Colleen’s Blog

This month I spent a day working with a group of world-class data visualization architects. Who even knew there was such a profession! Nor that the best in the world were based in Toronto. Ironically, being Canadian, I have very little business in our nation’s business capital so it was doubly nice to be working with such a smart group so close to home. The learning environment you choose for your events can either be attractive and inspiring, or depressing and repellant. An attractive environment puts everyone at ease, sparks conversation, and creativity. It’s simply more difficult to be closed minded and cranky in a gorgeous environment. Today’s meeting space at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club on Toronto Island was one of the top spaces I have worked in. Lots of natural light, a view of the lake, high-class furnishings, a building steeped in tradition, well-dressed attendees, and of course, away from their offices. The environment definitely made a difference in the culture of the workshop. While we can’t always have meetings at locations such as the RCYC, we can create the best environments for our attendees to learn and communicate. I notice that the best workshop environments (gauged from participant engagement and implementation) include:

I have been spending a lot of time in workshops so far this year and the number one thing sales reps ask me is how you move beyond the pricing objection and here is what I’m discovering.

Taking the occasional peek at the sales pipeline is not effective pipeline management. Managing and reviewing the sales pipeline helps salespeople prioritize what activities to complete each month, it also gives them an accurate indication of how healthy their sales pipeline truly is. Here are a few steps for you to consider and that you can pass on to your sales force so that they can efficiently manage their pipeline:

Did you just do a double take? Stop closing sales...isn't that counter-productive to our sales success? You heard me right. Salespeople should not be attempting to “close” sales with clients. It’s all in the definition. Closing is something you do to a person. While it may just be a term, the language is completely one-sided. It implies that you are going entirely for the win regardless of what’s right for the customer. Salespeople who approach prospects with this kind of self-benefiting mentality are almost never successful in their long-term endeavors. Depending on their abilities and experience, they may, in fact, convince the prospect to do business with them, but long-term, mutually beneficial relationships are rarely ever fostered. This breed of selling creates the "pushy" and "aggressive" stigma that clouds our entire industry. It puts everyone, including well-wishing, value-focused salespeople at a clear disadvantage with prospects. You want to instill a win-win mindset in your team. Your business hasn't truly won unless your clients are gaining incredible value by working with you. Sales closing techniques that have amusing terms or names are often methods that you should not be using. For example:

It's been an exciting weekend at the Olympic track this week and no one better displays the Olympic spirit than the two middle distance runners Mo Farah from Great Britain (Gold medal men's 10,000 meters) and Ethiopia's 3000 metre steeplechaser, Entensh Diro. In a true to life Chariots of Fire moment, Farah went down hard  half-way through his race, picked himself back up and went on to win. The last 2 laps are some of the best racing I have ever seen and (disclaimer, Farah is a track idol of mine) it's no surprise I was yelling at the TV.