We are at that time of year when our summer odysseys take most of us far and wide. Whether traveling solo or packing the family van with kids and dogs, the annual ritual of summer fun renews our hopes of ‘getting away from it all’. Trips and travelers fall under many categories. For the purpose of this article, let’s keep the discussion down to 3 classifications.

The first type of traveler falls into the ‘comfort zone’ group. These are the people who tend to repeat their summer vacations to known locations, visit family or friends, etc. They do not venture out into the land of the ‘unpredictable’ or risk going anywhere that is an unknown to them. Meals need to be at recognizable restaurants and usually at a chain operation where you already know the menu. Trips are well planned, routed, timed and no deviation is allowed. They can get to their destination blind folded.

The second category of traveler will branch out a bit and try someplace new, but will not go anywhere too out of the ordinary. So if this traveler has been to Disney World before, he/she might decide to skip it one year and visit another venue in the same general arena. Different, but not too challenging to their comfort zone. They might try a different type of restaurant that features local cuisine… perhaps grits vs. French fries. While they have their ’trip tik’ in hand, they might divert a bit and make a stop at the Grand Canyon as long as it is not too far out of the way. So while limited in scope, this traveler will add a touch of diversity to their vacation journey.

The third category of traveler just goes for it. While they know they want to hike trails in Oregon, the route they take to get there is anything but planned. They want to explore all options on the way and a detour here and there is welcomed. They want to see what new place or experience waits for them to explore. If they get lost along the way…no big deal.

This traveler just wants to experience any and all places, people and adventures. If they go to another country where English is not readily spoken…all the more fun. Their eyes are wide open taking in every sight and sound.

So how do these three categories of travelers relate to our sales associates? In more ways than you think. I have often stated that there are 3 levels of agents in our sales centers. The Super Stars, the mid-level and then the clueless. Let’s see how they compare to our travelers.

The Super Stars are the 3rd category of traveler. While they are professional, prepared and continually fine tune their sales skills, they also ‘go for it’. This type of sales professional knows that in sales, you need to change your delivery and to do that successfully, you have to experience and explore training resources that will force you out of your comfort zone. This class of agent understands that they must keep current by being open to new selling skills and ideas. There is no fear of the unknown. Their eyes are wide open. They understand that by taking an informed deviation, they will get to their final destination. The basic compass is always there, but at times going NE vs. dead North gets you to your goal quicker and better. They also have more fun getting there.

Sales people often say they want to be managed as if they were operating their own business. And, that's exactly how they should be managed. Yet, there is a disconnect between how sales people perceive running a business works…and real-life. A sales business plan can help bridge this gap.

During my work with clients, I'm often asked to interview their sales people as part of my sales team due diligence. One of the questions that I always ask is their desired management style from the company. The response I hear most frequently? "I want to be treated as if I were running my own business." On the surface, this should be music to the executive team's ears. The truth of the matter is that it is actually cause for alarm.

When sales people say they want to be treated as business operators, they mean it. Yet, their perception of running a business is not consistent with reality. They are saying they want complete autonomy to do whatever they want to do, whenever they want to do it. The French expression laissez faire describes what they really desire…hands-off management. And that's not how successful businesses operate.

Anyone who has ever operated a business knows that running a business does not include the right to follow the path of the wind. If you operate a publicly-traded company, you have responsibility to the Chairman, the Board of Directors, and the shareholders. If you run a privately-held company, you have accountability to the bank or partners. In both instances, you also have responsibility to the employees. This doesn't quite sound like laissez faire and running a successful business are compatible.

That said, you should treat your sales people as business operators…real business operators. After all, your company is funding their business. Your sales people have an obligation to present their plan to make that business profitable. In essence, you are the primary investor in their business.

The first step toward treating your sales people as business operators is to ask them to provide you with a business plan that shows how they will make their business successful. The plan should not be the second-coming of War and Peace, but should be thorough-enough to give the investors comfort in the plans for success.

If you provide the sales team with nothing more than the instruction to write a business plan, they will waste a lot of time trying to figure out what you want…and will still miss the mark. The best approach is to create a sales business plan template using the questions the investors have about their business strategy. The overall plan should "map back" to the revenue target you have set for the sales people. If you are asking them to generate a million dollars in revenue, the plans should clearly show how they going to achieve that target.

The plan should have five core components:

Accounts. The accounts section is the place in the plan to list clients/prospects and their expected revenue contribution toward the million dollar target. If the sales person's target includes both existing accounts and new ones, this section of the plan forecasts the expected performance of their portfolio and documents the new accounts that lead them to the target revenue number.

Prospecting. The prospecting section shows their plan to build a sales pipeline. If there are no prospects, there are no sales…so understanding their strategy to reach prospects is a key for business managers to sleep at night. This area should highlight both their pipeline development strategy and tactics.

CONFIRMATION:You must confirm your site sales staff is selling at peak performance. Accepting mediocrity or less is never acceptable.

TRAINING. Using a Video Profile from LeBlanc & Associates of your best agents demonstrates what you expect from the rest of the sales team. What better way can an agent learn than from the best of their peers? The training aspect is then reinforced with our self-evaluation guide.

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING. To maintain the highest quality of final product, all our work is done in-house. Our clients receive two DVDs of each sales encounter. Each video is processed to eliminate non essential footage.

QUALITY. LeBlanc & Associates is established as the premiere company for sales agent evaluations. Our business is your business . . . new home sales. Our high level of training for our field techs provides the best capture rate of your agents. We know you are paying to see your agents – not the walls and windows of your sales office.

WHY LEBLANC & ASSOCIATES? Have you tried the rest and found ill prepared field personnel? Have you seen more walls than agents? Do ceiling shots make you dizzy?

THEN BE PREPARED FOR THE BEST. GIVE US A CALL!

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