VIDEO: How To Leverage The Power Of Fear to Become Unstoppable
Mar 5, 2010 Career Advice, Executive Coaching, How to Manage Your Team, Live Responsibly: Life Tips, Great Living, Sales Coaching, Videos, accountability, career coaching, coaching for managers, coaching salespeople, cold calling, training for managers
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.
Tags: career coaching, coaching for managers, coaching salespeople, Executive Coaching, life coaching, Sales Coaching, video
Coaching Questions Managers Use To Get People To Recognize The Cost of Self Sabotaging Behavior- Part 2
Feb 11, 2010 Executive Coaching, How to Manage Your Team, Sales Coaching, Sales Management, coaching salespeople
Like most people, most managers I meet simply do not like confrontation. As such, they have tendency to avoid it at all costs. Now, I’m a huge advocate of motivating people by uncovering what drives them personally by tapping into their individuality, and then motivating them by pleasure, their goals, their dreams and their personal vision. While this is my preferred way of coaching and management, the unfortunate truth is, sometimes this isn’t enough for some people, especially those who simply aren’t getting the message that their behavior is going to bring them to a place where they don’t want to be.
The following questions hit on the cost of negative thinking or behavior. And the fact is, pain is always a greater motivator than pleasure. The benefit of using some of these questions is this. Instead of you having to deliver the cost incurred as a result of the individual perpetuating toxic thinking or behavior, you can get off your soap box and stop preaching by asking these types of questions in order for the person to realize the costs or consequences on their own.
Sometimes, when people uncover the cost on their own, and they finally hear it in their own words and voice, it leads to the momentum needed to create something new that would put them on a more productive path. And in many cases they aren’t even aware of their behavior or the repercussions they would realize as a result. Therefore, make sure you’re patient with them and give them the space to do some self reflection until they can come up with the solution on their own.
Remember, when asking the tougher coaching questions, it doesn’t serve you if you’re answering your own questions. So, if you’re asking the question, and then answering your own questions, then what do you need the other person in the conversation for!
Here are the questions to get people to recognize what they may not be seeing on their own:
1.What is this costing you (to continue doing things the way you’re doing them)?
2.How is that strategy working for you?
3.Do you feel that continuing this way is costing you something?
4.When you keep engaging in that behavior, what are the repercussions you may experience? How does your behavior affect you and those around you?
5.If you continue doing what you are currently doing, where do you think you will end up?
6.How does that affect you? (Your team, your legacy, your career here?)
7.How much longer are you going to put up with that?
8.What, if any benefit, are you realizing from continually doing things this way? (Yes, people still tap into any available energy source they can, even if it sometimes causes suffering or difficulties. This is a deeper conversation which requires the skills of a good coach as it’s often something they are not aware of.)
Tags: coaching for managers, coaching salespeople, Executive Coaching, management coach training, Sales Coaching
Where Does Coaching Fall As A Priority for Sales Managers? Part Three
Jan 26, 2010 Executive Coaching, How to Manage Your Team, Sales Coaching, coaching for managers, coaching salespeople
Recently, I shared with you fourteen questions, observations and potential pitfalls that every company needs to address in order to ensure the long term success of any coaching initiative.
In this final part of a three part series, I answer the question, “Where should coaching fall as a priority for a sales manager and why?”
I will tell you with great certainty; there is no single activity that will drive more sales and produce better results that would be considered more important than effective coaching. As such, it is the most important priority for every manager and the greatest gift they can give to their team and quite frankly, to themselves.
So, why should coaching be a priority? In the spirit of efficiency, here are just a few reasons why. If you are coaching your people correctly, the majority of the problems that most managers experience go away or dramatically decrease. When managers coach effectively:
*Your sales increase and your people are selling more
*Performance and productivity improve
*Underperformers get turned around or handled quickly and appropriately
*A deeper sense of loyalty, trust and commitment is established between management and salespeople
*Performance issues decrease
*Communication breakdowns are practically eliminated
*The overall culture of the company is dramatically improved
*There’s greater alignment around goals with less pushback
*You attract better talent to your organization
*Top performers are happier
*You retain your best people
*Your team becomes more accountable and self reliant
*You find your job more fulfilling and satisfying
These are just a few of the top benefits you can realize when a manager is authentically coaching their sales team.
Moreover, I haven’t even mentioned how managers can then coach up to their manager and how it affects interactions amongst the leadership team which ultimately affects the sales team. Avalanches, of course, roll down hill.
Alternatively, there are still those managers who think they are coaching but are still experiencing problems and are not realizing these measurable benefits. If that’s the case, then simply put, these managers are not coaching, not coaching consistently or there are some gaps in their thinking, approach or skill set as a coach which they are not aware of or simply don’t want to change which is diluting the effectiveness of their coaching. For some managers, while contrary to their belief, coaching is more about changing your title and then continuing to manage your people the way you did yesterday.
For those coaches or managers out there who are coaching effectively, even those managers who are running into some challenges, I’d love to hear from you, feel free to send in your comments as well as your challenges so that I can address them here for you.
Tags: coaching salespeople, Executive Coaching, management coach training, Sales Coaching, training for managers
Should All Sales Managers Be Sales Coaches? Part One
Jan 21, 2010 Executive Coaching, How to Manage Your Team, Sales Coaching, coaching for managers, training for managers
On LinkedIn the other day, I was directed to a question about coaching. That questions was, “I’ve heard various opinions about the importance of coaching. I’ve even heard some philosophies that argue sales managers shouldn’t be coaches at all? Where should “coaching” fall as a priority for a sales manager and why?”
Over my next three blog posts, I will be providing some deeper insight and more clarity around these pressing questions.
Whether or not all sales managers should be coaches is a big topic of discussion. Conversely, it’s difficult to determine the priority level of coaching for the sales manager if this question isn’t addressed as well, if not first, as it speaks to the foundation that each organization needs to build upon if they truly want to transform their company and their culture into a true, sustainable coaching culture. Ultimately, it’s the environment in which coaching is being cultivated that will determine success or failure. Coaching needs to become the priority of the organization to ensure the deepest impact.
So, let me qualify my response to the initial part of this question by saying, in the right environment and based on my definition of coaching, every manager needs to expand their role as a manager and develop the essential skills needed to become an effective coach. Coaching is now part of every manager’s job description and is a non negotiable core competency they need to develop. Coaching is not just an event, nor is it something that happens only during regularly scheduled coaching sessions. Coaching is a language and a more powerful way of communicating. It is something that can be leveraged during every conversation. In short, my definition of coaching is the art of creating a new possibility. Now, whether or not the manager “should” coach, wants to coach or can coach, both in ability and in execution, and do so effectively and consistently is dependent upon a variety of factors, which I’ll address shortly.
Coaching is the missing discipline of leadership; a learned and developed skill for every manager – and given the measurable results that effective coaching drives (measured through objective company /industry surveys as well as what I’ve experienced coaching thousands of managers and salespeople), coaching isn’t going to become the next great fad that fizzles out or the flavor of the month. Masterfully delivered coaching is here to stay. Whether or not a company weaves coaching into their culture isn’t a question of “if” but a question of “when,” as those companies that have done so successfully will report that coaching has provided them with a competitive edge, which has allowed them to respond better and faster in the new marketplace.
Conversely, failed coaching initiatives certainly do happen frequently in many organizations for a variety of reasons. The main reason is that, quite frankly, coaching is more difficult than most managers realize. Granted, there are a many moving parts and variables which come into play that would determine how effective the coach is, how valuable the coaching is, and whether or not all sales managers or even a specific sales manager needs to, or for that matter, has the opportunity to transform into more of a coach.
I will be listing a handful of these determining factors in tomorrow’s blog.
Tags: coaching for managers, coaching salespeople, Executive Coaching, management coach training, Sales Coaching
The Ten Best Books to Read in 2010
Dec 30, 2009 Books by Keith Rosen, Executive Coaching, How to Manage Your Team, coaching for managers, training for managers
Selling Power magazine just released their list of The 10 Best Books to Read in 2010. You can find the full list of these top ten books on Selling Power’s blog here.
My book, Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions is listed #1. I’m deeply appreciative of this recognition. You can find the full review below. Most important, I hope this book continues to make the impact it has on managers world wide, regardless of industry or profession, providing the guidance and strategies that are desperately needed to succeed as a leader and as a coach in this new marketplace in order to end the timeless struggles that managers are faced with, get your people hyper-productive and ultimately have them perform like true champions today. (You can find more information about this book here.
Review below by Gerhard Gschwandtner, founder and publisher of Selling Power Magazine:
The 10 Best Books to Read in 2010
Charles W. Eliot once said, “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” The profession of selling is fortunate to have a multitude of counselors who are willing to share their insights with their peers. Below is Selling Power’s selection of the best books to read for sales managers and salespeople to boost sales productivity, to improve sales and to increase customer value. These ten books contain hundreds of valuable ideas that – if applied correctly – could easily increase your sales by 10% – 30% in 2010.
1. Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions: A Tactical Playbook for Managers and Executives by Keith Rosen
How many salespeople on your team are not employing their full potential? 50%, or more? What stands in the way to greater performance isn’t something they don’t have, but something they don’t get: professional coaching. The sad truth is that most sales managers don’t have the skill set that it takes to make a positive difference in their salespeople’s performance.
Most managers act as “super closers” and at the same time they complain about their salespeople’s inability to improve. Their approach to coaching is “telling and yelling.” The good news is that Executive Sales Coaching shares a proven process where sales managers and salespeople can co-create new skills in a fail-safe environment. The outcome: salespeople will create their own solutions.
This book will show you how you can:
*Help salespeople use their hidden capacities to solve their own problems
*Create a culture of accountability where salespeople strive to live up to their commitments
*Establish a climate of constructive collaboration that allows people to grow
What do I think? There are only a handful of great sales coaches. Keith Rosen is one of the top three in my mind. His book shares all the essentials you need to achieve a positive transformation of your sales team in 2010.
The downside: Once you’ve opened your eyes to the amazing possibilities of coaching salespeople, you’ll become hyper-critical of other sales managers who are stuck in the old ways of managing by “telling and yelling.”
You can read the full review and find the other top ten books on Gerhard’s blog here.
Tags: books on management, coaching for managers, coaching salespeople, Executive Coaching, Sales Management, training for managers
VIDEO: More Frequent Coaching Yields a Measurable R.O.I.
Dec 29, 2009 Executive Coaching, How to Manage Your Team, Sales Management, Videos, coaching for managers, training for managers
If you go to the gym on a frequent basis, you’ll get in better shape. A sound and fairly obvious principle. The same principle holds true with coaching the people in your company.
The measurable return you receive from investing your time coaching your people is similar to the payback you get when working out or engaging in some type of physical exercise on a consistent basis. That is, if you coach your people more frequently and consistently, your career and the career of those people on your team becomes much healthier.
Moreover, you have your finger more readily positioned on the pulse of what’s going on around you and within your organization so that you have the ability to handle what would initially be perceived as a small challenge or inconvenience before it blows up into a grand scale problem or costly catastrophe.
After all, problems are what happen when you fail to recognize the clues around you.
Below is a 45 second video I did that discusses this.
Tags: coaching for managers, coaching salespeople, Executive Coaching, management training, Sales Coaching, training for managers
VIDEO: Managers Must Make Coaching a Choice – Not an Obligation
Dec 28, 2009 Executive Coaching, How to Manage Your Team, Sales Coaching, Sales Management, training for managers
The coaching relationship is a choice, not an obligation. The relationship between the coach and the people who are coached is a designed alliance, a collaborative partnership, and more. As such, remedial or sanctioned coaching is often met with resistance rather than with open arms.
How is coaching being offered to your team or to your employees? A perk, an incentive, an option, an obligation, or a remedial response to underperformance? Are you offering it to your entire team, to a select few, or to just one person?
It’s the manager’s responsibility to enroll each person on their team on the benefits of coaching and being coached, rather than forcing coaching upon them. Here’s a video I did that supports this.
Tags: coaching salespeople, Executive Coaching, management coach training, management training, Sales Coaching, training for managers
VIDEO: Use The Wanting For Statement To Motivate and Enroll People In Change
Dec 17, 2009 Executive Coaching, How to Manage Your Team, Sales Management, Videos, coaching for managers, coaching salespeople, training for managers
Tags: coaching for managers, Executive Coaching, management training, Sales Coaching, training video
Live Event Next Week – How To Succeed In Today’s New Marketplace
Dec 9, 2009 Executive Coaching, How to Manage Your Team, Interviews, Live Events, Sales Coaching, Sales Management, Sales Training, training for managers
Join me next week for my live interview on SalesBuzz Radio.
Date: Thursday, December 17th 2009,
Time: 3:30pm EST
Cost: Free!
No registration Required
I’ll be discussing the new rules for winning in today’s rapidly evolving marketplace, focusing on what managers and salespeople need to do to win more sales today.
Some points I’ll be addressing will be:
*Eliminating the resistance to change in order to accelerate your growth
*How to become more accountable and self-motivated to generate immediate results
*Empowering yourself and others to solve problems, permanently
*The future of selling and sales management
To listen without registering, simply sign in to The SalesBuzz Online Community at 3:30PM Eastern and click the ‘Radio Show’ tab on this page.
To register, go to join us and complete the easy registration form here. (Joining is absolutely free).
To participate, call in or email the show—it’s your show, so don’t hesitate to contact us with your questions and comments. During the show, email thesalesbuzz@thebrooksgroup.com with your questions and comments and the opportunity to for me to answer your most pressing questions as it relates to sales and sales leadership. You can also email me today at info@profitbuilders.com to better ensure your question gets addressed.
To receive a free special bonus offer; tune in and watch for a follow-up email.
Tags: career coaching, coaching for managers, Executive Coaching, interview, live event, Sales Coaching, Sales Training, webinar
Connecting on Common Ground: Questions That Gracefully Correct Someone and Foster Healthy Collaboration That Create Better Solutions
Dec 2, 2009 Communication, Executive Coaching, How to Manage Your Team, Life Coaching and Career Coaching, Prospecting, Cold Calling and Networking, Sales Coaching
There may be times when someone holds certain perceptions or beliefs about your product, service, industry, performance or processes that may be inaccurate. Or, maybe you need to enroll people in an alternative solution, a new way of looking at a situation or a different way of thinking. When this occurs, and you’re running into resistance from the other side when trying to create buy in or you are hearing conflicting opinions which you do not agree with, you may react by telling the person they’re wrong. Or, you attempt to fill in the conversation with statistical data, evidence or proof that supports and defends your point of view in order to convince them to agree with you.
Lets face it, when someone is told they’re wrong or their belief is in conflict with the position you’ve taken, they either shut down and stop listening or come out fighting in an attempt to defend their stand. Once this happens, a confrontational atmosphere is created between you and the person you are speaking with. When you invalidate someone’s viewpoint, they become further entrenched in their case and are less willing to budge or move off of their platform.
Rather than react to their remark, demonstrate your interest in understanding what motivates their thinking and reasoning in the first place. Become interested in gaining a greater awareness around where they are coming from and seize this opportunity to validate and connect with some aspect of their feelings and thinking. Saying things like, “I appreciate how you feel” or “I understand your feelings/position on that” lets the other person know that you are sincerely trying to understand and respect their view and what they had said, rather than dismiss it. This demonstrates a willingness on your end to smooth out the playing field, continue the conversation and find a common ground and solution, without becoming argumentative and defensive.
To avoid confrontation, detach from your agenda and outcome for a moment and instead, respond to a person’s statements or comments with a question that directs the conversation toward creating a new opportunity, belief or solution. Questions allow you to correct someone gracefully or explore a new possibility without having an emotional reaction, dismissing their opinion and feelings or telling them they’re wrong.
To avoid the battles that happen in daily communication, focus on helping other people get what they want in every conversation. This is especially important if you’re running into situations like these with the people you work with. We often forget that, while we may all hold conflicting viewpoints, you are still ultimately working towards one collective goal, objective and vision within the organization. We need to continually be mindful of our shared goals and keep this in front of our line of vision. This approach enables you to do so, while acknowledging and respecting each other’s differences. You’ll also find out that you have more in common than you had originally thought.
Drive these types of conversations with well crafted, neutrally charged questions that are not loaded, manipulative, adversarial or have a hidden agenda attached to them. The byproduct will be healthier collaboration that ultimately gives you what you want with less effort. These questions will also help foster a deeper level of buy in and the mutual alignment of goals that you need in order to ensure that together, you generate worthwhile results over the long term. The following questions will enable you to create new opportunities that you would not have noticed before and uncover innovative ideas that are otherwise left unexplored.
1.What else do you feel might be possible? What else could be true?
2.Can you please share with me your thinking on that? What does that (solution, approach, problem, etc.) look like for you? What does that look like through your eyes?
3.May I share my view on that? Are you open to hearing another point of view on that?
4.Is it possible that there may be another approach/solution here? Is there a different way we can look at this?
5.Is it possible that there may be more/other facts to consider?
6.How can I best assist you around achieving what you want most?
7.When did you decide that was true?
8.That’s interesting. Can you share with me why you feel/see it that way?
9.What else is true about that? Is that the truth or is it something else?
10.I’m not too sure what you mean. Can you say more about that?
11.How do you mean when you say (better results, well trained, not qualified, not professional, unmotivated, poor service, etc.)? What does (success, persistent, organized, responsive, more responsibility, a qualified selling opportunity, overwhelmed, etc.) mean to you/look like to you?
12.I hear that you’re saying this can’t be done this way but what if it could be done? What would that mean to you?
13.What would be possible if…..?
14.What result are you looking to achieve here?
15.What is most important to you?
16.What’s the common ground that we share? What’s the common objective that you see here? What do you feel we are in agreement around?
Tags: Communication, conflict resolution, creating buy in, leadership, management, negotiation
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