Kevin Boyle

First, break all of the rules “What the world’s greatest managers do differently.” is a must read in my opinion for anyone who manages a sales team. If you ever have wondered how to pick out the best hires, the best producers, or how to actually get more out of the people you have on your sales team right now, then this book is for you!

I’ve actually owned this book for a fairly long time. I know a book is good when; a) I’ve read it several times and b) I’ve earmarked half the pages in the book!

The book is extremely easy to read and understand, the authors’ Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman of the Gallop Organization  present their huge findings from an indepth study of more than 80,000 managers from over 400 companies! What impressed me most about the book is it’s breadth of scale, it really does get to the heart of the matter of what makes a great management team, customer service team and company. If you are looking to be a GREAT manager or business leader you can’t go wrong by buying this book. It will definately earn it’s place as a permanent fixture on your booksshelf!

Perhaps what I like most about the book is that the authors primarily use a lot of metaphoric stories, case studies and real world examples to illustrate their findings.

They cover everything from customer service, what customers really expect, how customer and employee satisfaction directly relate to business outcomes, the four basic roles of a great manager, the differencee between controlling people and managing people,how important is talent vs experience, and much much more.

What are some of the things I learned of value from the book?

1) At the absolute lowest level, customers expect accuracy.
2) At the next level they expect availability.
3) At the third level customers expect partnership. (customer loyalty programs, being responsive to your clients needs).
4) At the very last level customers expect good solid advice.

5) Excellent teams are built around indiviual excellence.
6) You succeed by finding ways to capitalize on who you are, not by trying to fix who you aren’t.
7) Select your partners and team members for attitude, a person’s prevailing attitudes are part of their mental filter.
8 The power of skills and knowledge is that they are transferrable from one person to another, while the power of talent is that talent is transferrable from one situation to another.
9) When developing someone, find the right “fit” for that person (don’t try and fit a round peg into a square hole).
10) If you are a manager of salespeople, select people people who initiate rather than respond, you need achievers.

Kevin Boyle
Author / Public Speaker / Sales Trainer and Coach
“The Secrets to Sales Mastery”

ps – Did you enjoy this post? Do you have any tricks or tips on how to get moreo ut of your sales team? Please feel free to add your comments!

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