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Reading Notes: Exceptional Selling

Author: Jeffrey Thull

Format: Audible / Kindle

Subject:  Sales

Rating: 7/10

I recently told my boss that if I had to do it again, I would have focused my early career in sales.  Great sales people are immensely valuable and incredibly hard to find.   A few weeks later, a member of our board of directors recommended I read Exceptional Selling.  In fact, he was even kind enough to send an electronic copy of the book directly to my Kindle.  But as usual, I opted for an Audible copy as well.

Thull’s research is based on some of the most successful salespeople in the world.  And one key point that stuck out to me is that the most successful salespeople in the world are comfortable talking about pricing.  Their comfort is driven by the understanding of the value they bring into collaborating with the customer in an effort to solve the customer’s problems.  Thull also spends a lot of time covering his four-step sales sequence: “Discover, diagnose, design and deliver.”

Side Note: Hat Tip to Mickey Miller for recommending this book.

Qualities of a good Diagnostic Sales Proposal:

  1. Contain no surprises (good or bad.)
  2. Will have the customer’s fingerprints all over it (uses language and terminology used by the customer.)
  3. Will Solicit feedback (which allows for fine-tuning before the final proposal.)
  4. Will be formally presented, in part by the customers own people.

Quotes:

  • We need to be professionally involved and emotionally detached from our customers.
  • The customer is the judge and the jury in the sell, but you are the expert, the guide.
  • Silence is a sign of wisdom.  It is okay to think.

The Value Triad:

  • Sources of Value
  • Uses of Value
  • Absence of Value

Key Thoughts:

  • When you’re feeling pressure, you’re doing something wrong.
  • Do not answer unasked question.
  • The initial contact with a prospective customer is the most critical.
  • Salespeople are guilty until proven innocent.
  • When in doubt, do the opposite of what a salesperson would do!
  • In absence of quality decision process, the decision will degenerate to the lowest common denominator: price.
  • Diagnosis is something you do with your customer, selling is something you do to your customer.
  • You can’t lose something you don’t have.
  • You are either part of your system or someone else’s.
  • Do Not allow the customer to self diagnose.
  • One opinion does not make a consensus.
  • People never say what they really mean at first.
  • You must always protect the customers self esteem.
  • Needs do not equal expectations.
  • You have competitors;  your customers have alternatives.
  • The purpose of a proposal is to reinforce decisions that have already been made.
  • When you are presenting on a piece of a larger solution, don’t confuse selling with installing.
  • Professionally involved, emotionally detached.
  • If you don’t have a cost of the problem, you don’t have a problem.
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Reading Notes: The Willpower Instinct

Author:  Kelly McGonigal

Format: Audible

Subject:  Willpower

Rating: 7/10

Summary:

McGonigal points outs that there are three distinct types of willpower:  I Want Power, I Will Power, and I Won’t Power.  When most of us think of willpower, we are actually thinking of “I Won’t Power.”  We are exercising “I Won’t Power” when we try to resist instant gratification such as eating a cookie, or binge-watching a favorite show.  “I Will Power” comes into play when we sacrifice comfort in the present moment, in order to achieve a larger payoff in the future.  We exercise this power when we save for retirement, or invest 4 years in college in order to have our dream career.  Lastly, we have “I Want Power.”

McGonigal gives several tips for developing and maintaining self control, and cites multiple studies that support the sometimes counter intuitive findings.  I plan to add a kindle electronic copy of this book to my library, and I may have a few future post about my experience with the willpower exercises in the book.

Side Note:

I can’t quite remember how this book wound up on my reading list.  I do know that the I find the topic of willpower to be interesting.  But I’d expect the key selling point was actually a TED Talk that I watched a few years ago;  The speaker was none-other, but the authors twin sister Jane McGonigal.

 

What I liked Most About the Book:

Key Takeaways:

  • Willpower is like a muscle, it becomes exhausted over time.
  • Willpower is like a muscle, it can be trained.
  • The simplest way to improve willpower is to meditate which increases the blood flow to the pre-frontal cortex.
  • Start Meditating with 10 minutes a day and work toward 20 minutes.
  • “Pause and Plan Response” when dealing with internal conflict.  This redirects energy from your body (Fight or Flight) to the brain.
  • The excitement of anticipating a reward is almost always greater than the excitement from actually receiving the award
  • Dopamine’s primary function is to drive us to seek happiness, not to actually make us happy.
  • Self-Criticism drains the willpower, leads to low motivation and loss of self-control.
  • We overestimate our future selves ability to address the willpower issues we face today.
  • We don’t control our impulses, we only control our reactions.
  • Do most important task first.
  • Avoid decision-making fatigue; try to make decisions as quickly as possible.
  • Sleep is critical to recharging your willpower.

Best Methods for Dealing with Stress:

  • exercising/playing a sport
  • praying/religious service
  • reading/listening to music
  • spending time with family and friends
  • Meditation/Yoga
  • Spending time on a creative hobby
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Reading Notes: Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few

Author:  Robert B. Reich

Format: Audible

Subject:  Capitalism

Rating: 7/10

Summary:

Economics to be a pretty captivating subject, so long as it doesn’t get too deep into theory.  I also enjoy listening to ideas that are somewhat counter to my own.   Its an exceptionally effective way to broaden one’s views.  Reich’s writing is based on the idea that we spend most of our time debating the wrong question:  Free Market versus Government.  He argues that (rightly so,) that the Free Market cannot exist without the government, and that the real question is how should the laws that govern the free market be determined.

Reich focuses a lot of his attention on laws governing bankruptcy, property,  and contracts have changed over time.  He highlights those changes as specifically helping corporations and the wealthy while weakening the every day citizen.  Reich truly believes that capitalism can exist in a manner that is much more beneficial to the masses. His final call to action is that Americans don’t have to accept things the way they are.

What I liked Most About the Book:  It served as an excellent reminder that the free market is fundamentally a human construct.

Memorable Quotes:

  • The idea of a free market separate and distinct from government has functioned as a useful cover for those who do not want the market mechanism fully exposed. They have had the most influence over it and would rather keep it that way. The mythology is useful precisely because it hides their power.
  • Government doesn’t intrude on the free market. It creates the market.
  • The free market does not exist in the wilds beyond the reach of civilization. Competition in the wild is a contest for survival in which the largest and strongest typically win. Civilization, by contrast, is defined by rules; rules create markets, and governments generate the rules.
  • Economic historian Karl Polanyi recognized, those who argue for less government are really arguing for a different government—often one that favors them or their patrons
  • Moreover, people who believe the game is rigged are easy prey for political demagogues with fast tongues and dumb ideas.
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Reading Notes: Finally! Performance Assessment That Works: Big 5

nAuthor: Roger Ferguson

Format: Paperback

Subject: Performance Management

Rating: 7/10

Summary:
My boss recently had the chance to listen to a presentation on performance reviews by the author.  He liked what he heard.  So, he asked me to review this book and determine if the process might be useful in our organization.  The book is a very easy read; and does a good job summarizing the challenges with existing review processes.  It also does an ample job of outlining a simplified version that should produce better results with significantly less effort.  The premise is that traditional review systems are driven from top-down.  They are not done on a timely basis to have any real meaning on performance.  They take a ton of time and effort (high cost.)  And, they provide very little value for the company or its employees.

Ferguson’s proposed solution is that each employee records their 5 most important accomplishments from the prior month along with their 5 biggest priorities for the next month on a single sheet of paper that is then reviewed by their supervisor.  The supervisor should provide timely feedback on whether they agree or disagree with the priorities.  They should also provide any other necessary coaching to help ensure the employee is properly focused.  The remainder of the book covers tying these monthly check-ins to the annual review system.  It also discusses the pros and cons of using this tool as part compensation management.

Ferguson also recommends that companies simplify their compensation system.  He recommends giving all employees an x% unless the employee is on probation or some other sort of improvement plan.  He also recommends allotting a bonus compensation pool that allows managers to give their best employees an additional percentage increase.   His argument is that most managers are only allowed a certain % increase for their area anyway regardless of how great or bad their team is.  Don’t waste managers or employees time trying to justify giving employee A a 5% increase, employee B a 4.5% increase and employee C and employee D a 2% increase.

What I liked Most About the Book:  This is a very easy and quick read, and Ferguson’s system makes sense.

TLDR:

The “Dirty Dozen” Challenges of Traditional Performance Systems

  1. Tying individual goals to corporate goals is difficult if not impossible.
  2. Goals are seldom reliable for an entire year.  – The business world changes quickly and the best companies change course quickly.
  3. Metrics do not always tell the entire story.  – I am a HUGE proponent of metrics, but tying every employee to a meaningful metric is very difficult.  What metric should be used for the executive assistant?  What about the janitor?
  4. Even the best metrics can be manipulated by the employee.  –  I am aware that people often figure out a way to “game” a number, often at the cost of the company’s mission and overarching goals.
  5. Metrics are also subject to manipulation by management.  – By now it should be apparent that Ferguson is somewhat skeptical of metrics.
  6. This is not an employee driven process.  – The entire process often occurs with little involvement or value to the very employees it is designed to help.
  7. Annual Feedback is a very dated concept. – It is useless to provide feedback about activities that my have occurred months ago.  Employees need timely feedback.
  8. Managers spend too much time on the process.  –  This cost companies a lot of money and detracts from time that could be spent on issues that provide more value.
  9. Employees are skeptical of the process. –  Regardless of how hard I try, most of my employees think I don’t understand their work.  To be fair, as I have progressed from a specialized manager to more of a general manager this has become more and more true.  At least for the 80% of the things that my team does that provide 20% of their results.  I almost always have a pretty good understanding of the most important 20% of their work, but it is difficult getting employees to understand that concept.
  10. At some point in the management hierarchy, the process breaks down.  –  This has been the case more often than not as I have climbed through the ranks.  At some level in the organization, the process just doesn’t happen any more. – This causes any employee who goes through the review process to have that much distrust for the system.
  11. The process can create corporate liability. – Yes, I have personally read a lot of comments on reviews that made shake my head in bewilderment.
  12. It is difficult to tie performance to compensation.  –  This gets exponentially harder the more people you have involved.

Why the number 5?  Experience shows that it is a good number.  Some companies may find that some people/teams might make due with more or less.

The importance of 1 page:  Some employees will want to list all of their accomplishments.  It is important to teach them to list only the most important 5.  An other accomplishments section can be included last on the monthly report, but each items should be very brief.  The entire report should still fit on one page.

Big 5 Challenges:

  1. Monitoring Monthly Report Completion.  –  The program is only effective if it actually gets done.  Email seems to be the easiest way to administer the program, but that makes tracking and archiving at least somewhat difficult.
  2. Avoiding Creep.  – Unless the process is easy, people won’t do it.  Don’t let people tack anything additional to the process.
  3. HR & Legal Approval.  –  I tend to be directly responsible for these areas, so I don’t see them as being too much of a road block.
  4. Quality of the Managers Response –  This isn’t any bigger of a challenge than it is for a traditional review system, however, it can still only be effective if the managers give a meaningful review/response.

Other Notes:  Do not try to use this system for formal corrective actions.  Stick with the tried and true processes that you are already using.