Anneli Thomson, MD of Sandler Training Oxford tells us why we all need to eat more frogs!
One of the most engaging elements of the ConnectingDoorz meetings is the guest development speakers we have join us and share their knowledge, expertise and experience. We call this part of our meetings ‘Lightbulb Moments’ as ConnectingDoorz members often take away valuable insights, ideas and motivation for their own businesses.
We were lucky enough to welcome Anneli Thomson, MD of Sandler Training Oxford, to our group in early January. The ethos behind Sandler Training is to create lasting ‘performance improvement’ rather than the motivational ‘quick fix’ typical of many seminar-based training efforts which they do using their blended approach. To start they take a deep look at your processes, systems & people and what challenges you face. Only then do they guide you towards a potential solution.
Their development processes are tough but for the right companies they help hire winners, increase average order values and size and develop strong robust leadership, enabling them to reach the summit of their sales ambition.
Anneli works specifically with ambitious companies to help their leadership team and sales force reach their potential. She joined Sandler in 2007 and has been helping clients with the handholds to real strategic sales growth in their businesses ever since. In summing up her job Anneli says; “I never dreamed that helping Managing Directors reach new heights with their teams, whether sales, customer service or management could be so rewarding.”
She is a champagne obsessive, amateur triathlete and is addicted to dangerous winter sports.
Anneli shared the lessons she has learnt from working with a wide range of companies who came to Sandler Training for help and what she now recommends to others.
Here are her top tips that ConnectingDoorz members all agreed had switched lightbulbs on for them in their own businesses:
Make yourself a premium brand!
Think about why you are happy to pay more for certain brands over others. For example, it could be the coffee you drink. What is it about that particular brand that makes you feel it is worth paying more for? Apply those principles to your own business to position yourself as a premium brand that your clients will be happy to pay top rate for.
Swallow your frog!
Drawing on inspiration from the bestselling book ‘Eat that Frog!’ by Brian Tracy, Anneli tells all her clients to front load their day and week with the tasks they are most likely to procrastinate on. In this way, they get the difficult/challenging tasks out of the way and can focus on the things that inspire them. There is also a great psychological benefit to front loading – you’ll feel accomplished and inspired. That’s great motivation!
Go Green and Super Green!
A green goal is the minimum achievement you wish to make. A super green goal is a stretch and you possibly won’t meet it but in aiming high you are much more likely to achieve the lower goal. This approach to goal setting is like working on a stretchy band and it has the brilliant advantage of ensuring that you never feel like you’ve failed!
Be active!
Anneli recommends always having 3-5 active prospecting sources on your radar. These are prospective sales that you need to work at developing and converting. These help keep you sharp and non-complacent. She gave us her insights into how to make that first call to a new prospect – how to open winningly and to keep the conversation going. It’s a really difficult thing to do and definitely something people procrastinate with! Anneli recommends that when making a ‘cold call’ you need to get the objective clear in your head; it isn’t a sales call but a next steps call, perhaps to a face to face meeting.
Track Everything!
Track all your prospects for at least 3 months. This gives you valuable data about what works and what doesn’t. Remember, every lost sale is a learning experience to do it better next time!