If you invest enough time cultivating real relationships with clients they will often tell you what they want.  They will tell you how to earn their business.  They will tell you how to keep their business.  They will tell you the difference makers that determine satisfaction or elevate them to loyalty.  If you ask the right questions, the right way and really listen you’ll learn the secrets to accelerating growth.

I have a client who defines success in our partnership with what she describes as the WOW metric.  What does she want?

She wants to be blown away.  She wants to be fall on the floor excited.  She wants to feel an overwhelming sense of pride.  She wants to feel inspired.   She wants the experience of working together to make a huge impact (which is defined by yet another set of metrics).

But make no mistake, she is clear in her conviction that the work needs to make everyone around her say, WOW!

We talk about what it takes to get to WOW.  Investment.  Resources.  Collaboration.  Risk.  Trust.  Teamwork.  Time.  We define the road map to WOW success in our project planning.  We build in contingencies.  We benchmark along the way.  All so we can have a direct hit on WOW when we cross the finish line, together.

Too subjective?  Impossible?  Unfair?  I suppose some vendors would think so.  I don’t.  Although most customers might not articulate it this way, I don’t think what they want is all that different.  Building in more WOW Factor is good for business.

What does success look like for you today?  When 5 pm arrives will your clients, colleagues and co-worker say WOW!

Part of the WOW experience isn’t just WHAT you deliver but HOW you do it.  You can put more WOW around the HOW right now.

WOW wins business.  WOW keeps business.  WOW builds evangelism.  WOW is tough to beat. WOW is work worth doing.

Posted in Brand, Leadership, Sales, Uncategorized

Tags: customer service, Experiecne, How, Service

How can you create change in the organization, C suite, leadership, the boss, colleagues, co-workers?
Even when the common belief is “they” would never go for the big, new idea/initiative/innovation/investment.

Have an idea? Want to have an impact? Ready to be a Change Agent?

You need influence.

Influence can serve as a catalyst for a meaningful change movement. To get a big idea over the line consider these 7 keys:

Tell the story:  Make it compelling.  Have an adversary.  Create a vision of the new experience.  Articulate the alternative. Earn emotional commitment for the cause.
Do your homework:  Present compelling evidence:  Prove the concept.  Show examples. Deliver a data set.  Cite case studies.  Leverage competitive intelligence.
Sell the future state:  Speak to the current and future state. Demonstrate cause and effect.  Predict the outcome.  Detail the realized vision.
Build buy in:  This is where your network counts.  Who cares as much as you?  Why should they? What is in it for them?  Why does it matter?  Build authentic relationships.  Invest the time.  Earn respect.  Introduce the worthwhile idea into the agenda.
Challenge the status quo -  Generate interest and ideas that spark innovation and improvement.  Disrupt the death grip on the way  things get done with new, collective thinking.  Performance earns the Change Agent an opportunity to push the business forward.
Have consistent conviction – Take a stand.  Don’t waver without a reason. Be firm in the face of resistance.
Go all in: It is worth it? If you are right. If you believe. If it matters. If it is the difference maker. Then you have to be willing to take some calculated risks and go all the way in. Stopping short doesn’t serve as a catalyst for change.  A real leader puts it on the line.  In or out?

Influence can take time.  It demands credibility.  It mandates preparedness.  It requires trust.  It needs to be earned.

The good news?

You don’t need permission to have influence.

Posted in Leadership, Recruiting, Sales, Social Media, Uncategorized

Tags: Change, Change Agent, Influence

I was on a conference call with a prospective customer this week.  We discussed an engagement for the sales organization.  They are experiencing the challenges of the ‘Sales Shift‘.  Lengthening cycles, discount competition, margin pressure, anxious buyers and less budget all together.  Tough landscape for the sellers.  The world has changed. It isn’t going back.

What was good enough to get us here isn’t going to be good enough to get us there.

They know this.  That is the reality of their reality. So they are making moves.  Upgrading talent (firing and hiring). Improving process.  Investing in development. Solidifying strategy.  Socializing best practices.

During our discovery call we discussed the outcome objectives of the event.  In addition to sound process and core sales competency they are hungry for a little bit of the sales passion:  competitive spirit, hustle, attitude, persistence, follow up, accountability, relationship strategy and a ferocious commitment to making plan…to exploding past plan.  Some sellers have it. Some don’t.

So, she asked me the big question: “Can you really tech this to our people?”

My answer:  YES.  I can.  I will.  If I don’t?  Don’t pay me.  That simple.

What I cannot do is MAKE THEM DO IT.  I cannot put inside them what was left out.  If the pilot light is out we have a problem. That is why I was excited to learn they are focused on getting the right people on the bus.  They recognize the shift.  Not everyone is up for making the transition to what is next and new.  That is why the people strategy comes first. Get the right kind of sellers in the seats and we’ll put the process in place to accelerate performance and move them past plan.

We spent a little time talking about what kind of person is making the shift.  Wants to make the shift.  Wants to put in the work to make plan.

We agreed.

Focus on the people strategy first.  Once you have the right kind of people in place you can teach them to sell more.

Included is content from our keynote at the ACA Convention, Sales 2.0 & The Social Shift:

Posted in Recruiting, Sales, Social Media

Tags: Sales, Sales 2.0, Sales Shift, Sales Training, Social Selling

You need to practice.

Whatever you want to do better.

Sell. Lead. Write. Speak. Design.

They all require practice.

Athletes and artists get this straight away. They spend 90% of their time preparing to be successful for the 10% of the time they stand in the arena to compete or entertain (which happens to be about as competitive as business gets).

It is a bit harder in business. We play the game 40, 50 and in some instances 60+ hours a week. When is there time?

A 90-10 ratio might not work but the business athlete still finds time to practice. They are learning, testing, trying, improving, studying and perfecting the craft each and everyday.

Show me a sales professional that doesn’t practice. I’ll show you someone that will eventually lose deals to a seller that does. The market is competitive. For sales. For client satisfaction. For promotions. For merit increases. For jobs.

Mastery requires practice. I like to practice at night or early in the morning. Some people I know practice over lunch and on the weekends. Others I know schedule time throughout the day. Find the time that works best for you.

The best players I know make practice a habit. There is of course the occasional exception. Former NBA MVP and perennial All Star Allen Iverson was one of those great players that didn’t care much for practice. So gifted. So talented. So superior an athlete. Sadly, not much of a leader. I think he is playing in Turkey now.

Enclosed is the now infamous AI interview commentary on the subject of practice. It is funny to watch.

Would you want him to lead your team?

How do you feel about practice? A better question…how DO you practice?

Posted in Leadership, Sales

Tags: Allen Iverson, Competition, Leadership, Practice, Sales

A few months ago I checked into the Hotel Del Coronado to relax, reflect, write and rejuvenate.  A solo mission for a few days in the sun to stop and enjoy the view.

During my stay I decided to catch a workout and 5:00 p.m. presented perfect “beach run” conditions.  Sun still shining, waves crashing in, I put on my new playlist and set out North on Coronado Beach for what I estimated would be a nice 3-4 miler. A couple miles in I started closing in on a small group of men in white t-shirts and long pants, a few more men in blue t-shirts and shorts and two utility vehicles. My pace slowed in approaching their location.  I realized who they were and it was readily apparent what they were doing.

They were Navy SEALs, the U.S. Navy’s principal special operations force, engaged in BUD/S training, universally considered to be the most grueling military training in the world.  From my vantage point and based on the little reading I had done on SEAL training it appeared they were deep into the program and I was pained stealing an occasional glance and considering what they were enduring.  These were special men.  True warriors.

This was prior to the SEAL Team Six execution of Osama Bin Laden where following much was written about SEAL Team Training and these elite warriors.  Even knowing a little more now than I did then, I can still recall upon seeing them considering why someone would choose that path?  How they survive the mental and physical test of this training?

I considered the reasons.  I concluded I was grateful for them.

This week while reading The Heart and the Fist author, humanitarian and Navy SEAL Eric Greitens offers this bit of insight:

“The SEAL teams would give me little, but make me more.  I might fail at BUD/S; I might find myself miserable; but I’d live with no regrets.  We wanted to be tested.  We wanted to prove ourselves worthy.”

This book is about Eric’s journey from Rhodes Scholar and Humanitarian to becoming a decorated Navy SEAL Commanding Officer.

It is also very much about living a life with purpose.  About passing tests.  Often, the two aren’t mutually exclusive.

Feeling tested lately?  I believe this is a time where many are facing real hard tests in work and life.

Would you be better served by stepping up to pass a true test? In challenge we often find strength, growth and our most meaningful evolution.

Would that prepare you to better serve others?

Enclosed is the book trailer to The Heart And The Fist.  Summer reading I’d highly recommend.

Posted in Leadership, Sales, Uncategorized

Tags: Eric Greitens, Navy SEALs, The Heart And The Fist

This afternoon I will be speaking on Sales 2.0 & The Social Shift to Executives at the ACA International Convention.  We will address a few core issues that will be top of mind to attendees:

1.  Is social media a business tool or waste of time?

2. Show me the money (this one is easy).

3. Can I get an advantage over my competition?

4.  Do my prospects and customers care about social media?

5.  Won’t my competition be able to see who I am connecting with or learn more about us if we are more social?

I just finished reading the Ad Age article, How Social Media Can Derail Your New Business Efforts.  I was also asked during my breakfast business summit last week about the danger of the competition seeing your contacts on Linked In.

It is true.  Your competition can and will learn more about you if you go social.  My thought about that.  So what?

My advice to any sales organization, leader or individual contributor would be to focus on being better than the competition.

Social Media doesn’t make or break your sales strategy, process, work product, pitch plan, preparation cycle or prospect and customer experience.  They merely serve as access points and additional opportunity to demonstrate your value proposition.

I hope my sellers (they know who they are) are reading this and connecting on linked in early and often.  I hope they are selling with carefully researched and expertly crafted POV (Point of View & Position of Value).  I hope they are presenting clear and compelling proof of concept with case studies that include ROI. I hope they wake up ready to step into the arena of competition and lean into the challenge of taking on the very best.  I hope they out prepare, out think and out hustle the competition.  I hope they present to win. I hope they put their process, strategies, ideas and insights on display for the whole world to see, including the competition.  I hope they earn commitment and identify next steps at every inflection point in the sales cycle. I hope they never worry about what the competition might see, think or know about what they are doing, who they are connected to or where they are checking in. I hope they are that confident.  I hope they are that much better.

Sell from a position of strength.  Not fear.  Focus more on the customer.  Less on you.  Even less on the competition.

If you are with us in Dallas join me this afternoon at the #acaconvention.

Posted in Sales, Social Media

Tags: ACA International, Ad Age, Sales 2.0, Social Media, Social Selling

I sat down for lunch recently with a friend who I hadn’t seen in some time.  When I asked how things were going he replied, “status quo.”

As we moved into discussion it was clear things were a bit less than desirable.  A bit of erosion was setting in.  I have been exactly this kind of “status quo”.  I understood.  We used lunch to talk through a game plan to redirect and get back on the right track.  We also achieved consensus around this simple premise:

The “status quo” is dead.

If you aren’t moving forward it is likely you are going to be set back. The pace of change is accelerating too quickly to simply stay the same.  I am actually familiar with the status quo business strategy and I can assure you that a death grip on trying to stay the same is a recipe for eventual deterioration. We are living in a time that requires innovating forward.

A simple checklist to ensure personal productivity and performance are on the fast track:

-Who are the 3 most important new people you’ve met in the last 30 days?

-Who are the 3 most important people you’ve spent meaningful moments with this week?

-What are the last 3 books you’ve read?

-What is working better today that wasn’t working 100 days ago?

-What isn’t working?

-What are you going to do about it?

-What is the most important use of your time right now?

-What are you going to do about it?

-What are your 3 “go to” excuses?

What are you going to do about it?

It’s almost halftime (the end of Q2).  A good time to check the scoreboard.

How are you doing?

Hopefully better than “status quo.”

Posted in Leadership, Sales

Tags: Performance, Productivity, Status Quo

15 minutes early or 5 minutes late for the meeting?

Thoroughly prepared or learning on the fly?

A day before the deadline or two hours after it was promised?

10% below budget or the over run?

Exceeding expectations.  Always.

Or assigning blame.  “It’s not my fault!”

I see it everyday.  Often it is well intended.  In some instances it has seemingly become acceptable. Or at least quite common.

The over promise.

Unfortunately, it is also the kiss of death over time.

An A product with an F process grades you out as a C player.

Good habits are contagious.  Often the ability to design an extraordinary experience exists in attention to the tiny little details almost everyone can impact.  If we are paying attention. When we focus on consistency.

Deliver a little more than expected, a little earlier than expected, for a little less money.

You’ll be pleased with what happens next.

Posted in Brand, Communications, Leadership, Sales

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.

He just sent me a LinkedIn invitation.  Progress.

I’ll be presenting Social Selling on Day 2 of the ACA International Convention next month in Texas.  Hope you can join us!

Posted in Brand, Communications, Sales, Social Media, Uncategorized

I had the good fortune of attending the Lenny Kravitz & U2 show last weekend.  Whatever your taste in music, this “experience” can’t be understated.  From my perspective it is simply off the charts entertaining and they are the only touring act today that can pull it off on this scale.

A noticeable element of this “show”?

Preparation.

You want to engage an audience?  Deliver a compelling client experience?  Convince a community?  Inspire a team?  Close the sale?  Earn that testimonial?

Prepare like a professional artist.

Put in the hours.  Test.  Tear it apart.  Rebuild it.  Start over.  Add.  Adjust. Adapt.

Rehearse.

You’ll know when it is ready.  When you and the team have put in the time.  When everyone knows their part.

When your confidence is Rock Star.

Success often doesn’t come down to the moment.  It usually comes down to how prepared you are for the moment.

Preparation is a process.  It requires discipline.  It is always useful to consider your approach.

If you skip the choreography, rehearsal and sound check the people you want to impact will most assuredly notice the difference.

If you get it just right the impact can be extraordinary.

U2 prepared and delivered a surprise to the crowd at Quest Field, Seattle last Saturday night with a video message from Commander Mark E. Kelly.

Bono dedicated ‘Beautiful Day’ to Gabby Giffords, before asking, “Imagine a man looking down on us from 200 miles up. Looking down at our beautiful crowded planet… What would he say to us…? What is on your mind Commander Kelly?”

Posted in Employee Engagement, Leadership, Sales, Uncategorized

Tags: Artist, Lenny Kravitz, Preparation, U2