We naturally exalt success. Another great quarter...another deal won...achieving one more big number after another. But even as we congratulate one another on 'crushing it,' we can't see that it's crushing us. Success can be thrilling, but in the end it taxes and burns out and disempowers the sellers and organizations we count on.
On Sunday I spoke at the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting about what might help our industry achieve the next $50 billion in marketer spending. I focused on creating cultures of sales excellence, and I broke it down to the four characteristics those cultures must include. We all know the four P's of marketing - price, place, product and promotion; I'm suggesting the four P's of digital sales excellence:
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Process. Every one of our companies has detailed processes for engineering, workflow, finance and more. But we cling to the idea that sales is somehow different; that just getting in front of the customer and talking is enough. It's not. Process makes average sellers productive and helps great sellers soar. If you don't have a uniform process and order to the way your people sell, you are handicapping them.
Practice. I've written about this concept before. Culturally, we are an industry that focuses almost exclusively on the games, and almost never on the practices. Sales managers are not patiently walking reps through the structure and content of client conversations in advance. The worst place to hone your skill is in front of the client. It's what we do when the crowd's not watching that matters most.
Pathos. This is the Greek word for 'emotion' and it's missing from far too many of our client discussions. Embracing pathos means that we're speaking to the important business situation facing our customers: the missing customer, the encroaching competitor, the ticking clock. Without an urgent business narrative, our products and stories have no immediacy or weight.
Point-of-View. Culturally, we are all very client centric. We ask our customers what they need and we fill out their RFPs. But in the name or service, we've become servants. As sales organizations, we've got to start taking positions. What we think and what we want for the customer are the beginning of account leadership. And in wide open era of digital marketing that's ahead, our customers very much want to be led. If we don't' accept the challenge, someone else will.
Process. Practice. Pathos. Point-of-View. Simple, elegant and critical. I believe 2016 must be the year of digital sales excellence if we are ever to approach the levels of success that are ours for the earning.
