Chris Lytle

A few years ago, I read Dr. Murray Sperber’s book Beer and Circus: How Big Time College Sports Is Crippling Undergraduate Education. Sperber is a professor of English and American Studies at Indiana University. In the New York Times, Morris Berman’s book review captures the big ideas and themes of the book. American college students, particularly at big-time universities, are caught up in a triad of alcohol, spectator sports and partying, which, Sperber tells us, now occupies the ”academic” career of vast numbers of undergraduates. This is in turn tied to the promotion of research at the expense of teaching; huge lecture classes (typically taught by teaching assistants); high levels of cheating; rampant grade inflation; and a cynical, if tacit, ”nonaggression pact” between students and faculty to stay out of each other’s way. In an argument that comes fairly close to conspiracy theory, Sperber asserts that none of this is accidental. Since the big-time universities aim to acquire status and prestige through expensive research programs, they can no longer afford to give the majority of their undergraduates a meaningful education. Hence, they substitute beer and circus to keep the students distracted and the tuition dollars rolling in, in a way that is perhaps no less cynical than the bread-and-circus constellation of ancient Rome. The book made me glad I went to tiny Baldwin-Wallace College where I was a small-time athlete and a pretty good student. Sperber despises lecture halls filled with 1200 students and taught by teaching assistants. He writes that the honors classes are where the real learning occurs. After sitting in on an honors class at a Big-time U, a high school senior on a college visiting tour exclaimed, “They spent the hour [discussing] the professor’s specialty. The kids had done all the required reading and even the supplementary stuff. They asked the professor constant questions, interrupted him, ... Read More

Sarah and I are going to Las Vegas next week. I won’t be gambling, though. Instead, we have tickets to a couple of shows. We have reservations at a couple of very nice restaurants, of course. And we’re going to visit good friends who live in Summerlin, NV. Speaking of shows, I saw my first show in Las Vegas when I was impressionable 32-year old. I have forgotten the comedian’s name, but I have never forgotten what he said. “You’ve been a great audience. When you leave here and go back to the casino remember this: The less you bet, the more you lose when you win.” From that moment on, I looked at gambling differently. If I were a betting man, I would bet that your salespeople aren’t going home at night and reading about how to get better at their sales jobs. In fact, only 10% of the people have what’s called a “learning mindset.” These are the people who seek out learning. The other 90% won’t seek to improve their skills unless it’s part of a job requirement. But don’t take my word for it. Do your own survey. Ask your salespeople in a meeting or one-on-one what they’re reading, watching or listening to to get better at their sales jobs. I will bet you $5 you get a lot of fluttering eyeballs and/or blank looks. If I’m wrong e-mail me and I’ll write you a check. Seriously. You see, I don’t gamble.

It is far easier to get a new audience than to come up with a new speech. I learned that at my first National Speakers Convention. One year, I managed to speak to 130 different audiences on three continents. I had just two presentations in repertoire. Before that, though, when I was the local sales manager at WISM-AM and FM, I had to come up with a new sales meeting every week and give it to the same old audience. Alas, there was no Instant Sales Training website from which to grab suitable content. So I read a lot and came up with my own stuff. Except . . . . . . I didn’t plan one sales meeting per month. That’s when I took a break from content creation and got my salespeople to chip in. It was the “Show and Tell” sales meeting. Each month one salesperson had to bring a customer to the sales meeting. That customer would brief us on his or her business. Show and tell. Before the meeting I asked each salesperson to write down at least two questions to ask the business owner. That way, I could be sure the meeting would last 45-minutes to an hour. The business owner showed up. The salespeople asked questions, listened and took notes. I did very little. Letting others learn to lead is a form of leadership after all. One of those meetings still sticks in my mind. A young salesperson, Rodney, brought his customer, Rupert Cornelius, to our sales meeting. Rupert was a successful retailer in Madison, WI. He owned several clothing stores on State Street. And he was a big advertiser. Rodney got to ask the first question. He asked Rupert, “How do you decide what to advertise on our Radio stations?” “I put things on display and watch what items are selling all by themselves with no advertising. Then I advertise those items. Why would ... Read More

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. “Adults learn by doing and not by hearing how the trainer did it.” The speaker was Bob Pike. That one line had a tremendous impact on me. I was at a training conference in New York City in the mid ’80s. Sarah and I had paid a lot of money to attend. We felt we needed to walk the walk. We kept telling our prospective clients they ought to invest in training. So we invested in training for ourselves. Most of us get promoted to sales management and find ourselves at the head of the conference table running the sales meeting. Too many of us try to train by telling our sales team how we sold. Bad idea. You don’t want to clone yourself. You want your salespeople to become their better selves. Let them participate in their own learning. Dare I say, make them participate in their own learning. They don’t have to like it. You’re doing this for their improvement, not their enjoyment. The better you get the better you’d better get. Make that your mantra.

In the mid ’80s, I toured the country with a 1-day seminar, Radio Sales $101.  Get it? It was an entry level (101) sales course and we charged $101 for it. We averaged 35-40 people per session. It was a lovely little cash cow for Sarah and me. Now, I’ve heard hundreds of reasons (excuses) why companies don’t invest in sales training. But let me tell you about the dumbest one. One day, I took a call from a sales manager who wanted to send someone to the seminar. (Remember, it cost $101 per person.) “Chris, I don’t have the budget to send all five people,” he said. “So, I’m holding a sales contest to see which one gets to go to your seminar next month.” “You’re going to send the loser, right?” I asked. “No, I’m going to send the winner,” he said. “Why would I send the loser? He sounded confused by my question, which I thought was exactly the right one. “Because the loser of the sales contest is the one who needs sales training the most,” I said. “Give the winner dinner for two at the best steakhouse in town,” I urged him. “That’s what I would do.” He still thought I was kidding. I wasn’t. I was giving him the very best advice for someone with a tiny training budget. Sure, it’s mistake to hold a sales contest and send the winner to training. But the bigger mistake for sales managers is thinking that sales training is a reward instead of an absolute necessity. And it’s a necessity for everyone on the sales team.