I'm not a big boxing fan but I do like to watch the pre-fight training documentaries HBO presents for upcoming title fights. I love the commentary on attitude, focus, motivation, and giving 110%. For me the most important element is "why they fight and for what?"

On the subject of "why", HBO has a great documentary on the USA Women's Soccer Team.  The team states that while they had tremendous competitive drive their real motivation was to legitimize the game of soccer for young girls. Now that's something to be motivated by - a real purpose.

In the last few months HBO has been following the Mayweather vs. Marquez fight.

In one of the final interview clips both fighters make statements about nerves.

• Mayweather said, "People talk about nerves causing a fighter to lose his grip and as a result, the fight. I don't get nervous, it just doesn't happen to me."
• Marquez said, "It is normal to get nervous before a fight. It happens because you don't know what is going to happen; worrying about being worried is the real problem."

What drives you to achieve greatness? Can you clearly articulate it and, when you do, can you feel your emotions?  How do you perceive your own nerves and how do you react to them?

In an interview I conducted yesterday I observed a sales candidate physically flinch in response to several of my questions. Do you know who flinches in your sales organization and what specifically causes their reactions?

Staying in the moment while remaining emotionally quiet, and motivation for success are two of the most critical elements for overachieving in sales, sales management, and leadership.  

How do you compare in these areas?

 

There is a great video going around which illustrates how absurd prospects sound when they start negotiating. It's absurd because of the context, "I budgeted for a trim but I want color highlights for free, perhaps if my husband approves I'll pay you next time."

We know this strategy won't work in the "real world" and yet when we are selling the rules change. Why is this?

We are afraid of losing the deal so we act desperate; our pipeline is empty so we put all our energy into saving one deal and avoid looking for new business. We make excuses about the economy; commiserate with our peers and further erode our personal bravery.

Let's consider why prospects negotiate.

• It works
• They can say they tried
• It gives them a sense of power
• They like to manipulate people
• They are testing you
• They will buy only on price

If the underlying reason that prospects negotiate aren't based on price, there is very little risk in saying "no" to them.  You can't loose the deal - you don't have it yet. Salespeople must learn how to say no and see what happens. If a prospect needs to buy and wants your help, statistics, while they won't predict this do show that you're very likely to remain in the game after you say no. The problem is with you, what you're thinking and how this affected your actions. Stand up for yourself and do the right thing. No one but you can take responsibility for being treated fairly and professionally.

 

If you listen to the stories being told about the Kennedy family you'll frequently hear, John's picture was proudly hung in my living room. Almost certainly, Ted who was the youngest of nine was very proud of this. Imagine yourself though following that example.

I believe life is often about desire and commitment. By this I mean passion for success in all its aspects and a willingness to "do whatever it takes" to live that passion. Whether its work, marriage, raising children or health these elements are crucial.

Maybe a month after Ted Kennedy began treatment for brain cancer he made the trip to Washington to cast a decisive vote. He continued to work the phones and run committee meetings from his bed in Hyannis Port until the very end.

Business this year has a common theme, survival. Whether you revered Ted Kennedy or disagreed with him; his life was an example of moving forward and getting up to live and fight another day. Somehow he found the courage to walk through overwhelming tragedy and adversity, keep smiling and grow personally from the experience.

What challenges do you need to walk through?

• Dealing with a messy employee situation
• Telling a customer, prospect or employee no
• Raising prices
• Cutting costs
• Changing yourself
• Moving a non-performer out of the company
• Being tougher and more demanding
• Doing what you don't want to do

Whatever the history books say about Senator Kennedy; he was always committed to his cause, unabashed in his beliefs, tenacious, incredible hard working, willing to speak his mind, passionate and very resilient. So if you find yourself thinking about him ask yourself, what lesson can I learn from his life?

 

Frank Belzer's post about Chinese work ethic and competition highlights something most people don't want to think about. The competitive landscape has changed forever.

Putting aside the impact of increased globalization, and the rise of China and India, America's challenges with the deficit, tax and monetary policy and unemployment just to mention a few:  they aren't going away anytime soon.

People are smarter and more cautious, armed with information which may well be inaccurate.  Witness the healthcare debate, under tremendous pressure to make the "correct decision", fearful about losing their jobs and feeling stressed out and overwhelmed.

Competition comes in many forms and from different places. It's direct or indirect, external and internal, foreign or domestic, price based or value based and outside your control or self-inflected. Success will be more difficult to achieve than ever before and, like the economic situation, this won't change anytime soon. 

I'll leave you with some questions to ask and find answers to:

• How do prospects and customers see you, as vendors or someone of higher value?
• Do you and your company position yourselves as advisors and, if so, do you act the part?
• Do you know specifically what your competition does better than you?
• Are you doing everything you can to impact the sales process even when you are not in control?
• How has your value proposition been affected by the economy?
• Are you mentally and emotionally tough enough to fight through these changing conditions to ultimately prosper?

Recently I spoke to a CEO who was frustrated by the performance of one division in his company.  He concluded he needed to hire a new sales team. He could articulate the compelling reasons for change and the negative impact this non-performance was having on the business.

When I asked him what the current sales leader's role would be in the future, as well as his own (CEO's) role in managing the new staff, he became defensive. He understood that the current sales leader was a big part of the problem and was very frustrated by this, but his willingness to make changes and his approach to solving the problem was another story.

Are you a leader who doesn't like the nitty gritty of sales management? Are you hoping your salespeople will be successful entirely on their own? Are you expecting a different outcome without changing how you lead and manage?

If so what are you really saying?  Perhaps it sounds like this. "All I want is to hire someone who knows exactly what to do with all the right contacts, that doesn't need or want help and will overachieve on their own".

When was the last time you hired anyone like that and how quickly after you hired them did they fail or start their own company?

It's the lazy days of August and surprisingly congress is getting an earful from Americans. Whether you agree or disagree with the policy debate it's pretty hard to say that it's not having an impact.

So what is going on? Simply put Americans are pushing back.

Building credible, honest, value based relationship with prospects and clients, as is true in other parts of our lives requires us to "pushback".

• What are they really saying?
• What are their true expectations?
• Are they trying to opt in or out of the process?
• Is what they are saying realistic?
• Can they see the issues objectively?
• Is their reaction based on what makes them comfortable vs. what is true?

When we don't challenge people or do it the wrong way we do them an injustice.  You are supposed to be the expert and advisor. So step up to the plate and be one. Get out of your comfort zone and ask the questions that need to be asked. If we all could see the real issues we wouldn't need any help, pushing back builds stronger relationships and sets you apart from other people and your competition.

Yesterday was my weekly personal trainer appointment.  Tony, my trainer, has been teaching me the fundamentals of Olympic power lifting.  His belief is that training this way addresses more muscle groups and builds explosiveness. My interest beyond physical fitness is to be a better bicycle rider and being explosive should improve my ability to climb hills.

So there I was, sweating away, attempting to get the form right.  It turns out that lifting heavy weights requires strength but it's the form and process that makes it possible.  The most difficult part is learning to literally throw your body under the bar as the weight reaches your chest.

I was out of my element, over-thinking everything, and today I'm sore.  The sales question is, are you pushing your salespeople outside of their comfort zone and forcing them to "throw" themselves into situations that make them hurt?

If you're not, then you aren't effectively doing your job and you are doing them a disservice.  The truth is, we don't really grow as people and practitioners until we force ourselves, or get forced into situations where, we may know they are good for us but we avoid them because we aren't comfortable being outside our comfort zone.

 

In the current economic times it's harder than ever to succeed and my view is that only the people who change and adapt will thrive. So what's your choice?

Unfortunately many CEO's are looking at QI as a wait and see period. 

Let's consider some facts, no one is expecting the economy to improve soon, efficiency and cost savings won't protect existing business or create new sales, most salespeople and managers haven't lived through a down economy and a majority don't know how or want to hunt.

So what's a CEO to do? Change will only come from you. This means if you want to survive and thrive, I'm assuming you're not giving up; you must raise your expectations and invest money and time in sales.

Critical Issues

1. Coaching and Mentoring - many managers are unskilled here and lack the desire to do it.
2. Hunters - are your people really ineffective, who has potential to improve and what must change to accomplish this?
3. Attitude - salespeople and sales managers are emotional, you can't expect them to manage themselves.
4. Behavior - managing the numbers won't work anymore, sales is about behavior and execution. Most sales managers were terrific salespeople who loved autonomy. Autonomy and self-management is the wrong approach.
5. Pipeline - how accurate and reliable is your data? Is it predictive, can your managers teach lessons from it and grow your salespeople?

Actions

1. Raise your expectations
2. Evaluate your sales organization using an outside expert
3. Get in the lifeboat with your salespeople and stay there for a while
4. Visit and meet your customers frequently
5. Demand greater accountability for hunting
6. No more excuses
7. Remember that your sales organization must change to survive.

As a mentor and coach I work hard to teach and learn lessons everyday. Here one that applies to all of us but is magnified 10X in recessionary times.

You have expertise and knowledge and are motivated to help people, so it would seem that "offering" a little help or advice to demonstrate credibility is OK now and then. Right?

The answer is no, no and no unless you are getting paid well for it.  Here's why.

• We don't have the time to offer free consulting
• Prospects will gladly take it but advisors get paid for their advice, that's why they are advisors
• If you are speaking to a real prospect you need to get them closed now
• Talking about solutions minimizes their problem - it makes them hurt less
• You show them that a little help can solve their problem
• You are demonstrating that urgency isn't very important
• You may improve the relationship but asking great questions to find compelling reasons for action works better
• One of your jobs is to change their thinking process, not to validate it
• If we don't have a personal sense of urgency they certainly won't
• Delays kill all deals

I'm sure we can find rationalizations for why being helpful is necessary, but it's the wrong approach in economic times and if we do so we make excuses for ourselves.