Tag: business priorities

Are you playing soccer or lacrosse?

(Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)

A few weeks ago I had a virtual chat with my mentor, a CEO of a software company in Silicon Valley. Our discussion focused on competing in a complex enterprise sales cycle. After describing the challenges I was facing, he reflected and asked a simple question: Are you playing soccer or lacrosse?

Interesting.

My exposure to lacrosse is limited to its appearance on ESPN SportsCenter: Top Ten Plays. It wasn’t a sport I went out of my way to watch. And if I were to, I’d have to learn the history, techniques, and rules of the game.

My mentor could see my thoughts drifting, so he rephrased the question:

Are you trying to get your customer to buy in the way you sell, or are you trying to get your customer to buy in the way your competitors sell? In other words, are you playing soccer, or are you playing lacrosse?

My mentor and I both share a passion for soccer, as we both grew up playing and watching it religiously. He knew the analogy would resonate.

The point he was making was although the customer may be intrigued by lacrosse, it didn’t mean they wanted to play it. It could be that my competitor introduced prospects to lacrosse because they got tired of losing at soccer. By playing along or trying to get the customer to buy in the way my competitors sell, I was expending valuable resources instead of investing in my soccer game. If I continued to go down this path, it’d be a severe case of self-deceit because it’s playing a game where the opponent sets all the rules, so I was bound to lose. I had to make a change.




After some deep self-reflection, I worked with my team to refine my approach and strategy. Here are some of the steps I’m taking:

  1. Dedicating additional time to deeply understand my customer’s business outcomes by scouring through financial statements, interviews, press releases, social media, investor decks, etc.
  2. Developing a point of view from the perspective of achieving each business outcome.
  3. Validating and refining that point of view by speaking with key stakeholders within my customer’s organization, from the executive to the executive assistant.
  4. Crowdsourcing feedback and the best ideas from experts within my organization to further refine the strategy.
  5. Applying critical thinking and asking tough questions to earn trust and mutual respect in every interaction.
  6. Proactively sharing ideas to solve business challenges even if there are no complete solutions to offer…yet.

These steps are netting positive results and rekindling the customer’s passion for soccer. The customer is fortifying their defense in preparation to mount a counter attack and score some business goals.

On a side note, Real Madrid, if you’re reading this, I’m patiently waiting for that invitation to try out or a free ticket 🙂 Thanks!

Happy selling!

Stay #CustomerObsessed

Executives Are People

I asked the CEO of a fast-growing startup in Silicon Valley his approach to selling to other Executives.

His response was simple: “Executives are people.”

How so?

Executives are busy.

Executives are overwhelmed with requests for their time.

Executives are under pressure to deliver results.

Executives are responsible for setting the vision and making the toughest decisions.

Knowing these truths, he approaches each interaction with an Executive with deep empathy and extensive preparation.

What does this look like?

Executives are busy and overwhelmed, so he streamlines his agenda to give them back some time.

Executives are under pressure to deliver results, so he is precise with how his solution can provide the results the Executive cares about the most.

Executives are responsible for making the toughest decisions, so he does everything in his power to show how his solution reduces risk for the Executive.

To establish credibility with the Executive, he aligns with their vision and priorities.

Speaking of priorities, how do you know the priorities that matter most?

Research.

In KPMG’s interview of over 1300 CEOs, the company identified three key priorities for CEOs in 2019: 1) Make digital a personal crusade 2) Navigate through geopolitical headwinds 3) Find the right balance between data and intuition.

PwC’s global CEO survey identified approaches to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and navigating fissures in policy frameworks as the underlying trends shaping the US CEO agenda for 2019.

Research from Workday identified six priorities CEOs care most about which are: 1) Finding growth 2) Taking on risk 3) Managing regulatory changes 4) Leveraging technology 5) Pursuing innovation 6) People and culture

Gartner also recently published their survey of 473 CEO and senior business executives. The top 11 business priorities are 1) Growth 2) IT related 3) Corporate (structural development) 4) Financial performance 5) Workforce management 6) Customer 7) Product improvements 8) Cost management 9) Efficiency and productivity 10) Innovation and 11) Risk management

While these publications are informative and help inform an approach, nothing replaces asking the Executives directly to articulate their priorities in their own words.

Anything else?

Communication style.

Tell me more.

Having the right communication style comes with experience and repetition. It’s a skill that can be developed, but it requires practice, practice, and more practice. Your choice of words matter. Your self-confidence matters. Your tone matters. Your cadence matters. Your body language matters.

Communication at its core is the successful conveying or sharing of ideas and feelings. If your ideas and feelings are not getting across then you’re not communicating.

Also, authenticity matters.

Why?

Savvy, and somewhat cynical Executives can detect inauthentic communication in less than one millisecond.

So, be yourself.

Being yourself is the foundation for building trust. And trust is the anchor for all business relationships that last for generations.

Thanks to John Aisien at BlueCedar for inspiring this article.