 I have written before about the Keys to Successful Networking and Engagement.
Last week I was invited to a gathering of industry players (8 people) for a dinner to celebrate 2019, it wasn’t a formal event by any means, but a particularly good opportunity to meet potential customers in an intimate setting. I took a seat next to a person I had met many years ago; unbeknownst to me he had recently been made redundant after 25 years and was feeling it. I have been there, done that and carried the load of anxiety that goes with it so was able to empathise with him very quickly. We discussed the broader challenges of the organisation he’d been with and how the recent acquisition was being handled be the new owners and his previous work colleagues – all (sadly) straight out of the book. The restaurant was a loud one so I didn’t have much of a conversation with the others present choosing to stay very much in the one I was in for two reasons – he needed the chat, I am sure I could help in some way in the future, both of us were completely engaged in our conversation for almost the whole time. The next day I was talking to another client who described the exact skill set / experience in the person from the previous night had and they are currently discussing terms to see how they may be able to help each other – BOOM It doesn’t always work out like that but my 3x Rules of Networking - be Present, Quality over Quantity & have a mindset of service have served lead me to some wonderful, engaging conversations and very useful connections sometimes for me, often times for others. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” - Mahatma Gandhi **Charlie is an expert in developing external sales teams and people, particularly where relationships and solution selling are the key differentiators. www.charliepidcock.com.au
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 Working for yourself by yourself after nearly 30 years in organisations working for people with teams creates a variety of challenges and opportunities - some predictable others not.
One of the biggest challenges I’ve experienced has been finding and keeping operating rhythm or flow, I have tried a number of techniques and came across “Eight Before Eight” from Ben Hardy which has improved my effectiveness exponentially. Eight before Eight:
I’ve built a very simple template that helps me keep track of how I am travelling, a bit of measurement / self-accountability which all seems to be helping me. Click here if you would like a copy. **Charlie is an expert in developing external sales teams and people, particularly where relationships and solution selling are the key differentiators. www.charliepidcock.com.au  “Competitors push you to achieve more” - M Cobanli
1. Never underestimate them
2. Know your competition
3. Act quickly if you see a threat
4. Size matters but make sure it is not a disadvantage
5. Protect your key people & information
**Charlie is an expert in developing external sales teams and people, particularly where relationships and solution selling are the key differentiators. www.charliepidcock.com.au  I was recently in a conversation with an HR Director from an international organisation that was having challenges with the performance of their sales team, nothing new here.
I asked some fairly straightforward questions with regards to what was it about their performance that wasn’t good enough, how they approached their job, how they were remunerated, what level of training they provided etc…. Mostly I got fairly monosyllabic answers, they can’t do this & they should do that – the disrespect and disdain was palpable; again, nothing new here. Been there done that. The discussion (or lecture from her) continued and I asked what the sales people were measured on – it was like a light switched on and the HR Director got a little more animated and excited …”we measure everything…. how many phone calls they make, to whom, for how long, who are they calling, where are these people in the pipeline, what are their conversion rates, what is revenue / profit margin…by product, sector, customer, geography” the list went on & on. A little further into the conversation I asked what the organisation’s employee turnover was…. to which the response was “…. Oh we don’t measure that but I have been here 8 years, such & such has been here a year and him 2 years and her 2 as well…….”, as HR Director I’d have thought it would be a critical measure. My problem and my experience is twofold: In a paper by the Miller Heiman Group titled “Why you’re measuring too much?” Donna Walker says that businesses need to simplify what they are looking for or risk overwhelming sales teams. She advises to pick 3 – 5 measures around “leading” NOT “lagging” indicators. Statistics from a recent survey were that 45% of sales performance metrics were aligned with overall company objectives, in world class organisations the number was 93%. In one of my previous lives my sales team had 27 different KPIs we were measuring / administrating ourselves to a standstill. It is a lot like try to herd cats or as Confucius says “ if you give someone two rabbits to chase they will catch neither…”. The other “interesting” aspect of this is that whilst HR (in this case) were happy to put measures on other parts of the business they were not necessarily concerned about a fundamental metric associated with their area of responsibility / accountability. The company I mentioned above were looking for their third National Sales Manager in 4 years, I smell a problem. In a study by Deloitte Access, they recently reported: Australian companies are drowning in their own red tape, wasting valuable hours of employee time and costing the economy billions of dollars. Red tape in both Australia's public and private sectors says regulations imposed by:
In this same report, Deloitte Director Chris Richardson said. "Businesses are wearing self-inflicted wounds," and Advertisement with then Treasurer Joe Hockey stating Australia's "non-productive" workforce is scarcely any smaller than it was two decades ago. These self inflicted wounds includes employee turnover on the back of bureaucracy and micromanagement on the back of too many measures. It is critical for businesses to decide on what is important and put measures in place to support their teams to achieve their objectives. This will ensure that they not only survive but also succeed because they know what they need to do and have the tools to get themselves there. Perhaps it is better to follow the advice from @Christina Guidotti (Partner of Thought Leaders Global) “…..to be more productive, focus only on the things that matter.” **Charlie is an expert in developing external sales teams and people, particularly where relationships and solution selling are the key differentiators. www.charliepidcock.com.au  Working for yourself by yourself after nearly 30 years in organisations working for people with teams creates a variety of challenges and opportunities - some predictable others not.
One of the biggest challenges I’ve experienced has been finding and keeping operating rhythm or flow, I have tried a number of techniques and came across “Eight Before Eight” from Ben Hardy which has improved my effectiveness exponentially. Eight before Eight: i. Get +7hrs Sleep – recently I went to a Productivity seminar, the number one thing anyone can do to improve how effective they are is get a good nights sleep. ii. Prayer and / or Meditation – whichever you prefer. It has helped ground me, there are plenty of apps out there – free or paid & are worth every cent. iii. Journal – for between 5 – 15mins, the most productive days I have had is when I have done this morning & night, read more about the benefits here. iv. Hard Physical activity – Spin class, skip or power walk all wake up your body, get it ready for the day ahead by getting your blood to flow & heart pumping. v. Courage – One of the more difficult on my list, many say that courage is like a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it gets. vi. Be creative – paint, write, draw or build, see below TED Talk. Marily Oppezzo: Want to be more creative? Go for a walk. vii. Read or Listen to something up lifting – Spotify, TED talk, articles and other pieces – the list is endless – Neil Diamond and Cold Chisel are my favourites. viii. Invest in your key relationships – social or commercial, meaningful relationships are well recognised and a significant contributor towards happiness. I’ve been doing this since January and done them all 8 about 10 times, it isn’t about being exact, complete or perfect, it is about trying to build rhythm and momentum to achieve more with less friction. I built a very simple template that helps me keep track of how I am travelling, a bit of measurement / self-accountability click here if you would like a copy. **Charlie is an expert in developing external sales teams and people, particularly where relationships and solution selling are the key differentiators. www.charliepidcock.com.au  I see, hear and read a great deal about feedback – how to give it, how to receive it and what to do with it.
Unfortunately, if someone is going to ask me for feedback, I am genetically predisposed to giving it; it astounds me how defensive we all are even when specifically asking for it. Having worked in and with companies using surveys I have seen how this feedback is / isn’t used and being a consumer myself, I have experienced how ineffective at best and excruciatingly frustrating at worst it can be – it is not a pretty picture. Three crucial points here: 1. Our People / Culture It is critical to act on feedback and at the very least should acknowledge the person taking the time to give it. Too many times defensiveness and self-preservation come to the fore – it doesn’t bode well for leaders or company culture if their people are that insecure, they try to defend or sweep it under the carpet. 2. Our Customers We are all surveyed almost every time we hire a car, use our bank, stay in a hotel….etc….etc – it is becoming difficult because there are so many ways to gather data, consumers don’t feel listened and have become desensitised to the number of times they are asked for it (and usually ignored). The importance and value of the gold that resides in authentic feedback from those taking the time to give it is hugely valuable. 3. Our Future 20 years ago, my boss went on an study tour overseas seeing many companies in a very short space of time from our industry. The most impressive and successful organisation he spent time with listened to two groups of people – staff and customers, that’s it, no one else. It became our mantra for the next few years and helped the company become an industry leader. The Lessons:
**Charlie is an expert in developing external sales teams and people, particularly where relationships and solution selling are the key differentiators. www.charliepidcock.com.au  A number of years ago I had an epiphany (my wife calls it a brain fart) – I was in a job that I enjoyed with a team I really liked but didn’t feel fulfilled. I had been in the organisation for a while, our industry had suffered a significant downturn and we weren’t handling it particularly well, it was an extremely difficult environment. On the other hand, my wife loved her job more than anyone that I know, and I wanted some of that.
In the space of a week 3 major things happened that helped change my direction. 1. A good friend of mine passed away after battling cancer for 18 months, he fought it hard but, in the end, accepted the cards he was dealt with grace which was tragic and admirable at the same time. 2. That same week we had our 3rd restructure in 4 years, I was one of the “lucky” ones still with a role unlike my boss and number of my colleagues. It was all shaping up to be a pretty shitty week. 3. A day later I ran into a friend who suggested I should do a leadership retreat that she was assisting organise which to cut a story short I did that weekend. At the retreat my friend mentioned to the facilitator that she hadn’t heard me laugh the whole weekend. We had shared an office a number of years before and had enjoyed many great belly laughs during that time. She asked me where I was up to with my training company, I couldn’t even remember the conversation much less the idea. This made me reflect on where I was heading and became the beginning of a very confronting time in my life that provided the opportunity for me to reset my compass. A couple of lessons from this:
Fast forward 3 years, I now run my own Sales Training & Coaching business, my life’s vision is to live in a world where people love what they do and are proud of who they are. It is still early days and I have had some (read heaps) really tough ones but I know that I am now a better husband, father and friend for living my life on MY purpose, not someone else’s KPIs. **Charlie is an expert in developing external sales teams and people, particularly where relationships and solution selling are the key differentiators. www.charliepidcock.com.au  Some time ago I wrote about Networking the Right Way and how to use mindset, being present and quality conversations not the quantity.
It is often said that people make up their minds about someone in the first couple of moments, I call this “Engagement” and it can set you up to succeed or fail, it comes primarily from your eyes, face and body. 1. The best way to use your eyes are to look deeply into the other person, in a way that says I am listening to you, you can trust me, it is safe here. Good eye contact with whoever you are talking to is paramount in building rapport quickly, as Faraaz Kazi says “Eye contact is way more intimate than words will ever be”. 2. The smile on your face is most effective when working in tandem with your eyes – on average a child smiles 400 times per day, an adult 20…. and happy adults 45. Additionally, it takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown; finally smiling releases endorphins and helps others feel at ease. There have been many times in my life where I have had a couple of good belly laughs on a night out and wake up the next morning feeling like I’d been on two weeks holiday – it’s a no brainer. 3. It is important for all of us to be aware of how we are using body; always being respectful of people’s “space”, it can make them feel comfortable when done well or threatened when not. It is commonly said that communication is 7% words, 38% tone & 55% body language so being mindful of this and the effect you are having on whoever you are talking others is crucial. It takes practice but the conscious alignment of your eyes, face and body has a huge impact on the effect you have on others, the signals you send out is like a lighthouse – it is safe here, you can trust me, I will respect you. “When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.” - Simon Sinek **Charlie is an expert in developing external sales teams and people, particularly where relationships and solution selling are the key differentiators. www.charliepidcock.com.au 
Last time I wrote about Sales Funnels and our mindset, it is just as critical to be aware of the mindset of the customer so as to ensure you give yourself the very best chance to progress to the next stage in the sales cycle/ funnel.
A potential customers mindset will usually at one of three possible levels, I like to think of it as:
The current prospect may not have the type of work our product or service supports, they may have long term relationships with other providers, they may be in the process of being acquired and be uncertain of their own futures – whatever the case is we need to tread carefully. Being respectful and sensitive of their current situation, no matter what it is will establish good foundations for us to work on in the future. In line with this, we need to make sure we keep trying, respect works both ways and if we can work with prospects constructively and positively to stay in their world but not in their face we will eventually achieve success, not on every one but most of them. “Sales Statistics” suggest that 80% of sales are made on the 5th to the 12th contact, all of us should keep this in mind as Sales People and Sales Leaders. I am happy to share the other statistics for anyone. Just email me. **Charlie is an expert in developing external sales teams and people, particularly where relationships and solution selling are the key differentiators. www.charliepidcock.com.au  Googling “Sales Funnel” comes up with 44.6m templates, videos, spreadsheets – it gets overwhelming very quickly. As Leonardo Da Vinci said “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”, too many businesses complicate the sales process these days. Additionally, in companies differentiating via relationships and solution selling it is critical to appreciate the various stages of your sales funnel and what mindset you should have at each stage.  Any professional sales person will admit their biggest waste of time is the sale that they didn’t get, we have all paid a heavy price in the opportunity cost of our time chasing someone who was never going to buy – sometimes it can be like going up a dry gully & hoping nirvana is just around the next corner, it’s hard to know when to stop. Being aware of your mindset at the early stages of the sales cycle will help avoid tyre kickers and time thieves. I hope these insights help - Good luck and happy selling. **Charlie is an expert in developing external sales teams and people, particularly where relationships and solution selling are the key differentiators. |
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