St. Meyer & Hubbard

The Sales Zone

jhubbard — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:40:01 +0000

It’s hard to explain why, but some days just seem to “click.” Maybe it is the Karma in the air, the cycles of the moon, who knows. There are times though when, like an athlete, you are in the zone – the sales zone. I thought of this concept this week when I was coaching a banker. She was telling me about a day she had recently. It went like this:

“I picked up the phone to make my weekly TAPS prospecting calls. I had three scheduled; one at 7:47 AM, one at 7:57 AM and one at 8:07 AM. I was well prepared for each. My TAPS letter was in front of me, my gatekeeper and voice mail bullet points were on posit notes on the left and right sides of my computer monitor and the website of the first company was up on my screen.

On the first call, the business owner was ready for me. He actually came in early to take my call. I got appointed. On the next one the gatekeeper wanted to put me into voice mail. I remembered that I didn’t have the owner’s email address. I asked for it and got it. The voice mail really flowed. I put my name and phone number at the end, kept the message to 20 seconds and I would have even called me back given the value I added on that message. (PS, from her creative voice mail, the owner called her back in less than an hour…appointment number two). On my last call, the owner was heading to a meeting but remembered my unique letter and the value add I sent. She set a time to do a phone call in advance of a meeting. I was three for three.”

Her sales mojo was mojoing. “What did you do next,” I asked. “The sales part of my day was over and I had lots of other things to do,” she replied. She was in the sales zone and she stopped her own momentum. A basketball team that is on a 14-2 run would never call time out on themselves but many bankers do. What could have she done instead? It depends. Did she have a meeting to attend; did she have to prepare for another call? Or, did she turn off the sales switch to do that paperwork that could have been done at another time?

For my money, when you are in the sales zone, you stay on the phone until you get rejected a couple of times. Open that much maligned sales force automation system and find a few prospects you haven’t talked to in a while. Call a COI or two that you haven’t gotten a referral from recently. How about calling one of those B or C clients in your portfolio and ask:

Jim, I was calling to learn about any initiatives that are on your plate over the next three to six months, and to discover what XYZ Bank might do to be a partner in your success.

Sales is a challenging profession. We get way more NO’s than we do YES’s. So, when you are in the sales zone, stay there.

Balancing Activity Measures and Performance Measures

rbuck — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:45:53 +0000

Most sales managers build their first scorecards with only ‘activity’ measures. It seems natural to measure the number of referrals, number of calls, number of face-to-face meetings, and number of on-boarding appointments made. However, we have found that these measures are not used for coaching – they are typically used to keep tabs on employees.

The problem with only measuring activities is that what is measured is what gets done. When the focus is on measuring activity, activity will be done in spades, for its own sake. People will be busy – but busyness does not mean results. The truth is, more does not equal better in sales, and in fact it may be counterproductive as onerous paperwork and fruitless racing-about generally frustrate top performers.

As our research shows, effective scorecards have the right balance of activity measures and performance indicators. Activity measures count the number of times someone does an activity. Performance indicators, however, measures sales effectiveness and efficiency. In addition, performance indicators are directly influencable by the frontline sales force and predictive of the financial outcome.

What’s your 2012 sales plan?

jhubbard — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:26:43 +0000

2012 is in full swing and if your commercial and business bankers aren’t starting to think about the second and third quarters, the chances that you will exceed your goals this year are pretty low. Sales managers have a significant influence on the sales process. Last year I was asked to write an article for an internal client newsletter and since we are early in the year I thought this might be of some interest to readers. The article focused on questions sales managers should be asking as the calendar turns. Here are just a few that, when answered and executed can help transform your sales culture. We’ll blog in greater detail about some of these subjects as the year progresses.

How am I continually sourcing the best and the brightest new candidates in my marketplace?
How am I holding my bankers accountable to ask questions about other quality bankers that call on their clients, prospects and COIs?
Where am I keeping track of these candidates?
When I interview candidates, am I asking more questions about their sales approach or talking more about the bank?
How do I assess a candidate’s sales acumen via sales related questions, scenarios and testing (like PI)?
This year, how will I weave my bank’s sales process into my team meetings, one-on-ones and coaching?
How will my Pipeline and Skill Builder meeting become more engaging and strategic?
How will I use my regular one-on-ones to help colleagues focus their activities versus simply talking about deals in the pipeline?
How often will I observe colleagues on the telephone as they attempt to generate appointments?
How will I use joint calls to see behaviors that need coaching versus taking over the call?
How will I link results coaching back to activities that cause success to occur?
What pinpointed skills will I coach with each colleague to help them perform better?
How will I encourage the use of available Business Intelligence tools such as First Research, Vertical IQ, Lattice Engines and Boardroom Insiders?
How can I be certain to connect these tools into my sales meetings, one-on-ones and coaching?
How will I use sales automation as a coaching and reinforcement tool?
How will I work to convince my team that SFA is a help to them versus a burden?
How am I encouraging the use of social media such as Linkedin?
How am I helping my bankers understand what value really means to the client and holding them accountable to articulate that value?

Lots of questions. Execution is the answer.

Resolution: Read, Read, Read

jhubbard — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:57:53 +0000

We’re nine days into the New Year and by now most resolutions are history. Working out, losing weight, taking dance lessons are all terrific but too often they tend to fade as fast as the career of a Chicago Bear first round draft choice. One thing resolute sales professionals understand is that gaining greater knowledge, skills and tools are not a fad, they are traction makers. I make an effort to read a sales book a week. Few of the titles would make Oprah’s Book Club (remember Oprah?). Some aren’t even bestsellers. Each in its own way, however, has enriched my professional life and provided some ideas that have become a part of my regimen.

When I teach at banking schools or make presentations to financial services trade groups and I ask what sales book they are reading, few hands go up. Maybe it’s because there are no bookstores in their town. Oh wait, there’s Amazon. Perhaps they don’t have the time or patience to read. Hmmm aren’t there books on CD? Don’t like to carry those heavy things, try an Ipad. Can’t afford them? Library. There are really few excuses for not enhancing your knowledge.

OK what books should be on the reading list? Here are three that stand out.

The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook (http://trustedadvisor.com/trustmatters/category/the-trusted-advisor-fieldbook-2) by my friend Charles Green and his colleague, Andrea Howe. This is a practical “how to” when it comes to building and sustaining trust inside and outside any organization. The best practices jump out of every page. It’s one of those books that you will dog ear, highlight, underline and use. PS: Charlie has a blog, Trust Matters http://trustedadvisor.com/trustmatters and it is not to be missed.

Harvey MacKay has sold more than 10 million books that have been translated into 37 languages. His first Swim With The Sharks Without Getting Eaten Alive was a “New York Times” bestseller for 54 weeks. His latest effort, The MacKay MBA of Selling in the Real World (http://www.harveymackay.com/books) is equally powerful. Harvey writes like he talks, through stories. For the new sales professional or the veteran, there is something for everyone in the 82 chapters. Lots of chapters but those familiar with Harvey’s writing know that some sections are four pages and some a ½ page. Come to think of it, Harvey Mackay might have been the world’s first blogger.

Sales performance is critical for every financial services firm, regardless of size. The key to sustainability is not training; far from it. It’s all about accountability and that means sales management. For that lesson I turned to Cracking the Sales Management Code, by Jason Jordan (http://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Sales-Management-Code-Performance/dp/0071765735). I follow 10-15 book lists from folks on Linkedin and every list has this one near the top. This one is all about Management, Metrics and Methodology. There is a shortage of books relating to practical sales management. This one is long on great ideas.

There are others – many more. Every first week of the year we send our clients PowerResources – a list of great sales, leadership, marketing and customer experience books. We thought you would enjoy the 2012 edition too. You can find it in our Resources section, under Insights.

The next time you are in class or in a sales presentation and the presenter asks what sales book you are involved with, be the first one to proudly raise your hand.

Change is Constant

jhubbard — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:22:53 +0000

Change is constant. In business, you do it or you die. Change can cause uncertainty, anxiety and fear. It is also exciting and at St. Meyer and Hubbard, we pledged that change would be our ally since day one on December 2, 2000. Websites existed then but were not essential. Tweeting was something only a bird did, and lengthy newsletters were the norm. We had one called Conversation Signposts and at its peak more than 22,000 bankers and other financial services professionals received it each month. We’ve retired it.

Today potential buyers see a company’s website as an important glimpse into an organization and its philosophy. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have connected the world. In this sound bite, data overloaded society, blogs have replacing newsletters as quick and viable sources of information. There are more than 100 million blogs in existence as the calendar rolls to 2012. It would make John Barger, who coined the phrase weblog in 1997, very proud.

So while we are quite late to the party, welcome to the St. Meyer & Hubbard blog. Our emphasis is sales and sales management in financial services. Our thought leaders plan to focus on:

Jack Hubbard, sales tips and rants
Bob St. Meyer, coaching and strategy
Ron Buck, thought leadership in performance management
Craig Capp, CRM/SFA adoption ideas
Erin Hubbard, ideas for millenials
Holly Sansone and Joanne Krettek, learning applications

We’ll have guest writers too and we promise to be thought provoking, to the point and practical.

You will see other changes in 2012 from us; new training modules, blended learning approaches, a totally revamped brand thanks to our partners at EMI Boston, and a regular sales tip on Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/StMeyerHubbard). Follow us there and on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Meyer-Hubbard-Inc/158546687516339) and Linkedin (http://www.linkedin.com/company/149259?trk=tyah).

Reaching Your Goals in the Face of the Storm

rbuck — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:27:21 +0000

For the past decade, I have been asking branch managers, sales managers and executives how busy they would be if they had no goals. The answer is always the same… they will always be just as busy whether they have goals or not. Their day job is always a storm hanging over their heads and raining on their goals.

The storm is your day job, everything that is urgent: meetings, reporting, administrative and operational issues, personnel issues, training, compliance, staffing issues and turn-over. Your goals are important but not as urgent as your day job — and unless you remain focused, the storm always wins. Unfortunately, sales executives develop great strategies that fall victim to the storm.

The real challenge is reaching your goals in the face of the storm. This requires focus, task simplification, more time, accountability, and the alignment of everything you are doing to accomplish your goals.

The Sales Manager’s Role: Improving Sales Performance

bstmeyer — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:19:05 +0000

The key responsibility of any sales manager is to improve the performance of the people they lead. This requires sales managers to engage in their own routines of group and individual coaching. Everyone needs to be coached at their own level, but everyone deserves to be coached. To sustain a performance culture for the long haul requires rigor and discipline at the sales management level.