A forum for sales professionals with ideas and techniques to make sales success a habit.   

Riding Wales through the London Blog

Hello everyone, David from Criteria for Success here. I am really excited to talk about a recent trip Charles and I took to see a client. The reason this is so exciting is that we delivered our two-day Sales Intensive Training in Wales.

Prior to making our way to Wales we stayed in Russell Square in London. It was there we did a little sightseeing. From the Tower of London to the Houses of Parliament, it was amazing to see the rich history and breathtaking landscapes. From English Breakfasts to Fish and Chips, the food was equally amazing.

My personal favorite was visiting the Tower of London. It was there I was able to see the Crown Jewels and interior of the castle. Truly an eye-opening experience, good thing I was able to have historic narration by one of the castle’s “Beefeaters.”
After a short drive we arrived in Wales. The old town atmosphere and rolling hills was reminiscent of beauty only seen in films. What was even more astonishing was the fact we stayed at an old castle that was converted into a hotel. This would be the scene where Charles and I would deliver a powerful training.
Throughout the two days, we challenged our clients to throw away their features and benefits and concentrate on their prospects. We did this through practical application of our proprietary “Philosophy and Mechanics,” intense role-practices, and exercises that would begin development of their Sales Playbook.

Every participant was actively engaged throughout the two days. Moreover, they were friendly as could be as we wandered through an unfamiliar country. Most importantly, they received a tremendous amount of value and expressed their gratitude in the end, with gracious comments and brilliant questions.
All in all, this was a memorable journey that I am sure we will not soon forget!


Cheers!

Cold Call Antifreeze

Hello everyone! It’s David with Criteria for Success (CFS) and I am here to announce an exciting addition to CFS and its offerings.

We are in the midst of finalizing our “Call Stations”. What are “Call Stations” you ask? Call Stations are individual work stations within Criteria for Success that provide you with everything you need to perform highly effective, phone related prospecting. Each station will be equipped with

  • A laptop containing commonly used office products and internet
  • An IP voiceover solution
  • Mounted LCD to display a Dashboard (a dashboard shows statistics including number of calls, leads, tip of the day and phone scripts)
  • Additional resources such as, a network printer, supplies, etc.

What does all of this mean? It means, you can receive expert on the spot coaching about call techniques, prospecting strategies and pipeline management, all during the same session. Through the IP phone solution, things such as call monitoring and even interjecting to coach, can all be done in real-time without the other person on the line knowing. This will make for an interactive “in the trench” learning experience while being effective in a “live” situation.

To construct a program, all you would need is a team that focuses on phone prospecting and an hour or two to come to CFS each week. This is also a great way to measure our results and see firsthand, how we can impact your business!

To learn more about this new offering or to customize your own program contact us.

Criteria for Success Goes Wiki, Crowd Goes Wild.

The Beauty & The Beast. The Sword & The Stone. And now, Criteria for Success is proud to announce, The Wiki & The Playbook.

After months of searching for the ideal platform on which to host our Sales Playbook product we have finally found a worthy solution, and that solution is Wiki. Wiki is a web based technology that allows users to quickly and easily make changes to a website as easily as they would using a word processing program.

A Wiki is the ideal standard for any collaborative document, which our Playbook really should be viewed as.
Collaborating effectively using traditional software based systems, such as something as simple as a word document, is still an arduous process. A wiki removes many of the barriers to effective collaboration by allowing multiple users to make edits to their playbook in real time. It allows for the idea that the collective sum of knowledge and ability in any group vastly outweighs that of any individual’s.

What this means for both Criteria for Success and our clients is that it is easier for us as a team to create and deliver our playbook product. However, where the value truly lies, is in the fact that as a Wiki a Sales Playbook will never be finished. Once the foundations are laid the individuals actually using it on a day to day basis can make additions that they believe to be valuable. This allows the Playbook to constantly refine itself to reflect best selling practices in the organization.

Oh, and plans for The Wiki & The Playbook Disney classic movie are in the works!

Washington D.C. Trip

Hello everyone, David from Criteria for Success here. Let me ask you a question. What do you do after a busy period at your organization? What do you do to unwind with your second family (co-workers)? At Criteria for Success, we take a little field trip and this past adventure brought us to our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.

As you can see, we started our trip with an informative ride on the Trolley tour. As we passed each street we learned about the rich history that is literally on every block. In particular, driving by every embassy was awe inspiring and impressive. As we toured the different neighborhoods, this little red bus would bring us to our first destination, The Spy Museum.

Once inside the Museum, we learned many interesting facts about the history of espionage around the world. Everything from what our C.I.A. has used, to different operations around the world. It was astonishing to discover the impact spies had throughout the course of history. Especially when most of us associate a spy with a Bond movie or T.V. show we used to watch. Most of the technology they used has been improved upon over the years and is used in so many facets of life today. I encourage anyone in the neighborhood to check it out for themselves at www.spymuseum.org.

Next stop, the Monuments! Thomas Jefferson stood tall with “We the people…” etched on the wall next to him. Abraham Lincoln sat in his massive chair, overlooking the Reflecting Pool which we have all seen a million times in movies and more. Questions danced in our heads such as “How do they maintain these massive statues?”

Although Franklin and Lincoln were impressive, it was the Franklin D. Roosevelt monument that was truly breathtaking. As we walked through each section, it outlined his accomplishments and dreams, for each term he served as president. Within each section there was a waterfall, and each waterfall became more elaborate as we moved through his impressive monument.
 
The last monument we visited was the Vietnam Memorial. Words could never describe the large wall stretched outward with thousand of names etched in it. After viewing such a powerful tribute, you can’t help but have an increased appreciation for those who gave their lives for us.

All in all, it was a great day filled with rich history and fun! Although my legs felt like Jell-o and I lost 10 pounds from walking 12 hours, nothing could replace my experience at our nation’s capital with some of the people I am closest with, Criteria for Success!

So if you’ve been working hard and going 200 miles an hour at work, grab a few co-workers you’re close with and take a relaxing day trip. If you’re going to work hard, you should also play hard. Until next time, Happy Summer everyone!                                  

 

Intern Insights - Week 1

After only four lightening quick days on the job here at Criteria for Success I am comfortable saying that my enjoyment of this summer will not be kept exclusively to its weekends. What has been the most pleasantly surprising aspect is the level of involvement to which I am attributed. Only three hours into my first day I was brought into our 2 hour weekly planning meeting where I observed and learned more about consulting and the organizational process that goes into running a business than I had at any other point in my education to date.


Before and after the variety of meetings I have attended I have also been assigned an equally diverse number of tasks. To list them all would be an exercise in pointlessness, and while they do include tasks typical of an intern, they have kept me busy without boredom and have helped bring me up to speed with Criteria for Success’ practices, organizational methods and clients.

One particularly exciting project I have been directly involved with is helping to develop the long awaited and anticipated Criteria for Success Playbook, for both our own internal use and for our clients. We have made strides in moving the playbook from an internal file format to a restricted web based platform. We feel that this will allow a greater ease of access and contribution to the playbook. This, in turn, will allow all of those involved to fully realize not only its potential, but also the potential of their own sales team as they continuously add their own insights that they will undoubtedly derive through their own sales experience.


In an effort to keep it brief I will wrap up this entry by saying that I hope that each of the following eight weeks will be as interesting as the first. I have no doubt that as the weeks go by the level of responsibility that I am assigned will increase, and with that so will the education that I will take away from my time working here at Criteria for Success.

By Mike Moore