Getting the Right Landmarks on Your Success Roadmap

Picture this: you’re heading off on a road trip to exciting – but unfamiliar – territory. Do you just set off on the open road and hope you eventually somehow reach your destination?�

While some adventurers might take this approach, most people start out a journey with a roadmap, complete with landmarks that help them identify they’re on the right track, whether it be roadside attractions or cities that are along the way from Point A to Point B. �

The same principle applies in life – and especially in sales, where success is determined by our ability to bring together skills, business processes, resources, and natural talents in order to help customers and contacts buy into our vision of value within whatever product or service we’re selling. �

Here are some benchmarking landmarks to include on your roadmap to the destination of success:

• The essentials – Your trip won’t go too far if you don’t include some gas stations and pit stops along the path, right? Similarly, it’s critical to focus on the essentials from the get-go. These would include any metrics and benchmarks that are reasonable to expect when looking at one’s skills and effectiveness. While the specifics will vary by industry and objective, they generally will include a strategy for growth, basic sales processes and systems, personal competencies, management practices, and skills development.


• Goals and objectives – If you think you’re driving to California and your passenger thinks you’re off to Calgary, there’s a problem. Sharing common goals and objectives helps everyone involved understand how to get to your overarching organizational vision. These goals and objectives should be specific and measurable, with intermediary expectations set along the way (i.e. quarterly performance goals of a certain dollar amount or number of sales conversions that will show progress toward the annual goal).


• Values and principles – What’s the purpose behind your journey? Undertaking a long trip to see a close friend or ailing relative will drive you with more meaning than traveling for an obligatory appointment. Likewise, these values and principles breathe life and heart into your sales journey. How do the two differ? Values are broad fundamental beliefs– things like acting with integrity, exceeding expectations, or serving the community. Principles are more a part of the everyday tactical business execution, like nurturing client relationships, knowing the competition, or proactively managing risks and promoting awards.


• Reward systems – Remember asking “are we there yet?!” on childhood road trips? The promise of a cookie or some other tangible reward at the next gas station can work wonders for encouraging patient behavior for a child. The same idea applies to adults in a sales environment. Acknowledgement for reaching a certain goal, exceeding performance expectations, or winning a competition gives team members an added boost that helps them drive on in their sales efforts. The best rewards are those that are outlined in advance, giving all team members something to work toward, and align closely with your overall business strategy.

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Happy travels along your sales journey!�

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Baby Steps Toward Social Media Prowess

Recently I was talking with a friend whose baby girl has just started to crawl. While watching footage of this little gal get around – hesitantly and haltingly at first – it made me think of how important it is to progress strategically and methodically toward any destination or goal, including in social media. �

While it’s important to begin with the end in sight, we also need to take joy in the journey to get to that end. If you want to be a social media pro, remember to value and savor the steps along the way as you engage with the various tools and methods to tell a story. Make sure you learn to walk before you run:�

• Crawl – When entering the world of social media, it’s vital to remember that you’re still dealing with individuals interested in human stories. Don’t get distracted by the tools and platforms. Take the time to first understand what your (or your institution’s) inherent systems and processes, resources, and culture are. What are institutional barriers you may face in going social? Public companies face different issues than private companies, and different platforms make more sense for different audiences (e.g. a LinkedIn group vs. Facebook, depending on if you’re B2B or B2C). Thinking through what makes the most sense before starting will increase your chances for success – and decrease the chances your institution will write off social media as a fad or flop.


• Walk – After you’ve made a strategy, begin engaging with one tool at a time. It’s important to take a note from the Johnson & Johnson playbook and get a presence in one platform launched and running well before branching out into another. Also, don’t discount the importance of building on your own real estate first. Platforms like Twitter and Facebook may be buzzing upon everyone’s lips, but they could be supplanted by the next big thing – remember MySpace and Friendster, after all? If you start an in-house blog on your own website, you’ll have control over it regardless of external forces. Be flexible as you try new things, remembering that nothing is permanent, but also be committed to the overall purpose behind social media: connecting with your audience. See what works, changing and adjusting as you go.


• Run – Once you’ve mastered getting a social media presence launched, you’ll hit that prized end point of having a fully integrated social business, complete with measurable tracking and analytics that help you better understand the impact communicating with customers has on your business. Remember, the connection between social media and ROI may not be measurable in strict numbers, but social breeds customer loyalty, and that’s something that can’t be slapped with a price tag.

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The process of implementing a winning social media strategy takes patience, but as you enjoy each milestone on the way to running with the best-practice examples, you’ll be able to savor the successes along the way with your lasting audience.

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"You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do." - Henry Ford
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A wise man has more riches than one with gold and power.
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"I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done." - Henry Ford
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LEARNING YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE

Have you ever encountered a boss whose approach to power and leadership baffled you?�

According to Harvard Business Review, one’s instincts where power is concerned – both giving and receiving it – stem from conditioning in one’s life since childhood, particularly within the family unit. In researching power styles, author Maggie Craddock observed that “the building blocks of anyone's signature power style are rooted in the ways they have been conditioned to respond emotionally and behaviorally to the first authority figures they encountered in life, namely, their caregivers.”�

In other words, those whose caregivers asked for the child’s opinion in making family decisions are likely to be adults who appreciate when colleagues take time to connect and build a trust-based relationship. Conversely, those raised by authoritarian caregivers usually build their power relationships based in fear, which can lead to disliking consensus building and preferring independent leadership. �

Most people’s power styles are a blend of the following four profiles, according to Craddock. Where do you fit into the mix? �

• The Pleaser – These are the folks who, lacking the attention they craved early in life, are hardwired to care for others. They hunger for validation and connect with others at a personal level as a means of gaining power.


• The Charmer – As a child, these individuals often had to care for a parent’s emotional needs. Consequently, these individuals have little respect for formal authority and may resort to manipulating others to get their needs met. Charmers have an intense focus that both intimidates and seduces others into compliance.


• The Commander – Sports, religion, military, or any larger system that reinforces discipline or a strict code of conduct has often featured strongly in the family of a Commander. Accustomed to that active scope of thinking, Commanders tend to foster a sense of urgency as they focus on results.


• The Inspirer – Self-expression is more important than conformity in the families of Inspirers. These innovative thinkers operate with a consistent commitment to the greater good, an example set by parents who made sacrifices to achieve excellence.

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Remember, no power style is inherently good or bad – each has its share of strengths and challenges. Recognizing how you react to power will help you to react accordingly, strengthening the advantages while minimizing the drawbacks.

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MAINTAINING AN OFFICE ON THE RUN

A large chunk of sales professionals are “road warriors,” always on the go from client to client. In a world where constant connection is the norm, how can you set up your office for grab-and-go portability that works as well on the road as in a home office or cubicle? Here are some ideas:�

• Get smart(phone) – Whether you’re a loyal iPhone, Android, or Blackberry user, there’s no underemphasizing the benefit of a smartphone when you’re on the go. With one device, you can make calls, send texts and emails, and search the Internet for information (including maps and directions). It’s an invaluable business asset – and the fun apps like Angry Birds are pretty great, too, especially when stuck in an airport security line.


• Lighten up – Having a good laptop is another essential to conducting business on the go, but when buying, make sure you weigh your options – literally. If you’re going for portability, it’s important to select a machine that’s lightweight. Most brands have good options for light laptops that still pack a punch. If you don’t need heavy-duty programs, a netbook may be the way to go. Otherwise, look into options like the MacBook Air.


• Just in case – Carting around an office on the go requires a quality carrying case. While most consumers go for shoulder bags, backpacks designed for laptops are also a great option. Whatever you select in terms of style, be sure it will be comfortable and has plenty of nooks and crannies for all the office essentials, from pens and notebooks to power adaptors and cords aplenty.


• A powerful connection – There are a lot of computer essentials that can be taken for granted while in the office and forgotten on the road. While traveling, be sure to pack an extra power strip. It’s worth its weight in gold when plugging in the multiple devices that have become part of daily life. Also be sure to keep an Ethernet cable on hand for the locales where you can’t get a wireless signal.�

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