Indicator Blog

Supporting Women in Sales Leadership

Abbie Takle — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 20:45:10 GMT

I have been fortunate in my sales career to have had supportive managers, empathetic leaders and mentors who have encouraged and coached me up the ladder into leadership positions. The interesting fact is, bar one of these leaders, they were all male. According to a recent article by BCG there are fewer women leaders in sales than any other business function, other than supply chain and logistics. There is no doubt I sell differently to my male colleagues, not better or worse, just different, and upon reflection I think this is largely due to my gender, rather than my approach to life. This has not been without conflict and challenges, I assure you!

Cadence - Are you feeling it?

mike@indicator.co.nz (Mike Stokes) — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 00:58:08 GMT

Cadence. My favourite word in sales.

As a sales leader if you have built a strong sales cadence within your team you are likely to be successful, if you haven’t, work might feel a bit hectic, difficult and unenjoyable.

Chasing Big Sales.

mike@indicator.co.nz (Mike Stokes) — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 04:02:18 GMT

4 words for you...Be like David Attenborough.

Having inspired millions, there are many things we can learn from David Attenborough even when it comes to securing big sales, surprisingly.

Structure for the New Norm

mike@indicator.co.nz (Mike Stokes) — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 01:20:30 GMT

Back in the days when social distancing was something we did after curry night and border control was a mid-week show on TV1, I spent some time with a company that was debating the structure of their sales team and the value that their salespeople were bringing to the organisation. The business was growing nicely but they questioned if this was based on their industry rather than the talents and efforts of their sales team. What we discovered was enlightening.

It's our time to shine

mike@indicator.co.nz (Mike Stokes) — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 23:13:13 GMT

With the government announcing that the lockdown brakes are starting to be released, sales and marketing people should be preparing to play a vital role for businesses and ultimately the country’s economic future.

New Zealand’s return to some sort of normality will be staggered over a period of weeks and months, and the situation in which each individual company finds itself in will be different. There will likely be disruptions within your own company – roles and structures will need to be adjusted, jobs may sadly have to be shed, or may already have been.

The familiar phrase that has led us through the crisis, ‘We are all in this together’ is something which continues to resonate and should be top of mind when addressing your customers. We are all in a similar position and empathy, space and understanding will go a long way.

The road ahead

mike@indicator.co.nz (Mike Stokes) — Sun, 05 Apr 2020 22:40:59 GMT

Firstly, I need to acknowledge how challenging the past couple of weeks have been for most people in business. The sad reality is that many companies will not survive these times and roles will be lost. Personally, I have spent the last 2 weeks talking to clients and contacts who have all been affected in different ways. There is shock, disbelief and hopelessness out there, but there is also pragmatism and optimism. This is not an article, however, about doom and gloom, it’s an article about the opportunities that are in front of us in the months ahead. The game has changed, and for many that means things are getting interesting.

What lies ahead in 2020?

mike@indicator.co.nz (Mike Stokes) — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 20:23:41 GMT

We have just undertaken our third Mood of the Sales Leader survey, which captures insights from NZ sales leaders around performance, challenges and expectations for the year ahead. Along with the expected findings, surveys always throw up surprises, and this year was no different.

What was the biggest challenge faced by NZ sales leaders in 2019? According to our latest Mood of the Sales Leader report, it was competition. What is the biggest risk to sales performance in 2020? Once again, the survey showed it is competition. View the full report

Does one of these sound familiar?

mike@indicator.co.nz (Mike Stokes) — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 01:44:03 GMT

I met someone a few years ago who told me his business was so successful that he couldn’t imagine it being any better. I didn’t believe him but told him if that was the case then he should sell it.

I have certainly never seen perfection, and I might struggle to say that I have seen the excellence that companies are apparently all looking to achieve.

One of the benefits of doing what we do is that we get to have a look under the hoods of many different companies to see who is doing well in the world of sales, and who isn’t doing particularly well.

A good lesson to learn

mike@indicator.co.nz (Mike Stokes) — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 22:58:28 GMT

Several years ago my wife and I enlisted a real estate agent to sell a house. The transaction went well, however, the agent made one fundamental mistake that taught me a valuable lesson and cost him any future referrals from us. As soon as the transaction was finished, we never saw that agent again. No thank you card, no wine, not even a thanks for your business. The last time I spoke to him was on the phone at the lawyer’s office to confirm the completion of the deal. We believe the agent made a mistake with his lack of follow through on what was obviously a significant transaction for us. It was a small thing, but something we haven’t forgotten even 10 years on. We have told that story many times and I can guarantee it has cost this agent opportunities.

Are you leaving a lot on the table

mike@indicator.co.nz (Mike Stokes) — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 22:28:58 GMT

The MD of a company recently approached us and was frustrated with his sales team’s performance. He believed when he started the business he had more sales success than his team, even though he only spent 10 percent of his time on selling. He couldn’t understand why his team wasn’t performing better.

Another recent conversation was with the CEO of another business who was frustrated at the quality of the clients the sales team were introducing. Ostensibly there didn’t appear to be major issues as the business was growing nicely, but it was on the back of industry growth rather than quality sales work. Simple analysis showed the sales team spent a huge amount of their time visiting clients who were small and purchased tiny amounts, and had very little room for growth. Every time the salesperson visited these clients it was costing the company money.