Sysco Sales Leader Power Boost Series

Sysco Sales Leader™ Power Boost Series

Techniques of World Class Managers

About the PowerBooster Series

The Sysco™ Sales Leader PowerBooster series is a set of four programs divided into two, 2-hr. topics for delivery either alone as a quick skill enhancer in a team meeting, or as part of a complete series. Each session is full of engaging tips and tools designed to help DSM’s target exactly what’s needed to take their Marketing Associates to a level of maximum performance and productivity.

Recommended Order:

  Techniques of World Class Managers

  Hiring and Leading a Powerhouse Team

  Influencing and Retaining the Best

  Fatal Flaws Sales Managers Can Make

  Confusing Communications and Ignoring Change

  Unclear Goals and Time Management Death Traps

  Managing in the Productive Selling Zone

  Twelve SUPER CHARGED Tools for maximizing productivity, problem solving, prospecting, performance and production!

  Five “P’s” of Executive Sales Leadership

  Cracking the Code on People and Processes

  High Impact Programs, Performance Tools, and Product Knowledge

Copyright SYSCO™

All rights reserved. It is a violation of the law to reproduce or utilize in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the copyright owner.

Sysco Sales Leader™ Power Boost Series
Techniques of World Class Managers

Influencing and Retaining the Best 1

Course Objectives 2

Agenda …. 3

What makes an efffective influencer? 4

Characteristics of effective influencers 5

Influencing style assessment 8

How people react to influence 11

Building blocks of the "Join" influence style 13

The art of persuasion 15

Styles of influence - action plan 17

The "Three R's" of employee turnover. 20

Early warning signs 24

Process Ation plan 27

Managing the difficult MA 29

Sysco™ Sales Leader Power Boost Series
Techniques of World Class Managers

Influencing and Retaining the Best 2

The hiring, training, and on-boarding process of a new Marketing Associate is a major investment and cost to a company’s bottom line, sometimes reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars per new hire. The only thing perhaps more costly than a poor hire, is the loss of a talented and productive team member. This segment of Techniques of World Class Managers will focus on influence and retention best practices to ensure the best Marketing Associates stay at the top of their game and with the company for years to come.

Course Objectives

  Provide Syscoä DSM’s with an awareness of different styles of influence.

  Proactively recognize key indicators of MA dissatisfaction before it escalates to voluntary termination.

  Create custom action plans to implement key concepts for personalized success.

Sysco™ Sales Leader Power Boost Series
Techniques of World Class Managers

Agenda 3

thePoint

  Everyone has the ability to effectively influence others if they identify and develop the skills.

thePlatform

  Different styles of influence directly impact people’s willingness to commit, comply or resist.

  Retaining top talent takes effective influence and the knowledge of how to strategically apply it.

thePlan

  How to put the concepts learned into real action.

What Makes an Effective Influencer? 4

  List the people that come to mind when you think of a great influencer.

  What behaviors/characteristics do they have in common?

Characteristicis of Effective Influencers 5

Sysco™ Sales Leader Power Boost Series
Techniques of World Class Managers

¾  Credible

¾  Visionary

¾  Inspirational

¾  Knowledgeable

¾  Trustworthy

¾  Persuasive

¾  Focused

¾  Excellent communicator

¾  Uses resources to help others

¾  Strategic thinker

¾  Rapport builder

¾  Committed to a direction

¾  Adaptable – can “give” and “take”

¾  Relationship developer

¾  Accountable

Sysco™ Sales Leader Power Boost Series
Techniques of World Class Managers

Influencing Style Assessment 6

For each of the ten scenarios, select the ONE response that is most like you.

1. / You would like to offer a peer some advice that would help them become more in tune with how things really get done in this organization and allow them to be seen in a more positive light by management. Would you:
A. / Gently criticize their present approach and tell them the more productive alternative.
B. / Enthusiastically evoke a picture of the existing possibilities of an alternative approach.
C. / Empathize with their current approach and jointly explore alternatives.
2. / An MA you have a mentoring relationship with isn't even coming close to living up to their potential. During a discussion do you:
A. / Try to inspire them to move forward to a higher level.
B. / Encourage them by reflecting on their current efforts and their level of satisfaction and need to grow.
C. / Make strong suggestions of what they should be doing.
3. / One of your MA’s needs to take a more pro-active approach to managing their own development and career. Would you:
A. / Participate with them in figuring out what they want to do and the path to achieve these goals.
B. / Order them to establish a career plan for the next year with specific milestone dates.
C. / Use logic to convince them of the value of being responsible for their own career.
4. / A young MA needs to have more self-confidence in their natural skills and abilities. Would you:
A. / Confront them with specific examples and develop a course of action.
B. / Provide evidence how more self-confidence will allow them to reach their objectives.
C. / Accept where they are and offer to work with them to improve.
7
5. / One of your MA’s has just miserably failed on an assignment. The good news is that there is tremendous opportunity to learn from this failure. When reviewing the assignment would you:
A. / Persuade them to objectively evaluate their efforts and what could/should have been differently.
B. / Explain what the end results could have been and ask them to describe what could have been done to accomplish them.
C. / Rely on your expertise to define what they should have done and the implications for future assignments.
6. / A peer has come to you for input on how to resolve a difficult situation. Would you:
A. / Withhold your views until you mutually understand what the other person is trying to accomplish and alternatives they have considered.
B. / Tell them what and how you would go about handling the situation.
C. / Explain what's in it for them if they were to handle the situation the way you think it should be approached.
7. / You have information that an MA has some personal habits that are and will be detrimental to them. Is it best to:
A. / Let them know what they need to do and that your expertise tells you this is the right way to go.
B. / Appeal to the common values you have in defining an alternative approach.
C. / Offer a number of alternatives but allow the associate to make their own choices.
8. / One of your MA’s is risk averse and needs to be pushed to take more risks. Do you:
A. / Provide the factual information that, over the long run, taking calculated risks are personally beneficial.
B. / Explore and summarize their reasons for avoiding risk then support them is taking some small steps to take more risks.
C. / Define a specific activity requiring risk taking and set a time deadline for them to do what you are asking.
9. A
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9. A peer needs to change how they work with members of your team. Their present behavior is annoying and causing others to ignore the contributions this person could make. Do you:
A. / Invite them to a meeting with your team where you will facilitate an open discussion of ideas on how to make relationships even better than they are.
B. / Candidly tell them the effects of their current behavior and ask that they stop what they are doing and implement what you feel would be a productive alternative.
C. / Explain the costs associated with their present approach and sell them on an alternative you feel would work better with the team.
10. / Your MA tends to shy away from being personally responsible and accountable for their decisions. Would you:
A. / Rely on your experience to convey the problems this will create and don't stop until you have their agreement to act differently.
B. / Convey how the current approach will keep them from meeting their aspirations and persuade them to take a different course of actions.
C. / Offer to work with them to feel comfortable enough about their decisions to own them.
Scoring 9
1. Circle the answer you chose for each question:
2. Add the total number of “Push, Sell, Join” responses:
Total Push_____
Total Sell______
Total Join______
3. Which is your dominate influencing style”
____Push ____Sell ____Join

Results of Influence Styles Assessment 10

Collaboration/consultation (Join):
Building the other person's enthusiasm by appealing to his or her values, ideals, and/or aspirations. Seeking the other person's participation in planning a strategy or being willing to modify a proposal to respond to the other person's concerns.
Rational persuasion (Sell):
Appealing to the other person's feeling of loyalty, and using logical arguments and factual evidence to persuade the other person that proposals or requests are worthwhile.
Use of authority (Push):
Using demands or threats, enlisting the aid or endorsement of other people, or claiming authority based on organization policies/rules/traditions to influence the person to do what is wanted.

There are three general categories of different approaches used to influence others:

How People React to Influence 11

People generally react to influence tactics in three different ways:

Commitment:
The other person agrees internally with an action or decision, is enthusiastic about it, and is likely to exercise initiative and demonstrate unusual effort and persistence in order to carry out the request successfully.
Compliance:
The other person carries out the requested action but is apathetic rather than enthusiastic, makes only a minimal or average effort, and does not show any initiative.
Resistance:
The other person opposes the requested action and tries to avoid carrying it out by refusing, arguing, delaying, or seeking to have the request nullified.

Why it Matters 12

The results of an in-depth study, as presented in the following chart, are very clear:
Collaboration/consultation (Join) produced significantly higher levels of commitment and significantly lower levels of compliance and resistance than the use of Authority (Push). Rational persuasion (Pull) was middle range in producing commitment, compliance, and resistance.

Source: Influence tactics and work outcomes: a meta-analysis; 2009, Chad A. Higgins, Timothy A. Judge, Gerald R. Ferris

Building Blocks of the “Join” 13 Influence Style.

Involving
Build collaboration / Where can you include MA’s in decision making, idea input, soliciting feedback, team processes and problem solving?
Inquiring
Ask questions / To what degree do you seek first to understand? Where can you demonstrate more “asking versus telling?”
Leading
Engage people by sharing stories / How can you leverage your experience and expertise? Where can you share more examples and scenarios that specifically relate to your MA’s issues?
Visioning
“What if?” brainstorming / How much day dreaming and imagining do you model? How can you be more inspirational with the message that “anything is possible”?
Proposing
Suggest solutions/options / How many multiple approaches to problem solving do you initially entertain? How open and flexible are you to encourage other’s ideas and approaches?

How can you be more “Joining” in your 14

Influencing style?

Trait / Way to model on the job
Involving
Build collaboration / Example: “How about we connect with a couple of current members of the Torchbearer club and capture their best practice approaches?”
My Action:
Inquiring
Ask questions / Example: “How did you determine the steps to take to create this prospect’s proposal?”
My Action:
Leading
Engage people by sharing stories / Example: “Here’s an example of how I won the business when my prospect was dead set on going with the competition.”
My Action:
Visioning
“What if?” brainstorming / Example: “What if as part of your closing negotiations you were able to get a referral from each new satisfied customer?”
My Action:
Proposing
Suggest solutions/options / Example: “Here’s two ways you can increase the size of your pipeline for next month.”
My Action:

The Art of Persuasion 15

  The key to persuading others is to utilize outcome-based thinking.

  Decide specifically what the desired outcome is at the beginning.

  Predict what the other person wants or will want.

  Determine the minimum that you will accept.

  Predict what possible objections may arise.

  Determine (in advance) how to deal with each objection.

  Decide how you will bring the process to a win/win conclusion.

  Ensure that there are multiple contingency plans in place.

“People are best convinced by the reasons they, themselves discover.”

- Benjamin Franklin

Sysco™ Sales Leader Power Boost Series
Techniques of World Class Managers

Review 16

Different styles of influence directly impact people’s willingness to commit, comply or resist.

  Effective influencers have specific characteristics in common.

  People react to influence by committing, complying or resisting.

  Of the “push”, “sell”, or “join” approach to influence, “Join” has the greatest likelihood of getting commitment.

  Before you begin to use influence, determine exactly what outcomes you desire to reach.

thePlan 17

  Capture one key thought or new concept that you will take back to the job and implement.

  Review your action plan with the person sitting next to you.

Concept / How I will apply this to my role as a DSM? / What specific step will I take? / When I will do this?

thePlatform 18

  Retaining top talent takes effective influence and the knowledge of how to strategically apply it.

Should I Stay or Should I go? 19

1.  Why do people voluntarily choose to leave a position?