2009 February | A Sales Guy

Republican, A Matter of Convenience

Half of my friends are Republicans. For the last eight years we have had some interesting debates, and playful banter. Now that things have changed and Dems have accomplished the trifecta their rhetoric has changed. With the economy in the shitter, bailouts HARP, TARP, and the stimulus package front and center the conversation is becoming increasingly louder. Socialism, taxpayers bailing out those who bought homes they couldn’t afford, universal health care, increased spending, big government are destroying the country and the dems are leading the way, are increasingly irritating my friends and their rhetoric is getting angrier and angrier. Their tone is increasingly dire and negative. You’d think we are the beginning of the end.

I find it all pretty funny,

Sean Quinn at FiveThirtyEight wrote an insightful post on why a person becomes a Republican and it got me thinking. Being Republican is a convenient philosophy during good times. When people are doing well and the idea that they would ever need a handout is miles away, being Republican is the easy choice. It’s a self centric ideology. It validates their identity of being successful and self-made. It makes them feel they are protecting their efforts and all they believe they created on their own. When times are good, people can have a tendency to take ownership for things that aren’t really theirs to take credit for.

We are in different times now. Things aren’t going well. People aren’t doing well and the Democrats are NOT the only ones whose homes are being foreclosed. Dems don’t own the market for being over-leveraged, and credit burdened. Dem’s aren’t the only ones who are struggling, who didn’t save enough and are one paycheck away from not being able to pay their mortgage.

Irresponsibility is NOT a Democratic problem. It’s a United States problem. As HARP is doled out Republicans, as well as Dem’s will be there with their hands out trying to save their home. Republicans are no more resistant to a hand out than a Democrat.

Being a Republican is convenient. When the money is rolling in and times are good, only the irresponsible are broke, only those who made irresponsible decisions are looking for handouts and so why should responsible, hard-working, god fearing people pay for others mistakes? When times are bad, well that is a different Republican story.

Is there a Republican out there who is about to lose their house, or their car, or can’t pay their bills who WILL NOT TAKE ANY MONEY FROM THE GOVERNMENT? I got to know!

Being a Republican is convenient. If only those people who are responsible, or don’t want government protections, or would refuse a kidney transplant to save their life because the couldn’t afford it were Republicans, there would be no Republican Party. Needing help, whether it is government, corporate, family or religious welfare is universal. It is not a Democratic problem.

Being Republican is far too convenient when times are good, but it is now appearing to be a little less convenient during the tough times.

Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you . . . For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

February 27, 2009 | Filed under: Economy,Politics | View Comments |

What the Ski Industry Can Teach Sales Organizations

I have been saying for quite some time that knowledge; knowledge of markets, knowledge of trends, knowledge of process, and knowledge of customers, are differentiators in the world of sales. Great sales efforts are rooted in the ability to influence. The greatest asset in being able to influence is information; the more, the better.

To get more knowledge in to the hand of their sales people, companies should create Sales certifications. Not, product feature, function certifications or training but broader, market centric, business oriented certifications sales employees voluntarily take. The certification process would be hierarchical, with each level being built on the last with each certification level demonstrating a deeper, more complex understanding of the environment, the products, the markets and the business impacts. A certification process that is pass or fail not just participatory. We have too much of that today.

In the Ski Industry, there are 5 levels of Ski Instructor certification. Level 1 demonstrates a proficient level of the teaching techniques and the ability to execute the skills on snow. However, as you move up the certification ladder to Levels 2-5, a substantially greater command of movement analysis, on snow skills, technical knowledge, and instruction capabilities is required. All of which must be demonstrated on the mountain and in the class room. What makes Ski Instructor training impressive is it’s not good enough to understand it theoretically, instructors must be proficient on the snow and demonstrate a physical grasp of the techniques. Instructors must PASS an on snow and in class room test and evaluation in order to get their certification. With this structure many Ski Instructors get their Level 1 certification, a smaller number of people get their Level 2 certification, with even fewer attaining their Level 3 and only the most proficient and committed instructors possess the capabilities to achieve the highest certifications. Less than 1% of all Ski Instructors achieve the highest certification. These skiiers are unequivocally the best of the best. This Ski Industry certification process sorts the best from the rest and fundamentally improves the guest ski instruction experience. Pay, assignments, titles, and prestige are directly connected to instructor’s certification level.

The system creates a tangible hierarchy based on knowledge and actual on snow skiing capabilities. It’s not subjective. Either you can or you can’t ski certain terrain, in a certain fashion, with the appropriate control and technique.

What makes this system work is it is voluntary. Ski instructors choose the level of certification they want to attain.

I think sales organizations could benefit from a program like this. Creating a corporate sales certification structure would create an environment where sales people compete not only against quota, but also for certification attainment and the education, knowledge and improved capabilities that come with them. Organizations would have a tool for measuring sales talent and capabilities. Companies could assign accounts and opportunities in a more effective and efficient way improving sales

Far too often, average sales people get lucky with plum accounts and are heralded as rain makers while great sales people squeak 80% of quota out of a dog, yet end up on the scrap heap. Creating a strong certification process designed to DEVELOP sophisticated, selling and business skills, while ferreting out the average from the best will reduce cost of sales, increase revenue and provide organizations with an industry leading sales force. Measuring talent and sales capabilities by quota can get you in trouble. It is only one indicator of talent. Keeping the most talented and sophisticated sales people is critical in today’s corporate environment. Build a voluntary sales certification process where sales people can fail, that identifies the truly talented and provides a certification of achievement and you will create a world class sales organization.

Anyone doing this today? Have any of you gone through something like this? I would love to hear about. Drop me a line and let me know.

February 27, 2009 | Filed under: Leadership | Comments Off |

Are You a Good Sales Person? You’ll Know Soon Enough!

Today’s economic climate is a Darwinian perfect storm designed to rid markets of bad companies, under performing assets and average sales people.

Today’s market is going to mercilessly shred the average sales person. It will have no patience for those who rely on the products to sell themselves. It will punish those who think their “buddy-buddy” relationships will move their wares. It will chew up and spit out those who expect the products technology; its “unique” features or its cool factor to win the day. Today’s market is a bazooka looking to take down the average sales person with no remorse.

The market is down 50% in the last year. Cash is king. Capital is difficult to come by. Customers are getting scarce. To sell in today’s market requires more than relationships, product knowledge and cool features. It requires clear, discernible, measurable, business value; value that can be quantified.

Trusted Adviser, Consultative Selling, Demand Creation, have been such overused sales vernacular they have become trite. Today however, dusting off these terms and putting them into practice could be the difference between perishing or surviving.

In poor economic times, even some things are universal. Every business needs more customers. Every business needs to make more money. Every company needs to save money. Therefore, the sales person who can deliver a product or service that can achieve the above has a fighting chance, the rest will die.

Understanding this; ask yourself how much you know about your customers business. How are you talking to your customers? Do you know what quantifiable value your products enable? (Hint: It’s not scalability, or reliability, ease of use, etc. It’s NOT product centric). What conversations are you having with your customers? If they are not process oriented, revenue generating, cost savings, efficiency driving, specific, measurable, value oriented discussions, you are having the wrong conversations.

Those who will beat back today’s economic environment will:

1. Be an expert in their customers business, industry and competition. They will be intimate with how their customers run their business and understand their business drivers.

2. They will be more business analyst than sales person

3. They will leverage industry experts or Professional Services organizations

4. They will have conversations about enablement, financial and operational efficiency, revenue generation, customer generation/retention and not about reliability, scalability, and ease of use.

5. They will know things their customers don’t. Things about their customers business, their customers market, their customers competition and their customers industry. They will be a critical resource of information for their customers.

6. They will be extremely creative; creative in creating solutions, leveraging financial structures, and developing business models and partnerships. They will be creative with fresh ideas.

7. They will build strong pursuit teams. Understanding the level of knowledge based selling required; they will surround themselves with the best and the brightest minds.

Trusted Advisor, Consultative Selling, and Demand Creation are not just sales vernacular to be used on resumes and in books. They are real selling approaches; approaches that in good times can be claimed by many, but in difficult times claimed by few.

No more hiding. Your talent as a sales person will bore itself out in this environment. Are you going to like what you see?

February 25, 2009 | Filed under: The Chase | View Comments |

8 Keys to Sales Success

8 Keys to Sales Success:

1. Ask
2. Listen
3. Understand
4. Validate
5. Listen
6. Deliver
7. Ask Again
8. Repeat

At the end of the day our ability to get it RIGHT is what differentiates the good from the rest.

Complicating things does just that, it complicates things.

February 25, 2009 | Filed under: The Chase | View Comments |

What Was Once Risk

When things are going well and flying high, we tend to take more risk. We think we are invincible. In the moment it doesn’t feel like risk. Labeled optimism, and capitalism we jump. We jump into areas we know little about. We get creative in working the system in our favor. We push the envelope; fearful we are going to miss the boat.

When things are bad, we take less risk. We cut back. We delay investment. We hoard cash. We loose optimism. We become conservative. We become naysayers. We loose creativity. When things are bad, we freeze.

The problem is when things are bad; it is exactly the time to take risk. Taking risk, being creative, stepping out of your comfort zone is exactly how you turn things around. When things are bad, status quo will not get you out. When things are bad, look at the problem differently, challenge conventional wisdom, and ask the question why. Listen to the intern, who knows nothing about your business. Look to other industries. Watch your competitors. Engage your customers and offer them something different. Re-evaluate that crazy project you put on hold. What was once considered risk, just maybe your ticket out.

February 24, 2009 | Filed under: Uncategorized | View Comments |

First Post

First posts are hard. I don’t think many people ever see a first post, so why bother with some introduction. On the other hand, why waste a good post when no one will see it. So what do you write for a first post; an introduction, a super cool, well articulated, big bang post that announces your arrival onto the blogosphere stage or something in the middle? Not sure I have an answer.

Because I can’t tell you what you’ll get out of this first post, I’ll share what you’ll get out of the rest. If I do this right, you’ll get my thoughts on how to sell, sales leadership, marketing, customer service, business analysis and management. I have been selling for a long time and in ways you wouldn’t think of as sales. I’m an entrepreneur, most recently founder and CEO of cre8Buzz (cre8Buzz R.I.P., we’ll talk about that experience in this blog a few times I’m sure). I’m a Sales Executive who has been lucky enough to have some of the best sales teams and organizations ever assembled. From these unique experiences, I’ll string together some interesting posts.

Sales is at the heart of everything. It can be direct or indirect, it permeates our business lives and our social lives. If you have a spouse, then you know what it feels like to close the biggest sale of your life . . . cause at the end of the day everything is sales.

Growing a business, building a Twitter following, getting a promotion, getting hired, growing your blog readership, getting your kids to do the dishes all have sales, management, leadership and marketing at their root. If you don’t believe me, stick around for awhile and let’s see if I can change your mind.

I hate first posts, thank god a blog only has one. Is anyone reading this? Bueller, Bueller, Bueller????

February 23, 2009 | Filed under: Uncategorized | View Comments |