Passion at work occurs most often when the right person, in the right job is supported through very intentional and strategic action by an organization. Where leadership is aligned with the mission, vision and values and employees are the ultimate extension of the brand.
I was talking to a friend and respected colleague last week. As a Senior Vice President of Sales he was lamenting the unfavorable market conditions. Price competition. Buyer attention deficit disorder. Voice mail. A value proposition you can hardly discern. Procurement. Lengthening cycles. Margin pressure.
His world had changed. His job was much harder than it had ever been before. The same kind of effort was increasingly producing less of the desired outcome. That means pressure. The kind of pressure many people, particularly salespeople, across a variety of industries and disciplines are facing when they arrive at the office today.
What was good enough to get us here simply isn’t going to be good enough to propel us forward. Shift.
I asked him, “what is the biggest bottleneck in the sales cycle? the one thing you need to make happen that you believe will drive the business forward?”
He didn’t hesitate, “We need time with quality decision makers. They need to hear our story. It all sounds the same, but there are key elements of differentiation. I wish our prospects could talk to a few of our customers.”
I didn’t hesitate, “They can. You can help them do it. If you are relying completely on your direct sales organization to influence the marketplace you are missing an opportunity for impact.”
I see the resistance all of the time to the Social Selling movement, particularly among veteran sellers. That question surrounding Facebook, Twitter, YouTube. Is social media a business tool or waste of time?
I knew where he stood. But couldn’t resist the opportunity to flip open my laptop and simply show him my Facebook Wall from the day (and I threw in at tweet from the same day for good measure):
Aaron, Kelly and Brie are like minded colleagues. We are connected and enjoy the benefit of socializing our ideas through new media. They also happen to work for HP, Farmers Insurance and Oakley. Their interest means validation. Their recommendation of my work means everything. Whether they hire me or not isn’t the point. Interestingly, I have never asked for their business. Increasingly, that is how it works (most sellers try and close too soon, before they have earned the opportunity to ask for the business).
I always teach salespeople the value of having the marketplace sell for you (Flip the Sale). The tools and technology enable, educate and eventually put you in a better, more intelligent position when it is time to ask (for help or the business). They expedite the sales cycle. Activate the brand.
Can you explode market share without social media and sales 2.0 strategy? Of course! These are simply tools that help. Frankly, in a competitive marketplace, I will take all the help I can get.
In sales your network is your net worth. It pays to consider how you can positively add value and impact your network each and everyday.
My friend is still skeptical. His view is that social selling wouldn’t be as relevant for “his” business. That is where the conversation always starts.
The journey of discovery toward stopping speeding bullets and leaping tall buildings in a single bound can be rather extraordinary. We’ll see if we can pull it off in 45 minutes!
The journey of discovery toward any worthwhile pursuit is important.
Typically it involves a fair amount of introspection. Most Superhero’s don’t do it for fame and fortune. Typically, it is a higher calling. One filled with meaning and mastery. Passion and purpose.
Everyone has the Superhero inside them. Or is capable of discovering and delivering their very best.
Here are 10 key considerations to aid in tapping into our own passion, purpose and potential:
1. Decide What You Want (and why): This is the hard part. For a caped crusader or mere mortals. The act of decision is important. The best decisions usually include supporting rationale. Examine the what and the why. Once you decide write it down. Be specific. Be intentional. Have a deadline. Want to make President’s Club? Lose 10 lbs? Find a new job? Improve a relationship? Write it down. Give it a deadline. {Tip: make Bold Choices}.
2. Action Plan with Milestones: Build a plan to get what you want. Pay attention to the details. Big things are accomplished in the little moments. Plans helps you focus. Plans help you manage time. Plans help you feel the progress. Plans help you evaluate. Plans help others rally around you. Plans help you maintain the emotional engagement required for big results. Plans help you establish and maintain momentum.
3. Tell Other People: Involve other people you care about. Friends. Family. Have a team. Nobody becomes the best of who they are alone. You need support. You need people holding you accountable. You need allies to champion your cause. {Note: Had I skipped this step I wouldn’t be keynoting this event next week…or any other. The team held me accountable.}
4. Report/Record Activity Against the Action Plan: You need to monitor progress, performance indicators and benchmark against the desired outcome. Hitting the small milestones are signs of progress toward the big goal. Having a record of results helps you stay the course and maintain the emotional commitment among those supporting you.
5. Celebrate: Don’t wait. Celebrate incremental achievement. Progress toward the plan. The milestones matter. Recognize the effort that produces a desired outcome along the way. This is critical for the modern day leader. You’ll get more of what you inspect and recognize!
6. Modify the Plan: The world changes. Life changes. Plans change. Modify, update, adjust, adapt and evolve accordingly. Don’t use the accelerated pace of change as an excuse for not having a plan. For not writing things down and recording progress. For not moving through a process of discovery and decision. Plans change but process is still important.
7. Don’t Quit: Not at the first sign of resistance, setback, mistake, misstep and considerable concern that embarking on this adventure simply wasn’t a a good idea. The resistance is coming. Rejection. Failure. Fear. Doubt. Insecurity. Stress. Anticipate the hard parts. Work through them. {Tip: The Dip is an excellent resource for determining when to quit and when to stay the course. Many people give up on the cusp of a breakthrough).
8. Get Better: Mastery takes time. Hard work. Help. Practice. Most people don’t practice work (hard to do when you are busy working). This makes it hard to improve. The 10,000 Hour Rule in Outliers suggests that the key to extraordinary performance and success is a matter time and practice (20 hours a week for 10 years should just about do it) and doesn’t have as much to do with talent. The good news is we all have exactly the same amount of time and decide how to invest it. Even a little practice can accelerate breakthrough performance.
9. Help Others: The Superhero ethos. Help. It is amazing how much we can improve and evolve through service. It is often when we’ll experience the most profound growth. It is often a catalyst for elevating our own emotional engagement. I see it everyday. The best sellers. The best leaders. The best people I know give first.
10. Have Fun: Enjoy the ride. At the end of the day success = happiness!
I look forward to the event in the hometown next week! MSAE has done a fabulous job building momentum toward next week with a progressive pre-conference promotional initiative (my video prompt included). I may get inspired enough to break out the cape!
I live and love the iLife. In making the transition from Blackberry I became an AT&T customer by default.
I have experienced dropped calls and hit dead zones over the last two years. Just like I am sure everyone else on just about every other network has. It certainly wasn’t enough of a disruption that moved me to explore other service providers. However, had an alternative option been presented to me with incentive and ease of transition I certainly might have made the move. I represent the vast majority of customers (yes, likely your customers and employees). I was reasonably satisfied. Not loyal.
That changed for me last week. AT&T has captured my heart and moved my spirit. I am now part of the Rethink Possible Tribe.
Why? Simple. The human element. The essential, secret ingredient that can turn your customers into the most loyal, fanatical, brand evangelists on the planet. The essential, secret ingredient that can rock your workforce, elevate engagement, accelerate performance and turn culture into a competitive advantage.
It comes down to people and relationships. Particularly people that are engaged and intuitive enough to create a compelling experience.
I spent an evening with AT&T last week. I was hired to keynote a dinner event. The people I met were special. The way they treated me was extremely generous. They were all Brand Ambassadors. They were warm, welcoming, supportive, hospitable and extended themselves beyond measure to ensure I was able to succeed. It wasn’t necessary. It was simply AT&T.
I know them now. I like them now. They have my support. Any my business. I want to work with them again. Whether I do or don’t doesn’t really matter. This brand was humanized for me in a very positive and powerful way. That drives loyalty. It is that simple.
The people are the brand.
Often it isn’t what you do (plenty of other people/companies do what you do just as well as you do it and for just about the same price), but how you do it and who is doing it that makes the moment memorable enough to keep customers (and employees) coming back for more.
Put people first.
Performance and profitability are more likely to follow.
If your people strategy isn’t the #1 priority on the agenda today perhaps it is time to Rethink Possible?
Prompted recently by a little healthy dieting competition with my brother (inspired by The 4 Hour Body) Chipotle started to become part of the lunchtime plan. I soon realized the power of the Chipotle Tribe. By 11:45 on any given day the Chipotle on 225 East Hennepin Ave. has a line out the door. But this crew deals. Good food. Fast. They also embrace a serious, service oriented attitude. I noticed right away. Something you don’t always see on the fast food line. This crew was in lock step.
Two weeks ago I placed my order (very light on the Guac). The Manager asked the Cashier not to charge me extra for the Guac. A thoughtful touch for a regular customer. However, the Cashier was having a bit of trouble. Upon noticing this might hold me up, the Manager simply said don’t worry about it, lunch today is on me. Bravo! A Free Burrito! Now I am a fan.
I have been back 3-4 times since Free Burrito day. Yesterday I asked to speak to the Manager. I wanted to meet Megan.
Megan & Dustin delivering the experience at Chipotle
Megan Grothe has been with Chipotle for 8 years. She explained to me that she wasn’t simply the General Manager, she was a Restaurateur, a category designated for a small group of evaluated and accredited all star leaders (a program Chipotle started to improve retention among it’s best talent). She told me about the “love” she has for her job, her team and the organization. A big part of that was grounded in the intersection of her own values with the Chipotle corporate values (a commitment to integrity, sustainability and the way the company treats it’s people). When I inquired about the Free Burrito she simply said to me that providing a bad experience for any customer isn’t worth it. She wants me to “feel the WOW” and keep coming back. She recognizes I have a choice and she wants Chipotle to be top of mind come high noon everyday. This approach and attitude is part of her team development initiative and she makes certain it is delivered on the line at the moment that matters.
Sounds simple but it’s so often overlooked. Hire the right people. Invest in them. Develop them. Communicate a shared vision and values. Treat them right.
Give away a Free Burrito when it counts.
Does this strategy work? This whole idea of put your people first and profit follows?
I love Chipotle. Not just any Chipolte. But my Chipotle. The Chipotle on 225 East Hennepin Ave. just outside of my neighborhood in Minneapolis. On this corner of Hennnepin & University sits plenty of good options for lunch. Panera. Punch Pizza. Bruegger’s. Surdyk’s. Lund’s.
I will be heading to Chipotle for lunch today. With my Restaurateur Megan and her team. Just don’t ask me how the diet is going!
SueAnn & Roberta: Continental Airlines Dynamic Duo
Over the holidays while traveling home from Minneapolis to Cleveland I had such an elevated airline/airport experience I shared the story here. The genesis of my Raving Fan customer service experience were SueAnn and Roberta who rocked the terminal with rock star service. I have seen them since the post. Doing what they do. Big hugs, genuine thanks, appreciation, respect and care are now part of my airport experience when traveling Continental.
Last week I received the following note from another Continental customer who reads the blog and also got to experience these two firsthand. She writes:
We also had contact with “The Girls”. They are fantastic in how they deal with even the most irate customer. They were so helpful with us, we didnt notice that we sat at the gate for over an hour. What a great way to pass the time. Thank you, Continental, for having them there for us.
Bravo! I am not surprised. These two are engaged, invested and inspired to serve and elevate the experience for any customer they contact. So much so that this particular customer wanted to actually thank Continental. When a customer says thank you a service provider is in a great place.
Now, this airline has an opportunity. To recognize these two (a core driver of engagement). To hold them up as an example. To use these very experiences to reinforce the vision of what the customer experience should be all about.
You’ll get results around where you pay the most attention. This is worth plenty and is exactly the kind of best practice example that an organization can use to communicate and better connect employees to a shared vision.
Inspired service and and an elevated experience make customers want more. These Best Friends at Work deliver.
Every aspect of the process tracked, recorded and reported. The impact and outcome of any and every communication intended to yield conversion analyzed. Individual contributor contribution benchmarking reports made available to everyone else. A public review of both production and progress.
Sales is a numbers game. The sales pro knows his or her numbers cold. They can quickly relay peak activity periods. A process map. They know exactly when to increase call volume or hit send. Closers spend more time on high yield/outcome activity (conversely many salespeople who struggle are mired in a myriad of low yield, non essential activity & administration).
I love the performance oriented nature of professional sales. It drives the business. The competition. The quota. The plan. You either make it or you don’t. Results or excuses. Black and white.
Except it never really was so black and white. You want to measure what matters. Except so many things mattered we didn’t measure. The data set drives decisions. As it should. But so often it doesn’t tell the whole story.
We couldn’t quite get our arms around likability. Influence. Trust. Confidence. Commitment. Loyalty. So those drivers don’t make their way on to the scorecard.
Most companies don’t connect the dots between a customer that is happy to do business with you and one that evangelizes your work to anyone and everyone they know. One who wants to help. One who is really invested in your success and happiness. One who becomes a fan of the business.
That gap is usually about a relationship. An emotional connection. Someone who cares. So often not captured in the reporting cycle. Yet, so essential to success.
I also see this trend in the other business functions. HR. Management. The conversation at every conference I attend around metrics. The notion you cannot improve what you don’t measure. The science does matter and the numbers don’t lie. I also suppose, on some level, we all do have a need to validate our value.
While the science matters, so does the art. The human element.
Work is an emotional experience. Some of the most influential drivers toward the measured result may not find their way on to the scorecard.
The delicate balance between the art and the science.
Today’s work experience is fueled with emotion. The means in which you provide for your family, the community you live in, the evolution of your skills/competency and how you spend such a large percentage of your time are life essential considerations.
I believe there is an increasing desire for more meaning in the experience. If the organization can connect with candidates and employees on an emotional level, elevate the vision of the experience in both the hearts and minds of right-fit talent and deliver against those expectations consistently…you’ll have accomplished something powerful. They are the genesis for cultivating pride and commitment toward a shared purpose. Far too often that vision and values set is missing from the job description and performance review. They shouldn’t be.
Passion at work doesn’t manifest itself on auto pilot. And people aren’t ‘potentialized’ without real strategic effort and investment from both the organization and its leadership. Performance starts with people strategy.
Decisions around work style design and experience are increasingly important. So is delivery. How we connect our people to those decisions and communicate them both inside and outside the organization guide, shape, influence and develop culture. Culture can absolutely be a competitive advantage or the one big thing that inhibits performance.
If you want to build and sustain a Tribe (or a Customer or Talent Community) consistency counts. And the content needs to be:
AUTHENTIC…DIFFERENTIATED…and COMPELLING (the real hard part).
I blog, flip and facebook. I create content. For example:
I care about my audience. I want to have impact. And taking my content marketing to the next level makes a difference. Compare:
Authentic? Differentiated? Compelling? I hope so and plan to consistently push both myself and the customers we serve in that direction. While I love to Flip, I also know know that might get my content marketing to authenticity but often falls a little short on differentiated and compelling. Quality counts. It elevates the experience. The experience is everything…just ask a customer.
