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.