Guest Post: Adam Schwam's Experience on Basso On Business
Apr
12
Written by:
4/12/2010 4:12 PM
Guest Post from Adam Schwam, Owner of Sandwire Corp.
When Rob Basso approached me about participating in a segment for his business program, Basso on Business, without hesitating, I accepted. I know that Rob adds inherent value to most, if not all, of the businesses he works with. His no-nonsense approach makes the lessons he teaches that much more resilient. He is not afraid to ask the questions that many business owners, myself included, don’t ask themselves or their employees. This may be in part because we, people and business owners alike, only see what is in front of us; we are afraid to ask the questions that might challenge an individual’s integrity and professionalism; or, plain and simple, we don’t always have the answers. In addition, Rob is a businessman whom I deeply trust and respect, and his input is important to me.
After viewing the Sandwire segment, I was given the chance to look at my business from an outsider’s perspective. Not surprisingly, I gained more from this brief afternoon meeting than I could have anticipated. I had been overemphasizing issues that were above-and-beyond the foundation of my business. – a new sales system. Although sales are important, having a concrete and cohesive infrastructure is imperative to successfully drive and retain sales. With the insights provided by Tim Healy and Rob Basso, I have taken a step back from the “sell, sell, sell” mentality, and have devoted more time to maintaining and fast-tracking Sandwire’s processes. Listening to their suggestions has allowed me to rethink my approach, and utilize the tools, systems, and resources that we have in place while exploring other options for future growth.
Rob stressed the importance of creating a clear, tangible document which outlines my expectations and the responsibilities when hiring new employees. Additionally, Mr. Healy offered his expertise by outlining strategies to better support internal, as well as external, growth, creating tracking and automation templates. He presented a simple spreadsheet design that could help to manage those details. Undoubtedly, Rob and Tim got the wheels in my head turning as I try to put a brake on my personal agenda to drive sales, and accelerate the means by which Sandwire resolves everyday IT-related issues. In summary, by partaking in the Basso on Business program, I feel more focused on building these tools and less concerned with growing a sales team.
Sometimes you have to step outside of your comfort zone to be able to objectively analyze it. This process has given me the opportunity to do just that, and I want to thank everyone from Basso on Business who was involved.
1 comment(s) so far...
Re: Guest Post: Adam Schwam's Experience on Basso On Business
As a Sales Team Trainer and Coach I was certainly eager to work with Basso on Business for this month’s edition featuring Sandwire and their CEO Adam Schwam.The challenge for Adam is that while he has a successful business and a well known brand in the marketplace – he is the only one driving sales for his entire company. That is a dangerous place to be. So Adam needed Rob and I to help in creating a new sales system.While Adam has worked hard to create a solid image and brand he, like many other business owners, has allowed the typical corporate “To Do List” to prevent him from getting started. Adam told Rob and I how he had to finish his website and CRM programs before he hired his 1st sales person. That is a big mistake. This is Adam’s biggest challenge – he cannot allow “busy work” to get in the way of creating a new sales system.After a great conversation we have devised three key ideas to creating a new sales system for Sandwire. 1st – Adam has to define his whole sales process from 1st Point of Contact to Close. 2nd – He has to define who would be an ideal sales person. Adam should look for someone who has sold services in a business to business environment and was responsible for getting their own leads. 3rd – Adam has to clearly define his sales goals for the new sales person in 30, 60 and 90 day increments. Then Adam has to hold a weekly sales meeting thus holding himself and the new sale hire accountable. If Adam can follow these simple steps there is a great opportunity for Adam to realistically double or even triple the number of service contracts his company sells each month!!!
By Tim Healy on
7/12/2010 12:24 PM
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