I read a lot of books regarding the subject of sales. Sales and revenue are the life blood of any business. Hence every entrepreneur needs to equip him/her self with the necessary skill sets to sell, because in the final analysis their livelihood depends on their ability to convert prospects into paying customers. I had heard good things about Brett Clay’s new book on Selling Change and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It does not read like a standard book, as the author discloses 101 secrets to effectively improve sales by leading change. The book is divided into five components that build a framework the author refers to as, “Change Leadership Framework”. The five components are:

1. Force Field Analysis
2. Change Response Analysis
3. Power Analysis
4. Value Creation
5. Change Actuation

This is not your run of the mill sales book that focuses on traditional sales processes and how to convert prospects in your pipeline faster. The book focuses on high value solution sales strategies. Solution selling is a very different ball game as compared to transactional selling. Most of the time, selling high value solutions requires a considerable amount of change to take place within the organization. The book takes you through a five stage process that enables you to make your case stronger and equips you with the skills needed to close such deals. It is full of valuable tips, tips which  had I read earlier in my career as an entrepreneur,  would have saved me a lot of pain. Some of my favorite tips are:

1. Not falling into the trap of owning your customer’s problems: I have done this many times in the past. The customer has a pain and as a company we take ownership, and strive to remove this pain for the client. Once we take ownership of the problem the client essentially wipes his hands of it, and any problems that arise from there on will be directly pointed at you. We need to ensure that the customer retains ownership of the problem, and strive to play a support role to help them through that problem.

2. Double your best estimates: Another common problem with early stage startups is, they usually end up selling themselves short. In most high value solution selling situations, research confirms that actual resource requirements are on an average 1.7 times the original estimate. Thus, you need to take these factors into account when deciding how much you are going to quote, and the resources it will require to complete the job.

3. Don’t Beg – Deliver: When sales have been dry we do our best, sometimes desperately so, to close any deal regardless of what it may entail, or what sort of resources required to complete it. This is when things go from bad to worse very quickly. The author mentions that instead of using “push” tactics and thinking how to accelerate order, we will get better results by using “pull” tactics and thinking how we can deliver more value. That is a very powerful thought, one which is being heavily publicized in the world of inbound marketing these days.

This is a great book to read for anyone who wants to get into high level consulting as well as selling complex solutions. For entrepreneurs or readers who are just starting their careers in sales, this book may jump the gun a little as there are still lots of fundamental grounds rules that need to be put into place to build a strong foundation of becoming a sales rockstar. Notwithstanding that, this is a great book to add to your shelf and refer to when you are ready and wanting to break into the big times!

Getting things done is not the same as making things happen.

You can…
…reply to email.
…pay the bills.
…cross off to-do’s.
…fulfill your obligation.
…repeat what you heard.
…go with the flow.
…anticipate roadblocks.
…aim for “good enough.”

Or you can…
…organize a community.
…take a risk.
…set ambitious goals.
…give more than you take.
…change perceptions.
…forge a new path.
…create possibility.
…demand excellence.

Don’t worry too much about getting things done.

Make things happen.

By Gina Trapani

For those of you who have read Seth Godin’s new book Linchpin, the title of this blog post will not appear as revolting as those who have not. If you have not read the book, I strongly suggest you pick up a copy as soon as you can. The book revolves around the concept of “Resistance” that I blogged about at the start of this year. The lizard brain as Seth Godin describes it, is “…the reason you’re afraid, the reason you don’t do all the art you can, the reason you don’t ship when you can. The lizard brain is the source of the resistance.” It is essentially the little voice in our head that stops us from pursuing what we truly want in life because of the uncertainty of what lies ahead. We choose the safer path just to ensure we assimilate into society, because we care far too much what everyone else thinks. Status in the tribes we exist is a vital part of our lives.

The resistance is far more powerful than we imagine it to be. After reading the book I realized how resistance was hampering my capability to being more productive, and in essence reaching my goals on time. Most knowledge workers today spend most of their time on devices that are connected with the internet. There are four screens that are always on for me , in addition to the one I am working on:

1. Email
2. Skype
3. Twitter
4. Facebook

These screens are refreshed by the second and updates continue to flow in through the course of the day. Every new email alert focuses my attention on it, and there is always something you are expecting or wanting to hear about. Every twitter update gives us an update on what is happening in the lives of those who we have given enough importance, by following their every move. Conversations, regardless of their importance or priority are exchanged with colleagues through skype all day. I attached a time tracker to each one of these applications and was astounded at the time I was spending on them. So for the last week or so I have been on a strict lizard brain diet that includes:

1. I check my email 3x a day now and prioritize the responding to of all messages
2. I appear invisible or offline on skype for most of the day apart from the times that I come online to check email.
3. I review my twitter feeds once a day.
4. I check facebook once a day like email.

The results have been truly amazing. I find myself with a lot more time and able to meet targets with much greater accuracy. It just goes to show how deep resistance is ingrained into all the small things that we do on a daily basis. Every minute we reclaim moves us closer to shipping on time and keeps the resistance within us in check. Have you changed any habits in 2010 that have helped you become more productive?

With the world becoming seemingly smaller, it is not uncommon to find ourselves  in business with multiple partners from all around the world. Although we all strive to work according to established norms of conducting business, we need to be well aware of the language, culture and history of the people we do business with, in order to find real success. For example let’s say two individuals find themselves in a situation where one has a service the other requires. The service provider will provide the service and be paid for it accordingly. At this point the transaction is completed, and each one of them goes their separate ways, coming together only when the service is required again. A lot of business is done in this transactional fashion in the world we live in today.

In a situation where the service provider acquires a better understanding of the prospect’s culture and language, the possibilities of expanding the relationship moves from being a purely transactional one, to one with a much greater human element attached to it. One of the immediate examples that comes to mind concerning a business conducted on a massive scale, is McDonalds worldwide operation. Having visited many different countries I have seen how the company adapts itself to the local culture from it’s advertising strategies to it’s menu items. By localizing their offerings they appear less alien, less of an outsider, and assimilation into the culture takes place at a faster pace. Startups naturally do not have the resources to go into such deep level of customization of their offerings. However, what we do have is the ability to pinpoint where our products or services are in greater demand, and expand our understanding of those sectors, businesses and countries.

Even though our world is being heavily globalized, there are many key characteristics and traits that are ingrained into each and everyone of us. These stem from our value and belief systems, and upbringing. No matter how far we may appear to be removed from them, they are heavily ingrained into our thinking, and the way we process our decisions. In the end the business that wins is the one that understands it’s customers needs, wants and desires. This takes time, effort and resources, that are often skipped by many individuals and companies, with the excuse that the world is much too globalized. In the hyper competitive space we all operate in these days, it is taking advantage of these small edges that will provide us with the ability and  knowledge to keep our sale pipelines full, with much higher conversion rates.

Twitter just crossed 50 million tweets a day! An historic day in the company’s history. Everyone is talking about it these days. This is definitely a position all startups aspire to be at one day. An important point to note is that back in July 07 upto Jun 08 it was not on too many people’s radar. It was just another web service, one that not too many people could understand. The journey from where it was, to where it is today, exemplifies an important factor, which is, that all big wins often do start small. Once upon a time, not too long ago twitter comprised of a handful of people, working hard day after day. The growth was incremental, and at times it may have felt that it was a good time to throw in the towel.

This is what separates the entrepreneurs who succeed from those who don’t. The ability to hang in there when everything may be going against you, against all that was planned, changing your business plan every 4-6 months when you are unable to find the right product to market fit, above all believing in your ability at the end of everyday, that is what it takes to succeed! It is not everyone’s cup of tea and those who have grand visions of hiring rapidly, leasing large office spaces and increasing overall expenditures without increasing revenue, usually find themselves out of money and choices very quickly.

Entrepreneurship is not an easy way to make a quick buck. In fact it is quite the opposite. It is actually a really challenging way to make that buck. What keeps the entrepreneur going day after day is the fact that he/she knows that they have the ability to do a lot more than what they would achieve at a 9-5 job. They believe in the system, and understand that they need to pay attention to their small wins and latch on to the ones that begin growing incrementally. Stories of how 2 entrepreneurs made it, working out of their garages and coffee shops, sound cliched, yet,  most of these are the same people who realized early on that all big wins have to start small.

The 80/20 rule is a powerful framework, one that helps us understand the dynamics between inputs and outputs. The rule asserts, that a minority of causes and inputs of effort, results for the majority of the output. When the rule is applied to a customer base, a skewed imbalance is often seen, where a small minority of customers contribute towards a majority of top line revenue. Many business owners overlook this fact and do not spend enough time and effort in ensuring to give exceptional service to their top 20% of customers. I was reading an article on techcrunch a few days ago regarding how Amazon is planning on giving free Kindles to its Prime customers. Prime customers are Amazon’s most frequent customers, they are the ones who apply for yearly memberships to get free shipping on the goods they buy.

This news clearly demonstrates how Amazon is focusing on ensuring that Prime customers get access to the very best products that they have to offer. By providing these customers a Kindle, not only will they be able to increase the amount these customers buy from Amazon, it was also boost loyalty, given that Kindles are not very cheap. The investment in this however should be recouped relatively quickly, and it would further help avoid defection to Apple’s upcoming iPad which poses a serious threat to Amazon’s Kindle.

This example goes to show how a company can successfully create a higher level of service for it’s best customers and focus more effort on them. For most smaller businesses, a similar analysis to customer base can be applied to determine which ones are actually contributing the most to the bottom line. These customers are essentially cash in the bank, and if any of them defects, short term losses will need to be faced,  the longer term impact will be far greater. If you have not taken stock of your top 20% customers, I strongly suggest you do so as soon as possible. Next, find ways to provide them with exceptional service and be in constant touch with them. They are the life blood of your business, and should be treated as such!

Life as an entrepreneur is undoubtedly very challenging. One always seems to be on a roller coaster ride, with emotions yoyoing up and down on a regular basis. The other day I was forwarded the letter below, it really made me pause and think. The message is a simple one, yet…so many of us tend not to give it the attention it deserves. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, ‘If I were any better, I would be twins!’

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, ‘I don’t get it!’

‘You can’t be a positive person all of the time.. How do you do i t?’

He replied, ‘Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or…you can choose to be in a bad mood

I choose to be in a good mood.’

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or…I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or…I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.

‘Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,’ I protested.

‘Yes, it is,’ he said. ‘Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live your life.’

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, ‘If I were any better, I’d be twins…Wanna see my scars?’

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

‘The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,’ he replied. ‘Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or…I could choose to die. I chose to live.’

‘Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness? ‘ I asked.

He continued, ‘…the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man’. I knew I needed to take action.’

‘What did you do?’ I asked.

‘Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,’ said John. ‘She asked if I was allergic to anything ‘Yes, I replied.’ The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Gravity”

Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.’

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude…I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

Marketing really fascinates me. The ability to get people to buy into your vision and what you are selling is something few people/companies pull off really well. The best way to equip yourself for this is to read about brands and their development. The Playboy story, narrated in this book, guides you through the brand being built to where it is today, along with key marketing principles they followed, and ignored. It walks you through the practical implementation of many concepts, which, if read in isolation are not as clear.

A core factor that led to the rise of Playboy in the 50’s, when it started, were the macro-economic conditions of the time. After the war, there was a burst in the population growth, along with higher sums of discretionary income available. However, at this time society was still reserved and topics such as sex were strictly taboo. Hugh Hefner saw this as an opportunity and built a magazine to address such topics. Being able to identify and provide for an under-served market niche is every entrepreneur’s goal! The only way to do this is to have your ears firmly plugged to the ground in an area that interests you. Hugh Hefner was able to do just this, and from the printing of his first magazine, he built a brand that is globally recognized today.

The book talks about Playboy’s brand extensions in much detail. Brand extensions such as Clubs, Casinos & Merchandise, enabled Playboy to reach their target audience and help them experience the brand at a much more personal level. This is another critical factor in building a brand, where your customers are engaged with what you have to offer. Someone who is extremely good at doing this is Apple. With their Macworld events etc, they are able to connect with their strongest brand promoters and share latest developments with them. A mistake Playboy made however, was that it extended it’s brand into far too many territories. This strongly diminished their positioning in the mind of the customer and lead to a downward slide of the brand in the 80’s & 90’s.

Another major component of the book deals with the importance of brand champions. Hugh Hefner is synonymous with the Playboy brand. He is their strongest marketing asset, very much like what Steve Jobs is to Apple. Without these central larger than life figures, the brand loses significant value. When Hugh Hefner got married in 89′ and removed himself from the spotlight, the brand suffered. Loyal fans were confused with the message that was being communicated by the brand’s iconic champion, and loyalty to the brand started to fade quickly. The book talks about some interesting ways to balance this situation, and how Playboy used them to avert this crisis.

The last point I found most interesting were the discussions on how the brand changed with time. In this last decade, the brand has had to explore online distribution strategies along with several acquisitions to retain it’s presence in the market. This aspect of the book will appeal to anyone with an interest in marketing, it shows how several of their fundamental marketing strategies remained constant, while tactics had to be adjusted to cope with the changing dynamics of the marketing place.

The book reads like a very long case study, and explains many key marketing fundamentals. It should be of help and benefit to those interested in marketing, and brand development.

These words have been immortalized by the Nike slogan. They were also the first ones that came to mind this morning when I read Brad Feld’s post It’s So Hard When Contemplated In Advance And So Easy When You Do It. After a long time, I instantly connected with a post. The feeling he talks about is one I have been witnessing these last couple of weeks on account of a project that was just not going as planned. We had to finally take it into our own hands to get it done. In the beginning it seemed an insurmountable task. I had no idea how we would take it on. Nonetheless, we put our heads down, rolled up our sleeves, and just got to work. Sure it was more complicated than we had originally imagined, but changing mindsets to just getting it done, made it seem a whole lot simpler.

Mindsets
The realization came once again, that it all boils down to your ability to adjust your mindset to a condition where you will not accept anything as impossible, no matter how large the task. You have to tell yourself you will give it your best shot and nothing less. If you are not completely vested into the project or give it a half hearted shot, you are better off not doing it at all. This applies to everything we do in life. If we are unable to adjust our train of thought and align it to what we want to achieve, nothing will work out as planned.

Execution
Even when your mind is made up and you tell yourself, “Ok, I will get this done by a set date and no excuses!”, getting started is always a challenge. As the saying goes, every journey begins with a single step, and so, we have to ensure that the first steps we outline are simple ones, steps that will push us into the momentum of taking the next one. If we sideline this, we will often be left on the fringes, living life knowing we did not live up to our true potential.

Matching Ambition to Effort
All of us have different levels of ambition. Most entrepreneurs have large goals and visions for themselves. When setting these goals, be prepared to put in the effort required to achieve them. If you want to convert your tiny startup into the next Google, you have your work cut out for you! It is important to remember that every decision you take will require you to sacrifice something else. There will always be trade offs. Wanting to achieve a complete work life balance, at the same time wanting to take your company’s revenues from $1m to $100m or $1b will require sacrifice of time you may have wanted to spend elsewhere. It is hence important to get your priorities and goals in place, and decide whether this is what you really want.

Once you decide what you want, and chart a course on how to get there, it is time to….. just do it! No excuses and no complaining! Your ability to execute and get things done will be a true testament of your skill sets. If things do not go as planned, there is no one to blame but yourself. If you are not going to finish strong, it is best to choose something that you will be able to do more easily. The following video has always been a source of motivation and inspiration, it helps me get my head in the right place when I feel I am lagging. I hope it will provide you similar inspiration and motivation.

Entrepreneurs as a whole, are a rut-busting community of individuals. We break away from the norms, challenge rules and more often than not, choose to walk down the path less traveled. This book intrigued me as it held the secrets of a woman who has achieved tremendous success in her life.

The book is Myra Janco Daniels biography. In it she lists eight secrets that have enabled her to become a life long rut-buster. She is an award winning entrepreneur, and ran one of the top boutique advertising agencies in America.

The book is an extremely easy read, I finished it in one sitting. It is full of stories from the authors life, in which she recounts how she came to uncover  secrets that have enabled her to achieve the level of success that she has had. The introductory chapter starts off with stories of her childhood, and how her parents and grandmother were able to impart lasting and valuable advice to her from a very young age. Another early chapter has one of my favorite stories in the entire book, it focuses around how she was taught the important lesson of giving. In the world we live in today, I believe there is an disproportionate emphasis on ‘taking’. Everyone looks at every given situation,  saying, what is in it for me, without taking into account any other person in the equation. The author says that the art of giving instilled in her at an early age brought about a way of thinking in her that greatly altered the path her life took.

Another very important lesson she mentions, is the importance of surrounding yourself with great teachers. This is another aspect I feel strongly about and am currently developing in my own life, it is one that everyone, no matter who you are, or what you do, should seriously be looking into. The ability to have access to a group of individuals, with years of experience, to guide you in difficult times can save you time, money and a great deal of pain. The author communicates these facts through some great stories from her life, which give one insight about their importance, and the consequences of not heeding to this particular piece of advice.

The final part of the book devotes an entire section to the importance of getting ‘lost’ every now and again. Sometimes, we become so ingrained into our job, way of life and thinking patterns, we get stuck in these ruts. In order to break free from them, we need to be able to take ‘breaks’  and go do something completely different from our daily routine. This could involve meeting and discussing people and things completely unrelated to our work, going for holidays and expeditions, or something as simple as cooking. The key has to be the ability to disconnect from our current thought patterns, and step back to take a look at the bigger picture.

A noteworthy aspect of the book is how one can sense the authors excitement and passion regarding advertising throughout the book. The manner in which she was able to come up with campaigns and artwork for her clients is an eye opener, and shows the power of hard work coupled with creative thinking. This book is perfect for someone who wants to bring about  major change in their life, and learn a little bit about advertising along the way. It is an extremely interesting and easy read, and definitely gave me many ideas on how to run a media agency successfully.

“Don’t try to sell something if you don’t understand it or if you don’t believe in it” Myra Janco Daniels