In most businesses, I believe you must operate with the following fundamentals: productive consistency, appropriate uniqueness, creativity and a purposeful sense of urgency. We all need refreshers on our fundamentals as we get roped into our day-to-day business lives.
Our golfers have hit the road to compete against the world's best on the PGA Tour.
Our baseball players are gearing up for spring training.
Our broadcasters are preparing to call games for new networks.
Our corporate and equipment sponsors want to see these guys at the top of their game on a consistent basis. Our clients garner sponsorships and endorsements because we help create unique partnerships for celebrity brands and companies.
We all must enhance the individuals and/or brands that provide us with the money and resources we need to succeed.
We can do it with the following qualities:
Productive consistency
Athletes are a tremendous example of the need to be consistent. A golfer must shoot low rounds four days in a row to win tour events. Baseball players' batting average or ERA are barometers of their consistency. Coaches are measured by their wins and losses. All of the above are rewarded based on their ability to deliver consistently.
In a traditional business-development environment, your retention of existing business and growth of new business are directly related to your ability to consistently deliver.
Pending your business model, ask yourself this question: Is anything more important than consistency in making your product successful?
Appropriate uniqueness
People always ask me, "Why do your clients get paid so much?" Because, at the most basic level, they do something few can do --- they leverage supply and demand to their advantage. Our job is to help them understand their value and then secure it. When you can throw a baseball 98 miles an hour --- and know where it is going --- you can make a lot of money. But we can all be the "demand" in the supply chain --- and it doesn't have to be on a field --- if we deliver something unique to a marketplace demanding that product. What makes us more unique, more valuable and more visible in the market?
We have all heard the old saying "differentiate or die." In our highly competitive world, we have to fill a special niche to be successful in the marketplace. There will always be a need for talent --- whether it's an athlete or you. What is your unique selling proposition? Create purposeful urgency around it and success will follow. Enjoy it!
Creativity
There is usually room for improvement in all that we do in life. I often refer to it as evolving. Is there a more efficient way? A more profitable way?
In other words, being willing to change and adjust to ensure success is imperative. In our economic environment, building an agile company will help you survive and give you an enormous advantage.
Creativity is not just the domain of a talented few. We are all creative by nature. Creativity is instilled in each of us and can fulfill our need to work in solutions. It breeds innovation and creates platforms for needed change.
Charles Darwin is credited with coining the phrase, "the survival of the fittest." The "fittest" are a lot of things --- but one thing about those who survive is that they are creative --- for sure. If you're on the fringe, ask yourself what club will get you closest to the hole --- a 7 iron, wedge or putter. Let's be creative and we're more likely to throw strikes and drain puts.
Sense of urgency
One Sunday afternoon I was at a neighbor's house and my cellphone continued ringing. I answered each call, from various clients. After about the fifth call, my neighbor looked at me and said, "What do they want? It's Sunday afternoon, what do they need right now?"
I explained that my world is 24/7 --- if our clients want to tell me about a conversation with a manager, or something they read, they want to tell me now. That's okay, I understand. In fact, I welcome it and it's all I've known after 15 years as a sports agent.
My neighbor is a neonatal intensive care doctor and he really understands the meaning of urgency and of "right now." So I humbly replied, "I guess 'right now' is relative."
At the most basic level, I embrace the "now" with a sense of urgency whether it is Sunday at 5 or Tuesday at 2.
At the micro level, a successful tactic to improve your value starts with being productively consistent, appropriately unique, creative and approaching life with a purposeful sense of urgency. Invest in these qualities. Execute your business plan now and great things will happen.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Telling beats selling
We have all been in sales since we started posturing for later bed times or an extra cookie after dinner.
Regardless of what you are "accountable for" in your business, we can all be 24/7 promoters for our organizations, our boards and our philanthropic affiliations.
I recently gave a speech to a group of national sales people for a Fortune 500 company. I talked about the importance of telling, not selling.
Telling builds relationships. It brings the product or service to life by illustrating a story or case study. It doesn't force connectivity. It feels authentic, long-lasting vs. self-serving, like the feeling a traditional sales experience may bring.
Telling authenticates past and future actions. It creates credibility.
I believe valuable moments are created by telling vs. selling. Here are a couple of tactical "to do's" as you work to bring value:
Prep: Why was John Smoltz in high demand as a broadcaster? One reason is certainly because of the way he handles himself on and off the field.
I would argue the other is because over the years we have worked to put John in the booth when the timing and the situation was right, in order for John and the market to determine if one day this could be an option for him.
The choices we had and the respect he was shown as we expressed interest in broadcasting wasn't an accident.
Another example: I have walked hundreds of practice rounds with PGA Tour players, and consistently watch them drop multiple balls in the fairway to check distances. They putt to and from all areas of each green --- all in preparation for competition. Prep for each situation you might encounter so as to take advantage of your opportunities to win.
Inquire and then listen: Asking questions can help you position the opportunity. It helps you to gather information. Doc Rivers, coach of the Boston Celtics, constantly asks his players, "Do you need anything from me?" I watch golf equipment representatives stand on the range Monday through Wednesday of tournament week as players try their clubs. The rep drills them with questions as players try the clubs. "Too firm? Too much loft?"
They gather information to build the very best club for the player. Ask your employees, your clients, your boss, your customers questions so you can gather data and put yourself in the best position to deliver the best product. If they win, you should win. After you ask questions --- listen. Just listen.
Listen authentically so you can better position the way you bring them value.
Don't talk too much or too loud: The analogy here is the rookie in the clubhouse that comes in and forgets he's the rookie. Trust me, the veterans will remind him. The best sales people ask a question --- short and sweet --- and then simply listen and react to their answer. They may know a lot of the answers, but not all of them --- and they're eager to learn so as to provide the best and most fitting solutions.
Stories work: You can tell people what you are going to do for them, or simply tell them what you have already done for others. Do the latter first, then the other is more real. When you tell, you sell. When we show a player how we will manage their career, it is powerful. But when we show them how and what we have done for 200-plus clients similar to them, it resonates.
Most important, wrap these tactics with integrity. It should be central to your message. Integrity is the quality most needed to succeed personally and professionally.
The good news is that you have an opportunity to be the player that creates valuable moments. Work so hard and so smart that you are faced with abundant moments and are prepared to capitalize on each and every one of them.
Regardless of what you are "accountable for" in your business, we can all be 24/7 promoters for our organizations, our boards and our philanthropic affiliations.
I recently gave a speech to a group of national sales people for a Fortune 500 company. I talked about the importance of telling, not selling.
Telling builds relationships. It brings the product or service to life by illustrating a story or case study. It doesn't force connectivity. It feels authentic, long-lasting vs. self-serving, like the feeling a traditional sales experience may bring.
Telling authenticates past and future actions. It creates credibility.
I believe valuable moments are created by telling vs. selling. Here are a couple of tactical "to do's" as you work to bring value:
Prep: Why was John Smoltz in high demand as a broadcaster? One reason is certainly because of the way he handles himself on and off the field.
I would argue the other is because over the years we have worked to put John in the booth when the timing and the situation was right, in order for John and the market to determine if one day this could be an option for him.
The choices we had and the respect he was shown as we expressed interest in broadcasting wasn't an accident.
Another example: I have walked hundreds of practice rounds with PGA Tour players, and consistently watch them drop multiple balls in the fairway to check distances. They putt to and from all areas of each green --- all in preparation for competition. Prep for each situation you might encounter so as to take advantage of your opportunities to win.
Inquire and then listen: Asking questions can help you position the opportunity. It helps you to gather information. Doc Rivers, coach of the Boston Celtics, constantly asks his players, "Do you need anything from me?" I watch golf equipment representatives stand on the range Monday through Wednesday of tournament week as players try their clubs. The rep drills them with questions as players try the clubs. "Too firm? Too much loft?"
They gather information to build the very best club for the player. Ask your employees, your clients, your boss, your customers questions so you can gather data and put yourself in the best position to deliver the best product. If they win, you should win. After you ask questions --- listen. Just listen.
Listen authentically so you can better position the way you bring them value.
Don't talk too much or too loud: The analogy here is the rookie in the clubhouse that comes in and forgets he's the rookie. Trust me, the veterans will remind him. The best sales people ask a question --- short and sweet --- and then simply listen and react to their answer. They may know a lot of the answers, but not all of them --- and they're eager to learn so as to provide the best and most fitting solutions.
Stories work: You can tell people what you are going to do for them, or simply tell them what you have already done for others. Do the latter first, then the other is more real. When you tell, you sell. When we show a player how we will manage their career, it is powerful. But when we show them how and what we have done for 200-plus clients similar to them, it resonates.
Most important, wrap these tactics with integrity. It should be central to your message. Integrity is the quality most needed to succeed personally and professionally.
The good news is that you have an opportunity to be the player that creates valuable moments. Work so hard and so smart that you are faced with abundant moments and are prepared to capitalize on each and every one of them.
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