Fine line…

There’s a fine line among accountability; criticism; and coaching, true?  It can be easy to criticize.  On the other hand many people are motivated by coaching - when it’s done right.  In his book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise©, Anders Ericsson offers: 

… meaningful positive feedback is one of the crucial factors in maintaining motivation.

Note the qualifier, “meaningful”.  Not all coaching is motivational.  It’s also often easier to coach someone you like; someone who’s already preforming well.  It’s those you don’t like; those who suck that are the challenge.  Yet a sales manager can’t simply ignore the under-performers.  Ignoring is not on the path to superior performance.  It’s not fair to the team.  It’s not fair to the under-performer: 

… if the person is struggling, it is actively uncaring to allow him to keep playing a part that doesn't fit. By this definition, firing the person is a caring act. 

Marcus Buckingham 

There’s that fine line… The path between the books-ends of coaching and firing is narrow.  That’s where we find accountability.  In my experience the best salespeople accept accountability for their own responsibility e.g. sales performance.  Beyond our individual people’s attitude, applying accountability is a management skill: 

Accountability, particularly when executed well, trumps coaching and enabling every day of the month and twice on the day that the sales report gets published. 

Mike Weinberg 

Note the qualifier, “when executed well”.  That’s the skill. Otherwise, accountability attempts can send the wrong counter-productive message.  It’s a fine line: 

Great managers want each employee to feel a certain tension, a tension to achieve. 

Marcus Buckingham 

The “feel of tension to achieve” is a great feeling!  However, it’s found on a very narrow path indeed aka a fine line. 

GAP 

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

Individuality…

When I started my sales career, computers and data processing as we think of it today was in it’s infancy.  I know - Jurassic Period right?  Just call me a dinosaur. 

Because of your human qualities, you inherently have discerned that I’m not really a dinosaur, I’m just an individual living today among not dinosaurs but the machines.  The ability to discern is a most human quality and not a capability of artificial intelligence (at least not yet).  According to Google’s AI: 

To discern means to recognize, understand, or perceive something with the intellect, senses, or sight, often by making out a distinction or difference between things. It involves distinguishing something subtle, perceiving something that is difficult to make out, or separating one thing from others. 

So when someone says, “You sure are one of a kind” or, “They broke the mold after you were born” those comments originally made in jest are now an important complement among us humans. 

A presentation by Dr. Troy Butler I attended was the catalyst behind today’s musings about individuality.  You might remember a recent post I shared about his research in the field of mathematics and AI (There’s a Difference). 

Due to his renown in the research arena, Dr. Butler told us he receives incoming email requests (e.g. sales pitches) from all over the world.  He has discerned no matter the sender (e.g. student, vendor, potential research collaborator), and no matter the country of origin, every email is structured and reads in a very similar pattern.  With his background in the AI field, he can tell the sender has used AI to write the email.  He joked he is considering enabling AI to write a response.  Machine-to-machine communications?  No individuality there, true? 

The more that individuals use AI, the less of their individuality comes through. 

Dr. Troy Butler

During his presentation my mind wandered to the sales profession.  Wandering mind; another human quality.  I thought about how many salespeople use AI to generate prospecting emails.  I’ve often professed that to the prospect, all vendors (aka salespeople) look alike.  Not only is AI not a competitive differentiator for salespeople, its worse than that - it’s an “homogenizer of sameness”.

Here's a thought…  if you want to stand apart in your prospect’s mind; if you want your individuality to shine through; then act more like a human than a machine. 

Today’s post is brought to you by just me, a dinosaur in today’s world of Artificial Intelligence. 

GAP 

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

 

Process…

In reading Working Backwards © we get a glimpse behind the scenes of how things are done at Amazon.  No surprise – there’s a big emphasis on process.  Process in the business world is scalable as Amazon’s huge success attests to. 

I’m an advocate for the power of process.  I’ve often coached my sales process improvement clients that process is powerful and long-lasting.  Salespeople, on the other hand, (and even though I am a career salesman) are temporary.  In the B2B sales world, 36 months is the benchmark I use for “time in role” purposes. 

Including the time to hire, train, and ramp-up a salesperson, within 36 months the odds are high that the sales rep will “move”.  Move up (e.g. promoted); move over (e.g. transfer to a different role, location, business unit, etc.); or move on (e.g. leave, voluntarily or otherwise), that’s what I mean when I say salespeople are temporary. 

IMHO, success in the B2B sales field comes down to the power of your processes.  If you believe as I do that our processes for hiring; training; ramping-up; promoting; transferring; terminating, will all repeat themselves with some degree of regularity, the only question then is how well we’re prepared for them.  Because process is not stagnant, we must also address our processes for continuous process-improvement. 

Process extends beyond sales and even beyond the business world.  Here’s one example of process attributed to that fictional character we are all familiar with, true? 

In the story Silver Blaze, Sherlock Holmes is called in to investigate the mysterious disappearance of the Wessex Cup favorite just a few days before the big race.  Evidently someone has crept into the stables and abducted the horse.  But who?  And how did he elude the dog guarding the stables? 

Inspector Gregory: “Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?” 

Sherlock Holmes: “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.” 

Inspector Gregory: “The dog did nothing in the night-time.” 

Sherlock Holmes: “That was the curious incident." 

Unknown Sage

Sherlock Holmes’ fame was grounded on the way he perfected his process of deductive reasoning coupled with incredible attention to detail.  Details we often missed at the beginning of a case that he revealed at the “surprise” ending.  

Of course, process in and of itself is not a panacea: 

The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency.  The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. 

Bill Gates 

I’m detecting a pattern here.  Behemoths of modern industry (e.g. Microsoft, Amazon, and others) leverage the power of process to reap vast treasures.  We may want to “hero worship” their leaders, but as I’ve suggested and they proved as they scaled up beyond the ability of a single person’s operational control - people are temporary; process is powerful. 

GAP 

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

Hooks…

Do hooks lead to successful performance?  I mean marketing professionals and salespeople like to leverage some sort of “hook” when prospecting for prospective customers, true?  I’m no different.  I’m selling my book, The Peace and Power of a Positive Perspective ©, at King Soopers grocery stores in the Denver area thanks to the Authors in Grocery Stores program.  Can you guess my hook?

During a recent store event I sold a few books; got the proverbial “definitely maybe” from others; and received several compliments…  mostly about my shirts vs. my book.  Ironically, one of those compliments came from none other than the King Soopers store manager.  I hooked him to the point that he said, “Gary, I need to up my shirt game” and he did.  (Hard to see but under his work vest is a very cool, Jurassic Park design.) 

This event reminded me of my years as the Master Sales Enablement Advisor at Oracle NetSuite.  (BTW - I’m still offering sales enablement consulting; shirts and all.)  The challenge back then was working with senior, successful, business owners and sales professionals in NetSuite’s Partner Channel.  My assignment centered around a 3-day, in-person, “selling fundamentals” class.  Imagine; senior, successful sales and business professionals spending 3 full days with me; in-person; in a ”fundamentals” class no less! 

Now the class was anything but Sales 101.  The class title was a hook.  The “fundamentals” part focused on the key aspects of selling NetSuite.  I needed hooks to keep my audience engaged.  The loud shirts helped but there was more to it than that.  In fact, every visual I used throughout the 3 days; every exercise; every role play (yep, role plays); everything designed into the class had hooks. I know how hard it is to keep a salesperson’s attention let alone a successful business owner.  After all, I are one HaHa!  But it takes more than hooks to succeed. 

Sales success is all about performance.  I was chatting about performance as related to hooks and attention spans with a friend and former colleague of mine recently, Mike Demmert.  (He attended my class but really only remembers my shirts!)  One of the positioning statements I used then and continue to use today comes from Anders Ericsson in his book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise© 

You seldom improve much without giving the task your full attention. 

Ah yes, “full attention”.  How do you compete for your customers’ full attention in today’s day and age?  Successful performance and full attention is a two-way commitment.  As a customer have you ever dealt with a salesperson who seemed distracted; seemed not to be giving you his or her full attention?  Me too.  Who wants to do business with someone who isn’t giving their full attention? 

Mike shared this formula about performance that comes from The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance ©: 

P = P – i 

W. Timothy Gallwey 

Performance is equal to Potential minus interference. 

Makes sense, yes?  When you focus on the task at hand your potential is high.  Unfortunately, there’s lots of interference reducing that potential.  Our Unknown Sage wonders if appearances (aka hooks) have become more important: 

Peter's Placebo 

An ounce of image is worth a pound of performance. 

Well, I can’t deny the impact image (aka hooks) have on attracting potential customers.  But to keep them as a customer, it’s performance that makes the difference.                                   

GAP 

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

Different can be good…

Do you love discussing the tools, tactics, and techniques of professional selling as much as I do?  You might know I’m one of those old fashioned, pain-in-the-@xz types, always looking for improvement.  Maybe it comes from one of my heroes: 

If better is even possible, good is not enough. 

Joe Newton 

Julie Hansen is a colleague and mentor of mine.  I believe she is a believer in being different.  I believe Julie believes in the power of practice and preparation.  She recently posted this on LinkedIn, did you see it? https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7023679324683722753/   

Julie offered a few reasons why some salespeople are willing to accept a less-than-perfect performance.  I would add what I often heard over the years, “I’m too busy”; “There’s no one to practice with”; or my favorite, “Well Gary, I’ve been doing this for 20 years you know.” 

Maybe I was paranoid throughout my career that I wasn’t good enough to be good enough.  Are you extroverted?  Assertive?  Witty?  Quick on your feet?  I wasn’t.  To stand a chance in a competitive world I had to be better prepared than my competition.  You know what?  Turns out the prospect can tell! 

It’s how you show up at the showdown that counts. 

Homer Norton 

Expecting the prospect to give us the benefit of the doubt is not different from our competition; it’s actually the same.  Same is bad; different is good. 

Some salespeople are totally oblivious to the fact that their lack of practice is negatively impacting their performance.  Truthfully, it’s not just in sales.  How many people do you interact with these days who don’t seem to perform their job very well? 

At anything you choose to do, you'll be as good as the practice, drill, and rehearsal you go through before you actually perform the action. 

Tom Hopkins 

OK, you might be thinking, what does different look like?  Well, here’s a little sales coaching from Mahan Khalsa author of Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play: 

Take the product off the table and stay focused on the client. 

I’m not saying Mahan is saying that to be different we’re not supposed to talk to the prospect about our products and services.  Trust me, the conversation will eventually turn to our products and services.  It just doesn’t have to start and stay there.  When your prospect finally asks to know more about what your offering, it would be best to do what Julie suggests - be ready to demonstrate how you’ve heard and understood their needs.  

Businesses face real problems today and customer executives appreciate the sales professional who is able to stay focused on the customer.   The real value a salesperson brings is the ability to help a customer solve an important business problem.  Back to Mahan: 

How we sell is a free sample of how we solve. 

If we think about it, a prospect is not actually buying our products or services; they’re buying what our products and services can do: 

If you're selling drills, your prospects really couldn't care less about the drills.  What they actually want are the holes. 

Patrick Renvoise 

Let’s recap… talking to the prospect about the prospect; selling the holes not the drills; then when the camera comes on being totally rehearsed and ready to deliver a perfect presentation; that is what different looks like.  And different is… well… you know. 

Curious - when was the last time a prospect told you you’re different?  

GAP 

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

G.O.A.T.s…

Like other sports fanatics, I can’t wait for the safe resumption of games.  Until actual competition returns media sports programming is trying to fill the void.  Yuck!

Have you noticed when broadcast sports can’t report on live events they gravitate to the “greatest of all time” debate?  Personally, I find these arguments contrived. 

In my opinion, opinions about greatness in sports (or any other field for that matter) don’t matter. What matters are results.  Today’s talking heads pontificate about why this person or that is the GOAT while making excuses why their particular GOAT doesn’t hold actual, individual records; or the most team championships; or blah, blah, blah.  Their GOAT just passes their “eye test.”

I know all about the eye test.  I played basketball at a small college a long, long time ago.  My freshman year coach was also an assistant varsity football coach:

On the first day of practice I was warming up under the watchful eye of Coach Bill Foss.  He noticed I had a small, jingle-bell attached to my shoelace.  My teammates and I enjoyed this unusual idea - back in high school!  Bells on shoes in college?  Not a good eye test.  Coach Foss pulled out a linebacker, blocking pad from his football gear; his eye test for me.

To his surprise, I reached down into my sock and pulled out a mouthpiece.  He was quite familiar with mouthpieces on the football field; he wasn’t as accustomed to anyone using one on his basketball teams back in the day.  I competed in his rebounding drill and in real life games, too.  Results over jingle-bells? Whoda thought!

Now I’m no GOAT.  Every record I set in college has been broken.  My lack of an eye test probably gave me an advantage. 

In my best year I played low post.  At 6’3” and 205 pounds, I was the smallest center in every game.  But I had a record-setting year.  Of course, I had the mouthpiece LoL!  Even so, my teammate Kjeld Sorensen was the toughest competitor on the team that year – and on any team, any year I ever played.  Even without a mouthpiece.

The problem with eye test debates is physical appearances don’t tell the full story.  Annuls of greatness are packed with competitors who didn’t look the part.  The mental and emotional sides to competition are often the difference makers.

Babe Ruth was pudgy; Walter Payton was undersized; no one saw Jesse Owens on cable TV; Bob Beamon’s 1968 Olympic record still stands today – do you even know who Bob Beamon is?

Show me the eye test player who scored 100 points in a single game or grabbed 55 rebounds in another and then I’ll accept that player as the NBA GOAT vs. Wilt Chamberlain.  Show me the player who won 18 major championships using a persimmon wood driver; with a steel shaft; a golf ball made with 30 year old technology; and never had a hint of steroid use; and then I’ll accept that player as the PGA GOAT vs. Jack Nicklaus. 

They even argue about GOATs in horse racing.  This coming Tuesday marks the 47^th year of a never-seen-before and never-seen-since race won by Secretariat.  The Triple Crown winner won the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths! (Link)  I call THAT results!

Yes, I’m looking forward to the resumption of actual competition in sports.  Others will continue to debate their GOATs.  For me, I’m looking past their eye tests.   

GAP

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