5 Things EVERY Business Leader Must Do Right Now

1. If you have (or desire) any market share dominance, you should be ATTACKING weak competitors and taking share. Just like if you have money and think you want a place in Florida for winters, NOW is the time to buy!
   


2. Now is the absolute time to fire/lay off weak people in all categories. Do not wait. The situation will not get better. Exception: if the weak performer is bright and has high levels of personal desire and professional commitment, arm that person with the right skills: easy ROI.
   


3. Now is the time to recruit the strongest of salespeople. You will need a robust and inspiring vision. How do you know if you're shooting high enough? Post-interview, candidates should tell YOU "no" 50% of the time.
   


4. Get outside intelligent people to review and challenge your "go-to-market" sales strategies. The landscape has changed and many will waste money trying to sell things the market doesn't need anymore.
   


5. ELIMINATE everything that is not moving you toward your goals: stuff on your desk, your email, parts of your life, your office environment, newspapers, TV, booze, distractions etc. "To do" list management doesn't work anymore, and our brains were really designed for the "agricultural age." Sure, we made it through the "industrial age", but are now overwhelmed in the "information age." To keep up, YOU HAVE TO DELETE THINGS, as does every person up and down your hierarchy.

We hope this helps, and if you lead a $10 to $250M company, call us if you need help with the "how to." 888-595-6000.

Raising Expectations

Someone that EXPECTS to be wealthy will typically find that end result. Someone that EXPECTS to get by will tend to get by. So expectations are really just our BELIEF of what we anticipate, and of course..... our beliefs always come true.

Preparation

Very few companies were prepared for this economic downturn. What are you going to do different to make sure that you never end up in this position again?

Aggressive Salespeople

There is no place in the marketplace for aggressive salespeople. That day is over. There is, however, a place for professional and respectful assertiveness to find the truth with the real intent to help.

Everyone is not your prospect!

Great business development is about efficiently finding those that truly are your prospects and mutually engaging in a process that allows the prospect to discover that truth and to make a decision. Poor “sales” execution is needlessly chasing and convincing prospects that really are not prospects.

What's the difference between online social networking and social media?

Social networking is done through sites such as LinkedIn, Plaxo, Naymz, Facebook, MySpace and others.

Social media is what the user does to actively engage with readers (i.e., customers, prospects, etc.). Each of them has their pluses and minuses depending on the desired outcome.

The primary question small business owners should ask themselves is, are you trying to market your company by creating buzz about it (social media), or are you trying to actually engage people online (social networking).

The Role of Salesperson is changing, let’s work together

Author and trends guru Seth Godin made a recent prediction: 90% of your sales will come from word of mouth or digital promotion by 2011. In the few years I’ve followed Seth, he’s right a whole lot more than he’s wrong.

So how do you change what you're doing today to be ready for that? Is it good or bad for the salesperson?

Does web 2.0 social media empower the salesperson/team, or simply provide new avenues for the marketing department?

We at Coffman Group believe that the resulting merger and “gray space” between marketing and sales will produce a huge new power to the individual salesperson. In fact we’re already seeing such power with some of our early adaptor clients, who now have leads waiting for them instead of cold calling all day.

The salesperson must quickly adapt to the merger of sales and marketing and their new found power.

WE’D LIKE YOUR HELP AND INPUT?

As we refine our new social media training programs for sales teams (Power to the Sales-People) we would relish your input, via this discussion space, on ideas and suggestions you would have for Social Media training for sales teams. We’ll even welcome your own participation if you too are an early adaptor.