The motivating leader

It is asked a lot of today's leaders: they need to have subject knowledge, be able to manage collaborations and work relations, be strong in action and able to manage changes. In addition, they should be coaching and motivating in their leaderships. But, what is it that drives a person? How do you get an employee to perform. A small business is not always able to attract employees with so-called external driving forces such as fine educations, high salaries and exciting career opportunities. So, how do you motivate your staff long term? How do you access a person's internal driving forces?
Today I attended a seminar by Richard Rejsjö. He believes that one should begin by asking "if you could do what ever you want, what would you do". Perhaps the answer would be "then I'd be a writer." Then he suggests you ask the question "why" three times to get to the core. The answers might be "because it's free," "because I can work from home" and “then I would not feel the stress of picking up or leaving my children at daycare at a certain time point". For this employee maybe flexible working hours could be the solution. For another employee perhaps responsibility is the key driving force. The solution for that person can be an own area of responsibility.
However, what do you do if an employee has no motivation at all and underachieve? To begin with, you have to analyze if the situation is temporary and if so, if you can help and assist the employee for a period. If the situation is of a more constant nature, perhaps you should look over the employee's duties in whole. Perhaps there are other tasks at the company that would fit better. Maybe there is more suitable work at another company. Punishment has never proved successful as a driveing force. Instead, it is important to highlight the positive features of the employee. Important is also as a leaders to lead by example.

Everybody wants a reference

How usual is it to chose a carpenter right out of the phone book? Not very usual, I assume. Instead you start by asking around for references. Your customers probably do the same to find their way to your business. So why not start taking networking seriously?
Compared to an advertizing campaign, word of mouth (WOM) is a cheep way of marketing your products. Compared to cold phone calls it most certainly is more effective. Some companies rely entirely of WOM. Aussie Haircare is one example of the power of WOM. The initial marketing of their hair styling products was carried out largely through referral marketing in various online communities.
One way to network is to join forces with other professionals with similar or complementary products to your without being competing. For example, if you are an instrument supplier you could ally yourself with a supplier of consumables suitable to use with your instrument. Another way is to network within a society where your potential customers may be members.
In advance your networking event, prepare a short presentation about yourself, your company, who your customers are and your advantages compared to the competition. When you are asked about what you are doing, don’t just tell what you sell. Instead, explain when your products are needed and by whom. This way you facilitate for your reference to remember what you have to offer and when your products or services are needed. In this way, your reference will more likely come to think of you when he or she meets one of your potential customers.

Walk the extra mile

On my way back from a meeting in Germany I became aware of the fact that the airport in Munich was hit by an electronic meltdown and hence all luggage was let behind. Subsequently, upon arrival to Stockholm I took a taxi home without my bag. Although I knew that this was nobody's fault, I was annoyed by this obstacle. However, my luggage was on the next flight to Stockholm and deliverd to my door the same evening. They could have chosen to wait until the day after and delivered my bag during office hours, but they didn't. Due to this excellent service I will continue to fly with Star Alliance also in the future.
In my work, I frequently care of visitors from various parts of the world. For dinner I often take our guests to Domtrappkällaren, a local restaurant in Uppsala. Usually the waiter gives a short presentation on the history of the facilities and on the food to be served. While waiting for the dishes, small appetizers are served in advance what's ordered. Complimentary as a little extra. I have chosen to return to this place with my company again and again.
Companies that have chosen to walk the extra mile and to give that little extra to its customers tend to increase the number of regular customers. These customers tend to be more tolerant and understanding when they run into troubles with your products. To a greater extent will they also stick with you as a supplier during more difficult times.

Become a star negotiator

The most common mistake in negotiations is to be unprepared and initiate with the lowest (if selling)/highest (if buying) acceptable outcome. I once had the opportunity to listen to a seminar by Karin Klerfelt and here are her tips for us to become star negotiators.
1. Initiative; If coming from your opponent, buy yourself time by asking if you can get back later, for example at 2 pm. If coming from you, be prepared.
2. Preparations; Set goals at 3 different levels - best, okay and worst outcome. This gives you space for negotiation.
3. Greeting; Build a good atmosphere by sending a “I want us to reach an agreement” message to your opponent. All your expressions (spoken language, vocal, body language, etc) need to send this message.
4. Introduction; What are the rules – how long will the negotiation take part? Take acceptance!
5. Demands; Ask the opponent. Practice your lines/questions before the meeting. What is the goal, budget, is there any other person that has the final mandate, etc?
6. Agreement; List of demands from opponent needs to be prepared. See to that you reach win-win for both partners. Give and take! This is a human mechanism called “reciprocal action”. Money is not everything, instead of giving a discount you may add a supplementary product. Be flexible!
7. Finnish; Settle the agreement. First make sure to have real eye contact and then summarize what you have agreed upon. To summarize is what drives the meeting forward.
8. Follow up; Important to follow up with the opponent in between negotiation events. This is when you build your relationship before next event.

Don’t take no for an answer

-Can I help you?
In 99 of 100 possible cases the answer you get from asking this question will be “no, thanks”. This is not the answer you like to get when exhibiting at that congress you spent a lot of time and money to be present at. Instead, try starting with a question to which the answer is not yes or no. Try starting with questions like “where are you from”, “what type of business are you in”, what is you research interest”, “what do you think about this interesting product”, or similar questions that demands more of an answer than simply a yes or a no.
I was in a clothing store once just browsing around. Instead of giving me the “can I help you” question the clerk turned to me with a pair of trousers in her hands.
-What do you think about these? she asked me. Just got them in this morning.
She instantly gained my interest and now she had the opportunity to show me something additional.
At a different occasion I was trying on a shirt at a department store when a shop assistant came up to me.
-You do look good in that color, she said. That shirt suits you very well.
I ended up buying the shirt.
My colleague told me about when he was admiring a coat in a clothing store once. The salesman approached him.
-Do you think you’re worth it? he asked.
That question has only one answer and that answer is yes. My colleague went straight out of the store to withdraw money from the cash machine whereupon he went straight back in to get the coat.

The distribution network

For small and medium-sized enterprises with less possibilities of establishing own sales offices worldwide, it is instead important to build up a good distribution network of dealers and agents. Ideally would be to find distributors who are dedicated to the supplier's own products and can devote all resources to the sales of these. That is not always the case. So how do you choose the right partners?
There are a lot of different distributors out there. There are large ones with a broad product range, small dedicated to a specific product category, major catalog companies with minimal customer contact and smaller companies with more focus on being out at customer sites.
The large, reaching broad has not always proven to be the best. Neither has the small niched ones shown to be the most appropriate. The ones that usually succeed as distributors are the ones that have a clear profile towards the customer, who do not have a too wide range of products, which have the right customer profile in their CRM systems, who have similar products as the supplier and hence can offer them in packages, so called product bundling.
After having worked myself some years for a distributor on the Swedish market, I cannot stress enough the importance of the supplier keeping good contact with the distributor. Of great significance for the inspiration is also the opportunity to receive training from the supplier. When the dealers have a good relationship with you as the supplier, have knowledge of your products and their market positioning, are familiar with the product's unique selling points versus the competition, have good knowledge of the product's customer profile, and feel comfortable with the sales of your products, only then you have a good chance of succeeding with your distribution network.

Creating a go in the sales force

I do not think you can exhort the sales force to great deeds by just putting up sales targets. In fact, I do not think the sales targets create a go in the sales force at all. This go has to come from the team members themselves. Is there nothing you can do as a manager? There certainly is!
It may sound unbelievable, but what is often overlooked is proactivity and making plans for the year's marketing activities. Go through previous years' sales and sales trends over the past few years. Based on this a budget proposal is made, and sales strategies to achieve the goals decided. Go through what marketing activities should be implemented, what congresses to be present at, and if there is any particular product or product area that needs a little extra push during the year.
When budget is set, go through this with all team members as well as the strategies with which it is thought that sales target is to be achieved. Then you decide together with each individual employee the individual goals and what is expected back in the form of reports and presentations. Everyone's responsibilities are peaces in the organization puzzle and the tasks and activities related to the responsibilities included in the marketing plan and in the strategies you put together to achieve the sales targets.
It is important to clarify personal responsibilities and the distribution of responsibilities between the team members. By distribution of responsibilities within the group and give mandate to carry out the work in the best way everybody will feel involved in the group’s work and be able to implement one’s tasks without stepping on each others’ toes. Everyone knows what to do, who does what, when it should be done and how it should be reported. But is distinctness sufficient? It will take you a long way, I would say, but if you want to take the team all the way you have to spice up the work with joy. Add in some fun activities during the year, perhaps a reward for achieving certain milestones, or make something together in the marketing group outside working hours. Put up a ship’s bell that you can ring in when you receive a larger order or an order from a customer you worked on for a long time. Distinct distribution of responsibilities and job satisfaction will create a go in the sales force.