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Life’s most dangerous psychological trap is the Law of the Instrument. Psychologist Abraham Maslow once wrote “If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail.” When you become comfortable with a certain tool, you start applying it everywhere, even when it doesn't fit. In sales we fall into the same trap. We cling to the strategy that once worked, even as the market changes. In our client relationships, we keep applying the same

We often use the phrase "to show up and throw up." It is often used disparagingly when a customer-facing individual is asked to present information regarding products or services which the individual represents. It is usually used to describe an individual who: does more talking than listening describes products or services which may not be relevant at this time truly believes the prospect has time to "learn" and has prioritized this learning above the pressing burning platfo

The book “Born to Run” by Chris McDougall was released in 2009. One of the fascinating cultural insights he shares regards the Tarahumara tribe in Mexico.  Also known as the “Running People”. Besides being some of the world’s best marathoners and ultra-marathoners, this tribe considers asking direct questions as intrusive and aggressive. The Tarahumara tend to wait, observe and let the answers emerge naturally.  Any direct questions are usually framed indirectly. In our moder

Context is everything. We are hired to sell We are asked to business develop We are bonused for attaining or exceeding our Sales Goal We are incentivized to schedule a SQL or MQL We are commissioned on each shipment We are asked to mee a KPI "share of wallet" We create a capture plan for longer term or strategic endeavor We have metric "pipeline health" The implied constraint is time (a context). What does the prospect want? A consultant. When the prospect seeks advice, he or

Stop asking “Who did this?” Stop asking “Why did they do this?” Instead ask, “Why did our process allow this?” As Hiroyuki Hirano, author of "5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace" stresses “were the procedures clear at the point of use?” If your organization keeps having the same type of problems with different names attached, you don’t have a people problem, you have a process problem.

Metrics are what you measure. And what you measure is what you manage to. Good metrics have three key attributes: the data is consistent cheap and quick to collect A simple rule of thumb: if you can’t measure results within a week, free of charge, and if you cannot replicate the process, then you’re prioritizing the wrong ones. There are exceptions, but they are rare. A KPI is a specific metric that has been singled out as critical to achieving business goals.  Not all metric

Oftentimes it takes three or more questions to fully understand an issue (aka, "problem", "pain") The reason makes sense. Oftentimes, during discovery, prospects respond with answers which are: ·       Surface level ·       Politically safe ·       What they think you want to hear ·       A symptom and not the root cause. The Toyota Production System teaches the “5 Why’s” for root cause analysis, often abbreviated "RCA." Here is an example: “Why are you thinking about replac

The Dunning-Kruger effect, named after psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger, is a cognitive bias wherein individuals with limited knowledge or competence in a specific domain often overestimate their capabilities. This lack of awareness leads to inflated self-assessment and poor decision-making. The attached graphic is instructive.   As shown, when we first learn something we gain confidence in our knowledge, maybe too much confidence. As sales professionals, we enc

I was fortunate to lead some very good teams. After one significant event, this was shared. Don't let life's vagaries keep you from being successful. Success is a mindset. Nobody can take it away. There are a lot of life lessons in sales, as it should be. All of the company's foibles, successes, lack of processes, and organizational alignments/misalignments are right at that point (the tip of the spear) where the sales professional meets the prospect. Sales provides all of t