My Great Pumpkin Lesson

I carved a pumpkin for the first time in my life Sunday. Truly, I never had before.

My young son was feeling sad that he had not yet carved a pumpkin this year with Halloween being right around the corner and all. He’d carved pumpkins with his mother before, but he wanted to carve one with me.

I was a little nervous about it. I know that sounds silly. My son said, “Daddy, it’s easy, you can do it.”

It is something many or perhaps most other people have done. I never have. No real reason I guess; I grew up in the city and maybe that has played a part but I’m also not an artist and it sure looks like it would take one to make a pumpkin look any good.

“I’ll draw the face on the pumpkin for you, Daddy.” He said.

I worried about the knives but he said, “Don’t worry, I’ll take the little one and you can use the big one.”

I honestly (and please don’t laugh too loud) never thought to think what was in a pumpkin and how making it hollow or carving it out must be something that is hard to do. “It’s full of squishy seeds and stuff and we need a bowl to put it in…” he said. He was right; it wasn’t as solid I thought it would be.

We cut and scooped out the pumpkin. “You do this section Daddy, you are stronger, scrape it all out.”

And then… Oh…what a face he drew!

I carved and sculpted and shaped the face. “Careful not to push on the holes while you carve the other holes” he said. Great advice.

I had so much fun. I loved it. It looks really cool and very scary. “You did a great job Daddy.” He said. I was all smiles.

Something about carving this pumpkin meant more to me than I expected.

I thought what a great teacher my son is. He eased my fears and took control when he needed to. He helped me through all the tough parts and even praised me. But in the end gave me something so much more wonderful that I did not readily see it.

He was, in the carving of this pumpkin, being the teacher to me that I want to be, for him.

Later that day on the long ride back to his mother’s house, he put his hand in mine and said “Thanks for carving my pumpkin with me Daddy.”

No son, thank you.

Till next time,

Grow the Business.

Mark

Dear Business Owner

Dear business owner,

It’s sketchy out there.

But you know that. It’s been like this for a couple of years. In my job, I get asked for advice about the marketplace and about business and about turning things around.

Hope it’s OK I’m going to share my advice with all of you now. The advice is real good I promise.

When you own a business today, taking a lot of risks probably feels crazier than ever. Except that it’s not. Risk taking right now is what you have to do if you want your business to survive and thrive. It is riskier right now not to do anything or to just do what you always did.

When you own a business today, you have to step out. Be noticed. Look for new ways, not old ways, to sell your products and to get and keep customers. The rules have already changed. The basics you might think you should fall back on: the “tried and true” so to speak, are pretty much the “tried and failed”. They don’t work anymore.

When you own a business today, you have to be indispensable to those who pay you. You have to add value and be a difference maker. There is no “under the radar” anymore or just trying to keep on keeping on. You must get on the radar.

When you own a business today, even the “givens” don’t seem to be as reliable anymore. Sales are off. Everyone is judging you no matter how long you’ve been at this game in this tough economy. Seems like the “business” has to be earned all over again and again. Everyone is watching you and all your touch points need to have a “wow” factor.

When you own a business today, it’s clearer that innovation and creativity is going to rule the day. Getting out there and doing that and actually investing in yourself, changing and updating your image and your brand, that’s going to take some serious work. You better start now.

Of course, even if you don’t own a literal business; you actually do.

That business is you.

You are president and CEO of You Corp and quite frankly, the advice above is as much for you and me the individual, as it is for any traditional business right now.

Have at it.
Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

The Great Sales Training Debacle

Great sales training feels like a colossal waste of time.

Who needs it? Why bother? Everybody knows you won’t do it.

Think two or three smart steps ahead in managing an account? Skip it. It’s what you must do but the vast majority work on it hard in training class, get jazzed about why it’s so important to do and then, well …”It’s a lotta work man to be strategizing all these accounts and it’s bad enough I gotta update all this stuff in saleforce.com, update that pipeline..…”

Practice or maybe even write out different scripts for voicemails or phone calls based on your objectives and your client research? Yeah right. It’s essential stuff but after class most people never write or practice another script cuz’ “Hey that takes time and I gotta pound out some calls…”

Quit selling the damn product and start selling you or your company first? Ha! Thirty minutes after that truism most sales reps are slamming “limited time” pitches or stupid “How happy are you with your current supplier” questions trying to get the widget in the client’s hands. I see it all the time; everything’s gotta get sold like within 30 seconds of talking to a customer or prospect.

What the heck is wrong with people?

Lazy is what it is. The work after a sales training is just too hard I guess.

You sales leaders aren’t off the hook either; most of you ignore or don’t actively support that you have to see sales behaviors change first before the sales results change.

The good news is all the laziness sure keeps us sales trainers and sales writers busy though. Busy is good.

Offended? Don’t be. If you are reading this, chances are good you’re in a group that gets that great sales training means there is more hard work after a sales training class and not less work.

Bet you know someone though going to sales training who doesn’t realize this. Help them understand this mess about sales training and maybe your sales quota next month won’t be expected to carry them.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

The Beginning Sticks

The four brothers will be together again next week. It’s been a while.

One’s flying in from New Zealand, another GreyHounding it from Manhattan and the third, well he’s local just like me. And though we are all in our 40’s now, we’ll act like a bunch of 9 year olds (as we always do) when we get together at Mom’s house.

Because in the beginning, that’s what we did. And the beginning really sticks. Being all roughly two years apart, it was those middle school years, it was then that we truly bonded and for lack of a better word; brothered .

So sure our kids will be in tow and our wives and significant others will share in the fun next week but without doubt the youngest, most hyperactive and colossally immature crew will be the four of us.

We’ll settle into a hilariously silly game that will drive my 77 year old mother crazy (as she doth protest too much yelling “Knock it off!” whilst stifling chuckles). Foam coasters will Frisbee around the living room chair to chair as we see how long we can play catch without dropping a coaster or worse, getting caught by Mom in the act of throwing them.

And yes, we’ll try to hold the laughter in like giggling 4^th graders every time it flies just out of her sight (or better yet, just behind her head as she walks back and forth from the kitchen). Couch pillows will tumble, table lamps will teeter and spouses will hang their heads in embarrassment as we four being much older now, risk grave injury diving off that recliner to make the incredible catch to keep the game alive.

Because that’s how we were in the beginning, and getting together so many years later, it’s no use, we are going back- the beginning sticks.

You won’t think I’ll go from flying coasters to flying planes but I will.

Sullenberger landed that plane in the Hudson and he called upon all that training, all the experience and all stuff from the very beginning, from his “earliest days” he said, to land that plane the best he could. He even called it “primacy”, those times in the beginning. He did later what he knew from earlier, much earlier, because the beginning sticks.

Those flight attendants didn’t call out the emergency announcements they were most recently were trained on at US Air but rather, they shouted out the ones they learned years and years ago when they first started out with another airline. They did later what they knew from earlier, much earlier, because the beginning sticks.

You won’t think I’ll go from coasters to cockpits to some counsel but I will.

The beginning sticks. It sticks no matter if it’s about something as ordinary as how 4 brothers bonded with their Mother in a living room, or if it’s about the extraordinary first days of training of a pilot and crew. The beginning sticks and therefore it matters.

The beginning sticks is a reminder of how important those first instructions are to help a child hold a bat or how to start that diary or how to deal with the loss of a pet. The beginning sticks translates to business too and is a reminder of how important your new hire classes are, your on boarding programs are, your mentoring is or those first few initial team meetings or even those early team outings are.

It’s just a plain ol’ reminder about how sticky the beginning is of just about anything important.

Don’t look past the beginning. Prepare for it. Do it right or do it fun. Or do it both right and fun. Because how ever you do it, it’ll stick.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Yes To 5 Minute Eggs

my egg timer style

Yes, I have an egg timer.

I read that book. And it works. Turn an egg timer on for 5 minutes and just go do it. Tackle that pile of paper, clean that corner of the basement, start to read that trade magazine.

I carry that egg timer with me these days. 5 minutes is a long time. Longer than you think and you get a whole lot accomplished.

Go find the egg timer and use it. Here are five 5 minute preps for your work week that’ll deliver results sunny side up.

5 Minutes in the Car: You got a commute longer than 5 minutes don’t you? Well start that egg timer as soon as you hear a commercial block starting on that radio and listen; really listen. You’ll hear all sorts of sales and marketing angles from credibility language to teasers to senses of urgency. These commercial writers are pros. They know how to get attention of a listener in no time; learn from them.

5 Minutes at the Coffee Shop. Start your egg timer and walk in. Walk up to a contractor, retailer, manufacturer or whomever you help, smile and say “I talk to folks like you all day, what’s the biggest challenge these days? And what’s going well? “Remember what they say and use it that day on the phone, in the field, on Twitter, on Facebook.. “ I was just talking to a customer this AM and he said….” Yes, that credibility alone will get you some interest and sales.

5 Minutes with Your Catalogue. Open to a random page and pick two products. Raise your right hand and say “I will sell these today”. Then take the remaining 4 minutes and 34 seconds and study. Study the problems these products solve, the way they help make things better, the specs and the interest raising questions that go with them. You’ll spot more opportunities because of it and yes, you’ll sell them, I assure you.

5 Minutes with Jeffrey Gitomer. Grab any of his books, Little Red Book of Selling, The Sales Bible, The Little Teal Book of Trust or a half a dozen others. They are everywhere around your building or your cube or just go to his site. Start reading anywhere in his books for 5 minutes. It’s some of the best prep for your day you can do no matter what job you have.

5 Minutes to Answer These Questions. Grab a pen and write. Who do I do this for? What do I love about what I do? How will I truly help people today? Look at your three answers and call the first right now and tell them you love them again. Repeat the second to yourself three times. And every time you accomplish the third; stand, smile and take a bow. Your colleagues won’t know what the heck is going on but believe it or not there is nothing better you could be doing for you, your customers or your company.

Based on the average words people read per minute, you’ve got about 3 minutes left if you want to start that egg timer right now. Crank her up.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

3 Crazy Causation Theories

There is that “correlation not causation” perspective that people talk about. I ran across it most recently last week reading something, somewhere, about Diet Coke.

Some article talked about a reputable study a couple of years ago suggesting that you, the Diet Coke drinker, were by some large and scary percentage, more likely to become obese if you drank Diet Coke vs. someone who did not drink Diet Coke.

Good Times. I love Diet Coke.

Thankfully the article reminded us that the study was flawed because what you really had a hard time discerning was if those people who were becoming or were already obese, had decided to start drinking Diet Coke while “obesing” vs. the other way around so to speak. Hence though there may be a “correlation” between Diet Coke and obesity, there is not necessarily, “causation” from Diet Coke to obesity.

There is a lot of that crazy “causation” stuff out there in the sales world too.

Crazy Causation Theory # 1: Successful salespeople have the best accounts; they don’t make half the calls or presentations you do, but are still raking in the most dough.

Ah….yes…I had the worst sales territory in the world back in my day. I was insanely jealous of my fellow sales reps that had the best accounts or territory.

So yes dear colleague of today, you are right; the successful reps often don’t make nearly as many calls as you do and they do have the best accounts. Truth is though; their phone rings more often and their inboxes fill up faster than yours does. When they do call out, they are more effective than you. More often than not, these successful reps artfully cultivate customers, drive referrals through them and in essence, have and continue to deliver greater experiences to their clients thereby creating a misperception to the rest of us about what exactly causes what.

Hats off to you Jack Barry in 1994, you’re territory was the best, but now I know you weren’t lucky; rather, you made it so.

Crazy Causation Theory #2; The more calls or offers you make, the more sales you’ll get.

Nope, not in this business. That adage in sales that “It’s all a numbers game” is a horrible lie. Never believe it. Many of you reading this are you are working with a finite list of existing customers or prospects, or of calls coming into you; which you usually cannot control.

Pounding out calls or making 5 offers/closes on every incoming/outgoing call to a finite universe doesn’t make the sales; quality contacts do. In Outbound calling, it’s even more dangerous. Pound out some self serving, rapid fire voicemails or live monologues to your assigned clients hoping to the sales gods above that you caught the customer exactly when they have a need and you’ll put yourself in a worse position 6 weeks later or 6 months later when you try and sell them something else. Customers want help, not pitches and power dialing.

If you have the world as your territory and the yellow pages as your lead source; yes indeed, it is all a numbers game then. For a while. Make as many calls and offers as you want. And have fun with that as you’ll last about 6 months before you can’t wait to quit. No worries, your boss already a replacement ready to backfill you who has the same false belief.

Crazy Causation Theory #3: The harder you work, the more successful you will be.

That ain’t true in sales. It may be true for cemetery workers (been there, worked hard despite my co-workers’ slacker cries to “slow down!”). It may be true for grocery baggers (worked hard there too and loved the job) and forklift operators (worked hard and proudly with no incidents thank you), but it is not true in sales. Working hard just is not enough.

Working hard will only get you so far; here is what else you need:

Acting skills: ( Be a story teller & have the ability to make your 41^st performance today look and sound like your first)
Thirst for knowledge and self learning. (Pssst… the webpage functionality just changed 5 minutes ago and your product offer is now outdated. Do you really want to wait for the memo or the training on that? )
Mental Positivity. If you close 15 % of your leads /opportunities then you are a ROCK STAR though that means the other 85% reject you. Working harder doesn’t help you here.
Sales Skills; Have no idea where you are in the sales process or what a good question is vs. a bad one? Good luck working hard here while you are in the dark.
Help: Few sales stars work in a vacuum. They are not afraid to ask for help, seek guidance and even demand coaching.

There. Now go chill and have a Diet Coke. No causation there to worry about.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

The Best Question For B2B Sales

It’s not so much figuring out the best question that’s hard. It’s figuring out what to do with the answer.

I get asked a lot about what are good questions for prospects or customers. I can give you a bunch and in just a couple of clicks you can find thousands of reputable authors, sales gurus and websites that’ll give you a whole bunch more questions to ponder for your customer contacts.

But what is the best question? I’ve finally settled on one now. This one question makes so much darn sense on many levels. And as good as it is, remember it’s what you do with the answer that really counts.

Before I share it though, let’s think first about the audience you want to ask this question of. The audience here is small business; a group loaded with owners, type A’s, entrepreneurs, competitive personalities or all of the above. The audience is full of people who are proud, smart, have healthy egos and who live and breathe their businesses.

So the best question should be one that is grooved right down the center of the proverbial small business plate, look very appealing and inspire a big ol’ swing.

“What sets your business apart from the competition?”

Yep. That’s it.

Simple but powerful for two reasons:

First, it gives your fiercely proud small business person the chance to take a swing and share what they believe is perhaps the single thing that makes them different, or superior than anyone they compete against. It allows for passionate rant or a perfunctory punch of an attribute, positioning, feature, service, history or benefit that they think is killer or outstanding about their business. That’s cool.

Second it gives you a chance to do the hard part, which is to listen and analyze the answer. It’s a beautiful window to the entrepreneurial soul. You must use that learning to position you or your products in an appropriate way as you continue that conversation then, or at a later time, with the small business person.

You see the answer to the question is vital. It is what the small business person thinks is importantly different about their business and is likely what they value in partners and suppliers as well. When you know what is important to them about them, you can position you, your company or your products in a similar light that will at the very least, get further attention and most likely move the sales process forward at lightning speed. And if by chance your product or solution helps that business maintain or attain that thing that sets them apart, you’re in.

If the small business person thinks their “50 years in business” is the competitive differentiator then you have to consider that perhaps sharing your long personal tenure in the industry or the healthy company track record you have is a big deal for them when they consider working more with someone like you. For them; being credible is important.

If the small business person thinks that having a “one stop shop” is a big deal setting them apart from the competition then you know that you have to consider positioning your services as being “easy to use” or “comprehensive and easy to access” because it’s very likely that that is something the small business owner wants out of a supplier or partner.

If the answer to “ What sets you apart from the competition?” is about “our low pricing”, or “the highest quality”, or “the most customers”, or “ our product breadth” or a dozen others then you have a colossal hint at what the buying motives just might be when they consider doing more business with you.

Pitch the question. I believe it’s the best one out there and small business will hit it hard; just don’t drop the ball; do something with it.

P.S. If some of you are thinking this is a great question for the C-Suite. You’re right; similar personalities sit there too. Have at it.

P.S.S If some of you are thinking Hey Mark, asking that question you need a little trust first don’t you? You’re right about that too. Read up.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

So Misunderstood

Some sales people, when they hear my name, turn their heads away and shrug.

Some sales people, when they hear my name, feel insulted.

Some sales people, when they hear my name, get very angry.

It’s too bad really.

Some sales people, when they hear my name, just don’t get it. I am so misunderstood.

Because without me, some of the greatest sales people in the leadership world would just about be forgotten. Without me, you’d not remember half the moving messages of an Obama or Reagan or the stirring words of Martin Luther King on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, or the timeless candor of JFK at his Inauguration.

Without me, some of the greatest sales people in the traditional selling world would just about be lost in the crowd. Without me, you’d not have heard half the messages of Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar or Jeffery Gitomer.

Without me, some of the greatest sales performances around us would just be of the ”Oh So Average” variety. That guy in Florida, the one that landed the fortune 100 company, that would have been different. That appointment setting guru, she wouldn’t get half the meetings set up with decision makers she does today without me.

My name is Scripting. And I am so misunderstood.

I am not overstating this. Barack, Ronnie, Martin and John performed crafted messages. They worked from scripts. They had visions and dreams and goals to sell. They followed that script; they wanted to; they needed to.

There is an unwarranted aversion some sales people and sales leaders have to being handed a script.

You have to remember that a script is content crafted in such a way that a message is superbly told, a vision is passionately stated, or an experience is exquisitely orchestrated.

No one who hands you a script is trying to script tone, genuineness, sincerity, passion and excitement. You own that.

No one who hands you a script is trying to “de humanize” you or the experience. It’s the opposite. That script, that process, that well crafted content is there to allow you to maximize your talents making the experience sound nothing like a script. Learn from the masters and make the script invisible; that is what you own.

The great sales people of the world, the industry or even in the building you work in wouldn’t dream of “winging it” or thriving off of improvisation; it just doesn’t work.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

From The Red Book

I carry a little red book around with me. I write things in there that I like, I hate, I worry about or get excited about. I bet you all have a little book or notepad too.

I looked through it over the weekend. These strike me as things I want to write more about, support or rail against, or just plain share and do something more with.

How about you?

I hate that human condition that drives online business reviews. Have a problem and you rant online no matter how little the issue. Skews everything. Totally unfair.

I doesn’t matter much if you have the newest tools or software on your desk (like a new CRM for example) if you have no desire to change your routine or results to begin with.

Listening is cool. But If you can’t get your client to talk to you, what the heck is there to listen to?

Coaching is hard. Coaching to stats, processes and order entry is easy vs. coaching to communication, selling and service skills. That latter will grow the business and former will give you the chance to do it.

It’s only a matter of time before what’s credible on the internet matters more than that something is in fact, on the internet. And that time is very soon.

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN and all the rest haven’t changed us. We have always loved, and needed a network of engaged, trusted friends and colleagues. That need has always been there; it’s the tools that keep changing.

Glen Garry Glen Ross is simply the greatest sales movie ever and is Jack Lemmon’s best performance. The language is rough but the Mamet writing is priceless.

Ever notice on Mad Men how they have to sit the prospects down in the 60’s and explain in detail what marketing and advertising is in order to sell it? Well we gotta do the same thing somehow these days when we sell online marketing. It’s still kinda foreign to people.

Service Reps have the most satisfying job in the world. You pros here know what I am talking about.

Open ended questions are so overrated unless you have some trust established; otherwise it’s just offensive.

Adult learning theory continues to be disproved over and over again as weak. It’s about “what” is being trained that matters, not the learning “style” of folks. ( Just as I suspected :))

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

The Bird

I’m not thinking about the America eagle, or this year’s Thanksgiving turkey or even the late Detroit pitcher Mark Fydrich known as “The Bird” (loved that guy when I was a kid..RIP).

I’m thinking you know, The Bird.

This is a family blog though so I won’t just come out and say it. Instead I’ll call The Bird a safe acronym like “TB” for the remainder of this post. And since the acronym “TB” is more commonly known as Tuberculosis (which is a heck of a lot worse than this other TB I’m talking about) by comparison, mine is pretty tame.

What I will say and list for you, are the times during a typical day or a week that I feel I am getting TB (not Tuberculosis type) from businesses. Not an “in your face” blatant nasty service experience that everyone writes and complains about, but a sudden unpleasant little message you flip in my general direction.

And that is not good. Maybe these little affronts are a sign of worse things to come from this experience, this business relationship. Maybe these little affronts stop the relationship process really before it even starts.

My guess is that businesses may not have a clue they are doing this and if that’s the case, please get a clue. And if it is being done on purpose, quit it.

The Bell. If you’re a small business or even a large one and aren’t drooling at the prospect of a prospect walking in your door but instead place a little silver bell for me to ring to get your attention, then you are giving me TB. Guess I’m not that important. I suggest a mirror, a dog or some sort of bell on the door I open that gets your attention before I need to.

Flat Screen & Standard Definition TV: Have a nice bar? Have a nice place casual dining establishment? Great, I love it. But every time you hang that 47” screen over your bar but only show standard definition programming it’s like giving me TB. If you can’t cough up the costs or work out the deal to broadcast HD don’t insult me with the blurry picture on your beautiful television screen while I sit paying 500% margins on your over priced local brew. What’s next? Skimping on the soap for the dishwasher?

“noreply @..” Ever get one of these emails? If your business sends out any emails with the sender labeled like this for any reason, you might as well give me TB. Staff the darn mailbox or forward it to someone who cares because if the recipient is your customer and he or she cares to reply; you should care to listen.

Newspapers Outside The Lines: This one drives me crazy. You are giving me TB when you insist dear supermarket, that the newspapers be lined up against that wall at the far end of the store beyond the check out lines. Now since I just decided upon viewing that I want a newspaper, I must decide to get back in line to pay for one. Nope. Same goes for the firewood and charcoal and the winter shovels. What is this losing sales tactic called anyway? “The After Purchase Purchase?”

The 24 Hour Sales Cycle (NOT); Ever get a LinkedIn invite one day and then an invitation to spend money the next? Ever get a ReTweet on Twitter or a nice comment on your blog post one day and then a pitch from that person or business the next day? I have. I’ve gotten them from former colleagues, friends, people and businesses that I know or knew. Ugh. Faux Networking is TB in capital letters (I mean like really big capital letters).

TB is fowl. And while you undoubtedly have your own examples of TB in the marketplace (and please feel free to share), figuring out if you, your business, your team or your department is doing TB innocently to customers/prospects is important to think about too. It may be hard to spot or put a finger on so to speak but it’s well worth the look.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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