The Sales Archaeologist

Last night I had a chance to hear Brian Halligan speak again about some of the advances taking place at Hubspot. I am not a "techy" but I do appreciate the business philosophy that he shared - I think everyone can learn something from his words. He spoke about their niche in the industry and how after establishing this niche it was time to "double down" and "put the pedal to the metal" so that they can totally dominate this space. Is that your companies approach to business? Or are you sitting back on something that is 5, 10, 15 or 20 years old? Was the last advancement you made as a company "old news" and does it look, feel and act old?

We now live in a more dynamic marketplace with a more educated consumer. Most of the population - business and consumer will buy simply based on how something looks visually and even if you have a cutting edge product, if it does not look cutting edge then you might as well have an outdated antiquated product. Gone are the days of explaining and justifying to compete, things simply move too fast. We live in a go go go go go go go world.

Historically speaking the market has been through these types of shifts before. The industrial revolution is an excellent example of how the world changed in a few decades. The old ways were gone before they new it. To Brians' point those who doubled down and put the pedal to the metal then became the giants of industry for decades to come.

So ask yourself this. Does what I deliver, visually have more in common with Apple or with GM? Does my corporate philosophy have more similarity to Google or Xerox? When I think about my company in five years does it look totally different or almost the same?

There is an old Chinese proverb that says "change does not always mean progress but progress will always involve change". So why not challenge yourself to not just embrace changes when they are forced upon you but to lead in making changes that will affect you five or ten years down the road.