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Recognize employee recognition for what it is: GOLD! |
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Written by Jeffrey Gitomer
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Monday, 21 September 2009 05:30 |
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At the corporate sales meetings where I give presentations, I am often asked to participate in giving out sales awards.
The customer is elated when I say okay. Little do they know it’s one of my favorite things to do – and one of, if not THE most important part of their meeting.
PLEASE NOTE: These are not “contests.” They are sales achievement awards.
People’s names are called for one achievement or another and their name and photo are shown on big screens in front of everyone (especially their peers). They walk to the stage to accept their award – smiling, beaming, full of pride.
Photos are taken, hands are shaken, statues are given, plaques are awarded, inscriptions are read aloud, and prizes are given to the people who won – nay EARNED the award. All their hard work is recognized and rewarded. In public.
What’s the value of this? Can’t be measured. To quote MasterCard: “Priceless.”
You can measure performance, but you can’t measure pride of achievement. Nor can you measure the motivation and inspiration to continue to achieve.
Their stimulus is not measured in some government handout or bailout. It’s internal stimulus created from personal pride and accomplishment. Winning. Selling.
When someone wins an award there are several unspoken benefits. There is the incentive for that person to maintain or improve his or her performance to stay at the top. And there is HUGE stimulus for others in the audience to try to win an award next year.
NOTE WELL: Award achievement in public. Not just at the meeting, make sure it’s on your blog, in your e-zine, and posted on your website.
Sales incentives and sales awards are economic stimulus of the first degree. Real stimulus. In challenging economic times (how’s that for putting it mildly), sales are what will make a company recover. Oh, you may have to make some cuts for the safety of your business, but no company ever cut their way to success. You must sell your way to profit and success.
REALITY: How many of the GM bailout billions are teaching their car salespeople how to SELL in a way that doesn’t breed customer anger and disrespect? My bet is NOT ONE PENNY. One of the reasons GM went under is that they couldn’t sell as many cars as their competition. This stems from a lack of respect for car salespeople and “iffy” advertising like “a dollar over invoice.”
Car sales were down last year and continue to slide this year. REALITY: 7.8 MILLION new cars were sold last year. What percentage went to GM? Answer: not enough. Maybe a better answer lies in salespeople and their incentive to perform honorably, and be rewarded for their achievement. Just a thought.
Maybe if the auto dealers rewarded their salespeople on the amount of customers that were repeat buyers, or percentage of customers that also use the service department, rather than “number of units sold,” they would be in less of a mess. Just a thought.
Our new president doesn’t seem to understand the power of celebration and rewarding performance of salespeople. Too bad.
Cancel sales meetings? NEVER. Stop rewarding the very people who put all the money in your corporate coffers? NEVER.
Recognize salespeople for a job well done, and they will recognize you.
Praise salespeople for a job well done, and they will praise you.
Reward salespeople for a job well done, and they will continue to reward you.
Why don’t you take a look at your company, your salespeople, and your awards and rewards. Maybe some recognition re-org is in order. Maybe instead of “cutting,” you might try “investing.” Especially in salespeople. They are your bailout.
NOTE TO MANAGEMENT: Instead of figuring out how to change (reduce) compensation plans as a disincentive and morale breaker to all, why not invest in a sales meeting and a celebration to reward those who have achieved at the highest level, and challenge those in the audience that they too can win these awards next year if they decide to dedicate the time and effort to do so.
Want the SECRETS to winning the sales award in your company?
1. Your YES! Attitude with everyone you come in contact with.
2. Creating a value proposition in terms of the customer.
3. Your dedication to helping and serving others.
4. Creating a buying atmosphere when you meet customers.
4.5 Hard work.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Little Red Book of Selling. President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on selling and customer service at www.trainone.com. He can be reached at 704/333-1112 or e-mail to
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© 2009 All Rights Reserved - Don't even think about reproducing this document without written permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer • 704/333-1112 |
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How To Make Your Sales Manager Better |
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Written by Mike Brooks
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Tuesday, 12 January 2010 09:35 |
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I consult with a lot of business owners, and I hear a common complaint: “The sales team isn’t making their revenue numbers and my sales manager doesn’t seem to know what to do to get them to improve. What should I do?”
After reviewing their sales processes, their training program, sales scripts, etc., I always ask the same question: “How much production is your sales manager generating per month?” And I almost always get the same answer – “My manager doesn’t sell.”
Therein lies the problem.
The problem with most sales managers is they don’t sell. And the problem with that is how can they teach and manage something they aren’t doing themselves (or worse, can’t)?
Now I know there are differing opinions on this – some say managers need to manage from the sidelines (like coaches), need to be involved in higher level responsibilities, need to attend endless meetings, and need to be able to set revenue goals and get their team to achieve them.
I agree with some of this (except the endless meetings part!), but the most effective and respected sales managers and V.P.’s I work with all lead by example. They have a personal quota and they keep their skills sharp and refined because they are on the phones closing prospects and clients every day.
Because of this, they have a real understanding of what it takes to get the job done, and so they are in the best position to teach it to others.
Here are the top 5 benefits of having a selling sales manager:
1) Sales managers who actively sell have an up to date, intimate understanding of what techniques, skills and strategies work in your selling environment. And having this first-hand knowledge means they can teach it to others.
2) Because a selling sales manager has this immediate experience of closing sales, they are in a much better position to help their team members close business as well. They can easily do a TO (take over) when a sales rep needs help. This not only teaches the rep how to handle selling situations, but it often saves a sale as well. This is what your sales manager must be able to do, and it is a crucial part of their job.
3) A selling sales manager commands the ultimate respect and confidence of his/her sales team. A sales manager is a leader of his team, and the best way to lead is by example. Sales reps respect and follow a leader who can help them close sales and achieve their goals. They’ll also work harder for them.
4) A confident sales manager grows a confident and productive team. Nothing is better for a sales manager than to have him/her demonstrate, to themselves and others, that they have what it takes to successfully close sales. A successful selling manager isn’t afraid of setting production goals because he knows he can achieve them (and he knows what it’s going to take).
5) As a business owner, you must have the confidence that your manager knows exactly how to accomplish your company’s revenue goals. The most accurate way to determine this is by having the sure knowledge that he knows how to do it himself. This experience is invaluable and will ensure that the goals you set are reasonable and reachable.
The #1 problem I run across when working with companies is an unreachable, unrealistic revenue goal set by the owner that has no real buy in by the sales manager. It is this disconnect that causes friction, undermines morale, and often leads to demotivated, underperforming sales teams (and managers).
All this can be avoided when you have an experienced, hands on, selling sales manager who can give you honest and accurate feedback about production goals and the ways to achieve them.
There are many more benefits of having a selling sales manager leading your team, but I hope this short list has convinced you. Believe me, the fastest way to make your sales manager better is to give them a quota and require them to pick up the phone and start closing business.
If you don’t already have a quota for him/her now, then do yourself (and your company and your manager) a favor and set one this week. All of you will benefit from it!
If you found this article helpful, then you will love Mike’s bestselling book on inside sales: “The REAL Secrets of the Top 20% - How To Double Your Income Selling Over the Phone.” You can read about it by clicking here.
Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, works with business owners and inside sales reps nationwide teaching them the skills, strategies and techniques of top 20% performance. He offers a FREE audio program designed to help you double your income selling over the phone, as well as an internationally acclaimed FREE ezine. If you’re looking to catapult your sales, or create a sales team that actually makes their monthly revenues, then learn how by visiting: MrInsideSales.com
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Developing Effective Training |
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Written by Vincenzo DiSalvo
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Wednesday, 12 May 2004 06:54 |
How to Develop Effective Training Content
Unless you’re teaching others how to use software, there’s a good chance you’ll need a customized training solution. That’s because with something like software, each keystroke has a predetermined result and therefore users need only understand which keys to push and when. Although time-consuming, developing training content of this nature is fairly straightforward.
But the same can’t be said about teaching your employees how to run your business the way you want it run. If it was your job to develop effective training content, would you know how to do it? Would you know what not to do? Don’t worry. Most people who don’t develop training content for a living wouldn’t know these answers, either.
Before you start spending money developing training content, there are a few training content “pre-development” questions that should be answered first such as:
- Who is your target audience?
- You might at first think this question is better suited to developing marketing materials not training materials, but think again. As with marketing materials, the message your training materials deliver has to resonate with your market which in this case is your trainees. Otherwise it will fall on deaf ears. So now you need to answer these questions:
- Who will be using the training materials being developed?
- For example, will the materials be developed for a particular department or for a particular branch?
- How many people will be trained during each training session?
- What is the skill level of and what motivates the group to be trained?
With a clear definition of your target “trainee” it’s time to answer another important question:
- What are your training goals?
- For example, is training required to help meet certain sales quotas? Is training required so that your employees are in compliance with certain regulations? Do you hope that those who complete your training emerge with a new or improved set of skills?
Once you have a firm understanding of who you need to train and why he or she needs to be trained, you’ll be better prepared to move on to the next area of consideration, the planning stage.
During this stage you want to get a better idea of when (or how often) such training will take place and where it will take place. Knowing these answers is going to help determine the most effective method of material delivery.
And now, the big question you need to address is:
How can I get my audience from where it is now to where I need it to be within my defined timeframe?
At this stage you’ll need to start thinking about a realistic training budget. You need to know how much you can afford to spend on developing as well as implementing a training program. This answer will significantly impact the development stage.
When it comes to delivering your training content, you have many options. You can develop a “hands-on” training course that can be used in an interactive classroom-type setting. You can develop an entire training course on video or that can be delivered electronically, both of which allow trainees to learn at an individualized pace. You can develop slide shows, hand-outs, webinars, group or individual activities, and more.
If you plan on developing effective training content you really do need to take all of these issues into consideration. But the process doesn’t stop there. You’ve also got to implement the training program and then evaluate it. Here is where you’ll answer what is probably the most important question.
Was the developed training program effective at meeting the goals and objectives outlined previously?
Hopefully the answer is YES!
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The Addie Model: Why Use It? |
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Written by Chuck Castagnolo
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Tuesday, 18 March 2008 11:53 |
The Addie Model: Why Use It?
Author: Chuck Castagnolo
If you are new to training development and have been thinking of putting together any type of training program, it is important to know and understand the most basic training tool used by professional trainers; it is called the ADDIE model.
The ADDIE model is basically a generic, systematic, step-by-step framework used by instructional designers, developers and trainers to ensure course development and learning does not occur in a haphazard, unstructured way. It is designed to ensure:
(1) learners will achieve the goals of the course
(2) allows for the evaluation of learner’s needs
(3) the design and development of training materials, and
(4) evaluation of effectiveness of the training program using processes with specific, measurable outcomes.
Background
ADDIE came about with the development of the Cold War after World War II as the United States military struggled with itself to find a way to create more effective training programs for increasingly complex subjects. The result of this struggle for increased effectiveness bore fruit in the form of Instructional Systems Design which in turn, led to the design models that are in use today. You will often hear ADDIE referred to as Instructional Systems Design (ISD), Instructional Systems Design & Development (ISDD), Systems Approach to Training (SAT) or Instructional Design (ID). Most of the current instructional design models you will find in the workplace today are variations or spin-offs of the original ADDIE model.
The Model
The literature on ADDIE estimates that there are well over 100 different ISD variations in use today, with almost all being based on the generic ADDIE model, which stands for Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation; with each step or phase leading into the next as illustrated below:
Analysis ~ Design ~ Development ~ Implementation ~ Evaluation
One commonly accepted improvement to the ADDIE model that almost everyone uses whether consciously or unconsciously, is the use of what is often referred to as rapid prototyping which attempts to catch design flaws while they are still easy to fix. This is done by receiving ongoing feedback throughout all phases of the ADDIE model and making changes while moving forward.
During the Analysis phase, we define and develop as clear of an understanding of the audience's needs, constraints, existing knowledge, skills and the desired outcome of the training that we can. The Design phase endeavors to identify specific learning objectives, topic content, presentation methods and media, learner exercises and assessment criteria to be used. The Development phase creates and begins production of the learning materials to be used in the training. Implementation delivers the material by actually presenting and/or delivering the developed plan to the intended learning group or audience. After delivery, the Evaluation phase assesses the effectiveness of the topic content and training materials utilized in the training program and makes improvement changes for the next implementation or presentation. Let’s take a look at each phase individually.
The Phases
The Analysis phase is the most important phase in the ADDIE model. It identifies areas requiring or needing training taking into account views of subject matter experts, the target audience, and the ultimate objectives and goals of the training.
During this phase, we define and develop as clear of an understanding of the audience's needs and constraints, existing knowledge, skills, and the desired outcome of the training as we can. It is here that we identify the learning problem, set the goals, objectives, any other relevant characteristics of the desired training, and consider the learning environment, available delivery options, and the timeline for the project.
Here are some areas that should be addressed during the analysis phase:
1) Who is the target audience; What is the minimum/maximum current knowledge of the participant audience? What are their characteristics? What are their special needs?
2) What knowledge and skill deficiencies currently exist?
3) What are the tasks currently performed by the target audience and what new skill level is required following the training.
4) What are the available delivery options and methods for transferring the new skills to the workplace?
5) What is the instructional setting; e.g. classroom, on-the-job, self study, etc?
6) How do these skills connect to the intended audience?
7) What is the timeline for project completion?
8) What are the program constraints? Technological, timing and duration.
9) What is going to cost to provide the training?
10) Create performance measures for the tasks to be trained.
The Design phase is the systematic process of research, planning, identifying and specifying the complete design of the course objectives, lesson planning, topic content, training methodology, media, learner exercises, courseware content, and assessment criteria. Typically detailed prototypes are developed at this time, and the look, feel, design and content are determined.
During this phase, the following should be taken into account:
1) The entry criteria or knowledge level the learner must demonstrate prior to
training.
2) Develop learning objectives for each task to be covered.
3) Identify, structure and sequence the learning steps required to perform the task from easiest to most difficult.
4) Based on the time allocated for the training, determine approximately how long it will take to deliver the program taking into consideration the instructor’s pace, course format and mode of delivery adjusting content and format accordingly.
5) Develop participant assessments, program evaluation methodology, data collection method, and reporting formats that will be use to determine mastery of the tasks to be delivered.
6) If possible, conduct mini knowledge presentations to validate the program will meet the designated learning requirements.
7) Review implementation and evaluation costs, effort required and schedule.
The Development phase is the actual production and assembly of the materials that were developed in the design phase. At this point it is important to include whoever is responsible for which elements, time schedules, and deadlines. In this phase, all audio, video, and courseware materials are collected, prepared, created and ready to be tested.
During this phase, the following need be taken into account:
1) List activities that will help the target audience learn the task.
2) Select the delivery method most appropriate to the learning group.
3) Develop and produce program materials, aids and instructional
courseware.
4) Combine the courseware into a smoothly transitioning presentation.
5) Validate the material and presentation to ensure it meets all goals and
objectives.
6) Develop trainer guides, learner guides, job aids and participant resources as necessary.
7) Prepare coaches and mentors who will be assisting with the training.
8) Book venue, accommodations and travel arrangements.
9) Schedule participants.
The Implementation phase is where the developed course is actually put into action, and the final product, developed based on needs and errors discovered while testing with a prototype product, is presented to the target audience.
Depending on the size of the audience and amount of time and resources allocated to this endeavor, the following considerations should be taken into account the day before or the morning of presentation day.
1) Set up and prepare venue.
2) The learning environment, i.e. room, is set-up and prepared prior to the arrival of the learners.
3) Student registration area set when necessary with registration materials, instruction books, etc.
4) Hands on equipment, computers, tools, software, etc. are in place at each station or seat. Make sure that if using a learning application, an external link, web-site or Internet connection that it is live and functioning.
5) Conduct training session.
After delivery, the Evaluation phase, in a systemic process, considers feedback from the learners. The feedback gathered during this phase measures reaction, identifies what is working and not working, determines the effectiveness and quality of the delivery, and is designed to fine-tune the program. It validates whether the course satisfied its objectives and the effectiveness of the training materials used. It finds out whether the learning went as planned, and it may also uncover any obstacles that may have emerged, then, by making revisions, adjustments and corrections as needed, insures the success of the next presentation.
Use a well-designed post presentation questionnaire, evaluation and/or survey that provides for anonymous feedback if desired by the participant. Some or all of the following should be included in the evaluation:
1) Was the information and/or message presented clear and understandable?
2) Were the examples, illustrations, and demonstrations useful?
3) Was the information presented personally relevant to the learner?
4) Was the instruction interesting and, most importantly, motivating?
5) How did the instruction impact the learner? If so, in what way. If not, why.
6) What should be done differently?
7) Of the material presented, what was most important to the learner? What was least important?
8) What would the learner change, modify or adjust?
At the end of the program, collect the evaluations, review the program data, prepare and report performance results. In reviewing the program data the report should include but not be limited to the number of participant learners trained, percent of participants who passed the course, and their satisfaction with the material presented and how it was presented.
An honest evaluation of the program results at this point will yield a bountiful amount of information that can be used to perfect and insure the success of all future presentations. Use this information positively, and you will be rewarded with a superb result!
Note: Information for this article was collected from a number of sources located on the internet by searching under the criteria ADDIE.
Copyright© Chuck Castagnolo 2008 All rights reserved worldwide
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/training-articles/the-addie-model-why-use-it-305218.html
About the Author:
As a professional seminar leader, speaker, trainer, educator and writer, Chuck Castagnolo has designed and presented innovative and motivating real estate finance, first-time homebuyer, and personal finance seminars and courses through community colleges, community centers, adult continuing education programs and Realtor sponsored events. He has also been a guest speaker on his ideas of financial management and theory before many community groups and organizations. He has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and Finance from San Jose State University, and teaching credentials from the University of California.
Questions, schedule a seminar or speaking date? Chuck can be reached at:
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