Union - upheld…

Tuesday, Americans will celebrate our Independence Day.

It’s Monday July 3^rd however, when Americans should commemorate the event that upheld our country’s union.  This event may have literally prevented the United States from being split into two, separate countries.  And it came with a horrific toll.

On July 3^rd, 1863; the third and final, bloody day; the Battle of Gettysburg ended.  Of all the Americans who have died in all the wars our country has ever fought, almost half - 620,000 - died in the Civil War.  Of all the Civil War battles, the one battle with the highest number of casualties was Gettysburg – 51,000 Americans.

There are many stories related to Gettysburg.  Here’s one from my Integral Systems colleague:

As a graduate of The University of Notre Dame I learned that Father William Corby was the chaplain to the Irish regiments who fought for the Union.  Father Corby is the only non-military person with a statue at Gettysburg Battlefield.  It shows him with his hand raised blessing the soldiers.  Today, there is a replica of that statue at Notre Dame and the students call it “Fair Catch Corby”.  Anyway, that is the reason why Notre Dame, founded by French priests in 1842, are called “The Fighting Irish”.

Frank Dunn

I believe every American should visit the Gettysburg National Military Park and pay tribute to the memory of those Americans that preserved the continuation of our union.  

Thankfully, the Union, and the succinct commemoration by one of our greatest leaders (who also gave his life for his country) prevailed: 

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. 

Abraham Lincoln spoke to unite all Americans, North and South.  July 4^th, as well as July 3^rd, are days for us to remember; to honor; and to celebrate a united, United States of America.  

May God bless you; and may God bless America! 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

The Grid…

Recently, I was pontificating about selling to goals (Link).  I summarized it this way: 

Goals are the dog; Pain is the tail.  Sell to the dog, the tail comes with. 

Of course, I broke one of my cardinal rules by emphasizing “what” to do vs. elaborating on “how” to do it.  OK, today permit me to elaborate on the “how”. 

First… and here it comes again… let me establish a little context.  (Because in today’s modern marketplace context is… well … you already know that from my previous post LOL!) 

The marketplace is disproportionately weighted towards small and medium sized businesses.  The vast majority of companies in North America are privately owned vs. publicly traded.  Therefore, at the top of every organization is one individual, or a group of partners, or perhaps a family that are personally vested in the success (or failure) of their company.  Frequently the value of the company is the owner’s single, largest, personal asset.  So when we’re selling to goals it’s not just business – it’s personal.  It’s the “dog”. 

Let’s move on to how business owners prioritize their time.  After all, they can’t be involved in every single decision that goes on at their company.  That is the road to burnout, or worse! 

Make sure you don’t wind up the richest person in the cemetery.  You can’t do business from there. 

Colonel Harlan Sanders 

Successful business owners and executive teams are delegators.  But how do they decide what to delegate?  Well, I believe in sales situations prospective clients are a lot like horses.  I know … I know … WHAT???  Tell you what; I’ll blog about that in a few. 

Suffice it to say for today that we can observe the behavior of business executives, in this case what they delegate, and anticipate their behaviors.  I’ve done just that over the course of my sales career and created the Executive Attention Grid.  When interacting with a prospect the way to sell to their goals is shown on the Grid:

The bottom-left box is the tactical side of our deals.  Now, we need to win this tactical side, too.  It’s just that the Owner/Executives don’t play much of an active role here – they delegate these meetings/presentations to their managers and end users.  That’s why CEOs rarely sit through product demos.  Do you see any of your selling phrases in this box?

Worse - this bottom-left box is problematic because we get delegated to people who have the ability to say, “NO” but don’t have the authority to say, “Yes”.  This box is where our single, biggest competitor lurks.  We know it as NO DECISION! 

The top-right box is the strategic side of our deals.  We need to win this side; otherwise: 

Not to decide is to decide. 

Harvey Cox 

Strategic meetings are when the Owner/Executives not only attend, but actively participate in dissecting the validity of the business case behind our deals.  It’s been my observation (and personal experience) that the sales rep who “connects” their sales proposal to the top-right box wins their deals more times than not. 

Finally, the topics within the top-right box are not all equal.  If we can possibly connect the value of our offering to “Shareholder Value” or “Business Threats” (to shareholder value) we are selling to the shareholder, aka the Owner, on a very personal level.  We are selling directly to the value of their single, largest, personal asset. 

And THAT’s the dog! 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Happy Father’s Day this coming Sunday!  Fathers and grandfathers are great, don’t you think?  The memory of my father still brings a proud smile to my face… and to my heart!  If you’re lucky enough to have living fathers and grandfathers, give them a big hug Sunday. 

We fathers are so proud of our children.  And we know the value of that love: 

A father carries pictures where his money used to       be.

Unknown Sage 

Dads know how to be supportive as well.  Kara Goldin, successful businesswoman, offers what many of us have experienced ourselves: 

Dad would say, 'you always think that 'no' means 'maybe' and 'maybe' means 'yes'! 

Of course, there are those times when I actually have to say “no”.  The good news is my children and grandchildren are resilient.  Yours are too I bet.  (Perhaps passed down from their grandfathers?)  If we are tough on our children from time-to-time, they understand - kids know: 

A flustered father, stressed out from his day at work, was unsuccessfully texting his kids to come in for dinner.  Finally, he walks out on his porch and yells for his kids to come in. 

At that point one youngster turns to his brother and asks, ‘I can’t remember, which one am I - Jesus Christ or God Dammit?  

Unknown Sage 

Overall, men have our own, unique view of the world.  Take Mike Jaeger’s: 

Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he'll believe you.  Tell him the plate you're handing him is very hot and he'll have to touch it to believe it.

Dads today take pride in continuing to provide a home for their families too, even as the definition of “home” evolves: 

Home, nowadays, is a place where part of the family waits ‘til the rest of the family brings the car back. 

Earl Wilson 

Because my sons have children in their lives, I get to be the grandfather now!   Being the grandfather has responsibilities: 

Sometimes the only difference we can make is passing our wisdom on to someone else who will make the bigger difference. 

Linda B. Gray 

The older I get the more appreciative I am of the love and devotion I received from my father.   He wanted his sons to make a difference.  He also wanted us to be patient with his quirks.  I remember after my Mom died (all too young) my Dad continued eating his dinners at the hospital cafeteria two blocks from his house.  It might have been for the convenience; maybe for the memory of the last place he saw his wife alive. 

He ate dinner there every evening for over twenty years.  Such a long and consistent period of time that the hospital employees all thought Al Pokorn actually worked there.  One summer, he was even invited to their company picnic!  I didn’t mind his innocent charade.  But when he won a TV in the employee raffle, I told him he had to give it back! 

Yes, we are all a little quirky – me too:  

Today when my children use one of my sayings, wear mouse ears, or demonstrate a family tradition that has been passed down from father to son, it brings a proud smile to my face… and my heart! 

So, here’s to my Dad; and your Dad; and everyone’s Dad and their family traditions.  They have helped us all make a difference - a tradition to be passed down. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

What beats What…

We played Tripoley with our dear friends Pat and Monica recently.  Ever play?  Tripoley starts with betting your poker hand.  Since we don’t play poker very often we always have to ask, “What beats What?”  Thankfully, our hosts had printed a helpful reference:

Playing Tripoley reminded me of a common discussion I have had throughout my sales career centered around “What beats What?”  I still coach sales reps on this topic, today.  Every time I hear a sales rep; sales manager; trainer; or coach talk about “selling to pain”, I think of the sales-poker hand.

I’ve known Tony Marabotti for decades.  My friend, mentor, and former boss, he had this view on the question at hand:

To a prospective customer evaluating vendor products or services, to quote a poker term, here's “What beats What”: 

·         Better features beats lesser features

·         An existing business relationship beats better features

·         Saving money beats an existing business relationship

·         Pain trumps all

What do you think?  Does “pain trump all”?  I was taught to sell that way “back in the day”.  But that was literally last century. 

Today, I believe the Modern Buyer has a different view; a different ranking.  During the final 10+ years of my career as the Master Sales Enablement Advisor at Oracle NetSuite I would coach my sellers specifically not to sell to the alleviation of pain.  Would you like to see my sales-poker hand?

First, a little context.  (BTW – I also coach my sellers that in the modern marketplace of this century, context is a killer app!)  Contextually, selling to pain might still work for small, less-risky purchases.  Pain-alleviation is closely associated with convenience and who doesn’t like convenience, HaHa! 

However, in a Business-to-Business setting; meaningful, expensive, risky, business purchases… alleviating pain no longer trumps all.  Truth be told, too many times I see sellers describing pain alleviation as “automate manual processes”; “save time & money”; “eliminate duplicate data entry”; and other light-weight, feature-based, sales pitches.  This tactical selling technique does not resonate with strategic business decision makers.  It’s analogous to selling technology: 

Selling technical benefits to strategic buyers is like dogs watching TV - they sit there and nod, but you know they can't possibly be understanding any of it. 

Madeline Ossit 

In the case of selling to pain, Strategic Buyers understand the sales pitch; they simply aren’t motivated by it.  It’s because manual tasks; duplicate data entry; and almost every other business pain sellers gravitate to are not pain points felt by the Business Owner or Executive Team.  Worse, if that’s the extent of the seller’s justification the seller actually invites a change of context to “price”.  With price-based decisions, the Modern Buyer is motivated … to get a lower price aka Discount!  We do it to ourselves! 

I like Anthony Parinello’s reference on how to sell to strategic buyers in his book Selling to VITO ©.  I believe Very Important Top Officers live with business pain.  Since they don’t feel it personally, we have to sell differently to motivate today’s VITOs. 

How?  Sell to goals.  I like to say: 

Goals are the dog; Pain is the tail.  Sell to the dog, the tail comes with. 

 With respect to my friend Tony and all of the dogs, here is my sales-poker hand ranking: 

·         Seek to alleviate pain

·         Better features beats pain

·         An existing business relationship beats better features

·         A lower price beats an existing business relationship

·         Selling to business goals trumps all 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.