All posts filed under: Sales

Your long term health

Published by Colin Nanka

I was on camera early this morning with my trainer! We were doing an assessment on my functional range of motion. Conclusion: I have a lot of work to do! I have needed improvement in flexibility in my thoracic spine for awhile, but have spent much more time on my legs for running. We walked through how small improvements in each area can lead to massive gains in performance. As I continue to complete adventure races, I have three goals: Enjoy the journey and learn more about myself race over race Improve my capability and performance Improve posture and long term health to live a long life Have you put yourself under inspection lately? How about your sales process? Have you broken down each component and worked to improve just one area, in order to raise the level of your game? Something to consider this week. It’s your choice. Colin

The Ultimate Checklist For Your Best Sales Meeting Ever

Published by Colin Nanka

Go through this checklist before any important meeting. Because only you can prevent bad meetings! Step 1: Pre Meeting Set an agenda and calendar it Send any material you want reviewed in advance (remember to set a due date for any feedback) Send a separate calendar request to your team, especially with an internal executive sponsor involved Names of customer attendees Roles / LinkedIn profiles Intention for the meeting Outcome you are looking for and each person’s reason for being there Step 2: Get The Team Aligned Everyone gets their homework Schedule a 30 minute pre-call to get everyone on the same page Re-confirm the meeting agenda and timing with your meeting sponsor in case anything has changed. Life happens and surprises often arise. List out top objections you are likely to get and practice with a teammate on how to handle it If onsite, bring print-outs of key information that you can’t live without if technology fails Bring back-up presentations on at least two computers and/or a memory stick. Be prepared for technology not …

Kathy Ireland had a paper route

Published by Colin Nanka

I’m in San Francisco this week. I was on a run down to AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants after work today. Lots of fans heading down to enjoy some early season ball. After being inside all day, it was great to get outdoors and take in some fresh west coast air. Depending on the mood I go for music or a podcast. Today, one of my friends had on his podcast, former supermodel Kathy Ireland. I was intrigued! “If they say no the first time, I just put in the calendar for 6 months to go back again when either the decision maker has changed or maybe the situation has changed.” “In addition to my parents as great mentors, like another mentor, Warren Buffet, having a paper route when I was a kid, both taught me hard work. Anyone can take mentorship from Mr. Buffet, they just need to take in everything he has written.” Lessons I wasn’t expecting to hear from Kathy Ireland, in addition to the $2.6 B empire she …

Pivot and Shift

Published by Colin Nanka

We had the good fortune of spending an evening last year with our KOA club members at a Gala Dinner celebrating 10 years at Salesforce.com in San Francisco. It felt like a high school reunion of sorts and getting to see people from all over the world that you started early in your career with and how they have grown both in career and family was amazing. In addition, we had a senior officer from the company sitting at every table. We have some incredible leaders. To be able to hear their perspective and see their genuine interest in each person’s career and life was special. At our table our CFO shared a trip he took to Asia. Over the course of three days he held an important quarterly earnings call, flew to Japan to run the Tokyo Marathon with his son and return to speak in front of 1,000 people at an investor forum. I asked him how he prepares for a week like that? He said I “Pivot and Shift”. I compartmentalize and …

The Oracle of Omaha

Published by Colin Nanka

Sometimes, mentors can take the form of people you’ll likely never get the chance to meet face to face. For me and millions of others, one of those people is the great Warren Buffett. The “Oracle from Omaha” is long revered as one of the world’s wealthiest and most brilliant business men. He’s also the most humble and giving. In 2009, he partnered with Bill Gates to form The Giving Pledge, a campaign to implore the world’s wealthiest to give away the majority of their wealth and devote it to projects that help those less fortunate. For as successful as Buffett is today, he had to overcome some big missteps and obstacles in order to get there. His family moved at a young age from Omaha to Washington, D.C. leaving his friends behind His grades took a dip and he started racking up Bs and Cs He ran away with a couple friends and was picked up by the local sheriff He was turned down by Harvard for his MBA   As he shares in …

10 Challenges To Get Unstuck From Your Rut

Published by Colin Nanka

Sometimes, no matter how well life seems to be going, you get stuck in a rut. Much like a tire getting stuck in the mud, the more you press on the pedal, the deeper you get—stuck in the apathy, powerlessness and ickiness of a good ol’ fashioned rut. It’s ok. It happens to the best of us! So, what do you do now? How do you shift the gears to get unstuck? Here are 10 challenges to get you pointed in another direction, revving your emotional engine, and hopefully on your way, to driving out of that rut. 1. Connect with someone that you haven’t spoken to in at least three years. It can be personal or professional (but if what ails you is personal, make it an old friend. If it’s a professional rut, make it a former colleague, mentor or someone whose work your respect). Talking to someone who knows you, but doesn’t have preconceived notions of where you are now in your life, helps give you a new perspective on why you’re …

Undercover boss

Published by Colin Nanka

A blast from the past and back by popular demand.   I visited the Soho NYC Chobani retail store on the weekend. They have an eclectic selection of Greek yogurt, fruit and nut combinations. Peanut Butter Jelly (with grapes) is amazing! It just so happened my wife recognized the CEO from this article. He was there tasting with his family. It seems he may have been taking in his own customer experience and really learning about his business from the ground up. He’s also been business investing in his people.  “Chobani CEO just gave up to 10% of the company to employees.” We popped over, said hello and that we recognized him from the article and loved his product. He was wearing sweatpants, a hoody and a hat, and we had to look at his photo a few times to make sure! He shared it was meant as a retail experiment and to test some ideas in the market, but it’s been so popular (it’s packed 7 days a week!). They decided to open more …

Perfect day

Published by Colin Nanka

I once new a Channel Partner, Karen, who concluded her voice mails and emails with “make it a great day” or “create a great day.” I always thought it sounded funny.  Karen worked hard, had a great sales team and was very successful.  It had me thinking recently of comparing my expectations for the day vs how it turns out.  The more I plan the better it is.  I have learned to be mindful and intentional in creating the experience of my day. It certainly doesn’t always go as planned. The more I focus on the potential of what they could be, versus  a lone sail in the wind, the more they turn out positively.  So I’ve been thinking of how I create the perfect day.  If it was truly perfect it would include steak or pizza!  On a regular basis, here is what I plan for, starting the week or night before.  Evening before Lay clothes out for work  Lay clothes out for run or workout  Pack any food taking to work  Zzzzz sleep  …

TMZ and Top Gear

Published by Colin Nanka

“I am not here just for the work. We need to get the job done. However, I have been working long enough to know that connection, health, happiness are things that I personally believe in an want them for each of you.” Words shared from my friend Brian at his regional sales meeting this week. He has four teams across NYC, Boston and Chicago and hosts it from whatever office he is in that week. Its tough to keep groups in three cities connected and he’s come up with a fun way to do it. He calls it TMZ! In his words plus what I heard, it’s: A fun scattering of thoughts Priorities for the week Opportunity to connect with one another Gaining wisdom from the team  Share/hear some life lessons They are also working through a team contest right now on building sales pipeline. To qualify for the spiff, you need to: Post one healthy thing you did that day (nutrition, exercise, etc) Post the amount of sales pipeline you built that day Sales is …