One of the most basic ingredients to not only surviving, but thriving, in the midst of a recession is having a peak performing sales force. (No sales, no revenue.) Neil Rackham, the “Professor of Professional Selling” and author of classics such as SPIN Selling, has been studying the world’s best sales forces for decades and he understands better than most what it takes to sell successfully in hard times. He recently had a conversation with the CEO of HR Chally on that very subject and Geoffrey James posted a video of the conversation at BNet.com. To learn more about how Neil is helping corporations today, view his profile on The Speakers Group’s web site at http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/Neil_Rackham.

Posted under Organizational Excellence, Sales Management

We wrote about Marcus Buckingham’s Oprah appearance earlier this year, when his “I Hate My Job” interventions were featured on the April 18 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

For those who missed the first airing of that episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, it will air again this Friday, December 19. The original broadcast generated enormous interest in the strengths message, with over a million hits on the discussion forums on Oprah’s web site. The episode reports on the results of a three-hour workshop Marcus held with Oprah and some of her viewers – talented women from all walks of life. Five months of follow-up coaching sessions were held over the next five months, and if you watch, you’ll see that the participants were able to significantly improve their performance, both at work and in life.

More information about Marcus Buckingham and his transformational strengths message is available by contacting The Speakers Group.

Posted under Leadership Development, Motivational Speakers, Organizational Excellence, Speaker News

Everyone is looking for brilliant economic insight and commentary these days, trying to find any tidbit of wisdom that may help them survive and even thrive in these challenging times. Good luck with that! What follows is not likely to help your bank account or your balance sheet, but it may give you a laugh. Here is corporate comedian Harry Freedman’s advice on how to manage your finances in today’s market:

The automakers fly to Washington in private jets. The 350 billion dollar bank bailout has vanished from sight faster then Siegfried and Roy. And my kid still wants an Ipod for Hanukkah.

So what do we do? Well, before you jump off a tall building, or a bridge to nowhere, let’s consider the worst. A lot of people are probably going to lose their jobs, and some of them may become so desperate, they turn to crime. Ironically, that actually helps matters. Because the crime victims then have to replace their stolen valuables and their purchases stimulate the economy, which creates more jobs, etc, etc, which means, the worse things get now, the better off it will actually be later.

So, now that you’ve calmed down, let’s talk about how to stay afloat. First, make sure, whatever small amount is left of your investments are properly allocated. Most experts recommend a diversified portfolio that includes stocks, mutual funds, precious metals, and fear.

There are many schools of thought about what makes a good investment. For some, it’s securities, for some it’s bonds, and for practitioners of The Secret, it’s the belief that if you send money out into the world, it will come back fully grow, which unfortunately, seems to have only worked for the actual author of The Secret.

Next, invest by using income averaging. This is the system whereby you contribute a regular amount of your income every week, so you only lose a little bit at a time, rather then watch everything plunge into a financial black hole simultaneously.

The most important thing to do, is never, ever, under any circumstances, take advice from Suzy Orman, who’s main theory, is that if you stop drinking Starbucks coffee, and invest it at 10% interest, you’d have 200 billion dollars by the time you’re 35. I have 2 problems with that. First, I don’t trust anybody who doesn’t drink coffee, and second, who the heck gets 10% interest?

If you really want to save money, a cup of coffee is miniscule compared to the amount you can save by simply cheating on your taxes. Now, I know it’s illegal and all, but even if you get audited, it’s easy to avoid penalties by keeping your records properly. Notice, I didn’t say keeping your records neat. I said keeping them properly. Because, while most accountants recommend that you maintain your statements in an organized manner, it actually makes it too easy for the IRS to hang you. In contrast, if you keep all your receipts properly, in a large smelly box filled with thousands of old gum wrappers, dirty Q-tips, oily rags, used tissues, dental floss, and other unsanitary remnants of your disgusting existence on this planet, even the most diligent agent will weary of trying to sort through a mound of personal contents that belong in a toxic landfill.

Harry Freedman has performed corporate comedy put-ons and emceed for hundreds of Fortune 1000 companies, some of which have since gone under, including Arthur Anderson, Anderson consulting, Anderson Cooper, and pretty much the entire Anderson family. To learn more about Harry, watch some funny video clips, and see if he may be a fit for some of your future programs, visit his web site at http://harryfreedman.net/.

Posted under Corporate Entertainment, Speaker News

For our latest “In the Spotlight” speaker feature, we’re departing from our traditional interview format and featuring a guest post/case study from Drs. Kevin Freiberg and Jackie Freiberg, authors of best-selling business books such as NUTS!, GUTS!, and their latest, BOOM! Whether you are a meeting planner looking for high-impact speakers to help your audience, or whether you are a business leader looking for thought leaders who can help you improve the performance of your team and your organization, the Freibergs can deliver, as this case study with SONY testifies. Here’s the post:

WANTED… Leaders and Game-Changing Solutions!

Whether you voted for our new leader or not, the country is a buzz and oh so hungry for answers to what the future holds! Our country, without a doubt, is crying out for leadership! Our businesses, our communities, and our families need leadership. It is a new era; and to lead it, we want game changers.

There are a lot of theories and a lot of approaches to leadership today. Just try a “leadership” search; you’ll get a diversity of thought.

But let us make one thing very clear-leadership is a choice. Every day we are confronted with multiple opportunities to step into the breach and lead like a game changer. From cutting costs without compromising performance, to “up-coaching” a colleague who has become a liability to the team, to calling BS in favor of a better way, to stepping out on a limb and streamlining a process for a client. All these situations and more call for gamechanging leaders– are you up for it?

Let us introduce you to a client who is doing exactly the OPPOSITE of many other retailers. As the reports scream, “retail sales are the lowest in 40 years,” many retailers are tightening the budget, cutting expenses, and paralyzing their teams. BUT not at Sony Style Stores – they are BOOMING! Dennis Syracuse, Sr. Vice President of Sony Retail Stores, is a gamechanging leader. Even though the media is hosting a recession, Dennis RSVP’d: “Regrets, we are choosing NOT to participate!” Dennis is changing the game and leading his managers and sales associates to BOOM!

How do you get 700 people at 70 different locations around the country to hear the same message without blowing the budget and shutting down the business? In the spirit of refueling his team and giving them tools during a tough time, Dennis stepped into the breach and approved a game-changing event!

We did a 2-hour, customized BOOM! presentation at their state-of-the-art San Diego Sony Style Store. The event was video cast live via Direct TV to Sony Style Stores nationwide, and over 700 Store Managers and their teams heard the message. Talk about an innovative and economical approach to hosting a meeting!

And that’s not all…

Another game-changing move was to avoid the one shot approach – bring in a speaker and fire-up the team for a day, and then it’s back to business as usual. Nope! Not good enough for Dennis; he knows what you measure gets done. So, Sony Style Stores is using our BOOM! Formula to not only track individual and team success, but to more deeply root the message into their service culture. There is no doubt that Sony Style associates have embraced and are implementing the 7 Choices in BOOM! They are doing whatever-it-takes to keep sales up and create an unforgettable experience for their customers.

Read a recent exchange between SONY Sales Managers sent in an eWave (an electronic conversation).

“One Customer, One TOTAL SOLUTION for $31,000 Dollars, putting us over our daily goal by $2000, and it is not even lunch time!”

“Let’s Play to our Genius and Realize that the Customers want to be educated And that SONY has the LIFESTYLE for them.”

“FOCUS FORWARD and make the Holidays all about S O N Y.”

“WOW…the weekend warriors are out in force!”

“We have officially joined the party, BOOMing to $19,793 versus $14,613!”

“Who’s next to push the plunger down and blow the doors off business as usual!?!”

BOOM! is about building a team and a culture of ACCCOUNTABILITY, COMMITMENT and PERFORMANCE! Do you have what it takes to equip your team with ideas on how to lead like game changers, especially in a tough business environment? Do like Dennis, RSVP REGRETS! Be a game changer, be creative and host an innovative, economical meeting. Give your team a gift that will refuel commitment, strengthen accountability, and drive performance up!

We have yet to see the choices our country’s new leaders will make. But you can choose today to be a leader and inspire others to think and act like game changers too. Your choices will determine the quality of your reputation and the difference you will make. Game-changing leaders do not wait for permission; they are accountable to the team and own the success of the business.

Learn more about Drs. Kevin Freiberg and Jackie Freiberg and how they are helping companies go “BOOM!” and blow the doors off business-as-usual by viewing their profiles on The Speakers Group web site, or contact TSG speakers bureau today.

Posted under In the Spotlight, Leadership Development, Organizational Excellence, Speaker News