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If you're in sales and you don't know the ABCs of sales or "coffee's for closers," do yourself a favor and watch the epic Alec Baldwin scene in "Glengarry Glen Ross."

If you took the time to do that just now... inspiring, right? Yikes.

However, we all know the feeling of "failure" when we don't close enough leads on the exhibit hall floor during a conference.

Here's the thing - not every person who approaches your booth is in the closing stage, yet we often go into closing mode as if they were. If you do this, you are putting the entire process in jeopardy.

Even though you may have the "Coffee's For Closer's" pressure building up inside of you, it's imperative to respect the process and acknowledge the Sales Funnel that we all know and love.

Be sure to ask any DPM who approaches your booth relevant questions that will make you aware of which stage they are in so you can (a) offer the appropriate information and (b) not completely freak them out with aggressive closing strategies.

Recognize that you will not close every lead that comes to the booth, but that by being there and engaging with them in a way that aligns with where they are at in the process, you are one step closer to getting the final sale - even if it happens when you're back in the office 90 days later - or longer.

Work the the process.

Plus, if everyone was closing at the same time, you'd probably have a big problem fulfilling so many new customers simultaneously with the level of quality and service you've promised. First impressions matter.

So, when you're creating your your post-meeting report and you are bummed out, or a superior is bummed out, that there weren't more closes on the floor, take the time to analyze where they are at in the sales funnel and get to work at creating a process that will bring them closer to the final step.

Sarah Breymeier: beheard@podiatrymeetings.com

In the Daily Stoic podcast on February 17th, host Ryan Holliday discusses the notion of imperial rulers and he said something that made a lot of sense to me about ancient stoic, Seneca.

This made me think of the classic concept of not expecting anyone to do something you wouldn't do yourself. If you are in a management position or you lead a sales team, this is critical to inspire that team.

Consider the movie, Gladiator, when Russel Crowe's character Maximus Desimus Meridius is respected and followed by his army because he's in the trenches with his army as opposed to the villain of the movie, Commodus, who does not partake in any actual combat.

But, back to the real world; it's also key to your company's success to get out of your management bubble and do the grunt work. Put yourself back into the positions that you've delegated to staff members simply to see what's actually going on. You'd be surprised what you hear on a sales call, or on a customer service call, or what you see in the assembly line that nobody made you aware of.

Sarah Breymeier: beheard@podiatrymeetings.com

Is there a Podcast that you think our exhibitor family could benefit from? Please let us know by emailing us at beheard@podiatrymeetings.com

SUBJECT LINE: Podcast Recommendation

Then just tell us a little about why you think this podcast is a good listen.

Last month, I started this with "DPMs: The Resource that's Been there the Whole Time." Check it out here because it is a prequel to the content below: https://podiatrymeetings.com/2024/01/20/marketing-mastery-dpms-the-resource-thats-been-there-the-whole-time/

Sarah Breymeier: beheard@podiatrymeetings.com

Right now I am technically not reading, but listening to a book with Audible called, Atomic Habits by James Clear.

I am only a few chapters deep, but one topic discussed that reminded me of the way we can approach the sales process; it also gave me a flashback to a conversation I had with my boss in 2011.

First, the concept I was reminded of from this book, is to stop focusing on the GOAL and instead focus on the PROCESS. Results are derived from the concept of compounding actions.

I used to direct the marketing for an orthotics lab and in doing so, I was involved heavily in meetings with the sales team. Every month, our boss would get frustrated if the sales team hadn't met its sales goals. So he would make the goal higher. This confused me.

I remember a specific conversation with him and said, "you could make the goal $100 a month or $1 million a month and it won't matter if we don't equip each sales rep with a process of how to get there."

What I was trying to explain was the result is completely out of anyone's control. We can only control our actions and the process we employ to achieve a particular result

Because I'm a tennis player, I used a tennis match as an analogy. I told him..

Ultimately, if you raise the goal each month but provide no change to the process, this is likely an unwinnable battle and you're setting your team up for failure. Instead of focusing on the result - change your mindset to focusing on the "how" we get there by implementing tactics within our control.

Sarah Breymeier: beheard@podiatrymeetings.com

Is there a book that you think our exhibitor family could benefit from? Please let us know by emailing us at beheard@podiatrymeetings.com

Then just tell us a little about why you think this book is worth a read.

The show specials on the exhibit hall floor sometimes have the same vibe; mostly because they never stick to the expiration date.

Basically, docs know they can usually get away with waiting to place an order until they get back home and request the show discount; and because it's not fun to say, "no," we usually say, "yes".

Instead of show specials, try something different with on-site referrals. With this strategy, you can give awesome bonuses to your referring docs AND you will bring on new business without "giving away the farm."

Sarah Breymeier: beheard@podiatrymeetings.com

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