coaching

7 Reasons Salespeople Don’t Close the Deal

Mark Hozza

| August 14, 2017

| Categories: Reposts, Sales and Marketing

Pretend that you’re an experienced buyer who has met with hundreds of business-to-business salespeople. What percentage of them would you say are excellent, good, average, or poor?
According to a new study of more than 230 buyers, 12% of salespeople are excellent, 23% good, 38% average, and 27% poor.
The bad news is that the underperforming salespeople lack the self-awareness to know that buyers don’t value them, nor do they understand why. They don’t take the time to figure out why they lost a deal or longtime client. They either don’t know why they weren’t selected or they reflexively blame it on factors out of their control.

Interviews with buyers illustrate seven important lessons about the mistakes salespeople make and why they lose business.

3 Reasons Investing in Professional Development Drives Bottom Line Growth

Mark Hozza

| August 9, 2017

| No Comments

| Categories: Corporate Culture, Leadership, Personal Development, Reposts

If developing your employees isn’t at the top of your list of priorities, here’s why that needs to change.

Doing These 3 Things Will Help You Start More Meaningful Customer Conversations

Mark Hozza

| August 7, 2017

| No Comments

| Categories: Personal Development, Reposts, Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing must embrace these principles to stay relevant with customers and close more deals as our inboxes get even more crowded.

How to Avoid Wasting Time in Sales Management

Mark Hozza

| July 28, 2017

| No Comments

| Categories: Management, Reposts, Sales and Marketing

If there is one consistent complaint we hear from frontline sale managers, it is that they are always short on time. This isn’t surprising given the numerous responsibilities sales managers have, including recruiting and hiring new sales professionals, day-to-day management tasks, sales coaching, and administrative duties. Additionally, they face the challenge of managing sales professionals who are typically independent, strong willed, and often have little day-to-day contact with their managers. And in many organizations, sales managers are required to both sell and manage.

You Should Focus More on Improving This Skill

Mark Hozza

| July 14, 2017

| No Comments

| Categories: Leadership, Personal Development, Reposts

The Leadership Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in business contribute answers to timely questions about careers and leadership. Today’s answer to the question, “How do you make a great first impression at work?” is written by Kathy Collins, chief marketing officer of H&R Block.

Managing a Team That’s Been Asked to Do Too Much

Mark Hozza

| June 26, 2017

| No Comments

| Categories: Management, Reposts

Recent cases highlighted in the media suggest that executives, in a desperate quest to quench the market’s unquenchable thirst for growth, are ignoring reason and dictating growth targets so insurmountable that their employees are turning to unethical and perhaps illegal means to achieve their goals (e.g., Wells Fargo, Enron, VA). Are you worried about something like this happening in your organization? You might believe that you’re an innocent pawn in this game, but as a manager, you have a responsibility to ensure that unreasonable targets don’t unleash harmful behaviors on your team.

4 Ways to Develop the Leaders You’ll Need in the Future

Mark Hozza

| June 16, 2017

| No Comments

| Categories: Leadership, Personal Development, Reposts

One of the most challenging aspects of leadership development is consistently and effectively identifying the next wave of leaders.

Do You Know How Each Person on Your Team Likes to Work?

Mark Hozza

| June 9, 2017

| No Comments

| Categories: Management, Reposts

When we travel to a country that has a different culture than ours, many of us spend time learning ways to communicate and connect with the people there. We might look up the meanings of common terms and access maps of key attractions.

Similarly, when you first become a manager, it’s helpful to spend time up front connecting and creating a common language with your team. When your team knows how you like to work and how you plan to manage them, they’re able to produce results faster. When you know how each of your direct reports likes to work and communicate, you’re able to save time when setting direction and following up.

3 Practical Team Strategies For Managing The Fear Of Conflict

Mark Hozza

| May 22, 2017

| No Comments

| Categories: Management, Reposts

When you shake a carbonated beverage and then open it, pressure gets released. It’ll be ugly and messy but eventually that messiness will be cleaned up and you can enjoy what you have — a nice tasty beverage.

Teams work the same way. Tensions build over time because that’s the nature of relationships. Conversations in teams often create emotional tolls — a “deposit” that positively resonates with people and a “withdrawal” that conflicts with others’ values and beliefs, therefore creating conflict. Neither one is bad. In fact, you need both deposits and withdrawals to keep that team’s bank account (i.e. performance) healthy and flowing. Conflict is healthy. It’s just not comfortable.

‘Being Yourself’ Is The Key To Successful Leadership — Why Is It So Hard?

Mark Hozza

| May 19, 2017

| No Comments

| Categories: Leadership, Reposts

There might still be some professionals and executives out there who long for the “good, old days” of workplace management. The days when you told your employees what to do and expected them to just get on with it. Assuming they didn’t want to suddenly find themselves unemployed.