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"Manager's Minute" Tip

How to Do the Impossible - Let Us March!
by Jerry Hocutt

Remember Aron Ralston? Sampson Parker? They both made national headlines. If not, we’ll get to them in a minute.

One of the greatest challenges of a leader is to inspire action. When Cicero had finished speaking, the people said, “How well he spoke,” but when Demosthenes had finished speaking, the people said, “Let us march!”

What magic did Demosthenes spin? It’s hard enough to get ourselves to take action when we need to. How do you motivate a group to march?

Want is the preferred motivator. We act because we want to. Contests motivate salespeople. A prized trip to Mexico, Hawaii, or a Caribbean cruise will get them to make that extra sales call at the end of a long day when they’d rather be heading for home. Bribes motivate children. “Clean up your room and we’ll go to the movie.” Politicians are motivated by power. Nurses by healing.

But how often are you struck – and stuck – by your lack of motivation to do what you know should be done but yet can’t get yourself to do it?

For example, some sales activities are fun and we want to do them: making presentations. Hmm, okay one activity is. But many are not. Activities like cold calling, networking, asking for referrals, negotiating, and closing the deal are necessary but not necessarily done. Ask any sales manager or business owner.

“Why don’t salespeople do what they’re hired to do?” management asks.

I’ve recently made several presentations at local chambers and find it amusing to see the hundreds of people who show up at what is billed as a networking opportunity only to see them standoffish and isolated from others. They remain seated at their tables alone or with their small group of friends they came in with. They never walk over and introduce themselves to others, to strike up a conversation – to network.

Look, they know how to talk. I know. I’ve introduced myself to many of them. They’re articulate, bright, and funny. They know networking is one of the purposes of the chamber yet they don’t do it. They have networking knowledge. But knowledge is not power.

Action, however, is. Getting yourself and others to act is one of the most powerful abilities there is. Companies are frantically searching for their Demosthenes. Knowing how to make their people act in their own best interests is more coveted than closing the biggest deal.

Headlines

Which brings us back to Aron Ralston and Sampson Parker.

The headline in the May 3, 2003, St. Petersburg Times said about Ralston, “To save his life, hiker cuts off arm – Pinned by an 800-pound boulder in a narrow canyon, the outdoorsman resorts to drastic steps.” Ralston used a pocketknife to do the deed and hike out to be rescued.

The lead-in for the Today Show, November 26, 2007, read “To save his life, man cuts off arm with pocketknife – Sampson Parker recounts farming accident, his determination to live.” After getting his hand pulled into a corn harvester and being trapped from escape, the machinery soon began sending sparks to the ground starting a fire at his feet. Parker said, “My skin was melting. I told myself, I’m going to die here. I kept fighting, kept praying.”

Plan B

How do you get the people to march? Motivation. Motivation is created either by want or by need. Need trumps want every time. Neither Ralston nor Parker wanted to lose their arms. But they needed to save their lives. They said their choice was simple. It’s like the Greek general who landed his troops on his enemy’s shores and then set fire to the ships that brought them into battle. There would be no retreat. His troops would win or perish.

Ralston and Parker still say they did the right thing and have no regrets. They say they’re better people because of what they did. They found the courage to do what needed to be done to save themselves.

Need something? You know what to do, why you should do it, and how to do it. You have the knowledge. But knowledge is not enough. You need to act.

Time for Plan B. If there’s something you really want, create the need to act. Look to Ralston and Parker for guidance. Take away all your excuses. Forget the options, alternatives, and choices you think you have. You don’t. They are only false hopes. Help is not coming. No one is looking for you. It’s up to you. Do like Demosthenes, Ralston and Parker and create the sense of urgency that it’s now or never.

How to drive a sales manager mad

“Why don’t our people cold call, network, or ask for the business?” frustrated sales managers ask. “We show them what to do. We give them the skills. What’s their problem?”

That’s easy. They don’t want to do it. They would rather play golf, browse the Net, or talk with friends. But cold call? Network? Ask for referrals? Nah.

The solution? Create the need for action. Remove all options. Take away all choices. Leave them with only one.

Let’s be frank – and I don’t mean O-S-C-A-R

Let’s be honest. You’re not the next Google, FaceBook, or YouTube genius. You’re not going to make a trillion bazillion dollars with a new startup Internet discovery. You’re going to have to earn your living like the rest of us.

If you’re in sales there are only two ways to find new customers: sit by the phone hoping it will ring, or take the initiative to find new customers.

To create the need to find new customers, list your options and then eliminate the ones that aren’t working. Get rid of false hope. I mean, really look at your choices. How many sales have you made off each one this year? How many do you really use? Not think about using, but actually use; i.e. you actually have a program in place and work it every day. And then go with the one that has the best possibility – the one that offers real hope.

1. Wait by the phone.
2. Referrals.
3. Trade shows.
4. Network.
5. Cold call.

So there you have it Mr. and Ms. Salesperson. Those are your choices to find new customers. No one’s coming to your rescue. You know what needs to be done. Will you march?

About The Author:

© 2008 Jerry Hocutt. Get affordable ($25!) sales training at www.SalesWebinarsOnDemand.com. Webinars include Straight Talk If You’re New to Sales: Good Advice I Wish I Had Earlier in My Career and the Cold Calling for Cowards® trilogy.