Be Bold: Humble Swagger wins in the Sales World

‘People buy from people they trust’ is an unfinished and incomplete sentence. Just because a person trusts someone means absolutely nothing by itself, though it is, of course, a foundation to build on. Let’s be clear: In the B2B (business to business) world, from the C-level executive to the individual contributor, the focus for any potential client is either based on business objectives and achievement, personal ambition, or it’s the avoidance of risk and pain. 

This means that to effectively convince someone to make a commitment requires that the salesperson provides an inspirational vision, a compelling solution, shows utter commitment to both their company and their personal success, and last— they can feel the confidence exuded by the salesperson for all of the above. 

It is this confidence, I like to call it ‘Humble Swagger’, that I’ve seen lead to monumental successes by sales people again and again over the 3+ decades in my sales career to date. The best way to comprehend the power of this mindset is through stories, as is the case with much in our lives— so let me go a little ‘Dr. Seuss’ here with a few..

Early in my career, heck, with less than 1 year experience, my boss was a guy named Stephen Manion. Looked like a taller version of Mel Gibson with nearly the same level of charismatic appeal. And most important, was brilliant as my 1st mentor. One morning I walk in the office and there is a letter, an RFQ from the US Army Labcom (now known as ARL), which Steve is reading at the reception desk. He says, “Hey, Craig, you’ve got some cycles to work this, it’s yours”. I was elated. At least until I read it fully.

We were a small custom microchip company called VLSI Technology. We’d help customers design custom or semi-custom IC’s for a fee and then make most of our money as production volumes ensued. Our arch-rival nemesis was LSI Logic, equal in size to us but while we excelled at custom, they were far better at these semi-custom IC’s. These were lower cost to design, faster to get done, but higher cost in production. Here was the issue: The Army RFQ was for 3 ICs to replace obsolete parts that they could no longer buy from the manufacturer, so low volume and simple. It was a cakewalk for LSI and we were ‘column fodder’ for the bidding process. I was dejected. My chance at what would be my first deal was already dashed.

I go to Steve’s office, and share the facts. He tells me to call the contacts at the Army and get more insight on what they want, why they are asking for it, and what will happen if they can’t get it done. What I discover is intriguing— the Army has billions of dollars of equipment that is idle, awaiting spare electronics, and obsolete parts are the culprit. The 3 parts they need now is a tiny part of the much bigger, immense problem. 

So we did something far different. I called the commander of the lab to ask for a meeting, as frankly I didn't know this just wasn't done, as this was like a peasant asking to see the King. And the na?veté paid off. We got a meeting. And with Steve’s coaching, we got ready.

Fast forward, we walk in and meet the commander at his slightly imposing office, and I’m feeling a bit nervous inside but intent on not showing it. Our meeting begins- first, we present our views of the problem, and amplify that we know it’s a multi-billion dollar one. The commander agreed- this weighed on his mind substantially. We then proposed we would be able to eliminate the problem permanently. He shows surprise, wants to hear more. We then tell him we would not propose to do 3 chips for them. He get’s even more surprised.

We tell him that we propose to help them build their own IC manufacturing facility for semi-custom ICs, sell them the pre-processed silicon wafers, software, consulting and services. Make them independent of the follies of semiconductor companies doing ‘end of life’ of products, and in control of their destiny. He lights up, and we have a deal. In total, it was huge piece of business for us— the biggest my company ever did, by far.

The magic moment to me was when the commander looked us in the eye and asked us if we were confident we could deliver— and we didn't blink- we said unequivocally ‘Yes’. And that was what won the deal. Humble Swagger. 

Fast forward to another very profound experience— it’s the year 2000 and I’m running the enterprise accounts, equating to our largest strategic and global accounts, at Cadence Design Systems. One of our accounts is HP, where we are only doing around $2M annual business but our competitors, Mentor and Synopsys combine for the other nearly $40M spend. Our CEO, Ray Bingham, catches me in the bathroom at an executive offsite and tells me that our CIO has a PO request to buy $15-20M worth of Sun workstations, our primary supplier. I ask him to halt the PO, and we can offer it to HP instead in exchange for an audience with their new CEO, Carly Fiorina. He asks me “What will you do with the meeting?”. I say that I have absolutely no idea- yet. 

We get the meeting, and HP gets their PO. 

Carly comes to visit us, along with much of the HP executive staff including Ann Livermore and Duane Zitzner, so pretty much the people who run all aspects of HP’s business. Our executives are in the meeting as well, along with my boss, Matt Thompson (now runs Adobe WW sales now, also a stellar mentor for sales leadership), and one of my staff, a sales strategic genius named Bruce Costello. 

Carly had an effect on us all. She has that Humble Swagger effect in spades. We were all in awe at the impact she had on everyone and her personal presence. Magnetic. After we got over it, Bruce kicked off the conversation. 

“Carly, let me share a slide on the workstation market that is heavily influenced by Cadence”. He pops up the Powerpoint showing $5B of workstation sales projected over the following 5 years that is directly attributed to Cadence software sales, with 85% going to Sun, and the rest split between IBM and HP. He tells her that when Cadence sells software, our customers ask what to buy for hardware and our sales force recommends Sun, as we develop on Sun computers first, then port to others. Bruce offers her, “we can level the playing field”, allowing HP to compete equally, and even give a few competitive advantages to help kick start the partnership. “Carly, do I have your attention?”. “Yes, Bruce, you just made my top 3 list”, she replies, and adds “What do you want in return?”. We had a quick answer, and we then became the dominant supplier to HP for our portfolio. It was a resounding, mutual success. Magic.

There are plenty of recent examples, possibly hard to share given sensible confidentiality requirements— Let me simply state that the power of being Bold is applicable for sales teams at startups through S&P500 firms. And it doesn’t always mean Mega-deals and high creativity. It’s a mindset that stems from confidence, a sales team that is unafraid to take risks and trusts that their management has their backs. That’s fundamental, and it’s the sales leaders that understand this who can foster this Humble Swagger in their teams. The principles apply at every level, for all market tiers from SMB to mid-market, from regional to strategic clients.

For example, in my time as SVP Sales at Wind River - market leader in embedded software and IOT (Internet of things), I remember when one of my Inside Sales Reps, Nick Ranahan, came into my office all jazzed up after having actually cold called to the CEO of Ford Motor company, and was able to tee up a meeting where the CEO would visit us personally. And yes, it led to a lot of business between our companies. (Nick is now a Second Lieutenant in the Marines, go Nick!)

Moments like that will live in my memory forever, and every time I see a spark in the eye of a salesperson that has achieved something bigger than they thought they were capable of- these are the best of times.

If your client target is a 100 employee startup or SMB firm- they have people with business and personal objectives. You can help. If your client target is a $100M, or $1B company, the same tenets apply. A Fortune 500 or Global 1000 firm— same.

If you are a salesperson, you may be thinking how to lever these concepts— what would be a logical next step? I’d suggest you simply pick one targeted account or client each week and look to do something bigger than you thought possible. Possibly go for an executive meeting, and then prepare with your manager to make it hum if you get it. Or, build a bigger proposal where you can deliver more to your customer and get more in return. You may still have some fear, that’s normal. That’s part of the deal. Remember, you have nothing to lose except a possible rejection, and so much to gain. Be BOLD! And have fun with it.

If you are a sales manager, then give your teams accolades for the bigger and bolder moves they attempt, and allow them to be safe if they are not able to succeed. Rest assured, they will succeed in some, and that’s all it takes to build inertia. Create the energy to have a team that is stellar and enable people to become bigger than they are. That’s an achievement you can be proud of.

Stay tuned for my next article on Discipline: Rigor on all Dimensions of the Sales Process.