Parking spaces and success

For many months now, I’ve had the privilege of listening to moving stories of business partnerships that have gone horribly wrong as well those that were remarkably successful. A personal survey to my network to find out how to build a successful partnership started an incredible wave of conversations about the dynamics that the bad ones shared and the good ones shared. Of course, everyone wanted to know how to avoid the bad ones and wanted me to report back. The upshot is a book contract AND a wonderful partner in the process.
I could say the cascade effect was a result of an intriguing subject, popular interest, a charismatic personality, but I think there’s a far simpler (and less egotistical) reason that I call the “parking space near the door” syndrome.
Have you ever participated in a conversation where one person insists they always get that coveted space nearest the shopping mall entrance? (I can’t imagine it’s only my friends that fixate on trivia after a few beers.) And another person explains how that’s just luck?
I’d throw out there that the person who gets the coveted space goes right to the front of the parking lot because they’re convinced of their “luck” and act consistently with that belief. If there’s not an open space the first pass, I assume they make another and another pass until a space opens up. That’s the best way to insure you get the desired parking space. As for the other person who doesn’t have the same belief, I would bet they either give up after the first pass or they never even go to the front of the parking lot.
So, my theory is that success is the result of believing in success and then acting consistent with that belief. I mean, someone is parked in that space at the mall entrance. Why not you?

Rosetta Financials is taking off! I'm still reeling from the life it's taken on. I can only attribute it to a powerful network of brilliant minds. It has gone from an epiphany at my dining room table to being translated for European use in a mere 4 months. Not long ago, that would have taken months, maybe years, of lengthy discussions, complicated programming, mile long charts and graphs, weekly trips to exotic places like Hackensack, and large teams of specialists.

I can't say I miss a lot of the development stage except the teams of people.
That was the part I loved! There's nothing so fun or stimulating as a brainstorming session where the most outlandish ideas become a trail that becomes a product. While virtual meetings are easier to organize and attend, there are hidden rules and restrictions to the spontaneity that a live session doesn't have. You are certainly not going to get sprayed by coffee from someone laughing too hard.

Communication specialists say that the majority of our interactions are non-verbal. So I wonder what we miss and what we gain as our interactions become more virtual, more internet based, and less in-person.

Apology

I have to apologize to my readers and associates. In my excitement of trying out and learning how to use all the different new media applications, I've made a number of mistakes! If you received 3000 emails (maybe a little exaggeration, but it might feel that way), I can only hope you will rescue Stonegate from your spam filter.

It's been nearly a month of working out all the moving parts of a "new media" communications strategy. I naively thought that it would be better to announce all the new relationships and products and educational opportunities we're adding at Stonegate if I used a consistent approach and took advantage of the great new technology available out there. I was wrong. Very wrong. At least the way I was doing it.

The sad fact is, I have about 7 chapters worth of material I could use to write the next Idiot's Guide to Using New Media.

But in the meantime, I had to apologize. Although we'll continue to use the new media tools, we WILL improve.

Growth as a Context

I've been working with a number of clients these last months on growth issues. In the process, I've come to realize that the word "growth" brings up thoughts of "hard work," "major change," "tied up resources." In other words, growth is often viewed as a struggle. But the fact is, growth is a state of mind that leads to actions intentionally aligned with a long-term goal. It's not easy OR hard, just a different context that works in lean as well as bountiful times.

During lean economic times, it's easy to fall into a state of mind of "maintenance" where business owners and entrepreneurs try to keep afloat. But growth is not explosive, nor does it require expensive changes to current operations to make it happen. More often, growth is incremental change that ceaselessly moves forward given the right care and feeding (intentional actions).

For example, one of my clients was in "maintenance" mode because they didn't have enough resources (time, money, people) to grow. In this economy, just to maintain their current revenues, they added 2 new commissioned salespeople. It wasn't working. Revenues were dipping. When they switched to a growth perspective, the goal of maintaining revenues created a whole new set of actions. To fill their pipeline, they focused on having an outside agency prequalify prospects so their salespeople had strong opportunities to work on. With less to hunt for, the salespeople had more opportunity to close new customers. In addition to maintaining sales revenues, my client is now poised for growth when the economy shifts because they've reduced their sales cycle while doubling their pipeline. (At less cost than adding new personnel.)

Small to Big

Social networking for a small business is a remarkable and indispensable tool. My team recently developed a new product to help entrepreneurs uncover opportunities in their sales and cash flow operations. It's a sweet analysis product and we were excited about its potential since so many of our clients were asking for something like it. So I sent out an email to a few people in my immediate network for their feedback once we'd made the prototype. The response was astounding! The gist of the comments were "perfect timing...great for making decisions and comparing risks/upside...wish I'd had that information before hiring..."

We couldn't have asked for more enthusiasm. But the euphoria was quickly replaced by concerns of how to develop the product for the larger market. As a small company, we still needed to find the cash and resources to launch the product. Argh! I tapped my network again for developers, testers, and marketing assistance and found instead of simple referrals and basic advice, real operating assistance.

This experience has shifted my perspective on partnerships, on the power of social networking, and on the generosity that can come from community.

Work Structures and Generations

What will our children’s work ethic look like in the next decade? This was the topic during a book club meeting I attended recently. Each generation approaches their work differently. Boomers associate themselves with their titles and the industry they work in. Their parents associated themselves with a company. GenXers associate themselves with the type of project they’re working on. What is this up and coming generation going to associate themselves with?

I have one possible answer and it comes from looking at the predominant form of social interaction for each generation. Not just the interactions themselves, but the structures that support those interactions. For example, boomers work long hard hours to achieve results. It’s hard to develop friends outside of work or with people who don’t share similar issues. So social interactions are typically with people who share similar job titles and live on the same block. They join associations of like-minded people and select neighborhoods with people from their industry or with similar title levels. And boomer owners set up many company social events within their companies.

GenXers, on the other hand, don’t see the need to work so hard. They form groups to accomplish the work. They strive to develop their skills and learn new ones in order to continue providing value on the team. They are less concerned with how the projects will impact the company’s bottom line than with keeping themselves current and “plugged in” to what’s new and upcoming. Social interactions are based on complementary interests. Because their interest is the work itself, they aren’t limited by geography or to any one location. They have an ability to seamlessly become part of any team, anywhere, at any time. The structures that support their interests are fluid, and rely often on the internet.

This next generation, growing up in a world without walls, has had the opportunity to have social interactions around the world. They may only see an avatar to represent the person they’re interacting with. They not only live in a fluid world, they can become fluid, such as texting the location of their parties 10 minutes beforehand. I think this group has all the makings of associating themselves with social networks.

Overcoming Hope in Sales

One of the worst things a salesperson experiences is a prospect who keeps saying “maybe,” or who puts off making that yes/no decision. A stalled sale is a like a vampire, slowly sucking our life’s blood as we continue to hope that because the prospect hasn’t said no, there’s still that possibility of yes. This is not the sacred terrain of the green salesperson either; all of us fall into that trap. For example, I had a prospect I was really excited to have as a customer. I imagined the successes out of our combined efforts and the future lay shiny ahead. This company had a sexy product, a dynamic team, and the resources to push into a growth area with considerable promise. They were right in our sweet spot. I wanted them as a client. And then he stopped returning my phone calls or emails. Aaaargh!!!!

The way to overcome this obstacle is to give up all hope. (How cycnical.)

You can’t have a conversation with someone who won’t be in communication. And because sales is a dynamic conversation that leads to a change or an action, it’s vital to keep the conversation alive. The sad truth is, though, conversations fade. We forget them. They’re fun and exciting in the moment but even as jazzed as we can feel after a sales call that went well, we move on and that conversation goes to the background of our mind, for both the salesperson and the prospect.

Sociologists observed in numerous experiments in the past few decades that people remember the information we gain from a person we trust, but we forget the person who gave us the information. Likewise, when we don’t trust someone or don’t find them credible, we remember the person and NOT the information.

This is an interesting dynamic when you apply it to sales. While a salesperson works hard to get their information across to the prospect, and if they’re successful at creating credibility and trust, the prospect will forget them. What the prospect will remember, in the short term, is the information they discussed.

Keeping the conversation alive is no small thing because the salesperson is working two opposing dynamics in order to give up hope. That’s the art of sales.