Sales & Marketing Management - November/December 2007 - (Page 14)

the Pitch MANAGEMENT Long-Distance Teambuilding Geography needn’t pose a barrier to managing your people call, which lasts about 15 minutes, to allow salespeople to exchange ideas, successes and challenges. At first, to generate conversation, he asked salespeople to come prepared with discussion points, such as a summary of a particular category. But eventually the talks became more organic. For example, after one of Cowitt’s salespeople heard from one of his teammates that a buyer was looking to move to a smaller city, he called one of his own clients, who was looking to make a hire. But what if a salesperson is stumped by a question from a client in the middle of the day? Cowitt insists that everyone is logged on to instant messaging. That free-flowing exchange of ideas works to everyone’s benefit. Online communication can be a great supplementary tool, but most managers mistakenly use e-mail as the primary means of keeping in touch , says J. Tillman Douglas, Jr., founder of Douglas Sales Company in Atlanta. “You can’t get that voice inflection,” says Douglas, who acts as an outsourced sales manager for clients. “My feeling is that you’ve got to use the telephone. It takes a minute-and-a-half to call someone and ask, ‘What can I do for you?’” Douglas suggests reserving e-mail to record and track results, such as sending out a chart that lists everyone’s monthly performance against key metrics. As he explains, “What you’ll find is the guy at the bottom of the list is probably going to reach out to the person at the top and ask, ‘What are you doing?’ It creates that competitive environment and spirit of teamwork.” —Michele Marchetti uilding an esprit de corps when salespeople are spread throughout the country has always been a monumental challenge. But in today’s cost-conscious culture, impromptu sales rallies are luxuries, putting even more pressure on managers to use phone calls and emails to fill in the gaps between face-to-face meetings. When Evan Cowitt assembled a team of national account sales managers in key cities throughout the country this past spring, he worried how his teammates would thrive working in their individual offices, away from the mothership. “Sellers by nature like to be in a team environment—they want a high-five and a talk around the water cooler,” says Cowitt, vice president of national advertising sales for Freedom Interactive, the Internet division of Freedom Communications, a media company in Irvine, Calif. So Cowitt implemented a daily phone B POP QUIZ A QUICK TEST OF YOUR MANAGERIAL SKILLS “ARE YOU WELL -VERSED IN BUSINESS ETIQUETTE?” Answers provided by Judith P. Bowman, founder of Protocol Consultants International, a training and consulting firm in Smithfield, R.I., and author of Don’t Take the Last Donut: New Rules of Business Etiquette. It’s okay for salespeople to address a potential new client by his or her first name. FALSE: Urge sales professionals to err on the side of being conservative, showing respect. Remind them to never assume the familiar unless or until invited to do so. Business scandals have compromised the integrity of business ethics in general. Our challenge is to restore trust, because without it, there is no relationship. Teaching your sales professionals to shake hands when being introduced is an insult to their intelligence. FALSE: Even salespeople with the best people skills make mistakes, and showing them how to make that all-important first impression is a powerful training tool. Shaking hands is the most common form of greeting in the world today. One to two “pumps” in North America are appropriate; one brisk “pump” in France and Germany; a light, lingering handshake in Latin and Arab countries; and a handshake and a bow in Japan. Handshaking should occur when meeting, greeting, saying farewell or sealing a bargain. 14 SALES&MARKETING MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007 Seating is irrelevant to the success of a sales call. FALSE: Seating is subliminally powerful. The most important person (the client) should be seated to the salesperson’s right, while the second most important person (the manager) should be seated to the salesperson’s left. If you are co-presenting with someone from your sales team, you should be seated across from the salesperson (and the client should be seated to the salesperson’s right) so that together, you and your sales professional can control the meeting through eye contact, body language, silent signals, etc. www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sales & Marketing Management - November/December 2007

Sales & Marketing Management - November/December 2007 Contents Editor’s Letter Management Strategies What “Tell Me More,” Really Means Sales Strategy Marketing Management Motivation/Incentives Training Technology The Brains Behind the Brawn Are You a Bad Manager? Pipeline = Lifeline Feeling the Squeeze; The Foray Mobile Workmate; Seeking the Sights of Pittsburgh; Testing the Social Media Waters. Gadgets & Gear Books That Improve Strategic Thinking, People Skills and Sales Work/Life Take-Aways

Sales & Marketing Management - November/December 2007

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