Hub You - Business

2007 Sales Management Strategies to Think On!
All entrepreneurs and companies must manage their sales because without sales the company is no longer viable. Sales management sounds easy, but it is not easy at all. Most small businesses cannot afford a sales manager to solely work in the sales department. Instead the sales manager usually has multiple jobs; such as sales trainer, new product development, sales and managing the other salespeople or a team of salespeople. Nevertheless, the manager who is in charge of sales must maintain performance otherwise the company cannot grow from its efforts.Having built a small business into a large franchising company serving 450 cities, 110 markets and 23 states we learned very quickly that if we did not make sales we were running in the red. As we grew I were many hats in my company, like you perhaps I was the janitor, company president, company marketing department and of course the sales manager to. In fact sometimes there was only

stion their own approach and thinking. This type of self-challenge enables a team to determine whether it’s the right time to invest heavily in a new opportunity, withdraw from declining markets or continue its current approach. Teams that become too insular and self-absorbed can fail to recognise potential threats, challenge the status-quo or judge themselves by wider industry best-practices. A lack of up-to-the-minute commercial awareness can also contribute to teams losing touch with what actions drive results, and lead to a slow but inevitable decline in performance. Case Study: A leading brand FMCG company was facing increasing competition in their core markets - leading to constant pressure on prices and an inevitable decline in margins. With new products some way off they needed to find a way of increasing the profitability of their traditional business, while driving greater productivity from their operations. Following a series of off-site working sessions to determine strategy, the leadership team decided to adopt a
Top Tips To Get That Promotion
This article explores ideas and tips to assist you get that promotion!My "career" has never been planned. In fact I prefer to think of it in terms of professional development rather than a career. I have had the opportunity to work in many different roles. If something interested me I went for it, mostly I was successful, sometimes not. I still clearly remember the first occasion I was unsuccessful with a job application. I had convinced myself this was the job of a lifetime and that I really, absolutely wanted it. Of course I didn't get it and on finding out the news spent the first five minutes on the floor displaying my best version of a tantrum. A very good friend with a few more years of life experience on board than I had at that time told me to get a grip. Which I did and with the wisdom of experience now approach rejection very differently.In terms of job promotions firstly do the actual job you are getting paid to do
It’s the ability to engage in quality conversations that sets high-performing teams apart. And there are significant commercial advantages, too – not least, better decision-making, improved efficiency and delivering organisational change more effectively. Team Performance expert Philip Houghton has come up with the key questions leaders must ask their teams.
SUMMARY OF THE ISSUES FROM PART 1
Success for today’s companies requires more than the brilliance of any individual.
Leadership teams full of strong individuals do not produce high quality teamwork. If each individual just delivers on his or her own competencies, however effectively, the team is not truly functional.
‘Synergy’ created between talented individuals – tapping collective potential – lies at the heart of successful leadership teams.
Research shows: 70%1 of executive teams lack clarity on what they are aiming to deliver to customers, effective strategy implementation remains a key concern for most CEOs2, and trust is a real issue in 65% of teams3.
THE BIG QUESTIONS
Are you having the quality of conversations to make a significant difference in your business and markets?
Does your team realise the commercial value of its collective thinking, or only its individual thinking?
And, how could you ensure the time you spend together is transformational, rather than just transactional?
THE SOLUTION
The ability to engage in high-quality conversations sets high-performing teams apart.
Teams who engage in regular, quality, focused debate about their strategy, capabilities and behaviours are significantly more successful than those that don’t.
The job of leadership is to ask and answer the right questions.
As discussed in part 1 of ‘Team Leadership: Does Your Leadership Team Really Talk?’, the job of leadership is to ask and answer the right questions about strategy and purpose. In part 2, we discuss the conversations about capability that leaders must use to ensure their teams are high performing.
CONVERSATIONS ABOUT CAPABILITY
“What capabilities are needed to execute our strategy?” Clearly any conversation about strategy, working practices and resources also needs some objective discussion of team and individual capabilities. However, many teams fail to even consider these issues, let alone introduce objectivity into the process. This form of insularity, bred by a lack of self-evaluation and internal challenge, often lies at the heart of team underperformance. And even with the spotlight on important strategic capabilities, leadership and management teams rarely receive sufficient, targeted, development. While it is the leader’s responsibility to bring the right type and quality of talent into the team, the ability of teams to subsequently identify and close important capability gaps, as business conditions change, is crucial to ensuring effective strategy execution.
“Do we have sufficient diversity in the team?” Many leaders recruit in their own image, rather than positively seeking diversity. And many teams put the lid on acknowledging let alone actively discussing their differences. Both these approaches limit the potential for ‘synergy’. Whilst it’s a significant challenge for all senior teams to harness differences, the rewards are much greater when they do. Diversity of thinking style, experience and perspective can lead to more competitive products, services, strategies and business cultures. In practice, teams will need to consider whether they have an effective balance of styles – for example ‘drivers’ (to push for results), more cautious thinkers (to play “devil’s advocate”), creative problem-solvers (to help with unexpected challenges), detailed planners (to re-adjust operational requirements) and relationship builders (to help manage stakeholders). A diverse team working collectively not only creates a balanced business but one with many more opportunities.
“Are we at the leading-edge of thinking?” Winning teams retain a high degree of strategic and tactical awareness that ensures they continually question their own approach and thinking. This type of self-challenge enables a team to determine whether it’s the right time to invest heavily in a new opportunity, withdraw from declining markets or continue its current approach. Teams that become too insular and self-absorbed can fail to recognise potential threats, challenge the status-quo or judge themselves by wider industry best-practices. A lack of up-to-the-minute commercial awareness can also contribute to teams losing touch with what actions drive results, and lead to a slow but inevitable decline in performance.
Case Study: A leading brand FMCG company was facing increasing competition in their core markets - leading to constant pressure on prices and an inevitable decline in margins. With new products some way off they needed to find a way of increasing the profitability of their traditional business, while driving greater productivity from their operations. Following a series of off-site working sessions to determine strategy, the leadership team decided to adopt a
Customer Service Speaker Says: Premium Coffee Is Worth The Extra Cost
Regularly, I purchase about 18 ounces of a decent French Roast coffee at a specialty retailer for about $11.By comparison, 12 ounces of French Roast at Starbucks or Peet’s will set me back approximately the amount, so they’re 50% more costly, right?That’s how it appears, but I’ve been doing informal measurements and I can tell you they seem to cost exactly the same amount, given the actual quantity of drinkable brew that they yield.I can use one-third less of Starbucks or Peet’s coffees and get a rich taste, but I need at least a third, and sometimes double the amount of the specialty retailer’s stuff to get a strong brew.This shouldn’t be that much of a surprise, when you think about it.Go into an average restaurant and order a cup of Joe. Typically, it will be very watery and only thinly reminiscent of what you’ll make at home.How come?Most restaurants use: (1) Only a commercial grade of co
sue in 65% of teams3. THE BIG QUESTIONS
Are you having the quality of conversations to make a significant difference in your business and markets?
Does your team realise the commercial value of its collective thinking, or only its individual thinking?
And, how could you ensure the time you spend together is transformational, rather than just transactional?
THE SOLUTION
The ability to engage in high-quality conversations sets high-performing teams apart.
Teams who engage in regular, quality, focused debate about their strategy, capabilities and behaviours are significantly more successful than those that don’t.
The job of leadership is to ask and answer the right questions.
As discussed in part 1 of ‘Team Leadership: Does Your Leadership Team Really Talk?’, the job of leadership is to ask and answer the right questions about strategy and purpose. In part 2, we discuss the conversations about capability that leaders must use to ensure their teams are high performing.
CONVERSATIONS ABOUT CAPABILITY
“What capabilities are needed to execute our strategy?” Clearly any conversation about strategy, working practices and resources also needs some objective discussion of team and individual capabilities. However, many teams fail to even consider these issues, let alone introduce objectivity into the process. This form of insularity, bred by a lack of self-evaluation and internal challenge, often lies at the heart of team underperformance. And even with the spotlight on important strategic capabilities, leadership and management teams rarely receive sufficient, targeted, development. While it is the leader’s responsibility to bring the right type and quality of talent into the team, the ability of teams to subsequently identify and close important capability gaps, as business conditions change, is crucial to ensuring effective strategy execution.
“Do we have sufficient diversity in the team?” Many leaders recruit in their own image, rather than positively seeking diversity. And many teams put the lid on acknowledging let alone actively discussing their differences. Both these approaches limit the potential for ‘synergy’. Whilst it’s a significant challenge for all senior teams to harness differences, the rewards are much greater when they do. Diversity of thinking style, experience and perspective can lead to more competitive products, services, strategies and business cultures. In practice, teams will need to consider whether they have an effective balance of styles – for example ‘drivers’ (to push for results), more cautious thinkers (to play “devil’s advocate”), creative problem-solvers (to help with unexpected challenges), detailed planners (to re-adjust operational requirements) and relationship builders (to help manage stakeholders). A diverse team working collectively not only creates a balanced business but one with many more opportunities.
“Are we at the leading-edge of thinking?” Winning teams retain a high degree of strategic and tactical awareness that ensures they continually question their own approach and thinking. This type of self-challenge enables a team to determine whether it’s the right time to invest heavily in a new opportunity, withdraw from declining markets or continue its current approach. Teams that become too insular and self-absorbed can fail to recognise potential threats, challenge the status-quo or judge themselves by wider industry best-practices. A lack of up-to-the-minute commercial awareness can also contribute to teams losing touch with what actions drive results, and lead to a slow but inevitable decline in performance.
Case Study: A leading brand FMCG company was facing increasing competition in their core markets - leading to constant pressure on prices and an inevitable decline in margins. With new products some way off they needed to find a way of increasing the profitability of their traditional business, while driving greater productivity from their operations. Following a series of off-site working sessions to determine strategy, the leadership team decided to adopt a
Customer Service for the Airlines
Customer service for the airlines is so important these days because the weary traveler is already upset with the treatment, heightened security at the airports and the cut backs of meals on planes and other amenities. What can an airline do to increase customer service to insure a pleasurable flying experience these days?Surely they can do something seeing as staff has been cut at the ticket counters, baggage and ground crews to save costs and keep the airline flying. A better attitude would also be nice although this is also tough with pensions being raided, lay off announcements and increasing fuel costs meaning the money will be made up somewhere, probably including pay decreases, lessened benefits or less sick time.No matter what if the airlines do not have good customers they will watch their best customers migrate to other airlines and that means disaster down the road. Currently, we see customer service awards being aw
are high performing.
CONVERSATIONS ABOUT CAPABILITY
“What capabilities are needed to execute our strategy?” Clearly any conversation about strategy, working practices and resources also needs some objective discussion of team and individual capabilities. However, many teams fail to even consider these issues, let alone introduce objectivity into the process. This form of insularity, bred by a lack of self-evaluation and internal challenge, often lies at the heart of team underperformance. And even with the spotlight on important strategic capabilities, leadership and management teams rarely receive sufficient, targeted, development. While it is the leader’s responsibility to bring the right type and quality of talent into the team, the ability of teams to subsequently identify and close important capability gaps, as business conditions change, is crucial to ensuring effective strategy execution.
“Do we have sufficient diversity in the team?” Many leaders recruit in their own image, rather than positively seeking diversity. And many teams put the lid on acknowledging let alone actively discussing their differences. Both these approaches limit the potential for ‘synergy’. Whilst it’s a significant challenge for all senior teams to harness differences, the rewards are much greater when they do. Diversity of thinking style, experience and perspective can lead to more competitive products, services, strategies and business cultures. In practice, teams will need to consider whether they have an effective balance of styles – for example ‘drivers’ (to push for results), more cautious thinkers (to play “devil’s advocate”), creative problem-solvers (to help with unexpected challenges), detailed planners (to re-adjust operational requirements) and relationship builders (to help manage stakeholders). A diverse team working collectively not only creates a balanced business but one with many more opportunities.
“Are we at the leading-edge of thinking?” Winning teams retain a high degree of strategic and tactical awareness that ensures they continually question their own approach and thinking. This type of self-challenge enables a team to determine whether it’s the right time to invest heavily in a new opportunity, withdraw from declining markets or continue its current approach. Teams that become too insular and self-absorbed can fail to recognise potential threats, challenge the status-quo or judge themselves by wider industry best-practices. A lack of up-to-the-minute commercial awareness can also contribute to teams losing touch with what actions drive results, and lead to a slow but inevitable decline in performance.
Case Study: A leading brand FMCG company was facing increasing competition in their core markets - leading to constant pressure on prices and an inevitable decline in margins. With new products some way off they needed to find a way of increasing the profitability of their traditional business, while driving greater productivity from their operations. Following a series of off-site working sessions to determine strategy, the leadership team decided to adopt a
How To Learn Great Management from Our Kids
Learning comes from many places. And one of the most wondrous opportunities is right in front of us. At dinner, at play and at bedtime, every evening. It is there on the sports field, on vacation and during homework. Our children have clues we can use in our business and organisation, right away..Listen to ThemKids tell us a lot about themselves, if we are prepared to listen. Often, especially when they are quite young, they ask us unexpected questions, that, if we are prepared to hear what they are saying to us, can lead us to more questioning. We can sharpen our senses to what else is going on by listening to them, to give us clues as to what else might be going on. What Managers Can Learn HereUsing our senses means that we can understand people well. But how much, as managers, we can get from this depends on how we develop our more subtle senses of intuition and more particularly
positively seeking diversity. And many teams put the lid on acknowledging let alone actively discussing their differences. Both these approaches limit the potential for ‘synergy’. Whilst it’s a significant challenge for all senior teams to harness differences, the rewards are much greater when they do. Diversity of thinking style, experience and perspective can lead to more competitive products, services, strategies and business cultures. In practice, teams will need to consider whether they have an effective balance of styles – for example ‘drivers’ (to push for results), more cautious thinkers (to play “devil’s advocate”), creative problem-solvers (to help with unexpected challenges), detailed planners (to re-adjust operational requirements) and relationship builders (to help manage stakeholders). A diverse team working collectively not only creates a balanced business but one with many more opportunities.
“Are we at the leading-edge of thinking?” Winning teams retain a high degree of strategic and tactical awareness that ensures they continually question their own approach and thinking. This type of self-challenge enables a team to determine whether it’s the right time to invest heavily in a new opportunity, withdraw from declining markets or continue its current approach. Teams that become too insular and self-absorbed can fail to recognise potential threats, challenge the status-quo or judge themselves by wider industry best-practices. A lack of up-to-the-minute commercial awareness can also contribute to teams losing touch with what actions drive results, and lead to a slow but inevitable decline in performance.
Case Study: A leading brand FMCG company was facing increasing competition in their core markets - leading to constant pressure on prices and an inevitable decline in margins. With new products some way off they needed to find a way of increasing the profitability of their traditional business, while driving greater productivity from their operations. Following a series of off-site working sessions to determine strategy, the leadership team decided to adopt a
PR's Big Bang Theory
Lots of theories out there about public relations.Everything from “publicity’s the thing!,” “the care and feeding of reputations and “sales support is primary” to “gain and hold public acceptance,” and “issue management’s the thing.” among many, many others.But for business, non-profit and association managers, the big, bang theory of public relations trumps them all when it alters individual perception leading to changed behaviors among their key outside audiences, thus helping them achieve their managerial objectives.As a manager, you can do exactly the same by doing something positive about the behaviors of those important external audiences of yours that MOST affect your operation.In particular when you persuade those key outside folks to your way of thinking, then help move them to take actions that allow your department, division or subsidiary to succeed.If there’s a secret behind
stion their own approach and thinking. This type of self-challenge enables a team to determine whether it’s the right time to invest heavily in a new opportunity, withdraw from declining markets or continue its current approach. Teams that become too insular and self-absorbed can fail to recognise potential threats, challenge the status-quo or judge themselves by wider industry best-practices. A lack of up-to-the-minute commercial awareness can also contribute to teams losing touch with what actions drive results, and lead to a slow but inevitable decline in performance. Case Study: A leading brand FMCG company was facing increasing competition in their core markets - leading to constant pressure on prices and an inevitable decline in margins. With new products some way off they needed to find a way of increasing the profitability of their traditional business, while driving greater productivity from their operations. Following a series of off-site working sessions to determine strategy, the leadership team decided to adopt a customer-intimacy approach that would involve them closely partnering with chosen multiple retailers. The core of the strategy involved driving up brand equity and prices, and sharing margin improvements with their chosen distributors. Success required a strong marketing and relationship strategy, supported by their ability to deliver a new, marketing-led, economic model for the business. Short-term success was good with the majority of major retailers supporting the new strategy. Extensive category-focused marketing campaigns were developed and launched – with a combination of in-store and multi-media promotions – and the re-branded products were selling well at the increased prices. However, margins did not improve and in some cases got worse. Six months into the new strategy the CEO was becoming very concerned about financial performance, and called the team together for a major review. Discussions highlighted a number of unexpected challenges. Firstly, the business was failing to meet its efficiency targets – key projects to reduce costs were behind schedule. Secondly, marketing and sales were not working together effectively – causing inconsistent communications with key customers. And thirdly, some key customers hadn’t bought into the new strategy at all. Following significant, impassioned debate about the causes of these various challenges, the CEO – in a quiet moment – realised that he had asked a traditionally ‘operations focused’ management team to execute a significant change programme. Despite their passion, enthusiasm and buy-in, they had not identified whether they had the capabilities to deliver.
Part 3 will discuss conversations about behaviour, and how a leader can create the environment for high performance.
REFERENCES
1: Kaplan & Norton: Having Trouble With Your Strategy, Then Map it? (2004)
2: Monitor Research Analysis: Survey of over 300 Senior Executives Across Industry Sectors (2006)
3: McKinsey: Teams At The Top (2004)

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Hub You - Team Leadership: Does Your Leadership Team Really Talk? Part 2

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