Motivation starts with the desire to be free, to be free from dependency on others, freedom to live the lifestyle we dream of, freedom to explore our ideas. Total freedom is not possible or desirable, but the struggle to achieve that ideal is the basis for motivation.

Motivation is built on three basic elements:

1. Motivation starts with a need, vision, dream or desire to achieve the seemingly impossible. Creativity is associated with ideas, projects and goals, which can be considered a path to freedom.

2. Developing a love-to-learn lifestyle, become involved with risky ventures and continually seek new opportunities. Success is the result of learning what works and does not work.

3. Develop the ability to overcome barriers and to bounce back from discouragement or failure. Achievers learn to tolerate the agony of failure. In any worthwhile endeavor, barriers and failure will be there. Bouncing back requires creative thinking as it is a learning process. In addition, bouncing back requires starting again at square one. By Captain Bob Webb 

In the last post we read about “Telesales Tammy”, the superstar of the department. Would Tammy walk out to centre field, tap a microphone and just start her pitch? Of course she wouldn’t

At this point, Suzie pointed out another fact: In the stadium example, the audience is there to hear Tammy. But in real life, Tammy’s calls may come in the middle of a meeting or just after the prospect got to work late because of a flat tire.

“You are holding back your superstar” Suzie told the manager. “What’s more, your superstar is doing all the right things but with the wrong tools. It’s just like giving an expert carpenter the tool box belonging to an auto mechanic. There are similar tools and the job will get done. But it will take longer, it will be frustrating to the carpenter, and it reduces the expert carpenter’s effectiveness.

Suzie went on to give the manager some surprising ideas to help him enable Tammy (and the rest of the department) to make more calls and close more business leads. So what was Suzie’s advice to telesales Tammy – You’ll have to check back to find out!

View Part five Here

 In the last post we read about “Telesales Tammy”, the superstar of the department. Tammy’s manager called his mentor who gave him some advice. And what a change it caused in Tammy!

Business Leads Superstar – Here’s what Tammy did

After listening to the manager’s response, Suzie  was quiet for a moment and then said: “You have a business leads superstar on your hands, don’t let her go. Now, here is what you need to do to help her succeed…”

She asked the manager to imagine that his top cold caller was not at her desk in the office but rather in a large stadium that holds 100,000 people. Each person represents a prospect. Would Tammy walk out to centre field, tap a microphone and just start her pitch? Of course she wouldn’t.

And yet, as Suzie  pointed out to the manager, that’s exactly what he was asking her to do. She was using a canned pitch and presenting the same thing to every person she dialled.

No matter how enthusiastic she was and no matter how much she believed in her product, it would be unreasonable to assume that all 100,000 people in that stadium had shown up with cash in their pocket to buy that day.

In the last article we read about “Telesales Tammy”, the superstar of the department who could cold call an impressive number of people and turn them into business leads.

View Part Four Here

In the last post we read about “Telesales Tammy”, the superstar of the department. Why Tammy was experiencing more “no’s” than everyone else? 

In the last article we read that Tammy sometimes used to snap at prospects on the telephone as she made her calls, only because she was so frustrated at hearing “no” so frequently.

Her manager called his mentor, Suzie W, who gave him some advice. And what a change it caused in Tammy!  Now, Tammy works through her calls, and is still a record-setter in the office, but she is relaxed and confident and happy on the phone. So the question is what advice did Suzie W. give to Tammy’s manager?

First, Suzie asked some probing questions:

• What was Tammy’s pitch?
• Was the pitch prepared by the manager or by Tammy?
• Was the pitch tailored to each prospect?
• When did she start calling?
• When did she finish calling?
• Was she positive at certain parts of the day and negative at other parts?
• What was her closing ratio each hour? (In other words, what were the hours that Tammy most frequently closed?).
• … and many other questions.

Look out for part #5

If you missed part #3 you can read it here:

In the last post we read about “Telesales Tammy”, the superstar of the department. She was one of the most diligent workers around and her closing record was just as high as everyone else’s.

However, Tammy has gone crazy. She is snappy, angry and unapproachable. Why?

All the other employees did just 30 calls a day, closed the same percentage of people, and essentially had a break because they did not call as much as Tammy. Tammy was experiencing more “no’s” than everyone else and that’s what was frustrating to her. As the day progressed and she tried to get through her calls, battling “no” upon “no” upon “no”, she became increasingly stressed. It came through in her voice to her co-workers and to her customers. And when customers perceived that she was stressed, they would back down from moving the business relationship forward because it seemed like Tammy was trying to “cram something down their throat”.

The lead generation mentor had a few suggestions that the manager should do for Tammy to help her.

Within just a few days of Suzie W.’s suggestions, the manager and other members of the department were happy to see that happy Tammy was a permanent employee and angry Tammy was nowhere to be seen.

What were Suzie W.’s successful lead generation suggestions? You’ll have to check back to find out!

Look out for part #4

If you missed part #2 you can read it here:

In the last post we read about “Telesales Tammy”, the superstar of the department. People used to joke that her dialling finger.

But the person who worked across from her was a little worried about Tammy. Even though Tammy’s call out numbers was high, her effort seemed unstable. On some days she was positive and happy. On other days she was grumpy with her co-workers and even short with her customers. Sometimes, people asked each other in whispers whether it was “happy Tammy” or “angry Tammy” working today.

Why was Tammy coming across as unstable? She was one of the most diligent workers around and her closing record was just as high as everyone else’s. Her manager became concerned, called his lead generation mentor and asked what the problem was. After some probing questions, the mentor who we’ll call “Suzie  W.” knew what was wrong right away.

Her closing ratio was the same as everyone else. The problem was not in Tammy’s efforts but in everyone else’s efforts! You see, Tammy was achieving and exceeding the benchmarks each day and she had a closing ratio of 1% to 2%, which meant that of her 50 calls, she could turn 2 to 4 people into leads.

Look out for part #3

If you missed part #1 you can read it here: