Everyone recognizes that growth is the best remedy for reversing sluggish performance, but I’m less certain enough business leaders really know how to inspire growth or exactly where their organizations might be lacking.
Continuing my “Fundamentals Rule” theme, I’d like to focus on sales excellence this week by summarizing a project I just concluded for a small business services company that has dramatically turned the growth corner by improving sales performance.
Because my sales strategies and tactics deviate from the convention, I’m used to the initial skepticism that always greets me in a new assignment! This latest project was no exception, but we were able to more rapidly transform the organization thanks to the commitment of the sales force and an executive team determined to fight for their company’s survival.
In less than 2 quarters they have gone from negative year-over-year growth to posting record sales months in June & July; the corporate pipeline shows August and September will shatter the prior month’s records!
Though there are several nuances explaining their great transformation I will focus on one aspect that typically causes the initial skepticism and because it is also a core point to creating these unsurpassed results: debunking and moving beyond needs-based selling.
At best, a sales force that “sells to the (prospective) customer’s needs” is selling to lagging indicators. By very definition, needs are determined by yesterday’s news--not nearly sharp enough or fast enough to truly solve a (prospective) customer’s compelling business issues! But in these turbulent economic times, a great majority of targeted customers (even at the most senior levels) have a difficult time figuring out where their business even stands in its competitive industry making it rather difficult to properly articulate needs.
Consequently, needs-based selling invariably leads the discussion to price and is a primary cause for commoditization. In practice, needs-based selling is purely a tactical exercise and as a process it is now so familiar to all that what should be a critical dialogue takes on a recognizable pattern between sales person and buying influence.
Fundamentally, needs-based selling is all wrong for today’s economy and in my view it’s the biggest culprit for poor sales performance.
I showed my client (as a company) how to replace the purely tactical lagging indicator needs-based selling with the more strategic, forward-looking method of selling to leading indicators.
This process focuses on the prospect’s current and anticipated business conditions. While it is collaborative and fully integrates all aspects of the prospect’s business, it forces the sales professional to take a leadership position.
My client’s sales force became so good at this so quickly they not only are growing a record clips they are also charging a premium for their services.
Working extremely hard and closely together, we also debunked a second myth: in recessions, customers will always buy on price.
My experience shows, and my client’s success further validates, organizations that create unrivaled value will always be in great demand--particularly when their targeted market needs help.
The last myth debunked (and one I hear all the time) is “you don’t know our sales force, they will never change the way they do things, we’ll try it and support it, but it’s tough to teach our old dogs new tricks.”
Respectfully, I find that an unfortunate number of senior management teams just don’t know their sales force and unwittingly institutionalize mediocrity by continually underestimating what can be achieved.
There was a time when the sales profession migrated from feature/function product-pitching to needs-based selling: the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. I don’t believe it’s coincidental that was also a period of great economic uncertainly and distress.
I preach what I practice and I am utterly convinced that companies must compel their sales forces to adopt a leading indicator style of selling.
My client did it so superbly that I’ve also achieved a primary project milestone: produce swift, significant & sustained results so they can carry on without me.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Congratulations Goldman Sachs (Employees)
Though I’m not the first in line to congratulate Goldman Sachs for their 2nd quarter earnings, I’m one of the loudest voices cheering them on because Goldman’s performance validates the principal business philosophies and convictions I write about in this space every week. And although I don’t want to appear callous or clueless about the need to effectively manage all stakeholders, it dawns on me that the great story about a great company’s great results is quickly turning into something ugly: compensation and bonus.
Clearly, Goldman’s employees identified and fixed problems in their business, recognized where they could grow to capitalize on current market conditions, set a course of action, and then superbly executed on their plans.
What’s not to like, what’s not to applaud, and what’s not to compensate?
Goldman is setting a standard, showing a way, superbly demonstrating that the right people doing the right job the right way will not simply overcome miserable economic conditions they will shine. This is production that deserves to be recognized and rewarded not tarnished by attention-seeking politicians or a battered public that has been rocked in every conceivable way the past year-and-a-half or so.
Goldman is an inspiration, a strong reinforcement that greatness is often defined by overcoming adversity and always measured by output. Handsomely compensating Goldman employees for their production should be the greatest encouragement for those who are struggling right now…something that should keep them going through these tough times because epic reversals of fortune can and do still happen.
Sure, Goldman benefited from government assistance, but isn't their ability to wisely use the monies they received, pay it back, and achieve as they have a “you couldn't have planned it any better” moment?
The people that made this happen each undoubtedly pushed themselves and made personal sacrifices to make Goldman Sachs’ 2nd quarter 2009 as stellar as it was. These people should be properly compensated for what they did and will likely continue to do.
Here’s one small measure of what I mean: each morning I commute into Grand Central Station on Metro North from CT on the 4:22. From there, it’s the 4 or 5 subway to Wall Street where my office is. There's a regular crowd on this early morning commute and, conservatively, I’d say at least 15% of the people I see every morning are carrying a Goldman Sachs emblazoned briefcase/laptop bag.
However Goldman Sachs decides to split 2nd quarter bonus money is their business and no matter how much gets doled out, their employees have at least earned every penny of it! It’s the proverbial ray of sunlight on this cloudy economic day and my best hope is that many more US companies will soon be faced with the same problems Goldman Sachs currently has: properly compensating their excellent staff for a job well done while motivating them to do even better going forward. Congratulations Goldman Sachs Employees--job well done.
Clearly, Goldman’s employees identified and fixed problems in their business, recognized where they could grow to capitalize on current market conditions, set a course of action, and then superbly executed on their plans.
What’s not to like, what’s not to applaud, and what’s not to compensate?
Goldman is setting a standard, showing a way, superbly demonstrating that the right people doing the right job the right way will not simply overcome miserable economic conditions they will shine. This is production that deserves to be recognized and rewarded not tarnished by attention-seeking politicians or a battered public that has been rocked in every conceivable way the past year-and-a-half or so.
Goldman is an inspiration, a strong reinforcement that greatness is often defined by overcoming adversity and always measured by output. Handsomely compensating Goldman employees for their production should be the greatest encouragement for those who are struggling right now…something that should keep them going through these tough times because epic reversals of fortune can and do still happen.
Sure, Goldman benefited from government assistance, but isn't their ability to wisely use the monies they received, pay it back, and achieve as they have a “you couldn't have planned it any better” moment?
The people that made this happen each undoubtedly pushed themselves and made personal sacrifices to make Goldman Sachs’ 2nd quarter 2009 as stellar as it was. These people should be properly compensated for what they did and will likely continue to do.
Here’s one small measure of what I mean: each morning I commute into Grand Central Station on Metro North from CT on the 4:22. From there, it’s the 4 or 5 subway to Wall Street where my office is. There's a regular crowd on this early morning commute and, conservatively, I’d say at least 15% of the people I see every morning are carrying a Goldman Sachs emblazoned briefcase/laptop bag.
However Goldman Sachs decides to split 2nd quarter bonus money is their business and no matter how much gets doled out, their employees have at least earned every penny of it! It’s the proverbial ray of sunlight on this cloudy economic day and my best hope is that many more US companies will soon be faced with the same problems Goldman Sachs currently has: properly compensating their excellent staff for a job well done while motivating them to do even better going forward. Congratulations Goldman Sachs Employees--job well done.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Fundamentals Rule: Just GET REAL!
June’s unemployment figures are no less chilling for me a week after they were released as they were right before this nation celebrated Independence Day. I can’t think of a more important, complex, or daunting challenge than getting the country back to work…meaningful, productive, rewarding-on-all-levels employment that is best created by well-run companies.
Typically I solve business problems and introduce initiatives that create well-run organizations by focusing on the illness” rather than the symptoms. But I'll go against my own grain to briefly focus on what I believe to be the leading symptom creating today’s illnesses, in my view best captured in this CNBC news report: http://www.cnbc.com/id/31801817
Actually, the symptom can be found in the article’s opening 4 words, “Baseball legend Lenny Dykstra….” Baseball legend? Don’t get me wrong, Dykstra was a fine major league player who played on some of the more interesting teams in recent memory, but a career .285 hitter is no legend. It was only a few years ago that “Nails” Dykstra was hailed as the single greatest investment mind by the breathless media, but further inspection and longer-running results suggest this was all myth.
At minimum, creating jobs, building high-performance organizations, maintaining competitive edges all require hard work, great skill, real knowledge, and willingness to inspect-to-improve. However, the evidence shows too many would much prefer to skip past all this by finding some easy way with some short answers or slogans. Nationally, this is not “change you can believe in” but “delusions you can be scared by”.
To me, prematurely anointing Lenny Dykstra an investment savant or now branding him as a legendary player is in the same category as rating agencies rating their customers’ financial products, disclaimers where there used to be warranties, excuses where there used to be commitment, and much more. On several occasions I’ve reinforced my strong belief that fundamentals rule and of these the most basic as well as necessary is: get real.
Typically I solve business problems and introduce initiatives that create well-run organizations by focusing on the illness” rather than the symptoms. But I'll go against my own grain to briefly focus on what I believe to be the leading symptom creating today’s illnesses, in my view best captured in this CNBC news report: http://www.cnbc.com/id/31801817
Actually, the symptom can be found in the article’s opening 4 words, “Baseball legend Lenny Dykstra….” Baseball legend? Don’t get me wrong, Dykstra was a fine major league player who played on some of the more interesting teams in recent memory, but a career .285 hitter is no legend. It was only a few years ago that “Nails” Dykstra was hailed as the single greatest investment mind by the breathless media, but further inspection and longer-running results suggest this was all myth.
At minimum, creating jobs, building high-performance organizations, maintaining competitive edges all require hard work, great skill, real knowledge, and willingness to inspect-to-improve. However, the evidence shows too many would much prefer to skip past all this by finding some easy way with some short answers or slogans. Nationally, this is not “change you can believe in” but “delusions you can be scared by”.
To me, prematurely anointing Lenny Dykstra an investment savant or now branding him as a legendary player is in the same category as rating agencies rating their customers’ financial products, disclaimers where there used to be warranties, excuses where there used to be commitment, and much more. On several occasions I’ve reinforced my strong belief that fundamentals rule and of these the most basic as well as necessary is: get real.
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