Helping Customers Do Nothing

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You identified an opportunity to help a client via your prospecting efforts. You have provoked them (and they you) with ideas on how your solution can help their business and you co-created a path forward. You progressed the opportunity via a successful proof of concept, helped the customer get an understanding of how the solution is going to fit into their existing environment, and addressed deployment via the appropriate training or professional services. At the end of the sales cycle, you are now prepared to partner with the customer throughout implementation and to ensure that their organization obtains the business value from their investment and their relationship with you. You have verbal commitments from all stakeholders and it is decision time. The road is rising up to meet you, the wind is at your back, and just as you begin to feel the sun shining warmly upon your face…

…they inform you they have decided to do nothing.

What happened? The ROI was a no-brainer. All technical aspects of the solution made it a perfect fit. It would have given the customer a competitive advantage in their marketplace. Yet you lost. I’m not talking about losing to a competitor. I’m talking about those situations when, despite gaining the technical win and having an agreed upon business case to help the customer make money, save money, or mitigate risk, the client stakeholders decide to not move forward with anything.

So, what do you do? For starters, here is what you don’t do — you do not take on an air of incredulous indignant superiority. You do not proclaim to them what a bad (non)decision they just made. You do not profess to know much more about their business than they do. (No matter what you may think, you don’t. And even if you actually do, you don’t). Remember, those with whom you have been working also invested their time and expertise into the solution you just “lost”. They are likely also quite disappointed that they were not allowed to move forward.

I am as competitive as the next person and the disappointment of a situation like this is certainly palpable. However, winning in the long run is still possible if you have taken the time to build the sort of relationship in which the customer views you as someone with expertise beyond the scope of the current opportunity. During the provoke and progress activities of the cycle mentioned above, you have ample opportunity to demonstrate expertise across multiple business and technology domains.

Remain a true student of your customers’ industry, their place in it, their processes, and their people at all times. If you maintain that curiosity throughout all interactions with each of your customers, you will find that you have much more to offer them than you may have realized. With a little creativity and insight, you will be able to share everything from best practices to solution ideas that span multiple industries. Maintaining relationships and providing additional information beyond the domain of the solution you are currently representing will pay dividends in the long run. Those who choose to do nothing with you will become those who choose to do nothing with you at the present time.

The reality of enterprise sales is that there are many factors that both enable and prevent clients from making an investment. Like you, I have read multiple researchers’ estimates that most corporate investment decisions require the support of 6-10 individuals. Sometimes more. Organizational momentum, shifts in strategy, unforeseen budgetary adjustments, or simply getting overruled by the status quo can rise up in the latter stages of a sales cycle and derail investment in your solution. However, if you have engaged appropriately and strive to add value to your customer with every interaction, you will be well prepared when the “lost” opportunity returns and better prepared for every new one that comes your way.

Your Role as Supporting Actor

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I was recently on a flight with Oscar winning actor J.K. Simmons.  That is to say that Mr. Simmons sat one row in front of me and across the aisle on a two hour, late night flight.  After we disembarked, I approached him.  We exchanged pleasantries, I told him that I really enjoy his work, he replied that he would continue to do his best, and we parted ways.

As Mr. Simmons is renowned for his work as a supporting actor, the encounter had me thinking about the “supporting actor” role that sales engineers often play in opportunity pursuits.  With a nod to three of Mr. Simmons’ engaging performances, consider the following films, situations, and the critical role that you can play:

“Up In the Air” Be the person who thematically pulls everything together. Help your team and your customer stay focused on the overall intent, business and/or technical problem that you are trying to solve, and the outcome that you are truly working to deliver.  It is easy for a team to get off track and focused on non-essential aspects of an opportunity pursuit or to over complicate solutions and situations.  Brainstorming and considering as many perspectives as possible is important, but someone always needs to bring the team back together to re-establish focus or you will never win.

“Juno”  When situations get challenging, be the person who calmly steps up and engages where someone or something is needed.  If your team is meeting and someone says “great idea, but who is going to do that?”, raise your hand.  It may be an existing post-sales situation that needs rectified in order to restore the customer’s confidence; it may be a relationship with a decision maker that needs to be established; or it may be a prototype that demonstrates a novel approach to solving your customer’s problem via a little known capability.  Besides solving an immediate problem, you will become known as a team player whose principal motivation is a positive outcome (as opposed to whatever motivates the “notmyjobmon” crowd).  You will also learn a great deal and develop new relationships that may change your life.  Or at least your career.

“Spider-Man”  Be the dissenter.  Play the devil’s advocate.  Not to be a jerk or feed your ego, but to ensure that the team is absolutely certain about the details of the opportunity, the customers’ needs, etc.  I have seen scores of opportunities delayed and a few lost because no one was challenging the sales team and the customer with all of the “whys”, “hows”, and “whens” needed to move a business forward.  And once you’re done asking the hard questions, provide some comic relief at the appropriate times to alleviate some of the stress amongst all parties.

Sales leadership and having a postiive impact on a customer’s investment decsion takes many forms.  Whether playing a lead or supporting role in the pursuit of new business, those constantly looking to make the greatest contribution tend to enjoy the most success.  It is far too easy for the sales engineer to fade into the background and relegate themselves to merely answering any technical questions that come up.  Embrace a critical supporting role and when the end of year/quarter/month “awards season” comes around, you will find your name among the winners.

Mom and Pop Management

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Several times each year I have the privilege of discussing various management topics with MBA candidates at the University of Iowa’s Tippie School of Business. It is always invigorating for me, as many of these students are relatively new managers and often come armed with specific situations for discussion. It is thrilling to not only see the leadership potential, but to also see so many willing to step up and take responsibility for the work of and the development of others (i.e. they have chosen to be in management). In my most recent session, I was asked about the art of motivation. Specifically, how to maintain some level of motivation amongst employees from multiple generations. I replied with an obvious, cliche-ridden answer about how employee motivation is a very challenging management responsibility due to the individual nature of employees, the human psyche, what motivates one individual may not matter to another, you have to know your employees, blah blah blah. My answer was enough to keep the discussion going, but I could not help but think that I was missing something. As I thought about it more, I decided that the concept of effective motivation is grounded in a duality of sorts – between hard and soft; specific and general; internal and external; or between that which can be clearly defined in the now and that which is undefined that may happen in the future.

In short, managers who are most effective at motivating their employees have a firm grasp, at the individual employee level, on how to manage their organizations like a “Mom and Pop”. I am not referring to “Mom and Pop” in the sense of “a small retail business, usually owned and operated by members of a family” (thank you dictionary.com), although such proprietorships are certainly managed this way. Rather, I am referring to managers who can help employees identify Moments of Momentum (MoM) and Points of Progress (PoP) in their jobs and careers.

Moments of Momentum (MoM). These occur when an employee understands and embraces a vision for the task at hand, their future, the organization’s future, or the greater good that is going to come from their personal contributions. It is when the employee is mobilized, inspired, has the tools they need, and the organizational support necessary to fulfill their responsibilities to the best of their abilities. These are the moments in which the mission is clear and the employee has made the decision to personally invest their time and talents in pursuit of an outcome. To summarize hundreds of literary, lyrical, and cinematic references, MoMs are when employees capture the feeling to join their band of brothers, walk out on the wire, and win one for the Gipper. Moments of Momentum launch us into action. They are crucial, but they are fleeting.

Points of Progress (PoP). These occur when someone reaches a measurable outcome. It may be a promotion, the completion of a significant project, a “go live” implementation, a raise, the acquisition of a new skill, moving to a new role, winning a sales award, etc. Think back on your own career – I imagine that you can think of a few times off the top of your head when you truly felt like you had moved your career forward in some significant fashion. I can still vividly recall a few PoPs that I experienced after pulling an all nighter to deliver some code or the times that I have been asked to build new organizations. Points of Progress are distinct and definable. They are the achievement of goals by which we mark our careers.

We cannot have one without the other. If employees experience multiple MoMs with no PoPs to show for it, motivation will suffer and employees will become disengaged and disenfranchised. similarly, if an employee experiences many PoPs with few MoMs, they risk losing sight of the purpose of their life’s work and the PoPs will become increasingly insignificant. PoPs are the milestones that keep us seeking out the next MoM and MoMs keep us going towards the next PoP.

Each of us have to define our own Moments of Momentum and Points of Progress, and they will evolve as careers progress. As an employee, it is up to you to find what motivates you and what goals you are looking to achieve. If you are a manager, it is your responsibility to help your employees maintain the balance of MoMs and PoPs such that everyone is producing to their full capabilities for your organization while gaining maximum satisfaction from their careers.

Disengaging Customer Engagements

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Relationships are driven by behavior. I have been in this business long enough to have observed sales reps and sales engineers from both sides of the proverbial table – as both a customer and a supplier. Although sellers almost always engage their customers with the best of intentions, they often do not realize how disengaging some of their behavior can be. Such behaviors are sometimes exhibited during even the most routine customer meetings. I am not talking about extreme cases of boorish behavior, but rather some of the more subtle behaviors that can, at best, be annoying to all parties involved or, at worst, derail the entire business relationship. See if you have met any of these “guys”.

Mavis Beacon Guy.  This guy spends the entire customer meeting tapping away at his keyboard like he is engaged in an advanced lesson from the ubiquitous eponymous typing tutor. Sometimes as if lost in a trance channeling Jack Kerouac to deliver On The Road Part II, oblivious to the rest of the room. He may insist that he is taking notes or researching answers to the customers’ questions at hand, and he very well may be. But what he is also doing is annoying and distracting everyone in the room. He can be mistaken for Look at the Top of My Head Guy who, similiarly, spends much of his customer meetings focused on his mobile phone or tablet. Tips for this guy: Leave anything with a keyboard closed unless there is a specific question that comes up and then research it. The attention you draw will then be in response to your customer’s needs. Invest in Moleskine notebooks and a mechanical pencil.

Camper Guy.  Brings an entire office overstuffed into a long-past-its-prime backpack for a 45 minute meeting with the customer.  Besides looking like a special forces sniper hunting for a nest for a 72 hour recon mission (sans the camo facepaint), Camper Guy can distract as he awkwardly navigates his obnoxious rucksack around chairs, people, etc. in tight offices and corporate conference rooms. Tips for this guy: Leave your kit in the trunk of the car, invest in a more professional looking bag, and ask Mavis Beacon Guy where he got that classy looking Moleskine notebook.

Bodyguard Guy. Accompanies his colleagues to the customer meeting, introduces himself to no one, and sits in a corner and says nothing to anyone for the duration. He follows the discussion with wide-eyed interest, but contributes nothing to help the customer solve their business challenges. Bodyguard Guy is likely in attendance because there are specific requirements that he needs to gather from the customer or because he was invited by a teammate as a subject matter expert “just in case we get asked about X”. Tips for this guy: If you are gathering customer requirements, you should be asking questions of the customer. If a colleague wants you there “just in case”, tell him you will block the time of the meeting and make yourself available via the phone for immediate remote assistance. Evaluate your current level of job satisfaction – you may be happier and more successful applying your technical skills to a non-customer facing role.

Smartest Guy in the Room Guy.  A knowledgeable and experienced guy, he spends too much of everyone’s time trying to prove that he is the smartest person in the room rather than working to make the customer the smartest person in the room.  Has a deep command of the history of many technologies, industry standards that do not apply to the situation at hand, and detailed technical knowledge that surpasses everyone in every respect.  Tip for this guy: I once had a colleague of Smartest Guy in the Room Guy ask him, “can you please be wrong long enough for us to win this customer’s business?” Taken aback, the sales engineer asked why.  The sales rep replied, “because every time we meet with this customer, you get into an argument about something that is irrelevant to this opportunity”. Before speaking, check your ego and consider how you are going to help the customer with their problem while also expanding your company’s business. Remember, there is often a difference between being effective and being right.

There is a common thread running through the behaviors of each of these “guys”. In each case, the behavior gives the impression that they are concerned more about themselves than their customer. Distracting activities, carrying their entire office with them, or trying to boost their own ego – all of these have the potential to derail the conversation and focus away from the technical seller’s entire reason for existence – to serve the customer.

Training Your Way to New Ideas

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I had not experienced passenger rail service in the United States for about 35 years. So last week I decided to take the train rather than fly to another city to spend time with employees and customers. Although the outbound segment was a couple of hours late, I found the entire experience to be a very pleasant change of pace from the endless lines, personal space intrusions, and hurry-up-and-wait nature of air travel. The experience made me think about the benefits of changing our habits or trying a new approach. Not necessarily to make that change permanent, but simply to experience something new.

Taking the train enabled me to do something that many of us find challenging – to actually sit and think. Similar to what Thomas Friedman mentions in his new book “Thank You for Being Late,” it gave me an opportunity to pause, appreciate, and reflect upon several aspects of my personal and professional existence. I am not going to disparage the pace of our business nor the constant flow of information that accompanies our modern lives, as I believe we all understand the need to unplug in order to truly connect with others. Rather, I wish to suggest that we all need to look for opportunities to spend time doing nothing. Even if that means staring out of an Amtrak window as a frozen Midwestern landscape passes by. In my case, it afforded me the time to more deeply examine the Net Promotor Scores from my organization’s latest customer satisfaction survey; brainstorm some methods for my team to bring new ideas to our customers; and plan my team’s coverage model for next year. All while reading (and possibly being subconsciously influenced by) Ben Horowitz’s “The Hard Thing About Hard Things”.

Choosing a more relaxed mode of travel also enabled me to engage with a completely different group of people. Being engaged in B2B sales, we understand how the value we bring to our customers is enhanced by our understanding of the behavior of those customers’ customers. Taking an alternate path enabled me to share an experience with a different demographic and draw additional insights into their needs and behaviors. For example, riding on the train afforded me the opportunity to share a dining car booth with a sales rep who is in a completely different business than mine. I was able to learn a bit about his organization’s engagement and operations models, which will likely influence my own thinking about new ways for my team to engage with our customers. I had an enjoyable conversation with members of the train’s crew and learned how their responsibilities and lifestyle differ from those of my other travel industry customers. I cannot say for sure how sharing my trip with several Amish families directly influenced my thoughts, but it did remind me that American consumers truly come from all walks of life, each with their own needs and behaviors.

I realize that I could have done most of the above while choosing air travel, but I likely would not have. Breaking out of my usual routine and experiencing something new woke up my senses and provided a different sort of creative spark. For me, the combination of reading, reflection, and reassessment was exactly what I needed as we head into the final weeks of the 4th quarter and the anticipation of the new year.

Expressing Your Point of View

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“…you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view” – Obi-Wan Kenobi

Briefly describing solution ideas can be challenging. Although Obi-Wan may have been interested in the truth via his own personal lens, your customers here in the real world are interested in your recommendations and they need them in an easily consumable format. Even when concepts and tools such as minimum viable product and design thinking are used to shortcut relatively arduous cycles of solution design, getting an introductory value proposition and some basic “what and how” information to customers can still be difficult. This is particularly true when prospecting for new opportunities or delivering unsolicited recommendations.

One of the simplest methods for communicating an idea to your customers is via a simple Point of View (PoV) document. At its core, a PoV is YOUR idea for what your customer should do to address a specific issue and how your products and/or services can help them. The content and capabilities may come from your organization’s standard technical briefs, white papers, or marketing information, but the final deliverable depends on how you adapt this information to the unique situation at your customer.

At its core, the PoV document should include:

– A brief (and I mean VERY brief) description of the customer’s business or technical problem

– Your idea for how your organization can address that problem

– Some sort of solution design, architectural vision, process model, or other “picture is worth a thousand words” artifact that helps describe the solution

– Recommended next steps that you and the customer should take together.

Try this simple method. After your next customer meeting, dive into your company’s trove of marketing, white papers, boilerplate presentations, and technical information, borrow whatever you wish, mix it with your own knowledge, and create a professional quality PDF document that contains the elements mentioned above. Deliver it to the customer within a day or two of your meeting. Either via an e-mail or, preferably, print it on high quality paper and drop it off at your customer’s office.

It will give you an opportunity to:

– differentiate your company and yourself from your competitors and their people.

– leverage your knowledge of your customer and their industry to present your offerings and capabilities in the context of a unique solution.

– reengage with the customer and revisit the topic, thereby ensuring a follow up meeting that lets you further discuss the opportunity to address their challenge.

At best, the customer will engage in further discussions and your recommended next steps will progress the opportunity. At worst, you will learn that you misunderstood their problem or that your recommendation will not work in their environment. This then becomes another opportunity to learn more about how you can better serve your customer. In any case, you will emerge with a better understanding of their business and you will be better positioned for future success.  And bear in mind, this method applies both to new opportunities as well as helping your customers maximize the value of the investment that they have already made with you.

Now put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Imagine what you would think and how you would feel about a supplier who put in that much effort to address your needs. Imagine if the supplier did it constantly, conscientiously, and consistently. Your point of view may very well become your customer’s “truth”.

Are You Always Reppin?

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Basketball season in the United States finally ended about a week and a half ago. For those of us who prefer the college game and were ambivalently oblivious to the fact that the “winter” sport was still being played even though the heat index was pushing 100 degrees outside, it has been even longer since the NCAA men’s basketball tournament ended in April. Like many of you (c’mon, admit it), I do not recall off the top of my head which team actually won the NCAA championship. Every year when the tournament ends I tend to quickly forget who won unless the victorious team goes by the name of Hawkeyes, Cyclones, or Panthers. Therefore, I forget every year. But what a journey the NCAA tournament proves to be year after year…

The team that made the greatest impression on me this year did not represent an institution of higher learning, but an institution in athletic apparel. Always Reppin’, the Nike motto that graced the warmup shirts of many of the competitors, is marketing gold. Serve it up with Nike’s own “Just Do It” campaign and a side order of Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef?” with Apple’s “Think Different” for dessert.

But what does it mean, really, to be Always Reppin’? And what does an apparel company slogan have to do with those of us responsible for bringing new business technology solution ideas to our customers and helping them make strategic investments? I haven’t done any research on what Nike intended as the slogan’s true meaning or what inspiration any of the teams drew from it. My impressions, however painfully obvious they may be, are that Always Reppin’ has two general meanings – how you choose to portray yourself and/or your organization and how you are building your skills. So, a few rhetorical reminders as we move into Q3:

Are you reppin’ you?  How are you representing yourself in your industry and with your customers? Are you doing what it takes to progress your career? Are you networking with others both inside and outside your industry to maintain a broad understanding of the marketplace? Are you spending time listening to both your customers and your competitors to understand what shifts are occurring in your industry? Are you embodying the spirit, ethics, and values that your organization professes to hold as core virtues? Would your customers agree with your portrayal of those values? Do your customers look to you for new ideas – about both new capabilities as well as new ways to use the capabilities in which they have already invested? How many new customers did you meet in the past week, month, etc.? In general, are you behaving like the true professional that you aspired to be when you got into this business? It never hurts to check your rep(utation) by asking your colleagues, management, and customers directly.

Are you getting your “reps” in?  Are you researching your customers’ business and getting alerts (and actually reading them) from media sources on developments in their industry? Are you spending a significant amount of time every week learning about new organizational capabilities and the application of those capabilities for your customers? Do you understand your company’s reference customers so you can translate how they have successfully leveraged your capabilities? If you are a product specialist, are you practicing the standard demos or developing new demos of your own? Developing new methods to rapidly prototype or deliver proofs of concept? If you are a generalist or more broadly focused sales architect, are you developing sample solution designs and other customer deliverables to help communicate your vision to your customers? Developing sample training plans to help your customers be more successful in implementing your solutions? Developing proactive point of view documents with new ideas that believe your customer should implement? Just like any repetitive training drills, you have to practice verbally, mentally, and physically in order to truly be prepared to help your customers succeed.

Despite my earlier claims of ignorance, I do know that the student-athletes from Villanova University won the NCAA basketball championship on a last second shot. And their achievement becomes a fitting metaphor for what can happen when you keep reppin’, do what it takes to differentiate yourself and your organization, and then take the shot to help your customer win when the opportunity presents itself.

It Is ALWAYS Personal

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The recent passing of American actor Abe Vigoda has conjured multiple tributes referencing his famous line from Francis Ford Coppola’s timeless 1972 epic, “The Godfather”. “Tell Mike it was only business” and other derivatives of “it’s not personal, it’s just business” may fly fine in Mafia films, but in real life, it is ALWAYS personal. Yes, you and the individuals at your customer are engaged in a business to business environment. And yes, you each represent your respective organizations in the interest of providing value to your customer’s business. Although that may be the foundation of the relationship, suggesting that the business relationship is not personal for all involved is both naive and short-sighted. Let’s examine this along three categories of personal interest.

Time

This one should be simple enough to understand, as it is the one thing that we can never get back. The customer spends time evaluating, learning, acquiring, implementing, and supporting the solution that you have recommended. They likely do not get paid overtime. They may miss meals at home or other family events to get the solution delivered on time. They may get called at odd hours or have to work on the weekend to deal with an unforeseen availability challenge. The list goes on and on. As a sales engineer dedicated to a successful customer outcome, your time is also spent on all of the above. Additionally, there is an opportunity cost of choosing to pursue this opportunity with this customer rather than another. Time spent in a long sales cycle, successful proof of concept, and solid business case can go to waste if the customer still chooses a competitor or chooses to do nothing at all. The opportunity cost of lost time that could have been spent pursuing an effort with another customer can be frustrating and negatively impact a rep’s willingness to pursue subsequent opportunities with the “lost” customer.

Financial

Since we are talking about a B2B relationship, it is true that your customer is never truly investing their own money (excluding stock holdings and other equity). It is their shareholders’ or their company’s owners’ money. However, that does not and should not change the significance. Your customer has been trusted with a budget by their superiors and that capital is to be invested wisely in the interest of their business. That responsibility often is and should be taken very personally by the customer. Your customer’s ability to bring in a project or department under budget may also be directly tied to their own compensation, which obviously makes the relationship very personal. Similarly for the technical seller, winning the customer’s business has a direct impact on your personal financial situation. Whether you are on a direct commission or bonus incentive plan, you make more money when you are successful in representing the right solution such that your customer makes an investment. Your success with customers also has an obvious and direct impact on salary increases, winning sales contests, trips, and any other leadership awards that your company offers.

Reputation

Here is where it truly gets personal. The experience that you provide your customer throughout the sales cycle is a direct reflection of your level of professionalism and that of the organization that you represent. Again, even though we often assume in a B2B relationship that decisions are made purely based on the quality and ROI of the solution, it is your behavior that will often determine whether the customer chooses to invest with you. This impression will remain with the customer whether you win or lose the current opportunity. It will have an impact on any future business that you seek from this customer and any future business that your company pursues if the individuals from this customer move on to other customers. From the customer’s perspective, the success or failure of their project goes beyond the financial responsibilities discussed above. Their career path is impacted by the choices they make and their ability to be effective. Their decision to invest in your solution therefore becomes very personal in that they need to be known as someone who makes sound choices for their company. No one wants to be known as the person who invested in an inferior solution, a solution offered by a supplier on shaky financial footing, goes over budget, fails to deliver on time, etc.

We, both supplier and customer, should always strive to keep our relationships focused on business value and positive customer outcomes. However, we cannot ever forget that we are human and our business decisions, no matter how objective, always have a personal impact.

And So We Begin Again…

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Now that the new year is three weeks old, you likely have your new territory assignments, understand your new incentive plan, are familiar with your new product offerings, have been briefed on any new organizational constructs, and have refreshed your ideas about how you are going to engage with your customers. With that in mind, let’s ruminate a bit on the possibilities of 2016 by revisiting Peter Drucker’s classic five critical questions that any business should be able to answer. I have a few ideas, but your true path to success in 2016 lies in how you answer these for your own business.

What is our mission?

This answer is pretty straightforward. The mission of technical sales continues to be helping customers design and deploy solutions to help them run their business while expanding your own. Everything that you do, as long as it is not illegal, immoral, or against your company’s or your customers’ policies, should contribute to that mission.

Who is our customer?

The most obvious “Sales 101” answer is the customer is the person who has the authority to make the purchase. However, in a complex business-to-business selling environment that is driven by long-term relationships and past successes, it is never that simple. There are always multiple stakeholders to consider. This answer will vary opportunity by opportunity, customer by customer, and depend on the stage and the status of each opportunity pursuit. As you map out your strategy and win plan for each of your opportunities, you have to consider all of the individuals who will have some influence over the investment in your solution. In some situations, the true customer may actually be your customer’s customer.

What does the customer value?

The new year is a great time to establish what goals and targets have been assigned to your customer. Remember, your true goal is to help them run their business using your solutions, so you need to understand their definition of success. In addition to your technology, what else can you personally, your company, or your colleagues bring to your relationship with the customer to add value? Zeroing in on the values and desires of your customer’s customer may also pave a path to success. In fact, one way to differentiate yourself from your competitors may be a design thinking approach that helps your customer better identify the true needs of their target market. These sorts of discussions can sometimes illuminate new products, solutions, and alternative uses for your technology that neither you nor your customer had previously considered.

What are our results?

It is easy to answer this question with fundamental business results such as pipeline, revenue growth, profit, and market expansion. And all of those are absolutely essential to your business. However, is it possible to focus on your customers’ results or successes? Is it the launch of a new product offering? Is it a reduction in business cycle times or release cycles for new products? Is it a more efficient supply chain? Since customers typically only invest in new solutions to make money, save money, or mitigate risk, how do they quantify these? Quantifying customer value and using it to help define your results may be the true path to differentiation for your business.

What is our plan?

Or, more directly, what is YOUR plan to bring the answers to the previous four questions together to run your business? This should be answered not only in the context of your broader territory, but at every moment in the sales cycle for your individual transactions. You own the opportunity and the customer relationship, so what are you going to do to progress it? What team needs to be assembled? What are the team members’ assignments? What is the timeline? Does the customer agree with your plan? If you do not know your next steps to move the opportunity forward, secure the technical win, or advocate for your solution with your customer, how do you expect to win?

Thoughtful and actionable answers to these five questions, revised as appropriate throughout an opportunity’s life cycle, will keep you focused on the most important elements of your business. The beginning of a new year is when many operational aspects of a sales organization hit the proverbial reset button. Your success in 2016 lies in your ability to answer and execute on these key questions. Good luck and good selling!

If You Didn’t Write It Down, It Never Happened

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The title above comes from a major plot device in Tom Clancy’s prescient 1994 thriller, “Debt of Honor”. It has come to be one of my favorite business & management cliches because, as with most cliches, it is true. I have found that it provides a compelling answer to a common question – “do you want me to drive new investment from my customers, or do you want me to report on it?”

An attractive aspect of the technical sales profession is the freedom. It is exciting to spend time with customers, understand their business needs, and help them apply technical solutions to those needs. The best sales engineers are self starters who are willing to step up, proactively engage with their customers, and find creative ways to solve business challenges. Another characteristic of such individuals is that they often de-prioritize administrative and reporting responsibilities. Sometimes to the point of completely ignoring them. There is no “balance” to be struck between driving new business and reporting on what new business is being driven and how. Rather, the latter should be done in support of the former. Many want to focus solely on their business outcomes such as revenue target attainment, profitability, or new customer acquisition, and ignore discussions about the behaviors and activities that enabled them to achieve those outcomes. Or not achieve those outcomes, as the case may be. Such behavior on the part of the seller can often lead to poor relationships with their management and get the offending rep tagged with the career limiting label of prima donna.

I don’t want that to happen to you, so let’s have a discussion about reporting. The primary and obvious reason for you to execute your business reporting responsibilities is because your management and your company require you to do it. If that is not enough, here are some other reasons that may or may not be so obvious:

  • If and when you leave this position, you will want to leave a foundation of what you are working on, current opportunities, status, etc. in order to most effectively transition your role to your replacement. Unless you are into burning bridges. If you are transferring to another position in your company, the timing of your transition may in fact be determined by how easily your current responsibilities can be given to your replacement.
  • If and when your current manager leaves their position, you need a foundation to start conversations with their replacement. Imagine the impression you will make with your new manager and the command of your territory you can show by having everything in order.
  • Customer commitments, vacation, and other aspects of this very fluid profession may mean that you go for some time without a one-on-one cadence discussion with your manager. Having updated documentation gives your management the status that they may need to answer questions from THEIR management. Similar to the two points above, never underestimate the value of making your manager’s job easier.
  • No matter how successful you are, there will be some point in which you will fall behind in pipeline or making your revenue plan. In those times you are going to need to ensure that all of your activity and reporting systems are accurate and up to date. If your output is not meeting expectations, you need to demonstrate that you are doing everything else correctly and the results may be indicative of conditions beyond your control.
  • Taking the time to record the next steps in an opportunity pursuit forces you to truly consider what options you need to be considering for your next step(s). It also sets the stage for any coaching conversations with your management or collaboration discussions with your peers.
  • In our age of instrumentation, your organization is likely looking for measures and analytics to better understand the efficiency of the sales function. Keeping your information updated ensures that your methods, deliverables, successes, and failures are represented in the broader operation of your business. You should do your part to improve the overall organization. You will be impacted by any job role changes that are driven by such analysis.

You don’t have to be a history buff to understand why if you didn’t write it down, it never happened. Whether keeping your CRM updated to build a more complete profile of your customer, accurately forecasting your opportunities, driving companywide efficiency efforts, or simply meeting your management’s expectations, the answer to “do you want me to do my job or report on it?” is an unequivocal “yes”.