When I ask managers how coaching has been received amongst their team and whether or not everyone on their team is being coached by them consistently, here’s one response that I have heard countless times from managers in practically every industry and profession.

“My top performers tell me they don’t want to be coached.”

These managers tell me how they continually run into a certain degree of resistance from some of their top producers around being coached. As a result, many managers make the costly decision to simply not coach their top people.

Conversely, other managers attempt to force or sanction coaching upon them. I can guarantee you, both of these solutions will wind up doing more damage than good. Instead, start by getting to the source of where their resistance is coming from.

When enrolling a resistant top performer in coaching, it may sound a little different than when you’re enrolling a mid performer or underperformer, especially if the manager has positioned coaching as “Remedial Only.” That is, those who are not performing get coached and as such, they make coaching conditional (when there’s a problem) rather than positioning coaching as a positive benefit, such as “Everyone always gets coached, consistently because it’s a way to deliver more value to you – and you are the priority here.”

Instead, take the following approach to identify where their reluctance to being coached is coming from. Once you uncover the source, you can then address the cause of their resistance to coaching. Here are five ways to do so:

1.Find out What Coaching Means to Them: Three of the leading causes of coaching reluctance on the side of your direct reports are:

a. their misconceptions of what coaching is,
b. how coaching has been positioned within your organization or
c. a possible negative past experience they had when they were being coached.

As a manager, it’s your responsibility to get to the source of their resistance to coaching so that you can then defuse it. Have an exploratory conversation with them one to one. Here’s an example of what that could sound like.

“John, I want to ensure that I’m being the best manager for you and that I’m providing you with the right support and resources you need to achieve your goals. To do this, that means becoming the best coach I can be for you. So, I’d like to talk to you about engaging in one to one coaching.”

Then, follow up with questions like these:

a. What does coaching mean to you?
b. What’s your perception of coaching?” (These questions align your definitions of coaching and eliminate any negative perceptions of coaching.)
c. What concerns if any, do you have around having me coach you? Let’s address them now so we can get through them together.

Here’s a tip from your coach: Don’t put them on the defensive by saying something like, “Why don’t you want to schedule our coaching sessions? Everyone else on the team has scheduled their coaching calls and are engaged in the coaching.”

When asking these questions, give the person time and the space to respond fully. Be silent after asking the questions. Make sure you get their full perspective on it, as well as their experience of coaching, whether from an external coach or their experience with a prior manager. Once you get their concerns out, then you have an opportunity to create a new possibility by setting up the rules of coaching, expectations of the coaching relationship and what that safe zone in coaching looks like.

2.Appeal to their Ego: Begin a conversation by saying, “I can really use your help.” Ask them for their help and support around this coaching initiative, since the other team members look up to them as a role model and their buy in is essential for the coaching to stick within the team.

3.Uncover The Blind Spots: Enroll them in the importance of observation, and how all great athletes have a coach on the sidelines, since it’s very difficult to self diagnose when you’re in the middle of the game. Here’s an example of some dialogue you can use. “By finding one or two things that I can see which you can’t when you’re in the middle of a presentation or when you’re focused on selling, we can then tweak or refine those areas that you may not even be aware of, which will make you an overall better player and performer and keep you on top of your game.”

4.Celebrate Them! Position coaching as an opportunity for the manager and top performer to get together and celebrate them and their successes and wins. Top performers love to celebrate their success! This is a chance to recognize the value they deliver, provide desired and needed acknowledgement, reinforce their best practices that you want them to continually engage in, while also preventing the chance of alienating your top players by not giving them the attention and recognition they need and deserve, which can leave your top performers feeling as if they are not being appreciated and as a result, erode the commitment they have towards the company as they start seeking out employment opportunities elsewhere.

5.Advance their Career: Coaching your superstars can help further their career trajectory by having them learn how to coach, (coach the coach) as well as by being coached themselves, if they want to move into management or even take on more of a senior sales position and a bigger role in supporting and coaching the other salespeople on the team.

You Gotta’ Have Trust.

At the conclusion of a training event that I delivered for a team of about 20 managers, one of their action steps at the end of the training was to introduce coaching to their team and enroll their salespeople in being coached on a consistent basis. About a week or so after the training was over, each manager emailed me to report on how their conversations went. 18 managers told me that their team was not only bought into being coached but were generally excited about the opportunity to get more personal time with their manager!

However, the emails that I received from the other two remaining managers did not sound as promising. These two managers felt that their team was not on board with the idea of being coached and experienced a general sense of resistance from them.

The question is, why? Was it that these two managers had a team of salespeople who just weren’t coachable?

I don’t think so.

After further due diligence and speaking in confidence with those two sales teams who were pushing back on being coached, it turned out that the real source of the issue came down to one thing; trust. For you to shine as a masterful coach, it cannot be overshadowed or clouded by doubt, fear or uncertainty that may exist in the hearts and minds of your people.

That’s why trust is the backbone of coaching. Without it, you’ll experience the same resistance from your team that these two managers did.

1.So the question is, do your people trust you?
2.How do you know? What is the evidence you see to support this? Are you the first person to know about a concern someone on your team has that’s inhibiting their performance or level of commitment to their job – or are you the last to find out?
3.Have you always been clear about your intentions when coaching or supporting them, or making changes, or did you leave it up to them to decipher?

Remember, listening to you and trusting you are two different things. Coaching by definition fosters a deeper connection, level of openness and transparency with your team. However, if there’s a lack of trust, if trust has been compromised in any way, if the ground rules for coaching were not clearly established up front, the coaching will not be as effective.

The real danger here is, now the manager runs the risk of assuming that it’s the coaching that does not work, rather than the fact that it is really is a trust issue.

What many managers fail to realize is, that there is strength in vulnerability, not weakness, as many would assume. It is an important component to building trust and strengthening the relationships you have with your team.

Coaches and managers, unlike superheroes, are humans, too, and making sure your humanity and authenticity is clear to your team is an important part of building a deeper level of trust. After all, you can’t fake authenticity.

The good news is, you have the power to rebuild and regain trust in practically every relationship and it all starts with having an open, honest conversation, while setting up the expectations of coaching and the rules of engagement right from the start. You can’t change the rules in the middle or at the end of the game, as that is a sure fire way to instantly erode trust.

Remember, trust and loyalty are earned, not inherited, so become mindful of those things that you need to stay away from that will erode the trust you need for your coaching to succeed and to foster a healthy, open coaching relationship from the start.

Stay tuned for my next post, when I list about twenty different activities and behaviors that managers engage in which compromise trust and your ability to deliver effective coaching that results in improved performance.

Do you allow fear to paralyze you or have you made fear your greatest ally? Does fear hold you hostage, preventing you from being more of who you are and what you want to achieve? Have you ever been in a position of action, yet felt powerless to take those steps you need to take to live your greatness, achieve better results or make the best choice because fear had it’s grip over you?

Are you driven by what you want most; your dreams, goals and passions – or are you fueled by fear, consequence and what you worry may happen or occur in the worst case scenario?

How do you manage fear? Do you embrace it or resist it?

In this video, discover how you can leverage fear and make it your greatest teacher so that you can become unstoppable.

These questions are perfect for coaching someone to come up with the solutions to their own challenges and problems. No more do you have to foster a team that’s reliant on you for all the answers. These questions challenge people to come up with the answers, while you guide and support them through the process.

Remember, treat these questions like a buffet – take what you like and leave what you don’t. Depending upon your situation and the individual you’re coaching, all questions don’t work for everyone, which is why you have a list to choose from. Keep in mind, you can always use these questions for some self-coaching to challenge yourself and increase your level of awareness.

1-If you were me, how would you coach yourself around this?
2-What do you suggest?
3-Listen to what you just said. What are you hearing?
4-What’s the outcome that you’re looking to achieve?
5-How have you typically handled something like this in the past?
6-What are some of the ideas you thought of that might work?
7-What’s the first thing that you need to do to resolve this?
8-What resources do you have available that might help?
9-What process can you put into place to make sure you consistently achieve the results you want?
10-What question, if you had the answer, would give you the solution you’re looking for? (What question, if you knew the answer, would solve that problem? What do you need to ask yourself?)
11-How should I coach you on this one?
12-Why is that important to you?
13-What did you just hear?
14-If you had to (generate more qualified prospects, boost the effectiveness of your presentations, qualify your prospects better, get more organized, etc.), what would that process look like?
15-Imagine for a moment that you are the client. How might you respond to your approach?
16-If you want to generate a specific response from your customers after presenting a solution to them, what approach do you think may be more effective?
17-If you were the coach in this situation, what changes would you like to see?

We’re all looking for results today – fast. But standing at the podium preaching to your team gets real old and tiring for both you and your salespeople. Moreover, it simply doesn’t work to effectively drive the change and the activity you need.

These result-driven questions get people out of their head, challenging their well crafted stories (excuses) and redirects their focus into action and the right activity. Shift the conversation to the actionable, measurable tasks they can engage in to achieve the specific and measurable results you seek, rather than you telling them what they should do. After all, if they come up with the solution, then they own it. And if they own it, they’re going to be more willing to act on it.

Remember, treat these questions like a buffet. So, take what you like and leave what you don’t. Depending upon your situation and the individual you’re coaching, every question may not work for everyone. Conversely, since we all looking for new and better results, take some of these questions out for a test drive, as you may not know how effective they are until you try them out.

1 – What do you want to be able to do quickly that you are unable to do now?
2 – What’s the right action for you to take in this situation?
3 – What are the steps you are going to take in order to resolve this issue?
4 – What are the three activities you can commit to doing this week that will move you closer to your goal?
5 – What shift do you feel you need to make in your thinking to achieve this result? (What limiting thinking do you need to abandon that is getting in your way?)
6 – What drastic changes can you make today that would support your goals?
7 – What would you like to have completed by our next coaching session? (What are you willing to commit to?)
8 – What’s the biggest change you are willing to make this week, starting today?
9 – What are you going to begin doing immediately after our meeting today?
10 – What are you willing to commit to doing this week that would give you a sense of accomplishment you can experience by our next coaching session?
11 – What are you willing to do or change in order to achieve this?
12 – What do you need to give up or abandon in order to achieve this? (In thinking and in action, old habits, etc.)

The underperformer you want to turn around. The problem you need to resolve. The tension among coworkers or teammates that desperately needs to be defused. The sale that must be closed. The passion and drive within each person, especially your rookies, which are essential to uncover and leverage. The underperforming veterans who are in a slump and require additional support, gentle encouragement, and a deeper sense of accountability in order to bring out their very best. The candidate who you would love to hire but is considering a position elsewhere.

Whatever the situation, challenge, or solution, the one common denominator and the tool used consistently by the world’s best coaches when approaching any scenario are questions. Not just any questions but powerful, creative, and well-crafted questions delivered at the right time, in the right way, to the right person.

Questions are at the very core of all coaching tools and strategies. Questions are the essence of coaching. Coaches draw their power from questions and questions are where the magic of coaching originates. Questions are where great opportunities are born, new ideas are ignited, self-imposed limitations are exposed, and vast possibilities are discovered.

Paradoxically, questions can very quickly become the prime source of devastation, damage, and disappointment for the manager who misuses or abuses them. Oddly enough, questions can put people on the defensive, make them wrong, come across as accusatory, and keep people drowning in the problem rather than maintaining their focus on the solution. Any of the many barriers to effective coaching or the coaching mistakes I discuss in my book, Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions will prevent you from using these questions in a way that will achieve the positive impact you’re hoping for. The flagrant abuse and misuse of questions can easily create the negative outcome you were trying to avoid.

The use of questions plays a critical role throughout the entire coaching process, during every coaching session, and also throughout daily conversations between you and your staff, as well as with your customers.

In my last blog, “Coaching Questions Managers Use To Get People To Recognize The Cost of Self Sabotaging Behavior,” I received many positive comments from people, thanking them for sharing some very strategic questions that can be used in the specific situation that calls for them. Given how critical it is to use the right coaching question at the right time, I’m devoting an entire week to the Art of Coaching Questions.

Rather than put the questions into a compelling and entertaining story, the following posts will be formatted in a more tactical way so that you can use them immediately, as more of a practical hand book for you to choose the most effective questions at the appropriate times. This Playbook of Coaching Questions is meant to become your tactical reference guide to use daily, as I will be sharing some of the most powerful coaching questions, all of which are broken down by category. This way, you can easily search through and locate the right questions to use depending on the unique circumstances or situations you find yourself in throughout the course of your week.

Whether it’s during a coaching session, an enrollment conversation, or to defuse a potentially volatile issue, you will find questions that will enable you to create the breakthroughs you’re looking for in any conversation and allow you to get to the real truth behind every issue.

If you find that there are a couple of questions that you use when coaching which I haven’t included, please do let me know so that we can share those as well!

The most common question I hear from managers just starting to shift from manager to coach is, “How do I recognize where it is they need and could benefit from the coaching most?”

Actually, covering the specifics of what you can coach someone on, from a tactical perspective is actually the easy part. It’s uncovering the who or the often very elusive and limiting thinking or outlook they have which is ultimately showing up in their actions and behavior that is the tricky part. Demonstrating this ability is a true testament of an effective coach and I’m going to share with you how to develop it on your own.

Regardless of the topic, skill, problem or mindset you’ve identified as a possible focal point in your coaching, there is one model that’s always applicable in every coaching scenario. It also happens to be the very thing each coaching opportunity has in common: The Gap. The Gap is the space that exists between where the client or coachee is today and where they want or need to be.

The Gap is the space that exists between:

• What people know (current knowledge, philosophies, assumptions, stories, outlooks, beliefs, and so on) and what they don’t know or don’t realize is possible.
• What people need to do; the activity that supports their goals yet are still not doing.
• The resources and skills they have and the ones they don’t.

Imagine a bridge for a moment. Picture yourself standing on one side of the bridge. You focus your vision on the other side of the bridge which is the location you want to get to. Think about what you need to do to get to the other side. Consider the resources needed to arrive at your desired destination in the shortest amount of time and with the least amount of risk or error. Reaching the other side is your goal or your destination. What might you need to fill in this gap; this void that exists between you and your goal?

What is needed? You need a car if you want to get to your destination as fast as possible. You need fuel as the resource needed to get your car moving. You need a clear path that would help you arrive at your destination with the least amount of delays, obstructions, diversions and wrong turns. Identifying these resources (which we did through the use of inquiry, just like when you’re coaching) provides definition, structure and an executable strategy which collectively evolved into an actionable and comprehensive solution to this situation.

Rather than assume what you think your staff already knows, start determining what they need to know in order to fill in this gap and ensure clear communication. You’ll increase your awareness and become more sensitized to what the other person needs to learn and what opportunities there are for coaching.

Instead of sharing what you perceive to be the solution to a problem before understanding the person’s specific needs, recognize The Gap in every coaching conversation or situation with your staff. It will help you become more aware how important it is to invest the time to uncover their specific concern, request or need that exists in the space we now refer to as The Gap.

For example, if you want to learn how to play golf and you’re going to take the game seriously, one of the first things you’re going to do is find a great teacher or enroll in a golf training class. You find someone who can show you the mechanics of the game, teach you the game and help you develop your own swing. Since you’ve never done this before, you need to be shown how to do it. More than just being shown the basics and fundamentals you want to be shown the very best way to do it and you want to be taught by a champion. This is the training aspect to learning the game and the time to identify and develop the best practices for playing.

Now, some time has passed and you’ve learned the basics. You are out on the golf course playing consistently. You’ve taken what you learned from the golf teacher and are doing your best to apply it. However, you notice you’re only getting so far. While your score has improved since you’ve started playing, you’ve capped out and can’t seem to shoot better than a 90, the score you’re been shooting constantly.

Since you are ready to take your game to the next level, you now go back to the instructor or look for a great golf coach. Distinct from what a teacher does, your coach is going to find out what and where you want to improve. Your coach is going to uncover where you want to be in terms of how well you want to play the game. What do you ultimately want to shoot? That’s the measurable end result or destination we’re going to use as our gauge for winning. To get a good sense of where you are now, your golf coach is going to watch you swing a club and even play a few holes. The coach will even ask you some questions regarding how you think about the game and why you may be doing certain things when you’re playing the game. That’s the barometer to measure and identify where you are today.

Training teaches you the game. Coaching refines your game.

What this coach has just done is identify your Gap. That is, where you are now in comparison to where you want to be (a golfer that shots in the high seventies.)

A teacher is going to show you how to do something; something you’ve never done before or tried before in a consistent manner. A teacher or trainer is going to provide you with a foundation, a process, a benchmark of best practices to give you a starting point in relation to where you would begin on your path of development.

A coach, however, is going to show you how to do what you are doing even better. First, the coach would need to see how you swing a club. Then the benefits of coaching are recognized and apparent when the coach watches from the sidelines seeing the things that you, as the player cannot and gently tweaks and refines your game and approach to the point where you’ve made it your own. And this may occur after several meetings with your golf coach over time – or something you do indefinitely to continue bettering your best.

Coaching is the discipline managers use to leverage all of your salespeople’s individual strengths and talents, to keep them on top of their game and to recognize their fullest potential today, rather than being seduced by what could be tomorrow.

Sales training is what you need to become a salesperson.
Sales coaching is what you need to become a sales champion.

Leadership is, in fact a language. It is a dialogue and a way of relating to people that makes the difference between a mediocre leader and a powerful one. The greatest leaders possess an ability to connect with each person they manage and it all starts with how they communicate. The Art of Enrollment is a powerful and compelling communication strategy that is utilized by the greatest leaders of our time. Let’s begin with a comprehensive definition of the word enrollment.

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.)

What do you do to be different, to be unique, to be eternal in the mind of a salesperson? True sales coaches leave not only a lasting impression but they also create one.

Like traditional management, traditional selling is dead. Unfortunately, many salespeople today are still using antiquated selling strategies. They no longer offer a competitive edge that separates them from every other company and promotes a healthy, winning relationship with their customers. Rather than change their approach, salespeople work harder and longer as they continually react to the changes in the marketplace, only to produce the same results as before.

Motivating employees is often exhausting and time-consuming work. Trying to get people to change or do things differently is even more of a challenge. Managers struggle to get their staff to become internally driven, self-motivated, and perform at their potential. Businesses are closing their doors not due to a lack of effort but because they are still attempting to sell, manage, or run their businesses the old way, not the way it needs to be done today.

The next evolution in communication and in the way we coach our salespeople is using the art and discipline of enrollment. Think about some of the great leaders of our time. Think of the leaders who you respect, admire and who have made a difference or an impact in our lives today and yesterday. What do these leaders have in common? Each had a cause that ignited them to act from a global perspective. It was their innate ability that enabled them to enroll millions of people to follow, not them, but what was bigger than them—their cause. They used the art of enrollment to achieve historical, unprecedented results. They inspired people to want to be a part of their cause because they made it very clear what was in it for them.

What has been initially perceived as an inherent, genetic ability is now a documented process that allows each of us to tap into this hidden power we all possess. The dormant desire to want to express more of who we are, what we want, how we feel, and what could be possible can now be achieved through enrollment. Each of us can do so in a natural, conversational way that honors our personal strengths, talents, goals, values, passion, and style of communicating while remaining open to co-creating greater possibilities.

Enrollment 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.

Enrollment Is a Universal Phenomenon

When top salespeople want to be better at their jobs while maintaining their focus and desire to deliver rich value and serve their clients’ best interests, they stop selling and start enrolling. When an accountant, a coach, a doctor, contractor, financial planner, attorney, mortgage broker, or salesperson wants to build their practice or their sales, they enroll. When universities want to attract more students, they enroll. When parents want their kids to change or do something, they enroll them. When managers hire someone, they enroll that person in the position.

To make this more relevant, think about it in terms of your position. When handling internal conflicts or sharing a policy change that affects every salesperson’s commission, managers must enroll people toward a positive, mutual mindshare. If you need your team to make radical changes in their behavior or in their thinking, you enroll them in that change. Here are some situations that would warrant an opportunity to use the art of enrollment.

1.Needing to get salespeople to relocate.
2. Developing an incentive program.
3. Defusing hostility and finding a common ground.
4. Making changes in company policy or procedure, such as a price increase, a change in commission or compensation, or a change in a person’s job function.
5. Changing how salespeople will be developed and trained, such as taking part in a coaching program.
6. Recruiting and hiring a new salesperson.
7. Firing a team member and reducing collateral damage as well as toxic gossip.
8. Requesting a change in people’s behavior or activity.
9. Getting people to own a certain problem which they have been avoiding.
10. Holding people more accountable around their performance goals as well as any administrative responsibilities.
11. Requesting someone to take on a task or do something they may normally be reluctant to do.

In practically any scenario where it requires opening up someone’s thinking, modifying behavior, or taking action around something, the art of enrollment will become your primary communication strategy to bring about the changes you want without pushback, prodding, or resistance.

Creating the Possibility for Change

Coaching is the art of creating new possibilities. Enrollment allows you to communicate those possibilities in a way that people will be receptive to and motivates them to change. At its core, enrollment is all about facilitating positive, long-term change.

Whether you’re selling a product, service, idea, or philosophy, no one likes to be sold. Everyone loves to feel as if they are making the decision themselves. If your salespeople perceive you as someone who is focused solely on helping them make their own decisions, they are going to want to be enrolled by you and will enjoy the process.

Take any situation or conversation in which there is a group of people who have conflicting interests, a conflict that needs resolution, an idea that needs to be communicated and embraced, a change initiative that needs to be launched, or a mutual goal that needs to be attained. Whether each person possesses a separate agenda or information that needs to be communicated, has a misunderstanding of each other’s goals or has no business talking to each other in the first place, mastering the Art of Enrollment will unlock the door to full self-expression for all. It will enable you to communicate more powerfully, more authentically, and more confidently with everyone.

People don’t want to be sold. They want to be enrolled.

We just launched a new Facebook page and I’m excited to invite you to connect with me here. The plan is to offer some additional resources, videos, pictures and materials that you can find exclusively on this new Facebook page. I look forward to connecting with you here! Here’s the link:

Keith’s New Facebook Page.

One thing this Facebook page already has that you can’t find anywhere else are all of the pictures I’m taking documenting my eight country tour, of which you can already find pictures from Ireland and Prague.

It’s been an incredible journey filled with new experiences which I can’t wait to write on. While I’ve certainly built in the additional time to explore the richness and culture each country has to offer, the primary objective is to deliver my management coach training program to CEO’s, Directors, VP’s and managers, especially sales managers; based on my last book, Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions. (Currently we’re also doing a huge book event this week which you can find more about here and how you can get additional Bonus Gifts from The World’s Top Thought Leaders.)

The result so far? My peripheral vision has been expanded exponentially, as I continue to be fascinated by the subtleties and nuances in cultural differences, in management style and in organizations across the globe.

However, one thing has been consistent: People are people; wherever you go. People share the same core needs, same dreams; our core values still remain. And one thing is for sure; coaching is a UNIVERSAL language. (Maybe this can be a conduit to world peace? No, I haven’t lost my mind fully as of yet!)

Next stops, Dubai, Paris, Berlin, Madrid and Columbia! A few more countries to be added shortly. Looking forward to connecting and sharing this amazing and ongoing journey with you!

While being interviewed by Geoffrey James for an article he was writing for Selling Power magazine on what managers need to do to effectively coach their sales team when cold calling, a question regarding how effectively salespeople are qualifying their prospects surfaced during our conversation. (Geoffrey is also the author of seven books and the columnist for BNET, Business 2.0, CIO, The New York Times as well as many other publications.)

You can find Geoffrey’s blog here, which lists some of the deeper qualifying questions that salespeople must learn to ask.

To go beyond these questions for a moment, what I actually found to be intriguing were the comments that readers had posted after reading his blog. Now, I’m all for and certainly encourage feedback and comments, all in the spirit of mutual collaboration, growth and stimulating a valuable dialogue. And I applaud anyone who’s willing to take the time and post their thoughts and comments, good or bad, as I am always open to a healthy debate with those who may not always agree with my point of view or share a different perspective on the subject matter at hand.

The lesson I want to highlight regarding reader comments is this. While we all must challenge what we see and hear regardless of the source of information, we need to be mindful about how literal we are and to what degree we internalize the advice.

One person commented, “Certainly I feel that this list of questions is a good guide to a salesman for points of discussion and are generally important to him and his business, but as listed they might well cause offence. They would need to be more carefully phrased and made relevant to the prospect by careful research.”

I couldn’t agree more! After all, these questions were not written the way I would ask them either, but were extracted from a conversation we had and then written as a way to simulate new thinking regarding the additional criteria that every salesperson needs to develop a greater sensitivity and awareness around when qualifying each prospect.

Another reader commented on certain questions they agree are rock solid and the ones they feel are not.

This drives my point home. That is, take what you read and look at the spirit behind the questions or any advice, rather than just judging the question itself, black and white, yes or no, it works or it doesn’t. Thinking in absolutes leaves no room for innovation or creativity. Rigid thinking blocks the ingenuity we need to tap into that fosters change and improved results.

There are very few universal hard and fast laws when it comes to selling that work 100% of the time. Sometimes strategies work and sometimes they don’t and sometimes they work only a percentage of the time, which to me is still a huge win. After all, a 35% improvement is still a noteworthy improvement.

Looking for the ultimate fix and perfectly flawless solution quickly becomes a diversionary tactic and justification of your current performance, as well as an excuse why you do not have to change you ways or try something new.

Unless something is written specifically for you or crafted for you or for your company or sales process, we need to be reminded that we need to take the advice we read and then tweak it to make it real for us. Just like a buffet, we take what we like, leave what we don’t, and mix certain parts or ingredients together so they work for us.

Let us not lose sight of the value here. As Geoffrey wrote, “When most sales reps are developing a B2B sale, they limit questioning to generic issues like which products the prospect is currently using. Here’s a better idea: ask questions that reveal if the prospect is truly qualified to buy and how the buying decision will be made. This is not to say that product-level info is useless. But why bother to probe for that data if the opportunity isn’t real? If you have the answers to these questions, you know whether or not you’re wasting your time with this prospect, or whether you’ve got a deal that’s waiting to be done.”

Some readers of this blog actually provided some great examples of how to re-language these questions so they are more artfully crafted and positioned in a way that would make YOUR prospect more receptive.

So, keep those thoughts and comments flowing, don’t stop challenging what you hear and enjoy the buffet of knowledge in front of you.

Reality is, after all, created in the language we use.

“I know how to interview. I’ve been doing it for years.” I hear this from practically every manager or HR executive I’ve ever had the privilege of coaching or training. And today, when speaking to one of my favorite clients, a VP of HR, this statement was echoed once again.

And it’s not like these managers or those responsible for making a hiring decision are doing it all wrong. Many are quite good at interviewing people, finding the right candidates and screening out the ones that just don’t fit. I’ve just observed over the years some key areas that many people are missing the mark on when conducting an interview and determining who the best candidate for the position truly is.

Especially when it comes to topgrading and rebuilding your sales team, getting the right candidate in the right position in the most expedient way possible is more critical than ever. The cost of not doing so can be severe. And this cost is compounded when companies onboard the wrong person. Just pick up any newspaper and read about another company closing their doors or missing their sales goals to exemplify how much of a priority this is today for any organization.

Below, I’ve listed some very key questions in order to reduce mis-hires and bring on the right people. If asked and asked correctly, these questions will reduce mis-hires by about 80% or more. Yes, that’s how powerful these questions can be. I would strongly suggest weaving these questions into your interviewing process. And keep in mind, most of these questions will apply to any position. Notice that I’ve also broken down these questions by category, as well as some additional categories that you can use to build out further interviewing questions.

Granted, you may already be using some of these questions during an interview. And keep in mind, this list can be built out even further. However, it’s the collective use of all the questions that are going to have the deeper, more positive impact when choosing the right hire.

Moving beyond simply the questions that you could ask, what other things are you doing to ensure you make the best hiring decision? Keep in mind, the interviewing process is multi-dimensional. To build off this, lets look at how you manage or facilitate a simulation or a role play. Many interviewers ask questions like, “How would you handle this if you were in this situation” or “Tell me what steps you would take before calling on a key account” or even “Walk me through a strategy you would use to build your pipeline.”

While these are all great questions, they are still falling short of one critical element. That is, the language this candidate would be using to facilitate the type of conversation described in these simulations. To go deeper in determining this person’s acumen or ability, it’s critical you’re able to evaluate how they communicate, as well as their overall communication strategy that would be embedded in each of these situations I’ve described in the prior questions.

The most successful salespeople realize that sales, just like leadership and coaching, is truly a language and a way of communicating. Therefore, it’s imperative you uncover not only how they think strategically and the processes they may use but how effective this person could be when you send them out to connect with your new and existing customers. Anyone can talk a good game regarding processes and approach from the hundred foot viewpoint. But how they deliver the message in a variety of different situations is something that can’t be faked during an interview.

When these questions and the simulation exercise are used correctly, you’ll find that the need to topgrade your sales team will diminish because you’ve fixed the breakdown in your overall hiring and retention strategy; the broken component that exists in your system and where it all starts, your interviewing process.

Interviewing Questions:

Work History:
1. What were your responsibilities in your last position?
2. We all make mistakes. What would you say were a couple of the mistakes or failures you experienced in your last job?
3. If you could go back in time and fix that, what would you do differently?
4. What would you prior supervisor say if asked what your strengths and weaknesses were?
5. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced and were able to overcome?
6. What were your successes? What are you most proud of? How did you achieve that?
7. What circumstances contributed to your leaving?
8. What was your supervisors name and title? Where is that person now?
9. Would your boss hire you back? Why?
10. What were his or her strengths and weaker points from your perspective?
11. Would you be willing to arrange for us to talk with him or her?

Next Position:
1. What criteria are most important to you in your next job?
2. Describe your ideal position?
3. How close does this opportunity fit your ideal position?

Excellence and Development:
1. How to you better your best?
2. How do you raise the bar on yourself and others around you?
3. How do you develop yourself and your skills?
4. How important is it to you to be the best at what you do?
5. How do you assure that happens?
6. How do/did you keep your edge in such a competitive environment/marketplace?

Accountability:
1. What does personal accountability mean to you?
2. What areas in your life/career are you most accountable? Least?
3. Give me an example of how becoming more accountable has contributed to your success?
4. Where do you feel you need to become more accountable (in an area in your life or career)?

Decision Making and Problem Solving:
1. How do you solve problems?
2. How do you go about making decisions?
3. Give me one problem or challenge you had and walk me through how you solved it using that model.
4. How do you go about making a career decision? What factors do you measure? Your approach?
5. What were a couple of the most difficult or challenging decisions you’ve made recently?
6. What are a couple of the best and worst decisions you’ve made over the last year or so?

Creativity and Solution Development:
1. How creative are you?
2. How important is creativity in relation to your overall selling approach and strategy?
3. Can you provide an example how you were creative in your last position that led to solving a problem or closing a sale?

Integrity:
1. What are some of the values you have that you refuse to compromise?
2. Describe a situation where you were pressured or challenged to compromise your integrity and what you felt was best and right? How did you handle it?

Self Discipline, Time Management and Organization:
1. How do you go about organizing your schedule and your day?
2. Do you live by a set of best practices? How? What are they? (in selling, organization, etc.)
3. When was the last time you missed a significant deadline? What happened?
4. Everyone procrastinates at one point or another. Can you share the kind of things that you have a tendency to procrastinate?
5. How much guidance and supervision do you feel you need?

Self Management/State/Stress:
1. What stresses you out?
2. What do you when that happens?
3. How do you eliminate it? How do you handle it?

Openness and Self Awareness:
1. What were the most difficult criticisms for you to hear and accept?

Resourcefulness:
1. What actions would you feel you would need to take during the first few weeks here in your new position if you were to join our organization?
2. What obstacles did you face during your present/last position and how did you handle those?
3. What would you be mindful of needing to do and the resources and training you would need to secure your success here?

Tactical Sales Oriented Questions to Recruit at a Deeper Level:
You can find these questions and more on my prior blog post here:

1.What was the average size of each sale? (Dollar amount, cost of goods/services sold.)
2. What type of appointments were you scheduling when prospecting or cold calling? What was the goal here?
3. Where the appointments on site/face to face with each prospect or via the phone?
4. When actually closing a sale, did you actually sell over the phone or did you have to meet each prospect in person?
5. Did you sell a product, a service or both? (Describe how you sold each product and why there was a different approach.)
6. Did you handle the entire sales process from start to finish, including the deliverable? (Was there an account executive who you worked with, was it a team oriented approach to selling, were you only responsible for certain aspects of the sale?)
7. Describe to me the products or services you’ve sold? (Complicated or simple?)
8. Did you sell something that had an online component? Was it strictly a service? (Where they selling the tangible or the intangible?)
9. Was your product/service a “nice to have,” a “want to have” (luxury, added benefit) or a
need to have?” (Was it a necessity, i.e. gasoline, telecom, office supplies, utilities, mobile phones, insurance, etc.)
10. What do you consider ‘prospecting’ and ‘cold calling’ to be? How do you feel about having to engage in this activity? (We’re looking to uncover how they think and feel about prospecting; their perception of it.)
11. What type of prospecting and cold calling did you do? How much cold calling did you do each day/week? (Number of calls made.) How many calls did you have to make to (get an appointment, close a sale, uncover a new prospect, etc.)?
12. Please share with me what your typical approach would be when cold calling. (Describe not only your process but exactly what you said when you were making a cold call.)
13. Who was your target audience/prospect? (B2b, b2c, C level executives, business owners, sole practitioners, were you dealing with only one decision maker or did you have to coordinate with several decision makers, influencers, committees, board members, etc.)
14. When were you calling on them? (Time, day, frequency of calls, etc.)
15. What was the average size of the company you called on?
16. What markets did you focus on? (Type of company, industry, vertical, etc.)
17. How did you get your leads/uncover your prospects? Where the cold calls you made totally cold or were you getting them from another source and then following up with them? (These would be warmer leads from trade shows, web inquiries, referrals, call-ins, direct mail and marketing efforts, etc.)
18. What were the concerns or objections that you typically encountered with your prospects? (What stalled your sales efforts?)
19. How long was your average sales cycle? (From the time you connected with a qualified prospect up until the time when you converted that prospect into a client.)
20. Were you selling based on a bidding process, RFP’s, etc.?

Simulations and Role Plays:
1. If you had to make a call to a prospect who you have never spoken to, what would be the steps you would take before making that call?
2. What would that cold call sound like?
3. If you were following up with a customer to explore and uncover additional selling opportunities, what would your approach sound like?
4. Lets say you just delivered the final product/service to your new customer. They called you the next day with a major problem. They were frustrated and irate. Lets say I’m the customer in this situation. How would you facilitate that conversation? What would that dialogue sound like?
5. There’s a prospect you’ve been calling on for months. They’re finally ready to make a decision to buy and you just found out that there are two more venders now involved in this bid for their business. What would be your strategy to position yourself as the vender of choice? (What would you say, questions asked, etc.)
6. How many times do you call on a prospect before putting them on your do not call list? How do you determine that? What would your approach be? Why?
7. You’re about to visit a new potential client for the first time. What preliminary work would you do? How would you craft your presentation and set the expectations of the meeting? (What would your presentation sound like?)
8. You’ve been handed a client list of approximately 100 accounts to call on. You’ve noticed after several months, their monthly spending with you has slowly diminished. How would you handle this? What would you say?

Additional Topics That Require Further Questioning:

• Persuasion
• Communication
• Presentation
• Assertiveness
• Team player
• Conflict management
• Motivation and passion
• Tenacity, commitment, perseverance
• Education

Top 10 Biggest Recession Winners

IBISWorld Announces Industries To Perform Best in 2009

The recession is crippling businesses across the nation, but several industries will remain unscathed by the current economic strife, according to recent Recession Updates published by industry research firm IBISWorld. As one of the nation’s most respected independent publishers of business intelligence research reports, IBISWorld today announced the top 10 industries expected to have the largest revenue growth in 2009:

INDUSTRY AND REVENUE GROWTH 2009
1. Voice Over Internet Protocol Providers (VoIP) 20.1 percent
2. ecommerce & Online Auctions 12.6 percent
3. Biotechnology 10.3 percent
4. Engine, Turbine & Power Transmission Equipment Manufacturing 10.0 percent
5. Scheduled Bus Service 9.2 percent
6. Court Reporting Services 7.7 percent
7. Community Housing Services 7.5 percent
8. Search Engines 6.5 percent
9. Family Counseling 6.1 percent
10. Video Games 5.8 percent

“Emerging industries remain well represented and continue to benefit from technological innovation and cost advantages,” explained George Van Horn, senior analyst with IBISWorld. “Unfortunately, the impact of the recession is equally pronounced among sectors directly benefitting from the social and financial stress associated with the downturn.”

While only five percent of all U.S. industries are fortunate enough to be positively impacted by the recession, IBISWorld research estimates that nearly 60 percent of all industries are negatively impacted or worse.

About Recession Updates
On January 15, 2009, IBISWorld published a set of Recession Updates on its website that includes quarterly forecasted growth, an in-depth look at the shifting business landscape and its immediate repercussions on each U.S. industry. Also published was a macroeconomic recession briefing, entitled Economic Crisis: When Will It End?, created by the company’s senior analysts and Chief Economist, Dr. Richard Buczynski.

For more information visit ibisworld.com

Listen to the podcast here

Got your mojo?

Are you born with it or can you develop it? Here’s a recent podcast I did with Salesopedia that explains what makes up your sales mojo, which defines who you are and how you come across to others.

Listen in as I describe in detail how your confidence, attitude, mindset, relationship with fear, and your ability to be engaged in the moment, all combine to determine how powerful your sales mojo can be. During these times, you need every advantage to be successful in your career, especially in sales. So make sure you tune in to get your sales mojo and develop your unique, winning edge.

You can listen to the podcast here.

What can you learn from observing the top performers within your organization as well as embracing the mindset of your potential successor? While this final section may require some more due diligence on your part, it doesn’t stop here. Even as an eternally grounded optimist, it’s just good business sense to ensure you have developed a contingency plan and have it in place so that you have some additional cushion to land on in the event the bottom falls out from under you.

This could make the difference between a rapid free fall into the abyss of career uncertainly and a lateral move or even an upward career re-engineering on your part where you come out ahead. Develop your career safety net by planning for the unplanned.

Here are the final three installments of this eight part series on what you can do to keep your job and insulate yourself from a layoff.

Part 6: Observe the Top Performers

1. Become the model employee. What are the best of the best doing? Benchmark best practices so that you can then emulate them. Don’t wait for your boss to come and tell you what they are. By then, it’s probably too late.

2. Master the basics. Now is not the time to take anything for granted. This includes the more obvious displays of the behavior of a model employee. And this isn’t limited to simply being on time at work and for meetings as well as meeting all of your deadlines. You also don’t want to be caught making personal calls, texting or corresponding to non-work related emails. Stay away from toxic gossip and keep your positive attitude on high.

3. Produce stellar work: Everyone today can rely on the excuse of being understaffed, unsupported or resource thin and always feeling under the gun when dealing with last minute demands. This certainly helps justify mediocre work. Instead, treat everything you do as the most important task of the day. That’s the champion’s creed. If you did, how would that change your output?

Part 7: Embrace the Mindset of Your Successor

Imagine if you were the person who was laid off twelve months ago and has the opportunity to land a new job. How would that change your work ethic? Keep in mind, this is the person who you are competing against for your position every single day.

Part 8: Develop a Contingency Plan

1. Build out your network. Use social networking tools such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter and others to connect with the people you know and expand your network from there.

2. Know who’s hiring in your field. It’s important to know your options. What skills, education, and job training are employers looking for within your profession or industry? While it’s not what you want your thoughts to be consumed by on a daily basis nor be top of mind, you still need a balanced plan of attack; maintain a stellar productivity level while knowing what you can fall back on. So ask yourself, “If I was unemployed today, would I be ready to start up my new business, create my dream job or apply for the open positions tomorrow?”

3. Track trends. This is where I suggest caution, as the pendulum of extremities can swing each way when it comes to staying current on industry events, changes and news. Reading newspapers, checking your blackberry or iphone, reading journals and trade magazines; even talking to colleagues is good practice in order to keep your ears wide open for opportunity and your finger on the pulse of activity. However, given the number of people I’ve been coaching recently, I’d think that most of us are probably indulging a little too much what the media is feeding us. The unfortunate fall out of this is, what you continually listen to you start to believe.

Be careful about overindulging in the media and the news, and invest more of your time on what you can control in the immediate moment, the quality of your work, your attitude and your productivity. Because in the end, this is what is going to keep your job.

Here are installments number four and five in my eight part series. These two focus on developing a deeper appreciation for your job if you’re fortunate enough to have one today, and some strategies you may want to stay away from unless you want to be known as the consummate complainer. Where do you think that’s going to get you?

Four: Be Grateful

Talk to people who used to complain about their salary, boss and work conditions. The same people who used to whine about their job are now many of the people today who are grateful to have one. And this sense of deeper appreciation for their employment and their income is echoed from the taxi driver to the cook at the local restaurant, the shop worker, the teacher, the sales associate, business owner as well as the executive.

It’s not just a right to have a job but the privilege that comes with having one today. We are finally beginning to shed the sense of American Entitlement™ that was spawned from the greed that has put us in this position we are in today.

Five: Don’t Be The Squeaky Wheel

Are You known as The Consummate Complainer? Where it used to be the squeaky wheel got the oil, now they squeaky wheel is getting the axe.

1. Be of service rather than being selfish. This is the time not to be so self centered but to also be of greater service to others. Don’t seek out greater recognition; financial or otherwise. Be more collaborative rather than being competitive. So, get involved and help out where you can; now more than ever.

2. Be fully accountable. That means no blaming or passing responsibility and no finger pointing. If you made a mistake, then be the first to own up to it and correct it. Trust me, no boss wants to be caught up in further drama, so stay away from creating any unnecessary problems and conflict with other employees that kill your time and productivity.

3. Don’t be high maintenance. Companies don’t need much of a reason today to let people go. In fact, many companies are taking advantage of this and have accelerated the dismissal process of more underperformers today than they have in decades. So, be careful if you’re the type of employee who always complains; whether it’s about the temperature in the office, the work space or the noise. If you’re known to be the person who has an air of entitlement or who is just difficult to work with, guess who is going to be the first to be let go, and in many cases, that’s regardless whether or not they are top performers.

In this third part of an eight part series, here are some strategies that will enable you to increase your visibility and the measurable value you deliver in order to avoid being the victim of another layoff.

Be Visible but Not Egocentric

Ironically, this is not the time to put your head down and just do your work. If you’re not known by others and the measurable value you bring to the organization, then you’ll be the first to go. It’s great if your boss is a raving fan and an advocate. However, make sure he’s not alone. Make it a point to get your name in front of other managers so that they know and value your work as well. After all, what if your boss loses his or her job first? You want to make sure that someone else knows who you are and can speak highly of you, especially if your boss is first to get axed.

If your great work is unnoticed or you are not connected with some measurable results, something positive, something important, such as an increase in sales or profit, then all of your efforts can easily become insignificant if not visible. What if there’s no one to stand up for you during the planning meeting where the objective is to determine the number of layoffs and who it’s going to affect? At that point, it won’t matter how valuable you are if your value is not clearly recognized by these decision makers. Make sure people understand what you do and how you add value.

Finally, while you want to be visible about the results you’re producing, do so without bragging about it. Instead of running around pontificating about your achievements or emailing people about your successes as if you’re running for public office, meet with your manager regularly to make sure you’re on the same page regarding your performance objectives. Moreover, ask directly where they feel you can improve and what you can do about it. If you haven’t had your annual performance review yet, take a more proactive posture and hand in an updated progress report, action plan or business plan with the intention of bringing your boss up to date on your accomplishments and responsibilities within the company.