How to get High Quality Consistent Sales Training for your Team
Feb 4, 2015

It has been said there are 3 things that top sales people do consistently. They train, train and train. But as a business owner, how do you provide consistent training that gives you and your team the edge to stay at the forefront?

Well, for starters you can go to seminars, read books or bring trainers in house. All of which work, but organizing them and the associated cost can sometimes be prohibitive.

I'm not going to tell you I have 'the' answer but I do believe what I'm about to share with you has a lot of credit.

Enter Jeffrey Gitomer.

Perhaps you've heard of Jeffrey, perhaps you haven't. His style is unique but his results are unquestionable. I've been studying his material for many years and have found it to be solid. It resonates with me. Perhaps it will you too.

Anyway ... about the sales training. Jeffrey has taken his life's work (9 books - many best selling), and developed a platform that allows salespeople get get daily doses + more in-depth training on a schedule that suits the individual user. He has hosted it on a state of the art multi-million dollar platform called VT (Virtual Training). It is a interactive web-based  technology that is designed to emulate what happens in a live training environment. It tracks, monitors and measures everything the user does and has built-in real time reporting and notification features. It truly is leading edge.

If you think you and your team could benefit from a skills and attitude steroid shot ... this is worth checking out. Below is the link to the technology and you can get a FREE 5-day trial. Check it out and have fun with it - you won't regret looking it up.

http://www.gitomervt.com/contact.cfm

 

 

 

A Massively Misunderstood Word
Feb 2, 2015

When people use the word ‘responsible’ what they usually mean is that someone can be trusted to do the right thing. “Jim is a responsible person” … And that is certainly what I thought I meant … until I had it more clearly defined for me.

My moment of epiphany first came when I saw Jack Canfield speak and he talked about his formula for creating the life outcomes you want. His formula was this:

E + R = O

Where E is the event, R is your response and O is the outcome. What Jack explained is that while we may not always have control over the events in our business and our life, we do always have 100% control over our response, thereby giving us 100% control over our outcomes.

This can seem like common sense when you read it and the truth is most of us (me included) operates more by default and ‘reacts’ vs. intentionally choosing to ‘respond’.

Take this scenario for example: Think of the last time someone cut you off in traffic in an extremely selfish and discourteous way. What was your immediate response?

Did you sit and ponder the situation and ask yourself, now what is the best way to respond here so I get the outcome I want?

Or did you just react?

Be honest, you just reacted right?

The reality is, this is the way most of us live our lives - in all areas – when your spouse gets upset at you, when an employee does not deliver, when you lose a big account, when you win a big account … the list goes on.

So what is the point you ask?

Well, take the scenario above. You may have felt immediately angry, flipped the bird to the other driver, honked your horn and generally got yourself hot under the collar. Once you got to work you may have told others about it and relived the experience over and over. And each time you did, you put yourself into a certain emotional state. And that state produces a certain quality to your actions and influences the results you produced in that moment. Basically how you feel is reflected back to you by the outcomes you produce and in turn witness as reality (another massively misunderstood word).

So the point is this - ‘choosing to respond’ in a way that will put you in the right emotional state massively attributes to the way you feel, the quality of your actions and in turn the quality of your results. And those results become your experience.

What responsibility (response – ability) means in that in every moment you have the ability to respond. It is your choice. While you may blame an event for your outcomes, that is simply not the true cause. It is your response that is the true cause.

We can take this further and apply it to how we shape our world through our perception. Each of us sees the world and the people and events in it through our own filter. That filter gives everything meaning. And that meaning for us becomes our reality.

Now, is it really ‘reality’ if we can make it different by giving it different meaning?

Let's put it another way. If two people are involved in the same event but each see it differently, which one is ‘reality’? You see, reality is subjective and can be changed.

The best example of this is when people read and interpret email. An email contains some text to which  the reader attaches meaning based on their filters. The meaning they give it may or may not have been what the writer intended but the point is, we are each ‘responsible’ for the meaning we give to people and events.

When we feel stressed, it is not that the situation is in fact stressful, but it is the story we tell ourselves about the event that creates the feeling of stress within us. It is OUR story not the event that causes stress.

This is the essence of responsibility. We are each responsible for the quality of our experience in every way. We have choice in how we respond. Choice in our stories and in our actions.

When you grasp this concept it is truly empowering. It really puts you in the drivers seat not only to be in control of your future outcomes but also to control how you feel in each moment. And at the end of the day, we are all striving for a certain feeling. Everything we do is so we can achieve or move away from a feeling. Knowing we can have the feelings we want at any moment is a great revelation.

Now if only it were that easy. What I’ve written above may be true but that does not make it simple to do. It is a life practice. And the first step is to understand the true meaning and implications of the word ‘responsibility’.

How will you choose to respond today?

7 tips to making today your best day
Jan 20, 2015

If you are reading this then there is a good chance you’re obsessed with high performance. Perhaps you’ve done all the Tony Robbins trainings and read all the books but your appetite is insatiable.

Well I’ve got some good news … in my experience it can be some of the simplest ideas that yield the biggest results. And to expand on that and borrow a concept from Tony, high performance comes largely from how you feel in the moment. Yes skills matter. Of course they do. However I’ve seen massive results generated once I get someone in the right state.

So without having to rely on an outside force to get you in that right state, what are some shortcuts? Well I think one of the fastest ways to get in a powerful state is to elevate your self-esteem. When we feel good about ourselves we feel good in general. So here they are, some quick tips for boosting self-esteem:

  1. Make your bed – you read it right. I know what you’re thinking … “how the heck is that going to improve my state”. Well don’t take my word for it (although I know first-hand it works) – read what Jennifer Wasylenko wrote about it on Lifehack.org
  2. Exercise first thing in the morning – just like making your bed, when you exercise not only to you get the obvious health benefits but you feel like King Kong because you’ve done something very few people do before most people are up and at it. This immediately leaves you with a positive state of mind
  3. Join the 5am club. Robin Sharma has written and recorded lots on this. Google “Robin Sharma 5am Club” Just like point #2, being up at 5 while the rest of the word is sleeping gives you a psychological advantage in knowing you have a head start. Heck just carrying through with getting up feels like a massive achievement.
  4. Verbally express either your gratitude or a sincere compliment to someone in your life. The law of reciprocity kicks into high gear when you do this and not in terms of the act being returned to you but in how you feel after you do it. If this is new to you, it may feel a bit weird, but you’ll get over that once you experience the payoff.
  5. Reflect on past successes and highlights. This one works particularly well when you are feeling a bit low. Reflecting on past successes helps to reset your mind and serves as a reminder that life is roller coaster. Being low just means that your next event will be a way up.
  6. Keep some simple promises you make to yourself. Which is the opposite of what most people do during the month of January as they chip away their self-esteem by not carrying through with the New Year’s resolutions. Make it easy and keep the time frame short. I.e. getting up when you say you are going to get up. Sticking to your chosen diet for the day. Clearing your inbox within a certain time period. The more you keep these small promises, the easier they will be to keep. And as time progresses, your promises to yourself become golden. They are your integrity.
  7. Know what you want from the day. Be clear on your top 3 priorities and be realistic about getting them done. Overachieving and failing consistently leads to a downward spiral. Keep it winnable and be sure your priorities are real priorities that will generate results.

Why You’re not as Profitable as You Want
Jan 5, 2015

Being profitable is not that complicated. It is also not necessarily easy but I believe most see understanding the numbers as being a complex monster so they stay away. Here it is in a nutshell:

1. Know your margins

2. Budget for profit.

3. Manage your fixed costs

 

1. Know your margins

It all starts with margins. If you don't know how much money you make when you make a sale, it is very hard to know how to make money in your business. Where this gets complicated is when you need to factor in varying types of labour (some directly attributable, some not), costs that are shared with other income streams (e.g. depreciation of equipment). To keep it simple, I believe you should only account for costs in your margin that can be easily tracked as  direct cost to that income stream (i.e. direct labour and materials) and put all other less direct costs into your fixed costs. From here you need to understand your business model - i.e. how much sales to you need to make at what Gross Margin to make the profit you want.

Here's an example:

A dive company needs to allow for its equipment when they quote on a job. They could try to say "we use the equipment for about 4000 hrs before it needs replacing and it costs us $8000, therefore it costs us $20/hr so we'll charge it out at $50 to allow for 40% margin". That formula works but can be difficult to always know how long equipment lasts and can be a lot to keep track of. The other problem is, this works well if you are running at maximum utilization but if you're not, you may not allow enough to cover fixed costs.

It is better to look at it from a macro level. For example:

I'd rather see them say "our fixed costs (including depreciation) are around $1.2MM per year and we want to make $300,000 profit. Therefore we need to cover costs of $1.5MM. We will aim for a 40% Gross Profit Margin (based on experience and market) therefore need $3.75MM in revenue to achieve our profit goals ($1.5MM / 40%). If we are running 3 crews they each need to generate $1.25MM of revenue or assuming a utilization rate of 90% and 2000 hrs/year, they need to generate $694/hr ($1.25MM / 2000 / 90%). Now we can track utilization rate and sales per team to see if we are on track. All marketing and efficiency can be geared around those numbers.

This approach enables us to more easily track job costing (because you only need to track the direct costs that are easily accounted for) which makes margin easier to track.

The main danger with using this method is if you get big swings in fixed costs (i.e. depreciation) then you need to be aware of that and adjust accordingly. If this is the case then I'd suggest that needs to be examined more closely.

 

2. Budget for profit.

In his great (and sometimes interesting) book "Profits aren't everything, They're the only thing" - author George Cloutier wisely advises when setting budgets, start with a conservative sales estimate followed by allowing for your profit. Then extrapolate your Gross Profit (using your targeted Gross Margin %). Then what ever number is left when you subtract your profit from your Gross Profit, that is what is allowed for fixed costs.

This approach make you sweat. But when you do it, it forces you to take a hard look at your numbers and see what decisions your making. At the end of the day, your financial statements are just a reflection of choices that have been made within your company. This process makes give you a new perspective on how to make those choices.

3. Manage your fixed costs.

It always fascinates me how few people understand their fixed costs. I.e. how much does it cost just to open the doors everyday before you've even made a sale. Fixed costs can creep massively when times are good and is usually something people are on when times are bad. The trouble can be if you're not watching them closely and the creep happens, you are leaving money on the table.

Once you've set your budgets in the step above, hold people accountable for maintaining them. This is an area where profit sharing and open book management can be extremely powerful (see Jack Stack book - The Great Game of Business)

 

Good luck and let the profits roll.

 

Why You're not as Profitable as You Want
Jan 5, 2015

Being profitable is not that complicated. It is also not necessarily easy but I believe most see understanding the numbers as being a complex monster so they stay away. Here it is in a nutshell:

1. Know your margins

2. Budget for profit.

3. Manage your fixed costs

 

1. Know your margins

It all starts with margins. If you don't know how much money you make when you make a sale, it is very hard to know how to make money in your business. Where this gets complicated is when you need to factor in varying types of labour (some directly attributable, some not), costs that are shared with other income streams (e.g. depreciation of equipment). To keep it simple, I believe you should only account for costs in your margin that can be easily tracked as  direct cost to that income stream (i.e. direct labour and materials) and put all other less direct costs into your fixed costs. From here you need to understand your business model - i.e. how much sales to you need to make at what Gross Margin to make the profit you want.

Here's an example:

A dive company needs to allow for its equipment when they quote on a job. They could try to say "we use the equipment for about 4000 hrs before it needs replacing and it costs us $8000, therefore it costs us $20/hr so we'll charge it out at $50 to allow for 40% margin". That formula works but can be difficult to always know how long equipment lasts and can be a lot to keep track of. The other problem is, this works well if you are running at maximum utilization but if you're not, you may not allow enough to cover fixed costs.

It is better to look at it from a macro level. For example:

I'd rather see them say "our fixed costs (including depreciation) are around $1.2MM per year and we want to make $300,000 profit. Therefore we need to cover costs of $1.5MM. We will aim for a 40% Gross Profit Margin (based on experience and market) therefore need $3.75MM in revenue to achieve our profit goals ($1.5MM / 40%). If we are running 3 crews they each need to generate $1.25MM of revenue or assuming a utilization rate of 90% and 2000 hrs/year, they need to generate $694/hr ($1.25MM / 2000 / 90%). Now we can track utilization rate and sales per team to see if we are on track. All marketing and efficiency can be geared around those numbers.

This approach enables us to more easily track job costing (because you only need to track the direct costs that are easily accounted for) which makes margin easier to track.

The main danger with using this method is if you get big swings in fixed costs (i.e. depreciation) then you need to be aware of that and adjust accordingly. If this is the case then I'd suggest that needs to be examined more closely.

 

2. Budget for profit.

In his great (and sometimes interesting) book "Profits aren't everything, They're the only thing" - author George Cloutier wisely advises when setting budgets, start with a conservative sales estimate followed by allowing for your profit. Then extrapolate your Gross Profit (using your targeted Gross Margin %). Then what ever number is left when you subtract your profit from your Gross Profit, that is what is allowed for fixed costs.

This approach make you sweat. But when you do it, it forces you to take a hard look at your numbers and see what decisions your making. At the end of the day, your financial statements are just a reflection of choices that have been made within your company. This process makes give you a new perspective on how to make those choices.

3. Manage your fixed costs.

It always fascinates me how few people understand their fixed costs. I.e. how much does it cost just to open the doors everyday before you've even made a sale. Fixed costs can creep massively when times are good and is usually something people are on when times are bad. The trouble can be if you're not watching them closely and the creep happens, you are leaving money on the table.

Once you've set your budgets in the step above, hold people accountable for maintaining them. This is an area where profit sharing and open book management can be extremely powerful (see Jack Stack book - The Great Game of Business)

 

Good luck and let the profits roll.