Conrey is for Closers

At the beginning of February we at Integrum ran into a busy couple of weeks, and I felt a little out of gear when it came to getting stuff done. We returned to AZ from client meetings in California late on a Tuesday night and had less than 5 hours to sleep before returning on Wednesday. Both Jade and I came in ready to rock on Wednesday and energized by our client meetings so I declared the day “Productivity Wednesday” and started tracking how many to-do’s came off my list.

12 to-do’s later I called it a successful day. The next week I crossed off 16 things.

Now of course I’m aiming for this kind of production everyday, but having a stated target and tweeting about it gives me some level of accountability. It gives me one day a week where I know that I’m turning off tweetdeck, putting my shoulder to the wheel, and cranking out to-dos. Not only that but the concept is spreading – I’m starting to see some twitter traffic with the tag.

So how do you get play? Tweet on wednesday with a goal, and #productivitywednesday as your hash tag. As you get things done, tweet again – get some encouragement – give some to others – and watch the To-Do List check boxes get filled up.

Productivity Wednesday starts in less than 9 hours – are you ready?

You ever walk out of a meeting with a client feeling like you just got dragged through the mud and then hit by a truck then beat with a stick?

If so, you’re doing it wrong.

It doesn’t matter what goes on in a client meeting, you should walk out of it filled with their passion for their project. If they’re upset at you, or the process, or the product it is because they have a real passion for how things should be. On the other side, a client who is pumped up as you leave loves sharing their passion with you. A client who has vision for their product should be the best fuel you can find. We left a meeting with a client out of state absolutely pumped because we saw how much fervor they have for their new idea.

One of our guys at Integrum recently said of one of our projects “The reason it’s not going well is that no one cares about it or is excited about it.” We had lost the passion for their project that makes them drive so hard towards a really cool application. His next line though shows the way out of it “I do care though, and I want to make this project awesome.”

Talk to your clients, get involved in what makes them so zealous about their project. If you can find a part of that spark, and connect with it as they do – you’ll never want for energy to work on their project – and never want for happy clients.

I stumbled across a poll somewhere this week that asked “What do Salespeople do that irritates you the most?”

As a salesperson most of these answers don’t surprise me. But let me break them down from a salesman’s perspective for you – and how to not be “that guy”

1. They’re too aggressive/pushy/manipulative – Well based off my posts on persistence and asking for the sale – its kinda part of the point to be aggressive. But at this point it is where good salespeople show up the weaker salesmen. You can be aggressive without coming off as aggressive. It is all in the presentation at this point.
2. They know nothing about the product they are trying to sell – This is 100% on management and the salesman at that point. If you don’t take the time to learn what you’re selling, you’re doing it wrong. No other words for it. Learn your product, because your client certainly will. If not, someone else will tell them why they have the better product.
3. They ignore me and continue to talk to their co-workers – Really? People still do this. These “salesmen” won’t be “salesmen” for long. Again, bad on management and on the salesman.

So most of the problems people have with salespeople boil down to the fact that most people are dealing with poorly trained salesmen.   None of the three things above can’t be overcome by training.   

If you’re a manager – train your salesmen.   

If you’re a salesman – train yourself!