Create and Execute. Together.

Here's the typical process for unfolding a new strategy:

Meet in a secluded Executive Roundtable
Decide upon new Corporate Strategy
Brief key managers on business strategy
Managers instruct employees on desired outcomes to achieve strategic objectives

Sweet. Except that this works exactly 5% of the time when the strategy involves any major organizational change.

Instead, take the risk and include the "Do'ers" who are the implementers, the tacticians, and those closest to the customer - in the process of deciding strategy. I know, it's scary. Don't worry, this doesn't devalue your job as an executive. Nobody says you need to listen to your lowest level employees and do what they say blindly.

The research shows that as you encourage team-oriented goal-setting through a process of collaboration, your results are strengthened and probability for success is dramatically improved.

Worst case, despite the power of their ideas, you empower your team to contribute to the business strategy and demonstrate importance to their opinions related to the business.

The Choosers and the Do'ers need to be brought together through accepting and valuing the strategic objectives. The best way to do so is to be mutually invested to deciding the ultimate goals in the first place. Creating and Executing upon Strategy is not mutually exclusive, and should be a shared responsibility across hierarchies and functional groups.

Directives and Assignments are things of the past - where we now require Visions and Values, which can be most effective when developed and pursued through a diagonally (vertically aligned and cross finctional) comprised team.

Go.

Deliberate Practice

There's a library of books and research about hiring strategies for maximizing company success through mapping talent to needs. We tend to lean towards a person's previous experience and industry knowledge as the two main categories for focus in determining future success.

Sometimes, however, we fail to examine the imperative questions related to company stage and the type of people and skills that are required appropriately. Specifically, there is a gap in required skill sets for Sales Leadership from a company in the "build" phase versus a company in the "compete" or "mature" stages of development.

If I'm am in a start-up and you worked at IBM for 12 years, in my mind I'd rather have someone who worked in 2 start-ups for less than 5 years, as the set of experiences will have been much more applicable to the immediate goals and challenges they'd face amidst my team. Vice Versa.

At the root of this issue is the idea that the 'measured-worth' one is projected to contribute is directly related to a period of time (years of experience) and seniority of titles. When, in fact, the value should be mapped based upon the relative energy, intelligence, leadership and productivity one can establish. It's not the number of hours people work that determines the value they create, but rather the energy they're capable of bringing to whatever hours they work.

Also, as a note out of the research from Anders Ericsson, a 58-year-old psychology professor at Florida State University and notable performance behaviorist, notes that success and ability is a factor of "Deliberate Practice." Deliberate practice is just what it suggests. It entails more than simply repeating a task — playing a C-minor scale 100 times, for instance, or hitting tennis serves until your shoulder pops out of its socket. Rather, it involves setting specific goals, obtaining immediate feedback and concentrating as much on technique as on outcome.

Go, Make something happen... Deliberately.

I.T.S. Marketing

Identify.
Transform.
Scale.

Identify your target market. Using criteria that maps the need for purchase and immediacy, rank the short list list and spend time evaluating market potential. Who is the buyer and what is the process for purchase?

Transform the Market. Develop the Market first-movers. Price and Position for capturing customers and matching product-market fit. Perceived value is everything. Recruit partners and allies to capitalize on effective distribution channels and achieve mind-share from target buyers. Focus on reputation development and key account capture.

Scale for continued growth. Reinvest into product as you move past early adopters into market maturity. Support is important to continue reputation momentum. Lower cost per customer and reformat sales process and people for volume and cost-of-acquisition.

Go. ITS Marketing.

Market Stage Transitions - Pricing Software

I once was told by a smart man, "Price something at the cost of lunch and people will buy without thinking." This makes sense when you're after consumer markets and volume. When we talk about enterprise business software, however, we need to examine much more variables to arrive at an effective price-to-value fit. Meaning, price must fit where value is matched. Cost of Acquisition should be markedly lower than Customer Lifetime Value.

As an industry, we tend to solve this pricing dilemma quite well. Although we fail to determine pricing equilibrium and timing for scale, often setting improper benchmarks or stabilizing our price models, prior to the market reaching equal levels of sanity or arriving at stability or predicable growth patterns. This leaves customers running to lower cost providers, or chasing them off with a low price point into the arms of larger players with better perceived value. We should remain erratic, unpredictable, test boundaries and price simply but not constrained by rules and fences, especially when in market stage transitions.

More on this later.

Airline Technology FAIL

I am traveling right now, and as it would be, I had some "snags" and "delays" or whatever the soft term the airlines use to describe gross incompetence and system failure. Most of the time I experience a seamless experience when traveling, but when these events occur I get astonished in the lack of accountability.

I'll spare the details, but the whole thing got me to thinking. Even with the comprehensive technology that exists to track and manage the airline logistics, it still comes down to the people pushing the buttons. As I sat in line for "special services" to get my hotel voucher and retrieve my bag, I noticed the software they were using was seemingly Dos-based, circa 1984. It amazes me that the UI and entire software took 20 minutes and constant punching of numbers to make any request, print out 10 pieces of paper, rip up 8 of them, and still have to explain everything and defend the process. Can't we improve that? Is the airline industry really stuck in a commodore 64-driven software environment?

Let's grow up, invite technology to make things better.

Go. Make it happen.

Redefining Failure

Failure is the opposite of success. Right? Wrong.

Great HBR article that outlines how we've become a society that so narrowly defines failure that we fail to recognize that we already failed.

Often, we mark failures with an event or a culmination leading to some type of announcement. Failure in business is often associated to financial outcomes, and rightly so. However, as the Harvard Business Review article above indicates so succinctly, we can fail in ways that are wrapped in a veil of deceit, avoided through a 'too narrow' recognition of failure, perpetuated by the status-quo.

Go Fail. It's okay. Just know when you do, then adapt. Failure is often just the beginning.

James

Tactical Cold Caling advice from the field

1. Prepare, get your lists, open up some browsers with some data sources available.

2. Don't over-research. It's generally not worth it, and the time you spend looking online for the right "contact" to ask for - I could have called the operator or main switch and got to them without any names.

3. Getting to the Decision Maker. This includes some proprietary processes I can't give you my best stuff but I will divulge a few nuggets of wisdom I've either been taught, picked up, tried and been successful with or stumbled upon by complete trial/error.

Nuggets:

me: "Hi, Im supposed to talk with the Director of IT - transfer me please."
not: "Hello Can I speak with the Director of IT please"

Why?

Conviction, statement of purpose, give directions - don't ask permission and open up questions for a gatekeeper to validate what do you want, who are you with, regarding, etc.

me: "Hi, I don't think I got the right number, I was supposed to be transferred into IT - who is this?"

Use this when routing into a random extension, or on the operator him/herself. This will immediately get you into your desired department. If they respond with any doubt, become agitated and produce a tone of urgency and importance.

When you know who you're targeting...

me: "Hi, Bob in IT please"
them: May I ask who is calling?"
me: This is James. Thanks.

Say thank you, it's the best way to end the back-and-forth. Disclose who you're with and you may not get there due to perception or because their schedule wont immediately allow you their time.

me: "Hi Dorothy, Is Bob over in IT in yet?"
Dorothy: "Yes he sure is..."
me: (Immediately) "Great throw me over to him real quick" (inaudible sound in background)

OR

me: "Hi Dorothy, Is Bob over in IT in yet?"
me: "Great, I will conference the others in now then. Transfer me when you are ready." (don't overuse this one - it's a back pocket strategy and can blow up)

Again, I'm too busy Dorothy - I need him now and you can go ahead and transfer me. Thanks.

4. Bob answers. Now what? Just remember, you have all of about 4-7 seconds to get Bob excited enough to give you 4-7 more seconds to give you 30 seconds. So, if you catch his attention, then peak his interest, you've only got 44 seconds total. Get to the point.

What to pitch is all about 3's. Who I am, what our company does and who we call customers that is relevant to you.

I use what is called the Jones Theory to keep them wanting to know how their counterparts, colleagues and competitors are doing something and if indeed it's better.

The rest is up to you, but always close on a next step. Be definitive and get commitment or end on a yes. Get some more info, extension, email and make a promise to the prospect and keep it. You want to close on the first call... give them an option instead of an out.

me: "Would you prefer an online demo or should we setup a meeting in person? What does your schedule allow?"

All for now. Good luck and remember, don't overthink it, be proactive and extemporaneous.

Go. Make cold-calling happen.

James

3 primary reasons sales people don't cold call

I've decided to write a series on this, and will release a short library on this topic of "cold calling" and my own, unique perspectives, and those of others.

For today, I want to talk about what I believe to be the Three Main Reasons why Sales People do not do this 1. at all 2. enough or 3. very well

1. Self Entitlement
2. Laziness
3. Poor Skill

Let me preface this with a little background about me. My first job out of college was with an outfit called Cydcor. They're a Global outsourced sales firm that contracts with companies for one reason: new customer acquisition. They accomplish this by having volume contact in-person and teaching principles that, when adhered to, will return more sales and allow for "entrepreneurial" opportunities for the champions.

Let me break down my daily job there. I suited up, arrived in the office at 6:30am M-F. I trained and lead meetings for my team (comprised of 4-12 people, depending on the day) and went into the "field" around 8am to drum up new business. The "field" was literally every business I saw in the "T" or territory I was given. I was selling something every business needs, as was a constant with our client base. I had a suit, a smile and I was there knocking on doors, no less than 50 each day. I ended my days at 8pm-9pm and had no life but selling, teaching others and leading my team toward success. I had the highest performing personal sales records and my team had the largest revenue, new customer and total sales.

I left to pursue other opportunities but I think of that experience often and still exercise some of the trusted, proven principles that I acquired.

So, back to the Three Qualities of a no-cold-call principled sales person.

1. Self Entitlement. This person genuinely believes their time is too valuable to waste it on cold calling. They say things like, I am working on quotes and convincing qualified prospects and don't want to waste time cold calling. This person will never be a good cold caller. This person spends more time talking about why they don't need to cold call or they require someone else to do it. This time (shock) could have just spent on the phone.

2. Laziness. This is often the person who just keeps saying they'll "get around to it" or I called some people (read = 3 to 5 people). But, despite doing this and talking about it, they spend more time waiting for leads to appear magically. If you pander to these folks and don't detect these signs without asking them direct questions and expecting them to perform ground-up business development then you're just as guilty as an organization.

3. Poor skill. Cold Calling may have never been a skill they've acquired. It is a SKILL. So, they've either never learned how to do it well (which can be taught) or they do not want to know how because they also fit into one other the above classification groups also. This person usually doesn't have enough volume under their belt to figure out if they're good or learn through experience. Getting them to start, mirroring and monitoring and coaching are all helpful if this person is not lazy or falsely entitled.

Whatever the reason people reject the idea, I've found it the most cost-effective, immediate and motivational ways to develop new business and grow a pipeline.

Next up... How to Prepare.

After that... What to expect while cold calling.

Lastly... How to measure progress - adapt and improve performance.

Go. Cold Call. It's exciting.

IT shouldn't own all technology

Most of it, yes. IT should be the Technology Hub within every organization. Although, as technology proliferates and becomes integrated into every division, group and employee's day-to-day job, then we need to accept ownership. As IT is concerned with things like:

1. Is it supportable?
2. Does it integrate with our legacy systems?
3. Will it be trainable and not dominate helpdesk queues?

This doesn't answer the question of "Does this help me do my job better and make more money, faster?"

So, let's make the effort to be technology savvy and as marketers, embrace the real fact that technology will be the most important tool and we need to know how to get the most out of it.

Go. Make Technology Happen.

Fighting Gravity

I had to share this, despite irrelevance. As a lover of great artistry, especially when it involves techno and defying gravity, these guys are f'n rad.

AND they're Hokies...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIzuIhm5wYM