Your Salespeople Running Out Of Gas? Supercharge Them With Neuroscience Based Sales Training

How Often Have You Heard Yourself Saying: “My Sales Team Has Talent, So Why Aren’t They Hitting Their Numbers???”

This is a problem that sales managers have been trying to solve since the dawn of business. You can almost imagine a merchant circa 1300 lamenting to a friend, “What stops my traders from calling on the bigger kingdoms and getting higher prices is beyond me!” This exact conversation is going on right now in the offices of sales managers and company presidents all around the globe. The commodity may have changed but the essence of the conversation is the same. What stops my salespeople from attaining the results I know they are capable of?

According to David Stein, the CEO of ES research group, an analyst firm focused on the sales training industry, “American businesses spend over $7B a year in sales training and yet the failure rate is over 80%.” ES Research’s data shows that sales training has a motivational effect that fades with time. Stein explains, “Most salespeople revert back to their original production level within 80 days unless there is some sort of intervention that reinforces the training.”

There are many approaches to solving this problem, most of which don’t work:

Reward success: Vacations, money, and public recognition work for some. For others there is little or no motivational value. Beyond that, there is ample research that says rewards start losing their effectiveness the more you use them.

Punish failure: This can be a great motivator for certain people, but overall it has a detrimental effect on the morale of the sales organization. And once again its effectiveness tapers off with repeated use.

Upgrade selling skills: The sales manager or a hired gun comes in and teaches the sales team sales skills that they usually already know. On occasion something new is delivered that makes a difference. Sales Training does deliver a boost in sales. Unfortunately, sales usually slide back to the normal level all too quickly.

Motivation: An impassioned speech from the CEO or a flavor of the month speaker can get the entire sales team fired up and ready to take on the world. Salespeople can usually maintain the fervor for days, sometimes for weeks, but eventually their fantasy collides with the reality. And the motivation fizzles out.

External Motivation is Short-lived – Internal Motivation is Permanent

One of the key elements of sales training is its motivational effect. There are two types of motivation; external motivation, which is transitory, and internal motivation, which stays with you no matter what. Unfortunately, sales training delivers external motivation. It’s no wonder that the “high” from a great sales trainer often fizzles out quickly. Furthermore, relying on external motivation means businesses constantly have to invest in ongoing sales training just to keep pace.

The key driver that determines sales success
Most sales professionals intrinsically know there has to be something more than traditional sales training. If we knew what the missing element was, we could transform training from just a motivational experience with short-term gains into one that provides a permanent change that delivers improved results.

Salespeople as a group are notoriously difficult to study because there is such a wide array of sales methodologies. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. Even if a company standardizes on a particular sales methodology, an objective study is still challenging because the individual salespeople feel more comfortable reverting back to their native sales techniques. This creates a mishmash of techniques within a company.

Sandler Sales is a great sales training company that has hundreds of franchisees worldwide. These franchisees use the Sandler Sales system to sign-up new students. They also teach the system everyday as part of their job. They literally live and breathe this sales ideology. In fact, their commitment to the Sandler Sales System was so high they purchased a franchise ($60,000+). All of these franchisees are highly driven individuals who selling the same commodity, using the same methodology.

A number of highly successful franchisees are very comfortable charging twice as much for the same service. While other franchisees feel uncomfortable asking for a higher price. Keep in mind all of these franchisees would coach their students to sell on value and get the highest price possible while being fair to the customer. This means that the “weaker” franchisees know what to do but fail to take action when it comes to price. This highlights that what’s going on inside the salesperson’s head (the human element) is more powerful that their sales skill-set level.

With an empowering human element, a salesperson can attain results far in excess of what common wisdom would predict given their current skill level and drive. And conversely you can get a highly skilled and driven salesperson that gets less than stellar results because of a disempowering human element.

Sales training teaches new selling skills and provides much needed motivation to get out there and make things happen. Motivation can also temporarily overcome fear or inertia that hinders a salesperson’s success. The area where sales training misses the mark is in addressing the human element. This is a clear case of 2 out of 3 is bad. As long as the human element goes unaddressed, the only way to get a lasting performance boost is to engage in a never-ending cycle of sales training.

Understanding The Human Element

Salespeople are driven: they want to get better results, but sometimes it seems no matter how hard they try they can’t break the bonds of their human element. The human element trumps skill and drive every time. For lasting sales success it’s critical that we understand the human element.

The first thing you need to know is that humans have several neurological levels. At the deepest level is where we hold our beliefs. We have beliefs about being a man, the government, about selling, money, and self-worth; there is a belief about everything in our awareness. Researchers have discovered we have anywhere from 50,000 to a 100,000 beliefs.

Our beliefs shape our values, which sit on the next level. Values give us the rules of engagement that allow us to quickly navigate through our complex lives. These are the invisible lines that we will not easily cross.

On the next level we have our capabilities, where we define what is possible for us to do or not do. A good example of this is where others can clearly see person X has the capability to do something (ask for higher price) but they can’t even imagine it being possible for them (still cave-in on price). Paradoxically we call this prison the comfort-zone.

The final level is what we are most aware of our behaviors and actions. We can see the results our behaviors deliver. If one of the higher neurological levels like beliefs is out of sync with what our sales training dictates we will not do that behavior. If we do attempt it we will quickly revert back to the old comfortable behavior.

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” -Albert Einstein

If you want to get better results, you have to change your behaviors. Changing behaviors is one of the hardest things on the planet to do, even if you really, really want to change. This is why sales training fails to deliver long-lasting results. In order to effectively change behaviors you have to go to a deeper level. The deeper you go, the faster the change, and the longer it lasts. In order to facilitate permanent change, you have to embrace neuroscience techniques to transform limitions in our higher neurological levels.

Change happens in an instant!

Change happens in an instant. People live under this illusion that change is hard to do or that change takes a long time. Another popular belief is that change is a painful experience. At one level, all of those statements are true because we try and facilitate change at the behavioral level.

“I wouldn’t give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity; I would give my right arm for the simplicity on the far side of complexity”-Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841 -1935)

Simplicity on the far side of complexity is where elegance resides. And elegant solutions are simple to execute and deliver extraordinary results. I know this sounds cryptic, so let me give you an example of what is possible when change takes place.

I met Kim at a party where she told me that she was hitting a glass ceiling. No matter how hard she tried, no matter how much more training she received, she seemed unable to earn more than $150K/yr. All of her efforts were focused on changing her behaviors without changing her beliefs. She felt frustrated and stupid because nothing she did worked.

It turned out that when she was five years old her father came home one Friday afternoon and discovered he lost his paycheck. That was the only time she saw her father cry. That experience created a belief about having to respect her father around money issues. Her father never made more than $80K/yr and here she was earning $150K/yr “disrespecting” her father. The old belief sabotaged her efforts to succeed.

Using neuroscience she was able to transformed the old belief to an empowering one, the more I earn, the more I honor my dad. This new belief shattered her self-imposed glass ceiling that her sales career once again took-off. With the right neuroscience tools sales training becomes highly effective because the human element is addressed head-on. Bottom-line is with the right tools change happens quickly and permanently.

Business Security – Keeping an Eye to a Spy

The progressive global economy of today is continuously giving challenges to businesses especially in security matters and this is visibly important and serious to deal with. It is recommended that businesses should provide time; effort and budget in securing their business from frauds, negligence, robbery and other critical incidence that would affect much the business. The usual items which are attractive to the fraudulent people are tangible goods, property information, and data decisive in operating such business. So it is essential to get protection for yourself, your business, your property and your data.

Business security is an essential thing that you need to provide for your business. It will help you and your business run smoothly and fully secured from those fraudulent people. You can seek help and advice from those experts on how to plan your business security system and the security equipments needed. You can divide the security areas that you will need to avoid sudden loss of data and tangibles in cases of security breakdown.

There are mainly three areas that you could consider in choosing your business security system: Internet security, Property/Data Security and Employee Security. These area divisions could help you in planning and designating the business security that you will need. Take necessary time and research on how to deal with this kind of action for your business. Do multiple steps and multiple system research side-by-side for comparison and more reliable outcomes.

In choosing an appropriate business security, it is suggested to carefully analyze your specific needs for your business. Get your business inclined with high-tech security gadgets that would protect your business form thefts, vandalism, frauds and especially hold-ups. Determine if your business will need a monitoring type of security system and make sure that the police nearby will correspond immediately when critical cases are happening. Always have your employees licensed, drug tested and has performed background checks in their workplace and health history.

When you have already chosen your business security system, always have the system updated and properly installed, double-checked and tested. Always have your security passwords easy to memorize and just share it with a small group of people to avoid fraud and inside jobs. Train your trusted people on how to work with it especially in cases of technical problems and how to troubleshoot it. In this point of view, you should accompany them with an expert and have them familiarized with the steps.

It is the initiative of a businessman to provide his business a secured and reliable system for protection of his tangibles, people and especially the data. There are times that this could be costly but just think about the benefits that you, your people and your business can get, it is not that costly right? It is better to be prepared and well-informed than to be far way behind technology and responsibilities in prolonging the life of a business. Just always think that whatever action you will and decide it is for the better. Keeping an eye as spy for your business will lead you to a safe and secured flow of production.

Is Your Business Security Sufficient?

There are various aspects of business security you can consider and should put in place. There are others that offer additional protection and peace of mind. Deciding on what security is best for your business is dependent on many factors.

- costs
- previous security breaches
- type of business you operate
- forms of protection themselves
- your personal requirements

Costs There are certain costs involved in all forms of security. Whether you have a 24 hour security guard in place, or monitored 24 hour security systems. Whether you have in store security daily or use security systems such as alarm systems for products in the store. Online security costs are generally minimal but again it depends on what kind of business you are operating. You need protection for your own funds whether that is in the form of the way you handle your investments or in relation to storage of cash or checks in a safe.

Assessing the business security standards you currently have in place will allow you to make choices as to what other forms you require and then will come the process of costing out all of the other options and making a decision based on the benefit received for the cost outlay.

Previous Security Breaches If you have had previous situations of security breach within your business whether it be employee fraud or theft, or a break in or online access to personal or financial details of your business or that of your customers. Then you already are aware of the requirements you need for improved security and you can move back to the cost section of how you will put the security in place.

Type of Business you Operate

The forms of security differ for the various types of operations there are. For example if you have a clothing retail store you can look into security in the form of on floor security staff or monitored security surveillance as well as alternatives such as placing security chips inside all items of clothing and installing an alarm system for any breaches of items outside the store.

If you have a high cash turnover business you can look into daily fund collection by security companies or a high-tec safe system to store your funds. If your business is online you can obtain security packages from external providers to protect sensitive information or for receiving online payments for your business. There are many forms and the business you operate can determine what your requirements are and then it is again back to the costing issues for each form you may need.

Forms of Protection Themselves Again this relates to the topic above as you have alternatives for whatever system you may need or whether you install a variety of systems to ensure maximum coverage for your earnings or products or information. You can also do further research or question similar business operators as to the forms they have in place to ensure you are doing all that you can.

Personal Requirements Many people are more security conscious than others and this flows through not only for business security but to home security. Some people are happy enough to have fake systems displayed, for example non functioning cameras and stickers advertising security systems that are in fact not in place at all. This does not offer any benefit only a visual deterrent of course which will work in some cases but will not stop well planned or opportunistic thefts.

Whatever style of business you operate make sure you plan for your business security measures to ensure your hard work is not wasted by theft in any form. There are so many different alternatives available and costs are competitive so a little research and forward planning and you can have adequate if not fool proof business security systems in place in a short period of time. Your decision depends on how much value you place on the items, products or services you are offering.

Michiel Van Kets makes his money online, which made his dream comes true and h

Business Security Threats – Avoid These Common Mistakes to Protect Critical Data

It’s not a matter of if, but when. You might think that as a small business owner, your company is not a target for malicious hackers or attacks, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Size doesn’t matter when it comes to maintaining business continuity in light of security threats – both natural and man-made – anyone and everyone is susceptible. Think about what kind of information you could lose from various business security threats – years worth of tax records, confidential employee information including Social Security numbers, signed customer contracts and customer contact records, just to start.

When an eight person law firm in Miami was hit by Hurricane Ike in 2008, it was forced to close its doors after a decade of being in business. Everything they had was destroyed and irretrievable. Although this was a natural disaster, the business owner could have taken some relatively easy and cost effective precautions to ensure his business was safe from common small business security threats. Fortunately, for today’s small business owners, there are many software applications available that are adept at maintaining business continuity. These applications are easily accessible and simple to implement, making your business safer in case the unthinkable should occur.

The Keys to Maintaining Business Continuity

I see many small businesses make the same common mistakes when it comes to securing their data and maintaining business continuity; I’ve listed them (below) in an effort to help companies protect themselves from business security threats. Most companies I talk to believe they are secure, when in fact, they are unmistakably vulnerable.

Mistake #1: “My data is secure; I’ve got it backed up on-premise.”

Let’s say you are fortunate enough to have a security system, a fire detection system and are part of a secured office park with security personnel roaming the grounds 24/7. Just because your premises are secured doesn’t mean your records are safe from business security threats. In fact, it’s the opposite. Many businesses commonly make the mistake of backing up files only on-premise or back-up on premise and remove discs or tapes manually on a regularly scheduled interval (ex. once per month). The smartest solution to combating business security threats is to have all your data saved and stored in an off-premise data center. By having your data backed up off-site, you ensure the safety of all your important files and you get the added benefit of being able to access important files from any Internet connected computer (with the right security authentication of course!)

Like in the earlier example of the law firm affected by Hurricane Ike, if it had stored all of its files off-premise in a hosted data center, the employees would have been able to save all of the files, retrieve and reinstate them and gotten the business back up with minimal interruption. Backing up to an external hard drive or NAS (Network Attached Storage) device is critical to maintaining business continuity and preventing data loss due to hardware failures. However, small businesses commonly face fires, floods, thefts, and other business security threats that require backups to be off site. Make sure your business has a secure backup solution in place to allow data to be stored off-site. These solutions are relatively inexpensive in terms of maintaining business continuity, especially considering the alternative.

Mistake #2:”I just bought a new PC, so I’ve already got the latest and greatest security software loaded.”

You may be thinking to yourself “I already have all the security I need.” Yes, Microsoft Windows does have a firewall feature guarding against common business security threats, but these off-the-shelf components aren’t nearly enough to support the needs of a company. Ideally, small businesses should employ the same “defense in depth” strategy large enterprises use to secure their internal networks. PCs should have their software firewalls enabled and properly configured, and have a firewall router on the network’s edge to provide a second layer of defense against business security threats. This way, if a PC’s firewall is not configured properly, there is still a layer of protection between the computer and Internet threats. By selecting a managed firewall application, small businesses will shield themselves from critical network threats, block unnecessary Internet traffic, and restrict applications used on your network. This type of security product is a necessity for protecting small business networks from malicious Internet threats and maintaining business continuity.

Mistake #3:”I installed new security protection software in the past couple years or so.”

As you may know, many laptops and desktops come with pre-installed free trials of a brand name security offering, although this will keep your desktop secure for a brief time, many small businesses commonly make the mistake of letting this software expire and forgetting to update it. In order to protect your desktops and laptops from online business security threats, you must install a secure desktop solution to protect PCs from viruses, spyware, and other Internet-borne attacks. Sold as a bundle as part of many communications and IT services, secure desktop applications have no expiration dates to keep track of. The best part of this software application is that updates are automatic, which means there are no more software upgrades to install–reducing the cost of IT management. Maintaining business continuity is easy–just secure your desktop as soon as you can!

Mistake #4: “I have to update my browser and operating system (OS) security patches myself, and I just don’t have the time.”

Small businesses can easily be taken advantage of due to low security on their browsers and operating systems, but these types of business security threats can be easily avoided with automatic security patch updates. Many small businesses take the burden of updating their PCs with the latest software versions on themselves, but OS security can be easily automated, which makes maintaining business continuity a breeze. Yes, small businesses should ensure the updates take place and check in on them regularly, but today’s technology helps alleviate some of the time it takes to manage the situation.

By avoiding these common culprits of business security threats, companies can protect one of their most precious assets – data and files. Most businesses will face many threats in their lifecycle. Learn from the mistakes others have made and take these steps towards maintaining your business continuity.

Tom Collins is the Product Manager for Security and IT Services at Cbeyond, which provides internet, phone service, and a variety of other communication packages to more than 48,000 small businesses across the U.S. C

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