Getting Naked

I just completed reading "Getting Naked - A business fable... about shedding the three fears that sabotage client loyalty" by Patrick Lencioni.

Definitely one of the best sales books I've read in a while. Very refreshing, but it was at a different level of selling. It is written as more of a consultative & advanced methodology of selling that is incredibly difficult to execute - something I'll be working on the rest of my sales career.

The naked part refers to being vulnerable; simply a metaphor for this sales & consulting style that leads to ultimate client loyalty & trust.

This book tells a story about a big time consulting firm that acquires that little, mysterious, & annoying consulting firm. They are mysterious & annoying because the consistently beat the big firm in almost every deal they are in together. How is that possible?

There is a hatred that has grown for the little firms salespeople (I think we can all name an arch-nemesis sales person we compete against). Conspiracies that they are doing crazy things to win the business. Then finally, they acquire them & get to learn what is going on.

Turns out, as the big firms lead integrator dives into the little firms operations, the little firm has higher prices (say what?), better margins, gives away free advice & ideas, turns down clients that they can't give their full attention to, have stronger customer relationship, rarely discusses price at all, and is gaining new business consistently via customer references at the CEO to CEO level.

Definitely recommend you read it (a very quick read). I attempted to sum up the key principles below.

Summary:

There are three fears that prevent us from building trust & loyalty with our customers (and earning their business). They then give bullets on how to counteract them. I might add that there is not a simple blueprint to follow to eliminate these fears (i.e. this isn't a training course you do once), they provide a mindset & tactics to get over these. I attempted to simplify it below...

#1 - Fear of Losing the Business

How to counteract: 
- Always consult instead of sell - don't speak in terms of "this is how we'll treat you if you're a client", just start treating them as if they're already one
- Give away the business - lead with generosity & value; be more interested in helping them than charging them. The rest will fall into place. If there's a discrepancy, take the clients side. You need to be more concerned with a long-term client than a short-term gain.
- Tell the kind truth - confront your client with kindness, empathy, & respect (yes, call them out when necessary)
- Enter the danger - have the courage to deal with an issue that no one wants to confront

#2 - Fear of Being Embarrassed

How to counteract: 
- Ask dumb questions - ask questions the others in the room are afraid to ask. People will thank you later.
- Make dumb suggestions - make suggestions others in the room are afraid to say.
- Celebrate your mistakes - don't hide or downplay your mistakes with clients; call yourself out & take responsibility. This earns trust.

#3 - Fear of Feeling Inferior

 How to counteract: 
- Take a bullet for the client - this has to be done ethically. Just know you might need to step into an awkward, confrontational, or receiving end of something that might not be your fault.
- Make everything about the client - leave your ego at the door (past accomplishments, roles, successes, etc.), make it all about them. Every client is different.
- Honor the clients work - take a sincere interest in the client & their clients. This can't be faked.
- Do the dirty work - be humble and ready to roll up your sleeves and do work that may seem "below your pay grade". You'll earn loyalty & gratitude.

And finally, admit your weaknesses & limitations. Be honest about mistakes (even simple ones) and admit your weaknesses (don't cover them up as most do).

Pretty in-depth. Let me know your thoughts.

Hire the athlete, not the resume

Frank Slootman was the former CEO of Data Domain. His track record speaks for itself and he recently took on the same role at Service-now (Service-Now Names Software Industry Veteran Frank Slootman as CEO). During some down time between ventures, Frank wrote this excellent book recapping his experience taking Data Domain from $0 in revenue to a $2.2 billion acquisition by EMC. The book is called "TAPE SUCKS: Inside Data Domain, A Silicon Valley Growth Story" (available in Kindle here and paperback here). 

Although this entire book is solid, one chapter in particular jumped out at me and helped me with my recent career transition - "Chapter 9 - Hire Athletes, not resumes".

Hiring can be very challenging for early stage ventures because they are unproven and high risk. New hires often have to take pay cuts. Looking for the perfect resume is a bit like a man looking for the perfect woman - when he finds her, it turns out she is looking for the perfect man, and he ain't it! Moral of the story: it is hard to land a candidate who meets your resume criteria, as you are not that good a catch yet yourself.


After suffering through a few instances of this mismatch at Data Domain, we adjusted our search algorithm and began looking for candidates who did not have the resume yet but did have the potential and desire for a career break to get to the next level. We call them "athletes": candidates with the right aptitude and behavior for your profile but without the prerequisite experience.


Put differently, we started looking for people who we thought had their best work still in front of them, rather than behind them. How did we know? You can't just rely on the resume or references - you are making a bet that they can become what you need them to be. We looked for energy, pedigree, passion, ambition, intelligence, intensity, and desire for the job. We staffed many (if not most) of our executive and key managerial roles that way.


Our approach worked so well that we started to prefer this style of hiring even later on when could attract "resumes." In fact, it drove a vital ingredient of the Data Domain culture: everybody had something to prove. 


The thinking to "hire athletes, not resumes" has grown more accepted in recent years, and startups have adjusted to this style of hiring. But there was a time when it was hard to get past the "resume mentality," e.g. just looking for all the boxes to be checked. We stumbled upon our way of thinking by sheer necessity, yet it grew into a key component of the Data Domain success formula.

My thoughts...

The challenge is most companies do not think this way (no one ever gets fired for buying IBM, right?). You probably won't change their thinking either. What you can change is your positioning in the market place... try this instead (regardless of your age/experience).

"If you're looking for someone who can check the boxes; I'm not your guy. If you're looking for the best athlete. You found him."

Whether you're looking for a new job, career/industry, or promotion - Don't lead with experience (or lack there of)... lead with value, passion, intelligence, and excitement. The rest will fall into place.

New Job? Don’t Give Up Too Soon

This is an old article from SalesGravy.com; the website is labeled as the "fastest growing international community for sales professionals". Jeb Blount is the guy running the show over there - I had the pleasure of meeting him in person a few years ago at the National Collegiate Sales Competition.

Not that any of my readers are quitters, but this is a good article to get you fired up no matter what you are starting....

New Sales Job? Don’t Give Up Too Soon
by Jeb Blount

Most people when faced with challenges quit too soon; most often right as they are on the cusp of success. This is especially true with salespeople in new sales jobs. Starting a new sales job and taking on new challenges is frustratingly hard. There are many dark days when you feel like all you do is fail and there is no hope. As you get closer to success things actually seem bleaker. You are tired, beat-up and worn down. It is at this point that faith and persistence have to take you the last mile.

Faith is crucial - faith that by doing the right things every day the cumulative impact of these actions will pay-off.

In sales this means consistently prospecting, qualifying, presenting and following up. Faith is an internal belief system that you create that helps you remain focused on working towards your goal when no tangible evidence exists that the hard work you are doing will get you there.

Persistence is the fuel of winners. Persistence is determination to win in spite of self-doubt, roadblocks, failure, embarrassment, and setbacks. Persistence picks you up off the ground, dusts you off, and sends you back into the game. Persistence is the last, final push that sends you across the finish line.

If you have just started a new sales job I promise that the first few months will be miserable. It won’t be easy to learn new behaviors. Each day you will be given a dozen reasons to quit. Don’t do it. Don’t quit! Instead get up every day, reflect on your past success, and consistently do the sales activities that build your funnel. I guarantee that if you do the right things, have faith that your efforts will pay off and persevere when you are ready to quit, you will be rewarded.

Sales Advice

I recently received some sales advice and thought I would share.... I'll keep the "advice giver" anonymous for the time being, but they are a well respected sales person in my eyes. Here it goes:

Selling is easy. Just remember that customers are people and they make decisions, are made happy and get pissed off by exactly the same things as the rest of us.

Never take anything personally, it's just business. None of this is life threatening.

If someone comes up with an objection (e.g. "that won't work here because") STOP, think and the next sentence that comes out of your mouth should be "that's not a problem". Amazing how those words diffuse a multitude of situations...

Oh and Read "Selling to Vito". Best book on selling I ever read. Many deals die on the CEO's desk. So sell to the CEO.

My advice is go for it. Good luck.