“The Specialist” Sales and Management Training Blog

Hello kind readers,

I think one of the greatest tools a manager can use in building a successful business is to be able to sell a TEAM CONCEPT within your organization. How does one go about doing this? Well it is very simple. STOP singling out people for their mistakes, instead frame their mistakes as well as their achievements with the pros and cons their actions have on their team!

Everything I do in management is based on teamwork. I firmly sell the idea that we cannot succeed as individuals in my organization…only as a team! The really nice benefit of this is everyone starts having each others back. You even start hearing comments when one person receives a compliment like, oh we all contributed, it wasn’t just me. Those comments let you as the leader know that you have indeed sold the team concept to your staff. What a GREAT accomplishment!

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“The Specialist”

Hi everybody,

Someone gave me an idea for a terrific post so I thought I would share it with you. I won’t be able to go into near the depth for each one of these great lessons learned but I will do my best. In order from #10, I will start with sales first. Here we go…

#10. In sales, To be successful be yourself! Do not try and be someone you are not. And whatever you do NEVER try to be “MR. SALESMAN”!!!

#9. “Perfect practice makes Perfect! Don’t forget, how you practice your craft will have a direct reflection on your income and longevity in the industry!

#8. Find a Mentor…”The Specialist” had a great number of mentors that helped me sharpen my craft. Even the bad ones taught me something, If nothing else they taught me what NOT TO DO!

#7. Be sincere with your customers or potential customers. I mean really care about them, it will go along way and the customers can feel it.

#6. The most important thing I have learned in the sales profession is HAVING INTEGRITY in each an every sale regardless of who or what you are selling.

#5. In MANAGEMENT, remember these people that you are managing are under your supervision and leadership. Make sure your footprint of GOOD is all over their FUTURE!

#4. Be patient! Remember, you are not where you are as an overnight sensation. It took a lot of hard work for you and it will be a long process for them. Be patient!

#3. Be Fair to all of your employees and be even handed. Your staff will be watching and grading YOU!

#2. Lead by example! The speed of the boss is the speed of the crew! Never ask your staff to do something you won’t do, can’t do, or haven’t done!

AND the NUMBER ONE thing I have learned in sales/management is to put God first in my life, family second and my business third! I have proven to myself that if I allow God to take me on His plan and I put my family next my business is already taken care of!

“The Specialist”

Hello everybody,

As usual tonight I had the great opportunity to speak with a young salesperson that in two words has “Permanent Potential”!

Most people are not even familiar with the term and how it relates to sales/management. Permanent potential is best described as a person that goes through life with unlimited talents and gifts but never fully realizes them to their fullest. This young person is in my humblest opinion is one of the most naturally gifted sales persons I have ever come across. The problem is that this particular person believes all the press clippings and has stopped learning and growing.

This was not a sudden one time occurrence. Before one can be labeled as a person with permanent potential a track record has to be established. This particular person has burned bridges in the last three stops and has never seen any situation through to its entirety. Most importantly the key ingredient in a person with permanent potential is the inability to take responsibility for any of the failures.

As I explained to this young person, the road to success is filled with the corpses of people with permanent potential. This is not limited to the sales profession, quite the contrary it is in every industry in the world. When you are to big to learn from others and you know more than people 30 years your senior it is time to re-evaluate your attitude.

It is ironic that yesterday’s post was on Mr. Indispensable and yet this person with permanent potential is always released even before him. Imagine that.

“The Specialist” has this tip for all managers and owners of companies…cut your losses with those with “Permanent Potential” and move on, you and your entire Company will prosper in the long run for it. I call it “FOOLS GOLD”!!

“The Specialist”

Oh what a subject!

I could tell you a million stories about the people I have come in contact with that consider themselves indispensable. What a mistake!

The reason I have chosen this subject for tonight’s post is I have encountered 2, that’s right… 2, of these misguided people in the last month! Can you believe it? I want young and intermediate managers to learn how to protect themselves from these frauds. That’s right, I called them frauds because they are selfish and uncaring people that have no concept of TEAM!

“The Specialist”, long before being recognized in the sales profession, had to face this problem as I built sales organizations. I had a lot of trouble and most of the times in the early years dealt with it miserably! I, like so many young managers, even seasoned managers, see the amount of volume these people generate and are afraid to stick to their core values because they don’t want to lose the volume.

I will guarantee you this…Once you have one of these people in your organization it takes a very seasoned and cool headed manager to understand that the loss of volume is only TEMPORARY in the overall scheme of things. In fact, eliminating this problem as soon as it rears it’s ugly head will actually transfer into much larger profits in the long run, not to mention a much more invigorated staff! Not to mention the many diamonds in the rough (that you as a manager will discover within your staff) that have been smothered by this selfish, inconsiderate individual.

Even to this day, after I have to eliminate one of these kinds of people I still spend time to reflect with nervous energy hoping I made the right decision. Even if it takes TWO people to replace the volume I guarantee you it will be worth it. As soon as the volume returns and I have a fluid, cohesive staff I see the wisdom in my decision.

You will have to trust “The Specialist” on this one and take the plunge for a much happier staff and the great feeling that you are not held hostage to anyone except your own core values!

“The Specialist”

Hi everybody,

I have a good one for you tonight.

Terminating someone is usually never pleasant. However, it is a necessary evil in all professions. Personally I would rather develop someone than terminate them. Anyone can fire someone…Not everyone can develop someone. Regardless if someone quits or is terminated, there will always be spin control.

For example, An employer can be kinda hoping someone quits so they don’t have to fire them. On the other hand, there are employees that know they are about to be fired so they quit just to save face. The point of tonight’s post is, regardless of your viewpoint, as the employer you are being graded by your existing employees on how gracefully you handle the situation, regardless of the spin.

Under no circumstances does it benefit you as the employer to bash the employee that is no longer there. In fact it can cause you great harm to talk bad about the departed employee regardless of what they have to say about you. All eyes are watching how you handle the situation. If you bad-mouth the departed employee all other employees know when they leave you will probably say something bad about them. Not good for your image as a fair employer.

Learn to romance the termination.

What I try and do is not discuss the subject at all. If I am backed into a corner I usually try and say something nice about the person even if we departed on not so good terms. Future employees will know at least you will give them a fair shake if they leave. By saying nothing or at least something nice about the departed employee when the ex-employee bad-mouths you people will put two and two together and realize that whenever you point your finger at someone else 3 more fingers are pointed directly at yourself.

Sometimes it’s hard, but well worth it and really nothing is gained by speaking ill of someone that is no longer around.

“The Specialist”