SEI Blog

If you have seen the movie Hitch, then you know the scene. Will Smith’s character (Hitch) is trying to coach Kevin James’ character (Albert) on how to finish out his upcoming first date. He is giving him pointers, one being that if his date fumbles with her keys at the door, it could mean she wants a kiss. So Hitch wants to see if Albert knows what to do – for a good night kiss. Hitch gives him the advice “you go 90 percent, and then wait for her to go 10%” which Albert then asks “wait for how long?” Hitch: “as long as it takes.” Albert leads in, Hitch is holding back to see if Albert will wait, and then Albert goes all the way and gives him a kiss. Hitch gets upset, and says “You go 90, I go 10 – you don’t go the whole 100%.” The Sales Analogy Kissing our prospective customers is not acceptable (just ask HR!). But the concept is the same. You don’t want to ever make 100% of the effort for your prospective customers. You don’t want to be the one who is doing all the work. Fundamentally, it is not good practice to want the deal more than the other person. When you go your 90, you need to wait – as long as it takes – for the prospect to go to their 10. And I would say that you want to go somewhere between 10-49, in reality. How Successful Sales Professionals Balance Effort Successful sales professionals know how far they have to go to meet the prospect where they are, while also knowing how much effort the prospect needs to put in to show they are committed. Where most salespeople get in trouble is they get desperate. They want the sale (kiss) more than the other person and they go the full 100%. Of course, persistence is important. And you won’t get what you don’t ask for (although…if you have followed me for any length of time, you will know I am very against having to ask for the sale). But you also have to ensure that your prospects actually want what you are selling. And they want it for their reasons and their motivations. They are driven to pursue your production option(s). They must go 10, 40, 60% of the way to you. The Pitfall of Chasing Your Prospect Just like courtship and relationships – if you find yourself chasing and one-sided-pursing the other person then it means you want it more than they do. It also means they own you. You are essentially begging them for the relationship – convincing, manipulating, begging, bribing, persuading your way forward. Which means they consciously and/or subconsciously know that they are in control. Because if they say no, you will keep pursuing and offering solutions. In sales – that looks like a salesperson who is calling, emailing, stalking a prospect – making offers, offering discounts and trials, and trying to find any way to make deal work. They are going 90-100% of the way for the prospect, not requiring them to go anywhere towards the agreement. This will end terribly. If they do decide to buy – taking the discount, free trial, taking the sale bait – they will not be happy (since they weren’t bought in for their reasons), they will look for reasons confirming why they didn’t really want to buy anyway, and they will know that they own you. Your company will have to convince them on a regular basis to stay in the relationship. The Right Balance for Customer Ownership You fundamentally need that prospective customer to come to you. Not 100% where you are just an Order Taker. But potentially 51% of the way – so they want it more than you. The more you can get them across that 50/50 threshold, the more they will be a satisfied customer. But remember – at 51/49 – they still need persuading, they still need to understand the value of your product for where they ultimately want to be in their life/business, and they still need your support. They lean in the right amount, you lean in the right amount = sales magic!

How can you build trust with a process? How can making your team follow a script, or rolling out a new CRM, a new compensation plan, or any changes to what the team is currently used to doing build trust? It definitely won’t build loyalty. But it can build trust. Keep in mind though, as I discussed in the Leadership blog last week [ https://www.sellingeffectiveness.com/giving-and-earning-trust ] – it doesn’t start with trust. Even when you hire someone new, they don’t trust you – especially for sales. Think of it from their perspective…someone in a position of power, maybe in a suit, is telling them about all the opportunities available, how great the job is, how satisfying it is to sell people, and how much money they can make. Sounds great. In theory. Until they make their own sales – starting with their first one – they won’t fully believe it. It’s just a story that someone in a suit told them. They accept the job offer and it becomes a “I will believe it when I see it and do it for myself” mode in their mind. (Side note – this is why it is so critical to help your new salespeople close their first sale as quickly as possible…the longer it takes to make a sale…the more they think they were ‘sold a story’ during the recruiting process.) Remember – you can’t ask anyone to trust you. You must show them that they can. You earn their trust. And what we want is trust that will lead to loyalty. The way your sales operation’s processes and systems build trust is by their effectiveness. Does your sales script work? Did someone who knows what they are doing build it around the best practices of selling effectiveness? Has that script been proven to help new or mediocre salespeople get bigger, better, quicker results? Does the marketing processes and funnels lead to more and better-quality leads? Does the CRM help those who want to use it stay organized and on top of their sales pipeline, ultimately leading to closing more deals and making more money? Are the right people (you know…the ones that are in line with your mission, vision, and core values…and follow the sales process you have outlines, and get the results that you desire) making money, and in a way that looks effortless? What do your current systems and processes relay to the team? Do they communicate that the business leadership knows how to run a successful business where the systems and processes are there to support everyone (customers, salespeople, other teams) success? This doesn’t mean things won’t change. Or that some of the team aren’t winning. But the key is that your team should understand the WHY for any change, every process, and every system in place. What doesn’t build trust? “This is how we have always done it.” “I don’t know…not sure why we do it that way.” “I have never seen anyone use that/follow that/log into that.” “The person who wrote/built/rolled that out had no idea about sales.” “I bet I could do it better.” “If I was in charge…” That means you have a low trust vibe in the team. And if they don’t trust you and what you build and roll out – they won’t want to use it, perform, or stay. You definitely won’t get their loyalty if they don’t trust you. Conclusion High trust teams are a combination of mission, vision, core values and transparency.  This will build trust. Remember – you don’t always have to be perfect. Mistakes, misjudgments happen. Admit to them, regroup, realign, and be transparent with the team.

As leaders, we all want loyalty. The tough part is that to get loyalty you have to give loyalty. I can’t (or…shouldn’t) ask you for something that I am not willing to give you. In the same way I can’t (or…shouldn’t) ask you to do something I am not willing to do myself. Here is the issue with giving loyalty and conveying loyalty to your team – things change. If you have been reading any of the blogs over the past month, then there is a common theme – change. Whether it is evolution or revolution, change is necessary – especially for a business. [You can read the previous blogs about why it’s necessary.] Here is the scenario that happens: “Team – we value all of you. You mean so much to us. We can’t succeed unless you succeed. So we are here to help and support you, so that you can help more customers win, which means you win, which means we as a business win.” Everyone – hopefully – is on board, all heading the same direction…on the path of your mission/vision, embodying your core values. Then the business leadership realizes something(s) must change for that successful trajectory to continue. It might not lead to the bottom performers being happy. Hopefully the right people will keep on winning. But it’s not always a change people will like. One part of you has been making the statements to the team of “we are loyal to you” – in some version of the words and actions you have historically taken. Then a change needs to be made. That change to the team will feel like “they only care about themselves (leadership/owners) and bottom-line profit – they don’t care about us.” And with that they feel like the company is not loyal to them, only themselves. This is where my concept of Marry The Vision, Date The Strategy is so critical. The loyalty and trust that the team has in you, and you have in them is about the vision/mission. It’s about the destination that everyone is trying to reach. It’s not about the strategies and tactics that occur on the short-term basis. Loyalty is a great thing to have, but what is more important – and critical to focus on first (and then Loyalty will come) is trust. Your team should trust the business and leadership. That trust should be focused on the success of the business, the success of the team, and the transparency of leadership to the team as to how things are going with the business, any challenges that are pending/forecasted or currently happening, and what necessary changes are coming up. If the team trusts leadership to always have everyone’s best interest in mind – again, at least the team members who are onboard mentally and with their actions – then the loyalty will come. First, they must understand the mission, vision and values. Then you can earn their trust, by showing them that they can trust you with their livelihood – as long as they are putting in the work on their end. Then they will be loyal. At that point they will follow you, your leadership, and the company into and through whatever challenges come their way. The repeated battle scenes in Braveheart (and the opening scene in the original Gladiator movie) didn’t just happen one day, where everyone decided to show up on the battlefield and fight to the death. No…it was a progression of vision, trust, and loyalty. Where is your team at in that progression?

My friend Steve Bederman [ https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevebederman/ ], CEO of NobelBiz [ https://nobelbiz.com/ ], said on a video recently that you can’t demand loyalty. You have to build trust. He was saying this relative to a call center team, and what it takes to succeed. In the leadership blogs this week, I will talk about it from that perspective. But the same principle holds true for you – the sales professional. The reason why is that sales = leadership, and leadership = sales. Leading people is about setting a vision (destination) and finding people who want to be a part of it and persuading them as to why it’s right for them. Sales is about setting a vision (destination) with that prospective customer as to where they would rather be in life/business, where your product could potentially help, and persuading them as to why it’s right for them. But here is the key with persuasion – it’s not manipulation. They are quite different when it comes to intent. Manipulation is about getting what you want without regard to the other person’s wellbeing, future state, etc. “I want what I want…not really concerned with what you want or even what’s best for you.” Persuasion is hopefully about helping someone get what they want for their reasons. And of course, in sales – we want that to be at the intersection of what we are offering. The key with sales, persuasion, and leadership is the same – you cannot demand loyalty. You cannot require your prospective customers, or even your customers once they have purchased, to be loyal. You can’t demand anything from anyone. Just because they filled out your webform doesn’t mean you can demand and require them to show up for a call or meeting or move the process forward on their end. They don’t work for you – you can’t demand things from your prospects. (By the way…we will cover it in the leadership side of things, but you can’t demand your employees to do much for you either – maybe short term, a few things, but they don’t have to stay with the company.) Just because they walked into your store doesn’t mean you can demand loyalty and attention to stay through whatever presentation you have. Instead of trying to demand loyalty – thinking that since they came to you, you ‘got them’ and they will want to buy from you – build trust. Build trust such that loyalty follows. Trust is defined as “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.” With reliability, truth, and/or strength – trust follows. And you cannot ask for trust. Never trust someone who says “it’s okay, you can trust me.” Trust has to be proven and earned. In sales, through the use of the Authentic Persuasion Pathway, to achieve the Trust stage, it takes a combination of Rapport followed by a Discovery phase that mixes Empathy and Active Listening. As Bob Berg says – people will do business with people they know, like and trust. First, they must know you. Then they must like you. And then…here is the missing part in Bob’s formula – you must convey to your prospect how much you care about them and their desired future state. You cannot pretend to care about them as a ‘tactic’. It must be genuine, if you want to develop genuine trust that will lead to a higher level of loyalty. Don’t just do Discovery – asking some questions, looking for things you can use for/against them, and just checking the box in your sales process. Come from a place of Empathy – I see you are “here”…I want to help you get to where you would rather be, because I care about you. You cannot demand your prospects and customers to be loyal. But you can develop a relationship based on Trust that will earn their loyalty.

The theme this week is Evolution vs. Revolution. When is an evolution-level of change an acceptable mode for the business and when is it necessary to go big with a change that will spark a ‘revolution’? A Lesson from My First Client One of my first clients was running several companies, one in the US but the majority in Europe, where he spent most of his time. After being in the US for a few months working with that business – which involved hiring me to help with their CRM development and selling effectiveness – the week before he was to leave, he wanted to talk to me in his office. He said to me: “I am going to be gone and won’t be back for three months. While I am away, I want an evolution, not a revolution.” He knew what I was capable of doing (a lot) and he knew what his team was capable of handling (a little, as far as change went). What he wanted was for the company to continue to adapt and grow, to do more sales with better tools. He wanted the team to do well, and only those necessary reps to be removed from the team (overall the team was comprised of tenured reps, with typically no turnover). What he didn’t want was drama. He didn’t want to be a handful of time zones away, working on the opposite schedule, to have to manage people’s issues with change or have the company go backwards in revenue without him being there to directly keep things on track. He wanted evolution when it came to the CRM roll out and ways to help the team to sell more and better. He wanted me to maintain the team as much as possible while helping them grow. But without anything that was a ‘shock’ to the system. “Evolution, not revolution. Got it – I will take care of that.” Then he left the next week. The Outcome: Evolution Achieved Evolution was maintained. CRM was rolled out. Team was supported through the process. Sales training and guidance on closing more of their deals was provided. Even had the turnover of a long-term manager that was not a good fit. No revolution was trigger…no riots…no coups…no mutinies threatened. Assessing Change: Evolution or Revolution? For you – as a sales operations leader – when there is a necessary change to help the company maintain or to grow, you must assess if that change will trigger a revolution or if it will lead to an evolution for the team. There are times when you cannot afford to trigger a revolution. It could be that you don’t have the staffing to handle a portion of your team revolting and leaving. It could be that you don’t have a strong enough culture to withstand the negativity that can occur. It could be that you have to put things in place (play chess…looking many moves ahead, further out…instead of constantly playing checkers) now, focus on evolution or maintenance-mode, and build up for a revolution moment. When a Restart is Necessary There is also a third level of change: Restart. This is where the necessary change (usually around comp plan/pay, price, terms, schedule) will lead to an absolute change-management meltdown by the team. It will be too much for them to handle, at the same time. Too many BIG changes. You know it will trigger an uprising that cannot be managed or satisfied. It will trigger what feels like a mutiny (but its not a mutiny…in a mutiny, the crew wants to get rid of the captain and take over the ship…in this case the crew wants off the ship). Your best plan is to do a restart – completely remove the current team, and restart with a new team. This is an especially important strategy when you know that existing team members will ‘poison’ new hires with their attitudes, mindset, and stories (“things suck now, before it was easy to make money, but now they screwed it all up” type comments that you can’t keep them from making). It will be like pouring clean water into a dirty cup…it will just taint your new hires. Conclusion: Evolution, Revolution, or Restart? Out with the old, in with the new. Short term it is a lot of work. Long term it could be the best thing for the team and company. Predict, plan, and execute: Evolution, Revolution, or Restart

There comes a point in every business, especially for a sales team, where the company needs to make a change – and that change may not be accepted by everyone on the team. The change could be necessary as a result of the market, competition, customer preferences and tolerances, or business needs (usually revenue related) that are not being met. Recognizing the Signs of Change Maybe things used to be running well, producing the desired level of new customers and revenue. And then something happened – either sudden or slowly over time. Could be a faucet with a slow drip where you don’t realize it until you get your next water bill, or it’s the pipe that bursts and is an immediate crisis. When this realization occurs by leadership – you have two paths to take when it comes to change management: evolution or revolution. As I shared in the Selling Effectiveness Blog this week [LINK] – evolution is the slow changes that lead to the success of a system, process, individual or species. Change is hard, but evolution is exciting. Evolution has a component that is about success – short and long term. Think of Darwin’s focus – survival of the fittest. That survival means success for the gene pool and the species. The Challenge of Change Change, on the other hand, is typically seen as something you have to do that you don’t necessarily want to. Lose your job, get a new one = change that you hadn’t planned. End a relationship because they break up with you = change that means you’re now single, and maybe not excited about that. Of course, change can be seen as a positive, but that is usually reserved for people who have a growth mindset. Where their outlook on themselves and life in general is about opportunities for growth and the understanding that there is no such thing as ‘stability.’ But generally, unless you have an ultra-strong company culture, change is not met with open arms. Resistance to Change This leads back to the opening portion – what to do if you need to institute a change that the team may not like? And what if they are going to hate it and resist it? What if it’s ultimately a good thing for the business and for the right team members who want to succeed (in a way that’s beneficial for the company and the customers, not just themselves)? Then you need to decide – will this be an evolution or lead to a revolution? The Nature of Revolution Revolution is the sudden change that leads to something completely different. Usually the result of one force, group, or factor overpowering and/or overthrowing another. Sometimes in business you need to trigger a revolution – where the change needs to be done, there is no soft/gentle way to do it, where a portion of the team will resist and revolt. They could try to trigger a mutiny or a coup – to get their power and previous status/process back. They could think about going on ‘strike’ – to not perform, even after the change is done (“I will do your new ______ process, but I will show you it won’t work so that you change your mind and put things back the way the were.”). Assessing the Level and Impact of Change Before you roll out any change – play out the level of change, and the category (when you mess with people’s money, especially in sales – and especially if it will lead to them earning less or having to work harder to make the same – expect a revolution), and the speed of change needed. This will help you determine if the change management initiative and efforts will lead to a revolution, or the team will evolve with the change. Lastly, with the change that needs to be made – if it’s a sudden and dramatic level of change – are you okay with a revolution? Are you understanding the level of loss that will happen from the team? If so – go for your revolution. If not – focus on evolution. [By the way, the way you know a revolution will be triggered…is when you roll out something the responses you will hear use the words: wreckage, collateral damage, mass quitting, etc. If you are okay with those potential outcomes – you are on the right path.]

No one likes change. Some might say they like it, but they tolerate it as long as it’s within the boundaries of their comfort zone or the risks the primal part of their brain will allow. But fundamentally, as humans – we hate change. Change is dangerous, risky, and generally unnecessary in our minds. Just keep doing what you have always done – you will keep getting what you have, which is fine enough. Embracing Evolution But change is necessary for growth and success. It becomes a little more exciting, acceptable, and understandable when it’s called ‘evolution’. Evolution is defined as: the gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form. We understand and can appreciate evolution. When the environment changes, situations change, circumstances change around us, we have a choice to change with it to keep on our current path. We can evolve with the times and situations. Sometimes this will get us ahead, sometimes it just helps us to survive like we are used to. New technology comes into the workplace, your role changes, new tools are doing some of the work you used to do, and you could continue doing just enough to get by. Or you could leverage that to allow yourself to do more of the things you are better at and/or like doing. The Choice to Evolve Evolution happens. The key is – will you evolve or get left behind? Usually when we think of evolution, we look at animals that have adapted to changes over eons that have made it so that the ones that can stay ahead of the curve will survive, breed, and fill the gene pool with their evolved traits. What we never see are the ones that don’t evolve. Because they aren’t around to tell the stories of how they resisted evolving so they could stay in their comfort zone. “I don’t care what all the other birds are doing, I am not going to fly south for the winter. That’s a lot of work and is a waste of time. I am just going to wait here; it will warm back up. All of you idiots will just waste a bunch of energy, and be flying back here anyway – all tired, and some of you might even die along the way.” I bet there are some birds that thought that. Might even be birds who think that every year. But we don’t see that catching on, enough to where they have baby birds that grow up to not migrate with the seasons. (And yes…I know…birds can’t talk – that we know of – and they might not be making conscious decisions to go or stay…but maybe they are!) Why It Matters to Sales Professionals Why does this matter to you – the sales professional? Because you have a choice – embrace change when it is presented and evolve to keep on going (not even to get ahead). Or don’t. You can give into your primal resistance of change. You can stay put. You can keep on doing what you have always done, and thinking what you have always thought. But know that if you do that – if you plant your mental and physical flag in the ground of same-ness, be prepared. Be prepared for a Revolution. See – when your company rolls out a change that is necessary for the business or seen as a way to progress, grow, take a bigger piece of the market, expand customer base, increase revenue and profits, etc., they will give you a choice: evolution or revolution. They will present the change, make the change, and allow you to be on board with the mandated evolution. And if you choose to resist – to stomp your feet and pout from within your comfort zone – they will move to ‘revolution’. What Revolution Means A revolution is defined as: a dramatic and wide-reaching change in the way something works or is organized or in people's ideas about it. It’s also defined as the “forceful overthrowing of a government or social order, in favor of a new system.” You are the ‘social order’ in that definition. You are a part of the organization. If leadership must shift from evolution to revolution, be prepared for a forceful overthrowing of you and anyone else who resists the necessary and required change. The Natural Order of Progress Remember – the company will keep going, just like nature, the seasons, the cycles of day and night, and the rhythms of life. Will you evolve and be a part of it, or will you be removed? [Footnote: it’s okay if you don’t agree with the change a company is wanting and/or needing to make. You don’t have to agree with everything. But if you feel like you not longer trust the company and their evolutionary plans, please remove yourself from the organization. Don’t take the ‘easy’ way out and make the company be the ‘bad guy’.]

Here we go – a new calendar for sales ops leaders. What will you do with it? More of the same? More band-aids and short-term solutions? More shelf-ware (products you buy with good intentions that end up living on a shelf instead of getting used)? Or more strategies, tactics, and solutions? Evolution or Revolution? Will you create/foster evolution? Will you incite a revolution? What does your company need most? There is no universal answer for what is the best route to take – when the company and team needs to evolve itself, the processes, and toolkit, and when you need to burn things to the ground and rebuild from the bottom up. Will this be the year you finally put in a CRM that matches your size, scale, and needs as a company? Or will this be the year you put in accountability and expectations to get your team to ACTUALLY use the CRM you already have and pay for? Real Training for Real Results Will this be the year you provide your leadership with leadership training and your salespeople with real sales training? Not the in-house stuff you keep trying to do or the assumption that if you hired the right people they should know what to do (which is not how humans and employees work). Or the ‘free’ online content you share with your team. But real, impactful and actionable training for your leaders and teams, like what I provide for companies. Will this be the year that you build an intentional and effective recruiting process that identifies and moves forward the candidates that will have the best chance of being that successful salesperson that your team needs? Will you build tests and hoops that allow you to identify a candidate’s true nature versus the nice, smooth, successful sales story they tell you in the interviews? Sales Processes: Best Practices or Best Excuses? Will this be the year that you build a sales process based on best practices of the right, successful salespeople on your team and roll it out as a required process, instead of as an option and/or nice to have sales process? Will you actually hold your paid employees to a standard that you know generates consistent, profitable results? Or will you continue to let your salespeople convince you that salespeople don’t need ‘scripts’ and processes (“Just let me do what I do best – show up and talk people into buying things.”)? Will this be the year that you hold you build in automated tech solutions for ensuring that your prospects and leads are moving through the pipeline in a consistent way? Will this be the year you hold your team accountable for making their follow up calls? Will this be the year you drive down your acquisition cost by making the most of the leads that already fill the sales pipeline? Leads and Reps: Not All Are Equal Will this be the year that you realize that not all leads are created equal, and not all salespeople should be treated the same? Where a lead in the hand on one rep could lead to significantly better results for everyone involved (including the potential customer), but in the hands of someone else it will statistically lead to nothing? Will this be the year you stop running the team like a communist-democracy (yes, I made that up), where everyone has a vote and they all feel like things should be fair, despite effort and results? Will this be the year that your team understands that their sales job doesn’t end once the deal is closed, an agreement is signed, partial or full payment is made? That the sale never stops? That your company and the customer only care about long term success, not the short-term benefit of a closed sale? Will this be the year that you help them do more, including after the ‘sale’ is done? Will this be the year that you fully leverage a mission, vision, and core values to ensure the right people are on the team and the wrong people identify themselves for removal? Will you use this to help facilitate change easier by anchoring everyone to both a destination (mission/vision) as well as the road map to get there (values)? The Hope for 2025 I hope for you, your team, your leaders, your company, and most of all – your future customers that you do all of the above (over the next 12 months). I hope you put these things in place, so your team can do less of the things that get in the way and more of the things that AI still can’t replace – helping other scared, confused, worried humans (prospects) who have goals, hopes, dreams, and a place they would rather be make the right, best decision for themselves. Here is your success in 2025!

The new year has rung in and feels like it is coming in at full speed. Here is my list of what your team most likely needs from you in 2025: Wisdom Guidance More Leadership Empathy Motivation Let’s run through each one, so you know what I think the focus should be. Wisdom Your team has information (just like your prospective customers). They have access to all the worlds knowledge – on your product, on sales, about human behavior. Whether they choose to utilize it or they want to just learn enough to be good enough to perform at some level that fits their mode – that is different. They don’t need you for information or facts, features, and data. They should already have that for your company in the forming of training, a knowledge base, your website, the brochure, your slides, etc. They are hoping that you bring the wisdom aspect into your role with them. They want you to help them do the right things with the knowledge and information. They are looking for the practical application of that info, that will help them succeed in their role. Stop giving them more data points, info, and stuff. Guidance Again, just like your prospects, your salespeople think they are the Hero of the story. They don’t need you to be the Hero as well. Stop telling them about how great you were as a sales rep, or all the things you would have done differently in that sale they failed to close. Be a Guide, not a Hero, for them. Guide them in their mission and help them succeed. Make it all about them and show them the path that they could take. But remember – it’s their path. You can’t jump in and close every sale for them. They have to learn – typically the hard way (falling down) – on their own so they can achieve their success. Make their mission and their journey about them and not you. More Leadership Your team wants leadership from you. And then more of it. They want less management. Management is about pushing and manipulation in order to get what you want. Leadership is about a vision and mission – destination – and pulling people on the journey along with you. If you need, study leadership to help you achieve a good balance of leading and managing (some amount of managing is always needed). You can also read all the leadership-related blog articles on here. :) To lead better, you will want to do more of the two following categories. Empathy Empathy is about encountering someone – where they are currently – discovering where they would rather be, and then caring about them enough to find ways to support them on their path. Not your path. Not your destination. But theirs. It’s the best skill you can have as a salesperson, and go figure – it is also vital for leadership (not a surprise…since persuasion is about leadership of the prospect). A lot of leaders I see think they know what each salesperson wants (money) and assume that they know how the salesperson will want to get there. Make sure you help your people get to where THEY want to get to. If you aren’t sure how to do that, see Hero section above – make it all about them, and not you. Motivation Even when they want you to show them the money, it’s not about the money. It’s what the money represents and/or will get them. But it’s never about the actual money part. Get to know what each person wants AND the why behind it. Go as deep as you can. Find out what they get out of bed each day for…and where the role and financial aspects of it fit in with what they want more of in their life. Again…if you haven’t noticed a theme yet - make it all about them! (Not about how much money you wanted to make when you were as salesperson, and what you spent that money on. No one cares about you…they only care about themselves.)  Conclusion When you focus on these five things (which are really subcategories of the same generally thing – Leadership) – you will fill in the gaps your team has, which should propel them to closing more deals and making more money. Which is also your goal for them!