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Find out how Cydcor created an exclusive, reward trip attendees would never forget. By setting an exceptionally high performance-bar for those who would earn a spot, Cydcor’s Chairman’s Club event provided the ultimate reason for sales managers to deliver next-level results. Learn how Cydcor’s events team pulled out all the stops to create a dream getaway worthy of the exceptional work and immense effort put forth by those invited.
First impressions matter.
In sales, a positive first impression can determine whether a customer decides to buy from you or a competitor. A negative one can cost you both money and the opportunity to establish a relationship with a new customer. The key to making a good impression and building rapport in sales is by applying the SEE factors — Smile, Eye Contact, and Enthusiasm. Non-verbal cues through facial expressions and body language can make the difference between success and failure — even before you say a single word.
First impressions are fast, but they last.
Countless studies, surveys, and experts vary in their claims on how long it takes to form an impression of someone — from 27 seconds to seven seconds to even as little as one-tenth of a second. Further research from an international team of psychologists shows that a first impression persists, even if a new experience contradicts it. People view the contradictory experience as a one-off occurrence tied to a specific context — a perception that’s difficult to change. The takeaway is that you won’t have a second chance to make a great first impression, so make every second — or millisecond — count.
Here are five tips for making a good impression and why they’re important:
1. Perfect your handshake.
A handshake is more than an initial greeting. It’s often the first connection with the customer and can set the tone for the rest of the sales conversation or meeting.
A good handshake should be:
2. Smile.
A smile is contagious. It communicates warmth and approachability, instantly putting the other person at ease and in a better mood. A genuine, inviting smile can improve your likeability and get the other person to respond more positively to you. When smiling, make eye contact to transmit openness, trustworthiness, and interest in what they have to say. People love doing business with those they like and trust. It's human nature.
3. Be confident.
Research shows that people who are confident appear more competent, credible, and trustworthy. They exude confidence through their expertise, attitude, presence, and demeanor. So, when meeting people, do your research and be prepared with relevant talking points and smart questions. Be calm and self-assured, not cocky or arrogant. Be articulate and speak deliberately and clearly. Stand in an open, relaxed posture with your chin up, back straight, and arms at your side. Finally, dress to impress because when you look sharp, you feel sharp. Being confident makes people comfortable around you and more receptive to what you have to say.
4. Be thoughtful.
Thoughtfulness is grounded in empathy, so tune into the other person, listen more, and say less. When someone speaks, show genuine interest and understanding by summarizing what you’ve heard and asking follow-up questions. Choose your words carefully and speak with honesty and sincerity. Read the room and modulate your tone and approach appropriately. Thoughtfulness creates an emotional connection that elevates the conversation and builds rapport and trust with the customer.
5. Be energetic.
Positive energy and enthusiasm are infectious. When you’re fired up, it shows you care and passionately believe in your product, service, and company. It engages and motivates the customer and gets them excited too. Just make sure you don’t get carried away. Nothing is more off-putting than over-the-top energy and enthusiasm that feels fake and insincere.
By following these five simple tips, you’re making a good first impression that’s a lasting good impression. You’ll connect with the customer, start building rapport, and improve your odds for success in any sales interaction.
Everything old is new again – at least when it comes to marketing strategy. While you might think of door-to-door sales as a thing of the past, it’s actually a highly effective method for acquiring new customers in today’s modern climate. Many thriving corporations are seeing the benefits of adding door-to-door selling to their marketing mix, and here’s why:
Advertisements are easily tuned out.
Commercials are everywhere these days. From billboards and TV commercials, to social media and mobile advertising, we're flooded with so many advertising messages that it’s easy for all of it to blend together into one ocean of noise that easily fades into the background.
This is why door-to-door sales should be part of your marketing strategy. Unlike any other advertising medium, in-person sales reps create real connections with potential customers. They communicate from one human to another, customizing their sales pitch and even their body language and tone in a way that even the most sophisticated digital advertising and artificial intelligence can’t. Well-trained salespeople are able make the potential buyer feel comfortable, attracting their interest and initiating a discussion, which is the first and most important step of acquiring new customers.
The competition is fierce.
With so many companies vying for consumers’ attention, it’s extraordinarily difficult to stand out. Even the most creative billboards and eye-catching social media strategies are bound to get lost in the mix.
Door-to-door marketing is a secret weapon for any company looking to carve out space in a crowded market. Not only is it a less common approach to customer acquisition, but it is highly effective at reaching people who have been unresponsive to other forms of customer outreach. Actively engaging face-to-face provides the opportunity to first, inform customers about products they might not have otherwise known about; and second, influence their decision-making process.
People buy from people.
As much as technology has changed over the years, human nature has not. There is no digital replacement for connecting face-to-face, human-to-human. A commercial can’t ask a business owner to describe the challenges facing his business. An internet ad can’t inquire about the needs of a growing family, make eye contact, or interpret facial expressions. But a skilled salesperson can.
Through door-to-door sales, companies are able to localize their marketing efforts and connect with customers on a personal level. By engaging one-on-one, salespeople are able to learn about the needs, wants, and concerns of their customers throughout the sales process. By building rapport, they are able to establish trust, which in turn translates not only to the consumer’s decision to buy – but to remain loyal to the respective brand.
It’s highly adaptable.
The launch of a new product or service is expensive and time-consuming through most marketing channels. Whether you’re paying for market research, air time, graphic design, public relations, or anything in between, the expenses add up quickly.
This is another key differentiator of door-to-door marketing. Not only is it more cost-effective, but it’s dramatically faster to implement changes and market new products. When you already have an outside sales team in place, launching a new product is as simple as educating the salespeople about your new offering. The right door-to-door sales team should be able to start selling immediately and at no added cost to your company.
Success is 100% measurable.
The tricky part about most forms of marketing is that the success or failure of a campaign is often a gray area. While a given ad might enhance brand recognition or contribute to the buzz about a new product, results are difficult to quantify.
Unlike advertising campaigns, there is no doubt as to whether a door-to-door sales strategy has been successful. The number of new customers acquired is crystal clear, allowing companies to track progress, calculate ROI, and make changes accordingly.
There is a reason one of the oldest professions, face-to-face sales has seen a resurgence over the past decade: it works! No matter how advanced digital marketing becomes, people will always prefer to buy from people. It’s human nature. While the smartest sales strategy is diversify your sale and marketing tactics, including a door-to-door element to your marketing mix remains a highly effective way to increase revenue and drive consistent sales results.
As a sales leader, motivation is your secret weapon to igniting your team’s passion and performance. Motivated sales teams are energized and engaged at work. They deliver results and take on challenges because they want to, not because they have to. Great leaders understand the power of motivation to spark enthusiasm, drive, and bold action within their teams, not just meet deadlines and targets. Being an effective leader means tapping into the internal motivators that inspire — and keep inspiring — high levels of employee engagement and performance.
So, how can you boost sales team motivation and sustain momentum?
The key is to understand what really motivates people in a meaningful and lasting way. According to the 2018 Gallup Employee Engagement Report, 34 percent of U.S. workers are engaged. This finding suggests that the traditional carrot-and-stick approach of rewards and punishment to motivate employees just isn’t working. It appears that high performing employees are driven by something deeper than just monetary rewards. In Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, author Daniel Pink draws on decades of scientific research to propose an upgraded model. He defines three elements of true motivation that drive success and employee satisfaction beyond external incentives like fame or fortune:
“(1) Autonomy — the desire to direct our own lives; (2) Mastery — the urge to make progress and get better at something that matters; and (3) Purpose — the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves.”
Applying these concepts, you can enhance sales team motivation with three easy strategies:
1. Autonomy: Empower your people to thrive on their own.
Giving employees a level of independence and the space to unleash their creativity and ambition is a great internal motivator. Equip your sales team with the tools, resources, and information needed to make decisions and solve problems on their own. Then let your people know that their path to success truly lies in their hands. They have the freedom to personalize their pitch, adjust their approach, and optimize solutions to reach and win more customers. They can decide what sales process works best for them, helping them close deals and meat sales quotas. The smarter and harder they work, the more they can make and advance their career — even becoming business owners someday. The sky’s the limit!
Employees also want a say in how they can contribute and add value. Rather than forcing them to fit into a narrow mold, listen to their ideas and understand what they find personally motivating. Let them play a part in shaping their role and offer opportunities to have influence and make an impact.
2. Mastery: Encourage your people to learn and grow — and make it fun!
Be a mentor and show your people that you’re invested in helping them achieve their career goals. Encourage team members to stretch and take risks that can accelerate their personal and professional growth. In sales, rejection is unavoidable, and some may become dejected or hold back due to the fear of failure. Find ways to turn these short-term setbacks into coaching opportunities. Help team members remain positive and not take a “no” personally, identify roadblocks and potential solutions, and think long-term beyond a single pitch. It’s easier to stay motivated through a sales rut and demonstrate resilience if people can learn from failure, improve, and make progress toward their sales goals and their personal goals.
To make learning fun, use gamification to add competitive elements and turn training and development activities into sport-like challenges. Let’s face it — salespeople like to win, so try these ideas to stoke their inner drive and improve employee engagement:
· Break up training into short modules or game levels that are progressively challenging.
· Create sales contests and offer rewards — badges, points, or power-ups — when they master a challenge and move up a level.
· Provide feedback during gameplay like timed quizzes to provide positive reinforcement or steer them in the right direction.
· Foster friendly competition through player rankings, leaderboards, progress bars, goal tracking statistics, milestone setting and tracking, and so on.
· Immerse participants in an entertaining story-like scenario to test them on skills they’ve learned.
3. Purpose: Ask each team member, “What is your why?”
There are many ways sales managers can motivate from the outside, but none are as powerful as helping team members discover their “why” — their internal motivation to pursue a goal regardless of the odds or obstacles. Employees who know their “why” gain deep satisfaction from doing meaningful work that brings them closer to achieving their dreams or making a difference in their own lives or the lives of those closest to them. Your role is to create a culture that focuses on the “why” and motivates your team to do work that matters, do it well, and keep doing it — even when things are tough. Team members who are internally motivated and focused on their personal goals are most likely to stay highly engaged, positioning them to become top performers.
By using these three strategies, you can boost sales team motivation to new heights, unleashing your people’s passion, purpose, and performance. The right internal motivators can yield profound benefits that last — higher employee engagement, more discretionary effort, greater productivity, better business outcomes, and employees feeling a deeper emotional commitment to their work and team.
The holiday season is a perfect time to reflect on what really matters and strengthen bonds with not only family and friends, but also the people with whom you work closely every day. In the spirit of people helping people, why not celebrate the season by giving back to your community and building camaraderie on your team? Forgoing the office holiday party or secret Santa gift exchange to spend the time helping others instead, is a great way to bring your team together, promote problem solving, and foster team bonding. Nothing is more energizing and motivating than uniting behind a worthy cause, collaborating on solutions, and making a positive difference — together.
Here are five rewarding holiday team building activities to help your team give back, get closer, and have fun!
1. Celebrate the holidays with seniors.
According to the Institute for Family Studies, more than 60 percent of seniors in nursing homes don’t have visitors and experience loneliness that can intensify during the holidays. Bring a sense of family and friendship to seniors who may be alone this season by volunteering at a local nursing home or hosting a holiday event for residents. Many senior care facilities also organize and plan activities for the holidays, inviting families, volunteers and the community to share food, fun and festivities.
2. Bring cheer to hospitalized kids with heartfelt holiday cards.
Many children battling serious illnesses remain in hospital care for a long time, making this time of year especially difficult for these young patients and their families. For an inspiring team building activity, plan and organize holiday card and care package donations for your local children’s hospital, or send handmade cards with an uplifting message of hope to brighten their rooms and their spirits while they recover. Set up a design station in the company break room where team members can create and decorate their customized holiday greetings.
3. Give a gift to a child in need.
Spread holiday joy to children in vulnerable communities through the gift of a new toy. The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is one of the best-known charities that has been collecting and distributing toys to America’s disadvantaged children since 1947. Instead of a holiday party, build a holiday themed team building activity around a Toys for Tots event at your office, become a toy drop-off site, or volunteer at a local warehouse. Connect with your local Toys for Tots program or another organization in your community to donate holiday gifts to children in need. Don’t forget to think about the larger, world-wide community as well. Consider running a toy drive event for one of the thousands of shelters or orphanages supporting children in need around the globe.
4. Volunteer together for a local cause.
Use a service like VolunteerMatch to find great ideas for local organizations and causes your team can support as part of your next holiday team building activity. Whether you volunteer at a local food bank to serve holiday meals, donate time and goods to a homeless shelter, or support an organization like Baby2Baby to provide basic necessities to children living in poverty — giving back as a team creates opportunities to bond with each other and make a real impact on your community.
5. Lend a hand to a local animal shelter.
Don’t forget to show our furry friends some love during the holidays. Give back to a local animal shelter or a service like Pets of the Homeless by hosting a donation drive to collect much-needed pet food and supplies. To take your support to the next level, partner with a shelter or rescue organization to organize a local pet adoption event in your community. Your team can also spend time volunteering together at a local shelter to help orphan pets find their forever home this holiday season.
Whether you stage a food drive, volunteer with the local fire department, help rebuild a local small business after a disaster or participate in any of other community activities on this list, working together for a greater purpose is at the heart of building a strong corporate culture. Finding meaningful ways to give back during the holidays promotes team building by boosting engagement, fostering collaboration and rallying people around a common cause. It also brings our culture and values to life by demonstrating our dedication to serving others and making a positive difference in the communities where we live and work.
With the right combination of work ethic, people skills, and self-discipline, working on commission is an extremely rewarding way to earn a living and build a successful career. Sales teams that work on a sales compensation plan earn more when the company sells more, making these pay structures a win win for both sales professionals and their employers. There are many types of sales commissions, but taking a job that offers commission either on top of or instead of a base salary can pay off for motivated employees looking to maximize their earning potential.
Let’s take a look at six benefits of commission work.
You control what you earn.
One of the best things about commission based work is that you can make as much money as you want. If you’ve ever had an hourly or salaried position, you know how frustrating it can be to have to wait for a raise in order to see a bigger paycheck. When you earn sales commission, however, you get to determine this yourself. This is especially great when you’ve got your heart set on a big purchase: in addition to saving up over time, you can increase your income and speed up the process.
It’s the best preparation for running your own business.
Have you ever realized that business owners are technically working on 100% commission? If their companies aren’t making money, they aren’t either. There is no better practice for an aspiring entrepreneur than a job that pays commission rather than a fixed salary. Whether working as a sales rep, a real estate agent, or earning another type of commission based pay, working on commission will teach you self-reliance, a no excuses mentality, organization, money management, and resilience -- all of which are essential for survival when you’re running your own show.
You aren’t micromanaged.
Another huge perk of being paid on commission is having a high degree of autonomy, which means that your boss isn’t looking over your shoulder all day. This is great for people who enjoy making their own decisions or who prefer working independently. With most commission jobs, it’s up to you to determine exactly how to structure your day to maximize success.
You can’t become stagnant.
When you’re picking up an automatic weekly paycheck, it’s easy to take your foot off the gas from time to time, especially if you know a co-worker is getting away with doing less work for the same pay. Jobs with a commission structure force you to stay on your toes, which is great for your professional growth. When you’re always on your A-game, career success is inevitable.
Your effort is rewarded.
As much as delayed gratification is crucial for long-term success, we all love a good immediate reward. One of the perks of commission work is the direct relationship between working hard and seeing results. Doing that little bit extra -- visiting that one additional customer, asking that one extra question, putting in that extra hour -- has the potential to pay off, literally. Each individual sale matters, and typically when the employee works harder the employee earns more too.
It’s fun.
There’s something to be said for ‘the thrill of the hunt’. Successful salespeople will even tell you that there’s something addicting about it. Nothing feels better than working hard, earning a sale, and seeing a happy customer. Since no two days are exactly alike, working on commission is always an exciting adventure.
If you’ve never earned sales commission before, the idea might sound intimidating. But, as anyone who has tried it for themselves will tell you, if you possess a student mentality, a strong work ethic, and an internal drive to succeed, you’ll find that the rewards of a sales commission plan are plentiful.
Having a well-chosen, fully trained, sales team with the right attitude is essential if your organization is trying to increase sales. The sales team is the last line of defense. After all the investment your company has made toward developing, testing, and perfecting the product, branding, and promotional campaigns, it is the sales team who will ultimately make or break efforts to increase sales because they are the ones who will have direct contact with the customers. At Cydcor, a leader in outsourced sales, we’ve had more than 25 years’ experience building and growing great sales teams fully prepared to increase sales and achieve clients’ revenue growth goals.
Be Selective
Take the time to hire the right people. Be sure everyone on the team has clear expectations of what’s expected of them, simple goals, and ambitious but achievable targets – both for the team as a whole and for each individual salesperson. It’s okay (even great!) to have high standards, just make sure both sides are clear on those standards, nobody likes that kind of surprise.
Don’t be a stranger. Building a sales team positioned to increase sales is not a set it and forget it process. Hiring well is just the first step. Get to know your people. Talk to them. See them as individuals who bring their own individual strengths to the overall team. This will allow you to use them most effectively.
Get Everyone Trained Up to Speed
Once you have the right team in place, it’s important that they’re well trained and up-to-date on all sales strategies. Keep it simple, train your team only on what’s necessary to improve sales without added fluff, twists or turns. Since turnover is inevitable, make sure you have frequent trainings that are easily repeatable.
Also, remember that not everyone learns the same way. Some people learn better through presentations, others through reading materials. Some people have no problem just learning things conceptually and can then repeat them, but others may need to take a more hands-on approach with training. Have the most successful reps train the others and pay attention to make sure they’re getting it. You may even ask your team how they prefer to be taught. By involving them in the process you will get more buy in and participation.
Keep the Team Motivated
A team that’s eager to succeed is a must if you want to optimize your sales program. By keeping goals simple, clear and refreshed, you can always make sure your sales team knows what’s expected of them. Talk about goals daily. Reward and recognize those who increase sales and meet goals frequently. Healthy competition is good, but a collaborative environment where people are willing to help each other serves everyone, and that comes if everyone feels like their hard work is being rewarded.
Much like with training, different individual sales people will respond to different things. Everyone has their own carrot. Some are looking for recognition and respect, a star on the wall with their name on it. For others, bonuses and financial incentives may be the way for them to meet their full potential. Again, ask your team their preference. Get them involved in the process!
Ensure They’ve Got the Right Stuff
You’ll want to be sure to review your strategies to increase sales with the team to make sure all essential steps and needed communications are present in the sales process. Does the customer understand the product and service? Do they understand when they will receive the product or service? Will they need to do any follow-up? Don’t walk out the door until all of the customer’s questions are answered or, at least, until there’s a plan in place to get them answered.
Make sure your sales teams have the right tools, they need to be efficient. Making sure they have the right product information including pricing, a snapshot of the product or service benefits, pricing, and offer information is essential to help them improve sales and succeed.
There’s no one way to improve sales, but these strategies to build and maintain a great sales team should set you up for success. Hire the right people, train them well and keep them motivated, learn your customer and your product backwards and forward, and you should be well on your way to increase sales and achieve your business goals.
Cydcor offers employees more than just health insurance and a 401K. We know employees today are looking for benefits that provide more than the standard offerings. In this article, read more about some of the unique and nontraditional benefits Cydcor has to offer.
A fun holiday party doesn’t have to break the bank. Read creative ideas about how companies can make their festive gatherings exciting and economical. Quick tip: Cooler weather can mean cooler things to do. Get more tips here.
How many famous people can you name who started their careers in sales? Before becoming well-known actors, musicians, comedians, and CEOs, quite a few of today’s celebrity’s early jobs meant going door to door, working in retail, serving in restaurants, and telemarketing. Not only did these soon-to-be celebrities who once had sales jobs eventually hit it big, but their history in sales seems to have taught them some valuable lessons as well. Perhaps there is something to be said for a sales gig as the ultimate crash course in communication!
Check out this list of six celebrities who had sales jobs before they were famous.
Would you believe it if we told you that Johnny Depp was once a telemarketer? It’s true! Using made-up names, Depp phoned people asking if they’d like to buy pens. He only ever made one sale, but he considered the experience to be his first foray into acting.
This now-billionaire founder of the shapewear company Spanx spent nine hours a day for eight years selling fax machines door to door. She credits the experience with developing an immunity to rejection and teaching her that the best way to be persuasive is face to face -- both of which served her well in starting Spanx.
It’s kind of hard to picture this now award-winning rapper working at a chain retailer like the Gap. Indeed, he was a part-time sales assistant there during high school. In retrospect, West believes that this early job working with clothes sparked his inspiration to become a fashion designer many years later.
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban’s first job as a pre-teen was selling garbage bags door to door. Coveting a pair of sneakers that his father wouldn’t fund, Cuban took matters into his own hands by selling boxes of garbage bags at a profit of three bucks a pop.
This well-known comedian and talk show host used to live quite the different life! After dropping out of college, DeGeneres held a variety of sales positions, which included selling clothing, demonstrating Hoover vacuums in front of customers, serving, and bartending. Perhaps the celebrity’s early jobs in sales contributed to her talent for thinking on her feet and quickly getting people to like her.
Years before adopting this pseudonym, Stefani Germanotta was raking in the tip money as a waitress at a diner – which as most servers will tell you, is essentially commission sales! She made conversation with customers by telling stories and always kept it stylish in high heels. Maybe she translated some of her talent for earning tips into her later penchant for earning lifelong fans.
Like these stories of salespeople turned celebs? Check out this list of CEOs who got started in sales before striking it rich. To find out more about Cydcor, check us out on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.
We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales and marketing services located in Agoura Hills, California. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company to garnering a reputation for consistently exceeding client expectations and driving outstanding revenue growth, Cydcor has been helping Fortune 500 and emerging companies achieve their customer acquisition, retention, and business goals since 1994. Cydcor takes pride in the unique combination of in-person sales, call center, and digital marketing services we offer to provide our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.
How do you engage employees in learning?
Cydcor’s Director of Learning and Development, Kelli MacIver recently sat down with TD Magazine to weigh in on the topic of employee engagement in corporate training. She and her team recently set out to discover ways to drive team members back to online training programs without making trainings mandatory. What they discovered was that through gamification, adding competitive elements to training and development programs, learning could be refashioned into a sport-like challenge employees would be eager to win!
Leading the way in corporate training and development has always been a top priority for Cydcor, an organization which prides itself of providing outstanding sales performance to its clients via a network of independent sales companies whose employees act as expert brand ambassadors for Cydcor’s client products and services. In March 2019, Cydcor earned a prestigious recognition from the Association for Talent Development, taking top honors in its Training Delivery category for demonstrating creativity and innovation in its rollout of technical training.
To ensure Cydcor continues its record of excellence and leadership in training, Kelli MacIver and her team build and distribute ongoing compliance training programs to help campaign teams sell on behalf of Cydcor’s clients.
Traditionally, these trainings have been required viewing, but making the sessions mandatory made users less interested in returning to take advantage of the other optional training content offered, reducing employee engagement. Even at Cydcor, where maintaining a student mentality is deeply engrained in the business culture, requisite learning proved to be a motivation killer for young professionals drawn to the sales industry by the promise of action and excitement.
“Forcing engagement is not a great way to get Millennials to learn,” says MacIver, “We saw that our return rate after learners completed mandatory training was just nine percent.” The Learning and Development team knew there had to be a better solution engage participants in learning and keep them coming back for more.
Enter gamification. But rethinking and reworking Cydcor’s entire approach to building training content wouldn’t be easy. It would require accepting that there was a problem in the first place. It would mean gaining alignment, approval, and feedback from multiple members of the leadership. Finally, it would require extensive hours of research by Kelli’s team to learn everything they could about gamification and how adding game-like, competitive, social, and reward elements to learning programs might help keep learners engaged, motivated, and hungry for more. After a comprehensive process of information gathering, testing, and perfecting new programs, what the team discovered will transform Cydcor’s approach to training and development for decades to come.
Read the full article below.
