Big Mouth Strikes Again

We now have the ability to tell almost every one in the world about every conscious thought and every event we experience.

This goes for both individuals and organizations using social media.

Like a lot of things in life, just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Social media is like alcohol: it often amplifies the personality of the person using it. 
It can be used to feed your narcissism (applies to both individuals and organizations) or it can be used as means to share knowledge and insights and continue being relevant.

If you're going to have a big mouth in social media, make sure your ears are just as big. 
Social media is a two-way street.  Your pontificating and witty posts aren't relevant unless you are giving feedback to others.

And you've heard me say this before:  no one is important, influential, or enlightened enough to tweet five times in one hour.

Need To Know Basis

Is your company filled with people who hoard and refuse to disseminate information- information that would make you more competitive and proactive in your industry?

These individuals often treat information as currency, using it as the last hope of  any value they may have in the company.  They also find it almost insubordinate when info gets out without their blessing.

Maybe they remember a time in which information was linear, where the pathway (and bottleneck) started and stopped with them, perhaps based on a relationship they owned or their title.

Information is no longer linear -- it is exponential and networked.
Business today is based on the power of sharing info, not constricting it.

We are no longer on a need to know basis.
We'll determine what we need to know, and we'll get the information we need.




 

The Perfect Sales Candidate

A friend of mine was recently turned down for a position selling web hosting services for a well-known mega online retailer.  This was after four interviews and presentation in front of over 100 current employees in the west coast headquarters.

Again, a sales position.  Not a management or executive position.

In my experience in sales, I've seen the pendulum swing from "we need people with the technical knowledge to sell our products" to "we need people who can just sell anything" -- and then the pendulum swings back again the other way.

Who is a perfect sales candidate for your company? 

Do they need to be someone poached from the competitor so they come with a book of business?
Do they need to be someone who could sell a ketchup popcicle to a woman in white gloves? (Tommy Boy reference by the way)
Do they need to be a "self starter" that "takes initiative" and is "highly competitive".
Do they need to be someone who can "talk the talk" of nuances of the products.

We all have a different picture of the profile of a good salesperson.  Some of us think 20 years of direct industry experience is the deciding factor.  Some of us think its the fast-talking, objection deflector car salesman type.

Think about the last time you bought a product with the assistance of a person (in any type of position) that made you feel good about the purchase.  Was it the style or approach? Was it the technical knowledge?

I argue the best sales person is able to transform themselves from technical guru to pain funnel expert when needed.  Bottom line, this takes a high level of emotional intelligence to be able to pick up on the cues from the customer of what type of sales person you need to be at that moment.

The problem is that you can't find the out in a series of interviews or a presentation.  You also shouldn't base your decision mostly on the technical aptitude of the candidate, because you can teach "technical", you can't teach emotional intelligence. 

Interviews should be a way to mitigate the risk of your decision, but there will always be an inherent risk in hiring a new salesperson. (that's also why, you should do everything you can to keep good salespeople by the way)

The best indicator of a great salesperson is the body of work and the variety of life experience.
Use this as your judge, and take the leap. 

Your best laid plans for finding and hiring the perfect candidate are going to be wrecked by countless salespeople that disappoint you in the future. Did you think your close rate on hiring great sales people was going to be 100% because you've created the perfect hiring process?

Which Do You Chose?

I've consciously tried to exclude politics and political personalities from this blog. However, every once in a while, something pops up in our current events that warrants discussion, even in the context of this forum.

The recent controversy involving Rush Limbaugh and Sandra Fluke has really left a bad taste in my mouth, but not for the reasons you may think.

I've never agreed with Rush Limbaugh before, and I'm not surprised another statement by him rubbed me the wrong way. 

My visceral reaction to his statements did surprise me.  While I completely disagree with him, I keep trying to comprehend the extreme anger and hatred that surrounds this person.

What happened to Rush Limbaugh that his energy is focused in this way?  He's wealthy, got a dream job, and is the envy of a lot of folks who wish they had 1/100th the money he has.

What confuses me most about this is that while millions of people are posting innovative, positive ideas in blogs, trying to grow a tribe of followers,  Rush plugs along, spewing his vitriolic messages, taking for granted the platform he has -- and making the wrong choice.

I'm thankful we live in a society in which you're allowed to speak your mind and criticize others.
However, even though we have the privilege, we still have a choice to make. 

Our choice can go down two paths:
a)  to make art, contribute things that lift and help others, and to show our gratitude
b)  to spew hate, to criticize others, and to tell lies in the service of personal gain

Fifty years from now,  how will people view Rush's legacy?  Better question, will they even remember it?  He's built a career based on hating and tearing down people, and there's plenty of others great at doing that.

What's your choice?

What Are You Waiting For?

You hate your job.
You hate your boss.
You're in a bad relationship.
You're upset with how you've been treated by supplier.
You know your company's new strategy is going to drive away good customers.

What are you waiting for? 
A more convenient time to discuss it?  To make your painful decision another time?
A more perfect opportunity?

You're either driving the car or being driven by someone else.
That car is your career, your relationships, your education, your choices.

Surround yourself with people that can enable your success, but don't forget --you own this.
 
Don't expect anyone else to drive for you.
 

Actions Speak Louder

Customer delight is a term being thrown around a lot these days.   It seems to be the special sauce to get your customer horizontally marketing on your behalf.

What is customer delight? The best customer service in the world? The point at which you've created that experience for the customer that it becomes a story they tell?

More often than not, it is when the customer is surprised by an unexpected gesture or action you took that defines the turning point of their loyalty to you: upgraded delivery, replacement of an out-of-warranty item, a personal thank you note, or call from a concerned CEO.

The problem is that customer delight is subjective.  It is defined by the customer, not by you. 

As an organization, you can strive to create a culture that is focused on customer delight, but you would be better served focusing on filling your organization with people that have the individual power to make it happen.
This starts with trust, both trusting your employees to make good decisions and trusting that not all your customers are trying to take advantage of you.

You can't define the story of customer delight from the top.  Its got to be crafted, grown, and reshaped from every customer interaction from those touching the customers.

Striving toward customer delight must include the acceptance that you don't know what that is and you can't control it.  What you can control, however, is encouraging your employees to uncover unexpected examples and reward them to take action.

Those actions will eventually build and define your culture of customer delight.  

Head in the Sand

Social networking is taking over all aspects of our lives, both personal and professional.  Most of us know this.

The merits, the ROI, and the role it should play in your business is constantly up for debate.

What's not debatable is that it exists and is flourishing.

What is your corporate social networking policy?  Does it address your employees as well as your customers?
Do you even have one?

In 2012, when your company does not specifically define this, you're in trouble.

Right now, your employees are talking about their work life on Facebook and following customers and competitors on Twitter.  Your customers are tweeting about your poor customer service or posting status updates about a problem they have that your product solves.

Lay out your guidelines for employees.  Define how you are responding to customer complaints seen by two million eyes.  The excuse that you don't use social networking personally is lame and is going catch up with you.  

Pretend its 1995 and we replace "social networking" with "the Internet".

See what I mean, Mr. Ostrich.