5 Sales Tips to Maximize Oceans of Opportunities and Leave the Sales Seas of Doom and Gloom

Many metaphors exist to help individuals understand aspects of life and selling is no exception. Examples from sports to hobbies to nature have all been used to explain how to increase sales, build customer loyalty and motivate sales professionals.

With the economy is the doldrums, some sales people are huddled in the corner of their sales ships suffering from the sea sickness aliment of "Ain't It Awful" as my colleague Doug Brown has described. The pitch and rolling of the ship has shaken the sea legs of these sales professionals and they cannot bring themselves to see all the oceans of opportunities because they are sailing the Seas of Doom and Gloom.

One of the best understandings of how failure and your ability to see the true reality is through the often reported response of Thomas Edison. When asked about all his failed attempts to construct a light bulb, his response was that he learned 5,000 (number varies) ways not to invent a light bulb. Edison always saw the oceans of opportunities, not the Seas of Doom and Gloom.

Of course, human beings are for the most part  negatively conditioned animals because of their earliest life experiences. What are the first three words many babies speak?  Mom, Dad and No.  From the Nos of life, young child then face the Do Nots and this transitions into an internal  "Can Not."  Maybe this helps to explain as Alan Deutschman revealed in his research that only one in 10 people will actually change regardless of the facts, fear or force.

So to help overcome this malady of the "Ain't It Awful" illness, here are 5 quick sales tips that may help your sales skills:

Sales Tip #1: Search business news for announcements about promotions, awards, meeting, etc. Send congratulation notes to relevant articles.  Attend those meetings where your target market is most likely to attend.

Sales Tip #2: Be judicious as to where you invest your limited resources of time, energy and dollars.  This does not mean stop marketing yourself or your business.  Look to get the most bang for your buck.

Sales Tip #3: Embrace education based marketing.  Learn why you should switch from the traditional sales based marketing approach to this 21st century sales skill approach.

Sales Tip #4: Continue your own sales professional development. Keep learning so that you can help your potential customers (a.k.a. prospects) and existing customers.

Sales Tip #5: Start thinking differently.  Listen to the words that you are using. Are they positive or do they set you up to travel the same sales course giving you the same sales results.  For example, do you say and think prospects? Why not think of these individuals as potential customers or potential qualified customers?  Does this not change the picture in your mind?

Sales in today's world is literally found in the Oceans of Opportunities. Maybe this is why there is a belief that more wealth is created in a down economy because a few brave sales folk believe that this is the best time to increase sales.

Take this free sales skills assessment to help you increase sales.

Corporate Sales Coach Leanne Hoagland Smith helps you to separate the sales symptoms (poor sales) from the real sales problems (poor behaviors) allowing you to implement effective sales solutions and achieve a positive return on your sales training dollars.

If you could be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, what would that mean to you? Leanne's first sales book shows you just how to unlock more sales results. Read what others are saying about this dynamic and relevant sales coaching book. http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm

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Understanding Corporate Literature to Maximize Practice Management and Client Service

Corporate America is far ahead of law firms in systematically studying leadership and organizational effectiveness. As law becomes more of a business - and as leadership becomes even more critical at all levels of a lawyer's practice - it makes sense to consider what corporations know that lawyers and law firms may not. For instance, what distinguishes the great from the merely good? What factors contribute to sustaining success in today's rapidly changing economic environment?

Lawyers who understand this information possess a competitive advantage in two ways. First, they can take advantage of their knowledge to strengthen their own organizations and to inform their practice management. For instance, True North (previously reviewed in Leadership Matters for Lawyers) may inform lawyers' perspectives on leadership development; Made to Stick may guide the way lawyers present substance and even client pitches; and Good to Great may direct lawyers' thoughts on how to organize and manage a successful law firm. Though not every lesson will be directly applicable to law, the analogies can be useful.

Second, though perhaps more importantly, awareness of corporate literature (and specifically literature pertaining to leadership) permits lawyers who represent corporate clients to share a common understanding and a common language with those clients. A good lawyer always seeks to understand her client's business and industry. A great lawyer goes even deeper and understands context and culture that informs how the client approaches his business. Even lawyers who represent individuals rather than corporations may find common ground this way, since many individuals work in or with the corporate world.

Example: implementing values and strategy

One key precept from corporate literature can inform both legal practice management and client relations. Whether in business or in law, the findings are consistent throughout the literature: strong organizations place people and values first, even in bad times. Organizations that succeed over time are those that have a strong values-driven culture. They are people-centered organizations.

Law practice management often takes a turn away from this recognition. In the conventional way of designing strategy, executives (including law firm managing partners and executive committee members) answer two fundamental questions:

1. What business are we in?

2. How shall we compete?

This is reasonable, rational and likely exciting only for those at the top engaging in this intellectual exercise. It is not engaging to those charged with implementing the strategy. It does not engage anyone on an emotional level. After the strategy is announced, only then are practice group leaders, team leaders, and so on encouraged to ensure that the "values" and practices of the firm are aligned with the strategy. The message is to pick values that fit the strategy. And only afterwards are non-executive level lawyers involved in order to get them on board with what the firm's executives have declared. Moreover, can you see that clients are considered only to the extent that competition rests on client service?

In contrast, a values-based view of strategy starts with a set of fundamental values that are energizing to everyone in the organization. These values are capable of unlocking the human potential of their people. Such values may include fun, fairness, challenge, service, trust, respect, community and family. All management practices are screened for how they are consistent with these core values. In this approach to management, strategy comes last, after the values and practices are discovered and aligned, and after the firm produces capabilities that set it apart. In other words, the firm determines "who" it is (with an eye to client relationships particularly) and then decides how to convey that to clients and the legal community.

Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines is fond of saying, "We put our employees first, our customers second, and our shareholders third. In that order it works and out of that order nothing works." Southwest is hands-down the most successful airline. What if law firms operated using the same priorities - substituting clients for customers? How would practice look different - internally and externally?

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