Life

The Devil’s Claw

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I was shocked.  I was thrilled.   And then, I was completely ticked off. 

I’ve had this puzzle for almost a year.   It’s called the Devil’s Claw.  

You can get these at any Barnes and Noble and this one is rated “Challenging”.   The key is to get the darned thing apart into the two pieces.  I’ve tried.  My wife has tried, my daughter has tried,  my son had tried, my son’s friend has tried, unsuspecting party goers and holiday revelers have tried as I’ve begged many to just “ give it a go” and figure out a way to get the Devil’s claw apart.   

I like the puzzle.

It represents something too, this puzzle.  It must be defeated because well, it just has to be.  Hanayama, the company that makes the puzzle, specializes in recreating these puzzles from the 19th century and knows that there are thousands of people like you and me who need this type of challenge.     We tackle puzzles every day at work, but we sometimes want  more.  

At exactly 9:47 pm, I was sitting in the Man Cave (yep, I got one of those).   The Discovery channel was on (something about submarines), the laptop open and email up, a Bud Lite nearby too close to empty and as I was apt to have,  the Devil’s Claw was in my hands.

And……then…..

It came apart.  One piece in my left hand ….and one piece in my right hand. 

I was shocked.  I was thrilled.   And then, I was completely ticked off.   

I jumped to my feet.   Finally, after so much time had passed, I had defeated the Devil’s Claw.    The only problem was, as I began to head upstairs to exclaim to my wife that I had conquered the devil himself,  I realized that I had no idea how I did it.   I had taken it apart but had no idea how.  None. 

That was not good.  That was really not good.  That made me angry.  And then as I paused, it made me realize how often this happens.

I wanted to share how had succeeded.  I needed to share how I succeeded.  I actually needed to know how I did it.

When you succeed today at work, perhaps landing a colossal sale, are you absolutely sure how you did it?   Do you know exactly what steps you took, what process, what angles, what words, what perspective you took to make that success happen?

What exactly was the way in which you were able to take your Devil’s Claw apart?  When your colleagues, boss or spouse ask “How did you do it?”   Can you respond in a specific way?

You need to.  And often, too often, it isn’t easily explained.

Over the years, I have heard many success stories, so many difficult yet successful stories in which a sale was made, a solution solved, a customer indebted for life to you because of what you did.   And over the years, the how is often lost.

The how gets buried in the “It was magical, they ended up buying the whole suite!” or the “I just went with it” or the dreaded “because I’m a good salesperson.”  The how is forgotten.

Even the “I kept probing until I discovered” or “I wouldn’t take “no” for and answer” or the “I just knew we had what they needed” is akin to that playing mindlessly as I did with the Devil’s Claw in my lap and having it fall apart in my hands.

Success without knowing how, is not success, it is Random Achievement.  Random Achievement isn’t something you or I want.  What we want is success that we can understand and explain.  Success that is understood in minute detail is repeatable and wonderful.

Every manager, sales leader or marketer out there should be asking the questions of the successful salesperson about that successful sale and exactly what happened.   Don’t settle for the vague answers or the generalizations.  Salespeople who are successful may or may not be aware of how they accomplished the feat; (I know that years ago as a salesperson, it took me time before I was consciously aware of how I succeeded).  Your job as a leader is to delve deep into that space and “CSI” the event giving the salesperson and the respective populace the recipe for achieving this specific success. 

Random Achievement is great at the time, but it is no longer random when it falls identifiably upon people with some consistency.   The Devil’s Claw for me was a Random Achievement.   It did not have to be.  I’ve been working on that puzzle for nearly a year. 

Watch closely.  Watch how.   

I went to Barnes and Noble yesterday and got two more puzzles, both more difficult supposedly than the one I unknowingly conquered.  

The devil made me do it.   But this time, I’ll be watching. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Still The Luckiest Man In The World

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I hope you don’t mind, because on Sunday, it will be one year.

So I apologize, no post today on anything that will help you grow the business.  This one is for my wife.  She’s a blog subscriber too. 

I thought about writing something new this year but then I looked at what I posted with all of you last June 11th and thought not.  You see, when I read it again every word is true, except now I truly know what I thought I knew then;  

Susan, I am still the luckiest man in the world.   

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Originally published June 11th, 2009

 

The Luckiest Man In The World

 

I admit I’m not an expert on marriage and have the track record to prove it.   But my guess is that you’ll be alright if;

You marry someone who feels it is more important to be there for others who have less or are in need, than to be there for everyone.

You marry someone who works hard, never misses a day, and defines her performance only by the happiness of her customers.

You marry someone who when she first met your child of 6 years old, knelt down, looked at him eye to eye, said hello and then gave him a big hug.

You marry someone who loves with all her heart, the movies from the 30’s and 40’s because they always have happy endings.

You marry someone who cries tears of joy almost daily just upon hearing that a total stranger had a baby or if she happens to she see two toddlers walking, holding hands.

You marry someone, a single mother who from her teenage years has raised a beautiful person in her daughter with the crazy belief that “I want to raise her not to be like me”.

Susan, your daughter is just like you and it is the greatest gift you have given her.  My son has known you nearly half of his life and I swear, he loves you as much as I do. 

Saturday, I get to marry you.

I think we are going to be more than alright.  It’s a trite statement but there is a reason someone came up with it.  Now, I know.

I am the luckiest man in the world. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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Mark McCarthy
Director, Sales Competency and Training

Deluxe Corporation
500 Main Street, Groton, MA 01471
Phone: (978) 449-3429  
email: mark.mccarthy@deluxe.com

Visit my Internal Blog at  http://blogs.deluxe.com/Mark/

Visit my External Blog at https://growthebusiness.wordpress.com/

Twitter at   http://twitter.com/GrowTheBusiness

Remembrance & The Best Advice Ever

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I had my moments this weekend.  

Moments when I should have personally used the best advice ever, but forgot.  When I did remember the advice, the setting made me feel a little embarrassed that I had forgotten it. 

The advice is grand, and its use can be grand.  Memorial Day has just passed and the men and women whose sacrifice allows us to do and be what we are today applied this advice in spades.  The advice is glorious and powerful when applied to issues large or small.  Here it is:

 It’s not what happens to you that matters most, but it’s how you react to what happens that does.

Dozens claim to have authored the advice but no matter as in this case, it’s the advice that should stick; not the source.

My moments this weekend were trivial compared to soldiers who chose and choose to react to war by joining the forces that protect this country.  But that’s OK because my reactions though significantly less impactful than our soldiers reactions,  influence my children, my wife, my colleagues, my friends, my customers and my work.  So truly, how I react to things that happen matters more than what actually happens to just me, as others are always involved. 

When I saw the flags lining the street on Saturday and when I saw Boy Scouts planting flags by each veteran’s grave, I remembered that best advice ever. 

I can get bad news, a bad report or even a bad look from a stranger and choose to anger, to revenge, to feel victimized.  Or I can get bad news and chose to be thoughtful, be assertive, to be selfless.  I don’t always control what happens but I sure as hell can control the reaction.

I pledge to do better at applying that advice beginning today, in honor of those who did it so well before me.  How about you?     

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Avoid Problems In The Shower

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Selling is not always about problem solving.   If you are reading the hottest sales books and listening to the trendiest sales gurus though, you might think it was.

 

It ain’t.

Every time I travel, I check into the hotel, throw the bag on the bed, adjust the heat down to 66 degrees (who can possibly be comfortable at 72?) then step into the bathroom to try to wash away a bit of the day’s travel.  I then invariably look up into the mirror and realize the recurring dream I have when dozing off in a plane about my sudden hair growth alas, did not come true.  I move on and peer into the mirror past my balding pate focusing in the space just behind me.

I see now as I always do in the reflection, the curved shower rod above the tub and get reminded once again so powerfully,  that sales is definitely not just about problem solving.

If you haven’t stayed in a hotel in the last 3 years and have not seen the curved shower rod, this post may not make much sense to you though I think they are being sold in some Home Depots and Lowes now. (Here is a picture):

The curved shower rod.   This thing is amazing.  Without changing the size of the shower, it just now feels bigger with a curved shower rod.  Who woulda thunk it?

That’s kind of the point.   Do you think hotel managers across the country were suffering for decades with the pain of having straight shower curtain rods?  Had they been for years dealing with complaint after complaint that the showers were feeling too small for the patrons?  Do you think they got thousands of letters demanding they make the showering experience feel like there is more room in said shower?  

Do you think then that a crack team of salespeople, product developers, sales leaders and marketers hunkered down in some basement trying for years to come up with the product that would fix this terrible problem of the normal straight shower rods?    Do you think they created the curved shower rod as a solution to a problem and sold it that way?

Nope.  Never happened.

Some brilliant person created and sold this product because it made the experience better, not because there was a problem that needed fixing. 

Sometimes if we obsess with “solution” selling or “problem solving” as our lead mantra on the phone or in the field, we’ll fall on deaf ears or worse as we try to illustrate problems that don’t exist in the mind of our customers or frankly in the mind of anyone.

You might get more business when you sell products that add better to a business, not just solve a problem.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark