All posts filed under: Sales

Driving for retention

Published by Colin Nanka

Earlier this week I found myself in unchartered territory: in front of a video camera.   My team and I are working on a series of videos designed to deliver bite sized chunks of knowledge, gathered from our community of sales reps, to help new people that come-up behind them.  In addition to building stronger bonds seeing and hearing from other members of our Ohana (Hawaiian for family), on a practical level, the series is designed to help us scale.   I’ve done a lot of live training, running customer meetings, some slideware recordings, but not that much video!   My topic of choice was one close to my heart: “How to Find a Mentor”   Knowing a topic is one thing, but creating a compelling and engaging video designed to teach a skill is a whole other ball game.    Here were a few key takeaways I learned from my awesome team about creating compelling video content:   Grab people’s attention with a WOW statement Have a strong why  Have a personal story that draws the viewer in Drop …

How to find your mentor

Published by Colin Nanka

Many people have asked me how do I find a mentor and how do I make the most of that relationship?     Here is your three step play:   1. Find your mentor Get noticed through hard work. Mentors often find mentees who remind them of how hard they worked to get where they are. Pay it forward. Give before you get. Sharing your best ideas, humbly, will get you more ideas and mentorship back. Put your hand up Be willing to reach out to your manager/ leadership team for recommendations. Find someone in another segment or someone with a different point of view that is more experienced than you.  Ask your manager if he/she would be willing to make a warm intro. Be ready to demonstrate “Is this person worth my time?” and have the goods to back it up.  2.  Respect each other’s time Come to every meeting 5 minutes early.  Have a clear intention for what you’d like to discuss every time you meet.  Provide one challenge you would like guidance …

Why you lose?

Published by Colin Nanka

We often work so hard to win, we don’t often pause to ask why? Have you asked a customer why they bought from you?  We don’t always win and when we don’t, we should be asking why we lost. Sometimes, when you take a step back, you can find that it’s some of the simplest things you do that attribute to your wins. Like taking the time to call someone instead of emailing them. Similarly, it’s often the simplest of things that can contribute to your losses. Following up too much, not doing your research or bringing value to the interaction. Whether you had a big win or a major fail this week, take the time to take some stock. Either way, you’ll learn something new for the next time you’re up to bat.  

Give people choice

Published by Colin Nanka

We overload people with content in training.  We typically measure how many slides we can get through in a half or full day session.  If I told you tomorrow, you would get to spend 8 hours in training and sit through 150 slides, how would you feel? Shudder? Me too! Shouldn’t we be measuring by comprehension, application and choice? Research shows that for classroom instruction you need a physical break every 90 minutes, a mental break every 20 minutes (retention focused) and involvement (participation) every 10 minutes.  Otherwise your comprehension is like a leaky hose and retention is drastically reduced.  People will phase out and literally turn the brain off! We have all been there! Tips for engaging training and team meetings: Change modalities often Visual, auditory and tactile learning  Cover less Focus more on retention of knowledge  Active participation  Get people up on their feet Set agendas that allow for choice Prioritization and focus chosen by your people   Quick example: Help me closing out this blog to review best practices. 90 minutes of …

Sometimes you need to see the proof

Published by Colin Nanka

If I have learned one thing from leaders and mentors over 20 years you can relate it to this: Ice Berg Theory 80% of the hard work is below the water line and you often only see the fluffy 20% above. I was watching an Instagram video of an Olympic athlete last week and she highlighted her morning routine. There are some components my physiotherapists have been recommending for years around flexibility, warm up, and balance.  It really clicked for me. She does this every single morning without fail.  Am I that accountable on this area? The answer was no. If it’s that important, which right now it is.  It must get done. It had me thinking of past business examples as leaders modeled the way so I could see the hard work under the water line. That is when it clicks for me. What about you? Have you wondered how your peer got the promotion when you think you deserved it? Have you thought about how a rising star spends their evenings or weekends? …

Reset

Published by Colin Nanka

I remember eight years ago we had a change in the structure of our sales teams. We had a sales segment that was going to split in two.  Some getting a slight promotion and others getting a slight demotion.  At least that is what it looked like from those in the storm. I remember what the sales leader said at the time to that group. I’m paraphrasing below. “The company you keep will define how you react to the situation.  If you wallow and commiserate with those who see this as glass half empty, you will all be eaten up with the negative energy. If you see the glass is half full, a short-term obstacle and benchmark yourself to those will grind through, you will rise with the tide.” Some responded as expected, strong and weak. Others were surprising, good and bad. What did our sales leader know? That this 6-month adjustment period, would be just that: in the long term of a career, just one data point. That data point would be telling though. Year over year who could identify the obstacles, build …

Frozen Eggs

Published by Colin Nanka

I woke up one morning this week while on the road.  I finished my meditation and headed down to the gym, got on the bike for a quick sweat and back up to the room for a shower, quick bite, pack and leave for the airport.  I had ordered an omlette the day before and it was huge.  So, I ate half, and put the other half in the fridge.  I had one brought up (the one in the room didn’t work) to keep my liquid probiotics cool.  Part of my travel routine. The attendant plugged it in and asked me how cold I wanted it.  I said medium.  I expected it to be cool.  When I went to grab the eggs out of the fridge the next morning, I noticed a really cold feeling sweep across my hand.   It was really cold!  The eggs were…frozen!  What?? How frozen?  Rock solid!  So, I put them on the table and thought maybe they would “thaw” while I packed up and showered. No chance.  So, for a …

5 Key Takeaways from Our Dreamforce Sales Executive Networking Event

Published by Colin Nanka

It’s always exciting to meet new people who think and care about the same things that keep me up at night. As someone who is responsible for sales enablement, it’s my job to think about sales rep and sales leader productivity. Is my team learning by example? Am I using the right metrics to get the best out of my team? Are there tools out there to help us be more effective? During Dreamforce, I had the opportunity to facilitate a table discussion during a networking event for sales executives on the topic of sales team productivity. It was an eclectic group made up of VP’s, SVP’s, COO’s and CEO’s from small to medium-sized Salesforce customers. Our conversation hit on a wide range of subjects – but a few key themes emerged that I think are top of mind for many Salesforce customers. Below are the key takeaways and resources you can send your administrators to help your organization in these areas. Key Takeaway #1: Lead by Example to Drive Adoption For a sales team …

How Salespeople Can Rebound from a Bad Selling Year

Published by Colin Nanka

I’ve been in a selling or leadership role for 20 years. In 2007, I had one of the best years of my sales career. I was invited to Salesforce CEO and Chairman Marc Benioff’s house in Hawaii to celebrate our President’s Club and Chairman’s Club awards with 20 other sales professionals. It was incredible and one of the highlights of my career. In 2008 and 2009, with the market downturn, everyone’s sales job became exponentially tougher. Our president at the time warned us we would need to work twice as hard just to make our quota. I didn’t listen, and I wasn’t ready for the mental challenge it would take. Oddly enough to me at the time, many of my peers who joined me at the dinner in Hawaii would continue to persevere and achieve solid-to-remarkable years. What was I missing? I decided to look elsewhere. I took a three-week vacation to Africa to clear my head and gain perspective. I raised money to help rebuild a local school in Tanzania and did some soul …

How Sales Leaders Should Spend Their First 30 Days

Published by Colin Nanka

I grew up with a close group of friends in in the cold winterland of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in the 1980s. Playing and watching hockey was our life blood. At that time, the young Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club would make a statement by overthrowing the heavily favored New York Islanders, kicking off their own dynasty to win five Stanley Cups over the next decade. The Edmonton Oilers Coach Glen Sather (now President of the New York Rangers) was known for being a true mentor and father figure to a bunch of young kids away from their home and family. He provided great leadership for his team and in 1984 they would take the ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup. There are many leadership stories and lessons for sales leaders about Coach Sather and the Edmonton Oilers I love, however one that always sticks with me: After a string of poor play, the coach brought a mirror into the dressing room and asked each player to look at themselves before starting the next game. He asked them …