposition, as well as how you handle problems, talk to clients, complete tasks and projects, your work ethic, and how you demonstrate your commitment to your people as their manager, sends a message to your staff that says, “This is how it is done.” The “Do as I say not as I do” approach to managing is no longer effective. Managers need to think beyond their spoken word and evaluate their behavior to fully identify the overall message they are really sending to their staff.

A hard truth to embrace but one that rewards every manager who does is this: Businesses take on the complexion of their owners and management, both their strengths and weaknesses. You can’t expect your team to go the extra mile, feel great about their work, be highly organized, and be fully accountable for their performance if their leader is not.

The greatest leaders know that in order to have an impact on others, they need to change themselves first. If you want to accelerate team performance in ways other than through training and coaching, upgrade the message you send in your communication, which also encompasses your actions as well as your behavior. You owe it to yourself as well as to your team.

You are their manager and have a responsibility that transcends monthly numbers or year-end sales targets. You create the atmosphere and culture among your team. You develop the parameters that determine exactly how effective your sales team can be each day. Are you setting them up to thrive or simply survive? When you have the power to make a difference in just one person’s life, you are a leader.

_____________________________
** 72 Hour Special Book Event April 15 - 17

Purchase my new book, Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions on these specific days only, April 15, 16 and 17 and enjoy access to hundreds of dollars worth of additional materials from Dr. Tony Alessandra, Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins, Jim Cathcart, Jill Konrath, Dave Lakhani, Bob Kantin, Dr. Rick Kirschner, CanDoGo.com, AllBusiness.com, SalesDog.com and more. Click here to learn more and look at the resources you get.

Get the book 37% off and hundreds of dollars worth of additional materials here.

During a recent interview I was asked whether or not companies should be focused on promoting more work-life balance duing a time they are struggling. Should the offer a more flexible work schedule during a time of uncertainty and change? Is this how they should respond? Here’s my take on it:

I’m sure that’s exactly what people want during questionable times, more change. While the essence of the idea is certainly well founded and one I endorse during a period of normalcy, doing so now is a little to much too late. Unfortunately, most companies are delivering the wrong message that sounds similar to this: “So, we all know that it’s tough out there. We feel like we are on shaky ground. Many believe we’re heading into a recession. That’s why we feel it would be a good idea to offer you a choice whether or not you want to come into work or if you’d rather work remotely.”

Companies keep missing the mark. What their employees really want is open, honest communication. They want you to tell them how it really is. The real truth, without pulling punches. That builds trust and loyalty during times of uncertainty. Build consensus, build in more discussion groups rather than ‘meetings.’ Do more one to one coaching to really get a strong sense of where people are and what they really want and need that would give them the confidence and security they want in their career. This way, they can then actually focus on doing their job without these “What if’s” and other costly distractions that a fear based mentality creates.

Download an Excerpt of, Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions

Chapter 10. The Art of Enrollment

In celebration of the release of my latest book, Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions, I have some special bonuses I want to share with you today.

First, I believe loyalty in readership is worth rewarding. That’s why I have a robust book excerpt available for you to download immediately entitled, The Art of Enrollment.

As a matter of fact, I’m going to be sharing with you five special and exclusive book excerpts over the course of the next week for you to download and enjoy immediately! It’s a PDF, so load it into your PDA and take it with you.

Here’s the PDF you can download now of Chapter Ten. The Art of Enrollment - Download the chapter excerpt here.

Synopsis:

Enrollment: An authentic, powerful way of communicating that grabs people’s attention, stimulates interest, and empowers others to embrace, support, and believe in your position, idea, or philosophy. This motivates people to want to become part of your cause (a cause that may be bigger than you and them), take ownership of it, and then act in their best interest to create the possibility that you have introduced to them and/or have taken a stand for. (For example: Creating a certain corporate culture, selling or making a purchasing decision, trying something new that hasn’t been done before, or advocating for a positive, yet difficult change, etc.)

Enrolment is the new language of leadership. It is a way to unleash each person’s purest form of open, honest, and authentic communication, using thought-provoking, curiosity-based questions that generate worthwhile results in any setting. When you uncover what you are passionate about, what you believe in, and then take a strong, unwavering stand for whatever it may be, while respecting the mutual differences of one another, only then can you start to communicate and achieve more through the enrollment process: the highest form of communicating and self-expression.

And if you like what you read, I respectfully invite you to Write a Review! I appreciate you sharing your book endorsements. Help more managers and business owners become highly effective coaches and more powerful leaders. Write a review on Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble. I value your input and deeply appreciate your support.

Special Edition – Hardcover. Get Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions today at a special discount, 37% off at Booksamillion and coach your salespeople into champions. Check out Amazon, Barnes and Noble, 800-CEO-READ and other trusted retailers here.

12 Days to Launch! Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions

Confidence. It’s one of those key ingredients that needs to be present in our formula for success. If you look at anyone at the top - in business, in politics, in entertainment, in sports, one common denominator each one of these leaders possess is an unshakeable degree of confidence in themselves, in their abilities and in their beliefs.

Confidence makes up much of the fuel that drives us, the over-achievers, the dreamers, the visionaries, the driven, the passionate and those who simply want to be the best at what they do; the entrepreneur who’s looking to build a successful business, the manager who wants to empower his team and make them winners, the salesperson who’s looking to post large monthly sales numbers, the sole practitioner seeking to build a sustainable practice or the up and comer starting a new career and is looking to make their mark in order to ascend through the ranks within their company.

The challenge for maintaining an infallible, unshakable high degree of confidence is that for most people, it seems to be conditional. Rather than being absolute, most people’s level of confidence changes based on their situation and experiences. Sometimes it’s at an all time high. Yet, other times their level of confidence is shaken or challenged based on an encounter they had, a mistake that was made, a failure, or an inability to produce a desired result.

The myth surrounding confidence is this: The overall sense of confidence you have about yourself is based upon your experiences and what you produce. As such it will continue to eternally vacillate, as most people allow their internal condition to be dictated by their external situation.

In my article, The Secret to Building the Confidence of a Champion, you’ll discover the hidden power that we, as human beings have at our disposal but rarely do we tap into its fullest potential. I’m referring to the greatest power we all possess. That is, our power of choice and out ability to choose to be confident as an absolute rather than as a condition of circumstance.

You can read the full article here.

Keith on Fox Business News: Commentary on Corporate Training, Starbucks and Pouring the Perfect Cup of Coffee

“Media Opportunity with Fox Business News at 6pm tonight. Call me asap to discuss.” That’s what the email read and what you can expect when working with a publicist; often having to throw best laid plans out the window in return for the exposure they generate for you.

So, I dropped everything, rescheduled some meetings and found myself quickly suited up and on my way to the television station.

The commentary they were looking for had to do with the decision made by the Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks to close up the 7,100 stores for some ‘necessary’ training for all Starbucks employees. Here’s how the story read:

“Starbucks Closing All Stores for 3 Hours Tuesday Afternoon for Barista Re-training
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
SEATTLE — Starbucks is closing the doors at its 7,100 stores across America for a brief barista re-education. CEO Howard Schultz announced the 3-hour closure starting at 5:30 p.m. local time Tuesday to energize 135,000 employees. He wants baristas to share their passion for making espresso, or as he says, “to pull the perfect shot, steam milk to order and customize their favorite beverage.” Schultz says it’s part of his refocusing on the coffee customer experience. Since the chairman returned as CEO in January he has been making changes to revive Starbucks’ growth.”

I was interviewed by Neil Cavuto Senior VP, Anchor & Managing Editor, Business News on FOX Business Network. They wanted to hear a few different commentaries on the story and whether or not this was a good decision. Here’s what I said, and a little more.

At first glance, it could be viewed as a strategically positioned publicity move, given the media attention this attracted. It’s not like this is the only platform a company uses to develop their people. They could have spread this training out over time. They could have done this before or after hours, in smaller teams and one to one with their mangers. It would have certainly been less of a disruption to their business and my coffee consumption.

And sure, this re-education effort portrays Starbucks as a consumer conscientious company driven to maintain the highest of standards regarding their people and their product, as well as the consumer experience they strive to create for their customers, who have grown accustomed to expecting the same experience each time they purchase a cup of coffee at Starbucks. And there’s no question that Starbucks has very much pioneered many of the changes in the way we purchase and enjoy our coffee today.

Conversely, this can also be viewed as a highly reactionary move from Starbucks. This move could be perceived as a hole in their system to maintain certain high performance standards; an inability to continuously train and coach their employees properly and reinforce best practices. After all, if there was ongoing training or coaching to maintain performance and best barista practices, there wouldn’t be a need to close up shop and pull out 135,000 employees for three hours. I can’t imagine this move becoming part of any long term training and development initiative.

Besides, who they really need to bring in for some coach the coach training would be the mangers rather than their staff. At the end of the day, isn’t it manager’s responsibility in each location to ensure the customer experience and maintain the level of performance that’s expected from each employee?

The kicker is, without consistent follow through and ongoing training, coaching and development for the top down, (avalanches roll downhill, it starts with the managers) this training initiative not only hurt their sales but it will simply not be as effective as they had hoped. A three hour, one shot (no pun intended) training event is the same as, in an effort to improve the overall health of your employees, you pull them out for one day to go to the gym and exercise. Just like it takes more than one day to get in great shape, the same rules hold true for getting your employees’ careers in shape. Without continuous reinforcement, it just doesn’t become long lasting.

This is another example as to why so many companies desperately need to transform their corporate culture into a true coaching culture.

Beyond the internal question of how they will now maintain their level of quality without disrupting their customers and their business, the fact is, most customers never had a problem with the quality of the coffee at Starbucks. With the media drawing now drawing attention to the Starbucks experience, are consumers now going to re-think their perception and that this move may now be a cause for concern?

If anything, customers will now have an even higher expectation of their coffee as a result of this training. If the coffee is not measurably better than it was yesterday, will Starbucks lose customers to their competitors?

Dunkin’ Donuts already leveraged the opportunity with the Starbucks closing, countering with a brilliant move to compete and seize more market share by offering specialty coffee drinks at a fraction of their normal price; 99 cent coffee until 10pm. This is certainly an opportunity for Dunkin’ Donuts to win over a new population’s customer loyalty and the business of many of the Starbucks customers.

Sure, training is important. Sure, this move can demonstrate good will and the commitment Starbucks has to maintaining the highest quality control. However, any PR effort can also backfire and generating some publicity at the expense of disrupting the lives of your customers is not the best way to go. “Yes, we’re going to improve the experience you have with us, but first you must experience being inconvenienced by our closing.”

Back in the 80s I wanted my MTV. Now I want my coffee. Don’t get me wrong, I love Starbucks. I drink it every day of my life. However, if I can’t get it when I want it, then I’m going to go somewhere else. Bottom line; if there’s a problem that needs fixing or an issue that needs to be addressed, do so, but not at the expense of your customers.

While how much this move has negatively impacted their customers and their sales may still be uncertain, one thing’s for sure; with the collateral damage we’ve discussed, this training initiative may be the most expensive training ever known.

Here’s the link to the video news segment. Please note, for some reason, you might have to click on ‘low’ on the player for this segment to play after the commercial is done. So, when you click on the link below and the commercial starts playing, under the screen where it says ‘high’ - ‘low’ click on ‘low.’ The commercial will start again but it should then continue into the segment.

Watch news segment here.

Note: When the video player loads, under the screen where it says ‘high’ - ‘low’ click on ‘low’ to avoid loading problems.

Positive reviews are appreciated

Here’s a recent interview with Founder of CanDoGo,

Michael Norton and Gerhard Gschwandtner of Selling Power on the subject of On Demand Sales Training.

Check out the video here. (And what Michael has to say about your executive sales coach!)

If you ever wonder how much technology to integrate into your business that promises greater efficiency, more productivity or that you’ll make/save more money, Gene Marks, has succinctly pointed out some candid truths about what works and what doesn’t in his article that appeared in Business Week, “Tech ‘Solutions’ Your Small Biz Can’t Use.”

Gene states that many of the software or web solutions that claim to help drive the growth of your company are simply not suited for a small business environment.

Here’s a brief excerpt:

“My life as a small business owner has been littered with stuff that doesn’t work as billed, particularly technology. We business owners are subjected to an endless array of tools that never fail to disappoint. We’re promised. We pay. And we’re let down. The list of overhyped and underwhelming technology changes constantly. So here’s a quick snapshot of 10, in no particular order, that don’t work. At least this week.

1. RSS Feeds

Bob, an electrical contractor, knows what RSS stands for, and I feel sorry for him. He had the misfortune of signing up for an RSS feed. This misnomer is designed to make us feel like we’re getting a “feed” of data just like all the really, really important media people do. When he first tried RSS, he thought, “Wow, I can get immediate updates on product and industry developments, important news from Yahoo! (YHOO), and even get a new joke from The Onion, all as soon as they’re published!” Instead, he was “fed” an endless stream of meaningless items displayed in an overly large browser window that winds up distracting more than informing. Like Bob, most of the business owners I know have abandoned RSS and gone back to controlling when they get their information. Still don’t know what RSS stands for? Trust me, it’s just not that important.

2. Spam Filters

I get this question at just about every presentation I give to business owners: “What spam filters do you recommend?” My answer: “None.” They all suck. Let’s face it: You’re not going to eliminate spam in your business. Instead you’re going to waste money on the latest filtering technology, which does nothing more than block that key e-mail you were awaiting from a prospective customer. Or you’ll require a sender to complete a Sudoku puzzle before “allowing” their e-mail to reach your in-box. In the end, it’s cheaper for your employees to just sort and delete spam as it comes in.

3. Antivirus Software

Betsy was looking for just the right technology to slow down her employees’ computers and significantly degrade the performance of her business applications. Well, she found it, and it’s called antivirus software. As an added bonus, this software prevents her from installing or upgrading applications without a team of NASA-trained IT consultants. Betsy’s spent more money with her IT firm trying to work around antivirus software than she probably would’ve spent if she received an actual virus. What should a business owner do to avoid viruses, worms, and other evil applications that can wreak havoc in our systems? Our tools are still too limited. Even telling your employees, for the 900th time, not to open up suspicious files doesn’t seem to work. I don’t have a very good answer for Betsy’s dilemma. But I do know the current group of antivirus software applications don’t do the job for small businesses.

4. Blogs

Jamie! You started a blog for your business? That’s dope! Now go out and get some accessories, like a pair of black-rimmed rectangular glasses and a Starbucks card. And oh, by the way, you’ll need to set aside about 17 hours each day to keep it fresh. Dude, it’ll be so viral. What’s that, Jamie? You’re not in the media business? You don’t work for a software company? You just own a hardware store? Dude, that’s a drag! If you don’t have something new to say each day, no one’s going to bother to stop by and check out your blog. It’ll be, like, so lame.

You can read the full article here.

Here’s a list of questions that will assist you in discovering the ideal career for you. Create it first, then attract it. Have fun with this! In other words, don’t get hung up on what you think is feasible, available or possible. Just create what you want most.

After reviewing my clients’ responses to these questions, it’s interesting how many of them answered the questions. They answered many questions about how it was or how it is in their current job rather how they want it to be. Remember, answer every question from the place of how would like it to be and create the vision of what you would like your career to look like.

1. How many hours in a typical workday?
2. What is your desired salary?
3. Who are the people you are working with?
4. What type of clients do you want to serve?
5. What type of product/service do you want to offer?
6. What is your day filled with or what type of activities you are responsible for?
7. What type of industry?
8. What is the level of autonomy?
9. What type of growth opportunities exist?
10. What kind of supervisor do you want to work with (if any)? What’s that person’s management style?
11. What are your co-workers like (if any)?
12. What benefit/incentive package is offered?
13. What type of environment/corporate culture do you thrive in (fast paced, stressful, relaxed, quiet, etc.)
14. What are you passionate about?
15. What type of career would be a reflection of who you are?
16. How does your career complement your lifestyle?
17. What are the demographics of your clients and co-workers?
18. What are your strengths and talents that you would like to orient your career around?
19. What do you do great?
20. What don’t you like to do?
21. What needs to be present in order to make a smooth transition and be financially responsible with the least amount of risk or error?
22. Who do you have in your circle of influence to support you through this transition? (family, friends, coach, etc.)
23. Who do you need to be (or become) in order to achieve, create or succeed at this?
24. What are the fears or limiting thinking that’s keeping you from moving forward without hesitation?

I’m so thrilled to announce the launch of this new company, CanDoGo. As one of its founding content providers, it’s a privilege to be a part of this organization in terms of the sheer value this will deliver to individuals and companies worldwide, as well as the impressive caliber of people who are involved in this company.

The company offers a web-based subscription service that enables organizations and their people to receive exclusive advice from a panel of experts, covering a wide variety of relevant work-related, business or professional topics such as sales coaching, power proposals, leadership skills, motivation and much more. This expert advice is delivered on-line and on-demand, making it easy for the modern workforce to get the answers they seek and apply this knowledge on the spot to solve today’s business problems; redefining the way people work and access relevant and time sensitive content solutions.

Below is their official press release that went out today.

CanDoGo(TM) Unveils On-Demand Coaching & Mentoring Solutions
New Company Provides a Fresh Approach to Employee Development and Training to Deliver Immediate Results

CHICAGO – October 15, 2007 – CanDoGo, a provider of professional development services for organizations and their employees, today announced broad availability of its on-demand coaching and training solutions. The company offers a web-based subscription service that enables organizations and their people to receive advice from a panel of experts, covering a wide variety of relevant work-related, business or professional topics such as sales coaching, power proposals, leadership skills, motivation and much more.

CanDoGo has secured exclusive rights to deliver this advice and coaching from more than 120 authors, speakers and professional trainers in a whole new way. The company converts traditional long-form material into short, meaningful advice, known as ‘CanDoGo InsightsTM’. This expert advice is delivered on-line and on-demand, making it easy for the modern workforce to get the answers they seek and apply this knowledge on the spot to solve today’s business problems.

“Offering my distributed sales force the immediate guidance, training and mentoring they need is a challenge I face on a daily basis,” said Bob Neeser, vice president sales with Sage Software in Scottsdale, Arizona. “CanDoGoTM offers relevant training content to help my sales teams shorten their sales cycles, create better proposals and improve their conversion rates. My colleagues and I have noticed a tangible, positive impact on Sage’s business from using CanDoGo’s resources.”

“It is second nature for us to obtain advice in our personal lives every day,” said Dave Batt, CEO of CanDoGo and former executive at Microsoft and Sage Software. “However, timely guidance in the business world is harder to come by. CanDoGo delivers expert advice in a way that appeals to all levels of the workforce.”

CanDoGo’s customers purchase subscriptions to access advice and coaching from the experts from anywhere they work. CanDoGo Insights are delivered in a ubiquitous manner as text, audio and video and presented within a multitude of delivery options, designed to appeal and be accessible to people wherever they work.

Subscribers can seek advice from Microsoft Office applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Additionally, subscribers can access CanDoGo Insights from their corporate Web portals, from third-party applications like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) systems, from their PDA/Mobile devices or from the CanDoGo Web subscription portal directly.

“Our research indicates a need for ‘in context’ information as a top requirement for businesses,” said Sheryl Kingstone, analyst with Yankee Group. “Solutions that can help address this need and provide information appropriate to an employee’s current task, make this more practical and appealing to the modern workforce.”

See a full demonstration of CanDoGo’s solution at the Selling Power Conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago on October 15, 2007, or visit www.candogo.com.

For a free 7 day trial, go to: candogo.com

About CanDoGo™:
Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado, CanDoGo™ provides organizations and individuals on-demand coaching and mentoring. CanDoGo™ works with the best and brightest authors, motivational speakers and leaders to capture the educational guidance and information needed to inspire people, whenever and however an organization needs it. More information is available at http://www.candogo.com.

###
CONTACT INFORMATION:

Paulette Trimmer
Communiqué PR
206.282.4923 ext. 115
paulette@communiquepr.com

Ashley Halseth
Communiqué PR
206.282.4923 ext. 121
Ashley@communiquepr.com