Lead Lines

Four Secrets of Leadership
They’re not secret anymore

In his saleshq.com article “The Four Secrets of Leadership,” Mike Brooks highlights four characteristics every good sales manager possesses, including:
1. Optimism. Leaders know what they want and are willing to make sacrifices to achieve it. They radiate optimism because they have already reached their goals in their mind’s eye. People naturally gravitate toward winners, so this optimism is a great quality in leaders.
2. Confidence. “Confident leaders create confident followers, and a company, family or team with an ‘I Can’ attitude is unstoppable,” Brooks writes.
3. Integrity. Research shows that employees find integrity to be the most desired quality in a manager or business owner.
4. Decisiveness. Leaders may not always make the right decisions, but they should always be relied upon to make a well-thought out, confident one.
“Evaluate the data at the time and the relative need of making a decision, and then choose the best course of action and commit,” Brooks says.

Lead Lines

Get Feedback
Managers need it too

Good leaders know how to provide feedback, but they also know how to receive it. There are a few ways managers can improve this process. In his leadership.bestmanagementarticles.com article “Want Feedback?” Kevin Eikenberry gives the following tips:
• Request feedback. In order to successfully receive it, managers must request feedback from employees and supervisors alike.
• Be grateful. “If you want more — and better — feedback, you must value it which includes — among other things — thanking the person for provided us with the input for their help,” Eikenberry writes.
• Listen. Managers should keep in mind that it is not always easy to give criticism. So reading between the lines is important when listening to feedback.
• Keep an open mind. “Some feedback comes as a surprise. It is especially important in those instances to be open to it,” Eikenberry explains.
• Avoid taking it personally. Defensiveness is a major barrier when it comes to receiving feedback.
• Put it to use. Feedback is useless if managers don’t translate some of it into their actions.
“Each of these ideas will help you get more or better feedback — and some do both!” Eikenberry concludes.

Training Tips

Tech Savvy Teams
Benefits of IT training

Companies that take the time to familiarize employees with technology save time, headaches and money. In his leadershiparticles.net article “Key Advantages to Employee IT Training,” Robert Thomson explains the following reasons managers should seek to provide IT training for their team:
• Increased productivity. “The key advantage to employee IT training is that the productivity increases achieved in this fundamentally important, core business activity makes possible a cascade of improvements in other departments,” Thomson writes.
• Access to information. Employees who can independently access crucial resources and information will be more effective and efficient when doing their jobs.
• Morale. An important responsibility companies have is to keep their employees up to date and informed. IT training can improve the company’s value to the employee and increase job satisfaction.
• Retention. A company that fulfills its information obligations to employees has a better chance of keeping quality people. “Some companies have reported that their training programs have reduced employee turnover by as much as 70% with a return on investment of some 7,000%,” Thomson says.
The benefits of universal IT training are often underrated; managers and reps should consider whether their organization could benefit from it.

NameDropping

Nick Bressan has been promoted to retail advertising supervisor at The State Journal-Register in Springfield, Ill.

Scott C. Connolly was named senior VP of sales and marketing at The Providence (R.I.) Journal Co. He had previously served as vice president of advertising and advertising senior sales director.

John Dillon has been named publisher of the Argus Observer. He had previously served as advertising director at the newspaper.

Kevin Drake, previously publisher of the Hendersonville Times-News, was promoted to regional director of sales for The New York Times Company's Carolinas Group.

Jeanie Hess joined The Town Crier in Manila, Ark., as advertising manager in June.

Chicago Tribune Media Group announced in June that Susan Jacobs has been named Vice President of Retail Advertising. She had previously served as Director of Retail Advertising.

Marshall S. Johnson was named advertising director of the Telegraph Herald in Dubuque, Iowa. He had previously served as advertising director of The Forum in Fargo, N.D.

Freedom Communications Inc. named Burl Osborne interim chief executive.

Jim Russell was appointed the general manager of The Citizen in Laconia, N.H.

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Meeting Issues
How to deal with disruptions from people

It is important for sales managers to be run meetings effectively, and some behaviors can inhibit that. In their businessknowhow.com article “Surefire Tips for Taming Meeting Monsters,” Mike Song, Tim Burress and Vicki Halsey explain how to deal with seven types of meeting interruptions, including:
1. Tardiness. Although employees always come up with excuses they feel are important, they hurt their professional images by wasting everyone’s time. The authors suggest sending a mass e-mail asking everyone to be a few minutes early and single out those who are chronically late, in a way that makes them feel important and valuable to the meeting.
2. E-mailing. Most employees find it very annoying when someone is clicking away on a PDA or laptop in the conference room or during virtual meetings. Managers should ask participants to “TTO,” or turn technology off, at the beginning of the meeting.
3. Prestige. There is usually someone in every meeting whose job ranks above the others, and sometimes even above the sales managers for larger meetings. In these situations, other employees often scramble to impress and gain the favor of those with more prestige. This can lead to ideas being encouraged or humored even if they are not productive. “Head this off by quickly reviewing a list of the impractical or impossible options that your team has eliminated in prior meetings,” the authors write.
4. Tangents. Endless streams of “what if?” and “why not?” can cause team members to ignore the crucial issues. Managers should recognize these nonproductive tangents and ask their employers if the new topics are more urgent than the current agenda. If the answer is no, conversation will drift back toward the agenda.
5. Dissent. Sometimes only one or two employees fail to agree with the rest of the team on a solution. The authors suggest managers listen to these dissenters and look for the truth in their negative responses. If they still feel the solution the rest of the team came up with is best, they should move forward with out their agreement.
6. Over-discussion. Often in meetings a good idea will be discussed excessively, which wastes time. In this case, managers should remind team members that once something has been discussed enough, it is important to know when to move on.
7. Reluctant contributors. Even the most intelligent, insightful employees may freeze up in a meeting. Public speaking comes naturally for very few people, so managers must pay attention to those who may need some extra encouragement to open up. A good way to start is giving a speaking role to timid employees, such as reviewing the results of a previous meeting.
“Managing your meeting monsters effectively helps you keep your meetings on track, reduce redundant future meetings and get more done,” the authors conclude.

Training Tips

Building Trust
Seven tips to try

Trust between a sales rep and potential client is invaluable. Although a sales professional may be consistently honest and compassionate, the key is in his or her ability to communicate that to the customer. In her salesopedia.com article “Seven Simple Tips for Building Trust,” Tessa Stowe gives the following behaviors to help build trust:
1. Focus on helping them. “If someone feels you are genuinely trying to help them, then they’ll be more likely to trust you and buy from you,” Stowe says.
2. Ask sincere questions.
3. Listen with full attention.
4. Think as carefully as you speak. “You may not realize it, but when you’re talking to a potential client, they will pick up on what you’re thinking and feeling,” Stowe explains.
5. Build self-confidence. If the rep is not sure of themselves during the conversation, the customer will not be either.
6. Practice consistency. Be honest and follow through with promises.
7. Become an expert in the field.
“Implement these seven simple tips, and you’ll be amazed at the increase in trust you’ll generate,” Stowe concludes.

Lead Lines

Ten Steps to Making a Decision
Determining and pursuing the best choice

Sales managers must be skilled and efficient at making difficult decisions. In the leadership-tools.com article “Effective Decision Making,” the author offers the following “Ten Steps to Wise Decision Making.”
1. Identify the decision that must be made. This includes determining who has the actually power to make the decision, and how many options there are.
2. Brainstorm as many alternatives as possible.
3. Search for more information.
4. Explore alternatives. “You will find that the more information you gather, the more ideas will pop into your head,” the author explains.
5. Organize the information. Eliminate and qualify options, rate them according to desirability.
6. Visualize the actual outcomes of each option.
7. Narrow them down. “Which of your remaining alternatives are most likely to happen?” says the author.
8. Decide which options are appropriate for the situation. Make a plan of action.
9. Act on the decision, and give it all you’ve got.
10. Examine the results of your choice, and make adjustments if necessary.
“In the process, answer the following questions: Did I not have enough information? What values actually came into play? Were they mine or someone else’s? Remember that you can always change your mind,” the author writes.