How do you catch your ideas?

Last year I listened to a description of how a poet would feel a poem rushing toward her and how she would then have to rush to her writing desk to make sure she caught it all. If she didn't make it in time she would end up with half a poem.

Today I listened to a songwriter and a comedian discuss how, when a line came to them, even if it was out of context, they knew it was a good line and they needed to capture it. One used an iPhone to record the thought, the other used a notepad.

When you are thinking of how to solve a business problem for a client, it should be obvious that as a sales person you need to get creative. Maybe you should use similar techniques for capturing inspiration!

More Sales Gems

Here are some more sales gems as promised.

• If you don’t pay commission to your sales people then they are not sales people
  o Customer service people who up sell without commission are not sales people
  o Marketing people are not sales people
  o Accountants are not sales people
  o The closest thing to sales people are company owners. They are the only other category who only get paid if they exceed their job duties.
• Don’t limit commission
  o Decide beforehand that you are happy to pay for delivery. The quickest way to lose your best sales person is to start arguing after the sales is done.
• Do pay a percentage of last month’s billings(revenue or margin or both) as commission, if you are in an annuity business.
• For most industries, there is no such thing as seasonality, only lack of planning.
• The key to sales, as with any science, is research and research implies asking questions.

It is obvious that these gems, as with any gem, require to be viewed in the correct setting.

If you would like to delve deeper into this area, please visit www.intermizzi.com.au or send an email to paul@intermizzi.com.au And now you can follow me in www.twitter.com/intermizzi

Some Sales Gems

I was recently asked what I would present, as Sales Gems, in 20 minutes to a group of up and coming company owners. As I have not updated the blog for a while, I though they may be useful here.

Here are a few of them.

• Sales does not have to be an Art, it can scale through application of technology and process.
• Don’t let a sales team just happen. There is a skill and team balance just as there is in any team.
• Don’t be happy with 20% of your sales team delivering 80% of your sales. If this is the case then you’ve either a) Picked the wrong team, or b) Don’t understand your sales process
• If you, as the company owner, are the company’s best sales person then you haven’t been able to document your sales process.
• Don’t expect the sales team to share your values a) You built the company, they didn’t and b) Sales people are rarely in the office, they don’t get to share the daily banter and the daily examples of how you apply your values.

I've also put together a template for a sales plan.

If you would like a copy please email me at paul@intermizzi.com.au