Day 81. Pin your life down

Many of us as we go through life are always on the defensive.  We want to be prepared for the worst.  My wife Vicki was like that.  Her philosophy was: think about the worst outcome possible and prepare for that.  If anything "less bad" happens, well then, you get an upside.  While having a good defense is all well and good, I believe in the old saying that the BEST DEFENSE is an OVERWHELMING OFFENSE.  In sales that translates to creating an unfair competitive advantage for yourself.

I always ask my students, or any salesperson, "who likes to compete?" Invariably every hand in the room goes up.  Then I drop the first shoe: "Me? I hate to compete!!" Followed immediately by the second shoe dropping: "I only want to win!!"   But a winning strategy takes up front preparation.  Early on in life I was introduced to the 6P's - Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance.  So you have to work.  But you must work on creating that unfair competitive advantage for yourself and your company.

First, identify several KEY DIFFERENTIATORS for yourself, your product/technology or service and your company. 

Second, you must analyze and understand the true needs of your customer/prospect. True needs are issues/challenges/problems that will have a financial impact on the company. Preferably they will BOTH save the company money AND make the company money.  More importantly your conversations will become business oriented rather than product or technology oriented.  Remember the language of business IS money.  Read case studies, one a day, and understand the financial impact your company's solutions have had on others.

When you can make a differentiating statement that is unique to you/your company/your product, and one that meets a true need of your customer/prospect you have created an unfair competitive advantage.  You can truly go on the offensive.  Try to identify and be able to clearly articulate THREE such unfair competitive advantages and you will have a 75% chance of winning the business and you be on OFFENSE and not defense.

Today's short excerpt from the book 100 ways to Motivate Yourself by Steve Chandler reminds us all of the need pin down our own lives and our professions.  I make it sound like simple stuff but, consider this: “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” — Charles Mingus

Steve’s book makes motivating oneself seem simple. Today I challenge you to look at your sales style today. 

Do you play great defense?  Then prepare to go on the offensive! 

Is your offense less than stellar?  Then apply the 6P plan and identify your unfair competitive advantages.  Read, and fully understand, one case study a day.

Are you only winning about 33% of the time?  Then work to understand your key differentiators and create three unfair competitive advantages for yourself and pin your competitors to the mat and take home the P.O. trophy.

I hope you enjoy each shared chapter at the start of your day –

Matt

81. Pin your life down

Car dealer extraordinaire Henry Brown once told me a story about his son, a high school wrestler. His boy had been getting only fair results as a wrestler that year and when Henry talked to him about it he learned the reason. Henry’s son entered each wrestling match more than thoroughly prepared to counter anything his opponent tried. But no matter how gifted Henry’s son was at countering moves, countering was still countering, so the other wrestler always dictated the tempo. Finally, Henry suggested to his son that he try entering a wrestling match with his own attack plan—a series of moves that he would initiate no matter what his opponent tried. The boy agreed, and the results were remarkable. He began winning match after match, pinning opponent after opponent.

The young wrestler’s goal had always been to win. He didn’t have a problem setting goals. But what had to be added was a plan of action. In sports, as in life, goals alone aren’t always enough. As Nathaniel Branden says, "A goal without an action plan is a daydream." Henry Brown didn’t just give that advice to his son because he bought into it theoretically. His own Brown and Brown Chevrolet dealership had been the number-one Chevy dealership in the nation many times because he planned his company’s own yearly performance in the same way he coached his son.

Every year he has his general manager send me the detailed videotape that outlines the dealership’s game plan for the coming year. It includes all the department’s projected earnings down to the penny. By boldly charting such a specific course, Brown lets the market respond to him. Once, when I asked him how his dealership got through a previous year’s nationwide automotive sales recession, he said, "We decided not to participate in it."

Before any adventure, take time to plan. Design your own plan of attack. Don’t just counter what some other wrestler is doing. Let life respond to you. If you’re making all the first moves, you’ll be surprised at how often you can pin life down.