Brave New Sales

Steve Jobs & Brand Religion

A year ago I made the leap of faith...

I bought an iPhone.

I got a pretty good deal from my mobile provider, but it required a significant long-term commitment. The customer service rep was passionate that I was doing the right thing.

I felt like I was joining a cult.

When I got the device in my hands and started using it, I knew I had done just that.

It was a beautiful experience, yet... there was so much to learn. How do I dial a contact? OK. Now how do I download apps?

The learning was intuitive and I'll let you in on a little secret. It was fulfilling. My learning experience was becoming a love affair complemented by the beautiful design.

I was connecting with a higher calling... the Apple brand.

Until this awakening, I had been more than a bit cynical when people would use their iPhones in public. Was cynicism really camouflaging my feeling of exclusion... from the cult?

Well, I was excluded no longer, and it wasn't long before I was proud of my device, too. (A freaking piece of hardware? Was I getting attached to my material possessions, Buddha?)

I'm not admitting (at least not openly) that I would commit the heinous act of flaunting.

But I had become a believer.

Before long, I found myself proselytizing.  That's right, I wanted non-users to convert to the iPhone, and to the religion called Apple. I was doing this for one simple but powerful reason, a firm belief: this product would make your life better!

 

The User Experience 

Last year, my entrepreneurial bible, Fast Company, published an interview with John Sculley, Apple's CEO in the 80's and early 90's, who took the company from $800 million in annual revenue to $8 billion.  Sculley gave several reason reasons as to why he should not have been Steve Jobs boss back then.

Mind you, Sculley didn't elbow his way through the political ranks of Apple to get the top. It was Jobs himself who lured Sculley away from Pepsi-Co, who asked Sculley to become his CEO. Jobs recognized that Sculley had the skills Jobs lacked.

Jobs reportedly sealed the deal by asking Sculley, "Would you rather sell sugar water for the rest of your life or come with me and change the world?"

Talk about brand evangelism and sacrifice for the greater good!

Sculley often said that Jobs was an obsessed missionary, that Jobs cared relatively little about product technology, that technology was just a means to an end.

Jobs was obsessed, however... by two things: design and the user experience.

Today, this probably surprises no one. But it does give me, at least, a sense of what it must have been like to work inside Apple. Were the Cupertino Headquarters a temple? I can almost smell the incense.

Brands can learn a lot from religions, with their rituals, icons and leaders of deep conviction... who also dress the part.

Think of Jobs and you probably see that dark turtle neck, blue jeans, no belt, sneakers, short hair, trimmed beard, granny glasses... and intense, authentic eyes.

In his book Corporate Religion - Building A Strong Company Through Personality and Corporate Soul, Jasper Kunde shows examples of great brands that not only create compelling messaging platforms externally, but also preach authentic corporate culture internally. This internal culture and external messaging are fully aligned.

Authentically living the brand from the top down is part of the magic.

Kunde overlooks Apple as a case study, probably due to the fact that Apple was in the early phases of its own resurrection at the time of writing. Kunde does, however, show how great companies have strong leaders... obsessed communicators who unite their entire organizations around a shared vision, a corporate religion.

This is vital for building a brand religion made up of passionate customers... evangelists promoting your brand for you, proselytizing future customers.

Sound silly?  Talk to almost any Mac user or iPhone flaunter today, and you will sense devotion. Their conviction is almost irrational.

If you're an Apple user, you feel it. You know it.

If you're not an Apple user, you might be skeptical, or even cynical.

This is human nature. Too many human beings are cynical toward other religions. Personally, I find that sad but true when applied to humanity. Professionally, I find that accurate and powerful when applied to branding.

Great brands have devoted followers as well as skeptics, and Apple has become one of the world's strongest brands.

 

I'm a Believer

Last week, I stepped further into the temple. I bought a MacBook Pro. I'd have to wait two weeks for delivery with an English keyboard here in Switzerland, but that didn't stop me. I plunked down my money on the spot. Why cause a further delay?

And wouldn't you know it? Steve Jobs goes and dies while I obediently await my... vehicle to Apple's ultimate brand experience!

Am I worried about the future of my user experience, now that I've made the leap of faith? Will the design of Apple products suffer like they did when Jobs exited the company the first time?

No. I don't believe so.

When Jobs left Apple in 1985, the company was in the midst of a schism.

Jobs had not prepared his succession because he was... a bit distracted. The sacrificial blood was running on the streets of Cupertino, and it was his.

This time, it's very, very different. Jobs' death was a surprise to no one, not even him. Pancreatic cancer and related complications have been plaguing him for years. Meanwhile, he was leading Apple from one miracle to the next.

Jobs was not an easy man to work for. But then, what spiritual leader is?

While the Dalai Lama is seen as warm and cuddly here in the West, he's reportedly a tough and disciplined monk around the temple in Dharamsala. Jesus is seen as the savior by many, but let's not forget that he was an outspoken rabbi committed to changing his religion's politics of the time.

"Without a vision, the people perish."

As unique and fiery as Jobs himself was, surely he wasn't oblivious to his own vision of Apple's future without him.

Silicon Valley is loaded with talent, like Tim Cook, who Jobs also groomed and hand-picked. Beyond Cook, qualified and devoted disciples are surely in the wings to keep spreading the faith.

The devotion will only become more passionate in Jobs' passing.

And I can't wait for my MacBook Pro to arrive.

Facebook, Your Brand Is A Heart-Breaker!

Oh, Facebook, you hurt my feelings.

Again, baby!

Oh, we've had a rocky relationship right from the start.

And each time you hurt me, we kiss and make up, and then we slowly slide back into the state of normalcy. Correction: I slowly slide into your new definition of normalcy.

You give me vague explanations. You tell me that this is for my own good. But I'm beginning to wonder about this relationship. I'm beginning to see the light.

You're a wicked soul mate, Facebook.

I'm hooked on you... as a product.

A product is something we buy and sell. It's something we use.

Sure, it's cool that you let me use this valuable product for free and then you monetize it. You sell advertising. Cool.

A brand, however, is a relationship.

A brand is so much more than a logo or a trademark.

It's an expectation of an experience.

A great brand inspires trust.

A great brand inspires loyalty.

And your brand sucks.

You're riding high because your product is the biggest game in Palo Alto. Will that last forever? When the chips are down, will your brand carry you, Facebook? Will it? Will it?

Have you built strong, trusting relationships?

Not with me, baby!

I'm not too upset that Mark Wunderkind Zuckerberg (allegedly) screwed his best college friend out of millions... billions... while insisting he's not driven by money.

I'm not too upset that I have to adapt to this week's "new views" on my homepage. I've been keeping up with technology for 30 years, and I can handle this.

But I do question why you feel you need to be the editor of my life, of the community that I've stored on your platform, Facebook. What other bits of my information are you editing?

I do question why you were commercializing my data without notifying me. I found out through other, more trustworthy relationships. They coached me on how to proactively adjust the settings that you surreptitiously manipulated and abused.

I'm upset that you've been cheating on me, Facebook!

I'm upset that I heard it through the grapevine!

I'm upset that our relationship is always on your terms!

Oh, I've been such a fool! I now see that... you're just using me, Facebook!

I've pulled myself together. I've wised up. And now I'm just gonna' use you back... your heartless product, that is. I'm just gonna' use it.

But your brand?

You ain't been showin' me the love, honey!

Your brand has breached my trust.

I can only imagine what you're doing when you come home a little late and then feed me that line of bull... you and your nerdy friends eating pizza at the office while writing HTML code.

My imagination runs wild. I've got pictures in my head of you runnin' around town, sellin' my soul to the highest bidder, sellin' my data to any bidder, and then tellin' me that everything's gonna' be just fine.

Oh, I've wised up alright, Facebook.

And I'm sorry, baby, but... I don't love you any more.

Sure, I still need you. I've gotten used to this lifestyle, and I need this roof over my head for a little while longer.

But it won't be long and I'll be cheating on you, too, Facebook. When another product of equal utility comes around, my heart won't hold me down to your brand.

I just know I'll start sneakin' out out the back door from time to time... with another social network!

You can bet that if that relationship starts working for me, if I start building trust in that brand... I'm just gonna' walk right out that door, honey.

Because I don't trust you.

And that's not my fault.

Your brand sucks.

 

Photo by http://logo-s-collection.blogspot.com/2009/10/facebook-logos-facebook-facebook-logo.html

CRM Tools: Beyond Tracking

Many salespeople hate CRM tools

And many sales managers do not fight the noble fight and insist that the salespeople use their CRM religiously.

To the brave new entrepreneur who may have a brilliant product or solution but who also may be going deep in the discipline of sales for the first time, CRM means "Customer Relationship Management" generally.

Specifically, CRM also refers to a company's IT program where sales people track activities on each account and maintain in-depth customer profiles -- from recent client proposals to a prospect's anniversary and children's birthdays.

It's not hard to imagine why some salespeople hate the CRM.

"All that reporting and typing. That's a drag on my time out in the marketplace."

There is some truth to that. So any sales manager who puts processes over face-time with clients should take a big step back and assess.

On the other hand, if neither sales manager nor sales person qualifies and tracks each account, follow-up can be ineffective and opportunities can be lost. To any enterprise, start-up or existing corporation, this is your lifeblood... and sales management is the heart that pumps it.

Managed well, a CRM puts a wealth of information right at your fingertips.

But there's an even bigger benefit

A CRM tool helps you plan... creatively.

I recently met a Business Unit Manager who improved her team's sales performance by asking them the following question: "When you come back from your next sales visit, what do you hope you'll type into the CRM with regards to meeting outcome?"

The team gave her a dozen different answers for two dozen different accounts.

"OK," she said.  "Now when you plan ahead for each respective meeting, make that your meeting objective... in advance. Have a descending order of desired outcomes for each visit, printed on your call plan, most desirable at the top, knowing what you know when you plan.

"To the extent that you achieve these during your sales visit, we can call the visit a success, and we can measure how much closer we are to the sale."

The B.U.M. told me later that it now helps the team develop creative applications and solutions for prospects and existing customers.

This is golden!

While a choreographer might not call something like a CRM tool "creative," a sales manager should.  A good way to "sell" the CRM discipline to a sales team is to show them -- as opposed to tell them -- how the CRM can help them find creative sales solutions to prospects' challenges, provided they do the disciplined stuff every day.

 

The gist 

A CRM tool should be seen as much more than just a tracking tool for salespeople and a control tool for sales managers.

Once the disciplined work is done, we can draw "business pictures" that help sales people and start-up entrepreneurs alike develop creative solutions for their prospects and, thus, close more deals earlier.

Photo by www.lifesip.com 

What's Your 9-11 Story?

I've yet to meet anyone...

... over 15-years-old who doesn't have their own, personal story of 9-11.

Perhaps they didn't know anyone who was killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Perhaps they didn't know anyone who cancelled a meeting in the World Trade Center that day. But they can tell you what they were doing when they heard the shocking, near surrealistic news. Many can tell you how 9-11 changed their lives in some way.

What's your story? 

 

My 9-11 Story

I had been living in Europe for years when two hijacked planes took down the World Trade Center, another slammed into the Pentagon, and another fell into a field in Pennsylvania while its hijackers were reportedly going for the White House.

At first I was numb. Then I became angry. Then I became confused.

Then, two months later, I flew to New York's JFK Airport and drove a rented directly for my hometown, two hours north. I arrived home just in time for Thanksgiving, the most American of holidays, and this year, my homeland was feeling a lot of patriotism and going through a lot of reflection.

The purpose of my trip was really business, and on Monday morning, I took an early train back into Manhattan for meetings, arriving in Penn Station, like I had so many times before.

But this time it was different

Yeah, sure, my homeland had been hit by terrorism like never before. Yeah, sure, it had been a prolific Thanksgiving holiday with lots of thanking and questioning. Yeah, sure, everyone everywhere was talking about the tragedy.

But now I wasn't just in my homeland. I was in the epicenter of 9-11. I was in New York City. Manhattan.

All around Penn Station, wherever there was a bare space of wall, even where there wasn't, even over paid advertisements, there were flyers... posters... of the missing.

People had posted these flyers. Human beings... who were holding out hope that the loved ones they lost in the World Trade Center that otherwise gorgeous September morning would still be alive... that they would miraculously and literally surface.

I had seen these flyers on news reports. But now I was really seeing them. Everywhere. As far as the eye could see, accompanied by a strong smell of burned wire.  You could smell Ground Zero here in Penn Station, a couple of miles away.

Something took the wind right out of me. I burst into tears. And not quiet tears. I was sobbing out loud. This was just overwhelming and I just hadn't anticipated it!

You think New Yorkers have a tough shell?

Well inside, they're human and they're soft. They're cream puffs, in fact.

As I pulled myself together, I realized that a stranger, a cream puff, had his hand on my shoulder. It was there for what seemed a minute, yeah, a real minute, 60 long seconds, when I cleared my eyes, and said, "Sorry. Shit, I'm sorry." I didn't ask him why he stopped, or why he dared touch me. It was ok. It was... human. And New York City was more human than ever.

"Did you lose somebody?" he asked.

"No. Nobody... but this is my homeland... and I've been living outside of the country... and this is the first I've experienced this... and I can't believe how deep the pain is here... and how wide. That's all. I was numb. And now, even my pain is small. But everyone else's? Shit!"

Cream Puff smiled. "You're ok, then?"

"Oh yeah. I'll be fine. But all these people?" I motioned at the flyers.

"Yeah, they had a really bad day," Cream Puff said. "But the people who put these flyers up? They're the ones still living in hell."

I was speechless.

"God bless," Cream Puff said. He smiled and started away, back to his somewhat normalized New York pace.

"I don't know if I believe in God," I shouted.

"You will now," he said. "And it won't be in the way someone else defined it for you when you were a kid, either. But you're gonna' start asking a lot of questions. Namaste."

 

He was right

I started asking a lot of questions, and I still ask those questions.

No, this is not a blog about religion, and it's not going to become one now.

But this is a blog about the human side of sales. Selling requires that the buyer does something different as a result of you framing things in the right context. Stories are a powerful way to put things in context, to impact people so deeply that they change behavior.

So here comes my change in behavior, followed by moral of the story. Here comes the essence, which is what a good story must have if it's going to have any chance of changing the buyer's behavior.

 

So what changed?

September 2001 changed my life. But so did November 2001. So did New York. So did Penn Station. So did Cream Puff. So did the questions.

Later that November afternoon in New York, after my meetings, I was on my way to the hotel and I passed a bookstore. I stopped dead in my tracks, then bolted inside.

For the first time ever, I found my way to the Religion & Spirituality section. An hour later, I left with two books, Religion For Dummies and The Complete Idiot's Guide To World Religions, and a mental list of more books to buy in the future.

Until that moment, I was a dummy, a complete idiot, on the topic of religion. Here I had considered myself a culture and geography buff? How can one really know world cultures if one does not know the world's religions?

In the following two years, I read about 30 books on religion and spirituality. Whether or not I became religious or spiritual is not the purpose of this blog, either. That's a pretty personal thing, and it's my own business, thank you.

What I will share with you is the fact that, on a mental level, on an intellectual level, I love the topic of religion. I love how my knowledge of the world's religions complements my knowledge of geography and culture... so profoundly that I now see the world with different color lenses.

Something changed in me that cold November morning in Penn Station. Something persuaded me to do something differently that afternoon. Something sold me on the need to learn more about humanity, my fellow human beings.

And I'm still learning.  And I'm still asking questions.

What's your 9-11 story?

I'd love it if you could write a few lines below, or on my Facebook page, on how 9-11 impacted you.

Toastmasters: Re-Branded & Cool

Annual Convention Meets (New) Brand Expectation

I'm just back from the Toastmasters 2011 International Convention in Vegas, my first. And I had a blast!

I've video-blogged about the Toastmasters re-branding, some of the workshops I attended, the International Speech Contest and everyone's darling and my good friend, Olivia Schofield.

 

Olivia, District 59/Continental European champ made us Euro-based Toastmasters proud by nailing two great speeches in the Regional Semi-Final and the Final, but "timing-out" in the Final. The way she handled it was graceful and... cool.

Special mention to fellow Euro Toastmaster Bob Mohl, who coached Olivia leading up to the conference and whom I failed to mention in the video, along with others in the movement who played a big role in making it a great conference.

Oh, yeah. I didn't mention this in the video, either. The convention ended with a bang. Much like we're accustomed to doing on Saturday nights at the District 59 Euro Conference, the International Conference ends with a Gala Dinner. It got funky.

Just check out this pic. Cool.

I'm going back next year.

 

Sell The House, Not The Thermostat

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother!

My brother Tom is a successful entrepreneur and a quintessential salesman, at that. One of the things I've most admired about his sales talents is his focus on keeping things simple in the minds of buyers.

His first successes were in residential real estate in our home region of the Catskill Mountains, NY.

As business expanded, he hired sales agents. One of them, let's call him Roger, had a lot of hope. The guy was bright, personable and articulate. Perhaps "articulate" was what held him back at first. Roger just couldn't get prospective homebuyers to the second stage of a sale.

So Tom went out with Roger and prospective buyers on a home visit, and it didn't take long for Tom to identify Roger's biggest flaw. As they stood in the front yard and the prospects drove away, Tom told Roger straight.

 

Straight Talk For Salespeople

"You know why you're not selling, Roger? You're too intellectual."

Roger shrugged incredulously.

"You scare buyers with too much, complex information," Tom said. "They may come away saying you're a bright guy, but they don't come away saying, 'I wanna' buy!' That couple?"

Roger nodded. Tom continued.

"Well, when the wife asked how the electronic thermostat worked, you gave her a seven-minute dissertation on how it was designed, with a full appendix on how the entire heating system worked, from the thermostat, to the fuel oil, to the hot water, to the pipes, to the convection in each room.

"She thought she was buying a Lear Jet. She wasn't engaged for the rest of the visit. You scared her, man!"

 

What Does The Buyer Really Want To Know?

Roger resisted. "Well, she wanted to know about the heating and air-conditioning. What would you have done, ignored the question?"

"She didn't ask how the entire system was designed," Tom retorted. "She asked how these new electronic thermostats worked. If you were selling a thousand electronic thermostats to a building supply chain, maybe the first part of your answer would've been appropriate. But not to a home buyer. Sell the house, not the thermostat. Sell the lifestyle!"

"So? How would you have answered?" Roger had taken the big step from resistance to curiosity.

"Like this: 'I bought a similar thermostat for my house last year, and I love it. It's really easy and it'll save you time and money. In the winter, for example, you can set the timer like this, so that it automatically warms the house up a half-hour before the family wakes up. And then, like this, so that the heat goes down about the time you typically go to bed. I really love mine.'

"Then," Tom continued, "they would've felt they were buying something easy and modern... instead of some mysterious, complicated system that will require a lifetime of electronic and hydraulic maintenance!"

Roger acknowledged the point... and it was probably his biggest learning event in sales.

Over the next few months, he brought home buyers successfully through the buying/sales cycle -- not just by selling customer benefits instead of product features, but by keeping things simple.

Are you keeping things simple in your prospects' minds?

+  +  +

Post Script: Brother Tom is going in for open-heart surgery today in Albany NY. The good news is that he identified it early, before any attack, which improves the outlook dramatically. If all goes as expected, he'll actually be back on his feet and more fit by the end of the summer. We love ya', brother!

Photo by http://radiateur-ars.com 

Stimulate First. Ask Questions Later

Was it as good for you as it was for me?

Hours after this photo was published, it went viral.

I, personally, found this image very... stimulating.

I immediately wanted to learn more. What the hell was going on here?

Was this staged? Was this a real riot? In Vancouver? Over an ice hockey match? In peaceful Canada?

My interest had been stimulated, that's for sure. Yep, I wanted to know more.

And that's the purpose of this post: stimulating the buyer's interest.

 

Listen? Yeah, I get it!

Years ago, I learned that the very best salespeople are good at asking the right questions and then listening.

This took practice on my part and, truth be told, it still does. But it's been a game changer.

Today, just about every book on selling today covers listening. Many focus solely on that.

So, yeah, I get it.

Hello-o-o-? I get it!

And now salespeople are asking...

 

What If Buyers Aren't Engaged?

There's a lot of "noise" out there. Chatter. Clutter. Interference. Competition for buyers' minds.

I could throw a statistic at you on how many messages the average B2B buyer receives on a given weekday? But you already know the answer.

A gazillion.

So now you want to engage Joe Buyer in a meaningful dialog?

You want to build trust through your incisive questions and acute listening skills?

Good for you.

But first you have to catch their attention!

In my view, this is the biggest challenge in Brave New Sales today: Finding early-stage opportunities. Getting attention. Stimulating interest.

The key word here is "new." New sales. New buyers. New concepts. New markets.

Some say, stimulating interest is the job of marketing.

Some say, social media will have the buyers calling you.

Some say, build it and they will come.

I say, good luck!

Whether you're cold-calling, presenting, opening a meeting or sitting down to a get-to-know-you coffee, you must be prepared to stimulate interest right out of the starting gate.

Keep it short, crispy, crunchy, easy to digest.

And if the buyer leans forward and asks, "Yeah, but how would you do that?"

You're doing well. You've obviously stimulated interest.

Soon you'll have earned the right to ask those incisive questions and use those active listening skills.

Soon, it will be as good for you as it is for the buyer.

 

- How can you get more prospects moving through the sales cycle?
- What can you do to stimulate interest early on?

TED, Free... and Your Business Model

TED's Bold Decision

I just read on my friend John Zimmer's blog that TED is celebrating a big anniversary today.

It's not an anniversary of its founding or anything like that... but rather of a decision.

Five years ago, TED decided to make its TED Talks free for public viewing.  And as John points out, TED has enjoyed over 500 million video-views since then!

That's a lot of views!

As TED's European Director, Bruno Giussani (pictured right) explained to a group of broadcasters at the Eurovision TV Summit in Luzern a month ago, TED made two huge-but-then-considered-risky decisions that increased its relevance and appeal to a much wider audience.

1. The first one, as mentioned, was allowing public access to TED Talks online, free.
2. The second one was creating the TEDx, where x = independently organized TED events, and where independent organizers could gain a license to organize such an event, free.

 

Free?

Yep.  Both of these decisions involved providing something for free.  Go to TED's website and you can see nearly 1,000 inspiring videos of superb speakers, absolutely free.

If you want to organize a TEDx event, you can secure the license free-of-charge.  I know.  I myself have organized TEDxZug and TEDxLuzern.  You do have to commit to measurable levels of quality in organizing your TEDx event and, of course, making quality video recording of your TEDx Talks available online... free.

You might think that this is a crazy business model.  Or the astute reader might note that TED is a non-profit, after all.

Right, but TED does boast an impressive top-line in revenue generation, and this might be an approach for your start-up or entrepreneurial venture.

 

A Radical Price

Former Managing Editor of Wired Magazine, Chris Anderson*, provides numerous examples of this in his book, "Free - The Future of a Radical Price."  Take Gillette's approach a century ago: "Give away the razor, then sell the blades."

So along comes TED, with a cult following of paid subscribers and its funky-but-not-really-mainstream conferences.  TED decides to provide its TED Talk videos for free, and wham!  It goes viral.

They then decide to let independent enthusiasts organize TEDx events.  Waddya'know?  These enthusiasts essentially spread the gospel of the TED brand.  Evangelists around the world, spreading the TED faith... free.

 

What Goes Up Must... Bring Revenues With It!

And what happens to the demand for TED's main conference in California each winter, as well as its European event TED Global in the UK each summer?  It skyrockets.

If you want to go to TED Global in July, apply now... for 2012.

And be ready to pay a fair penny.  From what I hear from TED-sters even more passionate than I, it's worth every penny.

Indeed, TED attendees are beyond faithful... as most evangelists are.

That's a great way to build a brand, and that's a great business model.

And Your Business Model?

Think about your business, goods and services.

Can you give away something of nominal value that leads to customers buying your real mojo at a premium price?

How can you create demand by building the "Free" concept into your business model?

*Interestingly, Chris Anderson, the author of "Free," shares the same name as Chris Anderson, the Curator of TED.

"Honor Thy Competitor" - Rafa and Roger Style

 

It Didn't Go Five Sets... 

... but yesterday's men's final at Roland Garros was beautiful.

Nadal and Federer, on clay, in early summer, in Paris.  Poetry.

We're witnessing legends.

But you know what I like most when I watch Nadal and Federer battle it out?

Knowing that, off the court, these two guys love each other.

Sure, on the court, they want to crush the other guy as viciously as possible.  But off the court, in and around their busy schedules, Rafa and Roger hang out.

They also know -- and appreciate -- that they each bring value to the other.  Yep, real, live commercial value!

Why should your business be any different?  After all, business and sports are all about performance and winning.

And get this...

 

Business Is A Deeply Human Endeavor

Spiritual teachings have been saying it for millennia: "Honor Thy Enemy."

Entrepreneurs should take heed: "Honor Thy Competitor."

This doesn't mean that you should tell your competitors your trade secrets any more than you would tell your battlefield enemy your ambush tactics... any more than Nadal would tell Federer that he was going to hang out on the baseline and fire forehand shots right and left.

This is competition, so... compete... and do so viciously!

But hating your competitors is just plain stupid.

• For one thing, and most tactically, it can cloud your judgment as to their capabilities.  Why have an inaccurate competitive analysis?  You might get beat by a backhand that everyone else admires.
• For another thing, you can learn from your competition.  (Hello?  You can learn from everybody in your marketplace and industry.)  Observe your competition with an open mind, and you can learn stuff.  You don't have to tell your clients they're better just because you know something today that they knew before you.  You're good!
• Thirdly, you never know when your competitor will try to hire you over, or when you might want to make an offer to your competitor to work for you.  Why have a crappy relationship?  This is the age of Co-opetition, open source and social networking.  Be professional.  Be competitive.  But be reasonably nice!
• And finally, your competitors may even be opening up the marketplace for you.   Imagine that!  Maybe they're too big for some sector of the marketplace.  Maybe they're too small.  Maybe they're too expensive, or too cheap.  Maybe, they're a first-mover and they're building awareness for stuff that you can provide.  As a second-mover, the road has been plowed for you.  If you've got a good relationship with a given competitor, maybe they'll even refer you if they're not right for a given client!

 

It's Easy To Create Sports Cliches In Business

It's also easy to dismiss them.

Over the years, I have had many good laughs with my competitors at bars, at events, at conferences, even in reception at prospects' offices!

And I've materially, yes, materially, benefitted from some of these relationships.  I'm not alone.

You're more likely to get a phone call from a former competitor than you are from some unknown prospect reading a trade journal listing... provided you haven't been an asshole, of course.

 

Honor Thy Competitor

They have chosen the same line of work as you.  They can't be that bad!

They might actually like you, too!

Straight-Talk Sells. Bullshit Goes Home Empty-Handed.

Say What?

When I saw this sign, my first reaction was, "What idiot wrote that garbage?"

My second reaction was, "What legal department, compliance committee and community service oversight commission had to approve this otherwise straight-forward warning?"

Ah, America.  I love you, but I laugh at you, too.  Sometimes you're so full of politically correct bullshit that you get in your own way of straight-talk.  The Land of Commercialism?  Jeez!

I'm not picking on my beloved America, per se.  I'm picking on anybody who chooses bullshit over straight-talk, particularly while selling.

 

Who Do You Think You're Kidding?

I posted this photo on my Facebook profile earlier this week, and I received these comments from friends on both sides of the Atlantic.  Are they cynics like me?  Or did they just become cynical when they read that stupid sign?

• LOL... "say what?"... for real... ;)
• The Prevent Male Loss Consortium!  We must stop losing those males.
• ... or maybe it's the loss of 'maleness' they're preventing.  Yikes!  Gotta' avoid those fitting rooms.

The sign was in a changing room at a very established department store.  If it matters, I didn't buy anything.  (Perhaps it doesn't matter to you, but it should matter to the department store!)

I really can't blame this sign for that.

Or can I?

Could the fact that everything I tried on seemed a bit "not happening" be the result of the sign reminding me that I was shopping in a stodgy, old department store chain?

Or could the the sign that reminded me I was shopping in a stodgy, old department store chain be the result of everything I tried on seeming a bit "not happening"?

Did I Lose You?

Exactly my point!

In selling start-up concepts and independent consulting services, we can't allow ourselves the luxury of selling by committee.

We can't turn crispy seven-word sentences into blusterous bullshit.

Be bold.  What do you stand for?

What is it exactly that your ideal customer wants?

How can you fulfill your prospect's need or desire?

If you want to sell... be direct.

Be daring.

Be edgy, if it's appropriate.

But don't talk a lotta' bullshit, for you will go home empty-handed.

Just go out there and talk straight!

Straight-talk sells!