Business leaders for years have been taught to write a mission statement, a values statement , distinctive competence, and their Unique Sales Proposition. Leadership teams are sequestered off to three-day retreats to write these statements only to often return and go right back to practicing what prompted the retreat in the first place…Why? The reason is far too often is the “work” they did at the retreat was all “head work” and lacked “heart work”.
The quickest way to jumpstart sales as well as the morale of your team is to create a “Passion Statement”.
So what is a passion statement? A passion statement is something I help my clients to create that explains;
what problem your product or service solves?
who do we solve it for? Who are our buyer personas?
what emotion does our solving the problem create in our clients?
what emotion does solving our clients problems create for us?
If you study companies who have become market leaders they very seldom set out to build huge profitable companies. In the majority of the cases they saw a problem that someone had and set out passionately to solve that problem. Their focus was not as much a business as it was a quest.
For years we have heard; “fake it until you make it” , unfortunately however you can not fake a passion to serve your clients and your market.Your customers will quickly detect inauthentic commitments to serve.
An authentic passion ( quest) to serve your markets unresolved problems takes your business to another level in the minds and hearts of your market.
Let me give you two examples of companies I have helped. One is a typical stale example without passion often find after interviewing their team and their customers, the other a passion statement we all can rally behind.
Example A
“our business’s purpose is to create wealth for our owners and shareholders. We plan to accomplish this by charging the maximum price the market will bear for our product and service and we plan to hold our employees and partners accountable to this objective…” ( don’t worry once the CEO understood this was his teams’ perception ( and his customer’s) of why they were in business we helped them to change this )
Client Name not shared for obvious reasons
Example B
“Our passion is to helping consumers with physical disabilities from the waist down experience the rush and freedom that results from riding a motorcycle.We are committed to helping our clients connect to their passion or riding”
Which company is “selling” you and which company is “helping you buy”?
If you had to state your company’s passion statement today…is it more about what you want? Or is it about serving an unmet need of your customers? ( by the way, I do not mean the statement written on posters, shared in quarterly meeting …I mean the mission your team ( and your customers) perceive it to be)
Who would you rather compete against… company A or B? Why?
Ok …I hear you CFO’s and bottom line driven CEO’s out their saying …”Ya… but…” so let me assure you that if you study the most profitable market leading companies they have a passion statement.
Still not a believer? In my next post I will share the signs that you need a Passion Statement.
Historically, at any given time six out of ten US adults is thinking about starting their own business. A number of new entrepreneurs are emerging that I refer to as “necessity-preneurs “who were downsized and can not find new employment, are deciding to launch their own businesses as they want a much more active role in the security of their careers. The last group are cashing in their 401k and or borrowing from friends or family to buy an existing business and in a short amount of time realize they really just bought a job and they are quickly running out of cash.
One thing I have learned over the past 25 years of identifying roadblocks impeding businesses profitable growth is there really is not any new creations in terms of problems and strategies to grow a profitable business. Peter Drucker simplified it even further; there are only two considerations; innovation or marketing.
Just as I shared 12 mentor moments that I have used personally over the years to help businesses grow profitably, I have the Top 20 entrepreneur best practices that I have observed and lived over the years.
The above are by no means an all inclusive list of every entrepreneur best practice but they are some of my favorites. The post that seemed to resonate the most and create the greatest number of discussions was the difference between creating “more” sales versus “creating sales velocity” ( entrepreneur best practice #1).
How about you….do you have an Entrepreneurial Best Practice you use regularly and would like to share?
Of the above which best practice(s) resonate most with you?
Which of the above do most entrepreneurs struggle the most with based on your observations?
Is there a Key best practice not identified? (If so please add to the discussion)
As we move into 2010 which of the above Best practices do you feel will resonate most? Why?
Thanks for hanging with me in this series of posts and I want to particularly thank those who have reached out to me personally to discuss this series of posts. As I have discussed, I enjoy helping entrepreneurs realize profitable growth and the strategies discussed are not new. One of my goals in blogging is to help business owners who may not be able to afford outside help at this time and I hope this blog adds value.
If you are wired to take on the 50 Ugly truths of starting and owning your own business and you have intentionally chosen to do it anyway I hope the above best practices were of value to you and your team.
Entrepreneurs will lead our country to economic recovery and I am proud to serve this innovative group of passionate problem solvers along with my other clients.
The majority of customers are honest hard working people, like you, looking for someone to help them solve their problems. They do not have a problem paying for the value exchange they receive from you. There are however those low life’s out there who will engage with you and have no intention of paying you. I included this in my eBook: 50 ugly truths about starting your own business…and why you should do it anyway, as it often shocks and infuriates new entrepreneurs. Although these low life’s will attempt to stiff you, you don’t have to let them burn you.
I can still remember the first person who failed to pay me. Although it was many years ago, it was one of those tough leadership muscle building lessons during bootstrapping. I was asked by an investor to engage with one of his portfolio companies to figure out what was wrong and turn it around. I have played this role a number of times serving VC’s and Angel investors and I enjoy the assessment and turnaround of entrepreneurial teams.
When I first met the young CEO at the helm of this organization my gut said run away. He was an arrogant young man who was irritated that I was even asked to help fix his team’s poor performance. He was irritated the board and the investors did not seem to buy his explanation that the reason for his shortfall to goals was: a poor economy. He was concerned that I would share what I find with the investor who brought me in to serve his team, and for the first two months he instructed his team to run their answers to all my questions by him prior to answering me. (Another sign I should have run away)
I tried to build trust and I advised this young CEO the issues I discovered and made recommendations. One recommendation was the need to explain the problems he solves for his clients with an aggressive messaging plan targeting his optimum buyer personas. His response was one I have heard by CEO founders before…” we do not need marketing…the market clearly understands what we have…I just need hungrier salespeople.” (So he cut their base pay to make them hungrier) He could not have been more wrong. Since he instructed his team to not openly share information with me I went into his market and interviewed his past, current, and targeted new customers. I found the market was in fact aware of his business, but they consistently did not understand how this business could solve their problems…the market branded his business by default.
After a number of months the retainer payments were paid later and later and eventually they stopped. While he told me and his team the business was really struggling, he personally leased a Hummer, bought himself an expensive laptop and went on a trip internationally with his wife. (But that’s another post)
I was so connected to helping this team and investor; this company properly brand the business in the market I failed to pay attention to his not paying me. What started out as “ I will pay you next week…turned to next month…and after two months I was informed he can not pay, and he was actually shocked I would ask for the payment of my small retainer given the difficulties the business was having as he shared at a recent board meeting I was asked to attend”.
There are two schools of thought with customers who do not pay you. The first says write it off as bad debt and move on. In this case this young CEO went on to say “you don’t want to be known as someone who sues his clients do you?” (I later found he had said many times before, and had I done my homework on him this could have been prevented)
The only thing worst than not having customers is selling customers who do not pay.
The second thought is you have provided a value and you should expect payment. Customers who fail to pay will be sent to collections and or sued. I actually do want to have the reputation of suing clients who do not pay as this will help weed out the low life’s who become time vampires sucking the life out of you with no intent on paying. So I went to the courthouse filled out the proper paperwork and we went to court. The judge provided a judgment in my favor and as we left the courthouse this young CEO went on to say …” good luck collecting you @# hole” Sure enough after multiple attempts to collect he failed to pay . The next phase of this process required an attorney and we won that judgment as well with interest.
This young CEO stiffed me. However where I blew it was I became angry, I allowed it to stick to me.
Anger is an acid that only burns the container that tries to hold it.
I let this young man’s poor ethics personally affect me. Anger left unchecked can turn to depression and leaves us feeling bitter. As I worked with new clients I built processes and procedures for the less than 1% of business owners out there who are the low life’s like this young CEO. That unchecked bitterness stayed with me and became a frequent thought; small business owners will stiff you if you fail to protect yourself. This thought repeated over and over again became a belief, stemming from one unethical young man. It failed to recognize a sea of very prosperous relationships I have enjoyed with past customers over the past 25 years, and it tainted my outlook. My coach eventually brought this bitterness to my attention and explained I needed to forgive this young man and move on… Not for his sake, but for mine.
What should you do if a customer stiffs you?
Seek first to understand
determine if this a deadbeat with a history of treating partners like this or someone who needs you to work with them
cut bait early, with the first missed payment, services must stop
if they refuse to pay, start collections proceeding immediately
ask yourself what lesson ( often expensive lesson) can you learn for this experience to insure it does not occur again
forgive their unethical behavior for your sake, not theirs
move on, as the Bible says, “dust off your sandals and move on” As 99% of customers are ethical people
do not allow this bad experience to taint how you treat current and new customers
Anger if left unchecked is like acid, and it only damages the container that tries to keep it contained.
As an Entrepreneur customers will stiff you but they need not burn you. One of the best ways to prevent serving someone that does not pay you occurs at the beginning of the relationship. Just as your customers are qualifying you early on, you too must qualify them.
Ask yourself…
Is this someone I want to work with?
What does the market say about this company? This person?
Do I trust this person with my money?
If you gut says “no” to any of the above move on to others who would truly value your product or service.
How about you and your organization….
How do you deal with deadbeats who try to stiff you?
Do they just stiff you…or do they also burn you?
Have you established processes and procedures that screams your lack of trust in new clients based on your bitterness?
Do your current processes and procedure cater to the 99% of ethical customers or the 1% who are the low life’s?
If a deadbeat makes it through your pre engagement qualification process, and if they do stiff you I recommend you engage the various collections procedures within the law, and you personally forgive them and move on to serving the 99% of those in the market who will value your product or service.
As an aside I bumped into the investor who asked me to help this young CEO and now the list of vendors he has stiffed is very long and his business continues to suffer missing key performance indicators and has high turnover. I call it “Business Karma”; others say “what comes around goes around.”
Markets. like people, trust or do not trust businesses. When markets hear often enough that someone in their community of service providers is a deadbeat, the market ostracizes that owner, that business, which only further accelerates their death spiral into personal and business bankruptcy.
At any given time 6 out of 10 US adults are thinking about starting their own business. Half of those will attempt to launch their own business. As I discuss in my eBook;50 Ugly truths about starting your own business …and why you should do it anyway, they often enter into their own business with a false set of expectations. One of these false expectations is their “idea” is a product and even more disturbing is when they start investing to support their idea as a business. Recognizing the majority of those who launch a new business will fail within 18 months, one of the common contributors to their demise is not asking the right questions.
Before you ask friends and family for start up money, before you tap into your home equity and 401k, and definitely before you quit your day job…you need to play “20 questions”.
You must verify your “idea” can be monetized into a viable business before you launch.
20 questions to ask before you invest;
#1 what problem does your product or service solve?
#2 how big of a market is there for this problem? This pain and or need?
#3 how are those who have this problem solving it now?
#4 clearly articulates your secret sauce, other words what is your unique selling proposition?
#5 is there replacement products in existence that could solve the problem?
#6 who is the market leader in the space you plan to enter?
#7 how many other competitors are there in this space?
#8 what is your level of understanding of this market?
#9 is your idea a product or IP that can be patented?
#10 what stage is this market in terms of its lifecycle? Infancy, growth, mature..?
#11 what level of support will be required to serve this market? Do you personally have expertise in running a business?
#12 what are the distribution channels of this market?
#13 what is the buying cycle?
#14 what is the common payment terms for this market?
#15 Do the potential buyers of your new product have the ability to pay for it?
#16 is there any legal and or compliance issues this product must pass prior to launch?
#17 what do you estimate is the total costs per unit of sale, transaction
#18 what is the anticipated number of units sold in year one? What % of the market opportunity does this represent?
#19 what is the number of units needed to break even with your upfront investment?
#20 How much cash will you need, based on the buying cycle, the costs, payment terms and distribution channels to launch this product or service?
Once you have answers to the above we can start to have a good discussion about your new idea and how you may be able to monetize it. Unfortunately however far too often entrepreneurs get that rush, that “buck fever” and they stop asking rational , needed , questions and they attach their focus on the days when…
When they become millionaires…
When they are recognized in their community…
When they sell their business for millions and retire without a care in the world
All of these When’s can become a reality if you spend the time upfront understanding the market, its buyers and their needs.
Although this idea you have may be so obvious to you, you can not assume nor extrapolate that assumption across the market without real market data.
If you have an idea, that may be the next iPod, do yourself a favor and play 20 questions before you invest one dime in making your idea a product or service.
How about your organization….
Do you launch new products or services because one of your Hippo’s says so, without market data?
Have you launched products that failed to meet ROI targets?
If you are in sales, how did it make you feel when you were given a goal, and told to make it happen …only to find out your marketing needed to “create a need for it”?
If you are the president or CEO, what processes and procedures do you have in place to insure your teams are asking at least 20 questions?
Market leaders understand the importance of building new products and services from the market need up, versus the ivory tower down.
Market losers have a; ready – fire – aim launch process.
I have heard entrepreneurs say; “any marketing is better than no marketing at all…” and they can say this…but they would be wrong! Entrepreneurial leaders must insure the marketing vehicles and tactics they use support their brand and do not create an interruption.
Market leaders understand their buyers, their buying process and buying criteria.
Market leaders create sales velocity because everything they do has continuity with their brand.
Market losers create a variety of marketing tools and “throw them against the wall” of their market and wait to… “see what sticks”.
Market losers scare business away, and their energy and budgets are used to grow competitors’ businesses.
I Love being a Chase Bank customer.
I have used a number of banks over the years…Bank of America, Key Corp, and so on. However the service I get from Chase Bank seems to feel different, it’s as if they know me, and they answer my questions before I ask them. Just yesterday my wife and I met with Dennis at our local branch and he was obviously trained to serve his clients. When other banks have made us feel like we were putting their associates out , Dennis was like the Van’s Golf employees name tags that say “sure not problem” Even the experience of walking into one of their locations “feels” different in how you are greeted and guided to the right person to help you. So imagine my surprise after a doctor appointment to come out to my car and see a windshield flier under my wiper from Chase Bank. This was an interruption for me.
Marketing interruptions make current customers pause…and bad things happen when customers pause.
For example, at first I smiled and threw their flier in my trunk to throw away later. As I drove to my next appointment however my mind wandered…
I have been reading about banks in trouble
Is my bank…Chase Bank, in trouble?
Should I maybe check out Wells Fargo or maybe open an account with Bank America again just to play it safe?
Didn’t I just read they were downsizing?…. ut oh
However my mind quickly came to terms with what has a higher probability of truth; It was the end of August ( end of the month race to hit numbers), and some salesperson , a hunter by nature ( which is awesome) needed business. So as opposed to sitting in the branch waiting for business to come to them, they took initiative and made some purple fliers and more than likely spent hours in the 104 degree Arizona heat stuffing them under windshield wipers in hopes this would drive new business. I had a pizza shop as a client years ago that could ramp up or down his sales by the number of windshield fliers he would have his drivers place. It became a predictable outcome for him over time.
However, the way a pizza shop or even a gas station chases new business is significantly different than what I would expect from my trusted bank, and the two should never be confused.
As I discussed, entrepreneurial leaders have bad things happen when they “assume”. “Well if windshield fliers work for pizza shops and gas stations…why not…” The “why not” is whatever you do must be intentional and have continuity with your brand image, your brand promise in the minds of buyers in your market.
In defense of Chase Bank, I have had rogue sales guys and even sales managers do much worst over the years. As I said I have to smile that at least they tried! Leaders, no matter what the size of their organization, must remember;
If marketing does not create tools that help salespeople hit their objectives, sales will create their own…and although you appreciate their “be a part of the solution” attitude it may cause your market to pause. When markets experience a pause, an interruption in the brand image …bad things happens.
How about your company…..
Are your salespeople creating their own tools to hit their numbers?
…Are you sure?
What policies and procedures do you have in place to insure your brand image is protected and reinforced?
Have you ever had your salespeople create their own tools…tell me about it.
From the number of fliers blowing around in the parking lot now as “marketing litter” I could tell most of the people who had fliers under their wipers did not value this communication attempt by Chase Bank. I would be interested to know from Chase Bank if this tactic is a marketing approved new business program or if I was correct a local branch went off the marketing reservation. If this tactic does in fact drive needed new business at moth end that is greater the negative impact it has on their brand in the mind of the market.
Entrepreneurs often make a common mistake …they assume, and then they extrapolate.
They assume because they are a member of a market and they have a problem others too want to pay to have this problem solved. Secondly they fail to do research (after all it’s expensive right?) so they extrapolate.
When Entrepreneurs assume and extrapolate they lose.
When leaders rely on their personal experience, their gut and intuition they become one of the 90% of small businesses launched each year that fail within 18 months. When leaders with an entrepreneurial spirit in large organizations launch without current market data, their products are discontinued and removed from the shelf within 12 months…(and sometimes the leader joins their products in the recycle bin.)
Keep in mind: YOU ARE NOT YOUR MARKET!
How about your organization…
Do you have entrepreneurial leaders who shoot from the hip based on their past experience, their gut and intuition?
Have you ever launched something you, your wife, and all your golf buddies thought was brilliant only to sell 1/10 of what you forecasted in the ROI to justify production?
How do entrepreneurial leaders build their discernment muscles to rely more on market data and less on their gut?
Every once in a while someone will get lucky and hit the market with a product that solves a pain they had, and luckily many others have. However I would prefer to mitigate my risk by doing more homework upfront…
Not all customers are good customers, and not all new business is good new business. Entrepreneurs are often faced with a dilemma; do I compromise my price, and or my service to make the cash register sing?…in these economic times I probably should right?
The answer is a definitive: NO.
Market leaders provide value and realize a fair value exchange from their customers.
Market losers chase every sale, and often learn to regret those they should have passed by.
When you land an account, a customer you should have “thrown back” they often bring a new set of problems;
They are often “time vampires”…sucking the life out of you
They do not value your work and will always be working you to discount what your do
They become service nightmares
They often short pay you
They often become a collections problem
Sometimes you do the work and they never pay you (I particularly hate this one)
…that is why we must learn how to “cut bait” and get back to fishing.
I enjoy fishing. I can spend hours out fishing enjoying nature and the quiet. It’s one of the few things I do that helps quiet my busy mind like church. Often times when I fish in a new fishing hole I am not familiar with… I get snags. You know …you have your bait in the water, and something takes the bait. It could be a fish, (and you hope based on how your fishing rod is bending a BIG fish) but more often than not you have a snag.
On rare occasions it actually is a large fish. One time I was convinced I must have snagged my bait on an underwater log and much to my surprise found a large cat fish on the other end of my line.
More often than not though whatever has my bait is a distraction, a snag and it is something that is taking me away from doing what I love to do…fishing and catching fish.
What we must build as entrepreneurs is the discipline to “cut bait” early and get back to fishing.
We often waste too much time “hoping” we have a large fish on the other end of the line when there is a high probability you have a YAFO snag.
I received a call from a local financial planner whose business revenue from fees has dropped over 40% in the last year and wanted to know if my 10 step process would work for a financial planner. The answer was quickly yes as I used this process in the financial industry serving a 401k third party administrator and we quickly grew his business. Keeping with my fishing analogy, I had a nibble.
After answering his questions he asked if he could take me to lunch to learn more…I have one on the line…(I think) As we enjoyed some great Chinese food, he wanted to know my 10 steps and how it works. I explained that that is what people pay me for, however I will be happy to share some success stories I have had using this process. As we closed lunch he asked I send him a proposal and he said …”but remember I am a financial advisor and not one of those big companies you help.”
To a fault I love helping people, so I wrestled with a price model that would drive the growth he needed and compensate me fairly for the time I would be giving his project. I developed a program that had a modest upfront cost, a monthly retainer and an aggressive compensation for me on every new account my work landed for him.
I compromised my standard price model to help him. We went back and forth for days with emails and eventually he asked for only the small upfront fee and no compensation on the business my work would bring him or monthly retainer….and I almost took it, bur instead…
I quickly cut bait.
I should have cut bait even sooner as in the flurry of emails I quickly learned he was more attached to the “cost” and not the “outcome “of my work. He has been paying a coach a modest amount per month for years and thought I should match or beat this price. I asked him to read all the nice comments people I have helped in the past put on my web site, linked in, and so on. I even gave him some past customers to call….but his attachment was on cost not benefits, and he definitely did not have a strong enough desire (yet) to have his problem ( pain) solved.
Where I blew it was not cutting bait sooner. As I have shared, I just love helping people, particularly leaders with an “entrepreneurial spirit”. However after I shared my compensation model and I modified it to meet his needs that we discussed, and he “snagged” I should have cut bait earlier.
While you wrestle with snags other fish are swimming by…often big hungry ones.
Market leaders know the value of cutting bait early and getting back to fishing.
Market losers chase every deal and compromise their business models, products and or services and are always disappointed in the end.
Having reeled in my share of tree limbs in my days on the lake, you spend time that could be out casting into better waters only to reel in something that at the end of the day does not put food on your table.
The opportunity cost of chasing bad business is too great.
How about your company….
Do you chase every deal …compromise your model to accommodate every snag?
How’s that working for you?
Have you trained your salespeople in the value of qualifying new business early, and the power in cutting bait?
Are you currently struggling with what you hope is a big fish….but you know has a probability of not putting food on your table?
“The Law of the Locker room”: after your work (out) is done, there is a high probability others too have seen this pain point the buyers in your market have that you set out to solve and will want to share that space. It does not mean you should quit, it just means; As an Entrepreneur never assume you are the only one who saw the problem and set out to make the pain go away.
As I have mentioned before, I like to work out first thing in the morning. If I wake up before the alarm as if often the case I can workout at my gym Mountainside Fitness at 4:30 am. What I like about working out so early is you pretty much have the gym to yourself. There are a few other crazy people there, but unlike Friday nights at 6:00 pm you can get your work done, without waiting on machines, and you are off to start your day.
What never ceases to amaze me is; “The Law of the Locker room”. Simply stated it goes something like this; no matter what time of day, or how little the number of the cars in the parking lot, nor how many lockers they have in the locker room, when your workout is done and you return to your locker…someone will have the locker right next to you, and you will have to share your space.
So what’s the relevance to entrepreneurs you might say? Well just last week I had lunch with two partners of a start up venture who asked for my help. They shared (an awesome product I plan to blog about after we launch) and I put a bit of a damper on their enthusiasm when I asked one simple question;
“Have you researched to see if others have seen the problem you are setting out to solve, and if so does any of them have patents that your new product violates?”
Entrepreneurs who see problems and set out to solve them must never assume they are the only one who sees this problem.
Entrepreneurs must never assume they are the only one who sees the market problem and they are the only one setting out to solve it.
Like the Disney ride my daughter loved when she was young that’s song still echo’s in my mind “it’s a small world after all…it’s a small, small, world.”
I recommend my clients: assume others are trying to solve this problem, have solved this pain, and ask yourself why a buyer should choose you over the others?
How do you know if others have or are setting out to solve this problem?
Google
Google your product as if it already was in the market. Google the problem you are setting out to solve. You definitely want to Google the name you plan to call your product. For example I will be launching a seminar to help entrepreneurs late this year. When I Goggled what I had planned to call “my” seminar there were 989,000 entries in Google. As I reviewed them further I found one person pretty much owns what I had planned to call my seminar. I could boldly launch as like most entrepreneurs as I am convinced the other content out there can’t be as good as mine…or I need a new name for my seminar that I can own.
The Market
If the need, the pain, you are trying to solve is big enough, ask people in the market how they make the pain go away today. Find out if what others in the space are doing completely solves your market’s pain, or is a just an incremental solution. What you will often find is most people, if presented with something can poke holes in it. If you are an entrepreneur you have learned what most people can not do it create solutions…that is your gift. So listen to your market, let them share their gifts and apply yours.
Patent Search
This part scares most start ups and seasoned pro’s alike but it is a must if you feel you have a unique product or service. What scares most are the perceived fees, and yes this can get expensive. But let me ask you a question;
What is more expensive in the long run, a Patent search before you launch…or finding out after you launch (and you invest your 401k, loans from family and friends, and use your home equity) that you violate someone else’s patent?
Remember “The Law of the Locker room”: after your work (out) is done, there is a high probability others too have seen this pain point the buyers in your market have. It does not mean you should quit, it just means;
As an Entrepreneur never assume you are the only one who saw the problem and set out to make the pain go away.
How about your organization…..
Has your team launched something only to find many others in that space…after you launched?
How did that make your sales guys feel?
How do you think it made you look in the eyes of your current customers and the market that you did not know?
Have you ever designed-built-launched a perfect solution to your buyer’s pain only to be shut down by a patent violation? (I have, when I did not have grey hair and it sucked!)
The good news is you have the “Entrepreneurial DNA Gene”; you too have a spider sense to see and want to solve pains your buyers have.
They say “reasonable people if given accurate information make reasonable decisions” so please take a few extra steps before you invest and launch your product or service.
And if you do, you can thank me by forwarding a link of this post to your other 9 entrepreneur buddies who may not know the law of the locker room…it’s a small small world after all…
For the past 25 years I have helped entrepreneurs realize what I refer to as Explosive Sales Growth, or said another way;
I help organizations Create sales velocity.
Sales velocity occurs when you connect your product or service to a market need, and create messages that clearly tells them how you solve those needs for your buyers.
Sales Velocity is Sales Acceleration, with Direction and creates Momentum.
Creating Sales Velocity is one common need every business has, particularly in 2009.
A few nights ago I attended the local TIE event here in Phoenix. As I mingled with entrepreneurs before our guest speaker I heard a constant need;
I have an amazing product (service) but we need “more” sales…now!
I met with a number of entrepreneurs and their passion for creating something bigger than themselves seemed dampened by the immediate need for sales. I shared some “quick win” techniques that always work for me, but I went on to explain that what they really want is to create Sales Velocity.
Sales Acceleration
I have helped entrepreneurs and their teams grow businesses and what they often need first is sales acceleration. What I mean by this is a number of quick wins in new accounts or new products placed in existing accounts. A big part of sales acceleration is intentionally driving the sales you want to grow. When entrepreneurs mistakenly say they want “more” sales, by default they are saying “any sale will do”.
Not all sales are good sales if they strain your team to “slightly” change your product or service.
These “slight “changes slowly pull you form the core of your business and distract focus.
I have served a variety of industries and the best way to create intentional sales acceleration is always they same; talk to your customers and others in your market. In doing so you must determine “current truths” because your gut and intuition alone will not drive the growth you desire.
Direction
I think we have all seen the monthly sales charts that resemble a heart rate versus a market leading organization. Sales are up, and then off, up, plateau, then drop.
As an entrepreneur you need sustainable, repeatable sales or your personal heart rate will fluctuate as you try to plan cash flow.
When you implement a ; creation of sales velocity mind set, you have specific targets that support your overall vision, road map and serve market needs.
Momentum
One of my favorite classes in high school was Math and Physics. (odd for a sales guy huh?) The concept of momentum always fascinated me. How a body of mass moving with direction creates an energy of its own, and that energy can be transferred to other things that the mass bumps into.
Sales momentum occurs when your sales pick up in a positive, intentional direction with velocity.
Now the fun part, if you have two particles ( sales) , with masses and and velocities and , the total momentum of these particles , is
However, if you have one particle (sale) going to the right, the other to the left they cancel each other out. ( how sales and marketing often act) Once you pay commission you have a net negative effect on your bottom line for the energy produced. If you sum the two momenta together, you get a total momentum of zero. ( this is what often occurs when sales teams are asked to …”hit your numbers and make it happen” …because that is what we “sales guys” are wired to do. However if not directionally focused and aligned with your road map the net result over time is zero added value to your bottom line( and often reduces the value of your business).
The real fun begins when you have a number of particles (sales) bouncing around in the right direction. The equation gets a little sophisticated and the total momentum of N particles (sales), of masses and velocities as
The net result is increased sales and the valuation of your business increases if done correctly.
(Thanks to Joshua Deutsch for the above equations.)
As an entrepreneur and future market leader you do not want “more “sales you want “sales velocity”. When you realize sales velocity you experience sales acceleration with direction that builds a sustainable momentum over time.
Sustainable momentum provides predictable cash flows and helps you find willing investors for future expansion.
How about your team?
Do your sales look more like a heart rate monitor?
Do you have salespeople “making it happen” but the way they are making it happens seems to cancel each other out?
Are you or your salespeople running in many directions, getting your organization exhausted …without building momentum?
Over my next series of posts I will be discussing entrepreneurial best practices. I will be sharing personal experiences of what worked as well as did not produce in hopes of helping entrepreneurs shorten their sales cycle and accelerate their revenues and profits, and most importantly the value of their business. I am always looking for thought leaders to contribute as it is my goal to add value to the entrepreneur community.
If you have thought leadership for entrepreneurs, please contact me.
Watching the current 2009 Health Care Reform Initiative has valuable lessons for all leaders throughout the world if we take time to pay attention. I think it was Einstein who said “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. The current 2009 Health Care Reform Initiative has strong emotional attachments regardless of which side of the debate you reside.
It is often the life lessons with emotional attachments we remember most.
The goal of my last series of blog posts was to share business lessons leaders can learn from watching and living the 2009 Health Care Reform Initiative. I tried to focus on the business principles and not take a partisan view. If you have read any of my posts you will not be surprised to learn I am a Christian, American, and Republican….in that order. I am proud to be an American and I admit we can always improve as a nation, however having traveled the world I can say first hand how blessed I feel to live in the United States.
As for our President, I follow what our Lord taught us in the Bible and I pray for him. I pray the Lord gives him and all our leaders wisdom, discernment, and the courage to act upon what the Lord instructs him to do.( and not those of this world) I have received a number of emails since launching this blog thread. A number of those felt I was “bashing” our President, and if my word choice made you feel that way I apologize.
As a man, I have no problem with President Obama and if asked I would welcome the opportunity to be a part of the solution.
As our leader I must follow him, support him. If he loses, I lose…we all lose.
What I challenge is the process of this initiative.
My intension was to ;
“focus on the problem and not the person”
There are a number of lessons we can glean from watching life lessons before us.
I am sure there are many more lessons if thought leaders wish to add content:
the impact of social media on the 2009 Health Care reform Initiative
Lessons in leadership when a launch goes bad
The cost(s) of change
The psychology of change
When tempers flair seek first to understand and find common ground
…and I am sure there are many more
12 Lessons All Leaders Can Learn About Launching New Products and Services …From the 2009 Health Care Reform?
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