I want to go back to that fun brewery I went to last night- where lots of happy people sat around consuming large amounts of beer in oversized mugs.   It all started at 8:30 in the morning, here is Boebligan when they brought in some giant pretzels with coffee and juice for breakfast. What’s this? No bagels? Donuts? Muffins? Not in Germany, pretzels are their morning delicacy and they are proud of it. Especially when they put butter inside them 

This week I get to deliver the training program that I’ve been developing for the past 6-7 months. It’s designed for support engineers and technicians who must increase their customer soft skills. The content focuses on phone and email skills throughout the resolution process. The way it works is that I deliver it for a few days and then watch them deliver it for a few days. It is always gratifying teaching soft skills to technical engineers who haven’t had as much exposure to it. I get to watch lightbulbs go off and listen to team members articulate their new skills. 

Agilent has flown a dozen managers from all over Europe to learn how to deliver this program. This group is eager, motivated, extremely professional and human. It is so refreshing being around people who have been with their companies for a minimum of 7 years and counting. It’s like the old days of employment when you knew you were in there for the long haul and didn’t look to quit or react over every wrong turn your organization took.

Things feel orderly being here- they come together and work.  I strive for a new level of excellence and professionalism- maybe the pretzels are working!

I was born in Italy and lived there for 12 years.  I still speak my Italian but more like a 12 year old adolescent who wants attention. My first language is French, which I speak fluently. Next week I will be in Germany delivering training and certifying a team of trainers on my customized program. Somehow, I feel at home in Europe; its a home I left many years ago that I’ve returned to visit.

It is so gratifying to be in a place in my professional life where I can travel to Europe and train.  The cultural differences are manageable and there is a familiarity that is sensible and inviting. I train in English and after the teams are certified on my program, they usually translate it for their countries.

The entire week, it’s about all the countries coming together to learn the material. And yet each country holds the program in a unique and necessary way. The Germans provide the analysis and detail while the Spaniards are proud and have a sense of humor. The French are classy and great skeptics while the Italians are charming and have a easy going sense of timing, the Scandinavians don’t waste any time and when they speak, it’s important. The Brits bring their dry humor and level of excellence while the Italians bring their charm and their messaging. The Israelis are determined and pragmatic and the American choreographs this dance.

As I stir this cultural melting pot, I must maintain a keen sense of awareness and learn how to separate skill deficiencies from cultural deficiencies. So when a participant says, “we could never do that in our country” I must understand their culture or their resistance to the new skill which is hiding.

On Saturday night, I felt so distraught with the oil spill that I went to a meeting to learn what I could do to volunteer and help. I listened to angry, disgruntled people rant about wanting to volunteer in the rescue efforts. Since I regularly paddle on the San Francisco Bay, this hit home for me.

So there I sat with a few hundred volunteers feeling angry and extremely frustrated. Our frustration was shared by all as we wanted to help but couldn’t- too many volunteers and no volunteer strategy in place. One woman in the audience said “we want to do something now” and another said “use us, we are here to help.”

As I sat and watched and listened to these heated discussions, I kept thinking about how demotivating it can be to underutilize people and their talents. We all want to make a contribution and help but when the expectations are unclear or the strategy hasn’t been designed, we feel useless, underutilized and plain frustrated. People got up to leave and walked out upset while others tried to sign petitions and others kept complaining.

Meanwhile, we’ve learned that 58,000 gallons spilled in the bay and more than 12,000 have been recovered.  511 oiled birds that have been rescued but 403 have died. A fundraiser has been announced and there’s more information on how to help.

It’s been 18 months and 388 blog posts since I first ventured into the blogsphere. Today, my writing life is full and my blog is my business partner, my confidante, my inspiration and my mirror. 

Why do I blog? Mainly because I love to write and communicate my thoughts, ideas and values to the world.  I like to get up close and personal with inside sales people as well as field sales, service and support teams.

Sometimes I think I’m moving very slow on a highway that is racing. Other times, I feel I’m speeding in a 25 miles per hour zone. Today I am going at exactly the right pace.

I want to dedicate this blog posting to YOU. Thanks for stopping by and reading a post or two, thanks for the time you take to read and comment, thanks for your kind words of support and most of all, thanks for being my inspiration. 

I have compiled my top 50 list of favorite blog post- here is the best of the Life in the Telebusiness Blog:

1. Setting Appointments.

2.  Get More Live Voices

3. Change up your messaging

4. Oops, when you realize you’re in the wrong place

5. When someone goes radio silent on you

6. 5 ways to set your non-negotiable time

7. The Dynamic Duo

8. Keep in shape

9. Clues we lose

10. Telestressed?

11. 8 reasons to test your phone courage

12. Email rejections

13. Changes lead to uncertainty of power

14. Listening for red flags

15. Are any No-Po’s lingering in your forecast?

16. Learning your No-Po lacks power before they do

17. Betrayed by No-Po’s?

18. I just have one more question

19. When a No-Po has to protect their turf

20. Winning coaching qualities

21. Are you avoiding being coached?

22. Sales intuition

23. The cancelled sales appointment

24. Is voice mail in or out?

25. Key words and phrases that lack influence

26. Trend talk

27. Sales training is like going into rehab

28. The first few times it’s tough and then it gets easier

29. Are salespeople happy?

30. Notes on motivation

31. Mr. Unavailable is a No-Po

32. Sales yoga

33. Tuesday conversation with a No-Po

34. You finally get the appointment, now what?

35. Let’s talk about trust

36. Different messages= different titles

37. End of quarter sales stats

38. Watch out- it’s the No-Po entourage

39. You sound busy so I’ll let you go

40. 10 tactics for engaging a gate-keeper

41. Looking for motivation in all the wrong places

42. Unavailable power

43. When was the last time you…..

44. Sales 2.0 prospecting

45. Opt-out of desperate discounting

46. The 3 C’s of social networking

47. Sales 2.0; A Report from the front lines

48. Top 7 responses impatient salespeople hate to hear

49. What’s on your wish list?

50. Why do we can people who have no power?

I was just talking with Ron Hubsher, a friend of mine who owns the Sales Optimization Group and also delivers sales training. Then I watched him on Selling Power’s Daily Report. I’m very impressed that Gerhard is so ahead of his time with these videos. Pretty cool people are on it such as Seth Godin, Jim Cathcart, Linda Richardson. So I ask Gerhard, what about moi?

I’m still working on getting my act together filiming myself on my digital camera so I can provide you with the Inside Sales 2.0 Trend Talk video blog because I’m still so inspired by what Roxanne has done with Beach Walks with Rox video blog.  I have a vision for it and will make it happen- stay tuned.

I have a lot of empathy for Sales Training Directors. They are chartered with a big task they must execute on and their reputation is on the line. The worst part is they are hounded by these aggressive, slimey, pushy, arrogant, sales training vendors that stalk them on a daily basis. Of course, I’m not included in that pack- I don’t even own a grey trenchcoat:)

Since Inside Sales is on the radar, every training company wants to offer curriculum for this audience. However, not many know enough about this unique demographic. The major training vendors out there are saying, oh yeah we have a telesales track. And they pull it out of the bag like it’s a new Rolex watch they are selling or a Kate Spade knock-off. You can’t do it and get away with it. Especially when you are surrounded by inside sales champions who can be the toughest audience.

So, I’ve desiged a 20-question checklist that sales training directors can ask when they are sourcing a vendor:

1. Does this vendor have a strong understanding of inside sales? From a department and infrastructure perspective and understands how to sell from various models — inbound, outbound, direct, and indirect?
2. Does this vendor deliver telephone sales skills that demonstrate a required set of action-oriented behaviors — far more than merely “etiquette on the phone?”
3. Does this vendor offer a wide variety of curriculum skills that span throughout the entire sales cycle and not just questioning or closing skills?
4. Does this vendor offer both on-line (email) and phone curriculum since inside sales is focused on both?
5. Does this vendor offer shorter training modules so your teams are not taken off the phones for long periods of time and can retain more information when it is delivered in smaller byte-sized pieces?
6. Does this vendor incorporate call recordings into the training?
7. Does this vendor design training for maximum skills retention and coaching to accelerate selling effectiveness - immediately?
8. Does this vendor design training programs for inside sales managers who came from being an individual contributor and now must drive revenue with their team?
9. Does this vendor have a credible track record of being on the front-line of inside sales for 15-20 years?
10. Does this training vendor have a client list which includes inside sales training as their primary offering and not field sales or customer service?
11. Does this vendor have a client list that demonstrates ROI success in the high-tech sector?
12. Does this vendor demonstrate the personalized, consultative, flexible and knowledgeable approach?
13. Does this vendor understand how to provide highly interactive, energetic topics for sales audiences which usually have a 10-second attention span?
14. Does this vendor have a strong global presence and understand how to differentiate between skills and culture differences?
15. Does this vendor require minimal supervision and can they hit the ground running with timely and relevant training?
16. Does this vendor have a strong understanding of the various sales training methodologies and provide a complementary tactical solution?
17. Does this vendor offer a new hire training track and realizes the pressures of faster ramp-up time today?
18. Does this vendor customize curriculum for you and not provide you with off-the-shelf dated material?
19. Does this vendor understand the unique nuances and skill requirements in developing inside sales talent?
20. Does this vendor “walk their talk” in terms of developing their own business?

Whenever I want blog content inspiration, I check out Patricia Digh’s 37 days blog. She references a great clip on YouTube taken on the Paris metro by Naturally 7 group. She is always so eloquent and asks what do we do when beauty springs up in unexpectant places? Such a great question to ask on this beautiful sunny Monday morning.

I’m reminded of a time when I conducted training in the middle of winter for this large company based in a small town in Indiana. They didn’t even have a Starbucks or Kinko’s so my tolerance ran low. I was obviously out of my element for many more reasons as I had to quickly adjust my language, appearance, habits, etc. Taking it down about 10 years as I watched those around me and became convinced I had just walked into a time warp.

The training went okay and luckily sales skills are concepts everyone can relate to and understand. However, there was one older woman, we’ll call her Madge,  in the group who was a lot slower than the rest. She asked irrelevant questions, didn’t seem to listen too much and clearly was stuck in her old comfort habits. Madge was very nice but could not keep up with the rest of the group- let alone demonstrate revenue-generating potential.

That day when the training ended, we were hit with a huge snowstorm and everyone was warned to quickly return home because the forecast showed it getting worst. We ran to the parking lot to get our cars and my giant rented SUV which looked like a massive tractor was sitting in the lot completely covered in snow. Okay, I’m an urban California girl who maybe sees snow once every few years when someone has the patience to watch me do the bunny slopes in Tahoe. I don’t even know what gear to switch into when I’m in a car surrounded by snow. I panicked but had to keep my “I’m in control because I’m the trainer and communications expert” persona going. 

Suddenly, there’s Madge dressed in her full snow suit and boots holding a large snow shovel. She briskly walked through the parking lot flagging cars down, shoveling snow off car windows and redirecting traffic out of the parking lot. Their safety was her priority and she made sure to take care of everyone in the lot before getting in her car.

Although Madge may have shown weakness in a classroom training session, she became the super hero of the parking lot that day. That was beauty that sprung up for me in an unexpected way.

What is rehab really? An image change? A detox opportunity? A PR move? Bottom line, it’s an attempt to improve yourself and deal with an addiction. The amount of time people spend in rehab is interesting; we’ve witnessed many varieties lately from one day to many months. But what happens after rehab? Are they cured of their addictions? Have their lives changed? How are they different?

Last week, I conducted training for an extremely sharp group of inside salespeople. They reluctantly came into this training the way most celebrities reluctantly go into rehab. They were defensive, questioned my authority, asked how many breaks they would get, when lunch was, and were upset that their managers scheduled this training, especially since they were out last week for more training.

My job starts when I begin a two-day training with groups like this. I ask them to shut off their phones, laptops and BlackBerrys for 2 whole days. My content and curriculum is organized for ADD-type behaviors and everything must be relevant, fast and interactive. It’s the 3-second attention-span rule. I work hard at creating a shift for them and encouraging them to see and think differently by creating valuable ”ah-ha” moments.

Once the training has ended, they feel motivated, committed and excited to try their new ideas. They are ready to get back out there; to go out into the unforgiving world of selling and prospecting for new business. Just like walking out of rehab, they make a choice to practice the new principles they’ve just learned or to go back to old habits which may sabotage their sales success.

Rehab, just like Sales Training, is a check-in point in your life. It’s a time to stop and look at past behaviors, actions, performance drivers and understand what is working and what no longer works. What you walk in with is directly what you will walk out with.

 “I amsterdam” is a new positioning statement to assert Amsterdam into the international arena. It’s a great marketing campaign as it clearly brands how unique Amsterdam is. I’ve been visiting museums all day–checked out the Van Gogh museum today. What a talented and emotionally tortured soul he was. The differences in his paintings, which largely depended on his moods, are amazing. Here’s a question: what type of salesperson would Van Gogh be? Probably pretty high maintenance, not too competitive but highly influential.

I walked through Anne Frank’s house and spent time in the annex where they went into hiding in 1942. It felt very surreal being in that house trying to imagine what it must have been like for the 7 people hiding in there. You get a real sense of the isolation and fear they experienced on a daily basis.

So my hotel is in Dam Square, a centralized location, and nearby is the famous prostitute section called the Red Light District. I like how Nick Middleton describes this district in his Travels as a Brussels Scout book. It’s a real scene walking down this narrow pathway with canals in between, women in windows all dressed up and ready.

This week I’m here to certify a dozen trainers on my TeleSmart 10 sales methodology. They are coming from all over–Germany, Italy, Amsterdam, AsiaPac, US–and it will be great fun to put all these talented people together and work on a common theme. Cheers!

The TeleSmart 10 training program is 2-day training program. I used to deliver training for 90 minutes per topic (10 topics) or half day sessions and combine a few topics. I was the first to discourage long training sessions and beieved it would take team members off the phones for too long. I’ve changed my mind, my approach and my recommendations. Here are the top 3 reasons why a 2-day training program works:

1. It creates stronger cohesiveness with the teams

2. More opportunities to role-play and practice the new skills

3. Team members can digest it and apply it immediately

Now for the tough part and the biggest payoff: I don’t believe in death by powerpoint. My training is not about dimming the lights and watching 70 slides for 2 days. It’s about turning off laptops, cell phones, blackberries and showing up to learn. Participating in my training is essential and everyone walks away with more than they walked in with.

I ask for a lot and more- I believe in stretching yourself if you want to fully develop. When each person walks into my training, they turn off their electronics and tune in.