JJ's Tips in this issue:

1. Coaching for Increased Productivity in Sales and Service
2. JJ's Quotes
3. New Book JJ is writing--Invitation to Submit Problem Situations
4. New Tele-Mentoring Program

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Use the following tips as training tools.

Present the problem to your group and brainstorm solutions together, or submit
your own situation question to be answered in an upcoming newsletter.

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SITUATION QUESTION:
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How do I help some of my sales people out of their sales slump, and my service staff into more customer-focused productivity?
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SOLUTIONS:
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As promised in the May newsletter, here are some tips on how you can coach your groups and individuals out of their slumps. The sluggish economy might have started their slump, but a number of other things could be keeping them there too.

Even the best, high producers hit slumps in their sales and service careers at times. If your market hasn't changed in the last few months and the competition is still lagging behind you, the circumstances around the person probably have changed. If only a few people are in a slump, here are some tips on how to jump start new productivity with them:

* These internal customers (sales and service people) need your attention, interaction and guidance.
* Take them to lunch and ask how things are going in their lives.
* Listen to what they talk about first, personal or professional areas.
* If they speak of personal challenges taking their focus away from work, you'll have a starting point to discuss their lack of productivity.
* Help them get a new perspective, and take a vacation from personal problems while at work as they'll be able to cope better after having had the break.
* Encourage them to stay focused on customers' needs and desires instead of their personal problems.

-----Ask them these "WHAT" questions:

* What is working well in your sales/service job now?
* What's making it work? What else?
* What are your goals?
* What would be the benefits to your company, customers, yourself and your family if you were to accomplish your goals? What else?
* What do you need to do more of, or do differently to move you closer to meeting your goals?
* What else? What else?

-----The answers will give you clues on how to help them get back on track.

* They may be skipping one or two essential steps to their process.
* They may have shifted their focus to personal problems during work time.
* They may be too exhausted from lack of sleep, unhealthy eating or drinking to feel well enough to concentrate on the job.
* They may be in burnout from lack of time off, a vacation, personal interests away from the job or a supportive family.
* They may be surrounding themselves with negative people who are dragging them down personally or professionally.

* They may be dwelling on the lack of sales, instead of making the sales.
* They may have forgotten to listen to the customers' wants and needs, and are trying to sell them whatever they have to sell, or in service, just going through the motions (also called lip service).

* They may have been unconsciously competent sales or service people, and now that they're in a slump, they don¹t know what they did to become top producers in the first place.
* They need your coaching so they can become consciously competent and will be able to self correct the next time it happens.

* When a salesperson becomes desperate to make sales again, they sound and act tense to customers. Building good customer relationships is critical for business success, and customers know when people are looking inward at themselves instead of outward to them and their needs.
*No one cares how much you KNOW (about anything), until they know how much you CARE (about them).

* Help your reps refocus, make a new plan and daily work their plan.
* They'll need to relax and trust themselves and their customers.
* They must also have good self talk (inner dialogue), telling themselves that they are productive again.

* Daily programming of their goals should be done first thing in the morning.
* Reset and track the number of calls made each day, and if enough calls are made, the sales will naturally occur (when combined with good product knowledge and sincere caring about the customer).

* Encourage them to conduct a self evaluation on how well they did on each call or interface after it is complete (1 to 10, with 10 being the best). Then they will be focused on making the next call even better and more productive.

* Before long, the focus will be back on the customer¹s needs and making the overall number of calls and contacts each day to produce sales.
* Remember, making sales is a matter of numbers. The more quality calls you make, the quicker the sales happen.

* Ultimately, depression lifts and balance returns, even during turbulence in their personal lives.
* Their minds are powerful and can change their attitudes overnight.

* Renew the spirit and fun of sales and serving customers through contests, rewards and accolades. These will keep the momentum and excitement going.
* Coach (the work process) and counsel (when personal issues affect the work performance) your people out of their slumps and back into high productivity. Counseling isn't telling them what to do about their personal problems. It's being a good listener and helping them see they have options. Most people in a depressed frame of mind tell their doctors,"I just don't have any other choice."

* Be their coach/counselor/mentor and invite others to help them by sharing their positive experiences.
* Ultimately, you will guide them to a better quality of life, personally and professionally. You will make a DIFFERENCE!

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JJ's QUOTES:
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"You can't change anyone else. You can only change yourself, but when you change yourself enough, you can influence and guide others in a positive direction."

"What you dwell on is what you get. Remember, your mind is powerful!"
- JJ Lauderbaugh

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NEW: Tele-Mentoring Program
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Do you want to improve:

Inbound or outbound call center sales?
Customer Service?
Dealing with irate internal or external customers?
Motivation and growth of your people?
Coaching your staff? What areas?

One-on-one Tele-Mentoring (our by-phone coaching service) is now available
to business owners, executives, managers, supervisors and staff members.
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Have you had a quick Evaluation of Your Environment lately so you could receive suggestions on improving it? (It's like the doctor's check up.) http://www.jjlauderbaugh.com/about.html


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Need NEW COACHING BOOK Suggestions From You:
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JJ is writing a new book on coaching and mentoring. You're invited to submit problems you've encountered managing your staff, your success stories and unresolved situations you're facing.

What sort of coaching information would be most helpful to you?

Thanks to you who submitted ideas after the May newsletter. They were
excellent and I plan to use them in the book.


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ABOUT JJ:
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JJ Lauderbaugh, CPCM
189 Altura Vista Drive
Los Gatos, CA 95032 U.S.A.
408 866-7673 or 800 500-9656

JJ works with companies that want to give world class service and with Directors and Managers who want to grow their people. Specialties are performance improvement, customer care, teamwork, up selling, outbound calling, soft skills and coaching, training and consulting.

For training resources, free articles, tips and streaming video, go to our web site at http://www.JJLauderbaugh.com

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Copyright and Reprints:
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Reprint permission is granted when the following credit appears: © JJ
Lauderbaugh, CPCM, Lauderbaugh & Associates, Inc., 2003. Reprinted with
permission from JJ's Tips, a monthly internet newsletter. For your own
personal subscription, email jj@jjlauderbaugh.com.
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