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There is always excitement in the air in September. For many of us, it represents "beginnings" - the school year, the colours of Fall and a gearing up after the relaxing summer months. We hope that this edition of Insights gives you a couple useful ideas that you can put into action.

If you have any feedback or contributions, we would love to hear from you!
Insights@fusionlearninginc.com

Leading Successful Sales Meetings - Part 2

Does your sales team have regular Monday morning meetings? Do they effectively kick off the week?

In the July edition of Insights we introduced 4 keys to leading successful meetings. Below are Keys 5-8:

CHART

Key #5 - K.I.S.S - Keep it simple silly!

FAST - Is all content relevant for the audience?

FUN - Inject some fun into the meeting through trivia questions, a joke, or a copy of Dilbert.

FREQUENCY - Have the meetings on Monday morning the same time each week.

Key #6 - Support & Challenge

Sales is a tough business. It's a grind.
One of the biggest benefits of holding a weekly team meeting is to tap into the emotions of reps...

How to provide support in meetings:
·	Photocopy a relevant article from paper/magazine
·	Give book suggestion
·	Positive Feedback
How to challenge in meetings:
·	Skill drill - i.e. prospecting role plays
·	Competition for the week
·	Brainstorm on how increase #'s for specific product

Key #7 - Feedback

We all need feedback in order to grow our sales abilities. Remember, feedback is a gift. Here are some tips for providing group feedback:

·	Use examples
·	Focus on the behaviour/actions
·	Keep it balanced - give both positive & constructive feedback
·	Make feedback a conversation

Key #8 - Reward and Recognition

A reward is tangible proof of a job well done.
Celebrate great work of your team through:

a/ Fun Awards
Have a point person on your team give a regular fun/goofy award (ie. most embarrassing moment, biggest talker, etc.)

b/ Competitive Individual Awards
· highest production in specific time frame
· most appointments set in specific time frame
· highest volume added to funnel in specific time frame

c/ Team Awards
· use your imagination!

If you missed our July edition and want more information on keys #1-4, e-mail us and we will send you a copy.

Thoughtful Questions

What is the one thing you need to do differently to improve your selling skills?

Did this question make you think?

One way to differentiate ourselves is through our question asking. Get them talking about what matters most to them through "thoughtful questions." What are thoughtful questions?

  · Open ended
  · Not too wordy
  · Require time to respond
  · Simple
  · Tailored to our prospect/client
  · Engage the Brain and/or the Heart

Thoughtful questions help engage and take our relationships to the next level.

Here are a couple examples for you to try (tailor them to ensure they resonate with your audience):

  · If you were to wave a magic wand, what would be different
    about your organization 1 year from now?
  · What concerns you most about your job and why?

Preparing for One-on-Ones

If you are a sales manager, how are you at preparing for your one-on-ones with your reps?

Why is preparation important?
  · helps maximize the effectiveness of the conversation
  · sends a positive signal to your reps about preparation
  · gets you in the right "headspace"

Principles:
Focus on sales person
The conversation is about them and their performance.

Build Relationship
Build a strong professional and personal relationship.

Create value
Help diagnose what is working and where there are gaps.

Tips for preparing:
1. Keep file on each rep
Record how they are tracking to their goals, key conversations and action items

2. Review file
Before each conversation review progress

3. Prepare questions
Fuel the conversation and help diagnose through a few thoughtful questions (see section on "Thoughtful Questions")

Overall, we want to prepare by thinking about two things: how we can BUILD CONFIDENCE (clarify strengths) and IMPROVE COMPETENCE (cause action of where to improve).

"Fusion Learning helped us to bring the client experience to life in our National Meeting by designing an interactive way to include clients in the session. We were hesitant to ask for their time but the result was a big win for them and for our people.
Thanks, Fusion"
-Karen Seward, VP Marketing and Research, Warren Shepell Consultants

In the Fall, Fusion Learning will begin a series of "Breakfast Learning" events.

If you have ideas on topics and/or would like to participate, please let us know!

More details to follow.

Selling the Invisible

Harry Beckwith (Warner Books, 1997)

Why you should pick it up
The key challenge in selling services is that we can't touch, hear or see them. So what can we do about it? This book provides some insights into this challenge.

A sample (pg. 41)
"What are you really selling? People in the fast-food business used to think they were selling food. Then McDonald's came along and figured out that people weren't buying hamburgers. People were buying an experience... Maybe you think prospects in your industry are looking for hamburgers. Chances are they want something else. The first company to figure out what that is wins. Find out what clients are really buying."

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