The Magic Feather – Part the Second

When an organization creates a strategy (magic feather) or plan to sell something, they do so in the true belief that it is a good way to sell. After all that is the goal. To work for them and be successful one must buy into the belief system of the organization. Whether the plan is excellent or poor makes no difference to the person on the street, either way they must make a point of suspending any disbelief that they might have or they will be ineffective or have to do things in a manner that is at odds with their organization. If they do things at odds with their organization they had better be great right away and even then they might be chastised for setting a bad example of not being a team player.

For those that are successful using a magic feather it might turn out that like Dumbo they learn that they could fly all along without it. It’s a good practice to be a bit skeptical when listening to mice. The magic feather isn't in the process or the system, something external, it's in the person. Isn't that what we learned from Dumbo?

(Apologies to those that don't know Disney, Dumbo is not a negative term for anyone, please Google "Flying Elephant")

"Magic Feather" Part the First

How To Turn Prospects Into Clients

For over a decade, Margarita Rozenfeld of Incite International Insights From Your Offsites has been a patron of Sales Lab, commissioning innovative new work for her customers. A few months ago, she asked for a two hour presentation that would be a complete sales program for her CEO group.

Margarita rounded up a dozen CEOs this past Monday, including three Sales Lab Stakeholders, Matt Whitaker of Intelligent Office, Alexandria and the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, Jennifer Schaus of Jennifer Schaus Associates and the Government Contractors - Culture & Networking at The Kennedy Center, and Chida Sadayappan of OpenOsmium and the National Capital Area Google Technical User Groups (NCA GTUG)

We do weekly presentations, day long presentations, hour presentations and even a series of 300 second presentations, but two hours that would be valuable for company owners called for a rethink.

We started with Talk Your Business: How To Sell More and Better Business Right Away, to establish introductions and stories, the basic building blocks of sales.

Next, we introduced the Sales Model, so everyone would have a common definition of what we were talking about.

Then we showed the Five Step Prospecting Script and the Four Step Sales Framework.

Out of a dozen participants we started five new transactions. That's a good presentation.

Best thing the participants learned? The importance of stories in the sales process and how to use them.

Tongue On A Tooth Socket

Finding new opportunities is hard work. We stumble over a pebble beside the road, polish it, put it with other pebbles, hoping to make something valuable.

It's even worse when we finally decide we don't have enough time, treasure, and talent to take an opportunity across the finish line.

We let go of three opportunities last month. We’d been looking for ways to make 'em work for several months, and finally came to the realization that as good as we are, we couldn't do it.

Even after we made the right decision, I kept thinking about them, like running my tongue over a newly pulled tooth socket. 

The Magic Feather -Part the First

First imagine an elephant that can fly (please try to suspend your disbelief), and that there is no knowledge of this ability by said elephant. Lo and behold, along comes a mouse with a “Magic Feather” that will let the elephant fly and it does.

Belief as a self-fulfilling prophecy is quite important and I believe in the “Magic Feather Theory” in many parts of life. Simply put, almost any system that is believed to work will work better than no system at all, because of the belief that it will work. However logic dictates that some systems are inherently better than others.

In sales we must believe that the way we are going about things will bring results. If not there is no reason to start. Believing in an inferior system is more likely to produce results than non-belief in a superior system.

Believe in what you’re doing and what you’re selling and things will work out. So what about the actual systems? ---- Part the Second next

(My apologies to Dumbo)

Time, Talent, and Treasure

Losers often say they didn't have enough time, talent, and treasure.

Having been present on both sides, neither did the winners.

So what really separates the two?

That may be worth figuring out.

What do you think?

Completed Staff Work

Yarons ago I worked in a consulting firm for a former Air Force officer. I had a lot of autonomy and got a lot done.

Probably the most useful concept I learned there was “Completed Staff Work.”

It wasn't enough to do what was asked. I was also responsible for determining if the work made any sense, was there a better way to get the result, and as a result of my work, were there any further steps that should be done?

Deciding to do further work was based on cost, time, and original intent. That decision process sounds imprecise, but it quickly created recognized stars. We weren't covering our butts, we were finding better ways to get results.

The result of completed staff work was faster projects, improved mastery, and minimizing committee decisions.

What is in your culture that supports winning?

Our Next Events - 

Rainmaker #3 - Process to Purchase

How To Sell Your Skills

300 seconds, March 8, 2011, 6 pm

Capital Technology Management Hub

RSVP at http://knowledgeassets.eventbrite.com/

The Sales Lab Rainmaker Series are five minute tactical selling presentations starting the CTMH Monthly Meetings 

How To Turn Prospects Into Clients

Monday, March 21, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Alexandria, VA

YES!Circle       Details and Reservations

Manager and Salesman

The difference between a great sales manager and a great salesman is the difference between a wagon master and a gunfighter. The wagon master has to get as many as he can to the destination. The gunfighter is the icon of individual contributor.

Most salesmen cannot build a compelling handout. They can't build a moving presentation. They don't use the stories they gather talking to customers and prospects to improve their performance.

The sales manager cannot meet enough prospects. He doesn't have direct contact with the buyers. He might have the input of the sales force, and if he is good, he can have them upgrade their work based on their (not his) experience in the field.

What is needed is the fastest, easiest way to have all the salesmen believe in and adopt their collective best practices. The person making that sale is the sales manager.

This does not mean a sales manager is inventing a theoretical solution, as when one of my sales managers read a book on an airplane and had me spend six weeks proving it didn't work.

This does not mean having the sales force try to go in a hundred different directions. These guys should spend the majority of their time interacting with prospects to the best of their abilities. Moving the group forward means constant identification of what is working best right now.

Best practices can change quickly. Remember when the planes flew into the buildings?

That doesn't mean great change, no matter where you start. If you can do a 2% improvement every week, you are going to see logarithmic results.

Sales Lab Status Meetings allow the people interacting with the buyers to report. They learn that misdirecting the meeting doesn't help anyone. They learn first hand what has worked that week, they get to adopt what they learn, if they wish. This is not to create a phalanx of Stepford Clones, but to provide the quickest improvement based on the largest direct sample for anyone who wants to improve.

By shifting the responsibility for performance back to the performers, you get a healthier culture, one of applied leadership.

Any ideas you care to comment?

Our Next Events -

Meaning of Life - A Better Way of Looking at Our New World.

Monday, March 7, 2011 9:30AM

40 Plus - Washington, DC N.W. More Info:

http://www.40plus-dc.org/40plus-Monday-Speaker-2011

Rainmaker #3 - Process to Purchase

How To Sell Your Skills

300 seconds, March 8, 2011, 6 pm

Capital Technology Management Hub

RSVP at http://knowledgeassets.eventbrite.com/

The Sales Lab Rainmaker Series are five minute tactical selling presentations starting the CTMH Monthly Meetings 

How To Turn Prospects Into Clients

Monday, March 21, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Alexandria, VA

YES!Circle       Details and Reservations

Applause

When I go to a meeting and it's time to applaud, I applaud. I often get the group started, as everyone is hanging, waiting for a cue.

I've given up wondering if starting the applause is politically correct, over egoed, or disruptive. I start the applause because it increases meeting velocity, supports the presenter, and binds the audience together through common action.

Seth Godin wrote most people don't believe they are capable of initiative. I was thinking about that when I started applauding Chida last night.

Applauding someone doesn't have to be a reward. It's a powerful way of saying, “For both of us, I hope you're going to be a star!”

Comments? (applause?)

Our Next Events -

Meaning of Life - A Better Way of Looking at Our New World.
Monday, March 7, 2011 9:30AM
40 Plus - Washington, DC N.W. More Info:
http://www.40plus-dc.org/40plus-Monday-Speaker-2011

Rainmaker #3 - Process to Purchase
How To Sell Your Skills
300 seconds, March 8, 2011, 6 pm
Capital Technology Management Hub
RSVP at http://knowledgeassets.eventbrite.com/
The Sales Lab Rainmaker Series are
five minute tactical selling presentations
starting the CTMH Monthly Meetings 
 

How To Turn Prospects Into Clients
Monday, March 21, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Alexandria, VA
YES!Circle       Details and Reservations

Rainmaker #3 - Process to Purchase - How To Sell Your Skills

The Rainmaker Series is 300 seconds of hardcore sales at 6 pm before each monthly Capital Technology Management Hub meeting. The next meeting, Leveraging The Organization's Knowledge Assets is Tuesday, March 8.

Here is the March 8 Rainmaker presentation 


We spend our careers honing our skills. It’s what we practice, what we study, what we think about.

Have you noticed nobody else cares? 
 
Skills are grouped in processes. To showcase  our skills, we explain our processes. Process diagrams don’t sell much. See The Dreaded Process Diagram. 
 
People don’t admire and covet your process or your skills. They admire and covet the results of your process. 
 
If you want your process purchased, focus on communicating how people who used your process succeeded. 
 
No matter how much you think people want to hear about your process, they don’t. That’s your hallucination. 

Romance them with your customers’ success. Keep pounding “Happily ever after.” Don't slip into your process.

Please extend our learning with your comment about this Rainmaker at http://bit.ly/Process2Purchase. 
 
Reserve your place at Leveraging The Organization's Assets today!