Hi Friends, Here is your end-of-the-week insight into what I see going on in the business world,...
Hi Friends,
Here is your end-of-the-week insight into what I see going on in the business world, what I’m thinking about, and what I’m learning about. Forward anything that you feel inspired to share. If this was forwarded to you and you found value, subscribe here for a weekly edition!
What I’m Hearing From Sales Leaders/Professionals
This past week was a SCARY week, as many of my clients with newer businesses received the exciting news that their prospects want to "do a pilot." Shouldn't this be exciting and not scary? I guess it can be both, but for me, it is often just scary!
Here is why.
Often, when I am working with founders, they get a sense of accomplishment and achievement from hearing the words, "We would love to do a pilot." This leads to them being unable to see the MASSIVE risks in the statement.
When a founder shares this "good" news with me, it can put our relationship in a precarious position. I have to be the cold splash of reality that asks many of the following questions (and a lot of others):
What exactly does that mean?
How much are they going to pay?
Who else needs to sign off before they get started?
What does OBJECTIVE success look like?
What happens if you meet those objective goals?
How long?
Outside of saying you have them in a pilot, what else are you getting?
What are they agreeing to besides just running the pilot? How often are they agreeing to check in?
How will they decide whether the pilot is successful? Is it just objective or subjective, too?
What does the scorecard look like?
Yes, I am annoying. How annoying are all these questions?
A pilot can be a huge step for a business, but it can also be a distraction and a false positive. It is important that you approach the pilot with the same level of rigor to de-risk that you do any deal. The biggest piece of advice I can give anyone is that BEFORE you sign a pilot deal, you negotiate what success is and what happens if you achieve those goals. Otherwise, you may just be spinning your wheels or elongating your sales cycle.
If you are negotiating a pilot and want to chat, please reach out.
What Made Me Laugh
I was sick last week, and the tweet and its reply below pretty much capture me:
This Week’s 40/20
For every 40 hours of work, I believe you should spend 20 (additional) hours mastering your craft. This is how I spent some of my 20 hours this week.
Managing or leading All-Stars/Superstars/Supernovas/10xers is TOUGH. Especially when they go "off the rails" and try to do things their own way. The rest of your team looks to you to see how you will handle it. In THIS CLIP, Coach K talks about having that tough conversation with Kobe Bryant ahead of the Beijing Olympics and how important it is to have tough conversations with your A players. If you manage teams, take the 2 minutes and 30 seconds to watch the clip!
Potpourri for 800
Potpourri (shoutout to Jeopardy!) is a category that covers a variety of topics.
It has been almost 40 years since Michael Jackson released Smooth Criminal, and since that time, I have been trying to do the lean. Umm, now that I know how it was done, I feel like I should have figured it out a long time ago. Check out Occam's Razor in action.
Quote for My Son
Every day, I leave my son a note with a quote. This was my favorite from this past week:
"Everything you do—with or without an audience—provides evidence to you about who you are and what you're capable of." – Steven Bartlett
You can get weekly helpful information for sales professionals by following my company’s Maestro Mastery blog here.
Let me know what you think about this week’s edition of Fuentes Fridays. Which section was your favorite? How can I make this better? Shoot me a message on LinkedIn @willfuentes.
Until next week!
Thanks,
