Hey There,

I was hired into sales 20 years ago by accident because of a two-question behavioral assessment. The results of that assessment told the company that I was interviewing with that I was naturally wired to be good at sales. (Yup, The Predictive Index!) Because that company had such a tight sales process, as well as training and onboarding, they were able to hire salespeople with no experience and simply teach them how to sell. After my first 3 months "training" at what I thought was a more than fair rate of $10 an hour, I had my first commission paycheck of $18,000. I spent $4,000 on a dog and the rest in Vegas in 48 hours. That’s been my life ever since! (I mean, I certainly didn't make 18K every month, but I sure did chase that high)

In 2008 when the market crashed, that company turned into a Lean Sales Organization. Lean is a term and principle normally used in Manufacturing. (it was developed by Toyota) Attaching Lean principles to a sales organization was unheard of. We turned our organization on its head and put the success of the company on the people doing the work. (Thank you Mike Martyn of SISU Consulting Group!) Our motto was “improving the work is the work” and we grew from a 40m organization to a 70m organization in only 4 years despite adding zero new locations and keeping our headcount. We simply standardized our sales processes. 

If you had asked me before then if sales were an art or a science, I would have said; “100% art. You just have to be good at eating and drinking with strangers and you will be great!” After going on that Lean journey, I can wholeheartedly say that sales is 50% art and 50% science and that anyone can be a good salesperson when given a roadmap. 

Which of your sales processes can you standardize? What are you doing well? What can be repeated? How can you eliminate waste, aka, time? Who is doing sales well that you can go into “Gemba” with and observe? Who can you "Kaizen" with, aka, huddle with daily to talk about it?

- Lisa Proeber, Ow

FEATURED PREDICTIVE INDEX PROFILE

Mavericks. Oh sweet sweet Mavericks. Mavericks are visionaries who want to achieve what’s never been achieved before. They’re not fans of the status quo and will shake things up. Mavericks tend to be innovative, influential, daring, and direct—with a remarkably high tolerance for taking chances. This favorite Maverick of ours is a vital part of our business. Her and her team make HubSpot and Marketing dreams come true. 

Do you want to know what The Predictive Index says you are?

FEATURED CLIENT

Anyone out there have kids or kids they love? Yup. Anyone read a food label lately? Woof. One of our amazing new clients, Ooby’s, is changing the world, one cake (pancake, muffin, frosting mix, etc) at a time. 

Lauren Rockteacher, food scientist by trade, spent her 20’s formulating food for adults. Flash forward to becoming a mother, and she couldn’t find anything worth feeding her child for his first birthday. There wasn’t a cake mix down the isle that wasn’t loaded with sugar, sugar alcohol, or artificial sugars. What did Lauren do? She put on her lab coat and made one. Ooby’s was born around the same time her second child was born and the rest is history. 

We started by putting together a Tactical Sales Plan for them, identifying all the potential sales and marketing initiatives they could and should do over the next 3-5 years. We then built out their HubSpot Sales portal. We are currently filling it with leads through our Fractional Sales services! This is where we can use your help. Please let us know if you have any suggestions for great influencers that would represent their brand. We are also looking for baby boutiques and retail stores that might want to carry it. And the “icing on the cake” (yes, pun intended) would be someone in the grocery world who can get Ooby’s Mix on the shelves. 

Get out your phone, follow @oobysmix on Instagram and Facebook. Tell your friends, buy some for your most loved littles, and get baking!

FEATURED SALES ELEMENT

B2R: Business to Retail Strategy

• A formal plan that identifies your go-to-market strategy for business to retail sales so you can grow your business and team strategically.

• At the Middle Six, we use the information we gather from your Tactical Sales Plan and hone in on the high level strategy to sell to retailers.

FEATURED SERVICE

Talent Optimization

By identifying the strengths and potential blind spots of your current team with scientifically validated data, you are able to objectively align your team members by creating a common language and allowing them to become aware of inherent behavioral traits.

The Middle Six is a coaching and consulting firm powered by software that aligns your people strategy with your business goals. 

Available Services 

• PI Kick Off Workshop
• High Performance Series Workshop-Designing for Strategic Action
• High Performance Series Workshop-Discovering your team type
• 1:1 Talent Strategy Session
• Hiring Strategy Session
• Employee Conflict Consulting for Managers
• 1:1 Self Awareness Training
• Hourly Coaching/Consulting
• Behavioral Profile Readback
• Client Support - (1) Live Software Demo,  Self-Paced Virtual Onboarding, Weekly Open Office Hours, 15 min Quick check-ins (Zoom once a week) Quarterly Business Reviews