Sales – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

Using Stretch and Commit Goals to Drive Performance

September 21, 2020/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Communications, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Goal setting is tricky business. You’ll get much better performance if you set two goals for your team. Once you’ve done so, paying for performance is more of a math equation than it is black magic.

Incentives can, and have been, a topic of great discussion but one thing that is hard to argue is this: you want to complete a goal, incentives work.

Sometimes incentives are money. Incentives can be salary increases or bonuses. You may offer stock or options. Other incentives can be awards, time off, or promotions. Incentives need to be something that’s meaningful and exciting to your team, collectively.

When you set the incentives, make a direct linkage between the goal and the reward. I’ve always liked setting “commit” and “stretch” goals. The commit goal is something where folks are signing up to deliver it no matter what. There’s zero bonus associated with hitting a commit. It’s the “you did your job” level of goal. A “stretch” is the furthest point that folks think is in the realm of possibility. They have an idea for how they’ll achieve 70% of it but no clue where the last 30% will come from. And to be clear – that first 70% will take a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to hit. With a stretch goal, people can max out their bonus.

If you have a commit goal and a stretch goal, put the bonus on a sliding scale between those two instead of creating an all-or-none scheme. A “commit” goal is the minimum that someone will deliver to the organization. At the “commit” the bonus is zero. A stretch goal is a high level of impact that will take a tremendous amount of effort to achieve. If someone hits their stretch, the bonus should be 100% of what’s available as an incentive.

Teams can get extremely frustrated when they hit 85% of their stretch goal and they get nothing for it. They should get 85% of the possible bonus. I’ve been in both of these situations. I was in one organization where we had a commit of $50 million of profit and a stretch of $75 million of profit. At $50 million dollars, our bonus was going to be zero. If we hit the commit, there was no bonus. At $75 million of profit, the bonus was going to be 10% of our salary.

How Great Stories Create Great Performance from You and Your Team

August 24, 2020/0 Comments/in Books, Communications, Leadership, Sales, Upcoming Events /by Ryan Shaw

Here are six great ideas to move performance from good to great. From the stories you tell to your own bold moves others will be telling stories about for years to come, you can build perseverance, passion, and engagement.

Today’s post is by Paul Smith, thoughtLEADERS instructor and author of Sell With a Story.

Here’s an easy way to learn some new leadership skills – in easy-to-digest 10-minute podcasts you can listen to at your convenience.

These podcasts are based on interviews with 100 executives and leaders at dozens of companies around the world. Each episode brings you an important leadership lesson through a single compelling story.

These next 6 episodes will help you learn to do remarkable things other people will talk about, lead your team to love what they do or find the perseverance to press on even in the face of defeat or ridicule, move their performance from good to great, and learn 5 steps to giving more effective feedback.

Staff meetings your employees won’t try to crawl out of

One of the perhaps less-than-obvious ways to help the people who work for you to find passion for their work, is to remove the things they’re decidedly dispassionate about – starting with your staff meetings.

Perseverance: The Pringles Story

Perseverance in the face of defeat is a required character trait in sports and politics. You have to lose a few games and races on the road to the Super Bowl or to Washington. Here’s what it looks like when you demonstrate perseverance in business.

The Jittery Compass: Moving your performance from good to great

Change Starts At The Top

August 3, 2020/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Guest Blogger, Leadership, Sales, Strategy /by Ryan Shaw

Leadership cannot be do as I say, leadership must also be do as I do, show your team how you want to operate.

Today’s post is by Pat McManamon, author of The Intentional Sales Manager (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

As a sales leader, you have to admit it’s been an interesting year.

You’ve been faced with business challenges you never even imagined you would encounter. Guess what? Your sales people are in the same situation! Your decisions, like theirs, are going to be crucial. What criteria will you use to make them?

Business is still being conducted; prospects are reaching out; your competition is on the phones and on the streets; customers are buying. Many companies I’ve spoken to had a record month in March despite the disruption of a nationwide shutdown. All signs point to a strong recovery in the near future for those who are prepared. But we must be prepared to make constructive changes, and we must accept that the most important change starts with us!

Smart People Make Dumb Decisions When It Comes Time to Sell Their Business

February 18, 2019/0 Comments/in Books, Guest Blogger, Leadership, Sales /by Ryan Shaw

When it comes to making decisions about their own business, some of the smartest leaders and best business people make the dumbest decisions, especially when it comes to selling.

Today’s post is by Terry Monroe, author of Selling With Certainty (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

I am shocked by how many successful entrepreneurs—smart folks who’ve devoted years to building their businesses—can be so casual and sometimes downright dumb when it comes time to sell their businesses. Regardless how successful someone may be, and I am talking about business owners who are making $5MM, $10MM, $15MM a year in net income, they are undermining and underselling when putting their businesses on the market.

I believe part of the reason people behave in this manner is they think because they have sold things in the past such as vehicles, buildings, houses, or maybe even one time a business, they can sell what may be the largest financial asset they own, which is their business, by themselves. And armed with this uneducated self-confidence they proceed in attempting to sell what is basically their retirement account, themselves, and wonder why things didn’t work out. Either they are not finding the right buyer or are getting so frustrated they end up abandoning the sales process and continue to run the business.

My goal is to help educate as many business owners as I can on how to determine if you are ready to sell your business and, if so, what steps need to be taken and how the process works.

How often do you try to meet new people when you travel?

November 1, 2018/0 Comments/in Communications, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Poll, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: How often do you try to meet new people when you travel?

Very: planes, lounges and hotels are great places to meet new people: 18.0%
Sometimes: I’ll occasionally make an effort to meet new people: 40.1%
Not very: I’d rather keep to myself most of the time: 32.3%
Not at all: leave me alone: 9.6%

Networking opportunities abound. Look around you when you travel for work. You’ll notice many people who look like you. They’re business travelers too. Meeting them could create great new opportunities for you in the form of customers, partners, employees or future employers. But you have to make the effort to meet them. There are many examples of great connections to be made while traveling. All it takes to get started is a polite “hello” or a simple offer of assistance. The vast majority of you report that you don’t take these steps to expand your network. You could be missing out on your next big opportunity. Next time you travel, offer a kind greeting and introduce yourself to someone new. At the very worst, it will make the world a friendlier place.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How well do you handle an unexpected personal crisis at work?

September 13, 2018/0 Comments/in Communications, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Poll, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: How well do you handle an unexpected personal crisis at work?

Very well. I deal with the issue productively and can resume work effectively: 33.3%
Well. I deal with the issue but it has some negative work effects: 51.9%
Not well. Personal crises tend to throw my work off substantially: 12.3%
Poorly. A personal crisis totally derails me at work: 2.5%

Moving through the crisis. It’s inevitable that a personal crisis will interfere with work at some point. Illnesses, car accidents, thefts and other challenging issues are bound to crop up and always at the worst time. Some keys to dealing with crisis involve keeping things in perspective, getting your priorities straight and getting assistance. Don’t be afraid to ask colleagues for help. We’ve all been there, and, by and large, people are understanding and supportive. There’s no need for you to shoulder the entire burden yourself. And when you see a colleague in crisis, don’t wait for them to ask for help. They may be too overwhelmed or feel like they’re imposing on others. Offer your help proactively instead.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!