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
I heard this week that my post last week on speed resonated. Perhaps a bit too much.
I was working with an AE on a large deal that they had been working on meticulously. They had executed every play to perfection for the past five months. When the deal slowed down during the holidays, they found various ways to stay top of mind.
When they had meetings, they made sure to execute the non-negotiables, including sending compelling recaps. When new people were introduced to the deal, they asked the right questions to gauge what they knew about the deal, the value, and the business case.
To say they were on point would be an understatement.
That is until this past week.
Their champion reached out and said they were near the finish line but needed one more thing.
That thing was a document showing the time commitment needed from IT to get everything implemented.
This was not a document that the company had on hand.
The AE, knowing this, told his champion that he would have something over to him in a day.
The AE quickly gathered the information and then sent it to me for final review.
The document was a simple Word document with a few bullets. It was a bit confusing. It most certainly did not look like the final document a prospect should receive prior to signing off on a large six-figure deal.
The rep and I worked on the document and partnered with marketing to create a nicer, better version. It was an extra 20 minutes in total. The final version had the prospect’s logo and clearly laid out the time commitments by role, time frame, and frequency.
The final document aligned with the experience that AE had given the prospect to that point: organized, professional, and thoughtful.
The document went out, and a few hours later, the DocuSign was requested and signed.
The AE and I discussed what happened, and he simply told me, “I wanted to get what they needed as fast as possible to close the deal.” Understandable.
I told him, “We need to be fast and urgent but not reckless.”
Would he have lost the deal if he had sent over the initial document? I am not sure, but why risk it? As much as speed matters, we must always abide by the two pillars:
Control what you can control.
Mitigate risk.
What Made Me Laugh
Facebook. It just keeps popping up great memories for me. This week, it shared the pic below from about 7 years ago. It was taken after G (my son) said I was acting “derpy,” and I asked him to tell me what that meant, and he said, “Let me show you.”
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.
I have been doing a lot of interviews this year. As part of the process, I ask the candidates to prepare a 30-60-90 plan. Inevitably, that document mentions “learning the company culture.” When pressed, the very best candidates know what they are looking for from a company. This past week, I came across Duolingo’s Culture Handbook. I love this line: “Excellence isn’t some lofty goal—it’s our baseline.”
Potpourri for 800
Potpourri (shoutout to Jeopardy!) is a category that covers a variety of topics.
When The Perfect Storm came out, I thought about heading to the northeast and becoming a deep-sea fisherman. At some other point in my life, I thought I should go and work on an oil rig in the ocean. I was a silly little man. Check out this video to see how incredibly scary oil rigs can be!
Quote for My Son
Every day, I leave my son a note with a quote. This was my favorite from this past week:
“Ten people who yell make more noise than ten thousand who keep silent.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
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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,
