Cavco Industries, Inc.’s Post

Sales leaders - you should be spending some time making sure your team is hunting in the right forest. Meaning - are you getting leads from the right places? Are the customers coming from that lead source the right candidates for your product/service? Real life example- I use ClassPass to go to gyms in my area. When I find one I like, I may go there multiple times a week. Without fail, almost every one of these gyms tries to sell me on quitting ClassPass and paying them directly instead. Not only is this a bad and awkward customer experience for me — it’s also a waste of everyone’s time. ClassPass users aren’t testing gyms to find a permanent home. They’re non commital. And in some cases; they’re using the system to save money. I pay less than $40 a month and go to this one gym I enjoy 2-3 times a week. If I signed up directly it would cost nearly $175 a month. Yet, they keep pitching me on switching. And now, they’re claiming that they’re leaving ClassPass in a couple of months “so I better join now.” I like the place - but I’m not joining. I’ll find a new spot. These sales leaders don’t know their customers, and they aren’t even hunting in the right forest. And to ClassPass’ credit - I’ve seen their ads to acquire new B2B customers. They completely focus on how these gyms can bring in additional revenue by filling additional space. They are not telling gyms to sign up and pay for leads.

Sales, just like other jobs has its ups and downs. Some days are great, some aren't. It is how you respond to those ups and downs that makes the difference. When you have great days, celebrate with your team because it takes a team to win. When you have bad days, realize that it'll pass. Focus on improving each day. Thank those who support you every day. Any other tips you'd recommend?

I wouldn't be the sales leader I am today if I hadn't learned from Michael Chaffin I was early in my career (still in college) He took a flyer on hiring me for a fitness sales role. He took on the role of a mentor and an older brother. We would text or talk even on weekends planning the future of the company. Never seemed like work, not even once. Michael taught me “pull” sales vs push. Today we would call that the “attraction sales model.” I applied what I learned and had success early on. I would have some incredible months in sales but balancing a full time college schedule the results were inconsistent. One day, as I was nearing my last semester of college I asked him: “What do I need to do in order to move up and lead people?” He told me two things: 1) Stop joking so much (I liked to have fun with my colleagues) 2) Start performing consistently in sales. Then we’ll talk…. I took the advice seriously. I stopped joking (as much 😏) Then I honed in my sales skills and started taking the role more seriously. I would grab any top performer and ask to role play, in person, on the phone didn’t matter. After several months of honing my craft I quickly became a staple in the top 10 sales professionals company wide. He then gave be the chance at a very young age to run a brand new location, build my own sales team, and have me autonomy to build it. We absolutely crushed it. (A post for another day) We developed life long relationships with our clients and members in the process. I continued to advance my career a few more times within this company. The culture was incredible you never wanted to leave work. Work? It never seemed like for one second that’s how great it was to be a part of that team. My opportunity gave me experience that would be the foundation for the rest of my career. All because someone took a chance on a young guy with ambition and a desire to be great. What about you? Who did you learn from in your career that helped make you into who you are today?

I have been in Sales my entire adult life. My first sales opportunity, while in college, was selling vacuum cleaners’ door to door for Electrolux. Knocking on doors part time I became the Company’s 3rd largest producer, earning enough money to buy the bar I and my friends frequent, while still attending college. I went on to become a Financial Advisor, then founding several businesses where I was the Head of Sales, Marketing and Operations. I have recruited, mentored, coached, and taught literally hundreds of sales professionals and teams.  I have consistently driven 100% - 400% year over year sales growth.    In today’s business landscape, the role of a Sales Leader is more critical than ever. Here are some key traits that set apart exceptional Sales Leaders from the majority of Sales Leaders that are average at best. I will post one trait a day.  1.      Visionary Leadership: Great Sales Leaders inspire and motivate their team with a clear vision of success. They lead their sales associates to set ambitious sales goals and provide guidance and support needed to reach them. I have found it critical to have your Sales Team members set their goals, so that they have “buy in” to their goals. You will learn a lot from the goals, such as how motivated and committed they are. Years ago, I was conducting a one-on-one review with a sales associate. During this review I learned this associate never made more than she was earning currently, ($60,000) and had no desire to work harder or smarter to earn more.  We should have had this information before we hired her. I was grateful to learn this when we did and would have never discovered this if I set her sales goal. Find out what is important to your team members and do what you can to help them achieve this. I had a high producing sales associate share with me they were missing most of his son’s basketball games. I discovered his son played on Wednesdays. We made it a point to ensure his schedule would allow him to leave early to catch his son’s games. In return, without asking, he worked longer hours, and increased his production by 28%! If your team know you’re invested in not just their production, but also in their overall happiness and success, you will be amazed by the results!  

Everyone should have to work a sales job. Trying to get a promotion? You're selling value. Buying a new car? You're negotiating a deal. Don't want to take out the trash and trying to get your husband to do it instead? You're overcoming objections. Reaching out to recruiters and hiring managers because you're on the hunt for your next role? You're doing cold outbound and building pipeline. Nordstrom taught me customer service skills and how to tailor my pitch to the person who I was talking to and their specific needs. The Rochester Red Wings taught me how to build my own pipeline and find diamonds in the literal yellow pages, and EF Education First taught me about the importance of building trust, following a sales process, and overcoming objections - a requirement when your sales territory is the great state of New Jersey. Every single day I find myself relying on my sales skills. And every single day I am thankful that my career started in sales. What skills have you learned from working in sales that have helped you in your every day life?

My career cannon as a #SalesLady! Today, I was invited to speak with new hires in a sales team; Firstly, I delivered the professional aspects of sales and I decided to share my vulnerabilities on sales because I never wished for sales role in my entire life 😭; 1: #Fear : Was I scared my I started my sales role?YES and I still feel so sometimes. I think we sales people are likened to men in the Army everyone constantly reminds us how scary our job is. #Mysalesmindset : “The best soldier is he who is aware of his fear but keeps conquering it daily” 2: #Everyone is a #salesperson : Yes! The president of a country, the CEOs of bank’s , medical professional’s, Janitor’s , consultant’s …our personality is generally a sales functionality for our businesses. Most importantly, people buy you more than they buy your offering’s.. so sell yourself, your organization. Then your product and services will be easier to sell. 3: #Sterotypes: Last year I quit from my #Sales role upon receiving a promotion to #Products role because of stereotypes/noise. Stereotypes are more for we females… people will always judge you based on their exposure! It is okay if we feel hurting because we are human but we must move on quickly. 4: #Rejection is re-direction : When prospects says #No to me after many trials. I console myself by reminding myself I say #No to people too 😂. Guess what? Many customers will say #No today and #Say yes tomorrow or refer many #Yes to you. Never take responses too personal. Always keep your energy same regardless of the responses you got. 5: #Bestsales people only sell #empathy to all customer’s not products and services! People buy from who makes them feel #safe or solves a #problem. “Only with empathy you can force horses to drink water” - unknown. 6: #Sales is fun! Happy “Bold”you = Happy “Bold” sales. Ps. Sales people what did I miss out? Please add yours.

Meet the Team - Callum Walton - Sales Manager Our company Sales Manager, Callum Walton, talks about his experiences with networking, career progression and his sales approach in this week's Meet the Team! Cal began his journey back in 2022 as a Warehouse Operative for our sister company, GameVerge, and quickly progressed to Warehouse Manager in a matter of months. By combining his previous retail management experience with his newfound knowledge, Cal went on to become the head of our sales arm with the launch of Verge Distribution. "How do you engage in industry networking to expand your connections and stay informed about market trends?" I would consider myself lucky that both of these job aspects can be achieved via LinkedIn, especially by joining some of the groups you find on here. There's the opportunity to join a niche group and network with like-minded professionals who you can then connect with, converse with and learn from. "What attracted you to sales and, specifically, to working with Verge Distribution?" Before working with Alex at GameVerge, my career path was based almost entirely around retail. I used to thoroughly enjoy the service aspect in retail, however, during my time as GameVerge’s Warehouse Manager I acquired a deep knowledge of the company's products and operations. It was only natural for me to progress further into the role of Sales Manager following the launch of Verge Distribution! I genuinely feel helpful in this role with our target market being smaller retailers. My job allows me to not just sell items to customers, but help them understand how our products can fit into their portfolio and what steps they can take to maximise performance. "In what ways do you incorporate the brand's values into your sales approach?" At Verge Distribution we value any success we can help our customers achieve and by upholding high standards when it comes to the stock we offer and the service we provide, we’re always looking to inspire. Not only do we provide a whole range of products, but we also provide this range with no minimum order quantity. Our no-MOQ policy has been purposely chosen so our customers can tailor any orders to fit right into their portfolio. This allows the freedom to trial all kinds of products, giving customers the opportunity to test new lines with as much or as little stock as they wish. #b2b #digitalmarketing #wholesale #sales

This is me, circa 2010, in my first outside sales role. I was given the worst territory, in an unproven division, and a 4th of the state of Illinois (...think lots of cornfields🌾). I woke up at 4:30 am every day to miss rush hour traffic from Chicago to the suburbs, took naps in parking lots before my meetings, and looked like I was wearing my mom’s suits to work. I listened to Brian Tracy’s “The Psychology of Selling” CD’s on the road and drove a green Volkswagen beetle (yes, to this day I have no idea how anyone took me seriously😅). In 2011, I was one of the worst performing salespeople on my team. I remember one of my mentors pulled me aside at the end of the year and said “we all thought you’d be a lot better than this”. Adversity works one of two ways. It can either destroy you or motivate you. For me, it made me more determined than ever to succeed. I refused to fail, period. I continued to wake up at 4:30 am every day but I started to practice my pitch more and did so relentlessly. On my way to client meetings, per Brian Tracy’s advice, I’d say “I’m great at this” softly to myself as I’d walk into the office building. I had a picture of Mexico taped to my desk (that’s where our President’s club was each year). In 2012, I was the highest performing rep in my region in driving new logo sales. Sometimes it’s easy to think that people just “have it all” and woke up one being successful. That’s rarely, if ever, the case. The most successful people work tirelessly towards their goals and they are fueled by adversity, not beaten down by it. So, when you face adversity in the coming days, weeks, and months - how will you respond? 

Sales, as they say, is the first career that ever existed, cos at every point in time you are selling something - an idea, a thought, a product, a vision, etc. But what does it for me, in the sales profession, is the customer’s satifaction, and all my customers throughout my selling career can attest to this. The fill-up I get when a customer is happy and satisfied is heavenly. What does it for you? You can share in the comments section.

An increasing number of sales representatives are expressing their dissatisfaction with feeling undervalued in their current positions. Just a few days ago, I had a conversation with Ashley, who happens to be the highest- performing individual at her company. Over the past year, she achieved a remarkable numbers, surpassing her sales quota by an astonishing 3000%. 💰💰💰💰💰 I extended my congratulations for her incredible success, but her demeanor didn't reflect the joy you'd expect. Sensing something amiss, I asked if I had said something to upset her. She replied, "No," and proceeded to explain her frustration at generating millions of dollars for the company while receiving what she considered inadequate compensation. Curious, I asked for details. It turns out that out of the $3 million she generated in sales in a year, the company compensated her with a mere $40,000 in commissions, which equates to approximately 1.3% in commissions. I empathized with her situation, drawing parallels to my past experiences as a former athlete, where exceptional performance often went to the sideunrewarded due to organizational decisions. Returning to Ashley's predicament, I advised her to schedule a meeting with her current employer to establish clear performance targets for the upcoming season. Once those targets were agreed upon, we discussed the possibility of negotiating for a salary and commission increase. Should her employer not be receptive to her terms, I assured her that I would assist her in finding a new opportunity where her contributions would be properly recognized with substantial compensation. 💰💰💰 To prevent the loss of top-performing talents in your organization, consider these steps: ✅ Regularly check in with them. ✅ Set monthly or quarterly performance goals. ✅ Review their sales calls for improvement opportunities. ✅ Ask for their input on areas for growth. ✅ Ensure alignment on sales targets. ✅ Understand their career goals. ✅ And, most importantly, show genuine appreciation for their efforts. If you believe there are other essential steps I may have missed, please share them in the comments below.