Be a top 10% Sales Managers To Drive Sales Success

Be a top 10% Sales Managers To Drive Sales Success
Posted by Tony Cole


Here is an article posted by Bill Eckstrom from EcSell Institute - an organization dedicated to helping sales managers do more of the right stuff, the right way at the right time. Your sales management job is not an easy one so it comes as no surprise to me that Bill identifies some research indicating that 90% of the sales managers are doing 'stuff' wrong. To put my spin on this - read his article - assess how you are doing - ask yourself; what you need to keep doing, stop doing or start doing and then take action. Enjoy

Your job as a sales manager is to get things done. A study done by academics Heike Bruch and the late Sumantra Ghoshal from London, investigated what they called "decisive purposeful action." Most companies, far from being hives of busy, effective executives, could instead be seen as "a few isolated islands of action amid an ocean of inaction," the researchers found. Does this ring any bells? Here are the highlights from their study.

Read the full article "Study: Most Managers are Ineffective"

Only about 10 percent of the managers took purposeful action." The remainder were busy, just not very effective: 40 percent were energetic but unfocused; 30 percent had low energy, little focus and tended to procrastinate; and 10% were focused, but not very energetic.

Top Ten Communications, Tech, and Media Industry Trends For 2012

2012 Trends in Fiber
Article Link by Arvind Arora

Carriers will be putting a huge emphasis on fiber-based services to deal with mobile networks that are being pushed to their limits, according to M/C Partners, which has released its annual list of the top 10 communications, technology and media industry trends to watch in 2012.

A dramatic increase in cloud services and video consumption are creating serious challenges for carriers, who will be scrambling to address the issue. Many will use fiber to upgrade cell tower backhaul networks to raise network capacity, according to the private equity firm’s list.

M/C Partners compiled the list as part of its ongoing research to understand industry trends and identify investment opportunities in the communications, media, and information technology sectors.

According to M/C Partners, the leading trend in the new year will be carriers’ use of fiber to upgrade cell tower backhaul networks to gigabit connections, a staggering increase from the 1-2 megabits carriers provisioned to cell towers only a few years ago.

“As mobile users expect their phones to operate more like PCs and increase their consumption of social and traditional media, mobile networks are being pushed to their absolute limits,” said James Wade, Managing General Partner, M/C Partners.

“Adoption of cloud services and mobile consumption of video are only in their early stages, but growing very quickly. Networks are struggling to handle it right now. What will happen when demand grows ten-fold, as it likely will? Ubiquitous fiber will be the solution.”

Trends on the M/C Partners’ list include:

1. Fiber to the tower will become the number one priority for network operators struggling to deal with mobile users’ insatiable thirst for broadband.

2. Enterprise adoption of cloud-based services will drive demand for network-based managed services that will provide critical monitoring and management of application and service performance across LANs, MANs, WANs and the public Internet.

3. New technological innovations on the handset and in the network will improve important services like caching, compression and signaling to enhance mobile user experience, battery life and network access.

4. Consumerization of the enterprise will expand as end users move from simply driving iPhone and iPad adoption in the enterprise to pushing IT departments to provide more user-friendly and consumer-style applications for information sharing and management.

5. Micro-transaction business models will expand from social games into MMOGs, console games and other areas such as video, social networks and communications services providing consumer-directed price discrimination across a range of services.

6. HTML 5’s simplification of mobile application development will improve app economics, competition and usage by providing a seamless cross-platform experience and backward compatibility to the PC environment without sacrificing performance.

7. Consumers will realize the value of managed technology services from OEMs, broadband service providers and independent tech support companies to maximize the utility of their networked devices, as the need for better performance and up-time becomes increasingly valuable to consumers.

8. The content rental model will push beyond music and video into print publications with tablets providing an improved consumption medium that content owners will seek to fill with magazines and books.

9. Marketing options for small local businesses will expand beyond daily deals into more powerful tools that provide better yield management and integration with traditional local media and direct marketing for improved customer acquisition and lifetime value of customers.

10. Cable operators will answer over-the-top threats with apps and more subscription package variety to gain the upper hand in alternative video viewing options for consumers while still preserving the critical distribution and billing relationship.

M/C Partners is a private equity firm focused exclusively on the communications, media, and information technology sectors. The firm has invested over $1.5 billion into nearly 100 companies in those sectors. Companies M/C has backed include Cavalier Telephone, Corelink, Fusepoint, GTS Central Europe, ICG Communications, Legendary Pictures, Lightower, MetroPCS, NuVox, Open Mobile, Public Mobile, Seven Networks and Zayo Group.



Southeast Venture Conference, February 29 – March 1, 2012 at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, VA – Where Smart Money Meets Smart People.
www.seventure.org
I started this site to help others with tips in Sales, Telecom-Renewable Energy awareness. Contact me Tradd Duggan , LinkedIn profile. To Network, possible Sales openings your company may have or more information.

2012 Telecommunications Industry Perspective

2012 Telecommunications Industry Preview
Article Link By Karim Sabbagh

This is the time to look back at how the global telecommunications industry fared in 2011, the major trends that will affect it in 2012, and the strategies and capabilities operators will need in order to benefit from these trends.

In 2011, the telecom industry has finally managed to come to terms with two major global shocks that have threatened it lately. The first, of course, was the global economic downturn that continues to adversely affect the performance of operators in markets around the world. Growth naturally slowed, abetted by constrained credit markets, and thus accelerated the commoditization of traditional telecom services, while reducing the valuations of operators large and small. As a result, operators focused on cutting costs and increasing operational efficiency to protect profitability. The increase in caution has also led to a significant slowdown in mergers and acquisitions

The second shock has been the disruption caused by mass digitization. Customers — both consumers and businesses — are becoming more demanding, expecting always-on service everywhere, and forcing operators to boost network capacity and connectivity. All manner of industries are also becoming increasingly digitized and demanding a variety of new services like mobile payment platforms and cloud computing. The market for mobile applications continues to grow rapidly, creating yet another disruptive force that operators must learn to benefit from.

At the same time, the integrated technology value chains on which operators have long depended, including critical applications and service platforms, are growing increasingly modular and open. As a result, the telecom ecosystem is becoming much more competitive, as new entrants from adjacent industries look to exploit both new customer expectations and technological openness..

Yet despite — or perhaps because of — all these challenges, much of the telecom industry has finally reached a consensus on how to move forward to transform itself. That transformation will take the form of a fundamental shift among operators from the integrated business models that dominated the industry for most of the past century to four distinct, though by no means mutually exclusive, open business models designed to take full advantage of the opportunities now opening up: the reliable, cost-efficient network guarantor; the flexible, integrated business enabler; the innovative, customer-facing experience creator; and the wide-ranging, synergistic global multimarketer. (For further details on the models, see “The Future of Telecom Operators: Capabilities for Rapid Change” by Bahjat El-Darwiche, Roman Friedrich, Pierre Péladeau, and Karim Sabbagh, Booz & Company, 2010). The effort to create and perfect these models will also require an ongoing process of cost restructuring to align costs more tightly with business goals.
I started this site to help others with tips in Sales, Telecom-Renewable Energy awareness. Contact me Tradd Duggan , LinkedIn profile. To Network, possible Sales openings your company may have or more information.

Denver Office Tower Bought For $215M

Expensive Building Purchased

NEW YORK -- Brookfield Office Properties Inc. (TSX:BPO), together with an investment consortium, has bought a 54-storey, class A office tower in Denver for US$215 million.

Brookfield Office said Friday it invested about $110 million for a 51 per cent interest in 1801 California Street and will manage the property.

"The company completed the transaction using its available cash resources and through an acquisition facility," it said in a release.

The property, purchased from PSEG Energy Holdings, is located in Denver's central business district. Formerly known as Qwest Tower, it has 1.4 million rentable square feet and more than 1,500 parking spaces. It is the second-tallest building in Denver, after the Brookfield-owned Republic Plaza.

"The Denver market has demonstrated strong fundamentals, with positive absorption and job growth over the past 18 months," said Dennis Friedrich, the company's president and global chief investment officer.

"This acquisition generates another opportunity where we can add value through proactive management and continues our capital recycling program, through which we have sold $1 billion of gross assets over the past 12 months, redeploying $350 million of capital into more accretive investments."

Article Link

Ace of Sales, Asking Powerful Questions

Economy Will Improve In 2011, 2012

By Scott Spoerry

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. economy's growth rate will pick up over the rest of 2011, to nearly 3 percent, according to projections presented to Congress Wednesday by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

In the Fed's twice yearly monetary report to Congress, Bernanke said in prepared testimony that growth in the first half of the year slowed from an annual rate of 2-3/4 percent in 2010 to only 2 percent so far this year. But the Fed chairman said the combined assessment of the Federal Open Market committee is, "that the pace of the economic recovery will pick up," adding that the "central tendency" of the FOMC projections is for growth of 2.7 to 2.9 percent annual growth over the full year (which implies an even higher growth rate for the second half of 2011 by itself).

"Notably better performance that we have seen so far," which includes a projection of 3.3 to 3.7 percent growth for 2012, is the way Bernanke described the economy for the medium term.

The Fed says the latest unemployment data attests to the weakness of the labor market and forecasts an unemployment rate of 8.6 to 8.9 percent for the fourth quarter of this year, with a reduction to 7.8 to 8.2 percent at the end of 2012 and 7.0 to 7.5 percent by the end of 2013.

Why Selling in The 4th Quarter is So Important!

Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching
Article Link

The sales year has 4 Quarters in it – and the 4th Quarter is the most important of the year. "Q4" is the quarter that has a double-impact to your performance.

First, consider that sports coaches always teach their players to compete until the end of a play, a game, or a season. Many sporting events are not won until the last minute, or play of the game. Yogi Berra's famous quote "It's not over 'till it's over" not only applies to sports but sales as well.

From a sales perspective – give your maximum effort until the last day of the year. Let your competitors coast through the holiday season. This is the quarter that sales performers will usually dramatically impact their annual performance and commission for a strong finish. I have also found that it is a great time to get in front of decision-makers, and some of your customers may even have budget money available that expires at the end of the year. Even if you find yourself behind your quota going into Q4, stay focused on a strong finish.

Second, it is also a critical time to lay the ground-work for a successful start to the next year. Our performance in the first quarter of 2012 will be traced to our activities in this final quarter of 2011. Many of us have longer sales cycles, so let's get a start on building a strong pipeline (or funnel) of projects now! Coasting now, may seriously impact your sales performance into the New Year.

So, compete to the end of the year, or as they say in football "until the whistle blows." This will not only help you in 2011, but also help you set the tone for a successful 2012!
I started this site to help others with tips in Sales, Telecom-Renewable Energy awareness. Contact me Tradd Duggan , LinkedIn profile. To Network, possible Sales openings your company may have or more information.