We all think a lot about differentiators in respect of the solutions and services we sell and our position in the marketplace.  But what differentiates you?  What makes you indispensable?  We know that you are a sales god, driving home deals and bringing in the numbers, but guess what, so is Bob down the corridor; so are a lot of people.  It’s great that you bring in the business and nothing can replace that, but these days you need more if you are going to get on (by the way, if you’re happy bringing in the numbers and have no ambitions beyond selling and making a lot of commission, that’s fine, but there will come a time when you’re after that dream job and all of the other candidates are as good as you – you’ll still need to differentiate).

Business Creativity and You

No longer can you turn up, do your job and expect your career to grow.  As a good sales person, good results will help you to keep a job, but to climb the ladder you need to stand out.

An excellent start, to get you in the mindset, is Seth Godin’s new book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?  The latest in a long line of excellent books by one of the interweb’s most popular bloggers, this book really sets the tone in terms of what is required to stand out from the crowd.

Whatever you do, check out these Linchpin links:

• The Linchpin Manifesto
• The Linchpin Posts
• Linchpin Audio Book Extract One: You are a Genius
• Linchpin Audio Book Extract Two: Surrounded by Bureaucrats

Linchpin is all about being creative, which, if it doesn’t come naturally to you, will require practice.  Creativity is not just about poetry and flower arranging, it’s about coming up with new ways of doing old things, solving problems in a way that other people haven’t thought of.  It’s a powerful tool for the differentiator.  You take the initiative, you drive change, you create new visions of old work, you give more and you get more.

But you have to start somewhere.  A great way to get going with creativity, is to learn to mindmap.  It’s a tool that I use all the time whether I’m writing for The Seller or trying to work out a new direction for a campaign.  And best of all, it’s easy.

• What is mind mapping anyway?
• And how do I use it?
• Free mind mapping software

You can even use mind mapping to increase the amount of information you retain from reading. A great book you might want to apply this to, to help you with your creativity, is ‘The Creative Habit’ by Twyla Tharp, an excellent guide to developing creativity and retaining it for life.

Finally, there are loads of management tools that you can use to help you analyse all kinds of situations.  Some of them are complex, but many of them are very simple to use, just dive right in there and have a go.  You’ll learn far more by doing.  You can find a great learning resource for all manner of mind tools here.

So, get out there, develop your creativity, apply it and become a Differentiator – but don’t blame me when you’re indispensable.

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So what can you do to be sure that you run productive sales meetings:

1. Define a Clear Purpose

If you don’t know what the meeting is for, how can anyone else. Have a clear, detailed agenda that focuses on the SSS principle:

- Solving: with everyone in one place you have a tremendous opportunity to use combined experience and intellect to solve problems. Don’t take over; there’s nothing worse than a meeting where one person monopolises the conversation – it’s ineffective, irritating and will alienate your team.

- Sharing: ultimately, you want each salesperson to perform as well as they can. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is knowledge and resource sharing. It is part of fostering a team culture that will ultimately increase the success of your organisation.

Create space for people to talk about their successes and failures in an open, encouraging environment. Remember, failure is as valid as success in this arena – don’t admonish salespeople who’ve made mistakes. Being able to share these mistakes openly helps your organisation to avoid them in the future and ultimately drives achievement.

- Skills: Again, it’s all about collaboration and shared experience. Use role-play and discussion to address known areas of difficulty or weakness; you can use the same approach to help salespeople feel comfortable with new products or markets too. Don’t admonish or embarrass – avoid focusing on particular individuals – or your efforts at development will seem punitive.

2. Create Ownership and Accountability…Positively

Have a dedicated laptop, with a projector, on which you record agreed objectives throughout the meeting. Everyone can see the list as it develops and you can quickly email it to the delegates or post it on the intranet. Make these objectives the starting point for your next meeting.

By doing this you help to create a culture of continual improvement, with individuals having ownership of objectives, because they helped to define the list, and being accountable to colleagues for actioning list items.

3. Focused, Protected Time

It sounds obvious, but I have sat through so many interrupted sales meetings. On a similar note, I have even seen a sales manager duck out of a personal review session – leaving a member of his team in tears having just announced the loss of a loved one – to take a call from a client!

Sales meeting time is sacred. No mobiles, Blackberry devices, iPhones or anything else. All electronic devices (except your presentation equipment!) turned off; all staff instructed to avoid interruption unless the building is on fire!

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