Sometimes my commentators add more content than were in my original posts. Commitment and Commitment is NOT a 4 Letter Word had those kind of comments.

Many comments were around work/life balance, workaholicism, demanding bosses forcing their employees to miss family events and although I don't want to spend a lot of time here, but you may want to re-read the article and comments to see the agreement, rather than the apparent disagreement. For instance, look at the times that the comments were written. Most were written off-hours so as not to interfere with work. Notice that passion for what you do, stage in life, and other factors may change move your commitment/overdoing it line. Read them again and enjoy!

I have another twist. I, personally, would be very stressed out in the monthly quota environment. Sales people are like runners. Their sales process can be analogized to the type of race. Their daily regimen and benchmarks depend on their sales process. Think about runners. Marathoners run long and slow (relative to sprinters) because they need their energy and effort to last the entire race. If your sales cycle is measured in months or years, your salespeople need to be benchmarked and quotad differently than if your sales cycle is shorter.

However, even if you measure your sales cycle in days or weeks, should you have a monthly quota? Many of our bills are monthly, so salespeople can tie their quota to their income requirements. Sometimes commissions and payroll are monthly, so that the employer has the cask to make payroll. The problem is that neither of these reasons takes into account whether you've hired sprinters or marathoners. A marathoner will have days and weeks that every step is a huge effort. They'll also have periods when everything flows. It averages out. Sprinters warm up and explode. Have you ever watched the Olympics? Some sprinters have several full effort heats in the same day. How many times do marathoners run?

So, if you've got a short sales cycle, consider smaller, more frequent quotas and benchmarks and hire sprinters. If you've got a longer sales cycle, build your business around marathoners.

I, like the rest of the world, have been hearing the news about the umpire's blown call, the 'should have been' perfect game that Dave refers to in this Sales Core Competency post. I appreciate Dave's post, but I was thinking that there was more. I let my curiosity work in the back ground. First, a few fun facts.

Most of us now know that there have been 20 perfect games recorded. Did you know that the first perfect game happened in Worcester, MA on June 12, 1880?

Did you know that the first perfect game of the 20th Century happened in Boston on May 5, 1904?

How about this? Did you know that there are some 'unofficial' perfect games?

Did you know that this was the 10th time that a perfect game was spoiled by the 27th batter?

OK, here starts the sales lesson. There were 14 perfect games in the 20th century. That's one every seven years on the average. The longest stretch without a perfect game being recorded was 34 years. Has something changed? We've recorded 3 (almost 4) in the past 12 months. We've recorded 2 (almost 3) in the past 30 days!

So, I was thinking about my Selling in the 21st Century post and the apparent increase in the frequency of perfect games in the 21st Century and remembering that the batter in Baseline Selling represents the salesperson and the pitcher and the rest of the defense represent the prospect.

Are your prospects keeping you from getting on base more and more often?

Are emails, voice mail messages, snail mail and traditional advertising being ignored?

You can't get in front of your prospect?

Can't get them on the phone?

They know all about you because they looked you up on Google?

They get your stuff for free or low cost from a 'click to buy' link?

I am not a baseball fan, but I find the comparison interesting. Will you be able to adjust to your prospects 21st Century startegy and tactics? Will you be able to get your price? Will you be able to stay in business? Will they keep you from talking to them? Will you get to first base? and if you do, will you score?

June 7-11 is Talk to The RainMaker Maker for Free week. Want to ask a question? Want free advice? Want to discuss a specific sales situation? Send me an email with your phone number(s) and a few time suggestions (check the link to my calendar if you wish). I'll call you. If you like my suggestion, use it. If not, your next coffee will be on me.

After I saw Trish and Dave's comments on yesterday's Commitment post, I sent this email to Mr. Sales VP.

In order to preserve anonymity, I have to leave details out. I think that Trish is slightly off base and I would like to respond, but I don't KNOW the truth and I also don't want to appear to guess. I don't think that your entire sales force worked all weekend. I don't think that you "ruined your workers' holiday and demanded they complete a sales quota". You know that I agree with Trish's importance of family and I know that you do. However, I also know that you hire the right people. Those that ‘believe in the cause', are driven and will do whatever it takes. I'd imagine that the ones that stayed weren't told or even asked to stay, my guess is that they wanted to stay and that they had a huge sense of accomplishment and that you gave them a huge ‘attaboy' when they did what they set out to do.

If you'd like to take a minute to reply privately with your thoughts, I'll post them as a comment without identifying the company or source. If not, I'll leave it as it is.

I got a call from Mr. Sales VP this afternoon. He says, "I'm replying to your email. It's the way you say."

"Huh?" I ask.

He says, "I left late Friday night knowing we were short. About 30% of the sales force had a deal or two that was just about ready to close. So they kept at it through the weekend. They're a great group. Nobody was keeping them there. They did it on their own and did a great job."

So, Trish, you can disagree with me, but you can't blame the VP. True commitment comes from within. Commitment isn't a boss with a whip. It's an internal drive. I tend to think that these people wanted to stay because they wanted something. I think that Dave's use of the word "Outrageous" says a lot. We don't know what motivated the individuals. Did they need one more unit to make bonus and bonus means double income for the month? Are they 1,000 miles from family and if they were home, they'd be homesick? Were three of their work friends staying for their own reasons and they wanted to hang out to see the end of the story or root them on? Do they believe that they're changing the world? Are they committed, fanatic, zealous, workaholic, extreme, enthusiastic, militant, devoted, or something else? Would you and they use the same word to describe it? When we choose the word to use, will we sneer it with venom or say it with pride or envy?

Bottom line is that I agree with Dave. This is just an example. I could have started by asking, "Are you this committed?" and I'm not surprised that some might say, "Who would want to be?"

Tomorrow, I think that we'll talk about Ed's comment!

Today is June 2. I, like many, took a four day weekend last weekend to celebrate Memorial Day. Left for Maine on Thursday night and spent Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday at Goose Rocks Beach. Great home made pizza. Delicious wines. Warm sunshine. Reconnecting with seasonal friends after the winter away. Elaine worked in the garden. I watched. It looks great! We bought and painted some flower boxes. Get it? Variety. Fun. A little menial work. It's a good life.

One of the cool things about my job is that I get to talk to some pretty successful sales professionals. Yesterday, was June 1st. I was talking with a Sales VP and asked him how his holiday weekend was. What he did. He told me that he went home pretty late on Friday knowing that he was 12 units short of the monthly quota. That was the 28th. The 29th was Saturday. The 30th was Sunday. The 31st was Monday, Memorial Day, the holiday, probably the second biggest cook out day of the year!

Emails were flying all day Saturday and Sunday. Phones were being dialed. Conversations were happening. Think about it. If they called your office, would anybody have answered? Think about it. How many times did they have to dial the phone before they got somebody to answer? How many of the people that those salespeople were trying to reach were at your cook out? How many were at the beach? How many were eating, drinking, sleeping, playing?

But they found people to answer the phone. They found people to have a conversation with. They found people to close. 17 of them! They exceeded their monthly quota by 5. The last few deals were probably closed while you were biting into that big juicy hamburger fresh off the grill on Memorial Day afternoon or popping the cap off a Guiness. I'm sure that you enjoyed your hamburger and your beer, but I doubt that you enjoyed them as much as those salespeople did when they didn't give up. When they hung in. When they did whatever it took. When they took the prize.

That's commitment! Congratulations Mr. Sales VP and great job, team!

Yesterday, I introduced two executives that I'd met recently. I'd already decided that I was going to work with each of them because it would be mutually beneficial. After talking with each of them at length, I realized that if we all worked together, we would each benefit more than if I worked with each of them separately. Kind of 1+1+1>3.

So, I sent this email to both of them.

I spoke to each of you today and look forward to moving forward with both of your organizations. I see great synergy between us and appreciate the passion that you have for your missions to change the world. I'm introducing you because although there may be minor differences in strategy, at the core, you're both making the world a better place and I think that the three of us together will be more than the two of us and the two of us separately.

I received this response as a cc from one to the other.

Rick,

Thanks for the introduction.  I welcome the notion of the three of us being more than one or two of us!

_______,

Lovely to meet you.  How best can we figure out a conversation?

warm regards,

So, does this thought have a place on a sales call?

Just before Gregg Dixon knocked our socks off with his closing keynote at the MIT/Sloan Sales Conference, I had a brief conversation with one of the other attendees. (Let's call him Chris.) He was an "I make people rich" financial planner. When he found out what I did, he said that he was looking for sales training like XYZ, but not XYZ. I traded business cards with him.

He and I had a conversation a week ago and a follow-up conversation, this afternoon.

Shift gears for a moment. Once a month, I run a special session for about a dozen salespeople that are in development with us. The session is a 'bring us your issue' program where the attendees bring us a recent problem or an upcoming situation that they want help with. At this morning's session, (Let's call him Dan.) asked for help with a call that he had scheduled for this afternoon. Almost everybody in the room made a contribution while I facilitated, clarified and suggested.

At 6:22 this evening, Dan sent this email.

Rick,

The group today helped me out with a closing meeting that I had tonight and I ended up getting the deal ($2500 per month for a year) for a retainer client.

Please send my thanks to the group if you would be so kind.

Best,

Dan

OK, back to Chris....Chris didn't want to be evaluated the way Dan was. Chris doesn't want to be held accountable the way I hold Dan accountable. Chris doesn't want me to debrief him after his calls or strategize before his calls the way I do with Dan. Chris doesn't want to be in those special sessions that I facilitate. Chris wants a one size fits all, out of the box, cookie cutter training program like XYZ, but not XYZ.

Would you allow Chris to buy?

I'll be Dave Kurlan's guest on "Meet the Sales Experts" this Wednesday at noon. I asked him, "Any particular topic(s) or direction(s) in mind?" He responded, " wherever it takes us..."

Anything that you'd like to hear? Any questions that you'd like answered?

Networking? Follow-up? Trade shows? Referrals? LinkedIn? Blogging?

Entrepreneurs? Sales for non-salespeople? Balancing sales activity with delivering?

MIT/Sloan Sales Conference? Sloan Salesperson of the Year?

Retail/B2C sales? Converting web leads to real prospects? Time share sales?

Something else?

Enter your topic as a comment or use the link under my picture to send me an email.

Once upon a time, I went to the doctor for a physical. During the physical he asked me if I had frequent backaches, I said "yes" and asked how he knew. He replied, "You have flat feet." Huh? Then he explained that because I don't have arches in my feet, my body naturally leans forward. My back doesn't like that, so without thinking, my body uses my back muscles to pull my torso back so I can stand up straight. Whenever I'm standing, my back muscles are straining, so they get tired and hurt....backache! My doctor ordered custom made orthotics which I inserted into my shoes. They forced my feet to arch, which made me stand up straight, which made my back muscles relax, which made the backache go away. A miracle? or just knowing how things connect?

So, your sales force is under-performing. Why? Is it process? Is it skills? Is it management? Is it people? Do you know how they're connected? What should you do? Have you seen a doctor lately?

One more thing. Do you go to your doctor only when you're sick, or do you get an annual physical? Do you use the same approach with your sales force? Do I need to ask the question?

Salespeople! Can't live with them. Can't live without them. It's crazy, but what are they really? What do you call them? How do you treat them? What do they think they are? What do they call themselves? What do your customers call them? How do they treat them?

Are they peddlers? Are they salespeople? Are they sales consultants? Are they clerks?

(I'm gonna stop giving you the links. If you want to see the definition, go to Dictionary.com and look it up.)

Are they account executives? Are they account managers? Are they inside salespeople? Are they telemarketers? Are they canvassers? Are they solicitors? Are they marketers? Are they associates? Partners? Principals? Directors? Regional managers?

Does it matter? Who cares what you call your salespeople? In reality, it doesn't matter except to four people. You, your salespeople, your employees and your prospects, but other than those few people, it doesn't matter.

I don't know anyone, that if asked, would call themselves a "peddler". I have been a peddler, but I never said that I was. I've never applied for a marketing position. I wrote "sales" on the census. "Consultant" would have fit. I am one of the "associates" at Kurlan and Associates. Bottom line...I'm a "salesman".

Here's the point. It doesn't matter what you call your salespeople as long as it means the same thing to you, your employees, your salepeople and your prospects and customers. Don't know what I mean? Answer this. Does a director work under a VP, or over a VP or do they sit on a board? Does a regional manager manage salespeople or a territory? What is a principal? Do you want your marketers selling or your salespeople marketing? Do they even get along?

So, make sure that you and your salespeople agree what their title means, but before that, make sure that you pick the title that your customers want.

Sales managers make mistakes. Some are because they don't know any better. Some are because they don't know how. Either way, they're mistakes. The first is actually a twist on the first "to-do" in my Selling in the 21st Century post.

It's not about you.

Salespeople commonly think in terms of their own commission, their product's features and benefits, their goals, their timeline, their sales process, their price, their margin, their hangups. They focus on what they see as problems in their prospect's world. They assume that their prospect wants those problems fixed. They assume that the prospect knows what the benefits of fixing the problem are and the consequences of not fixing the problem would be. The salesperson assumes that their price, their configuration, their unique feature, their reputation, (or something else that really excites the salesperson) will convince their prospect how perfect their life will be if they buy from the salesperson.

Do you think that your prospect knows or cares whether you're in a "one call close" business or you have a two year sell cycle?

Does a prospect with two feet of water in their cellar care that your pump has a lifetime guaranty?

Salespeople need to understand

• why the prospect is talking with them,
• what issue they're dealing with,
• why that issue is important to the prospect,
• what the consequences will be if they don't fix it,
• how they decide who to buy from,
• how they pay for stuff,
• what their timeline is,
• who else cares,
• and a few dozen other factors that are critical to the prospect, but the salesperson isn't aware of because they won't ask the questions because they assume that everybody already knows the answers.

Sales managers (and owners that are managing salespeople) do the same thing to their salespeople. Think about on-boarding a new hire.

• Here's our sales process.
• This is our shipping schedule.
• This is our credit policy and application.
• This is your office, phone, car, computer, co-worker.
• This is your quota.
• These are the new rules of your existence. This is how you keep your job. Deal with it.

Let's take just one point. Of course, a salesperson needs a quota. Of course! But telling a salesperson to sell $1M is different than expecting a salesperson to sell $1M and is way different than the salesperson knowing how his life will be different when he sells $1M. Why does the salesperson want to work at all? Does the sales manager know why the salesperson gets up in the morning? Is it excitement about the product? belief in the mission? There's something that they (or their family) want that only money can buy? Find out what it is. How much money? What is their timeline? Will the salesperson's "how much" and timeline coincide with, surpass, or fall short of quota? It's not about what the sales manager wants. Like the salesperson needs to understand the prospect's motivation, the sales manager must understand what motivates the salesperson, their timeline, their benchmarks, and as long as the salesperson's goals doesn't fall short of quota, help the salesperson attain THEIR goals. If the salesperson's goals do fall short of quota, that's a whole other issue, but isn't it better knowing?