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Category Archives: Essays
Sales Leadership and Not Being “That Guy”
I’m not really sure when or where I first heard the Internet meme of “that guy.”
“Hey, don’t be ‘that guy,’ okay?”
“You’re acting like ‘that guy’ right now, dude.”
At some point, everyone on the planet has met “that guy”—and on at least one occasion we’ve probably been “that guy.”
(Before continuing, I realize that the phrase “that guy” could be construed as being sexist. In truth, “that guy” and “that girl” can be interchangeable in most situations, but for the purposes of this article, I’m going to stick with just “that guy,” because A. it’s easier than saying “that guy/girl” all the time, and B. let’s face it, the syndrome of “that guy” is waaaay more common than “that girl.” Men are just normally bigger jerks than women, end of story. So, if any women out there are “that girl,” my apologies for not including you here. Feel free to add your voice to the comments expressing your displeasure) . . . .
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Leave a comment Sales Qualification, U2, and Making the Prospect’s Pain Yours
“Like a rhythm unbroken, like drums in the night … like sweet soul music, like sunlight … “
Anyone who knows me well can attest to my rabid fanhood of the band U2.
Not so rabid that I travel halfway across the globe looking for rare European-release-only singles on vinyl, mind you—but a huge fan nonetheless. I own every studio album they’ve ever produced, three concert videos, worn out five different t-shirts, and have a CD I created myself that is nothing but five different versions of their song “Bad” (to say I like the song “Bad” by U2 is like saying Bostonians occasionally like to watch baseball).
So when I ran into this story on sales consulting firm Blaire Group’s Web site, I had to jump at the chance of incorporating the music of the Greatest Rock Band of All Time into a blog post about the sales industry . . . .
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Apple Ping, MySpace, and Corporate Identity Crisis
Apple’s introduction yesterday of the Ping social networking site for music has been widely proclaimed as a harbinger to the death of MySpace.
A number of articles have already speculated that the once-upon-a-time-most-popular social networking site is on its death bed, but the case study of MySpace’s ultimate failure provides some real food for thought.
MySpace is a classic example of misaligned strategy directly leading to improper execution. There’s no reason MySpace couldn’t have, shouldn’t have been the preeminent social networking Web app—they were first to market, had a sizable user base (estimates range from anywhere from 100-160 million total accounts), a premium advertising deal with Google (reported at $900 million over 3 years) . . . . yet less than five years from its peak in 2006, the company is on its way to irrelevance . . . .
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Gung Ho and the Coming Inside Sales Revolution
“If all a sales person can do is talk about the product, then for sure their job is at risk to technology . . . . The role of sales is going to have to evolve to [provide] a value-add, or otherwise they may well not be needed in the process.”
—Jim Dickie, CSO Insights.
A fascinating article by Selling Power’s Gerhard Gschwandtner recently explored the growing tension between technology and sales performance.
“We have entered the ‘displacement economy,’” he states, “where new technology drives out the old ways of doing business . . . The reality is that some companies are already leveraging technology, not to save time, but to save the high expense of keeping salespeople on the payroll.”
In other words, “Old guard” sales has a problem on its hands . . . .
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Marketing and Sales – The Power of Narrative and Storytelling
What’s the story—the real story—of your business?
I’ll tell you what it’s not:
It’s not the one on your “About Us” page on your company Web site. Not the generic, voiceless, lifeless biographies of your CEO/CIO/CTO/CFO/CMO.
It’s not the marketing blurbs and buzzwords your sales people use every single day.
It’s not the operations metrics, the TPS reports or financial statements . . . .
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Customer Management – A PC-to-Mac Finder’s Tale
Have you ever lost an account suddenly, unexpectedly? As in, one month they were “happy campers,” and the next they just disappeared?
I hate to admit it, but we haven’t been immune to this syndrome. The root causes were varied; sometimes it was just change in the organization, sometimes it was a change in strategy, but sometimes it was because we simply weren’t addressing a key need or pain, and the client decided to look elsewhere.
These are the worst types of lost accounts, because the simple fact is, we weren’t doing our jobs.
I bring this question up because at work I have recently been shifted from using a PC to using a Mac (I can hear all of the Mac disciples out there now shouting, “Hallelujah! A new convert about to enter the fold!”).
And sure, the 24″ iMac screen is a dream. It’s dual-core, plenty fast, big hard drive.
Except there’s one small problem: without fail, at least once a day, there’s something about MacOS that irritates me to no end: the file manager.
The simple fact is that relative to its competition . . . .
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Sales Motivation – You Are Your Cubicle
Take a look around your office. No seriously, take a look around your office right now.
Go ahead. Stand up, walk around if you need to, then come back.
You’re still sitting here. Go look around your office.
So, what did you discover during your sojourn around the room/cubicle/hallway?
(If you work from home/telecommute, it probably told you that wearing your pajamas to work is the coolest thing ever, but I digress.)
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What Is Inside Sales – The Tale of the Golden Retriever
What’s the DNA of your sales team, corporate or carnival?
As the BrandBuilder stated recently,
“Be true to your own nature. There’s no point in faking it. A golden retriever isn’t a chihuahua or a pug or a greyhound, and for good reason. Being comfortable in your own skin is 90% of the trick to rocking out your life . . . Find yourself and embrace your nature. That’s always a great place to start.”
In other words, your sales team is the sum of your organization’s DNA.
And if your sales DNA isn’t based on mutual respect, what is it based on?
One of the biggest challenges about being part of an inside sales organization, or any sales organization for that matter, is the ongoing public perception of the sales community at large.
To the general public, sales feels like a “dirty word.” It’s connotatively negative, drawing up images of used car lots, unkempt slobs . . . .
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Warning: Your Employees’ Technology Skills (or Lack Thereof) Are Costing You Money
How much do your employees really know about technology? Do you even ask the question? Do you think it has any bearing on how functional, efficient, and well-managed your company is? One of the startling things I discovered as a
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5 Ways to Rethink Your Marketing Niche – What Is Your (and Your Company’s) Real Expertise?
In our never-ending search for the “perfect marketing campaign,” we as marketers can occasionally get trapped into thinking that “outside the box” is better. Sometimes, it’s simply better to focus on our core competencies. When push comes to shove, we
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