Step Up Results

You’ve heard the old sales adage: ABC – always be closing!

The problem with that is that Always be closing leads to always be selling. And clients/prospects don’t want sales calls, but they do want value creation calls!

And so, given today’s market, you must shift your mindset and ABCv – Always be creating value!

This is the mindset that separates top performing individuals and organization from average performers.

How can you close the deal every time?
Develop the skill set of strengthening the client/prospects needs during the call. Progress on each call and and achieve forward movement.

Top performers advance the call and get the client to agree on specific next steps, which creates value.

Average performers try to close the call everytime (one and done), which erodes value.

Have you been acting like a top performer or an average performer?
Given today’s market reality, you must slow-down to speed-up.

Slow-down each call to speed up your sales cycle. Think about you. 

And Step up!
Your client has….the question is…will you?

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Let’s face it, SELLING IS DEAD, BUT VALUE CREATION IS VERY MUCH ALIVE! Here’s your tip on how to get more business by creating more client value by explaining the difference between a top performer and an average performer. There are two main ways to do this.

 Mindset and skillset

 Mindset– Instead of selling, top performers have a mindset of creating client value. Now, get this right. They understand the name of the game is selling, but they also understand that the market is tough and that you can’t get more business unless you create more value.

Value creation is the talk track, is the mindset of a top performer. Average performers are thinking sales. Top performers are thinking value creation. Which side of the equation are you on, top or average? Which side of the equation do you want to be on?

Skillset– You see the mindset about creating client value and being positioned as a trusted advisor leads to skillset.

PLAN– DO– REVIEW

→    Slow down to speed up, and

→    Do a post-call review

Top performers versus average performers are utilizing plan, do, review. They’re planning a clear call objective. They’re asking themselves, how can I create more client value?

Whether it’s a small transactional sale or a big consultative sale, they know that that question gets them client centered versus seller centered and on the call they’re asking the client a number of questions. They understand that the quality of the call is consistent with the quality of the questions that they ask or fail to ask.

Then during the review stage, the follow-up stage, they know that the fortune is in the follow up, so they follow up with their clients with an email summary. They also slow down to break down the game footage of their own performance to see where they could improve.

How about you? Plan, do, review or are you heavy on the do, do, do? Top versus average performers – mindset; skillset.

It’s time to STEP UP to create client value.

Daniel Grissom-

Setting higher standards without holding people accountable may be worse than not setting a higher standard at all. That’s because if you don’t actively measure performance and hold people accountable, you are saying  to them that the higher standard is not important, that it really doesn’t make a difference. 

If a manager is fearful of or doesn’t agree with the goals set down for him by his superiors, he may set and communicate standards for his team in a way that tells them he is merely following instructions from above. He may in fact unconsciously hope that his subordinate’s performance falls short, which then reinforces his belief that the goals were inappropriate to begin with. When a manager does not show full commitment to standards, the results are the same as setting standards and not following up. Either way you’re telling people higher standards aren’t important.

 ”Leadership is not holding another person to your standards; that’s management. Leadership is getting another person to create extraordinary standards for themselves.” -TONY ROBBINS

Excerpt from Step Up!  How to WIN MORE and Lose Less © 2008 Daniel Grissom. All rights reserved.

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Perfection is our goal, but excellence will be tolerated. -Vince Lombardi

Daniel Grissom - Let’s take a look at a few additional examples of individuals and organizations that have consistently raised the bar on results. Consider modeling their standards and passion of excellence.

United States Marine Corps. Like other branches of our military, the few, the proud, the Marines take raw talent and teach young soldiers how to improve individual performance and team results. This process begins in boot camp where each individual is “invited” to step up his or her personal standards of excellence. Superior standards and results are instilled as their code of conduct. Is it any wonder that Marines compliment each other with the word, “Outstanding!”

 After boot camp and advanced training, their performance improvement process accelerates as each individual is greeted with challenges that test his or her heart and commitment to the mission. Marines carefully evaluate themselves to ensure that their actual performance aligns with their potential best. The Marines’ motto is Semper Fidelis, which is Latin for “Always Faithful.” Their personal pledge is to be faithful in giving their best to the mission at hand, their fellow Marines and their families.

 The following summarizes it well. It is a letter published in the Washington Times on September 25, 1998, by the Marine Corps co mandant at that time:

Since becoming the Marine Corps commandant more than three years ago, I have drawn the line when it comes to standards. I have not only pledged to uphold our standards, but have actually raised the bar when it comes to being a Marine – enlisted or officer.

—General C.C. Krulak, Commandant USMC6

 But what about the business case? All that HooRah is great, but does it make dollar sense?

Let’s look at some data:

How faithful are you in giving your personal best to your organization and your clients?

___________________________

6. Washington Times, September 25, 1998

Excerpt from Step Up!  How to WIN MORE and Lose Less © 2008 Daniel Grissom. All rights reserved.

www.danielgrissom.com www.stepupresults.com www.stepuptoolkit.com

Perfection is our goal, but excellence will be tolerated. -Vince Lombardi

 Daniel Grissom - Let’s take a look at a few additional examples of individuals and organizations that have consistently raised the bar on results. Consider modeling their standards and passion of excellence.

Michael Jordan – On the basketball court, his personal standards and commitment to excellence were the basis for his superior results. Think about it. He first came to our attention with the game-winning shot in the 1982 NCAA championship game for the North Carolina Tar Heels. He entered the NBA in 1984 after being named an All-American twice and leading the 1984 U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal. Jordan entered the NBA as the 3rd pick in the draft that year and was chosen by the Chicago Bulls, who were the league’s perennial losers.

As a rookie, he averaged 28 points per game. That’s the result of someone who believes in raising the bar, and it was still rising.  He went on to seven consecutive scoring titles, slam-dunk championships, MVP performances and finally three consecutive world championships and a starring spot on the 1992 Olympic Dream Team.

 Those were his personal results, but what about the team results? With Jordan leading his teammates, the Bulls advanced from worst to first in a few short years.  How’d they do that? It began with Jordan continually raising his personal standards. In doing so, he raised the standards of his teammates. Jordan’s self-driven quest for results had a multiplier effect on his performance and his teammates. It was his commitment to excellence that transformed his team and gave them six NBA championships.

 Consider the comments from Jordan’s coach for most his career, Phil Jackson, who said:

“The thing about Michael is he takes nothing for granted. When he first came into the league in 1984, he was primarily a penetrator. His outside shooting wasn’t up to professional standards. So he put in his gym time in the off-seasons, shooting hundreds of shots each day. Eventually, he became a deadly three-point shooter.”

 As the corporate or entrepreneurial tri-athlete, what aspects of your professional game should you work on?

Excerpt from Step Up!  How to WIN MORE and Lose Less  © 2008 Daniel Grissom. All rights reserved.

www.danielgrissom.com www.stepupresults.com www.stepuptoolkit.com

The future has several names. For the weak it is impossible. For the fainthearted, it is unknown. For the thoughtful and valiant, it is ideal.  —Victor Hugo

 Daniel Grissom – We live in a rapidly changing world of increased commoditization and decreased differentiation. What was “good enough” yesterday is considered “unacceptable” today. Business success today, and in the future, is achieved by those who not only anticipate the market shifts and trends, but who are able to re-evaluate, re-focus and re-engineer themselves.

Through my work and evaluation of some of the most successful companies in the world, I have identified three key market forces that are significantly impacting individual performance and organizational results. The intersections of these challenges are driving leaders at all levels to re-think the way they do business and STEP UP to the next level.

These market trends are:

1. Radical Change  2. Increased Commoditization  3. Hiring Top Talent

 Now what will you do?

www.stepuptoolkit.com and   www.DanielGrissom.com

You hear me reference it all the time, but what exactly does STEP UP stands for anyway:

• Standards
• Talents
• Evaluations
• Preparation
• Unleash Potential

It’s an acronym that identifies 6 steps that make 80% of the difference in the achievement of superior results.                      

                                                          6) Invest in Coaching

                                                5) Unleash Your Potential

                                         4) Proper Preparation

                                   3) Consistent Self Evaluation

                               2) Identify Your Talents

                         1) Raise Your Standards        

                 6  STEPS   = 80 % of the Difference

Knowing how to STEPUP is important, but actually stepping up is invaluable! The market has STEPPED UP -have you?

www.stepuptoolkit.com and   www.DanielGrissom.com

Here’s my tip for the week. I have officially launched the ‘Step Up Tool Kit’. The Step Up Tool Kit is my proven techniques, strategies and skill sets that I teach to leading organizations like Google, UPS, IBM, Bloomberg and Lilly to step up their sales performance, increase client value, and win more business, even in this sluggish economy.

 So now you can learn these things too…

• Do More With Less
• Increase Value
• Win More Leads, More Sales & More Money
• Increase Market Share
• Avoid Commoditization; Achieve Differentiation
• Make Small Changes That Produce Big Results
• Turn Your Talents Into Tangible Assets
• Advance From Good to Great
• Be At Your Best When It Matters The Most
• Get The Edge …And Keep It!
• And much more!

Let’s face it. In this trying economy, the last thing your clients and prospects want is more sales calls. But what they do want is more value. So, how can you create more value? The answer is simple, but not easy.

You’ve got to Step Up! That means you’ve got to align your talents with your customer’s needs and create distinction between yourself and your competition.

Check it out. You like? Don’t be selfish, tell a friend. www.stepuptoolkit.com

Tristin Barbar -Jim ‘N Nicks Bar-B-Q, Manager– South Cobb, Smyrna, Ga.

Recently, I went back to one of my favorite restaurants, Jim ‘N Nicks Bar-B-Q, and I saw Tristin Barbar, the store manager.  Seeing Tristian reminded me that I owed him an ‘Observation in Excellence’.  I want to recognize Tristin. You see over over the New Year’s holiday Tristin exceeded my expectations; Excellence in thought, Excellence in execution.  He earned his PhD in results because he stepped up.

I want to acknowledge Tristian’s ability to stay cool under pressure; to go the extra yard, and to provide Excellence with a smile. You see, I had a big event around New Year’s Day, and as you could imagine there were a number of customers in the restaurant.  Tristin let me sample some ribs; spare ribs vs. baby back ribs vs. smoke turkey vs. smoked links.  He had an ability to customize my order, to customize our conversation, to make me feel like I was the only customer in the restaurant when there were 52 others, and he got the order right! It was done right, done well, and done on time! Tristin stepped up and earned his PhD in Results!

And, a little pat on the back for Jim ‘N Nicks Bar-B-Q too

If you haven’t had Jim N’ Nicks, you’re sleeping.  Get on it, Get with it!  They have good food, done right.  Hey! A little barbeque, soul food, collard greens, black-eyed peas, every now and then, along with some cheese biscuits won’t bother nobody. So, if you’re looking for some great food and some great service – Jim ‘N Nicks Bar-B-Q in Smyrna, Ga.

It’s this kind of action that leads to client loyalty and obtaining additional business. The market has STEPPED UP -have you?

www.DanielGrissom.com and www.stepupresults.com

Ann Page – Nordstrom, Phipps Plaza, Atlanta, Ga.

 A couple weeks ago, I was at Nordstrom and went over to the Men’s cologne section to buy my favorite fragrance “Gendarme”, a light fresh fragrance. I met a lady named Ann Page.  She was client-centered. How do I know?  Her excellence and her smile translated into me buying a bigger size of the cologne, and even taking a look at a new product called ‘Anthony for Men’.

The Anthony products were very expensive, premium products. I bought the facial scrub, the facial wash, and the facial serum.  What made the difference in me spending more at Nordstrom? The difference was Ann! It wasn’t the product; it was the person who made the difference in terms of me spending more and being pleased to go back to Nordstrom, which I did 10 days later.  I missed Ann Page on the return visit, but I brought more of the ‘Anthony’ product.

Ann Page of Nordstrom – Phipps Plaza, Atlanta, Georgia earned her PhD in Results by STEPPING UP and committing to excellence with a smile!

It’s this kind of action that leads to client loyalty and obtaining additional business. The market has STEPPED UP - have you?

www.DanielGrissom.com and www.stepupresults.com