I’m on the phone so frustrated with my printing facility because they are not recognizing the postal code for Copenhagen. I spent forever trying to get all the workbooks entered and if I press the back button, it will all disappear. Did I sign up to be printing coordinator?

I was ready for a quite summer and then I suddenly got this call from my client who wanted to move fast and furious on a global training initiative to train their global seasoned inside sales teams and incorporate my TeleSmart 10 system. We just finished training their new hire teams and now the others wanted training too- Oh, and this all had to happen before the end of October.

All over the world, it had to happen before the end of October. Especially in the Middle East (Cairo and Dubai) it had to happen before Ramadam. While one of my trainers, Martha is shopping for appropriate training attire for Dubai, I’m revising content, coordinating trainers who want to have no life for two months, updating content, sending out student workbooks, reviewing feedback and making sure all global needs get met.

And then I glance at the spreadsheet and read all these dates, trainers and locations:
US- Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Raleigh
Europe- Italy, France, Denmark, Belgium, London, Amsterdam, Italy, Spain, Portugal
Emerging-Cairo, Dubai, Warsaw, Athens, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Croatia, Poland, Prague, Germany, Israel
AsiaPac-Singapore, Korea, Sydney, Shanghai, Bangkok, Bangalore

That’s my stuff traveling all over the world with trainers who are carrying the torch- thank you.

Today I get to talk about one of my favorite topics- tune in for the Sell to the People with the Power to Buy webinar from 10-11:am PST.  What is the deal with these No-Po’s and why are they slowing down our sales?

Find out why there are so many of them around today, how to recognize them, what titles they have, why we are drawn to them and how hard they work at protecting their turf.

How do you anticipate change? Sometimes it creeps up on you and other times it stares right at you. We can plan for change and finally we see it so close that we want to change our mind and keep driving the straight and comfortable path. Other times, you are ready to get off that exit because you know your life will never be the same again. 

Many times I am asked to train about something that will be changing. It’s not happening yet but will be- it doesn’t make much sense does it? Then the people in my training give me this blank stare and then start listing all the ways it won’t happen and that’s fine. Because by the time they figure it out, new rules will change everything.

So when someone says they don’t like change, what does that mean? I think it just means they want change to happen on their own terms. Sort of like controlled change- you control it. When I watch early adopters jump so fast to change, they tend to regret it. Yet the ones who move slower, stick to it longer.

I made a big change today and it was a change I resisted for many years. I made every excuse why it would not work and I simply was not ready for it. Today, I took that change exit and it felt right. It was part of my journey and it was the most positive way for me to see this change.

Things have changed drastically in inside sales today and one of the biggest changes is how much the buyer controls the buying and education cycle. It’s more and more on their terms these days. Does the “what the customer wants the customer gets” philosophy still exist. You’ve got to check out Office Max’s YouTube videos that Duct Tape Marketing is featuring and watch a customer who insists on paying for everything with his pennies, it’s hysterical.

Inside sales has come from big changes, here are a few:

From providing admistrative support for the field to now driging an integrated sales team

From being focused on the beginning part of the sales process to working on the entire sales process

From marketing silo versus sales silo to synchronizing marketing and sales efforts

From calling off list rentals to increasing lead generation and cultivation

From high efficiency versus high touch to creating multiple touch points with various messaging channels

From controlling wha the buyer knows to buyers who educate themselves before engaging a salesperson

From operational efficiency to operational optimization

From flyikng during and coordinating meeting schedules to engaging anytime, anywhere

From selling under $25K to closing up to $2million by phone

Frm product specialist to LOB specialist

From forecast probability to forecast predictability

From pipelie volume to pipeline shape and velocity

From mass prospecting that builds a linear funnel to building social networks

From managing by what your reps say to managing to what the prospect says

I remember weeks before my daughter was born, everyone called to remind me how my life would change. I read books about it and couldn’t imagine what it would feel like. It’s one of those huge changes that impacts your life, values and who you are.  You measure your life in terms of what came Before or what came After and in this case it would be BB or AB  which stands for ”Before Briana” or “After Briana.”

My kitchen remodel starts next week and as my sister said today, “you’ll become part the conversation in the kitchen remodel circle.” Suddenly I’m talking granite countertops and Marmoleum floors and understanding how frameless cabinets actually drive up the installation costs. I know more about circuit breakers that I ever imagined.

And I’m so close to getting either a Blackberry of iPhone, I still can’t decide and have held off for so long. My life will be radically different with this new tool. It’s silly when I write a response email and mention that I will be out the rest of the week and will have email and phone availability- isn’t that just assumed. It sounds so redundant and outdated.

And…my book. Today I met with my developmental editor to talk about a workable schedule for the rest of this year. My work and my business will be much more public and exposed. People I don’t know will decide to write a review on Amazon about my book. My business will take on a new focus and I will compare it also to the BB and AB- this time meaning “Before the Book” and “After the Book.”

When we stand on the edge of change that threatens your lifestyle and values, it can be terrifying and potentially disorienting. I want to run to the comfort zone, call my mom, eat macaroni and cheese, listen to Joni Mitchell and smell summer barbeque. We want what is familiar, easy, safe and predictable when we are facing huge changes in our lives.

And then we take that leap- we jump off the high board and never look back. Suddenly it all feels very right.