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| Volume 8, Issue 8 |
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In This Issue:
 The customer is the company
Let's start with an icebreaker
Get lost [on vacation]
 Chronicles of a sales leader: Can sales managers really coach?
The sales dodo: Sales candidate attributes
Business in a knapsack: Six keys to clear virtual communication
Four best practices for E-mailing sales presentations
 Why does talent walk?
 The best managers are the best listeners
 Simplicity is the nature of great emails
How to avoid six common pitfalls of the launch process
 Seven tips for managing price increases
 Acing the wine list
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The customer is the company
Top of the Class
Jake Nickell (left) and Jeffrey Kalmikoff, both college dropouts, are now in demand at the nation's top business schools.
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Jake Nickell stepped to the front of a small classroom on the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and looked around.
It was an autumn morning in 2005, and before him sat a dozen executives from some of the country's largest companies -- General Mills, Pitney Bowes, Clorox, and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) -- and a contingent of innovation researchers from MIT's Sloan School of
Management and other business schools. The meeting had been organized by Eric von Hippel, an MIT bigwig and the foremost authority on something called user innovation. Von Hippel had heard about Nickell from a graduate student and had invited him to
Cambridge to share his story with the group. Nickell was somewhat befuddled by all the attention. He was not familiar with the term user innovation -- or, for that matter, the term Eric von Hippel. Business at Nickell's company, Threadless, had been growing
quickly -- annual sales were on track to hit $5 million, and he had lately started getting curious calls from venture capitalists and large retailers. But Threadless didn't quite seem like MIT material. At 25, Nickell hadn't even graduated from
college. Von Hippel, a Harvard graduate, entrepreneur, and former McKinsey consultant who was 40 years Nickell's senior, called the room to attention and began lavishing praise on Threadless; he called the company a "perfect example" of a new way of
thinking about innovation. Von Hippel's theory, which he had introduced in the late 1970s, was that most product innovations do not come out of corporate research and development labs but from the people who use the products. Nickell shot a confused
glance at Jeffrey Kalmikoff, Threadless's chief creative officer, and Jacob DeHart, his chief technology officer. The meeting had barely begun, and they had already learned something. Nickell started talking about his company. Threadless, he
explained, ran design competitions on an online social network. Members of the network submitted their ideas for T-shirts -- hundreds each week -- and then voted on which ones they liked best. Hundreds of thousands of people were using the site as a kind of
community center, where they blogged, chatted about designs, socialized with their fellow enthusiasts -- and bought a ton of shirts at $15 each. Revenue was growing 500 percent a year, despite the fact that the company had never advertised, employed no
professional designers, used no modeling agency or fashion photographers, had no sales force, and enjoyed no retail distribution. As result, costs were low, margins were above 30 percent, and -- because community members told them precisely which shirts to
make -- every product eventually sold out. Nickell's company had never produced a flop. The audience members listened, rapt. For years they had suspected that this kind of business model was possible -- even inevitable. They had seen the beginnings of it
in the open-source-software movement, and they had been trying to make it happen in small ways within their own companies. But somehow, this T-shirt guy had gone whole
hog. He had built an entire business around the idea that an online community could drive innovation. "We were blown away," says von Hippel...
Read the article. Back to top
Let's start with an icebreaker
Last July, the seven members of Tea Collection's sales team gathered at a board member's Napa Valley home for the company's fourth annual summer sales meeting.
Over the course of three whirlwind days, they discussed all the sales issues facing their children's clothing company, which had $8.8 million in sales in 2007. Designers presented the new line and explained the inspiration behind each look. Reps shared
feedback from retailers, learning, for example, that several different customers had asked for a navy pant. The team members brainstormed ways to squeeze as many items as possible into a sales call that might last only 90 minutes. And they learned about new
software tools for geographic sales prospecting. What was the payoff? Amy McKinstry, the company's sales rep in New York City, says she was able to identify and land 20 new accounts after the Napa meeting, using the lead-generation software that was
unveiled there. Plus, the confab was good for morale. The team went on a vineyard tour, and the company's co-founders cooked a big group dinner (salmon on the grill). "We don't see each other but twice a year, so the bonding is important," McKinstry
says. "We work so hard, but it is so much fun." Pioneered by large corporations, summer sales meetings have become common at many private companies, particularly those with reps spread over a number of offices or geographic territories. Teams typically
review the first half of the year and plan for the second half. Plus, sales tend to slow down in the summer as customers go on vacation, so it's not a big loss to take
reps out of the field for a few days. [Other companies that take a different tack in terms of how their sales meetings are held, while gaining the same postive results...]
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Get lost [on vacation]
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Norm Brodsky is a veteran entrepreneur whose six businesses have included a three-time Inc. 500 company. His co-author is editor-at-large Bo Burlingham.
Taking more vacations increased the value of my company. How cool is that?
No reader of Inc. needs to be reminded of the challenges of going into business. I wonder, however, how much you have thought about the challenges of getting away from it. I've been thinking about them lately, and not just because I sold a majority
interest in my company to a private equity firm last December. Long before the sale, I had set a goal for myself of spending 16 weeks annually -- yes, that's almost a third of the year -- traveling or skiing or simply taking time off. I reached the goal three
years ago, and I have continued the practice ever since. Along the way, I have become increasingly aware of the mistakes other people make when they take a break from their companies. Those mistakes fall into two broad categories that roughly correspond to
the age groups of the people involved. The first group is made up largely of younger people who think they are taking a vacation when in fact they have simply moved their offices outdoors. They spend most of the time doing work. The second group includes
all those baby boomers for whom vacations are no longer enough. What they really want is a change in lifestyle. But because they haven't done the necessary planning, they wind up alienating their customers, undermining their employees, and damaging their
businesses. Now, I will admit that I haven't always been as strong a believer in the importance of taking time off as I am today...
Read the article. Back to top
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Chronicles of a sales leader: Can sales managers really coach?
Bill Golder is a monthly online columnist for Sales & Marketing Management online. As EVP of sales at Miller Heiman, Golder has a reputation for taking on tough assignments and successfully turning around difficult situations.
He has extensive sales and operations experience, especially in leading business-to-business sales of professional services and multi-unit operations management.
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There's a lot of talk lately about coaching, and I'm not referring to the debate on your favorite sports blog regarding all-time great coaches in sports.
While it's not a new topic in the world of leadership and management, it seems to be on the minds of many sales executives looking to improve productivity. In the past, improving the way front-line sales managers coach was often an initiative pushed by
human resources. Today, the most senior sales leader is looking to crack the code on how to get more coaching and leadership out of their managers. Universally, most executives agree that this is one of the toughest initiatives to implement and to gain
traction. Why is this so hard? Many of us might wonder if it's even possible to happen in any meaningful way. I've heard all the reasons: increasing spans of control in headcount and geographic coverage, increasing responsibilities with fewer resources,
multiple corporate initiatives (such as managing a new comp plan roll-out or implementing a new CRM system), new directions coming from the top, etc. It gets overwhelming to put our arms around something as soft and hard to measure as coaching
with all of the challenges that can get in the way. Let's take a step back and look at some of the issues that every organization should consider when looking to improve effective coaching....
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The sales dodo: Sales candidate attributes
Lee B. Salz is president of Sales Dodo, author of Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager, and an online columnist for Sales and Marketing Management. Look for Lee's new book in February 2009, The Sales Marriage." He specializes in helping companies identify and hire the right sales people.
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Companies spend tons of money trying to attract sales talent through job boards, yet they impair that campaign with what they put in their ad.
Close your eyes. Think of the perfect mate. How long is your list of requirements of the perfect mate? Are there five of them? 10? Perhaps, you have 20. Think about your list again. Are each of those really requirements of your ideal mate? Or, are those
desired attributes? On which items are you willing to be flexible? People make decisions every day based on their "desired" and "required" aspects. There are some aspects on which people can compromise and others where they cannot. This challenge
hits employers when they are trying to attract sales talent. Instead of creating ads on job boards that invite folks to apply, they tightly close the spigot. [Here is an
example of the requirements section from a job board advertisement: The successful candidate must have...]
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Business in a knapsack: Six keys to clear virtual communication
Can you run your projects when you're on the run?
Business on the go is a large part of our lives today. And whether you're running a business or a project on the go, you can't mistake mobility for absence. When you're not there in person, you need to be more effective at being there virtually—that means
you'll need to sharpen your communication skills like a pro. Here are six keys to clear communication in a virtual world...
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Four best practices for E-mailing sales presentations
Dave Paradi teaches professionals and executives from Fortune 500 corporations to non-profit agencies how to transform the overloaded text slides they currently use into persuasive visuals that sell ideas, products and services effectively to decision
makers. He is the author of "The Visual Slide Revolution" and co-author of two "Guide to PowerPoint" books from Prentice Hall. His ideas have been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Globe and Mail and BusinessWorld India.
Many times we are asked to e-mail a sales presentation either as a substitute for a live meeting in the early stages of the sales process or so the prospect can share it with others.
Here are four best practices to make sure your presentation gives the prospect the best image of you and your products or services...
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Why does talent walk?
Myra White teaches managing workplace performance and organizational behavior at Harvard University and is a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School. She is the author of "Follow the Yellow Brick Road: A Harvard Psychologist's
Guide to Becoming a Superstar", a book based on her research into how over 60 well-known people became superstars.
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Retaining talent is a serious concern for organizations. Each time a talented knowledge worker walks out the door, they take valuable expertise and organizational knowledge with them.
In the past this wasn't a concern. People were considered replaceable. Organizational assets consisted of tangible things like the property and equipment that an organization owned. Not any more. Now people, particularly talented ones, are often an
organization's most valuable present and future assets. So why are organizations having so much trouble hanging onto talent? Why do talent become so disillusioned and leave? At the core of the problem is the fact that...
Read the article. Back to top
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The best managers are the best listeners
5 bad habits to guard against
To be an effective listener, you must pay keen attention to the speaker. Seems like common sense but, too often, we don’t walk the talk. As managers, it’s important to model this behavior for employees
and teach by example. To check your own effectiveness, take the following listening quiz to make sure you’re not guilty of these bad habits...
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Managers spend a good part of their workday listening to other people. But bear in mind, there’s a big difference between “passive” and “active” listening.
In many cases, managers are too busy thinking about their response rather than listening to the employee’s full statement. In a business setting, this lack of attention can result in costly mistakes, wasted time, poor service and management
failure. By listening fully and in a way that shows understanding and respect for the speaker, you develop a rapport and build trust. That’s the true foundation from which you can manage and influence others. Effective listeners use a four-step process to
ensure understanding: Managers spend much of their workday listening. But too many focus not on what employees are saying, but on what they are going to say in response. That's bad for business. Share this “Memos to Managers” article with your supervisors.
They'll learn four strategies for making sure they really hear what employees say...
Read the article. Back to top
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Simplicity is the nature of great emails
The modern email inbox is a perpetual promotion machine of colors, styles, and sales pitches all fighting to be seen.
In an attempt to break from the herd, many email marketers ironically adopt a herd mentality of more clutter, more content, more, more, more. This misguided pursuit of increased visibility merely leads to increased invisibility. Before joining the
invisible ranks of the "clutter cult" of email marketers, consider that a huge body of marketing research demonstrates that the human mind is a sucker for simplicity and focus. The eye embraces that which can be easily digested. Less is more. Unless you're
emailing something of personal relevance or urgency to your client, you have only three and a half seconds to be interesting. Fail, and you're deleted. All those hours designing a big, bloated email reminiscent of an advanced Web page, only to be tagged
as junk. Ouch. This premature email death may be avoided with a little soul-searching. Before you design your next promotion, ask yourself [and answer] three questions...
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How to avoid six common pitfalls of the launch process
Launching new products, services, or segments is the lifeblood of growth for most organizations.
Yet, despite its importance, the launch process is often mishandled or assigned inadequate resources. Many of the mistakes that companies make are basic—yet frighteningly frequent and consistent across various types of businesses and
industries. Here are six common fault lines in the launch process that very company should look out for:...
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Seven tips for managing price increases
More customers than usual will be looking out for price promotions, but don't give away the store to those who don't need the discount.
Strong brands can hold consumer loyalty while increasing retail price points.
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When driving these days, do you look at the prices every time you pass a gas station?
Do you notice yourself paying more attention to the prices of everything you buy? You are not alone. Consumers everywhere are more price aware. People who've been indifferent to price increases for years are suddenly amazed at what things now cost.
How can marketers cope not just with inflation but with consumer sticker shock? [Here are 7 savvy tips to better manage price increases...]
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Acing the wine list
Wine knowledge isn’t just a social skill any more. It’s a powerful tool for today’s CEOs, providing leverage in business entertaining. The Wall Street Journal observed that "Wine at business meals is a skirmish in a boardroom war, played out
on a linen table cloth. Your handling of wine, whether ordering it or just drinking it, matters more than you think to most clients. Sometimes people even see your comfort or expertise with wine not as a comment on your knowledge, but on your character."
This is a bit strong, but clearly a minimal knowledge of wine is becoming as critical as knowing what fork to use....
Read the article. Back to top
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