After the $ale

Good morning everyone,

I can not believe that we are already into August and soon the weather is going to start its decent into grey and cold.  We will still have a stop in fall for college football and apple orchards for cider and donuts!  I really need to not be so excited with food.  Well lets preface that with bad food such as donuts and cookies that bring relatively no nutritional value.

Enough about the weather and the some of my bad habits.  Let’s get into good habits.  Let’s talk about a habit that all sales people need to be thoughtful of when they make the sale.  It’s the habit of the next 100 days of life after the purchase that the sales person needs to be focused on.  The next 100 days after the sale is crucial to the effectiveness of your product and the success that the customer has.

The sales process does not end just with signing on the dotted line and never speaking to the customer again.  This is where the real hard work starts.  This is where all the words about how great your service, organization, and you are.  Unfortunately, most sales people do believe that once the customer signs on the dotted line then that is it and they can move on to the next conquest.

When I started out in sales I was under that assumption.  I would make the sale and believe that the internal ordering team would take over and I could move on to more sales activities.  One instance that comes to mind of the many was when I had just started out in sales and set up my first lawnmower shop with a new product line of stand on riding lawnmowers. 

It was in the Detroit area and the shop was smaller in comparison to some of the other shops in the Detroit area.  The people were good and they were generating pretty good sales with the product lines that they had.  They had a market for the stand on riding lawnmowers due to the properties in the area not having a great deal of room between them so the landscapers would be able to get between houses without having to use a push mower or weed trimmers. 

The issue came after I had worked for over a year getting the dealer convinced that this product would work well for them and they finally agreed.  I set up the date for them to receive their first shipment, confirmed that they would be well taken care of by the inside staff, and trained their staff on how to sell the product.  After that, I was off and running after new sales.  I was pumped and ready to take on the lawnmowing world.

After a few months I stopped back in and the original order of lawnmowers was still there meaning they had not sold any.  When I asked how it was going they said good.  When I asked how the sales of the new line of lawnmowers was going, they said, well not so good.  Evidentially, the equipment did not ship on time and they did not know how to maneuver the equipment like I was able to do, and customers wanted to sit while cutting. 

Months later I was back at the dealer picking up the equipment and having to find a new home for the it at another dealer for a discount.  I failed!  I felt like crap and was not looking forward to telling the owner of our organization that I lost my first new account.  How would you feel if you had to tell your boss that you lost an account and when probed to understand why it was because you did not follow up and help the customer.

I have since learned that 24 hours after someone learns something if it is not applied they forget about 50 percent of the new knowledge.  The next day another 50 percent of that 50 percent that they learned two days ago and so on and so forth.  Without follow up and reinforcing that decision someone makes to buy your product will not help them as well as advertised.

I have since made it a matter of discipline to make sure that I become intentional for the next 100 days and longer if they sales is in the millions of dollars to reinforce everything that I have advertised.  I train the operators, sales team, learn more about their customers, find new ways to help the customer use the product efficiently, etc.  I have become so intentional that if I have any kind of doubt that I may not have set the customer on the best footing I keep going back to them to make sure they feel like they have got this and the product or service is second nature.

Do not be afraid to ask the customer to tell you where they are being hung up or not seeing the improvements that they were expecting.  At a bare minimum it will help you refine your sales process in the future to address such issues.  Most of the time it will enable you to grow your relationship with the customer because you are coming along side of them to help them grow and you are not like most of the sales people that they have dealt with in the past that are no where to be found. 

Focus on being intentional with the customer no matter what product or service you offer to them after they have made the purchase.  Follow up and make sure the product ships on time and that you can be there for set up.  Get dirty with them if needed running wiring for new internet routers, grab a prybar and open up the crates with them, run them through the new software package, and sit with them and ask more questions about what they may not understand.  You may also share a few items from your blooper reels so that they are more comfortable sharing what they do not understand.  Be intentional after the sale and help your customer.  You never know what will happen after.  One thing that happened for me is that I had more customers calling me to meet with them because of the value that I brought not just in selling product, but helping my customers in any area of their business that I could from the knowledge and no fear of getting dirty with them to help.

I hope that this blog had helped you and if you have any questions know that I am here to help in any way that I can. 

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises

How Gritty Are You?

Good Morning Everyone

I apologize for being a little late as I usually try to have the blog up by 7 a.m.  I slept in after driving to my sister’s house this weekend so that we could spent the weekend on the lake with them.  We are in Amish country Ohio on a small lake.  Big enough that it allows for water skiing though so I will have the opportunity to decompress this weekend!

On our drive over with the kids my wife had picked up a book called Grit by Angela Duckworth.  I am all about growth books so we loaded it in.  After a few minutes she was putting on her headphones for music and the kids were saying this is boring.  To that end they were released to use their tablets.  I pressed on listening to the book.

It is a pretty good book basically figuring out why people can preserver and why some can do not.  It also discusses how just because someone has talent does not mean they always stick out and win.  Most people that have been successful are not just talent, but people that have a grittiness and keep going after it through set-backs.  They get back in the fight and practice every time they get knocked down. 

The book also has a pdf or you can log on to the website to see how gritty you are.  It is a good book and I am enjoying it.  I am hoping that I will hear what I have not heard as it finishes.  So far in the book it talks about people that are just determined and that they are just motivated by goals.  I feel that it should align with Simon Sinek’s golden circle.  Simon talks about the super successful companies start with “why.” 

I believe that perseverance and grit will be affected by your Why.  If you have a small why you are doing something when pushed by an obstacle you may give up.  Strong Why’s not just goals and determination will keep you coming back for more of the crap sandwiches that you will have to eat to get better and better.  Sit back and think about the times that you have made it through a tough time and what was driving you.  Was it just a strong goal, or were you empowered by a “why” that was your compass?

I hear all the time people on Dave Ramsey’s radio show knocking out 100’s of thousands of dollars making less than a 100 thousand dollars a year all the time.  They are empowered and driven from a why to get out of debt once and for all.  Simply putting a goal to get out of debt on a wall is not going to be enough.  They get angry at the debt and work second and third jobs, drive junk cars, and get after it.  They have set backs and keep going after it.  They have a strong “why” keeping their feet moving. 

For this weekend I will be reflecting on my future endeavors as to what my guiding “why” is.  If my “why” is not strong enough and there is not a strong enough purpose then I will not be moving after the goal.  That is after I get out on the lake for some water skiing!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises

What Your Buyer Is Thinking?

Good morning everyone!

Today I want to share a secret with you. That is if you are alright with that?  If you are not up for a secret to be revealed, then I would tune out this morning.

The secret that I am going to share is the fact that I have worked in purchasing for a year and a half to make sure that my sales process would actually work for the sales person.  I decided to take the sabbatical from sales to learn exactly what purchasing organizations are thinking when they are trying to source business.  The sourcing tends to be for millions of spend annually with the organization.

I chose a well-known organization in order to learn from large scale business sourcing and what all goes into the decision.  I have sat in “sourcing councils” where groups of individuals review the strategy for sourcing components and suppliers, meetings with manufacturing plants and engineering to validate suppliers, Supply Chain Industrial Certification Training, and quote comparisons.   I have also been the one leading some of the projects to completion once the decision has been made on who to source business to.  I have been in meetings with the buyers and the suppliers and quietly analyzed the discussions as well as picked the buyer’s brains as to how and why they make certain decisions.

I have quite a few fun stories from this time as well as what happens when the cheapest price is the sole decision for sourcing and how that decision has failed miserably…

Buyers are so busy putting out fires every day that their time is very limited.  They are actually involved in a great deal of responsibilities for supply chain.  They need to make sure that suppliers scorecards are accurate including, part defect rejections (PPM), incidents, financials, site evaluations, cost savings initiatives, shortages, etc.   The manufacturing plants call them constantly about the supplier that are failing.  Legislation changes mean that the buyers have to mitigate extra costs to the organization.  Finally, they have to make sourcing decisions on new program launches.  There are quite a few other responsibilities, but you should get the point that buyers are extremely busy.  So, don’t waste their time!

Before we get started on a few things the buyers are quietly thinking I want to highlight a couple things.  First, yes they intentionally make you wait in the lobby for a few minutes and yes they intentionally have your competitor arrive for a meeting after yours to keep you off balance.  Also, just because the buyer is late does not mean that you are allowed to be late to the meetings.  You need to be prompt and ready to discuss whatever topic has been agreed to on the agenda.  Buyers hate sales people that are unorganized, unprepared, and not on time.

So now on to three things your buyer is thinking:

1.      Your Product Is A Commodity

As a sales person I know that all product offerings differ a bit, but the buyers believe that 99 percent of the products are the exact same.  Have you ever wondered why the buyer has gone silent and won’t return your calls after you’ve submitted a proposal?  That is because they are busy studying the cost to them with all of your incentives.  What the value is to them and what your competition is offering up to them.  They study a few things and compare thinking that your product that you offer is the same thing that everyone else is suppling.  Now, as a sales professional we know how to differentiate our product from everyone else and using our engineering teams to assist will benefit you greatly.  Make sure you know your competition’s processes and offerings better than your own so that you can position your offering that allows it to stand apart from the competition.

As a follow up make sure you are ready for the last time nibble that purchasing organizations actually have figured into their sourcing time lines.  Make sure you have that extra benefit in your back pocket.

2.      You Are Going to Let Them Down Like Everyone Else

Your Promises that you have provided are going to fall short which is why they lean on price as the differentiator at the beginning.  Either your tooling will not be ready in time, your product will fail testing, your team will not ship on time, your low price will actually increase when you are in production, etc.  It should go without saying that you need to under commit and over produce always!  Make sure you are aligned with your teams when committing with your customer.  

Make sure that you follow up and make sure that the products are hitting the milestones.  This is where you get to babysit adults or “project manage” for your company.  Nothing irritates the buyer than missing their date of a project.  If you are at risk make sure you are finding alternatives to mitigate the risk for the buyer.

3.      Your Company Is At Risk Of Going Out Of Business

With the competitive market and the fact that most organizations run on smaller margins these days, there is constant sensitivity that suppliers will go out of business.  Buyers are subject to reprimand if their supplier suddenly sends notice that they are closing their doors.  Adding fuel to the fire of scarcity with the just in time supply chains and longer payment terms elevates the risk.  Make sure that you are transparent and helping them know that you are around for the long haul.

Conclusion

Buyers want to know that when they source a supplier that they are not going to regret the decision in a few months.  I have had to lead projects that the decision of cheapest price has come back to haunt the team and a new decision has to be made with a secondary source.  Don’t get discouraged if you don’t initially win, because most of the time the cheapest price supplier falls flat on their face and they will come calling on your trying to disguise this fact.  Please do not rub it in their face.  Save the victory dance until after you meet with them and you are added the extra margin into your new quote.

Serve your buyers and help them.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises

Who Are Your Advisors?

Good morning everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying your Saturday morning in your quietness and coffee (if you are a coffee drinker)

Today I wanted to write a bit more about the mentor group I am in.  I think I should call it more of an advisory board.  They are mentoring me on different areas of business, but more importantly they are there to listen to my questions, comments, concerns, ideas, etc.  Where I get the most bang for my buck is the fact that they are there to speak into me in areas that I need.

This week I met with the group and was discussion a few items and where I felt like I was lacking.  They in turn were nice enough to speak into a few of those areas and hold my feet to the fire.  One of the areas was where my yearly goal was to cook with my step daughter once a month and that I had yet to do it.  I guess I should have said once a quarter.  When I was going over my next months goals with the group, one of the members was able to stop me and tell me that instead of further missing the goal I had set out to do, that I make an effort to do the cooking with my step daughter this month and to catch up.  Keep in mind that we have to pay when we miss goals so now I am on the hook for cooking twice with my step daughter this month.  Keep in mind that I am not an award winning chef so the meals will probably be pancakes and grilled chees sandwiches.  We are not setting out to do four course meals neither she nor I have the attention span for that.  Well maybe she does…

When I left the group, I was frustrated by the discussions and was needing to sit and reflect as well as cool off!  Once I did cool off and reflect I noticed that my friends and family typically don’t do this service for me.  I would guess that most of your friends and family do not as well.  During a message at Cedar Creek church the lead pastor stated that need for having spiritual advisors that ability to speak into your life and that everyone especially lead pastors must have them.  People that will speak into you and call out areas that need to be called out.  These people also cheer you on, but more importantly help you up and tell you how it is. 

Even though I was not very happy when I walked out of the meeting and felt more emotionally beat up than anything, but it was good for me to hear.  These people are there to help me without any gain for themselves and yet they are fine with that.  Most people in this world only want something in return.  These people are there to help if they can any way they think will help.  It is great to have that group there.  I just hope that I am also giving back to them and helping them like they are helping me. 

My family is one that calls it like it is and then states that you need to do this and that… instead of encouraging me to look inside and find the answer.  They give their insight like I do, but most of the time it is how they would handle the issue and not how I would.  On the flip side, the advisors get me digging deeper into the area to find the answer.  They bounce questions off of me about the idea to understand where I am at.  These advisors also suggest others that might specialize in an area that I am having an issue with.

I have had advisors in the past for various personal and social aspects of my life, but it has been this year that I have also asked to have advisors in my business.  When I ask for help on items they are there to help.  Most of them I only see once a month, but they are there outside as well.  It has been great growth for me, mostly from them asking me questions that I never would have thought of which gets my brain working the way it should to grow whereas in the past I would have gone from my own questions that I typically ask. 

This week I would challenge you to start thinking about who you have in your life that can act as advisors that can speak into you personally as well as in your business.   If you do not have one there are a great wealth of opportunities to gain some.  John Maxwell has the JMT certification and they have groups, Dave Ramsey offers Financial Peace University which ends up with groups of people that you can use as advisors for finances.  Truth at work is a group that I am in of business professionals.  There are also meet up groups where you can meet others as well as different clubs one can join to expand their network and advisory board. 

There are groups everywhere, but I would also preface that just getting into a group will not likely net you the affect you are looking for.  Having a couple people that will help you in your relationships, one or two people for your fitness goals, a few for your professional career goals, etc.  The key is to develop a group of advisors that you can turn to and get help.  This will take time to develop and some people will enter and leave your group of advisors at different times of your life.  They may even come back into your group of advisors in the future.

No one is perfect and can always use others to bounce ideas off of as well as be open without fear of rejection.  I have yet to see someone that is successful that has not had a coach, mentor, or advisors helping them grow.  While you are sitting this morning scrolling through Facebook or Instagram set the phone down and make a list of people that you typically go to and who might also be able to help you in areas you don’t currently have represented.  Maybe it is even an old boss, colleague, favorite professor, or someone else that you may have lost contact with.  The key is to be intentional about this group and constantly review to see how you can get better.

That should be enough for now, but if you would like to discuss further comment below and we can start the conversation!

Time to get the griddle out and start preparing for pancakes!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises

How Are You Tending To Your Network?

Good morning everyone,

First I want to apologize for this blog getting out a little later than usual.  I was in need of extra sleep apparently.  Something about staying up late two days ago and then working out at 4:30 a.m. yesterday has made me a little tired.  Something to be said for keeping on a schedule.  Again I apologize for this late blog.

Yesterday I was thinking about something that we all do in our daily lives.  We don’t typically think about it in social interactions with friends and family, but it is one that we tend to do professionally a great deal.  Today’s topic is Networking.

When we are in the professional setting most of the time we are focused on networking with other people in our field to grow out circle of influence.  With the invention of LinkedIn, it has made business networking seem easier.  I get tons of people asking for me to link up with them from all across the world that I have never met.  Typically, my rule of thumb is unless I have met you, I don’t send out an invite.  This is just my rule of thumb because it seems more valuable.  I did not start out that way when I first got on LinkedIn however and I had to change my thinking about it a while back to what I was trying to do with LinkedIn as opposed to Facebook. 

Facebook has been revised by me to only be for my close friends and relatives.  I also have a couple Facebook groups, but I tend to keep that as only friends and family.  So lets talk about the different kinds of networks to gain a little perspective on why I do what I do.

I believe there are three main types of networks:

Operational – current company / organization someone works for.

Personal – friends and family

Strategic – network for opportunities in the future

Let’s start with Operational networks first.  This is the network of those you engage most days with projects that are paying you your current salary.  Your coworkers that you have to engage in order to make things happen at work.  Those you talk to at the coffee station, grab lunch with, the other functional groups at your organization that you interact with on a daily basis.  In most cases these are the individuals that you keep at arms length and work for the greater good of getting things accomplished.  You want to keep the interactions as positive as possible so that you can get things done in the future and possibly notified of new positions in the organization that open up that you might like to try.  Every now and then one or two make it into the “friend zone” as well.

The second is pretty obvious to us as our friends and family for our personal network.  This sometimes does open up into new possibilities in careers, but for the most part these are the people we like getting out emotional support from.  They help us with our spiritual walks, ideas on how to raise our kids, letting us know that we are not horrible parents when we do something wrong according to the parent code of discipline.  They are the people that bring us up when we are down.  We need these individuals in our lives because they are the ones that can speak into our lives when we are not seeing areas that need to be improved. 

The third network is our strategic network that most of the time is not thought about.  This is the strategic network.  This is the network that we need to make sure we are intentional about for future opportunities.  This network of individuals is kind of like the five degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon if you grew up in the 90’s.  Kevin Bacon can be tied to just about anyone in movies because he was in almost all of the major movies back then. 

This group is the group that you have feelers out to for new business ventures, career changes, but are not as close as our friends and families for the most part.  This is your LinkedIn groups, people you volunteer with, professional seminar contacts you meet, venture capitalists, etc.  I started really thinking about this group back in 2016 as I was looking to start my speaking career.  One connection was to a guy names Josh Schneider who I didn’t know it at the time would be my first connection to help me move forward.  He has become a periodic mentor in the speaking world.

The funny thing is that I didn’t know who he was when I signed up to become certified as a John Maxwell coach and speaker.  When you sign up they ask you what group you would like to attend for learning your curriculum before the certification event.  I picked a group that was lead by two individuals, one being an ex-police officer from Detroit, MI and the other…some guy named Josh.  While talking through some of the calls Josh had mentioned that there was a speaking event he would be doing in a few weeks that sounded like one that I was attending.  As luck would turn out we were both at the same event and the contact started there. 

We met and hung out at the certification event that I went to for John Maxwell and since then have hung out, had mentoring calls, bounced ideas off of each other, and he has was at my wedding a year ago.  Josh Schneider is one of the upcoming speakers on Engagement as of late and kicking but.  Check out his Youtube videos titled “The Josh Schneider Experience.”  Check him out if you are looking for a keynote speaker on the topic of engagement.  He also does not know that I am writing this, but that is how the strategic network that you are developing works. 

These strategic people that you network with are the ones that when an opportunity comes up think of you and send the potential opportunity your way.  The thing is though you need to be intentional about this group of people.  To better develop this group of individuals I suggest the following three questions to ask yourself when searching out these individuals.

What do I want the new opportunities / skills to look like?

What do I want to be known for in the future?

What is your narrative?

The key to the strategic network is to be intentional and put a good deal of thought behind this group. For me I have gotten into a mentor group of other business owners called “Truth at Work” to bounce ideas off of and to help them as well.  I will also be attending more National Speakers Association events in the future to grow that network and growing my speaking career this fall when my book is finished.  Just a side note I found my editor through another author / speaker in my “Truth at Work” group a few months ago.  Chances are I would never have found this individual had I not been in the right place to ask the person while attending a group function for all individuals in the group.

Today was a lot of information, but I hope you have found it enlightening and a way to either keep you focused on your networks, or to ask more questions on where you want to go.  If you have questions about this blog feel free to reach out.  I would be glad to help you with diving further into this topic.

See you next time!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises

Why Are You More Important Than Your Customer?”

Good morning everyone,

I hope you all have had a good fourth of July celebration here in the states and are enjoying the last weekend of it.  People say that it is horrible when the 4th falls in the middle of the week, but I beg to differ.  It allows you to take off a few days either before or after and have a nice long weekend.  The issue is that some people take the beginning half of the week off while others take the later part of the week so no work will get done.  Some might like that though…

Today I want to talk about the first meeting with your potential customer.  I want to focus on the fact that most sales people focus on telling people why they are so great, their history, how they have done awesome, and why the potential customer needs to do business with them.  If you are presenting to a large organization it typically starts with a slide deck of your company’s overview, locations, number of employees, etc.  This is all well and good, except that the potential customer is dreading this and counting the seconds until you hopefully get to a good point that they can take away from the interaction, so they don’t find it a total loss of their time.

Have you ever been there when listening to a sales person ramble on about how they are so important that you need to do business with them?  If not, I dare you to call in a potential supplier and listen.  Chances are they will launch into why they are so great that you will get the picture.  I have been apart of organizations that started with this and it drove me crazy when the management said, “No this is how you do it.  You need to show them that you are creditable” when I challenged their thought process.  I would then ask how many business deals have you won because of how big you are and those slides?  They would look confused and then I would say look in the mirror because that is the face your potential customer makes when they see another slide deck like this.  They are wondering why they said yes to another boring meeting that will put them further behind in their daily grind.

When I created the steps of the sales process I started by asking questions.  Not using a shot gun saying I was great and hoping something would stick.  So why do so many organizations and sales people start into why they are so great?  Is it because they believe that they are just supposed to do it this way?  Is it how its always been done?  Do they believe that customer needs to hear this?  If it is a returning customer, they do not!

When I first meet with a potential customer, or existing for a new project I like to ask them questions about their needs and show them the market data of where their competition is going.  Here is the trend and where the business is going.  Then I ask them where they would like to be going.  With the competition or in a different direction.  I ask them questions that will allow me to narrow in on if I can help them or if I need to offer them someone else that can help them on their needs.  I do not want to waste either of our time just to make a small amount of money. 

I would rather spend more energy with a smaller list of customers that I can help more with more products that align with their needs than tons of customers that only need small items and take up more time.  I focus on the fact that 80 percent of the business is done on 20 percent of the customer base.  That way I can give them the full attention they need and not have to worry about returning multiple phone calls and emails to the customers that do not need my services.

To reiterate the question, why do so many sales people immediately jump into details about why they are so great and show off who they do business with?  Do they think that creditability is why they need to do this?  Chances are if you are creditable the potential customer already knows it because the truth is they are investigating you before they meet with you.  With the internet, it is very easy for someone to investigate you.  Why launch into why you are so great o and why not focus on learning about their needs first?

Have a good weekend and enjoy the weather.  Winter will be here before we know it 😊

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises

Independence Day what does it mean to you?

Good Evening Everyone!

I hope you are enjoying a warm summer and all the outdoor activities that you can.  By activities I am referring to being out on the water, grilling flesh on hot grates of grills, smores by camp fires, and being outdoors in general.

I wanted to take some time to reflect on Independence Day.  Unfortunately, when I searched up for the history of this day, the first few things that come up are links to the Will Smith movie.  Don’t get me wrong I am a fan of Will Smith dating back to his song “Summertime” with DJ Jazzy Jeff and was known as The Fresh Prince.  It is just disappointing that our culture in America focuses more on what is next instead of why we have the opportunity to think about what is next.  In some countries the common people do not get to make decision for their life and are selected as youth for their careers by governments.  Some people do not have the opportunity to make it past a few years of life due to lack of food and water.

In America we celebrate the 4th of July every year with fireworks, days off from the grind, and hanging out with friends / family.  This is all great, but why do we get to do all of this.  Was it because the government decided simply that we should have a day off?

It is interesting when I read about how Independence Day arrived and that even the lack of support when some of the original colonies wanted to separate from Great Britain.  Prior to that the Day was set up to celebrate the King George III’s birthday with bonfires and the ringing of bells.  Then the first few celebrations after the Revolutionary War were kind of morbid with mock funerals held for the King.  There was also some debate on if it should have been on July 2nd or on the 4th.  We now know which date won out.

The thing that really sticks out to me is the fact that some individuals were willing to risk their lives for a cause and fought hard for that cause.  If America would not have fought off Great Britain and many other battles, there would not be the democracy that we have today here.  I am not going to get political on which party is right or anything.  I want to focus on the fact that because of a cause people got behind it and fought for it.  Much like some of us do when launching our own companies.  Working hard for that cause to make life better.  Let us not forget those that have fought and currently fight for our freedom’s that we have today.

Whether you believe in the battles or not we should make sure that we take time in America to remember and thank those that put their life on the line to protect our freedom to live how we want to.  These individuals leave their friends and families and enter into some of the harshest environments to protect that freedom.  Some also pay the ultimate sacrifice for that freedom with their lives.  Just to point out that I have never served in our military and I am thankful for those that stand up and say yes, I will.

Maybe it is just me getting older which is why I sit back and reflect on these holidays more, or maybe it is because I am a father and am glad that our kids have this freedom.  We can get all bent out of shape about how the military isn’t perfect, how war is not the answer, or any other aspect that is negative.  I chose to write this and reflect of the freedom that I have and how thankful I am to have it. 

So, this 4th of July when there are parades all over the country, ceremonies, BBQ’s, etc. let us be thankful for the freedom that we have and thank those that sacrifice for us.  The ask that I have is that when you see a veteran or someone active in our military that we smile and thank them for their service.  Heck why not offer to pay for a meal or an ice cream if they are in line behind us. 

These people don’t do the service because of the pay.  I can tell you that.  They have a great “Why” and for me that is an awesome reason to thank them.

Have a happy and safe Independence Day everyone!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises

Conflict Modes

Good morning everyone,

I hope you are enjoying your morning and relaxing from the grind of the business week.  I also want to thank you for taking the time to walk with me on my blogs.  I enjoy helping others as well as talking about areas that I am developing in.  If you have suggestions on areas that you are struggling with or would like to challenge some of my thoughts by all means reach out or comment on the blogs and lets discuss.  I am glad to help.

I recently was a part of a group that was able to work on a workshop of conflict modes.  Being that I like learning and growing I found this interesting.  Mainly due to the fact that when we deal with groups of people there usually is some kind of disagreement in business decisions, as well as others that want their ideas heard.

The workshop that I was a part of dealt with the five conflict handling modes that Thoms – Kilman has an instrument for calculating yours.  After I took the question assessment from Thomas Kilman I quickly learned that my main conflict mode that I fall into is a collaborator followed up by competing, then compromising, avoiding, and last accommodating.  This makes sense as whenever I have launched a project with groups of people I am always searching for others input to make sure everyone feels heard.  This is great if you have time to work together although if we were in a building fire and in a basement, I am not sure collaborating would be the best options.  I think we would all want to get to safety and as soon as possible.

This workshop gave me insight when dealing with others on how to identify their conflict modes and how to work with them to the best outcome possible.  It was great to learn about each conflict mode.  It also helped me to identify if I am overusing a conflict mode in a discussion.  If I were to use the competing conflict mode when in a discussion with my wife she may feel slighted and disengage with me by avoiding the discussion. 

The major key to this workshop was the fact that when you identify which mode you and those you are in conflict are in, you can then understand if they are working toward cooperativeness or not.  Knowing how cooperative they are will allow you to understand if you can work to come to a solution quicker.  If not you may have to punt for a short time and come back together later.  There is also an assertiveness scale that follows the modes which helps you identify how pointed the discussion could get. 

Each conflict handling mode has its pluses and minuses associated with them.  Understanding them well allow you to know how to work more efficient.

Have you ever been in a conflict that went south quick and tension was so great that it was just awkward being in the same room with the person?  I know I have.  To which point I usually use humor if I can to see if I can get the mood to lighten a bit.  If not, then it is time to just walk away and come back.  I have also made jokes that ended up blowing up the situation at times.  I warn that unless you know the person really well not to use humor.  It can end up blowing up in your face.  I have made many of these mistakes in the past.  I haven’t had a great conflict in the past few days to try out the new approach.  I’ll try not to pick a fight with my wife just to see either.  I do believe that saying “Happy wife, happy life” 😊

I am also working through some studies on emotional intelligence that will also aid in working through conflicts with customers, coworkers, and family.  After I learn this I may work to include it in my keynotes and training.  We’ll have to see how it grows. 

I recommend learning about the conflict handling modes so that you get a better understanding of when stress gets high in situations how you and those around you are functioning.  It will help to resolve the situation quickly and move forward together towards a solution.  Let’s be honest that no one really wants to be in conflict with others.  It is draining strategizing on how to win an argument or how you will get the other side to the table. 

I hope that is enough for now to get you interested in the topic.  Please leave feedback if you’d like to know more about this topic, or if you have some more insight on it as well.  All comments are welcome.

Well have a great weekend, now it is off to negotiate with my wife if it is time for us to eat healthy this morning or if I can negotiate for pancakes 😊   

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises

Stress

Good morning everyone,

How are you doing this morning?  Have you had an stressful situations this week?  If you are like me you find yourself in stressful situations quite often.  When we deal with people there are going to be times when we are in situations that become stressful.

How we handle the stress is up to us.  At this point I need to confess that I don’t always handle stress well.  I also lack patience at times.  I can say that I have gotten better, but that does not mean that I am a super hero.  I get stressed out from situations and people quite often.  It used to wear me down and put me in a tail spin.  I used to cope with running, stress eating, and shopping.

I have spent that last five years learning ways to mitigate stress.  It has also meant that I had to revisit the situations much like the end of the sales process where we analyze.  What and where I get triggered needs to be reviewed about how I felt and what was said.  The triggering gets my heart rate up and my fight or flight kicks in where my voice gets louder.  Unfortunately, that is not acceptable and unconstructive.

It does take more for me to get triggered these days, but I still do get triggered and stressed out at times.  Typically, I use fitness to mitigate my stress levels and a lot of prayer to understand the situation.  Every now and then I will go for bad food like ice cream and pizza. 

I have also read that taking walks, doing remedial things like folding laundry, and mowing the lawn are also ways to destress. They seem weird, but still function as outlets to work through your thoughts. 

With that said, lets here your thoughts about how you mitigate stress.  What do you do when you are having bad days, or are stressed out?  Maybe what you use will help some of us. 

Thank you for your support and looking forward to hearing your ideas.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises

Burn Out

Good morning everyone,

We have made it to the weekend yet again.  I hope you have all been able to take a little extra time this morning to relax and refresh.  I slept in a little bit today past my normal time, so I apologize if I got my blog out to you too late today.  I needed a little refreshment.

Today I want to talk about burn out.  In sales they say there are periods where all you hear is no and you are not seeing the results of your hard work.  It could be a funk, competitor flanking you, a defect that has come up with your product, etc.  It can also come from working hard and burning the candle at both ends as my mom used to tell me.

Ten years ago, I was on the road roughly 110 nights a year for sales and was a single father as well as a volunteer fire fighter.  I was working a ton of hours to hit my sales goals to generate more revenue.  My mother told me to be careful as that I was burning the candle at both ends and was showing on my face evidentially. At this time, I was also starting a new workout called P90X to get back in shape.

Stress was extremely high and energy levels were dropping.  When I would have a night off I would relax up until the county pager went off for a house fire and we had to respond to help a family in need in the middle of the night.  I was hitting the bottom of the barrel when it came to my energy levels.  I had to push myself out of bed to get to work, didn’t want to run fire calls, and when I had time with my son I didn’t view it as quality time. 

I pushed through and then had after three years analyzed what I needed to do to get my push back.  That is when I heard about burn out and why so many people feel it.  Fire fighters and police have highly stressful careers and they often get burned out of the careers.  Some even move to alcohol, anti-depressants, etc to cope with the stress.  They become numb to the stress and just simply show up. 

Studies show that when someone is focused on a why instead of what, they will have more joy and fulfillment in their careers.  For firefighters and police officers when they focus on the impact they have and how they are helping people rather than a paycheck they are able to maintain fulfillment in their careers.  Similarly, for a sales position if we are focused on the why instead of the environment we will find joy.

One project that I took on was to work in a purchasing division at an organization to learn how they make decisions.  I studied their tactics, how they made sourcing decisions, and why they seem to go silent at times.  I also took on a role as project management of purchasing for resourcing supply chain in cost savings initiatives so that I could better my influence skills.  I had to work with multiple groups from multiple regions to validate the new supply chain and product before launch while saving money for the organization.  My first project did not go so well as one could imagine.  Obsolescence is a curse work in the purchasing world.

This position was no in my sweet spot like sales.  I have had to remind myself of my why am I doing this many times.  Especially when I had strong opposition from other functional groups to perform a change.  I’m sure my wife became very tired of hearing me complain as well.  I got up each day and got back to work to find the road blocks and help move the savings projects forward. 

The interesting part of purchasing is their strategy of how they resource.  What I learned is that many projects that I have worked on show a savings on the front side, but there are costs associated with the supply change that are not always recognized.  What a sales person must show even after the signing of an agreement to supply a product is the value that out-weighs a piece price savings in the future.  This is something that most sales people are missing.  Once you make the sale it is not over.  You need to make sure you are helping your customer see how this product benefits them well beyond the signing of a contract. 

This is my why that I kept me focused on when I came home drained from dealing with difficult situations.  To keep from burn out the why must be strong.  I am also not saying that as a cheesy marketing slogan that your why must make others cry either.  Your why must been one that is not focused on just making money, fame, or anything simplistic.   It needs to be something that will carry us through the tough times and keep us motivated to get back up when we are knocked down by Goliath.  For instance fire fighters and police that focus on their societal impact have more fulfilled lives and can push through the tough times and have a fulfilled career.

Take time to focus on your why and if you run into road blocks ask others what they see as a value you bring to your organization.  The why will help you fend off burn out which tends to lead to people starting over in new careers in search of happiness. 

Feel free to reach out to discuss further especially if I have not made myself clear on some of the topics in this or other blogs.  I am here to help others.  That is my why.  Maybe you even have a why to help me with my grammar as I am sure there are typos in my blogs sometimes.  If so I would greatly appreciate it 😊 

Have a good rest of your weekend!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises

No Need For Perfection… Start and Refine

Good morning everyone,

I hope all of you had a great Memorial Weekend and short week this week.

I recently started on a new project and was sitting back thinking about when I could hit the street and start letting others know about this project.  The issue is that a small voice in the back of my head started speaking loud saying that I need to wait and make it perfect.  Wait on launching and wait on getting excited.  This unfortunately brings about its friends worry and doubt.  Will I totally suck, and will people just sit back and laugh at me.

This feeling of doubt and worry about if I will do good enough tripped me up for a few weeks.  I was starting to get to the point of giving up on the project.  Then I realized where I was at and stated that it is okay to suck.  What is the worst that can happen to me?  Will the people throw old vegetables at me, will they call me names, will they throw me off of their roof of their office?   I while back I was watching a tv show with my wife called “This is us” and I noticed that one of the couples would speak about the worst possible outcomes of a situation and then they would feel better.  They would verbalize the worst of everything and then say, if that is the worst then I can now understand the bottom and work to better the situation.  It’s a little weird, but it is actually has merit.

When you verbalize the worst outcomes, you have now given name to them and set a boundary.  Usually they are funny like who is going to throw someone off a roof of a building for giving bad sales advice.  I’m pretty sure no one really wants to go to jail for murdering a sales person that gave them a bad idea.  Most likely they will smile and say that was great, please leave…

With that I got to work and got out speaking to individuals and the best part was while I was talking they were taking notes.  No, not the kind of notes with doodles and visualizations of throwing me off a roof, but of items I was speaking on.  They were asking great questions on how they could get better and talking to each other on how they could work together to strategize.  Seeing that happen is why I do what I do.  That is the fuel that makes me want to work harder to help people get to a better place.

Navy Seals call a process of failing forward fast.  They do not worry about failing, they actually embrace it.  They expect to fail and regroup to improve on their process.  Navy seals will work on a mission over and over again until they perfect it.  When they get bogged down they go back, analyze what happened, and come back to do a better job.  That way when they hit the mission in real time they execute at a high rate of success.  Henry Ford is quoted as saying that “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”  When we start riding bikes we start going, fall, get back up, and continue riding.  Sure, there is a few moments of analyzing what went wrong and how we could do better.  Then we need to get back up and move forward.  The key is to start and embrace that it won’t be perfect the first few attempts and that is okay.

The problem is that as a child I was always pushed to not fail.  If something was hard to just go sit back on the sidelines.  Today with the social media all we see is the posts from people celebrating the wins they are having.  We then compare their highlight reels to our blooper reels and get down on ourselves.  This also plays to the voice in our heads that say, you can’t, you won’t, and you will fail. 

Typically, when you hear the voice it is the time you are about to experience growth.  You are going to get some bumps and bruises, but why not accept it as part of the cycle of learning.  Just start and refine.   No successful business person just fell into success, they took their lumps and got back after it.

I was teaching the sales process and the final step is analyze.  When you get through something always analyze what went well, what went not so well, and how you can improve in those areas that need improvement.  The first step is stepping out.  Disclaimer: I am not saying that just jump without looking first.  There is some preparation that is needed, but don’t get to the analysis paralysis that keeps you from doing anything. 

I am willing to bet we all struggle with not wanting to look bad in front of others, but we are human.  The goal is to start and move forward rather than park it on the bench and watch life go buy.  We were meant to live life in participation and not meant to watch life as a movie screen.  Put yourselves out there and be vulnerable you will be glad you did.

One last thing:  True failure is having a set back and giving up entirely, when we should refine and move forward.

Have a great weekend everyone!

As always if you have questions, want to dig deeper, or if you would like to ask about other topics feel free to reach out to me at info@kevinsidebottom.com.  Also, you can comment to the blog to keep the conversation going with other readers. 

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises

Making The Buying Experience Easier Even with Groceries

Good morning everyone,

I hope you are enjoying the warmer weather now that we have skipped spring and jumped into summer.  Our trees are just starting to bud for leaves which is funny to have warm weather and no shade.  I am not complaining because I am so ready for water skiing!

Last weekend I was nominated to head to the grocery store at after I posted the last blog.  On went the base ball hat and jeans to do the hunt for food.  I can only imagine what the cave men would say to us guys shopping at a grocery store.  Would they be pointing and laughing as they watched us push the shopping cart?

On to the point of this blog post. 

With the advent of Amazon trying to get into the grocery scene the other chains are investing in different options on how to compete.  Some have ordering online so you do not have to get out of your car with three screaming kids in the rain after not sleeping more than two hours.  That is not me, but I imagine those people are truly grateful for that option.

When I walked into the Kroger I noticed a sign that stated I would get $5 off of my grocery bill for trying a new scanning device.  Being I am a Dave Ramsey disciple and use cash envelopes when I go shopping.  I even use the white envelopes for mailing for my envelopes.  My wife has decorative ones that I pull the cash out of so I don’t look extra dorky.  After a quick tutorial on how to scan and get started I was off to the running.

The individual that was helping people get started showed me how to get the Kroger ID entered to start and gave me some bags for bagging the groceries as I scanned.  A time saver I’m sure when it comes time for check out. 

As usual I didn’t listen long enough so when it came time to scan the vegetables I was wondering around looking for the scales.  Guess I may have burned my savings by how long I was walking around holding this scanner.  Either way I found the scales and was fine.  I also used the scanner to get the rest of my groceries and bag them as I walked through the store.

One thing that was nice was that I could see the running total as I shopped.  Being I only had so much cash to spend it was a nice thing to know so I wasn’t trying to count as I walked around the store.  Typically when someone goes to the store they are just grabbing everything and then swiping a credit card at check out which the stores know that you typically spend 25% more with a credit card because it actually registers less pain than when you use cash and uncle Ben leaves your hand, so have a plan when you shop is the message here.

Back to the fact that Kroger is looking at options for making shopping easier.  I was finally finished and walked up to the self-check out and simply scanned the bar code on the touch pad and only had to click pay with cash, slide in cash, and walk out. 

I have always said that the easier you make it for people to do business with you the more they will do business with you.  Giving them options is also a nice touch.  The incentive of $5 off to use the tool will be hopefully enough to get them testing it out.   Now Only time will tell if the running total causes Kroger to lose some sales because people can figure out how much they are spending in real time.  I know I passed up on some items that probably would have made me have to work out harder to burn off had I not seen the running total.

Amazon has really forced the old-style shopping business plan to be flipped on its head and those that have cash can invest in options.  Sorry Toys R Them…  Those that have the ability to make experiences easier for their customers will stay alive in this new buying world.  Amazon does a great job, but there are just some things that I can not get on board with buying online.  There will always be items that need brick and mortar locations that the customer can physically touch the item before they make the decision to buy. 

Please keep in mind that the easier you can make your customers’ lives the more they will buy from you.  Whether you are offering online shopping, delivery, seminars, blogs, one on one coaching, etc.  Make sure you are taking care of them and thinking about how you can make their life easier.  Check out the latest technology, ask them to give you ideas, but don’t stop finding ways to differentiate yourself from the competition and make the customer experience better.

Attached is a picture of the scanning tool on the top of this blog.  Yes, I bought waffles for the kids and no I don’t care that they were not a certain brand.  The retailers have the same waffles come off the same line as the more expensive brand these days.   

Final thought I do make the kids run around and I exercise extremely hard so we can eat waffles if we choose to so stop judging 😊 

Have a good weekend everyone!

As always if you have questions, want to dig deeper, or if you would like to ask about other topics feel free to reach out to me at info@kevinsidebottom.com.  Also, you can comment to the blog to keep the conversation going with other readers.  I have recently noticed that I had comments turned off and have since fixed…I hope :)

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises

Work / Life Balance Typical Day

Good morning everyone,

I hope you are finally thawing out for spring.  This has been one of the longest winters I have ever experienced.  It snowed on the 17th all day which I am hoping is for the last time until December!

Today I wanted to start the discussion on the topic of work / life balance.  This may go for a few blogs as we hit on different areas, or if we feel it only needs to go to one blog topic then I will keep it at that. 

So, lets start with the fact that there never seems like there is enough time in the day to get everything done.  With the smart phone it seems you can constantly check emails all day and night.  Not to mention the social media aspect of the phone that can take me down rabbit holes that when I come out it is February again. 

When launching my company while working for another company it is a constant battle to manage all of the emails, to do items, projects, launches, writing a sales book, managing the finances, and staying in shape.  It has been a crazy few months already balancing both and being present with family. It really seems like there is never enough time to do everything.  Stress has been at an all time high and I have been running around like my hair is on fire. 

Building momentum on my company as well as managing all of my other obligations has been quite taxing.  I have noticed quite a few grey hairs showing up recently as well.  Clothes are fitting a little tighter than usual and quality time with my wife / kids takes a back seat at times.  I try to do my best, but even on spring break I was on conference calls, checking emails, making sure everything was up in the air and not crashing on the ground.

With that I have had to manage better and put up rules for myself.  When I am home I have had to make sure to place my phone down and walk away for at least an hour so that I can have relationships with my family and have quality time with them.  I am still working to get better at this, but it has made me physically stay away for the first part of the evening. 

Next, I have been making time to work out so that I can keep from having to buy more clothes.  I really don’t have time to go clothes buying so if I can do more working out in order to slim down I am good with that.  Currently I am starting P90X 2.  If you have done this work out feel free to respond and let me know your thoughts.  It seems like more stretching and less active working out.  I try to work out five to six days a week if I can and the beach body on demand streaming is quite nice to use any device to work out with. Now I just need to stop finding all of the extra snacks in between. 

After the workout I do check my emails to see if there is anything I have missed or can answer quickly.  Then I close the laptop and grab a quick shower and sit down to have dinner with the family.  I say quick because it seems like I shovel everything down and then head on to something else.  Something I have been working on is to have more in depth conversations instead of chowing down and walking away.  I guess I am males and that is why I tend to eat quickly to move on to the next task.

From there it is usually working on a project that I need to finish or read some books which I try to do quite regularly.  I am a slow reader so about 10 – 15 pages is about all I can really manage.  Not to mention my attention span is quite small and if a squirrel attention has just left. 

I try to make the last hour to not do anything except spend time with my wife hopefully watching a show together and not falling asleep on her.  She likes quality time and conversation so I need to make sure I leave a little energy to make sure she feels not left out.  The problem is that I often will find myself thinking of another task or project that I need to spend time on.  I have really had to back off and think about priorities.

That is a typical day after working all day. 

With all that said, I have been reading on best practices to figure out a better work / life balance.  I want my family to always know that I care about them and that I want to give them the best of my abilities.  I read that some people will actually post a note on their dash on the car so when they are heading home they see the phrase “You are about to do your best work of the day when you arrive” to keep focus on family and spending time investing in those relationships.  I am really contemplating that or putting a sign above the door so when I walk in I can see it.  Something like the football players hit on their way into the stadium.

What are some of your hacks for work / life balance, or what are some of your struggles that you would like help on?  Would love to hear what you guys are experiencing and your wins!

Next, week I’ll talk about a small win during a weekend away without laptops.

As always if you have questions, want to dig deeper, or if you would like to ask about other topics feel free to reach out to me at info@kevinsidebottom.com.  Also, you can comment to the blog to keep the conversation going with other readers. 

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises

Is Your Staff Selling Your Organization On Their Interactions?”

Happy Saturday everyone!

We made it through another week of the grind and not we are to Saturday.  Unfortunately, some Saturdays still require work whether it be on the house, for your business, or helping your kids with projects that they procrastinated on.  More on that in the future…  Today I want to focus on a topic of your organization's staff.

Most times I hear excuses inside of organizations that support staff think they don’t have to be sales people.  I’m not a sales person so why should I be trying to sell to people that I need to interact with.  Granted there are sales people that will really work to move the potential customers forward on projects, but the first line of some companies are interacting with current and potential customers a great deal more than the sales person.

Service staff at customers contact your company’s service team for questions and answers to their problems frequently.  They are looking for service bulletins, part numbers, warranty questions, etc.  They are stressed from their end customer screaming that they need their product back now and they don’t care if the fact that the item is broke is because they used it as a battering ram during a project.  They need the product yesterday.

Your inside staff is the first person typically that talks to the customers to help them get to where they need to go.  A bad interaction will likely make the sales person’s job a great deal harder to grow sales.  Far to often I have heard people on inside staffs saying well I’m not the sales person and I don’t care what the customer thinks.  The issue is that without the sales coming in that person does not have a job. 

Internal staff do not have the luxury of telling customers off on the phone and not worrying about how this will affect the overall business.  The internal staff should be selling the customer on that your organization is a top notch organization that the customer wants to interact with.  Your internal staff is a sales team.  Even the shipping and receiving department is selling the customers on top notch service. 

A great deal of times the internal team will be having more communication with the customers than that sales person due to the sales person having to manage multiple accounts.  Its hard enough that the sales person is juggling a great deal to move all their customers forward.  The internal team has conversations and can get great intelligence from the customer that the sales person likely will not be able to receive.   They hear more about the needs and opportunities inside your customer’s that need to be relayed to the sales staff.  Having the internal staff thinking about how they can grow business within your customer base when they interact with the customers will greatly influence your organizations opportunities in the future.   

Building the relationship with the internal staff and the customers is also crucial.  Now I am not saying that you bring everyone out, but key internal staff should be able to travel to customers to meet with them to build relationships.  I remember bringing one of our internal order entry members and service staff to customers and how that impacted the relationship.   The key members were talking to the customer contacts and out of that opened up a new opportunity for our organization that I did not notice in the past.  To be fair it derived that we had an online system that allowed for people to order after hours that I did not know there was an issue because the parts department person would tell me everything was fine.  When the person talked with my team they mentioned that it would be great if when they ordered at night before the shop finally closed up instead of faxing in an order that would be huge.  Yes it was back when we had fax machines being used.  I am getting older.

The end result was that our organization actually had set up an ordering system a of couple months prior that I can pushed to the customers, but being that the parts team was busy, they may have forgotten.  Having the internal team from my organization there the parts person was showed the system and very pleased.  The parts team also gave us great intelligence that lead to a business deal between our organization and another organization that ended up being pretty profitable business for us.  I would like to pride myself that I would have been able to identify that opportunity in the future, but who knows how long that would have taken for me to find out.  Maybe one day when it was extremely hot outside and the parts ordering team was frustrated with something that they would have told me why my organization was no better than the competitors.  Who knows.  Bringing the internal team out helped greatly.

I know that with many organizations that not everyone can or should be sent out, but the focus is about when they are interacting with the customers to be polite and focused on how they can help the customer as well as finding out more information to pass along to the sales person.  With the abundance of customer relationship management systems out there, organizations are fools if they do not take advantage of something to keep information flowing. 

Make sure to consistently invest in your staff to train them on products and services that your organization invests in and two or three benefits they would meet for customers.   Also make sure that the internal staff is focused on being polite.  Emotional intelligence is a great training to go through with your team to keep the interactions pleasant and focused on helping the customer even if the customers are being rude. 

Everyone at your organization is selling why your organization is the best option for the customers and potential customers.  Make sure they are equipped and using the tools you have available.  Your sales team and customers will appreciate the extra step as well as your profits. 

That is enough for now.  Enjoy your weekend and remember if you have questions, want to dig deeper, or if you would like to ask about other topics feel free to reach out to me at info@kevinsidebottom.com.  Also, you can comment to the blog to keep the conversation going with other readers.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises

Take Time To Enjoy While Traveling For Business

Good morning everyone,

We have completed another week and have made it to the weekend where we want to rest and enjoy our time.  I want to challenge that thinking a little bit to enable you guys to really think about how you can enjoy some time while you are traveling for work.

When I first got into sales I was on the road four nights out of the week.  I was putting about 40,000 miles on the vehicle a year.  I did contemplate putting a CB antenna on the vehicle because I was starting to think I was a truck driver.  During one of my ride alongs with the owner of the company.  He shared with me that we were pounding the pavement pretty hard and doing well on our time.  He said that he hoped it was not just on his account, but we had met with quite a few customers over the first few days only to stop for dinner and when we arrived at the hotel. 

The owner shared on the third day that he appreciated my hard work, but thought I was looking a little burned out.  I shared that I had been in hotels for the past year about 115 nights out of the year.  He said in all of those nights how many times did I go out and explore the areas I was staying in.  I really didn’t think about that much.  I just made sure to get my meetings in and do my paper work while in the hotels as I ate my dinner.

The owner stated that I should cut out early every now and then to explore some of these areas and see some sights.  Whether it was paddle boarding in the panama beach area, check out the blue angels routine flights in Pennsacola, or the little down town areas of south Florida.  He stated that I had a great opportunity to see new things that would open my mind to culture a bit.  Later I would understand that when people tell me where they are going in Florida I am not able to share some off the beaten path locations that they may not know about and enables them to have even more fun. 

Today I would like to focus on the fact that when you are traveling that you need to take time to enjoy it a bit.  Whether it is a suggestion that Jon Acuff offered about renting a nicer car, or during a meeting asking your potential customer of some ideas of where to go in the area to explore later on.  The point is that work is work, but it does not have to be completely work 24/7.  Take time and see the little small business shops that are in the area, some of the local food spots, run the beach during sunset, go to a movie if you are comfortable being that guy.  I did that last one once and I felt weird and kept looking around.  

I have stopped in at shooting ranges to shoot some cool guns,  changed inside of the trailer and went for a swim in the gulf of Mexico only to have dolphins swim up within 15 feet of me, I found a great place in panama city that has amazing sea food and has surf boards in the rafters, tired wakeboard cable park in Ft. Myers, run the stadium in Gainesville wearing my Michigan gear etc.  That last one was a lot of fun and the stares were great.   The point is take some time to enjoy when you are traveling.  You may even find something that you want to bring your family to see some day.  Become a travel agent for your friends and family to give them cool places to go. 

Be an explorer and curious about where you are traveling.  You never know what doors will open when you can offer up some kind of information about a location that someone may be traveling to. 

As always if you have questions, want to dig deeper, or if you would like to ask about other topics feel free to reach out to me at info@kevinsidebottom.com.  Also you can comment to the blog to keep the conversation going with other readers. 

Last, if you are traveling to Florida and Alaska hit me up.  I know quite a few secret spots down there to help you with your vacation.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises

Who is Perfect and Blooper Free Anyways

Good morning Everyone,

Hopefully you are in an area where it is getting warmer out for spring finally.  Here in the mid-west it is still cold and in some parts getting snow.  I can remember when I was in elementary school being able to wear shorts by the end of April.  Granted some people when it hits 50 degrees will put their convertible tops down and ride around town.  We have yet to hit that mark here.  I am sure those of you in Alaska are in the same boat.  Although some times I noticed it was warmer in Alaska than the mid-west in the past few winters.  

I’m not a meteorologist but did learn to watch weather patterns in the areas that I worked selling outdoor power equipment.   We had to because not many landscapers wanted to mow lawns when it was snowing or when there was a thunderstorm.   The same token would be that no landscaper wants to test out snow plows when it is 80 and sunny.  Although that is when the dealers would have to place their winter orders.  I guess it follows the clothing industry as well.  That is when you see summer clothes out after January in department stores.

Today I would like to talk about some bloopers and set backs to make sure people know that I am human.  I am not some super sales person that is perfect.  I know a lot of people shy away from showing set backs or bloopers, but I am not one of those people.

I have demoed mowers on slopes and put them in the water having to take off my shoes and roll up my khakis to push it out of the muck and watching for gators, I have called people by the wrong name, I have missed the steps in the sales process, etc.  Luckily no gators were looking for me to be their mid-afternoon snack and that the person with me did not take a selfie with me in the background.   I remember one time not paying attention to my display when I first started in sales which lead to a conversation with my boss that was not very pleasant at all.  Also getting into sports talking about your team is not recommended if you football team consistently beats the potential customer’s favorite team. 

I have been in negotiations that went south in a hurry with people calling each other liars, had runs with potential customers making me sit in their location and waiting to talk to them just to see how long I would stay only to say, they had another appointment and would be leaving (he later ended up being one of my best customers), I’ve filled up my work truck with gasoline when it took diesel.  I realized that one as I was pumping the gas thankfully. 

The key takeaway is that we typically learn through set backs better than successes.  I learned to not get as close and to walk the are before demoing landscape equipment just like a racer will check out a track.  I learned to make sure I did all the remedial items when visiting customers before trying to get more business from current customers.  I learned how potential customers schedules functioned so that I could optimize my time with them.  Use these set backs to come back stronger and refine your strategy.  Make sure that you when you have a set back that you are looking how you can get better.   

As always if you have questions, want to dig deeper, or if you would like to ask about other topics feel free to reach out to me at info@kevinsidebottom.com.  Also you can comment to the blog to keep the conversation going with other readers.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises

Why Do We Need Sales People Anyways?

Good morning everyone,

I originally wanted to write about my past bloopers for this blog as a funny gift for you, but I had a great conversation with a business owner yesterday that struck a cord with me.  He used to own a pretty large company that was sold to an organization with a Chief Operating Officer that said he hated sales people.  This COO also believed anything done by sales people could automatically be done through a business transaction.

Golf outings were not allowed, meals with customers were frowned upon, and basically anything that was not a strict transactional kind of relationship was not allowed.  I have also worked for companies that the focus was purely transactional and there was no focus on growing relationships that did not have purchase order attached to them.  Now I am not just saying you have to validate a golf outing with this blog, but the fact that relationship building is important.  Breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee meetings, fishing trips if they have a boat, etc can work to build that relationship.  A side note, I thought I was going to die on a boating trip in the gulf of Mexico on a 19’ boat moving around storms with water spouts forming.  So when doing trips make sure you have all the details before you jump in will be important!

This same person also discussed that business school professors from some of the elite universities even teach that relationship building outside of the professional transaction are not a good idea.  People that are scholars in theory, but unfortunately not at application I fear.

Some of the most successful business people that I have had the chance to sit with and listen revolve around needing to build the relationship not just on business, but the personal side as well.  I have also been able to visit some of my old customers that I have not called on in years and they will smile, ask me out to dinner, and sit with me for hours to discuss the good ole days and where they are at with their current business situations.  They even ask for insight on what I might recommend. 

These kind of discussions would not have happened had I not worked on the personal side of the business relationship as much as the transactional side.  Knowing your customers on a personal level and understanding their dreams and aspirations is a huge benefit.  People want to know that they matter and we all strive for community.  Building that relationship is extremely important. 

It is almost an art form watching an old sales person work the personal relationship and send birthday cards for the customer’s family, as well as celebrating wins that the customer has had.  Meetings on the golf course have transacted in large business deals that can not be instantaneously measured.  Looking back on the sales process though when reviewed a sales person can say that a certain conversation, or another relationship that he was able to leverage helped him to land the deal.  After all sales is a study of people and all about relationships.  The transactions do happen, but after a lot of work on the personal side. 

I encourage you to leverage the personal side of business along with the professional side.  If learning about people was not important than why does Amazon listen in on your conversations and facebook track as much information about you as possible.  Facebook recently came into light for the information on the users being used by a presidential candidate for marketing during the last election.  With that said, I would beg to differ with the professors of theory and those in management rolls that do not believe in having sales people that engage in personal relationships. 

Send a card for your customer’s birthdays, kids birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, etc.  I have even been invited to customer’s children’s weddings because of the relationships formed that have landed my past company with new business. 

Enough about this, please go make some memories for this Easter break and think about what it really signifies.  One person laying his life down for all of us.  If that is not something to build relationships I don’t know what is.  Have a great Easter!

As always if you have questions, want to dig deeper, or if you would like to ask about other topics feel free to reach out to me at info@kevinsidebottom.com.  Also you can comment to the blog to keep the conversation going with other readers.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

Sales and Leadership Enterprises