Growth Dynamics Get Down

Hey everybody, Charlie Hauck here, Founder and Lead Trainer at Growth Dynamics, back again for Fast Tip Friday.

Symptoms: 

Kyle loves selling. He also loves the company he works for and the products and lines he represents. His cup is filled by going to work every day and sharing with his prospects, suspects, and clients about what is new at in his professional world. With so much positivity, Kyle does well for himself, and his managers are pleased with his production. So, what’s the problem here?

Hi, I'm John with Growth Dynamics, and I'm here for a Fast Tip Friday! I recently had a question about gifting clients or gifting prospects....

Hi I'm John with Growth Dynamics and I wanted to give you a Fast Tip Friday regarding the separation of person and performance.

Symptoms:

Bill and Pat were returning from their monthly poker game and while riding back in the car they both agreed they had witnessed a situation that they could apply as a "lesson learned" to their business careers.

I want to finish up with this Fast Tip Friday that completes our map to success triangle - mindset, activity, process (M.A.P.)

Symptoms:

Let's talk about the activity part of success. And frankly, yes, we've always got to have the right attitude. If you keep your attitude right, you'll be ready and committed to go out and do enough activity. First of all, you got to figure out how much is enough. It isn't a guess. There is a formula. If you need help with that, you might want to talk to the coaches at Growth Dynamics.

Symptoms 

Gary is having one of those days where he is angry, but also having some self-doubts. One of his biggest accounts just informed him they are switching to another vendor. All of this comes as a great surprise and he knows these events will create a whirlwind of damage control, finger pointing and endless postmortem conversations. His first thought is they are just jerks, but something is nagging at him about how this could happen on his watch.  

I just wanted to go back to a couple of basics... I think it's always good from time to time to just take a moment, instead of thinking how far we've come or where we are, we should look back at where we started.

Symptoms:

Jerry was having a year that was slightly ahead of last year, but he was frustrated that he wasn't doing as well as he thought he could be or should be. Although he had taken some sales training and learned some unique words, phrases, and approach tactics, he felt like he was struggling to say and do the "right" things when it came to managing his activities and sales calls. He wondered what he needed to change so that his daily work became more natural, fun, and productive.

Welcome back to this week's Fast Tip Friday topic. Today, as I am sitting in this office recording this video for everybody, I've got on the latest Hawaiian shirt that I purchased.

Situation:

Friday afternoon and Julia’s mind was already on the vacation she had coming up in three weeks. The past week she dealt with the one sales challenge that constantly caused her frustration, and no matter what rebuttals her manager told her to throw back at the prospect the result remained the same; no sales because her price was too high.

Today, I want to talk to you about two words that can make or break a lot of what you're trying to do in business development, personal growth, and professional development, and that is understanding the connection and collaboration that you have to have with a timeline and strategic thinking.

Situation: 

It drove Izzy crazy, and he had no clue what to do about it. Day after day, email after email, Izzy sent messages that were honest, professional and ineffective. His subject lines told the truth in short comfortable requests for the recipient to please read the message. In short, Izzy felt like all his email correspondence was going into black hole where no one read them or responded to them. He knew that getting some traction with his new line of beverages would be a challenge, but this was downright agony. Was everyone in the world so cold and callous that they just did not bother to send a reply, even if it was thanks, no thanks? 

Hey, this is one of my favorite topics and I know I say that about a lot of things, but this is really one of my favorite topics. Why? Because it's about time off!

Situation: 

Jackson felt that lump in his throat and just wanted to scream. Big Shot Bob of ABC Engineering did it again; he promised Jackson he would keep his appointment this time after three cancellations or no shows, but his admin was apologizing for Bob not being available once again. Because ABC was one of the biggest firms in the metropolitan area, Jackson just could not bring himself to share his anger at being stood up once again.

One of the things that I hear from all of the people that I coach and all of the management/leadership that I interact with, is they're looking for consistency.

Situation: 

Dewey is a prolific prospector. Like the sun rising in the east, you can count on Dewey making more sales calls than anyone on his employer’s sales team. No matter where he goes, Dewey will find someone to talk to about his products and services.

Relationship building is important in everything that we do. It's in business development, we've got to be trusted, and we've got to know how to build trust. We've got to know what sets the foundation for building trust, and that's understanding how to be successful at relationship building.

This is a topic I can talk about and share information or thoughts about all day. We can do a Fast Tip Friday, a Fast Tip Saturday, a Fast Tip Sunday, if I just got on a roll… but I promise to keep it short.

Symptoms:

Having earned a small commission check last month from her sales job, Marta was doing her best to replace her old refrigerator and had already hit the local appliance stores, as well as a few of the Big Box outlets.

This is something we all need to learn about… one of the most important attributes we've got to have as a human being, and that's the ability to be apologetic. We've all made mistakes, we've all misheard something, misunderstood something, we've all been in a position where we've had to apologize for something we've said or done and apologizing is often one of the hardest things to do.

Symptoms:

Ed and his wife had been to several Caribbean islands before, but had never seen such large waves or felt the heavy undertow of the surf on this island facing the Atlantic Ocean.

I want to talk about kind of a one off topic today… and I'm sure I've alluded to it before in some of the other Fast Tip Friday’s, but this is something that I've seen in my personal life with some friends lately and something I think any of us that are in business development, any of us that manage people in business development, we've got to know that simply put you can say anything to anybody as long as you package it correctly.

Symptoms:

Matt is looking at his calendar and doing some planning, knowing that many things he does look too much like random acts of mindless behavior. Looking back on past months, he feels like he was scrambling and playing catch up all the time instead of having that feeling that he had some deliberate control of his actions. He wants to get back that feeling of being on a roll, where it's like running downhill instead of uphill all the time.

This is one of the core concepts that we think is essential in successful business development, and frankly I think it's an element that's critically important for all kinds of communication, no matter what you're doing.

I want to talk about an issue today that I don't know if it's an issue maybe just a little bit of advice, knowing everything is the power that you need to get where you wanna go and on a certain level I will not disagree with that, but if you're in business development, a lot of times what you do know can get in the way of your success.

Hey, Charlie Hauck here, President, Lead Trainer, Founder of Growth Dynamics with another Fast Tip Friday!

Symptoms: 

Leslie finally got the referral she had wanted: a high-profile client that could be a cornerstone to her entire next year of business...

This is one I think I've touched on before but for some reason it's stuck in my mind and it's another good time to bring it up again. If you're driving, if you're riding a bicycle, if you're running in the trails, in the woods, it's always true, and I think a lot of people would agree with me that the potholes that create the most problems are the ones you don't see until you hit them.

Symptoms: 

With her best customer looking for something creative to solve his inventory issues, Ginny realized that none of her immediate ideas sounded likely to impress the customer.

Hey, I wanted to tell you that part of our business offering, here at Growth Dynamics, is to support the best possible outcomes in hiring talent. For our clients out in the marketplace, we work with a lot of different people to help them find the best available talent to add to their business development teams, sometimes to their executive teams.

Symptoms:

Recently, nothing stung Darren more than when his wife pointed out that he failed yet again at his promised to be home for dinner. And, tonight he knew that he wouldn't make it to dinner again. His two kids were at the ages where they always seemed to be headed from one practice or another, and his wife Jessica was feeling often deserted when she asked Darren for help with all the driving around town. “Work/life balance” meant nothing more than disappointment to Darren as his boss just kept the pressure on by asking for more sales every month.

One of the things that is an uncomfortable topic for me to share with people because I'm a bad practitioner of it, but I've learned how to manage myself despite my bad habits. And it's a question that a lot of people struggle with because it can have an impact in so many parts of our lives, but it's a simple topic of accountability. Now, I'm not bad at accountability. I work pretty hard to make my commitments and keep them and to live up to the expectations I've created with other people, not just in my business life, but in my personal life. I don't think you can master that skill in one aspect and ignore it in the other. So I'm always going to reinforce that my business and my life are essentially the same thing. It's just part of me existing here on this earth.

Situation: 

You just realized that you sell a commodity, and all that feature and benefit propaganda the Research and Development specialists fed you sounds exactly like the competitor’s features and benefits. Now you must find a way to re-invent yourself so that you are not just another “me, too” person trying to schedule a sales call here, there, and everywhere. The more you dial and ask to schedule that sales call the less agreeable people seem to be. You share some quick hitters about your “proprietary applications” and still you feel left out and frustrated. What does it take to get decision makers to want to put you on their calendar?

This one's going to be kind of quick and short. I'll give you one example of the concept that I'm thinking of, but I do want to stress to everybody that words matter, particularly in business conversations.

Symptoms:

Fully dressed in his umpire gear, Gary was behind the plate calling the 3rd inning of his son's little league baseball game. The kid on the mound was so good he was picking apart the corners of the plate on almost every pitch. Although Gary was calling them the way he saw 'em, there were so many close calls that it didn't take long for the parents and the bleacher crowd to start riding him with the usual insults, heckles and personal attacks.

It's a rainy day down here in West Chester, PA, and the weather made me think of a really important part of business development that a lot of people, sometimes are aware of and sometimes aren't.

Symptoms:
The silence was deafening. Both Valerie and her prospect sat there looking at each other waiting for the other person to speak first. Valerie had finished her presentation of the new products' features and benefits and was expecting the Director of Operations to give her some indication of how well she had done.

Hey, I'm going to reference one of my best resources, one of my best business relationships, here this week on fast tip Friday. This is a book that two people I know very well, John Condry and Paul Carpenter, wrote a few years ago. It's about management. It's not just sales management, it's just management in general.

Look, we've just entered into the first few days of Q2, quarter two of 2024, and I always liked specific things on the calendar to trigger different thoughts and processes and times to reflect on what you're going to do to increase your viability and success as you move forward throughout the year.

Symptoms:
Sam has been in sales for her entire career. She knows she does well enough as she has climbed the ranks through various companies, but she tends to plateau with medium accounts. Sam has yet to earn some of the major accounts and or territories that make salespeople’s careers.

Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. I know there's a lot of ego danger in putting our hands up and saying, "I don't get everything". "I don't have it all figured out." Business development is tough and trying to get everything right, when you're new in the business, or new at a company, new in an industry, man, you have got to be willing to add another head to the process to help you think clearly, and find out, not just what you know, but what you don't know.

Symptoms:
Charlie had been working with a long-time client and just can’t believe why some meetings could really get under his skin. Charlie left angry with this client’s attitude towards him, the ability to waste time like it was nothing and at times complete disrespect for Charlie and his process.

I've got another idea for you to help you make 2024 your best, most productive, most
rewarding year ever.

Symptoms:
Elizabeth had just gotten the call every sales person hopes for each day. A target account in her territory reached out and asked that she come right away to help them with a big problem. Knowing her technical expertise could be very valuable in this situation, Elizabeth felt sure that winning the project was just a matter of not making a fatal mistake.

I want to bring a little sports analogy to the mix this week and get you to think about playing both offense and defense in your business development practice. Now, most people like to play offense because that's when the points are scored.

Symptoms:
After a long sales process finally appeared to be coming to a successful conclusion, Paul was breathing a sigh of relief until his client decided he wanted to extract some sweat from Paul for the win. Just when he thought it was over and done, the regional vice president chimed in with one last contract change that he claimed was a deal breaker if it wasn't accommodated.

I want to share an idea that another professional coach and close personal friend of mine had. We were up in Vermont a few weeks ago doing a little skiing, and one of the things I like to do when I visit my buddy Peter, is I like to trade ideas or concepts that we share with our clients.

Symptoms:
Melody and her boss just couldn't understand why she continued to struggle to close business. She was a very outgoing person who was extremely well liked by her customers. She went out of her way to be friendly to everyone and appeared to possess a good knowledge of her product and the selling process. Her failure to excel was confusing everyone.

It's not that late in the year… it's 2024, we're right at the end of February/first day of March basically, so I just wanted to throw a couple ideas out there to remind you to stop once again, make sure you've committed to what your goals are for this year and to think about all the different things that could happen, that might influence or impact how successful you are at accomplishing those goals.

Symptoms:
Mary was on one of her first sales calls as a new rep and the prospect, with his first question, invited her straight onto the Buyers Bus: "Tell me about your company and what you do".

Hey everybody, it’s Charlie Hauck from Growth Dynamics. Hope everybody's week is prosperous. Hope 2024 is a good year so far. You’ll be moving through the first quarter by the time you watch this and I hope you've laid the groundwork for a very successful 2024.

Symptoms:
Linda was frustrated by her prospect's unwillingness to make a decision. Her prospect said he needed some time to digest the three options outlined in her proposal before making a decision.

This is one of my favorite topics. This goes back to our reliance and our trust in DISC profile behavioral assessments.I love those instruments. They've been a huge part of my business. They're a huge part of my life.

Recently, I had the opportunity to assist a client in the search for a new sales manager for their team. This role required a seasoned professional with years of experience in sales management to provide strong leadership. As I began interviewing candidates, I added two new questions to our standard set: 1. Why did you become a manager? and 2. What training did you receive when you became a manager?

To my surprise, many candidates became managers simply because they had reached the peak of their current roles or were promoted internally without much consideration for their managerial capabilities. Furthermore, most of them had received little to no formal training in management, relying instead on self-initiated professional development or trial and error to navigate their new responsibilities.

This lack of investment in managerial training is concerning, considering the critical role that sales managers play within a company. Without proper support and training, new managers may struggle to meet the expectations of their roles, leading to potential performance issues and turnover.

Investing in manager training not only benefits the individual but also the company as a whole. Proper training can help new managers transition successfully into their roles, improve communication skills, understand the expectations of their positions, make effective decisions that consider both individuals and the team, and navigate organizational changes smoothly.

Recognizing the importance of manager training, we are excited to announce the launch of a Sales Manager training program starting on March 13. This program includes monthly remote classes from March to August, online supplemental classes, and one-on-one coaching sessions with our expert, Charlie. If you are interested in enrolling your managers in this program, please contact Sarah Waple to schedule a fact-finding call.

By investing in the development of your managers, you can help cultivate strong leaders who will contribute to the success and growth of your organization.

Symptoms:
Valentine looked at his schedule and realized he is set to go visit a favorite client, or maybe a prospect, or maybe even still a suspect, this week. He absolutely loved spending time with this person and company.

Time for another Fast Tip Friday! This one's pretty quick! There are a lot of athletic events on TV every night and you see people and teams doing their best and trying to do whatever it takes to win a game, and every now and then you'll hear a commentator talk about this....

The economy is not something that can be ignored. Perhaps on the personal side, people can ignore the bigger concept of the economy, but maybe not their own budget needs. On the business side, the economy is always in the picture. Let’s take a few minutes to review what might be impacting longer sales cycles and how strong business development professionals make the most of it.

Hey everybody,  a couple of weeks ago, I talked to you about turning goals into reality. Actually having those goals accomplished and seeing how the goal, the plan, the strategy, the tactics all connected in a process so that you get more predictably realize the success that you dream about.

Hiring the right talent is crucial for the success of any organization. However, the process of bringing in new employees comes with inherent risks. From cultural fit to skill misalignment, companies face numerous challenges when it comes to making the right hiring decisions. In this article, we will explore a comprehensive approach to mitigating these risks, focusing on the use of assessments, market research for pay and benefits, and understanding the hiring company's needs.

Symptoms:

Cody knew that the firm he represented was considered the best in class by the other major players in the market. As far as technical competency, customer service and the ability to deliver more than clients expected, Cody's firm always scored extremely high. With that ace to play whenever he needed to, he was sure that this new position as a Business Development Specialist would soon prove to be the road to riches. After his first 90 days Cody and his manager met to review his progress, and the picture was not pretty.

One of the things that in my over 36 years being in the training and consulting business when I'm working with business development professionals, I always want to ask people:

“What's the basis of your success so far in your career?”

In this week's Monday morning manager message, we delved into the art of prospecting and the crucial task of auditioning prospects to determine their suitability for your business. If you haven't had a chance to listen, take a moment to do so for valuable insights. Our discussions with clients regarding Monday morning manager responses sparked intriguing ideas for this article. Let's explore the world of prospecting, a vital aspect of business development that demands attention.

During our high-performance sales program, a common question arises: How long does prospecting take? Experienced sales and business development professionals provide varied answers, ranging from 5 minutes to a full conversation. This perception aligns with numerous articles online emphasizing the time and research involved in effective prospecting. However, what if we challenge the notion that prospecting needs to be complex and time-consuming?

Let's reconsider the time invested in prospecting. Rather than viewing it as an extensive process, what if prospecting could be as brief as 5-10, or maybe 30 seconds of a conversation? This perspective challenges the traditional mindset and prompts us to explore a more streamlined approach to get more done in less time.

Simplifying Your Prospecting Process:

Prospect Where You're Already Doing Business:
Explore untapped opportunities with existing clients.
Overcome self-limiting beliefs and inquire about additional business possibilities.

Symptoms:

Brian just made a proposal to a buyer and received the same response he has heard so many times recently. "Thanks for the proposal. Appreciate you coming in. We'll give it some consideration and let you know."

Happy 2024! This is the first Fast Tip Friday I'm doing for the year, so I hope I can live up to the standard!

Symptoms:

Amanda was working through her list of live opportunities after putting her pipeline through a “kill it or close it” exercise. She set up appointments to move her sales process along with several of the live opportunities. She was steadfast in naming her meetings, sending homework, and even let some her more notorious feet draggers know these were decision meetings. She was ready to do what she had to do to start meeting her sales goals for the quarter.

2024… I can't believe we're already here. We're back, we're ready to work, and we hope you are too! Without further ado, here we go.

Thanks to all of you that watched and read our Fast Tip Friday’s this year, whether you started at the beginning of the year, you jumped in in the middle of the year, or someone shared it with you along the way. Thanks to your willingness to listen to my thoughts and ideas regarding personal and professional growth and development, I appreciate it.

Symptoms:

As she looked at the clock and saw it was already 4:15, all Patty could think about was how the day flew by and how little she actually accomplished. Her planned “office day” ended up being an exercise in wasting time and not controlling her schedule.

Thank you for following along over the past year! We look forward to continuing in 2024!

Symptoms:
Janie really wanted to nail this tele selling thing, she had all tabs loaded on her screen, put on a clean shirt and armed herself with all of the background info she researched on the prospects website. As she got ready to start a conference call.

Hey, I'm not in a collared shirt today. I typically would never do a fast tip Friday or a business thing in a t shirt, but I just thought that my topic today reminded me of a journey I was on six years ago with a friend. I am wearing a t shirt that is for the great Allegheny Passage.

Symptoms:

No one told Melanie that she would be making calls on her own just two weeks after she started working at Quality Stuff, Inc. When she first began, her new manager said she would do ride-alongs for at least a month and then be slowly let off the leash to contact customers by herself. But that plan went out the window this morning when Melanie found out her mentor had called in sick and she was expected to keep an appointment and fly solo with a very important customer.

Good Monday morning. This is Sarah Waple, partner at Growth Dynamics, and I am here with a very special holiday Monday Morning Manager. I know it's Thanksgiving week, and we are all supposed to sit around and figure out what we're thankful for. I am 100% encouraging you to do that.

Hey, everybody, Charlie, Hauck with another Fast Tip Friday. You know the drill! If not, go and watch/read a bunch more of them and you'll get the rest of the answers about who I am and why I'm here. Today's topic, activity and progress are not the same. As I think of the year I've had, it's been a good year here at Growth Dynamics, and buy and large, all my clients have had good years.

Symptoms:

Bob was exhausted after seeing over 15 accounts in the past week. He had talked about football, politics, family and even some industry news in order to get the client engaged in a conversation that might give him an opening to pitch his latest and greatest widget.

I know the pandemic disrupted all of our lives and all of our businesses. I know that COVID is still out there. I'm not going to have a political conversation with anybody about it. It's there. It will come back a little bit stronger this winter, but we're not going to go through another pandemic.

Hey, welcome to another Fast Tip Friday from Growth Dynamics! This is Charlie Hauck, lead trainer, founder, sharing some information and some concepts to our clients and anybody else that gets to access this little video clip.

Time for another Fast Tip Friday! Today's topic is a head game topic, which are really always my favorite part of business development and personal development. It’s knowing what head game you've got to play with yourself to get where you want to go.

Symptoms:

Sadie was pumped to have a meeting with the right decision makers on her new product. They quickly agreed to her lunch and learn invitation and even let her know how excited they were about her products. They used a competitor’s products, and this was her chance to get the sale. She gathered the standard slide deck, added a few slides comparing her product to the others in the marketplace and even went as far to include delivery information. She knew this was the lunch and learn to end all lunch and learns and it would be an easy close.

Let's get right into it. One of the things that happens in my business, because we offer so much individual coaching with all of our programs, is people will constantly call me and say,

Symptoms:

Carlos believes that sales success is simply a game of numbers, and his commitment to relentless prospecting has proven him right quarter after quarter, year after year. However, all that prospecting creates problems, for Carlos often finds himself so overwhelmed by follow-ups and open opportunities that he loses track of some of the best deals he has on the street.

Symptoms:

When Kathy hired Everett, a former user of her company's products, she thought she had finally found someone who could easily penetrate her market. Everett came from the industry and had been a devoted user of Kathy's products in his role as a product repair specialist. When Everett told Kathy he wanted to make the jump from user to salesperson for her product line, she thought it a great idea and immediately offered him a position. 

Hey, everybody. Charlie Hauck back again for another Fast Tip Friday. When you do 50 of these a year, whatever the number is, sometimes it's a stretch to find the content, but we'll give it a shot. This week, it's not going to be long, but I hope it makes sense to you. It makes sense to me and I'm the king of everything, so let's go with it!

It has been three years since we were able to offer a local to Growth Dynamics High-Performance Sales Program and we are pleased to say that run ends NOW.

Starting on October 5, Charlie Hauck, lead trainer and partner at Growth Dynamics, will be back where he belongs in front of business development pros looking to refine and improve their sales process.

We know our program works, but what company would advertise their class and say anything different?

Symptoms:

Sophia loves selling. She loves it so much that she enjoys trying to sell her products to anyone that will listen. Her philosophy is: “No stone should go unturned.” Over the years, the number of prospects she has contacted, presented to and worked up proposals for have always been the highest in the company, but her sales results place her in the bottom quarter of the sales team.

One of the things I think that we can't ever speak too much about, and I'm sure I've spoken about this topic a few times, but I'm going to bring it up again just because I think there's so many things that are part of our cultural existence for a lot of us, not everyone, but I think it's a topic that when we look around the world and we see the things that are successful or more successful than other things, the ones that tend to have the greatest track record or produce the best results have some element of accountability.

Symptoms:

Sondra worked relentlessly to hit her numbers and keep her territory on top of the rankings.  Never shy about asking for business, if a sales report showed a dip in the numbers, Sondra would beat the bushes for the orders that might help push her over the goal for that quarter.

Hey everybody, Charlie Hauck, founder, President, partner at Growth Dynamics, here for another one of those amazing Fast Tip Friday topics!

Symptoms:

Kathy is frustrated after a recent sales call. She believes if she was brave enough to ask about certain things, the call would have gone her way. It seems like she is constantly on defense and that the client is intentionally "pushing her buttons". Despite her training, it felt like she was always reacting to every little thing that was said rather than thinking about what was really going on. How can she find a way to consistently act like a professional on the call?

I wish this week's topic was more positive, more energized, more something good that happened… But I'm going to disappoint you all if that's what you're looking for.

Symptoms:

One thing was certain: Derek was going to get an earful when he mustered the courage to tell his biggest customer that the truckload of material he was expecting was going to arrive three weeks late.

Hey, look, I'm ready for hate mail after this one...

Hey, welcome back, it's Charlie Hauck, President, CEO, and head trainer at Growth Dynamics. Here is another one of our Friday Fast Tips. Today we have a quick lesson on business development execution.

Symptoms:

The Purchasing Agent started the sales call with: "So, what do you have for me today?" It struck Jennifer that she was hearing this line far too frequently when she showed up for a sales call with both prospects and current customers in her territory.

Hey, it's that time of year again. If you've got any conscious time on this planet, it seems we've all gone through this sort of fifth season that seems to be part of our lives. In fact, I think it's become so much a part of our lives, we don't even recognize it as a season, but I'll challenge that. I think back to school is a season!

Symptoms:

No one told Melanie that she would be making calls on her own just two weeks after she started working at Quality Stuff, Inc. When she first began, her new manager said she would do ride-alongs for at least a month and then be slowly let off the leash to contact customers by herself. But that plan went out the window this morning when Melanie found out her mentor had called in sick and she was expected to keep an appointment and fly solo with a very important customer.

Hey, everybody, Charlie Hauck, Growth Dynamics, president, trainer, all that kind of good stuff. You know, we all look for validation one way or another. Somehow, some way, we like to see that the things we're thinking, other people are thinking, and in my business, I love to find out that I'm aligned with some of the great business minds that are out there, the people that kind of lead the way on performance.

Symptoms:

How did it happen again? Ed believed he nailed that presentation and felt he’d been as prepared as he could be for any questions the prospect could have had about his company’s latest technology.

Welcome to this week’s Fast Tip Friday. Another bit of, hopefully, valuable knowledge, information, or perspective that you haven't thought about, because sometimes we just get our heads down and keep driving forward and we don't really start to see the world around us.

I’ve got to tell you, recording all these Fast Tip Fridays, sometimes it's a burden on my brain. I'm trying to figure out what to say, what the message will be, and I look down and there it is, the bottle of Franks Red Hot.

Symptoms:

Recently, nothing stung Darren more than when his wife pointed out that he failed yet again at his promised to be home for dinner. And, tonight he knew that he wouldn't make it to dinner again. His two kids were at the ages where they always seemed to be headed from one practice or another, and his wife Jessica was feeling often deserted when she asked Darren for help with all the driving around town. “Work/life balance” meant nothing more than disappointment to Darren as his boss just kept the pressure on by asking for more sales every month.

Hi, everybody, Charlie Hauck, Growth Dynamics President, Lead trainer, Troublemaker, you know all that stuff. I've been traveling a lot. I've been traveling a lot this summer when it's been really hot and really wet. I live here on the East Coast and my travel tends to get patterns because I have clients in different places, over extended periods of time.

Symptoms:

Bob found himself staring blankly at his calendar. The year was nearing an end and the speed with which the year had flown by surprised Bob again, just like it had each of the last 15 years, since he had started in this business.

Hey, Charlie Hauck, Fast Tip Friday brought you from the Growth Dynamics geniuses. Sarah Waple's on vacation this week watching her son play baseball at Cooperstown. What a great experience for a young man. What a great experience for his whole team.

Symptoms:

Roger could not believe what he just heard. The conversation with one of his most challenging prospects ground to a halt after Roger had asked if the deal just did not make sense. Despite the fact that this was one opportunity that could significantly impact his bonus, Roger just could not think of one more thing to say. So, he just stood there and contemplated how he swung and missed again. “I guess I have to accept your program, so let’s write this up and get that first order in here next week.” What just happened, did someone else walk into the office or did a dream just pop into his subconscious mind? The deal just closed, and Roger was not talking when it happened.

You know what we do here at Growth Dynamics!  We help people develop and create the best possible personal and professional experiences that they can have, to make their lives as rewarding as possible, to give you the power, the belief, and the support to challenge yourself and really take control of your future.

Symptoms:

Lauren hated watching the network news or seeing the latest news flashing on her phone. It seemed like the "Big Story" everywhere was another mass shooting, a political meltdown, a plane crash or other sad story.

This week, I've got another crazy idea for you... and it just applies to so many things and I think it's a lesson or a saying that we've all heard many times in our lives that tries to get us to really focus on the right thing to do or the right thing to believe in.

Good Monday morning - This is Sarah Waple, partner at Growth Dynamics, and I’m here with a special mid-year check in episode of Monday Morning Manager.

We're right there. We're staring it right smack in the eye. It's halftime of 2023, June 30th, the end of the first six months. You should be starting to think about, kind of a sports analogy, we're at halftime, or if you're in a racetrack, we're halfway around the course.

Symptoms:

One of the most common objections salespeople get is about price: "That's a bit more than we were thinking about paying." "Your prices are kind of high." "That just doesn't fit our budget" are typical comments.

I like thinking about the future. The past is history. It is what it is. We can't change it and we can't over empower history to determine where we are and what we're going to do today and tomorrow.

Hey, this is an issue that I'm going to give a couple different applications to the core concept. Some of it might make people uncomfortable, but I've just had a lot of experience working with it, so I'll share with you pretty quickly and let you get on with the rest of your Friday before you get to enjoy the weekend.

Symptoms:

The last quarter’s sales numbers were posted online for the entire sales team to review. There was no hiding once the sales manager sent the email out to his entire team, and Darren hated seeing his name in the lowest 25%. What made him more confused was that he had been with the company for 14 years, yet three of the top five producers had less than half of his experience.

Hey, this one's a little bit personal, since it involves someone very important in my life and in Sarah Waple's life as well. I just wanted to use this Fast Tip Friday to send a shout out to all the people that are in the back room.

Symptoms:

After having been in the same role for over 5 years, Ted was stuck. "What else can I talk about with these people that we haven't gone over all ready?" was the question Ted kept asking himself (with no answer) after he did a review of his clients. He knew he didn't want to be the pesky salesman that just made a meaningless follow up call, or who stopped in to drop off donuts and see what orders might be around to pick up, but he was also very aware that his manager expected him to keep growing the territory and expanding the accounts.

Hey, time for another Fast Tip Friday concept to help you get yourself in a more consistently productive manner. I know recently we talked about consistency in activity, but before you actually can do your activity, you might want to do a little planning. So invest in planning, and the word that's really critical there is invest.

We want to take a moment to share our thanks and appreciation to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country, our freedoms, and our beliefs. 

Hey, it's beautiful out there, it's sunshiny, it's time to go out and enjoy life, and the best way to enjoy life is to be able to afford what it is you want to do that you enjoy doing the most. So I'm going to talk about something here that I think will help you succeed in living your best life, living your fullest life.

Symptoms:

Sally and Sanjay were comparing notes after a very busy week out selling. Sally was exhausted, but at the same time pretty satisfied that her week was highly productive and would produce some nice revenue for the company and herself. Sanjay, on the other hand, was exhausted and uncertain about what actually happened to him and what success he created.

Look, I've been in this business for 35 years, on the coaching and training side. I've spent the better part of 15 years prior to that, when I was about 14 or 15, “selling” my lawn care, cutting neighbor's lawns,  and doing work for my mom's real estate office.

Symptoms:

“The weather is changing; flowers and trees are popping out and I am exactly the same” thought Sam. Sam has been in sales for her entire career. She knows she does well enough as she has climbed the ranks through various companies, but she tends to plateau with medium accounts. Sam has yet to earn some of the major accounts and or territories that make salespeople’s careers. She has always been one to read all the top business books, listen to podcasts every chance she got, attends conferences, and even enrolled in a few training classes that promised to help her reach the next level, but nothing ever changed, despite putting all the things she learned into practice immediately. Sam felt ready to make some significant life changes on her own and earning more commissions would make it all possible. Now, she really wanted to see if it was her turn to be one of the big-time players.

Hey, everybody, it's time for another Fast Tip Friday. This Friday, I'm actually at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, enjoying a few days of PTO with my wife and some friends.

Symptoms:

It was Thursday at 7 pm and Frieda was sitting on the sidelines of her daughter’s softball game with her head buried in her phone. This championship game had come out of nowhere as the team wasn’t very good but managed to keep winning. Frieda was thrilled for her daughter, but it couldn’t have come at a harder time for Frieda’s work schedule.

Hi there, everybody, I could go down a rabbit hole on this one. I'm going to try to hit the high points, throw it out there at you, let you digest it, go apply to your business development practice, as best you can.

Symptoms:

Marcus found himself sitting in his car, in his driveway but still felt lost. For some reason, this feeling was a more regular occurrence for Marcus at the end each day.  It was as if the one or two things he was supposed to remember to accomplish would come to him if he just didn't turn off the engine and open his car door.

Hey, I wanted to tell you that part of our business offering, here at Growth Dynamics, is to support the best possible outcomes in hiring talent. For our clients out in the marketplace, we work with a lot of different people to help them find the best available talent to add to their business development teams, sometimes to their executive teams.

Symptoms:

John's territory involves working with many prospects that ask for samples, demonstrations, proposals, references and all the usual items that buyers want from a vendor. Trying to appear accommodating and professional, John finds himself spending hours of time preparing, writing, setting up or sending all this information that he believes will help "convince" his prospect.

Hey, this is a topic that a lot of people are thinking about, but not a lot of people want to articulate. So I thought I'd jump right into it and get your minds dealing with the economy, and how the economy is changing, and what some people think is going on, and how it's going to impact them personally.

Symptoms:

Diane returned from the product demo certain that the features and benefits she shared with her prospect had wowed them. The buyer nodded when Diane asked if the product fit into the product categories they offered to their customer base, and everyone else that sat in on the meeting told her how much they liked what she had presented. She felt as good about this call as she had in a long time, but now six weeks later there was still no purchase order and the prospect had gone radio silent. How did their excitement turn into Diane's frustration?

Another installment of Fast Tip Friday! Sometimes the ideas, I don't know where they come from. I stand in front of a camera and do these recordings. I like the challenge. I like the pressure of having to come up with a thought and articulate an idea.

Symptoms:

Matt is looking at his calendar and doing some planning, knowing that many things he does look too much like random acts of mindless behavior. Looking back on past months, he feels like he was scrambling and playing catch up all the time instead of having that feeling that he had some deliberate control of his actions.

Hey, everybody, how are you? Charlie Hauck, Growth Dynamics lead trainer and president, here for another one of our famous Fast Tip Fridays.

Symptoms:

Julie felt conflicted as she listened to the other members of the sales team talk about how they were going to spend the big commissions everyone was earning this quarter.

Normally, it's pretty easy for me to think of business topics that I think would be important to a good number of you that are out there. But, every now and then life teaches me a lesson that I need to remember, not just in life, but in business. This is one that I'll admit is a little embarrassing. It just happened recently. There's no hiding it. It was funny, but inconvenient. Let's talk about it.

Symptoms:
Carl was feeling frustrated and hurt. One of his best accounts was showing a definite decline in volume that was way beyond what could be explained by the market or the economy, and he could not imagine that he had done anything to create the change.

I've got an idea that's been rattling around in my head for a while, and I thought I'd put it out there. I use this when I'm talking to a lot of business owners that are thinking about how and or why, why do they even want to hold their business development teams accountable? I think there's a pretty simple formula, that even if you're not a sales manager, if you're just out there in the world of business development, and you want to find a way to make life easier for yourself, I'd like you to think about this three word, process.

Symptoms:

Carrie looked at her calendar and started to worry. She was near the end of the 3rd quarter and at only 60% of her annual sales goal. As she reviewed what she had done over the first nine months, she saw lots of cold calls and follow-ups on the leads she had generated at the two trade shows her company targeted.

Look, business development is hard, it's really hard. Some days, frankly, we have so much going on, it's not just that you get a new client, but you've got to service new client.

Symptoms:

Mary was on one of her first sales calls as a new rep and the prospect, with his first question, invited her straight onto the Buyers Bus: "Tell me about your company and what you do".

My topic today is something that I think anybody in business development, and frankly, anyone that's into communication, in a way they think they just got to get better at it, and they're tired of having conversations that might not be the real conversations they should have.

Symptoms:

Andrea hated the pressure of selling. After three years in the business of selling payroll services Andrea thought she would be past this stage of professional development. Day after day, call after call it was still there; that pressure to convince someone that you are the perfect fit for their company when the market offered so many options. Andrea had to admit that at times she felt like she was lying to get a sale.

I was thinking about 2022, and where we are in 2023, and I really started to reflect on what happened, how it happened, why it happened, and this is the part I really want to talk about today, who was with me when it happened. 

Symptoms:

Jerry was having a year that was slightly ahead of last year, but he was frustrated that he wasn't doing as well as he thought he could be or should be. Although he had taken some sales training and learned some unique words, phrases, and approach tactics, he felt like he was struggling to say and do the "right" things when it came to managing his activities and sales calls. He wondered what he needed to change so that his daily work became more natural, fun, and productive.

We're in the middle of winter. In Philadelphia, we haven't had any snow this year, but it's been cold. Tonight, it's going to get really cold and tomorrow, it's going to be really cold. Guess what... no matter what the temperatures are, we still have got to get things done.

Symptoms:

I want to throw a challenge out to everybody reading. It's something that's been important to me in my career, and a lot of the people that I respect and have set the path forward in the training and development business are big proponents of this, so I want to share it with you.

Symptoms:

Fully dressed in his umpire gear, Gary was behind the plate calling the 3rd inning of his son's little league baseball game. The kid on the mound was so good he was picking apart the corners of the plate on almost every pitch. Although Gary was calling them the way he saw 'em, there were so many close calls that it didn't take long for the parents and the bleacher crowd to start riding him with the usual insults, heckles and personal attacks.

My idea today is something that came up in a conversation I was having, with a client and their team, about the expectations of customer service, or taking care of account relationships.

Symptoms:

Donna hated feeling like this. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t figure out what she was supposed to do when she got back to the office after being out for a couple of days making calls on new prospects and checking up on some existing clients. Her to do list had a bunch of things scribbled on it, but Donna didn’t know which items were most important or when the people she had been talking to were expecting her to follow up.

EDIT:

The Brooklyn program has rescheduled to start on March 20 & 21. 

The Beastie Boys said it best- No sleep ‘til Brooklyn. Growth Dynamics is pleased to announce the return of in-person business development training and will be kicking off in Brooklyn, NY. 

Symptoms:

Abby prided herself on the level of customer service she delivered after the sale, and loved the loyalty her customers expressed to her. That loyalty also had a troubling side and it was beginning to show.

Hey, everybody, this is the fast tip Friday for New Year's week. I really want to throw something out to all of you. I'm going to put myself at risk as I do it.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, whatever else you celebrate. We hope that the next few weeks, or days, however much time you choose to make about the holiday season, is one that you are making the best for yourself. Enjoy the people you want to enjoy. Don't feel pressured to do the things you don't want to do. Make sure you are taking some time for yourself to recharge, refocus, and be ready for 2023.

There are a lot of people who are dominant, driven, perfectionist, say they're never satisfied, in some cases, they're type A personalities, but in some cases, there are also people that if everything isn't perfect, they're never going to be quite happy. This is a message to those people in particular, but I think all of us can get caught up in this game of chasing the horizon.

Situation:

Friday afternoon and Julia’s mind was already on the vacation she had coming up in three weeks. The past week she dealt with the one sales challenge that constantly caused her frustration, and no matter what rebuttals her manager told her to throw back at the prospect the result remained the same; no sales because her price was too high.

Hey, welcome back. I've got a little challenge for some of you out there that are in the business development world, that think it's your job to get your prospects or suspects so excited that they can't say no to your offer.

Symptoms:

Ryan hated the pipeline review meetings his sales manager scheduled every two weeks. These meetings were meant to help the sales team validate the actual work being done towards hitting goals and meeting objectives, but they also helped determine what opportunities really weren’t opportunities at all.

I've got a few topics that we're going to be sharing with you over the next couple of weeks. We are going to focus a little bit, as we get closer to the January 1 date, we're gonna focus a little bit on some goal setting and some goal accomplishment. Not just setting, that's the easy part. So pay attention over the next couple of weeks, I think we will have some good topics for you. Today, here's what I want to talk to you about.

Symptoms:

Bill and Pat were returning from their monthly poker game and while riding back in the car they both agreed they had witnessed a situation that they could apply as a "lesson learned" to their business careers.

Good Monday morning. This is Sarah Waple, general manager of Growth Dynamics, and today we have a special edition, and personal, Monday Morning Manager.

It's time for another Friday Fast Tip. Today we have some insight and hysterical ideas about business development. One of the things I hear about a lot is, "I've got a lousy client, what do I do about it?"

I really want to throw something at you. If you're in business development, I know that there's a lot of pressure and there's that old phrase, ABC, Always Be Closing. And there's a lot of pressure, a lot of people that maybe your managers, your mentors, even the people you respect the most, that are saying, "you've got to learn how to close, you should always learn how to close, always be closing, a lot of pressure to close, get that decision, close the deal".

Hey, welcome back, it's Charlie Hauck, President, CEO, and head trainer at Growth Dynamics. Here is another one of our Friday Fast Tips. Today we have a quick lesson on business development execution.

Symptoms:  

Here it was again. Dracula had no idea where things went sideways. He was sitting on a zoom meeting, black boxes abound, no one talking and not sure how to break this stalemate. The client requested the meeting, requested the zoom format, and promised up and down they would be on, with video, and ready to go. This client was notorious for turning into a ghost on calls. Dracula knew this and it is honestly how he came to be the account manager with this client because the old account manager had enough.   

Hey, welcome back. Here's another Friday Fast Tip from Growth Dynamics. I'm Charlie Hauck, President, CEO, and founder of the business. I love the opportunity to share my thoughts and ideas with all the people out there in the world trying to make a living in the greatest profession of all, business development.

Situation: 

Jackson felt that lump in his throat and just wanted to scream. Big Shot Bob of ABC Engineering did it again; he promised Jackson he would keep his appointment this time after three cancellations or no shows, but his admin was apologizing for Bob not being available once again. Because ABC was one of the biggest firms in the metropolitan area, Jackson just could not bring himself to share his anger at being stood up once again.

Hey, welcome to another Friday Fast Tip. Today's topic is something that seems to have come up a few places recently and I don't like to ignore a karmic message and try to outsmart it. So, here's today's topic - What happens at eight o'clock does not matter at ten o'clock, particularly if you're in business development.

Situation: 

Dewey is a prolific prospector. Like the sun rising in the east, you can count on Dewey making more sales calls than anyone on his employer’s sales team. No matter where he goes, Dewey will find someone to talk to about his products and services.

Hey, how is everybody out there? Thanks for tuning in to Fast Tip Friday from Growth Dynamics, this is Charlie Hauck. I've been running into a lot of conversations recently with my clients and some other people that I do business with and it's centered around this idea of understanding people.

Situation: 

It drove Izzy crazy, and he had no clue what to do about it. Day after day, email after email, Izzy sent messages that were honest, professional and ineffective. His subject lines told the truth in short comfortable requests for the recipient to please read the message. In short, Izzy felt like all his email correspondence was going into black hole where no one read them or responded to them. He knew that getting some traction with his new line of beverages would be a challenge, but this was downright agony. Was everyone in the world so cold and callous that they just did not bother to send a reply, even if it was thanks, no thanks? 

I want to talk about a little sales strategy here and it's something that over the 30 plus years that I've been in this business, is one of the things that sort of annoys me more than anything else that I hear business development people doing out there. They do what I call "drive-by disqualify". They decide that it's not worth it to make that call, to pull into that driveway, to knock on the door, to go ask someone to have a business conversation.

Situation: 

You just realized that you sell a commodity, and all that feature and benefit propaganda the Research and Development specialists fed you sounds exactly like the competitor’s features and benefits. Now you must find a way to re-invent yourself so that you are not just another “me, too” person trying to schedule a sales call here, there, and everywhere.

It's time for another one of those Friday fast tips from Growth Dynamics. I'm Charlie Hauck, President and CEO of the organization and I want to bring up a topic that I'm sure a lot of you've heard about in your professional and personal lives. I want to take another stab at the idea of the value of time and getting things done.

Symptoms:

Have you ever been part of a sales call where there seemed to be little structure, where both parties seemed to be on different pages, where expectations were not met, and little was accomplished? Even worse, you expected something positive to occur but simply got a lukewarm response such as, "I need to think it over. Call me in a few days." Opportunities are squandered and the buyer seems to be in control.

Hey, I've got kind of an offbeat topic to talk to you about today. Real quickly, I want to bring up this idea of what we call, "wishy-washy" language.

Symptoms:

"Bulldog" was his nickname and he was proud of it. Guido spent years proving that no one could escape him once he made you a prospect.

Hey, welcome back, everybody. It's nice to have taken a couple of weeks break, gotten away from things for a little bit. I needed to vacation. I feel reenergized and back to offer another Fast Tip Friday moment from Growth Dynamics.

Symptoms:

Matt is looking at his calendar and doing some planning, knowing that many things he does look too much like random acts of mindless behavior. Looking back on past months, he feels like he was scrambling and playing catch up all the time instead of having that feeling that he had some deliberate control of his actions. He wants to get back that feeling of being on a roll, where it's like running downhill instead of uphill all the time.