With the big game right around the corner, what do you think the 4 teams left are doing to prepare for their possible chance to win the championship? They are scrutinizing every piece of past game films they can get their hands on! This holds true not only in football but in every other sport. Every professional athlete or team who is looking to win the championship in their sport is analyzing how they have done in previous games as well as how their competitors have played. Any good coach will tell you that watching game film is a significant factor to winning future games...that’s why they spend endless hours watching film!

Really it comes down to “he who has the most competitive information and field intelligence wins”! Your relationships with your customers will only be strengthened if you can provide them with products or services of additional value to help them grow their business. You must know what your competitors are doing across your territory. You might also want to know what your customers competitors are doing in your territory. Think about it, if you can find just 1 weakness in your opponent, you have the upper hand. If you can discover just 1 inefficiency in your own performance, you can increase your productivity overnight!

If you are part of a sales force of 1-5, or a larger team of several hundred reps, the more information you gather from the field the better position you and your company will be in to realize more sales. Have you ever literally screamed at the television because your favorite team is so predictable? They continue to
run the same plays over and over again as if the outcome will change if they do it enough times...and it never does. Guess what, the competition is watching the game and taking note of particular lineups, player changes, etc and making needed adjustments. Pretty soon the same play up the middle just won’t go up the middle.

Does the same hold true for sales professionals? Are you predicable to your competitors? In reality your Sales Managers, Marketing Managers and others should have access to your “game film” to help spot opportunities for you to sell more. They can see the whole field—what a vantage point! What market intelligence do you have that could strengthen your relationships with your customers? The bottom line is that the company with the best field intelligence has the best opportunity to win more business! Find it, record it, use it! The more your company knows about the “field of play”, the more everyone will have the details to help you sell more of your product or service!

Your notes are invaluable to your success! Isn’t that worth a 60 second phone call?

Good Luck and GREAT SELLING!

Tom Metcalf
President
Telenotes SPS Inc.
866-835-3668

I recently read a great article entitled “The Law of Advanced Planning” by Brian Tracy (see www.briantracy.com). He points out that he who has the most information wins. In his article he states: “The power is on the side of the salesperson with the best notes. Plan your salescall objectives thoroughly in advance of meeting the client... After the call, quickly write down everything that was said. Don't trust it to memory. Remember the Chinese saying, "The palest ink lasts longer than the finest memory." Prior to every sales call, and no matter how many times you have visited this same customer, take a few minutes to review the customer's file, the customer's situation, and your own notes on what has taken place in the past. You'll be amazed at how impressive you sound when you go into a sales interview having just reviewed the customer's file a few minutes before. And customers always know if you have done your homework”

Let’s take his advise just one step further...you have written down all the details from your last sales call, and the sales call prior to that one, and the sales call prior to that visit, and so forth. At the end of the day you have a couple pages of notes and follow-ups that must be archived, filed, calendared, etc into some sort of database, right?

Here is the scary part, this happens EVERY DAY! Pages and pages, note pad after note pad of information is piling up in your binder or passenger side seat; Post-It notes are dotting your dashboard, desktop and laptop monitor. It’s time to simplify a bit isn't it? TeleNotes allows you to, in just 60—90 seconds, capture and organize all the information you gather into one simple Sales Productivity System, and what’s best, you don’t have to type a single key stroke.

As for having the information with you to review “your own notes on what has taken place in the past”, it’s easy, all your data is retrievable on your Blackberry or other mobile device, no laptop required! If you are working a paper system, then print out your task list for the day prior to leaving the office. TeleNotes organizes your follow ups, and provides you with the details of previous notes all in one printable format to take with you on the road.

Your notes are invaluable to your success! Isn’t that worth a 60 second phone call?

Good Luck and GREAT SELLING!

Tom Metcalf
President
TeleNotes SPS Inc.
tomm@telenotes.net
866-835-3668

I was visiting with my brother recently who's a sales manager for a medical device company. He relayed to me a recent experience of one of his tenured sales reps. She had put in a long day inviting physicians to an educational event sponsored by their company. It was a tiring day that had yielded little results. On her way home she decided to make "one more call" and stopped by a large physician's office. This was a group of orthopedic surgeons who are typically impossible to see. Well, it just so happened that she ran into two of them as they were leaving for the day. As it turned out, not only did those two doctors attend the event, but they invited two more of their partners.

Too often we let the little tings slip when in reality the little things make the biggest difference.

What little pieces of information come by your way that, if recorded or acted upon (one more call perhaps), would make a huge difference in your sales numbers?

Remember, it's only fractions of seconds, inches in length, or just 1 putt in 100 that separates those who finish first, and everyone else.

Good Luck and GREAT SELLING!

Psychology of Sales Reluctance authors George Dudley and Sharon Goodson interviewed 1000 sales reps across the country and had some interesting findings. One item that caught my attention was that "...personal accountability seems to play the largest role in whether or not a new recruit develops into a sales superstar."

Here are their findings:
Low performers often fear their cold calls will be seen as pushy or intrusive.
Top performers assume their calls are always welcome because they have information that can benefit the prospect’s business.
Low performers generally feel there are only certain hours of the day when cold calls should be made.
Top performers feel any time is the right time (assuming the correct adjustments are made for time zones and callbacks are scheduled effectively).
Low performers blame poor results on factors that are out of their control, like non-receptive prospects, bad leads or poor market conditions.
Top performers are the first ones to evaluate their own performance, as well as key metrics, to determine what needs to be adjusted and how to go about doing so.

With more companies moving to Call Reporting or Activity Tracking solutions, more reps are pushing back on the idea. Keep in mind, Top Performers really don't mind if someone is looking over their shoulder...it's really no big deal. In fact, they probably can see their own needed adjustments long before management!

My advice, give them something to look at. More calls, better prepared calls, better quality calls... all equal MORE SALES!

The bottom line: Top Performers, no matter who is watching, close more deals!

Important Notice:

Manufacture rep firms are being stricken with FCR or “FactoryCallReportitis”.

Common symptoms include:

Incessant requests from your factories to do “ride-a-longs”!

Increasing demands from your factories for more “what-have-you-done-for-me-lately” reports!

Commission reductions!

Piling amounts of programs, initiatives and other busy work from every manufacture you represent!

Although the demands of FCR are taxing on your organization, there is no longer a need to have your sales team immobilized by these demands!

Here are some ideas to help take the edge of FCR:
1. Develop a standardized call report form and present it to your manufactures. Let them know that standardizing your call reporting will allow you to have more selling time and less call reporting time.
2. Set aside a block of time each week to keep current on your notes by manufacture. Although this will take time to implement, and it will be difficult at first to stay on track, ultimately you will spend less time overall compiling information.
3. Sign up with Telenotes and let us do the tracking, reporting and compiling for you and your reps.

Best of Success!

Tom Metcalf
President, TeleNotes Inc.