SalesGrok

Success in 2011

As we look back at 2010 and plan for 2011, I thought I would share a resource that has been instrumental to my planning and goal setting.

Investor's Business Daily has spent years analyzing leaders and successful people in all walks of life. The majority of these leaders have maintained traits that have help them turn their dreams into reality.

Here are IBD's 10 secrets to success. I hope you will find them as instructive as I have.

1. How you think is everything. Always be positive. Think success, not failure. Beware of a negative environment
2. Decide upon your true dreams and goals. Write down your specific goals and develop a plan to reach them.
3. Take action. Goals are nothing without action. Don't be afraid to get started. Just do it.
4. Never stop learning. Go back to school or read books. Get training and acquire skills.
5. Be persistent and work hard. Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Never give up.
6. Learn to analyze details. Get all the facts, all the input. Learn from your mistakes.
7. Focus your time and money. Don't let other people or things distract you
8. Don't be afraid to innovate; be different. Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity.
9. Dealing communicate with people effectively. No person is an island. Learn to understand and motivate others.
10. Be honest and dependable; take responsibility. Otherwise, numbers one through nine don't matter.

Each day, IBD highlights one of these traits in its Leaders & Success column. Give it a look today, and check back regularly for inspiration and ideas.

Cheers to a happy & prosperous 2011!!!

Do you Grok it?

Checkmate!

My son and I played in an inter-school chess tourney last weekend. My first match was against an 11 year old with a 1700 rating.  I quickly realized I was a bit rusty when he took my pawn by "En passant".  Fortunately, my boy carried me and we ended up in 4th place in our division! 

The experience got me thinking about the parallels between chess and sales. Since its origin in the 15th century, Chess was and is one of the most basic forms of strategy and vision. Experienced players often plan 50 or more moves in advance of a match, including specific opening and attack sequences. Through years of practice and study, masters gain the ability to perceive key patterns in any given position. According to a 1999 CIA study, the masters had near total positional recall when all pieces are removed from the board.

Benjamin Franklin, in "The Morals of Chess" (1750), wrote: "The Game of Chess is not merely an idle amusement; several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired and strengthened by it, so as to become habits ready on all occasions; for life is a kind of Chess..." 

Whether or not you play chess, you can employ key components of the game to improve your sales effectiveness. In complex sales environments, it is imperative not only to plan your strategy in advance of and during your sales engagements, but also to anticipate every possible problem or challenge.  Remember these key elements of chess in your next opportunity:

Understand how the pieces move (each player has 16 pieces under his control at the start)           To what extent do you understand your customer's business? What does the buying process look like?  Who are the key players and what motivates them? What behavioral patterns can you identify and leverage?

Know the experience level of your opponent (amateur to grandmaster)                            How well do you know your competition?  Can you anticipate their moves? What makes yours the superior solution? How can you help your sponsor win and vice versa?

Minimize attrition of key pieces (protect your Rooks, Queen and King)                                            What moves are your customers likely to make?  Has your prospect done this before? What happened last time?  How can you negate the competition's strengths and exploit their weaknesses? What tanglible and intangible elements or requirements will provide advantage?

Achieve Checkmate (Victory for you and your customer)                                                                    What will it take to win?  How will your execution plan ensure success after the sale is consummated?

Some might say that the chess analogy is too adversarial for the new paradigm of selling. After all the customer is a partner, not an opponent, right?  Absolutely true as the relationship matures. In order to get to that point, you need to employ a chess-like strategy with preparation and intelligence!

Interested in learning more about chess strategy?  Check out these books (which go much, much deeper into the game):

• Practical Chess Exercises: 600 Lessons from Tactics to Strategy (2007)
  
• Weapons of Chess: An Omnibus of Chess Strategies (1989)
• Chess Tactics for Champions (2006)

Pick one up and you'll have a leg to stand on next you visit Harvard Square...

Do you Grok it?

2009 - The Year to Shine

Happy New Year, Grokers!  Hope you brought in the New Year with a bang!!

After all the family time, revelry and hang over remedies, I took the time to write down a few goals for the year - like "take a 2 week vacation with the family" and "buy $20,000 in Gold".  For the last five years, I've written a few top priority goals for the year, put them in my sock drawer and look at them every morning.  Guess what?  It works so do it!

OK, I'm one of those superstitious types that must eat black-eyed peas and cabbage (for luck and wealth dontchaknow?) on the 1st day of the year.  This year we were out of cabbage so I had to make a grocery store run at half time.  Many thanks to the good folks at Walmart for coming through!