Given the information-density and the significant IQ averages in our business, I suppose it’s understandable that there would be some ambivalence about saying “I’m in Sales!” Indeed, if you look at the business cards of those who are clearly in sales, you’d never know it. From business development to client partnerships to strategic account lead, we’re clearly going to great lengths to avoid the S-word. When it comes to what we actually say we’re doing, the linguistic gymnastics gets even more impressive. We don’t say were going in to sell, or ask for money or persuade the customer to buy our stuff. No, we fall back on three verbs that I call The Killer E’s: Educate, Evangelize and Entertain. If you’re a sales manager or CRO, start listening for these verbs: they’re a pretty good sign that your seller isn’t going in with a clear purpose.
Last week in this space I offered the hope that publishers, advertisers, agencies, platforms and ad tech companies would make better choices now that the much-abused Cookie was being taken out of service.…
Pssst... Hey... Cookies are going away. Pass it on...
OK, so maybe this has been the longest goodbye since BREXIT. But now, given the announcement by Google that Cookies will be made obsolete on the Chrome…
Because we can all use a laugh, I'm re-sharing one of the most popular Drifts I've ever posted. Feel free to add your own examples of "Things No Customer Has Ever Said." And have a great day.
"I just wish…
I decided to give myself a New Year's gift: the control of my days and bigger measures of satisfaction, productivity and closure. I'm calling the idea Working Forward. It's perhaps a little bit scientific, but mostly it's just highly logical and intentional. But why Working Forward? It's because most of us go at things in the wrong order. We meander into our days by wading into a swamp of email. We lock into a reactive posture that we never recover from. We delay getting important stuff done until we're tired and worn out - and it's too late. Our days bleed into our evenings and we're never fully committed to the task - or the person - in front of us. I believe we deserve better.
Failing to make the sale is acceptable. Failing to ask for the sale, the price or the terms is not. You may be right about how the customer will react, but go out and get me that 'no.' The act of making your case and putting an opportunity or a challenge in front of a customer creates a new dynamic and good things can fall out. Perhaps they start to actually negotiate and tell you where their boundaries are. Or maybe you end up finding another opportunity, or another path to the sale.
Business leaders and people managers are looking for a new code as well. They're looking to unlock engagement, loyalty and determination in employees who've come to expect never-ending growth, a regular cycle of paradigm shifts, constant promotion and ultimate wealth. How do we build truly great teams and organizations to last? Our past approaches to career growth, diversity and lifestyle support was never built to code... and it cannot continue to stand. If we're to define what it means to build a satisfying, meaningful career in our profession over the decades ahead, we better start now.
As noted by the title of this post, today is Giving Tuesday -- the nobler offspring of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Among the many worthy options that will reach your inbox today, I hope you'll consider…
This is traditionally the time one would write a post that details all the things he's grateful for. This is not that post. The concept of gratitude deserves more than that.
In recent months I've gotten…
Occasionally someone asks about the origin of our company name - Upstream. I could go on about its deeper meanings, spiritual implications and more. But for purposes of today's post, there's a simpler meaning: Upstream is the opposite of the watering hole.
To radically adapt our professions as buyers and sellers would be to abandon the campaign mentality and embrace a perpetual cycle of problem solving and iteration. It would lead us to dismiss the illusion of budget stability and the silos and swim lanes it fosters. It would drive us to create and commit to new processes and structures for operating in what's now a mostly-unstructured world. Our professional lives will be spent proactively, left of budget and in service to marketers, the products they sell, and the customers they serve. Adaptation is hard. But extinction is permanent.
The good news: if you're selling digital advertising and marketing services today, you are in a position to make both a huge difference and a very good living. The bad news: it's a hell of a lot of work.
