The first component of Sales Cycle Management (SCM) is Opportunity Management. In traditional sales pipelines, salespeople and managers do not spend enough time focusing their efforts on the most promising sales. Instead, effort seems to be misplaced or spread evenly over all possible sales, even the ones that will probably not close. To counteract this, Opportunity Management is the process of tracking the work done before the sale, and adjusting resources and effort accordingly. It may seem at first to be more work than it’s worth, so let’s take a look at the benefits of OM.

First, tracking the work before the sale allows you to focus on the most promising sales. In traditional pipelines, even the “maybe” sales or the ones that may never close seem to stay in the pipeline. By focusing on the most promising, the effort goes full steam into closing and creating a relationship. Along these lines, OM allows sales managers to create a budget based on the expected return and expense on the client. Since you’re tracking the work the salespeople are doing, sales managers can look at that work and specifically coach to it. This specialized coaching will lead to improved results for the entire organization. But how can you go about creating an OM system? Continue reading this post…

You’ve spent time in Opportunity Management and Sales Forecasting. You know which clients are the “top ten” probable sales - and you know how many sales you need to make to be profitable. Without account planning, your hard work may go to waste. Account planning is simply the act of applying a precise, project management approach to the individual client - and the sale. What are the benefits of a well-built account plan?

As we’ve briefly discussed, account planning brings your Opportunity Management activities full circle. You’ve got your top possibilities and now you’re going to create a specific plan to make the sale - and keep the client. Account planning allows salespeople and sales managers to closely analyze the sales process - and readjust as necessary. Because you create a detailed plan, sales can be transitioned into a relationship, client-based orientation, versus a hard sell. Here are some steps to take to create your account plan. Continue reading this post…

Your bags are packed and you’re ready to go, your first overseas trip. From the Midwest town of Chicago to the rolling hills of Rome Italy, you’re going to see it all. You throw your bags into a cab and your off to the airport.

A little while into the trip you you encounter some huge public works program that had blocked all of the traditional routes to the airport. You ask the driver to check the map because you’ve reached an intersection you’re not familiar with. You panic for a moment because you realize he does not have a map.

But you say the heck with it because you know where you’re going. You take a right, change the radio station and keep on going. Unfortunately, you never reach the airport prior to your plane leaving!

Too many of us treat goal setting the same way. We dream about where we want to go, but we don’t have a map to get there. Or fail to plan for obstacles that we may encounter along the way.

What is a map? In essence, the written word. Continue reading this post…

There are three (3) things that are always included in the successful conclusion to a successful goal cycle.  They are: commitment, completion and closure.

Commitment.  Unless the person making the goal is committed to working on and towards a particular goal, it is at best nothing more than a wish.  Commitment is the spark that ignites the fire that moves a person.

Completion.  What is the use of working a on goal and stop when you are just feet from the finish line.   Working towards 80-90 or even 95% of the objective is nothing more than falling short.  We need to focus on completing the goal!  100% is only what can be acceptable.

Closure.  When you first establish a goal, you set your destination.  Our commitment to working on the goal is our vehicle that will take us towards that horizon.  Completion is insuring that our vehicle has sufficient gas to reach our destination.  Closure is our reviewing our goal and enjoying the achievement that we have done.

By employing the 3 C’s in every goal situation, we insure that our overall plan and actions are successful and our long-term direction is still where we are seeking.

Every single interaction is an opportunity to do marketing, not a chance to cut costs.

If you’re like most, you have probably made a few resolutions for the upcoming year.  And if you’re like most, you’re probably wondering what went wrong with all those wonderful intentions.  You may be asking yourself, ‘Why can’t I stick to a diet,’ or ‘I just don’t understand it; I promised myself that I’d go to the gym,’ or “Why am I so weak.”  It seems like such a puzzle to try to figure out why all of this different resolutions seemed to fail.  Unfortunately, despite our best intentions, the ability to change our habits is only as good as your motivation to start to change yourself.

The main reason for failing to fulfill these objectives is an inability to realize the full benefit of a goal.  When trying to get off the couch to go for a run, you may find it difficult and start to rationalize with yourself that, “loosing an extra 10 pounds won’t be that big of a difference,” or say ‘I am fine with my appearance just the way I am.’

Due to our inability to realize the full potential of our goal, we ultimately give up and fail.  The same is true for goals in our professional life.  Because we fail to realize the full potential of a goal in our professional life, we simple let opportunities fall by the way side.

However, with the help of Bryant Nielson and ‘Lengthen your Stride’ you will be able to better realize your long-term personal and professional goals by realizing your full potential.  After realizing the full potential of all your goals, you will be increasingly motivated and extremely more likely to complete your goals and become more of a success in both personal and professional avenues of your life.

We are all looking for more time.  We all claim that there is insufficient time in our days to accomplish anything, let alone something we actually want to accomplish.  My solution to this is the biblical concept of tithing.  Take 10 percent of anything you are currently doing and dedicate it towards your real goals, and aspirations.

If you are watching 3 hours of television a day, then take 30 minutes for yourself and your dreams. You still get 2 1/2 hours of television but you also get 30 minutes closer to achieving your dreams.  That 30 minutes a day, over the course of a year is equal to 5.21 weeks of work.  What could you accomplish if you had over 5 weeks of work to concentrate on a project?  What could you achieve with that amount of time dedicated to  your dreams.

Google allow for their people to work 1/2 of a day per week on projects that are interesting to them. Many of their ‘new’ products are directly related to that freedom of ideas, expression and the necessary time to develop those ideas.

Tithing of time, allow for you to accomplish so much with nominal loss of those habits we have created over a life time.  So, what excuse do you have about not having sufficient time to work on your goals?