Below is the content of an actual email conversation I am currently having with a prospect.

I hope you will notice that I ask specific diagnostic type questions that map to my offerings.  My prospect’s answers, if I am listening, will guide me on where to take the conversation. I know, for example, that it’s a recipe for disaster if a manager or executive is not asking tough questions about individual opportunities during sales forecasting meetings. I also know from my experience that forecasting disaster is something I can help my clients avoid.

Do you know what answers to your questions indicate a need for your product or service?  Have you socialized these questions and highly probable answers internally?  Do they map to real world example which you or your teammates can effortlessly and confidently describe?

Although this was an email conversation, we could have had the same conversation over the phone, in person, or even over twitter.  The key is that I have been thoughtful ahead of time with the questions I want to ask.

____________________

I have been talking you up big-time around here, Adam. “Get our sales act together” has made it into the top 3 priorities for 2012. Pipeline, account planning, you name it….

So, how do we make this happen – me helping [company] out?

The timing is perfect. It’s now recognized and internalized that we need to get a number of areas of our act in order. (Pipeline mgt, real forecasting, account planning in particular.) Everyone on the exec team (about seven-ten folks) recognizes this. What kinds of things could you do? The urgency is that we know/want to crush it in the first half of the year. We’ve got a handful of big accounts (~12) and a myriad of dogs-and-cats. We’re trying to consolidate to go deeper/broader (both in portfolio of our services purchased, as well as number of BUs across BigCo’s like XXX) rather than try to service a gazillion clients. Gimme an approach I can take in. [key player] is here today, and I’m having dinner with him this afternoon/evening. 

(I responded with a series of questions to understand my contact’s situation more specifically and to indicate the sort of capabilities I provide my clients.  He replied to my questions with in-line answers.  Check it out.)

Is there any concept of a pipeline?

Yes. 

Do you have the stomach for a pipeline and business review to see where you are with particular opportunities that you hope will contribute to “crushing” it in the first half.

To wit:

1) What deals are in the pipeline with new or existing customers that can get you to “crush it” status?

We have a list.

2) With the identified deals – a subset of these must close – why do you think they will close?

There is the big question…it’s “gut feel.”

3) Defend the realism of these ID’d deals by undergoing an opportunity review:

• What has happened so far?
• Who do you know will champion us with the selectors, funders, implementers?
• Why should they? Have they agreed to the value, usage and implementation stories and what are they?
• What are the steps to gaining a signed contract?

This would be a hugely valuable exercise.

4) If you do not have enough real deals to gain “crush it” status, what are you doing to get more into the pipeline?

Need a plan.

5) What is your business development process and within that process, how do you execute each step?

Not that structured.

6) Have you identified the conversations you want to have – with whom and what IN PARTICULAR you are going to say - to generate interest to the point of gaining trust and having your prospect kick off an evaluation of your skills and capabiiities?

Nope. Need this, too.

I can help with all of the above.

Darling Prospect, Will you be Mine?

The Valentine’s Day-Prospecting love connection light bulb went off in my head as I was listening to a terrific podcast from Dr. Bob Cialdini, best selling author and speaker on the science of influence.  In this podcast, Cialdini uses the pharmaceutlcal sales scenario as a backdrop for describing his thoughts on how sellers can get prospects interested faster.  I don’t have any drug firm clients, but I can easily see how his expertise can be applied to on-boarding or “in-boarding” sales and marketing teams in other verticals.

So, here are my notes.  Think of this as a modern day roadmap to winning the hearts and minds of your prospects.

1) To build trust quicker -

- Open with a negative or a drawback of your offering. Shows you are willing to be truthful and establishes yourself as both trustworthy (giving the straight scoop) and knowledgeable.  You are willing to share data that you understand.

- Frame what your stuff does in terms of what your prospect will miss out on, rather than what they will gain. The idea of losing benefits is more powerful than the idea of gaining the benefit in minds of buyers. People would rather protect what they have than work to achieve a gain.

- Use social proof – your offering’s popularity – to show it’s worthwhile. Below the surface, people actually make judgments based on what they perceive is going on around them. “Our most chosen dessert” attracts even more buyers. This is “social proof” of what constitutes proper conduct. So, if you have popularity – USE IT.

- Feature and benefit selling is important, but it’s old school. Today, science shows that we respond to what we perceive should be a better product based on price/popularity/other externalities. We experience things based on context. Prospects stop critiquing – actually turn off that portion of the brain – when they hear statements backed up by popular assent or experts.

2) People say yes to people they trust and like. So, how do we develop relationships quickly?

• Find similarities.
• Give honest praise, genuine compliments.
• Come to like your customer, first. That’s when people feel safe, when they feel liked. They will feel their interests are protected, so they are more likely to follow your recommendations. Don’t try to first try to make someone like you until you’ve tried to like them.

Hmm, seems like good advice for Valentine’s Day, too!

Good Selling.

What I do want to point out is one of the most often overlooked sales closing tools.

I know, “every one knows the key to increasing sales is a good cost v. benefit analysis.”  Then, ask yourself if you’ve ever had a terrific sales presentation, felt the deal was going to close, slacked off (maybe decided to play a round of golf or angry birds) and then NOTHING HAPPENED?

No Angry Birds until after you've inserted #$%E! into your Cost v. Benefit

Why?  Maybe because you were so confident the buyer would buy, that you neglected to put together and gain agreement on the Cost v. Benefit of your prospect using your solution.  The prospect did not feel attached to your capabilities and either chose to stay pat or worse, go with a competitor.

Notice that I did not call it a “return on investment”.  That expression is so yesterday.  ROIs seem so far in the future that buyers don’t believe them.  Even worse, “return on investment” might remind them of their meager personal investment returns and make them shudder.

Alternatively, Cost v. Benefit is upfront and factual.  ”Here’s the cost.  Here’s the short and medium term benefit using the information you told me.”  It may be semantics.  So what.  Inituitvely, a cost v. benefit sounds more reachable and less risky than an ROI.

The tricky part is the benefit side of the equation. How do you get there?  THAT IS THE SECRET SAUCE!!!  You get there early in the sales cycle by asking the right questions to gain clarification of what’s actually happening within your prospect’s environment that your capabilities could improve.

Once you both understand and agree on the frequency the challenge or issue arises (“#”), the amount of dollars overcoming the challenge is worth (“$”), and the percentage of time the challenge occurs or percentage of individuals who suffer with the challenge (“%”).  It helps then to know whether the prospect is emotionally connected to improving the situation or circumstances (“E”).  If you are not sure, then ask.

For example:

“How does it make you (your team, the effected group) feel?”

“How badly do you and your team members want to fix …?”

This gives you and your prospect an idea about the emotions of the situation. At times, all the hard dollar gain in the world may not help you close the opportunity if your prospect isn’t connected on an emotional level to your offering or solution.

#$%E!!!!

THESE ARE NOT SUBSTITUTES FOR SWEAR WORDS.

BURN THESE SYMBOLS IN YOUR MIND PRIOR TO TALKING TO PROSPECTS.

Even better, plan out the questions prior to the call that will draw out value or benefit, questions that will lead to your gaining agreement from the prospect on #$%E! of their current situation.  Now, what are you going to do next?  Take aim at some sheltered pigs or have a #$%E! conversation with your prospects?

Good Selling.

1) Do what you love.  I’ve never been someone who could sell ice to eskimos.  If I don’t believe in my product, love my product, I can’t sell it.  For me, life is too short to work on something dispassionately.  If you don’t love it, why should someone else?

2) Put a dent in the universe.  What’s the big vision for how your prospect’s world will look if you work together?  Consider whether you have created a vision big enough to excite others.

3) Make connections.  If you are reading this blog post you probably already consider yourself a life long learner.  Why else read a blog on sales?  Good for you!  Now, think of all the meaningful events and activities in your life.  How can they contribute to and inform your next important client interaction? For Jobs, among other things, it was the connection between calligraphy, India and designing computers and electronics.

Me? I went to law school and practiced law for a few years.  Hated the career, but loved the education. Believe it or not, it helped me learn to empathize with my prospects.  Much the way a lawyer needs to analyze both sides of a negotiation or dispute, a good seller understands his prospect’s point of view. So, my law studies helps me be a “student” of my prospects.

You are the sum of your experiences.  So use them to relate to others.

4) Say no to 1,000 things.  Can you disqualify an opportunity and rationalize your pipeline?  Can you fire a customer who isn’t worth it?  Saying “no” and “No Way” can help clarify why you are working on the good opportunities and with the attractive clients.

5) Create insanely different experiences.  Are you offering up anything that differentiates you from your competition? Or, do your conversations, presentations and websites fill up a Buzzword Bingo card?

6) Master the message. Create and practice your personal and company stories and DON’T WING IT.

Your stories should seduce both sides of the brain – inform and inspire, educate and entertain your prospects.

7) Sell dreams, not products. The things or services you sell are only props that help your clients achieve some goal or objective.  So, talk with them about their goals, objectives, challenges, struggles.  Then show how using your stuff can help make the dream come true.

Good Selling.

Good Selling.

Date: September 15th, 2011 @ 7:30am – 10:00am EST
Location: Leadership Strategies- 56 Perimeter Center East, Suite 103, Atlanta, GA 30346

Overview:
Please join us for our upcoming meeting and learn, share, and network with other Sales Professionals!

Agenda:
7:30-8:00am-Coffee and Networking
8:00-8:30am-AAISP Update
8:30-9:30am-Successful On-Boarding
9:30-10:00am-Closing comments and Networking

Speaker: Adam Shapiro, Sales Reform School

This is Part 2.

Keith McFarland was CEO of a breakthrough company taking Collectech Systems from revenue of $10M to $150M in three years.  He then decided to study why some small and successful companies like his, think Inc. 500, “breakthrough” to become much larger successes.  His mentor-guru-muse is Peter Drucker, the famous management consultant and professor.

Aside:  The Daily Drucker is on my shelf.  I’ve thumbed through it.  Mental note:  READ IT.

McFarland’s book, The Breakthrough Company was inspired by a question from Professor Drucker:

Make a list as short as possible but as long as necessary of the things that determine which businesses win or lose. 

The answer forms McFarland’s central thesis:  There are really only three disciplines that will make a difference with your company (speaking to Vistage CEOs):

Strategy – vision, mission, etc.

Execution – the steps to get stuff done

People – who execute the strategy

And these are the three disciplines of “Breakthrough Companies”: strategy, execution, people.

So, if you are not on your way to becoming a breakthrough company, you probably have some routines that need to be broken. Leadership’s job is to break routines. Routines are dangerous b/c they don’t change as the world is changing.  First and foremost, if the routine isn’t working, change it.

Aside:  This is another way of describing the definition of insanity.

So, one by one, McFarland dives deeper into each discipline describing how to break the routine.

 Discipline 1 – Dynamic Strategy

With the right people and process, a company can build a strategy in 48 hours that is 90% as good as one we build in two months.  I like this.  What he is saying is that “good enough is good enough” and we saved a month and 28 days.

McFarland offer a new definition of strategy:  a collection of ideas on how we are going to win. Whatever “win” means to your individual company.

So, how can you create your individualized strategy?  Employ a Strategy Wheel cycle where anytime there’s insight that gets converted into a decision and the decision gets converted into actions, you have created a strategy.  You don’t wait until the annual or semi-annual strategy summit.  It’s a cycle and winners get this cycle going fast. The Strategy Wheel has to move quickly.

Strategy planning - how do you do it?

McFarland answers this question by setting up the problems with how most companies plan today and offering a fix.

Problem:  Strategic Planning is too infrequent. Some might say things nowadays happen too fast so strategic planning is dead.  Hogwash. Strategy has never been more important.

Fix:  Use a 90-day cycle and change the way you do it. For example, do a retrospective every 90 days so you get iterative -ability.

Aside:  I wonder if McFarland is familiar with Agile programming processes.  This description of planning is analogous.

For the first session, spend 48 hours locked in a room to start, then 2 hrs every 90 days to see what is meeting expectations, working and not working.

Problem:  Planning is too exclusive. Too often it’s the boss and direct reports.  This is not good.  These folks are too in bed together, same data points, all reporting to same people.

Fix: Bring more minds into it. Illustrating this point, McFarland gives a brief summary of an integral aspect of the hit TV show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.”  He details the success rate of the three lifelines:

1)   Phone a friend – right 60% of the time, which is

2)   better than the 50-50 option, but

3)   Ask the Audience is right 87% of time.

Ask the Audience is like inviting more to the Strategic Planning process.  The idea is to get more minds working on it so “democraship”, a combo of democracy and dictatorship, occurs. When it comes time to figure out where we are going and how get there get as many people involved a physically possible because it’s two layers down at a minimum that really knows what is going on. Then build systems and processes that are rigorous enough to get us there.

Democracy – good at generating good ideas, but terrible at getting anything done. Consider bringing these groups in:

1)   two layers down from CEO,

2)   smart sales people,

3)   young up and comers and lastly,

4)   Eeyores those that are hyper critical that things won’t work.  They may be annoying, but their commentary is valuable.

Dictatorship – terrible for good ideas, none of us is smarter than all of us.

Problem:  Too often, strategic planning process is too CEO-centric. One person’s ideas, viewpoints.  It’s too limited.

Fix:  Need “insultants.” People who are insiders at the company but are willing to tear ideas apart and take full swings at issues.  This solves the problem of having too much deference to authority.   One rule with Insultants:  Limit them to only introducing metrics that someone can speak to without notes to prevent analysis paralysis.

Aside:  I like the double entendre:  Insiders who insult.  But in a good way.

 So, how do you get started on strategy? Ask these three questions (the right way) and every 90 days.

1) What are our 3 most important strategic accomplishments?  Real way to ask this question:  How have we changed the field of play in last 90 days?

 2) In last 90 days what are three most important ways we fell short of our strategic potential?  Yes, you are asking them to complain.  Everyone has a complaining quotient biggest complainers are 10s. That’s okay.  Try to influence what they complain about. – How we’ve fallen short of our strategic potential? Encourage productive complaints. Figure out top four. Which would leadership most want to eliminate from list.

 3) In last 90 days what are three most important things we have learned about our strategy? Emphasize last three words.  The answer can’t be focused on externalities. Takes a long time to get good answer on this one. The answer should focus on the strategy.

Aside:  He never really defines this discipline, but I like that he appreciates that WORDS MATTER.  Why is this discipline “dynamic” strategy?  Because it needs to be iterative, not static or set in stone.

 Discipline 2 – Embed Execution 

McFarland notes here that if given a choice, he would take execution over strategy.  At least you are doing something, not just talking about it.

Problem:  Too many companies have a loose link between strategy and execution

Fix:  Every 90 days, review strategy to see if there needs to be a reset.

Problem:  no “after action” discipline.

Fix:  Need to constantly discuss what went well, not well, what would you change. Make it an iterative strategy.

Problem:  Too often companies are rife with departmentally-driven priorities that sabotage achieving the strategy.  An example is people who safeguard their budgets to the detriment of company.

Fix – consider the breakthrough ladder – ultimately want to get to a sovereign organization where everyone is committed to the vision of enterprise. In the sovereign organization, everyone understands the 20% activities making up 80% of results. Everyone focuses on the 20% that must get done first.

If you don’t get the big rocks in first, they never get in.  Emails and fires are the gravel and sand. The big rocks are the execution items.

Some definitions McFarland uses to get everyone on the same page:

Mission:  what hill will we take in three years.

Strategic focus:  what 20% of activities do we need to focus on

Goals: items for this year we need to accomplish to hit three year plan that will help us identify what initiatives we need to focus on

McFarland suggests using a project management tool like SharePoint or its competitors to manage strategy achievement.

In such a system, a strategy manager breaks down output by goal, initiatives and tasks.

One way to define goals:  What are the four or five things we have to do to meet our breakthrough mission. These can be macro profit or revenue goals or micro ones by channel or market segment.

For each, ask:  What is the one thing to do to impact a detailed strategic goal? Do this instead of covering bets with too many initiatives. Once they figure that out, ask for another. These are your initiatives.

Initiatives – how are we going to meet goal?

Deadline for an initiative is 6-18 months. Initiatives are the big rocks.

Tasks: what are we going to do task by task to meet initiative? 90 day deadline at most for tasks.

So, a well-embedded execution breaks down strategy into the following buckets:

Purpose, Mission, Strategic focus, Imperative goals, Initiatives and Tasks

 Discipline 3 – People

Truly breakthrough companies take a Special Forces approach to people.  McFarland relates that we are fuzzy headed about people and performance.

Problem:  We too often deploy the “hire the great people” myth.  Well, sad to say, that’s impossible.  There are not enough of them.  McFarland’s favorite business question to ask, “What’s your biggest business challenge?” Too often, he says, the answer: “We cannot get the right people on the bus” – it’s a quote from Good to Great.  McFarland suggests that this answer is, well, cow manure.  There is no such thing as the “right” people.  Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Also right person at one stage may not be the right person at a different stage.

McFarland’s follow up question to these business folks: “You are referring to Good to Great, so what are you doing differently after reading?”   He gets crickets. Nada.  Nothing.  So, it’s an excuse.  Who hired these not right people, who is keeping them? They are.

Aside:  I never got around to reading Good to Great.  I probably never will after reading about The Halo Effect.

Fix: Instead consider leaving the position vacant until you find a good person, and then coach them.  Also, use executive development milestones. Think ahead about how to develop people to be what you want them to be at the next stage of your company.

Problem: Too much focus on climb-a-rope and Kumbaya team building. When dept heads aren’t working as team, it’s really a strategy problem, not team building issue. It’s likely that folks are not getting along because they are frustrated with their secret or unheard concerns about the CEOs strategy or execution.

Fix:  Make sure you are linking team performance to strategy and execution.

Problem:  Too often leaders are not using science in thinking about their teams.

Fix:  predict errors.  What sort of errors might occur in fulfilling the strategy?  Then set a culture and training regimen to anticipate them.

Big Lesson:  It’s not how you are wired, it’s how you wire your organization. It’s not just about getting the right people, it’s about getting the people right. McFarland offers stories about the Fastenal Company and Polaris as instructional. The Fastenal CEO said he has tried to build a company where ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

Tip for interviewing:  Use a long form interview process as the best way to figure out if the candidate is the right person. Everyone can seem polished and right in 30 minutes.  Try doing it for 120.

———

I guess you can tell, I thoroughly enjoyed McFarland’s presentation. Yes, I am now into the first chapter of his book to see how I can help each of my clients become a “Breakthrough Company”.

Before lunch, there were three breakout sessions: one on technology, another on fitness and a third on best places to work. After lunch, best –selling author Keith McFarland gave a keynote presentation, “Getting Breakthrough Results.”   Throughout the day, I took notes on my Ipad, which I will share with you in two parts. If you want, you can skip to Part 2.

Aside:  I am really enjoying this move away from handwritten or laptop note taking for three reasons:  My penmanship is atrocious; the Ipad automatically emails me my notes which I can then copy, paste and edit without having to re-transcribe; and note taking on the Ipad is much less awkward than on a laptop.

Part 1

In the morning, I sat in the breakout entitled, Technology Panel: What every CEO Needs to Know about Digital Megatrends.  Scott Lutz of SAP led this discussion.  That’s a big topic for only one hour, and sure enough the roomful of CEOs and other high powered execs somewhat sabotaged the presentation.  If you reviewed a transcript you would guess the topic was “A 101 level Understanding of Cloud Computing” – there was a lot Q & A on “the cloud.”  Nevertheless, Lutz did a good job answering questions and a least describing an outline of what CEOs are paying attention to or at least should be.

Lutz said that CEOs today are tackling the following big five challenges:

1)    Preparing to compete with global competition both here and there;

2)    Security, collaboration and effectiveness of an increasingly tethered rather than physically present workforce;

3)    Taking business to near real time;

4)    Engaging with hyper informed customer; and

5)    Keeping an eye on reinventing the business model before competitors do it for them.

Since this was a breakout on “Digital Megatrends”, Lutz then listed four technology areas whose capabilities might help CEOs sleep at night:

1)    Cloud computing – that is, web accessible core applications which are highly scalable and deployable (this took up a large amount of time, but the audience was engaged and appreciative);

2)    Mobility;

3)    Analytics – driven by a CEO’s need to access the data he or she really needs to make decisions. Since Vistage is made up of small and medium size companies, the member CEOs often wear many hats.  They need to have access to information and analysis relating to sales, operations, finance, etc. at their fingertips, when they need it; and

4)    Social media.

Lutz commented that highly effective CEOs should figure out how these technologies can help them make decisions. Where to start? Know the answers to four questions:

1)    Where is your data?

2)    What decisions do I need to make?

3)    What are the sources of value?

4)    How can I control and consume data?

At this point, many in the audience started to squirm.  One gentleman asked, appropriately, “How does a CEO keep up and get unfiltered new info on technology?”

Lutz, who is clearly one of the well informed, suggested starting with these news and information outlets (I believe in this order):

1)    The Wall Street Journal Online

2)    USAToday online

3)    Silicon Valley online.  I believe he is referring to Siliconvalley.com

4)    Analysts such as Saugatuck Technology

Those are my notes from the morning breakout session.  Later, possibly tomorrow, I’ll post Part 2 – my notes from Keith McFarland’s keynote address.