Treating sales persons like a dog–may sound unusal but actually is a smart strategy. Why? Because sales people like dogs respond to positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is a fancy word that means that the best way to change the techniques of a sales person is actually quite similar to clicker training that is done with training dogs. If you want the sales person to change a selling technique similar to teaching a dog to sit or stay, the manager needs to see the behavior that they want repeated and give a positive reinforcer( compliment or acknowledgement). That is all it takes –a manager\’s presence and positive reinforcer. Those two efforts make all the difference in changing sales performance. The same thing you do with your dog without thinking—-don\’t your sales people deserve the same effort? In a market that is more difficult to sell successfully in–this is the time where the manager can make all the difference in improving sales results. Have a great sales day. Pat Sherlock