Carson V. Heady's Blog, page 68

The Value and Variety of Feedback

Getting feedback, especially constructive or critical of your efforts, can be hard. Do we react and try to correct what we deem unfair? Do we ignore it completely? Or do we look for pieces of it that we can absolutely apply and use as a growth experience to better our process?

Consider this: Feedback can also be challenging to GIVE – especially brutally truthful feedback. Some enjoy tearing others down, but there are nuggets of wisdom and truth even in the most hateful approach.

Do you wait for feedback to be given to you, or do you proactively solicit it?

In my younger, less effective days, I was less open to feedback. I wanted someone to recognize my efforts and tell me “great job” because I knew I was working hard and results were great. But I was not complete – I had yet to be forced to adapt and evolve and pivot and truly grow. One of my most critical career mindset shifts came when I not only became open to all feedback but I proactively went after it – for a different perspective, a unique approach, and learning from the people that have mastered their craft before me. We’re all a mix of the best practices we pick up around us. Don’t ever be afraid to change and don’t stop looking for ways to improve just because you don’t like the source or nature of feedback.

The Mary Poppins Career Philosophy

Mary Poppins said, “In every job that must be done, there’s an element of fun. You find the fun and ‘SNAP’ – the job’s a game!” This applies to multiple areas of life and career. Case in point: I’m not really a fan of going to the gym 2 hours every day at 4:30 AM. I sacrifice sleep and energy. That said, I do enjoy the comments from my wife about the results and I also like moves and music. I’ll stream shows while on the treadmill that I would not have watched otherwise in my female-dominated home. I come up with some of my best ideas in these times before the madness of my home and work roles sweeps me away. And I am prepared to face the day. Apply this to your life and career: do you hate cold-calling and prospecting? Challenge yourself or peers to a contest of some sort to ascertain who can drum up the most leads or if you can better your best prospecting day with a concerted effort. Change up your usual calling “script” – have fun with a unique approach and laugh with prospective clients. Hate the paperwork and admin stuff? Schedule a call with someone else on your team who may be part of the process and do it together. Crank up the music. Play a movie in the background. Add something enjoyable to everything you’re less than enthusiastic about and you’ll dread it less.

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Self deprecation is endearing!

Self deprecation is endearing! Be humble in front of your audience, for they are always the most important part of the equation when you are working to gain trust and build a relationship. I’ve lived both ways; in my younger, dumber 20’s I had bombast and flair but real success is based on the value you add and the quality of relationships you are able to forge. Any relationship on the sales food chain (with a customer/client, business partner, peer, leader) only gets better when you are approachable, do everything you can to add value without focus on taking, and your primary missive is building consensus. Everything else will fall into place.

How to Use Sales Numbers Effectively

Numbers are necessary, but in the wrong hands they’re dangerous. Managers barking at employees telling them to sell more of this or that without a “how” is not productive. A leader, utilizing the numbers to diagnose a gap in process and crafting a recommendation to their team on how to improve process and effectively selling change by helping them see the benefit to the improved process is how numbers are used as part of betterment. The statistics tell a story to the right student, but you breathe life into the numbers for your people. Be sure they understand the lens you use to view these numbers, why they matter, how they are impacted, and the direct correlation to productivity, results and P&L.

Schedule Got You Overwhelmed?

Are you overwhelmed by your schedule? Double- and triple-booked often? Take a step back and analyze it day by day. How much of what you have on your itinerary is mission critical and will truly directly contribute to your short and long term plays?  Prioritize that first. The rest can be moved… and don’t feel guilty. Your top priority is adding value and being present for the people and events that matter, both personally and professionally. Period. Certainly make time for those other conversations and meetings that make sense, but move them to a day that’s a little less crowded. If that never happens, even more scrutiny on priorities may be required. Either way, the master of your schedule is YOU – don’t ever cede that control!

Sales: You need the short plays and the long plays

For every sales scenario, there is focus required on both a short play and long play without taking attention off the other. You may not realize an immediate benefit to some investments of your time and resources, but planting seeds for future harvest from a fruitful relationship is paramount to packing your pipeline. You may have immediate deal potential, but you do not want to sacrifice long-term credibility, strength of relationship or revenue because of short-sighted instant gratification. Rather, if there is some immediate revenue that can be had you do certainly want to realize it all while continuing to work toward the long play. In addition, when prospecting, do not discriminate toward either type of deal; you need deals now and will continue to need them in the future; a pipeline will yield no fruit if it is not continually filled. Short term plays will complement what you’ve been crafting from past pipeline and long term plays will continue to develop over time. There’s room for all revenue in the mix and that will always be the case. Make a concerted effort to prospect, target and close deals that can happen now all while continuing to add longer term sales cycle deals to your pipeline as well. Do this, and you’ll never be at a shortage for something ready to close.

The Power of Saying “Great job!”

Have you sincerely thanked someone today or told them “great job”? I’ve tried to make a concerted effort lately to make this a part of nearly every applicable conversation. It’s not common enough to praise or be thanked. Think about it: we rely so much on the value brought to us by others, and we’re nothing without the partnership. Even some of the most basic tasks from an outside view may take substantial investment of time and planning on the part of the doer. Never assume that not to be the case – if you are talking to someone who has gotten involved and helped a project in any way, say “Great job!” Notice the gratitude and often the change of tone on the other end. It’s yet another investment you can make in the relationship, and it will pay dividends: they will remember the way you’ve made them feel and it will inform future interactions as well. It’s not too late – tell someone “great job!” today!

Even bad managers have nuggets of wisdom!

Even bad managers have nuggets of wisdom! Something I’ve learned in my journey and across dozens of managers I’ve worked for and with is that even in the relationships that are frosty you can find some jewels that further your process. We have good managers and bad managers; some that are willing and able to evolve and truly care about our motivations and others who don’t: they lead through fear, manage everyone the same, etc. That said, I’ve taken morsels from everyone I’ve ever worked with. From these folks, I have learned a lot about what I can look for in reports, how to make these reports actionable and translate them into strategy, how to prioritize my day, things I can do to be more effective and certainly how I do and do not want to be managed and how I do and do not want to lead. Take something of value from every experience and person you interact with; even the relationships that were difficult will teach you endurance, patience and the ability to collaborate with a wider audience. Look at things from their perspective; try to add more value for them and ensure you are doing what you can to check their metric boxes. You’ll find that as you craft your personal process and continue to evolve that you’ll take lessons from great managers and not-so-great managers alike.

Social Selling: A Game-Changer

Social selling is a game-changer and assimilating it into your process is vital as you move forward as a seller. Once upon a time, I was able to act off an internal report showing some usage patterns, utilized social to find several potential prospects at a company, was pointed to the right contact, reached out, set a meeting, and it was the beginning of a relationship that led to one of the largest deals in our business that year. Don’t get me wrong: NOTHING will ever replace the value of face-to-face and in-person relationships, but if social media can broker the beginning of those relationships, it is yet another valuable tool in pipeline development. We have so much more information at our fingertips now than ever before. There’s no silver bullet, but social selling opens up this new portal that gives you access to everyone you need to talk to. If you cannot break through with one contact at an organization, target 20. You can see their likes and interests and affiliations which can enable you to spark up that conversation. Most importantly, it will help you get to that paramount face-to-face collaborative session where you learn what makes them tick, what projects and problems are top of mind, and how you can help. What has been your most profound social selling experience?