Technology is a funny thing. It makes the strong men cringe, the geeks feel elite and it shoots budgets full of unplanned and dangerously gaping holes. Most of this problem is our fault. I'm talking to you, sales people. We employ tactics like a used car salesman-showing them the flash, the pizazz, the demo. We blind them with the spectacle of beauty that is the 'integrated system' that provides 'immediate ROI' and 'increased productivity'. We feel like we're doing it all right, but we can't seem to make any money. I have a theory on this and some proof to boot.

The most interesting, fun and effective part of my job centers around traveling out to our Partner and Associate shops to participate in what I guess you could call "Consultative Sales Surgery". It's the last draw work. The rooms prepped, the patient is awaiting your arrival, you have all the support you need, but you've got to go in and close the vein, replace the kidney or remove the pancreas (sorry for the visual ;) The simple is; you have to close it up.

I have been pretty effective at this, but I've never felt like a hard-nosed closer. I'm very honest (rule #1) and I don't try and make something up on the spot. I know what I know and for what I don't, I know some wickedly smart people to take care of it, back at the ranch. The single point of failure I sometimes get to witness is that we're taking ourselves too seriously. These are just people. One leg at a time, my friends. I don't care if he's the CEO of a Fortune 10, he still ate grilled cheese and watched Sesame Street in black and white as a kid. He still gets yelled at to pick up his laundry when he gets home. No price tag on your clothes, no office and no home can make you anything beyond human.

Trying to sell technology just amplifies this mess we've created. Most of us don't understand technology as well as we probably should and so we tend to lean on 'the features'. Bad idea. Remember, as a sales person, that technology is ONLY there for one reason: to solve a BUSINESS problem, nothing else. If tape, chicken wire and taco shells would do the trick, guess what? You'd be out of there. Remember to focus on the business at hand, then, the technology doesn't really matter. Process is key. To be good at selling technology, you have to be a process person. Be agile and on your feet when it comes to the customer. Try and visualize the way they work, the problems they face and create that model in your mind, on a whiteboard and on paper. Only then will you be able to apply the Band-Aid to their wound.

Stop selling and start listening. If you have any kind of intimate relationship, you'll realize real quick that listening is the best form of flattery and interest. Listen, move quick, solve and close. You are a wizard problem solver, a proverbial Swiss Army knife of solutions and direction. You're their go-to guy/girl/company and you've got their best interest at heart (this is where that ALWAYS honest piece comes in. Break trust and its like a broken glass... never goes back the way it was).

Keep your bearings with a customer, realize they're just a human with some troubles, hear them out, move quickly to a solution and then present it and close. Simple as that. Now go make some money.

all the best,
Tanner

As a concept introduction in Malcolm Gladwell's Book Outliers, he uses the story of the Rossettan people to identify a concept in success that is all too often overlooked by the modern business establishment: the community effect. These people, although part of the greater area of their surrounding community were not affected in the way that the rest of the established people were. They didn't get heart disease, they didn't get cancer, they didn't have ulcers... they just died of old age. They were a scientific anomaly and it took years of study to prove that they were truly the "outliers." They were outside the bubble of cause and effect that, seemingly, everyone else was and there was no real explanation... They succeeded when the world around them failed.

This introduction, to me, exemplified a great deal of the world that I live in. I have seen companies-for no lack of effort-fail terribly and some other companies, that seem like rudderless ships, succeed and thrive in small, 3rd tier urbana. Why? Based on the numbers, they appear to be at-risk, trouble-deemed organizations, yet they thrive.

To survive is one thing, to thrive requires a community effort. Invest in your community.

The simple answer is community. I don't necessarily mean the "handshake, come over for dinner" kind of community (although that does make life awfully rich), but rather, I mean the conscious understanding of everyone from the business owner to the delivery guy has an obligation to the community that gives him the possibility to succeed. Without them, the business that they participate in wouldn't be warranted, their services--unneeded.

In a time of complex and often danger-filled financial times, we, as business owners, managers, sales people, dispatchers, vendors, receptionists and vice presidents must remember that the community in which we operate; whether local, regional, national or global is filled with people that make our style of life--our very livelihood--possible. They deserve your respect above and beyond the dollar they offer you. We can shoot for the kill and swing low on price to kill off our competitors or we can focus on delivering the true services that will help our customers. I, personally bet my chips on comprehensive services vs. "cheapro" services (thank you Jared) to survive for the long haul.

To survive is one thing, to thrive requires a community effort. Invest in your community.

all the best,
tanner