An uncle of mine who owned a very successful logging company in British Columbia’s Rocky Mountains in the 1960’s and ‘70’s taught me a valuable lesson about productivity and asset utilization.
          Between forest fire hazards in the summer months, and heavy snowfalls in the winter months, he only had a few short months a year in which to make his money.
          I remember him telling me, “Wayne, acquiring new equipment isn’t always the answer to higher productivity”.
          He used the analogy of two old-time loggers to explain his point. “You see,” he said, “a new less-experienced logger might go all the way back into town searching for a new axe when his old one gets dull.”
          “The experienced logger knows, however, that by the time you go back to town, find a new axe, bring it back to the bush and break it in, you could have completed a good day’s work just by sharpening the axe you already have.” 
          Good managers in our business understand that same lesson. Often newer managers want to clean house and start over with a new staff. The professional manager knows that sometimes we just need to sharpen the team we already have.
          New people are seldom as good as they appear to be on their resume, and then there is the risk and down time to consider of recruiting, training and building new relationships.
          Before you give up on your old axe, maybe it just needs a little sharpening. Training does more than just sharpen the skills of your people. The investment you make in their career growth is also a huge motivating factor.
          Estimates of the cost of sales staff turnover in our industry range from $35,000 to $75,000 per person. Perhaps a wiser investment might be to budget for a good training program for your existing team. 

          Nothing will help you lose your client or your audience faster than making them feel stupid…..so watch your language.
          Often in an attempt to appear intelligent, we use language that is misunderstood or intimidating to the person or persons we are trying to influence.
          Yesterday, I was reading a trade magazine article that talked about “heuristic evaluations”. Boy did I feel dumb. But I make a point of reading and learning every day, so I typed the word heuristic into my word processor then clicked on Language and Thesaurus. Ah ha! I’m not so dumb after all, my Thesaurus did not recognize the word either.
          Being relentless in my quest for knowledge, I will admit I did find the word in a good old Webster’s Dictionary. The context in which this trade article used the word still made little sense to me.
          In different articles in that same publication words like, ‘analytics’ and ‘temerity’ also had me feeling guilty about my lack of formal education. By the way, after searching three dictionaries I’m convinced there is no such word as analytics……although in my eyes the author appears to come from  the root word “anal” in analytics.
          Here is my point. When it comes to communicating or building relationships there is nothing wrong with using four-letter words. The shorter, more easily understood a word is, the more quickly you are likely to develop an understanding and a rapport with your audience and your customers.
          Using larger words to display your intellect, or worse yet, to unveil the recipient’s ignorance, is unforgivable.
          I think Nelson Mandela said it best when he said, “Speak to a man in a language he understands and it goes to his head. Speak to him in his language and it goes to his heart.”
          I’m suggesting that speaking or writing in a language that penetrates neither the head nor the heart is a waste of time and energy.  

          Account list re-alignment is one of the most productive sales management tools you have. Re-assigning accounts that are not at potential and exposing them to a fresh approach can net amazing results.
          Having said that, it is never a good feeling for the sales manager nor the sales executive, to leave an account review with a sense of loss.
          To avoid that leaving empty-handed feeling, try awarding poker chips or monopoly money for each surrendered account.  Award chips to the account executive proportionate to the potential THEY claim the account could be worth.
          For a high level A account give the sales person three chips, for level B give them two, and for a low level C give them one.
          Following your account reviews with each rep, facilitate an account bidding session where the account executives bring their chips to the meeting, using them to bid on the accounts that are up for trade.   
          This process has been very successful with my clients because:

1.) The reps feel like they got something for the accounts they surrendered
2.) The sales manager can not be accused of favoritism in the re-distribution of accounts, and most importantly,
3.) The account executive who is willing to bid the majority of her chips for a particular account has a method to her madness…they usually have a great idea or some knowledge about the account that makes them passionate about following up.

          Account bidding meetings can be fun, and you’ll see immediate  increased sales activity if you have been aggressive and thorough in your account review.
NOTE: to maximize the productivity of the bidding process, each rep should have 4-5 days to study the list of accounts up for bidding in order to devise their priorities and bidding strategies.

          Last week I read a cartoon in one of the trade journals that said; “In a desperate fight for ratings, Survivor producers have returned to marketing. In their next series, Management Consultants, Creatives, Researchers, and Media people battle each other for dominance. The losers will forfeit their egos and the winners become insufferable.”

          The joke reminded me how integral my attitude towards ‘losing’ has been to my career. You see, if someone doesn’t buy my proposal, I have always conditioned myself to believe THEY are the losers, not me.

          And it’s true. If you have integrity, identify and understand your clients’ problems and opportunities, and present the best possible solutions and ideas to them, it really is they, who lose when they say “no”.

          Understanding and believing this not only helps you to present more confidently, it also prevents you from having to “forfeit your ego”.

          How many of you remember the movie Armageddon? It’s the movie where Harry, played by Bruce Willis, and a bunch of rag-tag oil drillers are drafted to head off into space to blow up a huge asteroid which is headed for a collision with earth.

          Just as these rough necks are sitting in their rocket ready for take-off, one of them turns to Willis and says, “Hey Harry. Did you know we are sitting on two million pounds of rocket fuel and a nuclear bomb in equipment which was supplied by the lowest bidder? How’s that make you feel?”

          Everyone from Mercedes Benz to Rolex knows that your image is impacted by your pricing policy.

          How do you think your clients feel about your station if you are, “the lowest bidder?”

          I’d rather be saying “I’m the most expensive, proud of it, and worth every penny.”