The Year I Lost My Brain - And How I Got It Back, by Jill Konrath

Jill Konrath
Snap Selling

It started exactly 12 months ago, right after SNAP Selling came out. At first I didn't recognized the symptoms, but in retrospect, they were there.

I was crazy-busy, running from one "must do" activity to the next. My inbox overflowed. I was constantly online, answering emails, tweeting, blogging, whatever.

Time evaporated before my eyes. At the end of the day, my endless To Do list was even longer. I'd accomplished virtually nothing, yet I'd worked the entire day.

Awash in this swirl of scattered activities, my primary goal was to stay afloat.

On my daily walks, I listened to podcasts and interviews. In the evenings, I plopped in front of the TV, surrounded by my computer, iPhone and iPad. Never disconnected, constantly consuming an endless supply of media.

Then I got hooked on a few computer games. These mindless diversions, my guilty little pleasures, filled up what was left of my free time. Hah! Did I say free time? There was none.

Clearly, this was no way to live. It was an existence, not a life. But things were really much worse.

I was actually losing my mind.

Please don't think I'm crazy. The truth is, if what I described sounds even remotely similar to your life, you're losing your mind too.

It's actually a function of our constant online flitting. There's a ton of research now showing that the internet is actually changing our brain. In short, we're losing our ability to:

• Concentrate: The more we're online, the more scatterbrained we become. We scan, but don't think - and certainly not deeply. And, we're forgetful. Yet we crave more stimuli and keep clicking away.

• Create: When we're caught in this morass, we can't come up with new ideas and rich insights. With our brains are on overload, they're stuck at a low-level of processing.

I felt all of this. I was spinning in place, going nowhere in a constantly distracted state. I even tried to be more productive, but that didn't work either.

Then I finally got away from it all - to a place where I couldn't be reached by phone and had minimal internet access. At first, I was twitchy. Really twitchy. (Going through withdrawal is tough.)

Amazingly, within two days my brain started coming back.

Creative thoughts popped into my mind. Fun ideas emerged. Fresh perspectives surfaced. I wrote everything down so I wouldn't forget - and also to free up my brain to do more important things.

And, since I like how I'm feeling a whole lot more now than I did before, here's the commitment I made to myself:

• I will limit my internet time to 3 hours per day. I refuse to let the internet destroy my creativity and problem-solving capacity.

• I will be unreachable for at least one hour daily. To do my job effectively, I need to think. I can't think when I don't protect my time.

• I will always have one fun project I'm working on. That's what keeps me alive.

• I will stay focused on the activity I'm on. This may be the hardest of all since I'm so used to allowing distractions. I can't tell you how many urges I fought off while writing this article.

Maybe you haven't lost your mind yet. If that's the case, make sure you protect it at all costs.

But if you're at all like me, your brain has already been severely impacted. I urge you to consider reclaiming it. The truth is, it's the key to your personal and professional success.
***
Jill Konrath is an internationally-recognized speaker & bestselling author of SNAP Selling and Selling to Big Companies. She helps sellers land new accounts and speed up sales cycles. To get four free sales-accelerating tools, visit  www.snapselling.com.

          

SalesGiants interviews Ken Thoreson, Your Sales Management Guru

Ken Thoreson,
Your Sales Management Guru

Ken Thoreson is a sales leadership and sales management guidance speaker, consultant, author and executionist. He's also Your Sales Management Guru!

1) Ken, what kind of customers do you usually work with and how do you help them exactly?

During our 13 years of consulting, Acumen Management Group has worked with hundreds of  B2B clients; they have been in early stage to high growth to turnaround situations.

Specifically we assist our clients in building a business and sales strategy with a focus on execution. We like to say we operationalize the business strategies. Our belief is to build a prescriptive approach to the strategic sales management aspects of an organization rather than allowing opportunistic or ad hoc systems and operations to exist. 

We focus on the tough job of sales management; hiring/recruiting top talent, building sales compensations plans that drive results, creating management systems to help build predictable revenue, teaching leadership/management skills and building a culture of high performance. We use our experience, our process, and tool set to make a difference in our clients business and personal lives.

2) In a short sentence, what companies should be interested in your consulting services? 

Our ideal client companies are frustrated in not achieving predictable revenues, are not winning market share or are growing so rapidly they cannot build the infrastructure  necessary to support their sales channel.

The other level of companies we serve are major vendors that use independent dealers, VARS, resellers to go to market. We create Partner Facing programs to assist the vendor companies in building a stronger channel organizations, increasing loyalty and partner profitability. Our clients in this segment are Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Ingram, TechData, etc.

3) On the other hand, who shouldn’t? What will companies NOT find in Acumen?

Acumen is not a marketing or lead generation firm and we are not a sales training organization, we have a close eco-system partnership with firms that can perform those services.  We focus typically on the weak link in most firms, the sales management function.

4) Besides your website (http://yoursalesmanagementguru.com/), what other sales websites would you recommend? 

Acumen’s main web site: www.AcumenManagement.com offers :

• a White Paper on the Job of Sales Management: the 40 actions sales management must do to build predictable revenue,
• free assessments on sales management, sales compensation and your overall business operations,
• free video’s on hiring salespeople,
• free video on building sales  training programs and on-boarding new hires as well, 
• radio interviews on several topics related to sales management and leadership.

We also have a complete list of free articles on general sales management topics and 5 hours of Sales Management training on DVD’s and our Interactive Sales Managers’ Tool Kit.

5) How about your preferred sales/business books?

For salespeople: I have been recommending Jill Konrath’s latest book: SNAP Selling.  Obviously our recently published books from our “Your Sales Management Guru” brand have been well received, they are The Sales Management Guru’s Guide to Hiring a High Performance Sales Team, The Sales Management Guru’s Guide to Sales Management and the Sales Management Guru’s Guide to Build Sale Compensation Plans. They are packed with great practical insights and tools for sales leaders. 

About you:

6) How did you get started in sales?

Right out of college, I was hired by Burroughs Corporation, in the computer business and in those day’s they had a great sales training program. Extremely thorough and it set the basis for everything I have done. I then worked for a small independent entreprenurial organization as a sales manager and VP of Sales.  From there I became a VP of Sales for a North American based vertical software organization that sold our solutions through a network of channel partners. Those two experiences gave me a basis for understanding small business as well as more complex aspects of sales leadership.

7) Most memorable sale? 

There are quite a few, but one that sticks out was  a nearly a million dollar order from a major corporation, I was told I had the order on Friday morning, I offered to pick it up, but the client told me he would mail it to me, he was located about 45 minutes to an hour away from my office..  The man died over the weekend from an heart attack and in the transition a merger took place and I never received the PO!... A lesson learned! PICK UP THE ORDER and stay  with it. I was fairly young and what a difference that would have made... but it taught me an important lesson.

8) Most disastrous sale (or funny situation)?

I recall as a sales manager helping a young rep at the end of December, the rep had been told the PO was done, and on her prospects desk. In calling the prospect we learned from his voice mail, the “buyer” had left for the holidays.   We took a lesson from an old movie” All The Presidents’ Men”, we started dialing all the phone numbers that had similar phone numbers to our buyer.  Finally someone picked up the phone; we sold him on walking over to this person’s desk and finding the PO and faxing it to us!  That order put the young sales rep over her quota for the year!  Everyone felt good and I felt great because we didn’t quit, we were creative and it worked!

                       

 About your work as a sales expert:

  

9) What is the biggest mistake you see as a sales expert? 

Our work as a sales management consultant puts us in a position to see many mistakes made by owners or sales managers. The number one mistakes however  is simply a lack of focus on hiring. We do not see a systematic approach to “Hiring the best-not the best available”. A sales manager should  spend 20% of their time in hiring, interviewing and on boarding properly.  With great people, great things happen. We like to say that for each hire, you need to interview a minimum of 5 individuals and you should be advertising for talent at all times-consider it your marketing campaign for building your company.

A Sales Management Guru hint: the great salespeople may not be looking when you are, so you must always be interviewing. Our book provides many tips and tools to improve your odds in hiring. Remember if you lose a salesperson, it could take you 90 days to find their replacement and another 90 days for them to build their sales pipeline-that is 180 days or 6 months without their revenues adding to your quota goals-that is why the life span of most sales managers is less than 18 months.

10) What is the best sales advice you have ever received?

Two that I recall:

“You must know the difference between presenting and selling”. 
“The 3 laws of selling: emotion, emotion, emotion. You must have it, you must transfer it and you must have the prospect ready to take action based upon it.”

  

11) What are you working on right now that makes you feel energized? What's your next big project?

Well, with 4 books being published and my consulting practice in good shape and our Sales Leadership Workouts organized  (workshops) , the next big action item is our motivational  Keynote programs where I share my experiences, but also the concepts of creating both personal and professional success.  I call it “No Regret’s, a Do-over Recipe for Personal and Professional success. It ties in with my Sales Management consulting, my life experiences, my love of cooking along with solid idea’s to help others find success. In one of my new books, that I co-authored with Stephen Covey; Success Simplified I highlight how to Create a Menu for Life.

  

12) What is the best testimonial/comment you have ever received? 

Great question: thinking back on our many comments and the quotes from our website, it might be: "If I were to condense my opinion of the value received from you over the years into one thought it would be that you provide detail upon detail in our conversations – not abstract theory but practical, useable information

13) Any last comments?

The role of sales management is tough. You report to the President, you must work with your peer group of other managers and you must lead your  team! Everyone in the company knows who you are and how well you are performing. It takes work, a positive attitude and insight.  Our newsletter might be of value to your readers: “Why Sales Managers Succeed”, each month I focus on the Personal, Professional and Organizational aspects of sales leaderships. They can  subscribe (free) at our website, www.AcumenManagement.com

***

To know more about Ken Thoreson and Acumen Management, please visite www.AcumenManagement.com or his blog http://www.yoursalesmanagementguru.com

Interview with Jill Konrath, author of Snap Selling

Jill Konrath, author of Snap Selling

1) Let's begin talking about your book. In a short sentence, Jill, who should read Snap Selling? 

Salespeople, entrepreneurs, consultants who sell to into the business marketplace.

2) What's the book's biggest lesson?  

Fresh sales approaches are needed to be successful in today's business environment. Traditional selling skills are no longer sufficient for selling to crazy-busy people. 

3) Besides yours, what other sales books would you recommend? 

These are just a few I would recommend. But I honestly like a whole bunch.

- Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play, Mahan Khalsa

- Dirty Little Secrets, Sharon Drew Morgen

- Winning the Professional Services Sale, Mike McLaughlin

- Metaphorically Selling, Anne Miller

- Selling Change, Brett Clay

4) What's the first thing someone should do after reading and putting down your book?

Go to my www.snapselling.com website, download the Buyer's Matrix and work on completing it. (Editor's note: you have to sign up first).

Understanding this info about your buyer is essential to capturing their attention and winning the business.

www.snapselling.com

About you:

5) What was your toughest sale ever? 

The one where I won the business, but lost it. After a grueling process competing for a telcom's sales training business, I was told that they loved me, loved my program and felt it was far superior to the others -- but they were going with the competitor anyways. 

Their reason? I was a small company and if I got hit by a Mack truck their whole sales training investment was at risk.

6) Most memorable sale? 

The one I walked away from. It was the end of the year. I was one sale short of qualifying for President's Club. The prospect was all set to buy, but didn't want to spend the money to get the appropriate system for their needs. 

So I declined to work with them, knowing that I was kissing the trip to London goodbye. Painful, but it was the right thing to do. Miraculously, another company called at the 12th hour and bought a system from me - so I ended up going on the trip. 

About your consulting:

7) What is the biggest mistake you see as a sales consultant? 

Failure to prepare. Too many salespeople/organizations are hooked on activity. They keep repeating the same mistakes over and over.

8) What are you working on right now that makes you feel energized? What's your next big project?

Right now, I'm doing a lot of speaking/training at annual sales meetings and conferences. I love being a wake-up call to salespeople, showing them fresh strategies that actually work with today's crazy-busy prospects. 

One of my next big projects is to create a train-the-trainer program so more people can be trained on these strategies.

9) What is the best testimonial/comment you have ever received? 

Virtually every day I get emails from people who tell me that my suggestions are having a huge impact on their success. I love them!

But I think the best testimonials come from my colleagues. I am deeply honored when other sales experts, trainers and consultants tell me that their copies of my books are underlined, dog-eared and filled with Post-It notes. 

That's when I realize I'm having an impact on their entire sales profession.

***

To know more about Jill Konrath and Snap Selling, visit www.snapselling.com . 

You can also buy the book on Amazon here: SNAP Selling: Speed Up Sales and Win More Business with Today's Frazzled Customers .

Creating Fresh Sales Opportunities

By Jill Konrath, Author of SNAP Selling & Selling to Big Companies

There's nothing I like better than engaging prospects when they're NOT thinking of making any changes from the status quo. 

This may seem counterintuitive or perhaps even like sales heresy if you've spent your career chasing prospects who are already in the buying mode. After all, they already have money in the budget for your product/service and are actively looking for new options. 

So why would I recommend chasing "non-lookers" versus the tempting low-hanging fruit? Lots of reasons:

• The incumbent is sleeping.
  
  Since dislodging the status quo is always your biggest sales challenge, you want to slip in under the existing provider's radar screen.
  
  By bringing in new perspectives that help prospects better achieve their objectives, you gain a foothold in an otherwise impenetrable account. The incumbent's failure to do so creates a credibility gap for them and opens the door for you.

• Your competitors aren't around.
  
  If you do things right, you can prove your capabilities, demonstrate your expertise, and establish a strong relationship long before any competitors enter the scene. They'll be playing catchup from the start. And, in most cases, they'll find it extremely difficult to close the gap.

• You set the playing field.
  
  By bringing new ideas, insights, and information to your prospect, you help determine the criteria against which future "go-ahead" decisions will be judged. This gives you a chance to best position the strengths of your product, service, or solution.

• Sales cycles get condensed.
  
  When you leverage your expertise to help customers sort through everything that has to be considered to make a change, their decision-making process go faster.

• Customers often love you.  
  
  Okay, I don't mean literally. But if you've ever had someone show you a better way, then made it simple to implement it, you know what I mean. That's how I feel when I visit the Apple Genius Bar, where tech gurus show me how to solve seemingly insoluble problems on my computer.

As you can see, there are many good reasons to get engaged with prospective customers earlier rather than later. Plus, you won't find yourself constantly fighting pricing battles. 

So start thinking about pursuing business with those non-lookers today. But don't talk about your products or services. Your prospects are only concerned about their objectives or eliminating the barriers that stand in the way of achieving them. 

Keep your focus on that and the possibilities are endless!

Jill Konrath, author of SNAP Selling and Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into new accounts, speed up sales cycles and land big contracts. She's a frequent speaker at sales conferences. 

For more fresh sales strategies that work with crazy-busy prospects AND to get four bonus sales-accelerating tools, visit  www.snapselling.com.

***


Twitter: @jillkonrath


Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jillkonrath


Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jillkonrath


Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zuWEwQfd2c


Speaker: http://jillkonrath.com/speaking/


Amazon: SNAP Selling: Speed Up Sales and Win More Business with Today's Frazzled Customers