This is my second post related to valuable lessons from the Xcite conference last week.

As I mentioned previously there were a host of interesting presentations by a variety of CEO's from a number of cutting edge companies. I particularly enjoyed a panel discussion that featured 3 CEO's from some Pharmaceutical companies.

One of the key points was that a stock price is not always reflective of the true worth of a company and the viability of the current development of a drug. However even though that is the case the public and Wall Street tend to rely entirely on that one number in forming their opinion. Not necessarily the truth. A point quite candidly made by Ironwood Pharmaceuticals CEO Peter Hecht - he emphasized the importance of being straight with investors and his brutal honesty was quite refreshing - honesty usually is.

As a rule we see something quite similar when we ask CEO's to look at sales people - both the people working for them and potential candidates. Often they want to look at just one number - we like to dig so much deeper than that. In fact our evaluations measure sales performance on a multitude of levels and a variety of data points. Always the truth.

When we look back historically we can find a number of examples where decisions were made with all the facts and an equal number where decisions were made with limited facts or only one fact. Obviously the more factual and truthful the foundation of a decision was the better the outcome.

Yesterday I was able to attend the Xsite conference at Babson University and it was really a great event - it should fuel many more blog posts. It was an opportunity to hear some great people speak on some great topics that are relevant to business everywhere. It was also an opportunity to meet with some great professionals and make some solid connections.

Sometimes I wonder if I am being too hard or cynical in some of my posts - especially on CEO level executives. But yesterday two panels, speaking at two different times were much harder than me. These panelists were from some of the leading VC firms nationally and although discussing different topics they each covered their biggest challenge at length. What was it? Unanimously the biggest problem was finding a good CEO?

As they listed the concerns and challenges related to this I started to make a connection with our sales manager and our KMD assessment tools because the issues were some of the same ones we run into on a regular basis.

• We look for 5 strengths or skillsets related to being a great manager. Too often people in management, although great sales people do not know how to manage or lead. The panel mentioned that founders or inventors do not know how to get the company to the next level.
• We regularly find managers that are only focused on accountability ( a required strength ) but they never motivate, never coach, never mentor and so the team flounders. The panel talked about great CEO's being inspirational to their people - really hard to find.
• In our leadership assessment we are looking for things like Risk Taking, Strategic Thinking and other leadership qualities. The Panel spoke to that as well - often a CEO has a very short term strategy that does not line up with investors goals of 20x Return. Sometimes their view is too small picture and they focus too much on "what got them here" not "what will get me there?"

These observations and comments (along with some one on one conversations) helped me to appreciate two things. 1) Putting the title CEO on a business card has nothing to do with whether or not you really are a CEO. There are a lot of fake salespeople - we know that. There are also a lot of fake CEO's so buyer beware. 2) They need help - the process of personal growth is apparently directly related to the process of business growth. Companies that do well have a CEO that recognizes his own flaws and works on them. As he grows into a "bigger" CEO the company will follow and grow into a bigger company.

There is much more to come from the Xcite conference so stay tuned.

Perhaps you remember a few years ago Sir Richard Branson taking on his board and telling them that they either let him follow his vision or he would quit as CEO. Before that Jack Welch had said that it would be difficult for modern CEO's to make the right decisions as quickly as he did at GE because "so many CEO's are held captive by their boards these days".

We find that many CEO's are not only held captive by their boards but also by their sales people. Too many want to gain agreement or build concensus amongst the group. Sounds like a nice idea but does it work - no. Instead one nay-sayer will hold up an extremely valuable process. One or two people that don't understand what needs to be done and have not gotten it done themselves decide to get verbal and challenge everything. All of sudden your business is working like congress, not like a business.

At various times in history Grass Root movements, from the people up have forever changed the scope of history. Revolution, marches, campaigns, petitions, protests and the like have had a powerful affect on a number of key decisions. Leaders have had to yield to public opinion and quite often that was a good thing.

But, in business the decisions related to a company come from the top. Great companies even reflect the personality of their CEO. Do you think Steve Jobbs accomplished what he has through consensus? From what I have read NO. He had a vision and he conveys and gets folks to conform with that vision every day. Leadership is not always about doing what is popular or welcome at the time.

Those of you that are Parents understand that you cannot always be your childs friend - as nice as that might be - sometimes you need to be a parent. Sales Leadership and Business Leadership is similar. Stop listening to editorials from your VP of Sales as to why numbers are off. Stop worrying about what the board will think if you spend a few thousand dollars. Stop trying to "not shake things up". Thank HR for their cautious opinion but remind them that you are the boss once and a while. I assure you - it will feel good!

I don't know about you but personally I am a very impatient driver. I have never had a serious accident and as far as I know never caused one. That said I get very frustrated with certain drivers that I find myself sharing the road with. The weavers, the lost, the directional left on, the no directional, the stop at a green light in case it goes yellow and of course the people that drive for miles at 45mph in the fast lane. People continue to pass on the right and the line builds up behind them and they are oblivious. Have you found yourself yelling " get off the road!". There are a lot of people on the road that shouldn't be.

The interesting lesson in all of this is that at some point these folks passed a test, they may have taken lessons, they grew up in a family that drove, they love cars, they spend money on their vehicle, they have been driving for years (sometimes too many), they have had experience driving a number of cars, they enjoy driving and if you asked them they might even consider themselves to be good drivers! But when you evaluate their performance on an actual road with actual traffic nothing could be further from the truth. If anything they are a hazard.

Sales people are like drivers. There are a lot of bad ones on the road - they might have passed tests, read books, had experience, won an award and think they are good (see previous post) but that in no way means that they are good. In fact the effects are the same - frustration and danger. Hire the wrong person and you could easily find yourself leaning out of the window and screaming "get off the road!"

I continue to be amazed by the number of failing Sales VP's and Managers that continue to say that they get it, know what they are doing, are experienced sales pro's, have it all figured out etc...in spite of miserable results. Dave Kurlan blogged about this the other day in the article But I'm a Sales Guy! The Story of Motivation and Compensation . I have had a number of conversations since then and these guys (and gals) really are amazing.

Ben Hogan, one of the greatest golfers of all time, could have said I get it, I know what I'm doing, I'm experienced, I've been here before, etc...and if he had said that it would have been fine because the results were there!  But he didn't say that - he took advice, he was coached, he was analyzed and he practiced to the death.  As did Jack, Bobby Jones, Arnold, Tiger and any other great athlete.  So who do these guys (and gals) think they are?  And shame on any CEO or Board that believes them or turns a blind eye.  If the results are not there - THEY DON'T HAVE IT FIGURED OUT!

That said I am really tired of the know-it-alls and I made sure they received a copy of this posting.  I invite them all to comment and explain their side; maybe we are missing something?  Please explain why your company has not grown, why sales are off, why the pipeline is lousy and why you are not where you should be (and you cannot blame the economy).  Why did others in the company suggest we talk? Why did we talk?

I managed a top performing team for 8 years and although I admit I could be a little cocky, it was nothing compared to this blind arrogance.  I would accept help and knew I didn't have all the answers  (maybe that is why I was a top performer through good economies and bad, unlike these folks).

So Greg, Jim, Paul, Scott, Barry, Bill - you know who you are - the gauntlet has been thrown down. I welcome your explanation of your self estimated yet unfounded brilliance?

Ben Hogan could teach you all a thing or two, not about golf, but about selling!

OK let's stay with World war two this week and get some lessons from another interesting event. Operation market Garden was an attempt to speed up the conclusion of the war by having paratroopers dropped behind the Rhine and then a thrusting attack through Holland would provide support and eventually meet up with the airborne groups. It was daring and complex but the desired goal of getting home by Christmas blinded everyone to the obstacles and ultimately the entire operation was a failure.

Sometimes as sales professionals we attempt to speed up the process and shorten the cycle - that is fine but all too often those attempts fail to consider the obstacles, are built around a faulty system or cannot be executed.

Look at some of the issues that historians cite for the failure of Market Garden and see if you notice any similarity to what can happen when your people or you try to close too early or speed up a faulty sales process.

• The plans for Market Garden fell into the hands of the Germans and they knew every move before it was made - do your prospects know your selling system better that your reps?
• The operation relied heavily on air support but the weather was awful and therefore the technology was useless - does your system depend on an elaborate demo or features and benefits of the technology? what happens when they don't like you or competitors raise doubts, that presentation becomes useless?
• They underestimated the enemy - do I even need to explain this one?
• The operation was too complex and didn't allow for changes - does your sales system flow naturally? Are the questions and conversations you have with prospects and extension of who they are or are they forced, awkward or canned?

Bottom line - Shortening a sales cycle is a great idea. Speeding up a close is wonderful. But, the process you are using has to support it.

I just completed the book Stalingrad by Antony Beevor - a horrible conflict that happened on the eastern front in world war two from the fall of 1942 to the early spring of 1943. The siege and battle behavior of both armies - German and Soviet was in many ways a personification of the two sides radical and irrational leaders, Hitler and Stalin. This made for interesting reading but created an environment where the loss of human life was the last concern.

The Germans had followed their blitzkrieg model and bombed the city to pieces before attempting to invade. The shells of buildings and factories that were left however created natural barricades and protection for thousands of Russian troops and countless Snipers. The Germans had become so focused on clearing the city of Russians that they started to lose sight of the fact that their lines had become thin and that they were being surrounded. Everything they did and every move they made had an effect one way or the other.

In a selling situation it can be very similar. Every move you make is going to have either a good effect - speeding up the sale, creating commitment, uncovering compelling reasons etc or a bad effect - lack of trust, looking at your competitor, losing control of the process etc.

Having a process is important but following the process can be more important. Knowing about skills or tactics is great but unless they are executed - so what.

One of the things we do - before ever attempting to help is gain an understanding of what can be improved and how. If in every selling situation you were always able to not only know what the right thing to do or say was but actually carry out that action or speak those words, how valuable would that be. Not doing anything to improve is not being neutral it is being in reverse. 

Whether you are looking at the armor of a samurai warrior or a knight from the middle ages you are going to notice some similarities. The balance between protection and mobility. The added thought given to safeguarding the vital organs. The combination of materials to provide the ultimate protection.

Armor was made more powerful by design. Simple plates of steel would not protect especially well but when tempered into a convex shape their strength tripled.

The samurai and the knight would of course do much more than wear armor - practice, practice, practice, train, train, train! They were masters with weaponry and in great physical shape as well.

Sales people need to have the ability to handle the blows and sense of attack and rejection that come with the territory of being a sales professional. Great sales managers know how to help them get the most out of their armor. They help their people cover the gaps and prepare for the fight on a daily basis.

How well protected and prepared are your sales people to face the rejection so prevalent in todays economy? We help CEO's diagnose and take steps to ensure that their sales organization is resilient. If you don't know the answer to the question - shouldn't you?

No I am not going back to school (and if I was it would not be MIT - math and science are not my thing) but we did spend some time preparing yesterday for our presentations at the Sloan Sales Conference next week. We are looking forward to sharing two presentations and I am working on delivering a session devoted to understanding the 21 core competencies of a sales person.

We are opening our session with a clip from the movie 21 - which is fitting because it is based at MIT and there are numerous parallels - When you think about playing black jack of course you understand that winning a hand against the banker is possible and likely with 21, possible and less likely with 20 and so it goes.

The chances of a sales person succeeding who has all 21 of the core competencies we discuss is similarly very good, but the fewer they have the odds of their success also go down. That said hiring sales people or training sales people should not be a gamble. Like the people in the movie there is a way to beat the odds and our predictive assessment tools can help companies do that - time after time.

So if you are attending the sales conference please come join us and learn more about theses 21 core competencies. If you can't make it and want to know more - let me know.

You don't need to be a sales development expert to realize that complacency can be the death blow of any sales person or sales force. Complacency is defined as "A feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, especially when coupled with an unawareness of danger, trouble, or controversy". Sounds bad and it is bad.

Usually we see this manifesting itself in salespeople - and they don't care about missing their number, losing a deal, not helping with company objectives and they are more than happy to just live on their salary. But even successful and accomplished people can be struck with complacency - but it shows up a little differently.

This blog post was prompted by something I read about Napoleon at Waterloo. He was successful and accomplished, earlier in his career he had been anything but complacent but now he was satisfied and over confident in his abilities. He had been outnumbered before and worked around it. He had been outflanked and still won. Now he was immune to the danger, unaware that he could be defeated and to a large degree - self satisfied.

Experienced and accomplished sales people can get sloppy and start losing deals because they have been there before, they assume, they think they know, they try to cut corners and this is how complacency can show up in there case.

Regardless of how it shows up - complacency is deadly.